#I mean you can mess-up on pacing or world-building too... but people are going to notice when you fuck up a characters arc

[theprinceandthewitch]

The more people realize writing [in a story-telling sense] is a mostly nebulous thing where the only thing you can mess up on are character arcs - especially the character arc for your protagonist - the more you can actually enjoy media lmao.

[blackmoonowl]

Paladin Danse dating headcanons

Assuming it takes place after Blind Betrayal.

These are just random headcanons I wrote down in no specific order.

Say goodbye to going anywhere on your own. If he can he's coming with you. To keep you safe, mostly. He can't bear the idea of losing you. You're all he has left in the world, without you he feels he has no purpose.

Very protective, would give up his own life to save yours without questioning. You're the one person in his life who truly saw him as a person, not as a soldier of abomination.

A bit awkward when it comes to physical affection at first. If you hug or kiss him out of the blue he'd go completely stiff, a distinct look of surprise on his face. Make sure to build it up with him, show him it's okay to touch and be affectionate back, he'll get into it at his own pace.

Keeps things neat with military precision. This man doesn't leave messes in your house, everything is neatly put away in designated spots. He doesn't like it when you leave things strewn around either.

Needs your reassurance. He found out his entire life was a lie, and you're pretty much the only person he can rely on nowadays. His entire identity was ripped away from him, as was his purpose in the Brotherhood.

Sometimes he starts to overthink about how much of his life was real, and how much was programmed in. A dark, erratic part of him wonders if you're real sometimes. That he'll wake up one day and realize you were a false memory.

Doesn't full realize it when he gets jealous. He knows that you talking too much with other men makes him deeply uncomfortable, but it takes him a bit to understand why he feels that way. He'll straight up question you about your encounter, and his true feelings quickly become obvious.

As for you, you don't have much to be jealous about. Half of the time he doesn't understand someone is hitting on him, the other half he does but he's just not interested at all. It's like flirting with a brick wall.

Slowly opens up to the idea of ghouls and synths if you want him to. He doesn't like them, but seeing them around your settlement makes him a little more tolerant.

Gets upset if he sees the Prydwen or Brotherhood soldiers in the distance, especially in the beginning. It puts upsets him for a while, and he might shut down and give you the cold shoulder. Give him some space and then comfort him, he slowly gets over it though.

Actually likes holding you once he's comfortable. He won't do it in front of anyone, but in private he is putty in your hands. He'll stand or lay wherever and however you want if that means he gets to hold you close to him.

To add to that, he's a very light sleeper. If you pry yourself out of his grasp to do something, he wakes up almost immediately. It's like he's on constant alert.

Sometimes he wonders what it's like to have a family, but he's never brought it up. Part of him fears his nature as a synth means he won't be able to have a son or daughter to protect. But he can get behind it just being the two of you.

Scary dog privileges, especially in his power armor. It's a great intimidation factor. People generally don't try to mess with you with a strong, stoic ex Brotherhood Paladin looming over your shoulder.

[slamdunkhcs]

Considering the fact they’re basketball players who have to condition (even on the off-season), I thought this would be fun to think about :). And also i go to the gym and i see boys like them all the time there

slam dunk boys at the gym

rukawa

• One thing about Rukawa, he is going to the gym ALONE. Like it’ll literally be him, his airpods, a towel, and a fat waterbottle against the world. I don’t think he’d hate working out with someone, but he’d prefer to workout alone since he can stay focused and go at his own pace.

• He’d have both his AirPods in at full volume and go CRAZY on the machines/weightlifting bars. I think for his stamina, he would use the Stairmaster at full speed and go on it for as long as he could.

• I’d say that he does workouts for all of his body, but his favorite workouts would be arm ones, just because he’ll be able to put more power into his basketball shots.

• I don’t think he’d be approached by anyone at the gym since he’s always super focused on his workout and looks VERY intimidating, but if you went up to him and asked him for help, he’d do it.

• BUTTTT If he was in a bad mood that day, he might just put his AirPod right back in and ignore you 😂. However, after he cools off, he’d feel kinda bad. And then sigh and go up to you like “What did you need help with?”

• HE’D DEF BE ADMIRED BY ALL THE GYM BADDIES!!!!!

ryota

• Ok I feel like his level of productivity would depend on who he’s at the gym with. If he’s with Mitsui, those two are gonna try and compete with who could lift heavier weights 😂. But if he’s with Sakuragi, aint NOTHING getting done.

• He will take a ton of gym photos and mirror selfies and post them like “Hitting the gym today ✅” on Insta/Snap. AND HE’LL SEND THEM ALL TO AYAKO 😂😂😂. His gym fits will be coordinated asf too!!! He will go over there dripped out!!!

• I think if he goes alone he’d be really focused. He wouldn’t look intimidating or anything but he’d keep to himself and put on some music (def rnb like bryson tiller or brent faiyaz) and do his workouts. If the gym had a track area, he’d walk around and jus think about life and whatever happened throughout his day.

• Now if Ayako tagged along with him to the gym one day… HES GONNA ACT A FOOL. Like he will literally just stand by her the entire time as if he’s her mf bodyguard. And if a man even TRIED to talk to her, he would instantly shoo him away 💀

sakuragi

• His productivity would also depend on who hes with 😂

• If he’s with his lil gang… they getting into BIG trouble. Those idiots would fool around and try and swing around the weightlifting bar and hit eachother with it. They’d cause a big commotion and then get escorted out the gym by mf security.

• I think he’d go alone alot lowkey… especially after rehabilitation, he’d go there to do light workouts to prepare himself for basketball practice.

• I f he doesn’t know how to properly use a machine, this mf is NOT ASKING NOBODYYY for help 💀. Like he will stand there and stubbornly try messing with it until either he figures it out, or one of the gym’s staff sees him and offers him help

• I feel like he’d be very popular with the elderly people at the gym. Like in the mens’ locker room, the old men would look at him and be like “Back in my day, I was a lot like you, son,” and be hyping him up on his muscles and big build. AND HE’D ACT ALL OVERCONFIDENT but he’d lowkey be smiling about it for the rest of the day. He’d smile and make a peace sign whenever he sees one of the elderly regulars there. And if they asked him for help, he’d help!!!!! He’d have a whole community of uncles and aunties at the gym

• In terms of people around his age tho.. it’s a different story. If someone is using a machine or area he’s trying to use, he’s gonna be SOOO inpatient. Especially if whoever is on it isn’t using it. If it’s a girl, he’d ask politely, but if it’s a guy, he’ll mean mug tf outta them, until they get intimidated and walk away 😭

• If he and Ryota are at the gym together, those two will take SO many pictures. Half of the time they’d jus be talking and talking, and wouldn’t get ANYTHING accomplished

mitsui

• Ok, one thing about Mitsui, he is NOT going to the gym alone. Like he will hit the whole mf team up and ask them to go with him. Even Akagi.

• I think he’d go frequently though, especially in order to build up his stamina. Rukawa would show him the Stairmaster machine and he’d go CRAZY on there. Like by the end, it’ll say he walked up 200 flights of stairs 😂

• He’d lowkey have so many gym crushes. But he wouldn’t approach ANY of them 😂😂😂. He will just admire, sigh, and then go on with his workout. I think some of the gym baddies would think he’s cute but they wouldn’t approach him

• The reason why he’d be scared of being alone at the gym is because it’d be jus him and his thoughts. AND FOR MITSUI, THATS SCARY ASL. However… I think going to the gym alone from time to time would end up being a way for him to destress and reflect.

PS: IMMA DO A PART TWO WITH AKAGI, SENDOH, SAWAKITA, and whoever else yall want

[fairyhaos]

How To Fucking Write: a guide by fairyhaos

[masterlist]

this post details:

SLOW BURNS

hi gays and gals! "how to fucking write" is back, with yet more advice and tips for everyone ^^ please feel free to send me an ask if there's something you want me to talk about or if you want to be added to the taglist! and as always, please reblog if you find this helpful :)

# - HOW TO SLOW BURN.

.. bullet point one : word count .

putting this here because i have one thing to say about this.

word count doesn't matter.

you don't have to have over 50k words or some shit in order to write a really, really good slow burn. similarly, you can't just the quality of a slow burn—or a story in general—by its word count.

yes, maybe stories with higher word counts tend to be better slow burns, but that's not because of the word count. it's because of what they do with the words.

so if you've finished writing your story and you're happy with it and it doesn't feel rushed, doesn't feel too slow, and it doesn't mess up the relationship development, that's it. don't try to add words just because it's not "long enough".

word count doesn't matter.

(that being said though, there have to be enough words for it to actually be a slow burn, but. that's a given.)

.. bullet point two : plan .

now i know that there are people who don't like planning, or their writing style means that they feel more comfortable with just winging it and throwing words at the paper.

however, for a really good, well-paced slow burn, it's really really important for you to create a plan.

it doesn't have to include everything! it doesn't need to be an exhaustive breakdown of all the scenes you're going to put into the story, but you need to know vaguely what's going to happen, and how you want your characters to act.

because slow burn is a leadup to a relationship, right? it's about relationship building. their relationship is a castle, and you need to know what your castle is gonna look like before you start haphazardly slapping bricks on top of each other.

plan the milestones you want their relationship to reach. think about what scenes you want to use that will signpost the gradual change in their relationship (more on signposts down below).

think about how you want the slow burn to reach its climax, and also when.

what will that climax be? will it be the realisation of feelings? will it be the confession? maybe a rejection of confession?

all of that can be figured out when you plan. having the climax in mind and having the ending in mind are things i will always advocate for when it comes to writing.

especially with slow burns. because it's all about that heart-wrenching climax, isn't it? when someone blurts out their emotions, and there are tears and shaky whispers and it makes you want to scream because feels.

planning helps with coherency, too. helps everything flow more naturally and make the slow burn overall feel more well thought-out and more impactful.

plus, i dunno about you guys but planning out how shit's gonna go down and cackling over how you're going to make your readers cry with every single almost confession scene and every single mutual pining part is just the most incredible thing in the world.

.. bullet point three : signposts

i mentioned this above, but having signpost scenes that you and your readers can use to identify milestones in the characters' relationship is very, very important.

for example, a very simple set of milestones would be:

the scene wherein X falls for Y

a scene wherein X almost spills their feelings to Y

the situation wherein Y suddenly realises their own feelings for X

a scene where they feel like they're about to lose each other

something that makes someone confess

it's horribly simple, and very vague, but these are the basic milestones that most slow burns will use to influence their characters' relationships.

but nevertheless, do you see how each of these scenes are important?

how all of them help the relationship progress? build up the slow burn, until it finally reaches its peak?

of course, the story would probably include more than just these scenes. if it's a good story, then of course it will.

but these are the most important, and recognising what your important scenes are, and making sure that you know how many you're putting in and in what way they influence the plot is very key to writing slow burns.

.. bullet point four : motive

this is perhaps not a very necessary bullet point, but if you wanna go all-in with your slow burn and make it knock-out spectacular, then i suggest that you think on this bullet point for a while.

why aren't your characters together right now?

---is the question you should be asking yourself to make it a really stellar slow burn.

why can't your characters confess? why can't they realise their feelings? what is stopping them from simply going from being friends to realising they're in love and then confessing?

your characters need a motive.

often, that motive is really simple. there's a whole bunch that are commonly used but, if you do it well, then it'll be as hard-hitting as if it's something no one could have ever predicted.

are they not together because they...

...used to be enemies? have been friends for too long? don't know whether they're really in love or if it's just a fluke?

maybe they don't believe in love. maybe they're loving someone who they think will never love them back. maybe they don't even realise they're in love.

the beauty of it all is that you get to choose. you get to pick your own dilemmas for your characters, and write about their messy path to realisation, through their slow burn, while untangling all their emotions throughout their journey.

slow burn is about feelings, after all. make those feelings complex. truly think in your character's thoughts, just for a moment, and think about how it would feel to be in that situation. think about how they'd react. what they'd do.

and also what's holding them back.

motives make everything even more deliciously painful. you can truly sympathise with the characters' relationship progression then, and can really get readers invested as they try to see how the characters overcome their struggles.

besides. don't we all love when X shouldn't love Y but they're going to love them anyway?

... and that's it ! if anyone has anything else they want advice on (how to structure, how to write dialogue, how to plan etc) then just shoot me an ask, because i'd love to help however i can :)

tagging (comment/send ask to be added!): @mesanthropi @stqrrgirle @weird-bookworm @eternalgyu @blue-jisungs @yumilovesloona @the-nightfox-nest @lvlystars @anemoiant

[marzipanilla]

TLoVM S3 fell a bit short for me, and no, it wasn't the narrative changes. It just failed to deliver on emotional beats for me. I think trying to keep iconic stream moments arguably screwed them more than just carrying on with the flow of what they had.

Love that they managed to weasel in Keyleth's Earth Ashari stuff and gave her a cool world connection moment ! But like. Guys. We have actively seen Allura and Pike both scry without issue. A throw away line about Raishan being protected by powerful magic could have solved the 'why aren't you asking the people who know how to scry to solve this' issue I felt was very present in that.

Also, the team's dismissal of her concerns in the show felt much more 'what else are we supposed to do' not 'we can handle this go sit in the corner while the adult's talk : )' Especially since they basically never worked with Raishan like they did in the stream and Percy actively broke what little pact they had with her! The whole we are going to work with Raishan thing just... felt way too flippy floppy for me to get Keyleth's reaction out of it. Her frustration made much more sense in the stream.

Vex's 'my love is a curse' felt very left field to me. Though they have ample opportunity to play it up in the coming season once she realizes Vax is messed up. Though I do appreciate him very actively making the choices he does (HE demands the RQ take him instead, HE insists she show him the ritual to rescue Percy)

I get having Scanlan not die since resurrection is a much bigger deal, but I can only be woken from a coma by hearing my daughter talk?? Give the man aphasia and have her come to teach him/play music to help him out. Thematic ! Beautiful ! Doesn't feel ridiculous like 'idk coma I guess'. This is a case where having watched C1 felt like it screwed things for me, 'cause it seemed as if the seeds for the messy break up of Bard's Lament were being planted... and then they didn't sprout. I know people like Tary, but he was such a blip in the scheme of things writing him out makes sense (and they can still fit him in if they want). It just seemed like they were building up to something with Scanlan that never paid off. I also personally massively dislike the 'real family' line from him. You can say goodbye I wanna hang out with my kid without shitting on your other relationships.

Percy's death did not hit at all for me. The song did not help. The lyrics being what was going on on screen was not my jam, though I know plenty of people liked it. I was also pretty sad by the choice to have him and Vex hook up before his death. I think the narrative of them just having waited too long could have worked fine, but I get tweaking things for the drama.

It's cool that Pike is getting a story, since Ashley really wasn't present enough to have one in the original stream. I guess the whole 'believe in yourself not your god' thing just ??? I guess it works. I mean the only time she was ever shown to doubt herself was in relation to her faith. I just. Her big 'it's me!!!' moment with Thordak had me going ???? It's you what? I just was not tracking what they were trying to do with her. She has too much self-confidence in all other things for me to track a self-doubt story I guess?

I'm curious about people who aren't familar with the original campaign's reactions, as the pacing just felt a little all over the place for me.

[delta-chan]

Scattered thoughts on Dawntrail and the Warrior of Light specifically, centered on the story in general as a starting point

Somewhere a bit after the second keystone I thought two things to myself about Dawntrail:

This reminds me of ARR.

This feels like it'll be as divisive as Stormblood.

Apparently, I was somewhat correct about the second of those things (with people actually comparing DT and SB). It's the slow pacing, the stakes being quite low with an easily foreseeable outcome for the first half, the WoL being out of focus.

For some, particularly the WoL being out of focus.

Being pushed to the wayside as someone that's "lesser" than another character is jarring after being the center of the world--nay, universe--for the last two expansions in particular. You are the sun, and reality was heliocentric. To find yourself tailing a somewhat goofy and tender-hearted girl out to take the throne for the sake of peace and happiness might feel a tad trite. Everyone calls you "adventurer". Nobody seems to know who you are. Wuk Lamat is the person everyone's interested in. It's a strange turn of events after being sent back in times and through the heavens--to be asked by a nervous Lamaty'i if you'll hold her hand in the dirigible.

Hunting, gathering, following, guiding. Things you did back in A Realm Reborn, and are once again doing in Dawntrail for the sake of someone else. You take care of menial tasks. Why wouldn't you? You're not the one who's important here. You're essentially a royal retainer, and someone outright calls you as much. You agreed to this--you wanted to go on an adventure, as an adventurer. So here's your adventure, similar to many of those you first engaged in gladly.

It's easy enough to see why things are like this for anyone--things could not possibly keep escalating after Endwalker. We had been to the end of the universe and fought despair itself, the embodiment of entropy and hopelessness. We had to come back to the planet and slow down--slow down exponentially. To bring ourselves back to zero, to a place where the stakes can grow anew as a new arc takes root. Yoshi P said as much multiple times--Dawntrail will be slow. We can't keep building on increasing stakes without letting up.

That doesn't mean Dawntrail is without some serious pacing problems, and an enormous tone disparity in the center where the first and second arc of it join. Erenville and the WoL's wild west adventure feels too slow and narratively awkward to occupy the space it does--the foreshadowing and emotional beats in it too easily find themselves lost in the tangled mess of the story taking place, every location on the map visited all too briefly.

Dawntrail has a hell of a good hook, but that, too, feels buried--though the city of gold was broadcast from the very beginning not to be a literal city of gold, I feel like a lot of the foreshadowing regarding it was not as punchy as it should have been. A lot of the time I noticed when things were noteworthy, but they weren't broadcast as such. The Yok Huy, their beliefs, and their dreams were brought up numerous times and given increasing importance, but it felt like they weren't anchored to anything and nebulously existed on their own alongside a rough location. (They did connect in the end--but that connection wasn't as punchy as it should have been either, likely because the initial breadcrumbs weren't properly seasoned and we spent very little time with the Yok Huy given the importance of their background.)

As for that hook for the rest of the greater multi-expac arc--it lives in the second half and establishes itself fully at the very end with the mysteries of merging dimensions, the "key", and the Milala are handed to us in a haze of tension and emotional flood that's as far from the vibe of the first half of the story as can be. Not only does it lay out possible future locations, it throws down a mysterious and weighty problem that will eventually need to be dealt with--what comes of it and in what way remains to be seen.

The very pointed focus on the "key" (the doohickey, the thingamajig, the contraption, The Strange and Oddly Malevolent Chalice, the device all being apt) lighting up in response to the activation of Azem's magic with the sol symbol to boot is more than enough of a signal that once again we are going to wind up at the center of a wider conflict in short order. Fate follows us, after all.

What Dawntrail does is introduce a new baseline: it informs us of our small place in the world regardless of our deeds, shows us gathering a number of staunch allies that will doubtless help us in the future, and puts us in a relatively low-stakes situation for the first half to drive home the fact that there is nothing noteworthy happening following our biggest victory. We follow Emet's advice to go out as travelers.

I can't wait for the patches to begin releasing because with the state of the world established and the "map" opened ahead of us the ball can truly begin rolling. Where that map is pointing us will be solidified over the patches, with the hook taking the foreground as the proper lead in for the wider arc.

I, for one, am still yelling "HEY WHY THE HELL DID IT DO THAT???" in my head and eager to learn. Well. Why the hell the thing did that.

Here's to finding out why the hell the thing did that going forward!

[rockitmans]

7. ...to shut them up.

from the kiss list / see the rest

7. to shut them up

~~~~~~

“Oh my God, you will not believe the idiocy I have been subjected to today,” Kurt fumes, the second he steps through the door. 

“Oh?” Blaine abandons his vegetable chopping to move towards his husband instead, aiming a kiss at his cheek that Kurt distractedly turns his face into out of habit.  

“I don’t why I thought becoming a creative director of photo shoots would actually mean people listen to me,” Kurt rages. “I mean God forbid, anyone actually tries to understand my vision.” He rips his coat off in a dramatic flair and thrusts it onto the hook. “I put my heart into these concepts.”

“I know you do,” Blaine murmurs. Not that Kurt feels positioned to listen to anything right now. He’s clearly in full flow. Blaine leans back against the counter, content to watch as Kurt moves naturally into an agitated pace across the room. 

“And the new guy, oh my God. He has the creativity of a teaspoon. Not to get too Miranda Priestly about this but florals in spring?” Kurt throws his hands up in exasperation and Blaine nods emphatically to show he’s listening even though he’s mostly just distracted by how especially gorgeous his husband looks today. Kurt is dressed in a shirt and tie with a suit jacket that is perfectly tailored to his body and shows off his broad shoulders and narrow waist. Blaine has never been able to resist Kurt in formal wear. He wants to tug that tie away from his throat so he can put his mouth there instead. Thank God for important work meetings that make Kurt want to dress up. 

“Like why not just pair that with pastels and be done with it. Fucking spring florals, what am I even paying this guy for?” Kurt asks but it’s clearly rhetorical because he just keeps on going. “I can’t even get into what I would like to do because it involves bird feathers and people clearly aren’t ready for that conversation.” 

Blaine bites his lip against a smile. He knows Kurt is frustrated, but he’s just so lovely like this. Flushed and slightly wild, all big gestures and mussed up hair. He wants to mess it up further. Sink his hands into it and push Kurt to his knees. 

“So instead I came to them with the neon concept. You know how we spoke about neons.”

“Due a comeback,” Blaine chirps obediently. 

“Exactly. So I came at them with the neons but it’s like everyone is determined to live in a sad, grey, closed off little world. What exactly is people’s problem with orange? And yellow for God’s sake? What did yellow ever do to anyone?” Kurt reaches up to loosen his tie and undo his top buttons and now looks so perfectly dishevelled that Blaine can’t follow his ranting any longer. He swallows. His eyes are glued to the way Kurt’s lips are moving. The way Kurt’s muscles move under the tight fabric. That small sliver of skin he’s exposed at his collarbone.  

He zones out for long enough that Kurt pauses in his pacing, moving to stand in front of Blaine with his arms crossed. “Are you even listening? Because I don’t think you seem outraged enough about mph-” 

Blaine can’t hold himself back any more. Not with Kurt so beautiful and animated and now close enough to touch. He hooks his fingers through Kurt’s belt loops and pulls him close, crashing their mouths together. Kurt staggers but Blaine steadies him and Kurt almost instantly relaxes, arms wrapping around Blaine’s back and shoulders. His mouth turns warm and willing under Blaine’s in a heartbeat and Blaine can’t stop the small, desperate noise that escapes him. 

He spins them, pressing Kurt up against the counter he was leaning against. He doesn’t have the patience for slow build up. His fingers go to Kurt’s button, undoing it and immediately sliding the jacket down Kurt’s shoulders. His mouth opens in invitation and Kurt takes it without pause, his tongue slick and hot and perfect. Kurt helps detangle himself from the jacket and Blaine’s hands go immediately to his waist, pressing in, feeling the shape of him through his shirt before yanking it out of his waistband. 

“Mm,” Kurt hums happily, leaning back to snatch a breath. “I'm all in favour of wherever this is going but, be honest. Did you kiss me just to stop me busting you for not listening?”

“Kurt, please. That is offensive,” Blaine jokes, smiling at Kurt’s soft huff of exasperation. “I kissed you because watching you get impassioned about anything, even the stupidity of other people is so insanely sexy that I just can’t help-” 

This time it’s Blaine that gets silenced with a kiss.  From the way Kurt smiles against his mouth, he thinks it was probably deliberate. 

[2aish-iteru3]

The World As We Know It (Katsuki Bakugo x Reader) Apocalypse AU

Also posted on Wattpad, under Aish_Iteru !

Part 1

(Y/n’s) POV

"Are you fucking kidding me"I sighed as I looked at the empty snare trap. Usually this wouldn't piss me off since that basically means there wasn't much animals around, but today ticked me off more. The trap was set off, and it was clear that someone or something had stolen what was captured in it. The branches of the trap itself were torn in half, and the leaves around were messed around with indicating that whoever took it, did it in a haste.

"I swear to god, if I find this mother fucker they're dead"I got up from the kneeling position that I was in and began looking for any signs of tracking down this bitch.

There were no signs of blood or flesh that the undead usually left behind so I scratched the idea that those bone headed zombies took my dinner. That meant another human took it. Which honestly, angered me more.

It has been 215 days since the apocalypse started, and I could still remember the events that lead up to it. Needless to say, it was fucked up; but thats a story for another time.

After a few more minutes of tracking down this idiot who decided to mess with me today. I gave up and began trekking back to the house I was currently camped at. It was about time anyway since the sun had started to begin setting.

"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you"I say with gritted teeth. Talking to myself became a habit of mine. No I wasn't crazy, well maybe a little, but hey you need to be a little crazy in order to survive this hell hole we now call the world.

The walk was silent, the only sound you could hear was the crunch of the leaves under my black military boots. Eventually I made it to the edge of the forest, I could see the little town I had settled in. There wasn't much to it the main road had a pharmacy, a picked out grocery store, a police station, gas station and a few neighbourhoods surrounding the main street. There were a few apartments buildings around as well, but I have yet to explore them since those stops are usually hot with the undead.

I quickened up my pace eventually turning into a light jog. I still had a few cans of food so at least I wasn't going to go hungry that night, but still meat would have been nice, gotta keep that protein up.

My jog had gotten me to the house I was staying at and after flawlessly hopping over the low fence, I made my way to the side of the house. There a trash can was set up underneath the main floor window. I climbed up the trash can, and proceeded to climb through the side window of the house. I usually never use the main doors of houses I would stay it. The front and back doors were nailed shut, and the only way to get in was the side window. Those undead freaks couldn't figure that out, so for the most part the house was safe, well as safe as it could be.

I took a few steps from the kitchen, and into the living room. There I had all my shit laid out. The coffee table in the middle of the room had majority of the food supplies I scavenged(canned food, a few granola bars, and a bag of chips that I was definitely going to muck up later on), along with some extra weapons I found. A hunting knife and a pistol with a silencer attachment(found this at the police station, scoree). I shook off the crossbow that I had slung over my shoulder, carefully placing it on the coffee table, my other hunting knife stayed in its sheath; attached to my belt on my left hip. Gotta stay on guard at all time I say.

"God I'm tired"I crashed onto the couch that welcomed my presence. At this point the sun had fully set, and it was pitch black in the room. The only person around was me and my thoughts. It was better this way though, getting too close to people in this world would just cause more problems. Part of me was thankful of my lack of cooperativeness, it taught me how to survive by myself. Can you imagine living in this condition and having the back bone of a chocolate eclair? Yea I think not.

My stomach grumbled, it had been a few hours since I last ate, but my body, and sleep had another idea. I settled in the couch, getting into a more comfy position, my eyes slowly closing shut.

Unfortunately, my sleep was cut off when I heard two male voices cutting into the eerie silence.

"Get in here dunce face, or else I'm leaving you"

"You're so mean Kaachan"I shot up from the couch, my senses firing off alarms in my head.  As quickly, and quietly as possible, I grabbed my pistol, and my crossbow before hiding in the shadows. The boarded up windows and doors completely blocked any sources of light coming into the room, making it easy to maneuver around the shadows. I could hear the second guy shuffling through the window before hearing a loud thud on the floor.

"You idiot! You're making so much noise!I'm not helping you up"

"Your shouting is making more noise, and again, you're so mean Kaachan"I hear the second guy whine.

"Shut up"The other guy says in a lower (still aggressive) more quiet tone.

I take this opportunity to press my back against the wall beside the opening from the kitchen to the living room. Once one of them walks through the door way, I can take one down; and then shoot the other. I held my breath as I hear them maneuvering around the kitchen to find anything.

'Sorry boys, I was here first'I smirked.

"Fuck, this is pissing me off!"One of the guys whisper yells.

"We can't go back empty handed. Izuku told me rations are so low this week, we might not make it"

"Yea I know, thats why this is PISSING ME OFF"Again with the whisper shouting. It's actually kind of funny. Hold on. Did they just say...Izuku?

"Go check out the living room Kaachan, maybe there is something there"

"Like what?Family photos?Don't be such an idiot!"

"Oh my god, fine I'll go check i-"In a split second. When he came into view, I kicked the back of the guys shin resulting in him crashing onto his knees(he let out a little "ow").Before he fully hits the ground, I roughly looped my arm around his neck and with all my strength turned him around to face his little friend. My knife flushed against the exposed part of his neck that wasn't covered by my arm.

"Make a move and I'll fucking kill you”

[fastlikealambo]

So I think I’m quite done with the l word gen q! I know I’m a year too late but here are my thoughts no one asked for.

I believe the cast did the best they could but the problem with this show is that there is a lack of focus, a lack of actually inclusive writing, and pacing issues.

I felt like I was watching two different shows at times, especially with the last season, and there was not enough care given to the new characters nor the OGs, there was no cohesiveness tying them together except for repetitive plot lines that went nowhere.

I’ve been rewatching the l word too and one of the things that is such a contrast to gen q is that tina bette alice jenny and shane(I would include Dana but she does not appear for all of the show) were a group that by all means should not work in reality but the writers did the WORK and even at it’s low points the relationships between these core characters felt real.

They didn’t do that with gen q, they focused on plating up drama in an effort to keep things light but neglected to round out these characters so all of these moments feel so hollow.

With the OGs it felt like someone read the wiki and instead of building on these already established characters, they took bits and pieces and forced them into a mold for the show that at the core should have been about them in a post 2000s world.

With Gen Q, they failed the new characters by never giving them autonomy and urgency and instead a rinse and repeat of susbstance abuse and affairs that still fall into stereotypes and feed into the racism and transphobia they wanted to avoid. They don’t feel like characters, they feel like walking storylines.

When you combine these two crumbling worlds you are doomed to fail. Going through old fandom posts and seeing how a certain subset of fans talk about the characters of color I can see how things spiraled into mess on the show and in reactions to it. I did see a few posts pertaining to people harassing cast and crew and I hope that isn’t true, come on guys.

I don’t know if there is a future for the l word, the l word New York rumors seem to be just that, but I do hope that a future queer tv show is given the time and care that the l word gen q deserved.

Also jenny fucking schecter did not fucking kill herself be so fucking for real

[safetycar-restart]

Today I’m thinking about the camboy au, more specifically their origin stories. I think Lando has always been a cocky little show off. He knows he’s pretty. He knows he’s sexy and knows how to use it to his advantage on camera. He definitely starts off solo. He’s very confident on his own cause he realizes he can do what he wants/likes and that he’ll attract an audience that wants to see that. So he doesn’t have to worry about disappointing anyone cause he’s doing what he wants and the people that follow him are into that. So gets a large following who love this pretty little brat. A tease who comes apart so pretty. No thoughts just horny menace. Maybe he does a few streams with Carlos as his dom. Brat meets brat tamer. But no one can really tame Lando cause he’s just too scrumptious as a brat.

Now we’re going to bring in Charlie boy. I think in the universe Charles lost his virginity to you (maybe it was mutual but I’m thinking that you were his introduction to good sex and the kink world). So as you guys’ relationship grew and you explored more of his fantasies maybe watching porn together was on the agenda for the night. So you pull up a streaming website and get Charles to look and see anything that might peak his interest. And then boom. Lando is trending on the top of the creator page. Charles.exe stopped computing. Cause wait. That’s his friend. From when he did karting. What the heck? And boy oh boy is he pretty. You quickly realize Charles isn’t responding to anything you’re saying and you realize he’s laser focused on Lando. So you click oh his stream to see this pretty boy happily riding a dildo and Charles is now imploding. Head empty. No thougts. Head empty. You notice how hard he got so you gave him a handjob matching Lando’s pace. You knew Charles had an interest in boys. Knowing all about his little (not little by any means) crush on Pierre. But he’s never been with a boy. So now when Charles.exe reboots, you finally get the story of how Charles knows Lando.

So now that takes us to which boy would be Charles’ first. He wants to do it with Pierre. He knows he’s kinky enough to be cool with having you in the room and calling the shots. But he’s so scared to mess up anything. And Lando looked so pretty and like a pro with Carlos, so maybe Charles should ask Lando for pointers. Eventually Lando comes over very interested in the idea of teaching charles how to ride dick and make it pretty. Pulling out all the stops like a camera was in the room. Lando was a little shy at first cause you, a dom, is in the room and he also wants to respect that. But he and Charles build their confidence with each other. They both are having the time of their life. Lando on a dildo and Charles riding your strap on. He’s usually a puddly pillow princess when you guys are going at it, submitting to you every which way. But today Charles learned how to throw it back while riding so he’s showing off his bouncy cheeks and he’s so proud of his new talent. Lando isn’t too sure how to interact with you not wanting to cross any boundaries but he listens to your instructions. He’s not as bratty in real life than in his streams. They worked well together. Making you wonder if Charles would be into doing a stream with Lando. Thus the whole ‘Lando corrupting Charles’ trope was born.

So after lots of discussion and a few FaceTime calls with Lando. Charles wanted to try streaming. He could make good money but only if he gets to do what he likes. Just like Lando. And mommy has to be there. So Charles’ first stream is with Lando. Two pretty boys following mommy’s off camera instructions. Playing with each other and some toys. Nothing too advanced for Charles’ first try. The followers quickly fall in love with Charlie boy and the video does incredibly well. And although Charles’ solo channel does really well too, his collabs with Lando are still some of their most viewed videos.

But what happens when one day Pierre comes over to play video games and the you guys forgot about the camera set up in the game room. Charles only did one stream in there that day to try out a gamer boy concept for a new video. Pierre is very curious cause this is an expensive looking set up. Charles tries to say it’s for a twitch stream but he has no twitch channel (yet) to back up that lie. Pierre sort of figures it out and is smirking at Charles waiting for him to confess. But Charles starts getting very nervous and really wants mommy to rescue him some how. Cause how does he explain to his crush that he somehow became a camboy when he wanted to learn tricks on pleasing guys from a friend of theirs who also is a camboy. Maybe Charles starts getting teary eyed too cause he’s afraid Pierre wouldn’t be interested in him now especially since he’s a camboy. Now he’s panicking and feeling silly because omg he was trying to learn tricks for Pierre and he doesn’t even know if Pierre likes him that way. Omg where’s mommy. Pierre knows Charles is spiraling and quickly pulls him into a hug and starts rubbing his back. He never meant to hurt Charles or make him uncomfortable so he’s whispering reassurances that it’s ok and that he’ll never judge Charles for what he does online. Charles is still crying but he’s relishing in this warm hug. You want to step in the help but you’re also wondering if Charles needs some privacy with Pierre to maybe tell him the whole truth. You still walk up to Charles and ask to pull him away for a second. You guys come to the agreement that Pierre should know the whole truth. Cause at this point, when Pierre already accepts the camboy thing, it can’t be that bad telling him about the crush. So you guys head back to Pierre who immediately pulls Charles into a hug again and this somehow makes it easier for Charles to confess. He feels safe in Pierre’s arms. Safe knowing mommy’s there to protect him if necessary. Safe in his home where all his comfort items are. And safe in the soft kiss that they exchange now that Pierre feels the same way about Charles. Pierre fits in effortlessly in your dynamic having been a friend of both of you for so long. He even appears in Charles’ streams every now and again. And Charles loves showing off when riding Pierre. The next time Charles plans a collab with Lando, Pierre.exe shuts down watching from behind the camera. He is now their number one fan. Holy hell these boys are very pretty. Maybe Pierre also gets some solo streams done. Or streams with you domming the fuck out of him.

I also realized that with Pierre’s humiliation kink, he might have been the one to do the kinkmas special where he had to guess who was fucking him. He’d be high on the feeling of being whored out (to those he consented to obvi). Maybe we should put him in heels and lingerie for good measure.

This was so long and I have procrastinated setting up my dorm for this. Hopefully you guys like it 😂

Have a lovely day everyone 😁💜

-🧬

I... oh my fucking god. I've read and reread this like eight times because it's so good. I'm gonna try and add some thoughts, but honestly there's nothing I can do to make this any better it's already fucking amazing. The only change I made was that I removed Carlos, because I like the idea of Lando being a virgin. Hope that's okay!!!

I definitely agree that Lando would start off solo. I think that Lando is really confident by himself, he knows how to pose and act in front of the camera. But when he's with other people, he's absolutely terrified and so awkward.

Maybe to add on, maybe Lando is actually a virgin? He knows exactly how to seduce people on screen, to be this bratty, seductive cam boy. But he freezes in real life?

And I love the idea that Charles is a virgin when he meets you. He had made the decision to wait for someone special, and he knew instantly when he met you that were the someone special. Honestly he has so much fun exploring his sexuality with you? So when you suggest watching porn together, he's all for it!!

He loses his little mind when he recognises Lando. Of course you click on Lando's video and watch it with him, making him cum at the same time as Lando.

That definitely confirms to him that he's into guys.

Which you know about of course. You're well aware of Charles's interest in men, which is absolutely fine with you. And you don't mind the idea of Charles sleeping with a guy at all. You know he wants to sleep with Pierre, and you know he would never leave you. So it's absolutely fine with you.

But then Charles sees Lando camming and loses his mind and suddenly he wants to speak to Lando again. And well.... he has no idea what he would do with Pierre and Lando must have tons of experience, since he's literally a camboy. So surely that means that Lando could help him?

He runs the idea by you, asking if you would be okay with it and if you would come with him if he has to meet Lando in person. You agree, that's fine with you. Lando is cute, and he definitely knows what he's doing. So sure.

Lando nearly feints when his old friend Charles messages him on his camming site. Because WHAT? But nevertheless, he answers and they start chatting and exchange Instagrams and Lando loses it when he sees how attractive Charles has gotten and how he has such a hot girlfriend and oh god now he has two crushes.

Eventually is culminates in Lando teaching Charles how to ride a dildo while you watch, and both of them are losing it from knowing that you're watching.

Charles starts camming himself, and Lando is so excited for their collabs!! You handle the aftercare for both of them for those streams, looking after them and loving on them and it's so good.

And Charles finally have the confidence to go to Pierre yes!!! He's so nervous, and his confidence gets shattered even more when Pierre notices the recording equipment. Poor little thing panics so so much and he doesn't know what to do to, just immediately calling his mommy for help.

Pierre is so supportive and accepting though, and he's so fucking happy when Charles reveals his feelings because Pierre has liked him for so fucking long. And you!! Pierre has liked you too, and when he sees you watching them he immediately motions for you to join the hug.

Charles starts crying tears of happiness when he's got Pierre and you hugging him, his mommy and his oldest friend keeping him close and safe and loved.

And Pierre really does fit into your relationship so easily. It's honestly like he's been there since the beginning.

You're a little worried about how Pierre will fit in when he watches charles and Lando cam together though. Not the actual cam session, because that's so hot. But the aftercare concerns you, because you always take care of both Charles and Lando. You're worried about how Pierre will feel with Lando being there for aftercare as well, but you can't turn Lando down. Lando is able to give his all during those cam sessions because he knows he knows he'll be looked after.

But Pierre manages it so well? In fact it's even better with Pierre, because Pierre just fits in and helps you care for them. He carries Lando and Charles to the bathroom, helps you wash them, carries them back to the bedroom.

And well.. maybe... maybe the relationship isnt complete until you have two camboys....

[salvadoerena]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

OOOOO GOOD QUESTION!!

Funnily enough, tumblr is one of the main ones. My characters tend to develop from ye olde tumblr oc ask/rp blogs, so I got in the habit of reblogging a lot of funny posts tagging my characters. It still happens even if I'm not tagging them. For example if there's a post like "every friend group has the chihuahua, the yorkie, and the borzoi" or like, a picture of someone holding a giant mouse or something, in my head I go "haha, yeah Andy is tooootally a yorkie. Too much energy and slight diva tendencies" or "oh man giant versions of little things would be rad. is there a way I can worldbuild on that? more oxygen in grounded islands means bigger bugs?"

Sometimes, if I'm looking for inspiration regarding character designs/fashion references, I might go on picrew or pinterest and just look and see different styles people might have or mess around with doll makers. Usually picrew doesn't have what I'm looking for exactly, but it'll be something like "oh there's a fishnet top in this one. i think Mareilli would absolutely wear this" or "oh this is a fun hairstyle. i should give more of my characters long hair so they can do more updo's," you know? So if you're looking for character design/inspo, highly recommend!!

If you wanted my biggest website inspiration though, it's probably youtube. I spend a lot of time on there watching speedpaints/character designs/costume builds/etc and it's a HUUUUGE inspiration. A lot of dichotomies I make between Grounded/Aerin islands comes from listening to people like Bernadette Banner regarding like...okay so like she made a video re: the costuming choices in Game of Thrones and that REALLY sent me on a spiral into looking at what differences in fashion and textiles you would find in islands that...float...and have windstorms haha;;;

This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would so the rest is under the cut! (Please read under the cut there's some writing programs and editing services I recommended under there).

And I know everyone says this but seriously: consume as much media as possible. I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much television, music, film, books, anime, manga, comics, podcasts, and video games have either driven me to better my writing or have inspired me to make certain creative choices.

A lot of things from Seraetia were heavily inspired by Black Sails, from things like costume design to obfuscating certain characters' motives to me deciding to go whole hog on including polyamory as an end-game relationship status for some characters. Reading The Locked Tomb series and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians (plus literally everything else in that series haha) really pushed me into forcing myself to work on my imagery and prose, while also forcing me to think about pacing and how/if I should write it as a saga or how arcs should work. Nonfiction stories and documentaries also help!! Though, I'm pretty biased as I'm more into animals and psychological research, but I have definitely referred to those things when thinking up like, units of measurement and cuisine and things.

Also do NOT underestimate the power of infodumping and word vomiting with friends. When I write out my acknowledgements, @okiedoki and @miscbeary are going to be front and center "Thank you guys so much for letting me speak nonsense for hours on end and just nodding along." Roleplay with friends!! Even silly little inconsequential things or alternate universes or iterations upon iterations will help you to flesh out your characters! I've come up with so much about James and he's gone through so much development because I would go "Haha what if he was in the modern world he'd probably own an iguana that would be funny. Why an iguana...? You know, it's probably because he likes to be seen as different, but also because he just thinks they're cool. They're dinosaur-like and he enjoys the fact that something so unconventional and kind of scary can love and be loved--OH MY GOD JAMES SEES HIMSELF AS A MONSTER AND USES THE IGUANA TO PROJECT AND TEACH HIMSELF HE'S WORTHY OF LOVE."

*cracks knuckles*

Now in terms of actual programs you can use to write stories!!

Google Docs tends to be my go-to, but ever since I discovered StimuWrite 2, I tend to switch between both. Since I do most of my writing at night, Gdocs is really harsh on my eyes (even with f.lux, blue light glasses, and darkreader), so I like that you can set a gentler background on StimuWrite. Even better, it makes my ADHD brain happy and actually stay on task bc there's so much stimulation in there lol The only downside is that it doesn't really save your work (there's an emergency back-up it creates, but it's only for the last couple of writing sessions I believe), so I'll use it to write out a bulk portion and then transfer it to Gdocs.

If you're planning on writing a serious novel and want something with a little bit more organizational prowess, I would go with Scrivener. It has a lot of bells and whistles that are actually pretty neat, like being able to save reference documents/photos and putting it in the same "container" as the actual writing passage. Honestly? It's a lot. But!! It includes a built-in tutorial that does a REALLY good job of going through everything, so highly highly HIGHLY recommend following it because it explains the features very well and I do quite like them! Unfortunately, it does cost $60, but it's a one-time purchase and genuinely very useful.

If you're more into screenwriting that novels and the like, cannot recommend FadeIn enough. We had to use that in my Creative Screenwriting class and it was SO easy to use and made exporting scripts SUCH a breeze. In fact, Welcome to Irth was entirely developed in FadeIn, haha.

If you're looking for more like, art resources I would go with things like Clip Studio Paint/Paint Tool SAI. I used to use FireAlpaca like a decade ago, and I really enjoyed it! Can't say how well it's held up, though. PureRef is great too!! It helps you keep track of your reference images, and you can set it to "float" on top of other programs.

FINALLY LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!

If you're looking for an editing service, please please PLEASE look into RoseLark Publishing. I had the privilege of working with them this past summer getting a Manuscript Assessment and I'm so glad I did. They're very professional and are great at communicating their timelines and everything! They might still be accepting editing assessment applications at this time, but you can shoot them an e-mail on their contact page!

Anyways, I am going to stop myself here or I will literally not shut up. Thank you for asking!! I looooooove love talking about my writing and apparently about the writing process as well, lol.

[pierrotsmoon]

Heaven (Brian x reader)

Chapter 2- Love My Way Chapter 1

Brian's happiest day yet.

(warnings- College AU, cuteness, exposition, frat boys Jeff and Ben, stress cleaning)

“Ok, so you're telling me that the Vikings didn’t wear those horned helmets?”

     Brian looked at the girl in front of him, who was snickering to herself. Brian knew at that moment that they were the only two people in the world. She noticed his eyes on her, and her head tilted downward, looking at her lap. The two sat in silence for a couple minutes before he spoke up again.

“I think we might be done for the day; do you want me to walk you home?”

    The girl’s eyes crept to look at the open window; it was nearing eleven at night, and it was pitch black outside. She understood that it would probably be safer to go home with someone else; the fact that he was cute didn’t hurt either.

“I live in the dorms by the science building; it's really nearby.”

  ★

“-and that's how Tim and I got banned from our neighborhood pool.”

       As the two of them shared stories, Brian noticed her start to walk closer to him. As their shoulders almost touched, and her shoulders bobbed as she laughed, he felt a tight squeeze inside his chest. It was below freezing, but Brian couldn't feel warmer. He almost dreaded the fact that this moment would soon end; the dorms were only a 20-minute walk from the library, and he knew that his rambling extended it to over half an hour. The old clock tower by the brick laid old school dormitory struck twelve, and the two quickened their pace. He needed to go home too; the other fraternity brothers would get too curious if he didn’t. The girl was lucky enough to live alone, with no annoying roommates or eerie freshmen. 

“Thanks for dropping me off. I get really scared of the dark.”

She looked down again, hands clasped together to keep warm. He wanted so badly to hold her, to keep her warm and safe.

“It's no big deal; I mean, you were nice enough to help me too.”

His dirty blond hair started flying over his eyes; the wind clung to his cheeks, making them chapped and blush.

“Hey, Brian. You're always so sweet to me, you know that?”

His heart caught in his chest.

“Would you go on a little date with me to that cafe by Mountford? Next tuesday is cool with me.”

Brian felt like the biggest weight had been taken off of his chest.

“Yeah, that sounds wonderful.”

Brian couldn't help but break into a toothy grin, his hands shaking as he bounced on his heels.

“Mhm.”

★

    Brian opened the doors leading up to the fraternity. He kept himself as quiet as he could; the last thing he needed was for one of the guys to start asking questions. The door knob slightly jangled in his hand as it suddenly swung open from the other side.

“Brian! So glad you showed up! I really need help with this bio assignment, can you help a guy out?”

Oh no, the last thing Brian needed right now was Jeff. Why God when he was finally having a good day? The brown-haired boy stood proud and tall, wearing a Limp Bizkit shirt and shorts that went down to his knees; his regular emo hair was messed up even more than usual.

“I’m really tired right now, man. I'll get to you tomorrow, ok?”

The brown-haired boy signed, his lanky form dropping down dramatically. Jeff was a bit of an idiot, but he knew his friend was acting a little differently.

“What's with the look? Did you win the lottery or something?”

Brian looked down at the shorter boy, debating whether or not he should smack him upside the head.

“It’s nothing, go to bed.”

Jeff’s single brain cell dinged against his empty skull.

“Is it about a girl?”

Brian’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Leave me alone, Jeff.” 

Jeff giggled to himself.

“Ooooo, Brian’s got a girlfriend!”

Jeff spurted that a little too loudly, forcing Brian to shove his open palms over the brunette’s mouth. It was too late, though. The rest of the nearby rooms steadily began to open. Jeff wrangled his face out of Brian’s hands.

“Ben! Brian’s getting laid!”

Brian has never wanted to die more.

“No way! A girl wants Brian? When will it be my turn?”

“When you stop looking twelve, dude.”

As the two freshmen bickered amongst themselves, Brian turned around to dash up the stairs to his dorm. The house was a really old mansion, but it had been converted to a fraternity in the late 1800s due to its closeness to the university. The stairs creaked with Brian’s quick steps. He noticed tim out of the corner of his eye.

“Thank God, a reasonable person.”

Tim had only joined the fraternity because Brian did; he kept to himself in the house and tended to stress clean late at night, explaining why he was still awake. 

“If those two are pissing you off, I'll deal with them.”

Tim was flipping back his black hair, a wet mop clutched in his hands. Tim was sort of a burly guy, with broad shoulders and all that, and he could probably take on two scrawny freshmen.

“Nah, they're just idiots, you should be getting to bed, don’t you have to prepare for the meeting with the owner next Tuesday?”

Tim hummed and sauntered into his room. The owner of the mansion was really illusive; he only ever gave staticky phone calls or typed letters. Brian stayed out of the way when it came to that guy, and Tim handled most of the correspondence.

As Brian went to his own room, he immediately turned the lights off and fell onto his bed. His mind was flooded with thoughts of her . Brian thought about his schedule; he was scheduled to go meet a director friend tomorrow, but he knew he would be restless until Tuesday. 

Brian closed his blond lashes, a soft smile on his face.

[mosscloakenthusiast]

Treebark Week day 5 - stay/run

The sun was setting, painting colours across the sky. Martyn was trying to rest, staring out of his small windows to watch the sun sink towards the horizon. For the first time in a while, he felt at peace-

“MARTYN!” 

He barely had a second to turn before Ren had climbed his way into the Bleeding Heart Bastion, panting from the effort of getting up to his isolated base. He looked exhausted - eyes near filled with tears, usually well-kempt hair a mess down his back, sunglasses somehow cracked. Part of Martyn noted that he still looked pretty. He ignored that part. His friend clearly needed help.

“Martyn, I’m sick of this GAME!” It was one of those monologues, then. Martyn sat down on the floor, beckoned for Ren to do the same. “I can’t sit right now dude, I’m STRESSED!” Ren began pacing, Martyn settled into watching and being occasionally supportive. “I’ve just come from THERAPY with SCOTT-”

“Oh was it you I heard across the cliff?” Ren pauses pacing to shoot him a pained look. “Ah. I see why you’re here.” Martyn took a deep breath. He had heard two people fighting during what he had assumed was one of Scott’s therapy sessions. Clearly, he had assumed correctly.

“Yeah, dude. BigB is CHEATING ON ME, and now I don’t know where to GO!” Ah. Not great for Ren - Martyn tried not to seem happy that Ren’s new relationship hadn't worked out. Told himself he still didn’t have a chance, Ren would have asked him ages ago if he was even somewhat interested-

“Run away with me.”

What?

“What?” 

“Run away with me. Leave this blasted server and stay with me instead.”

“I - Ren -  there’s a border?”

“Yes. Right. So, we run to a corner of the world, build walls, and work until we can figure out how to break it.” Ren paused, as if trying to analyse Martyn’s reaction before continuing, “Look. We’ve been close since day one, right dude? And we have that whole broken hearts club thing, so it’s not like we’re caring about the ‘no previous alliances’ rule, and BigB told me I dress like you and I think it’s because I miss you and-”

“Ren.”

“Right, sorry, just - angry. Confused. You’re looking really beautiful in this lighting-” He gestured towards the window, where the last of the sunlight was seeping in “- and there’s just no-one else I’d trust enough to leave with me, basically.”

The guy Martyn’s had a crush on since he'd known him was asking Martyn to run away with him. He called him beautiful. Martyn wanted more than anything to do whatever Ren asked. But he knew he couldn’t, and he could feel his heart breaking as he realised the situation Ren had put him in.

“Ren, hanging out with Pearl because we think she’s a witch is different from running away together. We can’t break the no-alliance rule. You know that. This isn’t fair. You’re making me make the decision so you don’t have to, and you’re only asking me because you don’t like Scott and you think I’m the next most likely to break the rules-”

“That’s not true-”

“Well, Scott broke the rules. They killed him at the end of the last game.”

“I don’t care!”

“I’m sorry, Ren. I can’t. You know I can’t. Cleo would kill me- I-”

“I love you.”

Fuck. What was he supposed to say to that?

“You don’t mean that.” He settled on. Because he didn’t, right?

“I’ve loved you since Dogwarts. I didn’t know how to tell you, but hey, it could be worse than “quit your soulmate, run away with me”, right?”

Martyn sighed, standing up so he’s face to face with Ren, who had stopped his pacing again.

“I love you too. Always have. But, and I hate myself for it, I can’t follow you on this one.”

Ren paused. Took a step away. “I hate you too.”

“Well, that makes this easier for you, then.”

Ren stared at him for a moment, then left. Martyn waited until he couldn’t see Ren from his window before he started crying.

[mabeysomeclasspecting]

You're still doing requests? Awesome! Can you classpect mine 🥺 no need to rush with it ofc, pace yourself! Uhh, lets see.

1. What are your interests/hobbies?

i have a lot of interests but if i have to put a pin on them, its always about exploring something new. watching a mysterious internet arg, writing down worldbuilding ideas, getting myself lost because my hometown start to get too samey, exploring abandoned buildings, and watching plays and backyard gigs. which is ironic because i live in a small-ish town, there is not much excitement or exploration to be done in here, but i make do. other interests of mine would be music. i like music that are weird, distorted, and just off. i love it when the rhythm is a discordant mess. however, just because i seem to go out a lot doesnt mean im the social type. i mean, i try to be, i kinda have to get used to keeping secrets and doing things all alone to get some freedom / agency in life.

2. How Do You See Yourself?

Honestly it depends on which character i latched on to that week. I dont really care for having an internal self. Whatever serves what i want best is my current self. But, turns out im not that good as a social chameleon. So, one thing I can recognize about myself is i don't quit and give up on things even when I should. When I want things, I might not be very motivated to get it, but I'll always work on it no matter how long it takes or how many times it has failed. Oftentimes I worry that im too slow and that no matter how much patience and devotion i have to my wants, I just dont have enough energy to actually get it. Or i'll end up ruining myself in the process.

3. How do you think others see you

Unforgettable. Striking. strange and offputting. Acquaintaces say im okay but a little aloof/strange. My family say i work hard but i have no sense of self preservation, tbh i think theyre biased. My friends think im smart and a little impressive. But closest besties, despite my best efforts, see that i used to be super sheltered and inexperienced in social settings. its terrible!

4. How do you interact with your friends?

Hm, depends on what kind of friends. if theyre the hangout friend, i'll just sit back and occasionally make them laugh with my dumb antics and give out some trivias to make things fun and easy. If theyre the deep conversation friend, i would try to impress them with how much i know. its overcompensating i know.

Its not all roses with me though. Some of my friends did say i can be unsympathetic to their problems. which is surprising to them because they thought im nice. i didnt mean it, i guess i just dont get why people just lament instead of finding a solution. its so... helpless. i dont want to be my younger self who let himself get trapped in his own house and miss out on so much life because theyre too afraid to act. so why people do nothing but feel sad when awful things happen is beyond me. And that comes out harsh when people are used to my lighthearted, easygoing self.

5. What's Important To You

I need to feel good about myself. And that's very much reliant on me working for my dreams. Not some escapism or fantasy. I also want change, a kinder world, justice. I want everyone to get whats been stolen from them. However, I spent so much time and wasted so many opportunities because of that dream, it almost feel like its holding me back from permanently feeling good for myself. but when i think about it, im not angry or disappointed. I like to see the silver lining in everything i guess. but there's limits to this. Yknow the phrase "fighting the good fight?" i think, its not enough to fight, you have to win, no matter how many rules you break or how many things become collateral damage. doesnt matter if youre in the right side of history or how many times you prove bigots wrong if you keep losing and dying. and thats a matter of action and bravery, not morals.

6. Describe the ideal you, what kind of person do you strive to be?

Impressive. Capable and competent at everything. Scares people but in a good way. Get shit done. Have sick-ass tattoos, have lots of friends, Can be relied on for everything. And have traveled to so many places and get so many extraordinary experiences.

(note : i wanted to send you an ask a few months ago, but there was a sudden blackout in my area right after i hit send. pretty sure its gone to the void! but just to make sure, if you see an ask thats similar in content to this (i remember saying i like internet horror, args, music, and urban exploration!) its probably mine! you dont have to answer that)

and my signoff emojis : 🫧🌪️

Hello! I definitely think that ask got lost, but I'm happy to classpect you now :)

Aspects: Breath, Heart, Time

Classes: Prince, Thief, Maid

You seem like a solid Prince of Breath to me! I feel pretty certain, but play around with those other ones if that doesn't feel right

Hope this helps!

[treesap-blogs]

Happy 20th Tumblr Review guys!! Here I’ll be covering “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi!

Hello, Tumblrians! Continuing on with my trend of reviewing Trans Rights Readathon books I read last month, we have Pet by Akwaeke Emezi! It was the second one I read, and I remembered finding out about it a year or two ago when it first came out. I’d been putting it off for a bit but decided to get around to it, due to the novel’s short length and it fitting the quota of the Readathon.

Pet follows a black trans girl named Jam, who lives with her family and friends in the city of Lucille, in a future not so far away from our own and with a plot written under speculative fiction rather than outright futurism. Jam’s mother, Bitter, paints pictures, and one day a monster from within one of her canvases comes out of it and essentially becomes/is real. The entity’s name is Pet, and reveals that despite Lucille’s image, the (metaphorical) monsters they’ve sworn they’ve completely eradicated still live in the shadows of the city. The one Pet is seeking to destroy lives inside the house of Jam’s friend, Redemption, and the three of them must work together to try to find the monster posing a threat to possibly him and his whole family.

With a premise like that, you can tell it’s interesting(even if a little overly condensed for its under 300 page count), but it’s also worth mentioning the trigger warnings. (As always, they’re listed toward the bottom of the review, but if you don’t feel like scrolling down, heads up that CSA doesn’t happen on-page but is described and alluded to.)

I’ve heard many reviewers describe this book as “darkly whimsical”, to which I agree. Pet as a character, not the book itself, is written in a way that makes the otherworldly aspects of it a little more magical-seeming. Pet is also Akwaeke Emezi’s YA debut, meaning that it teeters on the line between standard YA and middle grade at times. (I’ve heard it’s prequel, Bitter, does not do this as the plot and tone are completely different.) I didn’t take much issue with this to be honest, because again, it was Emezi’s YA debut, except for that given the subject matter I think the more mature writing style I’ve heard of in Bitter would suit it better.

Pet, despite its short length, also has a fully-fleshed out world. I think this is great, I love myself some lore and I think that in a semi-futuristic one like Lucille you have to both develop and explain the history that made it what it is in the story’s “present day” event. But it also meant that there wasn’t a good balance between characters and worldbuilding: the length messed that up instead of the pacing(which would be the usual culprit), and as a result both felt like they could use more development. (I did like Jam’s dynamic with Pet itself though, it added to the tone.) While the fast pace fits the tone of the plot, I think an extra 50 or so pages just to make sure Lucille didn’t feel underdeveloped, and we get some more time on Jam and Redemption’s friendship due to its importance to the plot.

I don’t know what else to say, except for that the ending, although it didn’t totally catch me by surprise because I went into it knowing the trigger warnings, was still heavy and there was this ugly feeling of tenseness building up to that that I’m not sure how to comment on. Because on one hand, good writing?, on the other…I don’t know. Everything kinda wrapped up quickly, which is good for those who don’t want to dwell on that for too long (myself included), but the quickness of the ending also gave me a bit of whiplash.

I do appreciate the ending recognizing that although not everything can be perfect and fixed, what matters are people going out of their way to protect others and preventing those patterns from being encouraged or ongoing. That was handled carefully, which is something I was slightly scared about.

I don’t know how else to continue this review, I think those are all of my words. I don’t have super strong opinions except for that Akwaeke Emezi’s writing style is something I enjoyed immensely, and I want to read more of their works in which that can be showcased outside the confines of this story’s short length.

(Here’s some pictures of the Pet fanart I made for TRR! Pictured: Jam, Redemption, and the titular character, Pet.)

Book Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

 (Book content/trigger warnings: Child abuse(specifically CSA), pedophilia, violence and some blood.)

~Paz, signing off!

Trans Rights Readathon Reviews: 2/5

[highdramas]

the world’s a little blurry | b.b.

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

warnings: none

word count: 2107

summary: bucky is home, and he is yours

note: this is a one shot for now, but i definitely have more ideas for these two <3 this’ll be heavily inspired by tfatws so this is a spoiler warning for anything mentioned! also this is my first time writing bucky so pleaseeeeee give me some mercy lol

enjoy! <3

it’s nearly three in the morning, and you’re lucky if you stay up past midnight, so bucky makes a point to be quiet as he tiptoes into the apartment. after a mission gone awry in the apartment building where you had been neighbors, you’ve been staying with the superhero. something about not losing you and you’re safest here. bucky’s not stupid— caring about someone is a gamble, and it had become clear to his enemies who exactly it was that he cared about.

living with you came lots of things that bucky was not expecting. first off, you’re very cluttered. you call it controlled chaos, he calls it a mess. he’s fascinated by the state of your night stand, mostly. a dying plant and one loose airpod, two half empty water bottles, an empty starbucks cup.

second off, you have a cat. her name is katherine, but you call her kitty, occasionally kiki. and while bucky had been determined not to get attached, after awhile, it was difficult not to. she rubbed up on his legs, cuddled in his lap on the couch, slept on his chest in the middle of the night. she’s fucking adorable, and not even the winter soldier can deny that.

third off… you. you as a whole. he’s sure that it would’ve been a shock living with anyone, but the care that you give him… he’s not used to having someone making sure he’s eating. he’s not used to someone checking up on him throughout the day. he’s not used to having someone to come home to.

it’s nice.

it feels safe.

and he’ll kill anyone who tries to take this peace away from him.

bucky groans as he shucks his jacket off, feeling exactly where his muscles ache. he tries to keep his volume minimal. finally, he opens the door to the bedroom. the bedroom that you share.

this was the biggest adjustment of all.

he’d barely slept in a bed at all before you came along. too soft, too comfortable. he told you as much that first night, and what you had said shocked him.

“well, i’ll just sleep on the floor with you.”

no, oh, just get in bed. no, c’mon, it’s nice. none of those things. just understanding.

but it was more than understanding. it was meeting him exactly where he was.

that was three months ago, and you had kept your word. if you weren’t sleeping on the floor with him, you were on the couch with your hand tangling down, brushing along his hair, his shoulder. every time he felt you bucky swore that he could cry.

it was two months ago that he suggested you both sleep in the bed. and while it wasn’t every night, and some nights he padded out to the living room with a blanket and pillow… it was progress.

and he would wake up to find that you had joined him on the floor.

the nightmares weren’t gone. he’s not sure if they ever would be. but they were growing few and farer between, and the ones he did have were growing more manageable.

things were getting better.

of course, they were not perfect. and he knew that you didn’t expect them to be. he has therapy once a week, sometimes twice during the particularly hard weeks. he’s grown close with sam and his family. and… you.

his girl.

as the door creaks open, he almost chuckles at the sight of you. you’re laying horizontally across the bed, taking up both your side and bucky’s. katherine is curled in at your chest, her nose nearly touching yours. your mouth is open and he can see that there’s a bit of drool in the corner of your mouth, and that does make him laugh. it stirs you and he freezes.

bucky watches as you slowly wake, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, and then rubbing the drool from your mouth. “ew,” you mumble, still half asleep, and bucky leans in the doorway wearing a smirk.

“go back to sleep, doll.”

you hum and stretch, and so does katherine, giving a wide yawn. “you’re home.”

home.

had he ever had a home before? 

he did once, as a child. a time that feels so distant, so separate from the life that he leads now. sometimes, it’s hard to even picture the faces of his family members.

he had this apartment, but it never felt like home. not until you waltzed into it with your clutter and your laughter and your vibrancy. not until you cooked dinner hip to hip, not until you listened to music that he had never heard of, not until you watched some movie that was your favorite.

you’re home.

bucky smiles and he nods, sitting on the edge of the bed, pushing your hair back. “i’m home,” he says quietly. “i’m sorry i’m so late.”

you shake your head, your hand taking his. he still wears the gloves. you raise your eyebrows at him. “can i?”

he nods. you make quick work of removing each of his gloves, tossing them across the room, which makes bucky smile. he knows he’ll be picking those up in the morning. you press a kiss to his palm, the one that is flesh and bone. and then you take the other and do the same. “missed you, buck.”

something in his heart constricts as he watches you-- washed in moonlight that comes in through the window, sleepy smile on your face, eyes fixed on him. he knows that look, and he knows what it means. he doesn’t know if he deserves it, but he tries. he’ll always try for you.

“i wasn’t even gone twenty four hours,” the smirk is evident in his tone even if you can’t see it, but you scoff and roll your eyes. “i think you’re needy.”

“needy!” you repeat and laugh, falling back onto the pillow. kitty stirs and looks up at bucky, letting out a loud meow. “she’s the needy one. look at her.”

“both of you.” he scratches kitty’s head and then kisses the top of yours before he stands again. “i’m gonna shower.”

sleep is escaping you and you push yourself up onto your palms. “can i join you?”

he chews on the inside of his cheek and shrugs his shoulders innocently. “better pick up the pace then, soldier.”

with a laugh, you kick the sheets off of you. “yes sir.”

he rolls his eyes and you both shuffle into the bathroom. now, in the light, you’re able to get a good look at him. and your jaw drops slightly at what you see. “bucky,” you say and he already knows what’s coming. you touch the side of his face where a bruise is blossoming. “how the hell does this even happen?”

“part of the gig.”

you groan and he smiles and he does so because he loves you. he loves your mess and he loves your doting, he loves your cat and he loves coming home to see that you’ve taken up the entire bed. “you’re an old man. one of these days you’re gonna have to retire.”

“got unfinished business first.”

you know of his past. of course you do. although, you’re a firm believer that it’s not his past, rather than a past that was decided for him against his will. you’ve made a point of making your stance in that clear. you have heard stories of what bucky has done, but you have tutted and shaken your head. “what hydra did.”

these are the things that bucky tells himself, but it is different to hear it from someone else. someone who is not steve, or sam, or another avenger who has also committed morally grey acts. because, yes, they are all good and trustworthy and worth listening to-- but you. you are his girl. you are his girl who laughs at his jokes and teases him and never once babies him for what happened to him, but you’re also the girl who has woken him from nightmares, who has tended to his wounds, who has been held back from a fight just to defend his honor. you have seen him in his entirety, and you have never balked.

“alright, well--” it’s not lost on you how his eyes trail down your body as you undress, turning on the water and checking the temperature. “as soon of this business of yours is finished…”

“i know.”

the two of you share a look and he gives a crooked grin. “you look nice.”

“there’s dried drool on my face.”

“yeah, i know.”

it’s been nearly a year since you met james buchanan barnes and yet he still gets you to blush. he practically lights up at the sight of the color on your cheeks. “are you--”

“shut up and get in the shower,” you retort, pulling back the curtain and stepping into the steaming water.

“yes, ma’am.” you hear the shuffling of his clothes falling to the floor and then he is behind you, hands going up and down your arms. you let out a sigh and tilt your head back, peering up at him. water trails down his nose, dripping off and onto your forehead.

you don’t tell bucky, but you do worry. you worry every second that he’s gone on a mission. you know that you don’t have to say it, that he knows. and you trust that he will come home to you. bucky turns you and he holds your face in his hands and he presses his lips to yours and you know that he feels the same way.

i’ll always come back is spelled out in the way that he kissed you, the way that he holds the back of your head. we have forever is heaved from your lungs as he sucks the air from you.

when you part, you smile at his lips-- slightly swollen, pinker than normal. you rub your thumb along the bottom one and he catches your hand. he presses it on his chest, right where his heart hides beneath skin and bone. “you don’t have to do all of this to make up for what they did to you,” you say over the sound of water. “you’re allowed to have a normal life, if you want it.”

“i know.” he pushes a piece of wet hair from your face. “i just don’t--” he shakes his head and you know this all too well-- he doesn’t quite know what to say, he starts closing up and off and away, the high walls that guard his heart and mind beginning to take shape. “i feel like if i don’t… what was it all for?”

delicate hands move across his torso. you lather up a loofah and begin washing away blood and grime. “bucky,” you say and he looks at you, steely blue eyes staring right into yours. “you make people happy. you have people who love you, who care for you. you don’t owe the world reparations.”

he winces as you go over a particular bruise and you slow your movements, make them featherlight. “all i know is,” you begin. “whatever it is you want, whatever it is that fulfills your life… make sure it’s for you.”

a smile curls on his face and he stills your hands. “thank you.” he takes the loofah from you. “let me get you.”

“but i’m not done--”

“please. let me.”

you surrender and he begins to wash you, and your forehead falls to his shoulder, calm washing over your body. you could’ve been standing there for minutes or hours, you’re unsure. he pushes your hair back and at some point you realize that he is washing your hair, and you press gently open mouthed kisses against his chest and you hear his breath catch and you fall in love with him all over again.

“let me get yours--” you mumble around a yawn and you watch as he smirks down at you. “really, let me.”

bucky shakes his head and he turns the water off. “tomorrow,” he says.

you towel off and when you clamber into bed, you feel the weight of him beside you, your cat nestled between the both of you. you feel him pull you into him, his breath against your neck and his lips against your pulse point, and your eyes flutter shut. before sleep captures you, you murmur, “i love you, james bucky barnes.”

the feeling of his smile against your skin is imprinted on your heart, and his words coax you into sleep-- “i love you too, doll.”

bucky barnes sleeps through the night and doesn’t wake once.