#I will never give up the f!leo little leo dynamic

[k0ri0]

[ NEXT ]

its three am im gonna pass out,

ive been thinking about the endless plot ideas of EPF and john bishop stuff for weeks now but i wanted to add MORREEE to it, leos been captured and is STUCK stuck silly billy

may be a multiple part thing idk yet-

[venus616]

bro i fkn came at the thought of your blurb prompt fuck right off HAHA

the blurb prompt in question >:-)

cake; {p.p.}

Pairing: peter parker x f!reader (gif is tasm but you can interpret this as any peter parker)

Summary:  it's not even my birthday, but he wanna lick the icing off (lyrics by rihanna, birthday cake)

“Happy birthday Peter,” She speaks with her hands planted on her knees.  He gets on the bed, ready to pounce on her to her delight. “I think this will be my favorite gift yet,” He mutters while she leans back, elbows falling on his pillows.

Warnings: established relationship, smut, food mention, vaginal fingering, oral sex, light dom/sub dynamics if you squint, spanking, allusion to self esteem + body image insecurity, language, 18+, NSFW

Word Count: 3.1k (2.5k is smut... (i got carried away) (anyway))

A/N: decided to go with the birthday theme bc its leo season aka peter parker + spider-man season also happy birthday to mcu peter :') so feel free to imagine this as tom holland's peter cause it's canonically his day shdnsjd

It was Peter’s birthday and they were barely getting home from his celebration. It was an intimate gathering of his closest friends and his girlfriend at one of his favorite restaurants that wasn’t strictly Chinese takeout. 

To her satisfaction, this was after a few weeks of complaints from Peter of her going all for his birthday because he claimed it was “no big deal”. A few days beforehand, she eventually wore him down to allow her to do this one nice thing for him, mainly because he was able to piece two and two together and realized his objections fell on deaf ears.

He was still embarrassed from the singing from everyone in close proximity, followed by the cake play she teased him with when everyone was too distracted to tease them both about their PDA. 

Peter closes the door behind her, while she’s still holding onto his hand. All she wanted was to give him his final present for the night to remind him how grateful she was for his presence in her life. 

“Peter, c’mere,” She lightly whines while he locks the door of his apartment. 

“What is it baby?” He responds, looking down at her before she pretends to wipe away leftover frosting from his cheek. 

“You got a little something here,” She lies, making him look at her. He’s so tired from all the attention tonight, his face softens up from just staring at her. 

“Do I?” He smiles gently. She smiles back before trailing her fingers to his lips. 

“Yeah,” She whispers under her breath before bringing her other hand to the nape of his neck. She pulls him in to kiss her, inhaling the scent of his cologne. It was intoxicating being with him, and she swore it was something she’d never get used to. 

Peter smiles against her cheeks when you pull away to breathe, remembering her plans for the rest of the night. “Are you ready for your last present, birthday boy?” She smirks, feeling his hands grope her ass as he refuses to let her go. 

“You gave me like three this morning and threw me a birthday dinner,” He mumbles in her skin as he hangs his head in the crook of her neck with an iron grip on her waist. 

“Hence why I said “last”.” She reminds him. She hesitantly grabs Peter’s hands to detach himself from her, telling him to wait in his living room. 

She goes into the bag she brought earlier for tonight to get ready, looking at the lacy lingerie set in front of her. She had bought fishnet stockings that went up right below her ass, with a garter belt wrapping around her waist. There was a floral pattern tracing the lower half of the belt, complimenting the soft flesh of her stomach sitting underneath it. 

The underwear and bra were a matching set, barely leaving anything to imagination which she knew Peter would be delighted by. They both had the same flowers on her garter, but with the sheer fabric that graced her backside leaving her ass on display. 

She clasps the stockings to your garter and stares at herself in the mirror, making sure there wasn’t a hair out of place and that her makeup was still intact. She reapplies her lipstick from earlier and studies herself, feeling shy as she’s about to call him back in. 

Turning around to make sure her ass is complemented by the material, she spins back to the front. She’s still studying her nipples through the material, assessing the flowers that decorated the valley of her chest. 

She crawls onto his made bed, smiling to herself as she knows that won’t be the case for long. She kneels on this mattress before the door, fidgeting with her hands in her lap before she calls Peter. 

“Come in,” She yells out, focused on the way her thighs spilled out of her stockings due to the position she sat in. She tried not to pay it no mind, knowing that Peter didn’t care how her body looked, but it was hard not to feel particularly focused on every part of herself before they became intimate. She hears his steps pick up behind the door and feels her heart picking up at the doorknob turning. 

He comes in, staring at her with his lips being chewed between his lips. He silently huffed in surprise and a blush crept up his cheeks. She still avoids holding his gaze for too long, hoping he’d find the gesture sexy enough. She continues to be fidgety with the thin material of her set, looking at him with her eyes glassy and doe eyed. 

Peter strolls along his bed, loosening the buttons of his shirt. He sticks his tongue out licking his bottom lip, still not saying a thing. She looks up to see his eyes darken when his lips curl into a smile and feels her confidence rushing back, knowing he probably wanted nothing more than to take her right there. She sits up straighter, her chest on full display before she breaks the silence. 

“Happy birthday Peter,” She speaks with her hands planted on her knees. 

He gets on the bed, ready to pounce on her to her delight. “I think this will be my favorite gift yet,” He mutters while she leans back, elbows falling on his pillows. Peter attacks her with kisses, trailing down to her chest as he cups her breasts through the bralette.

“Yeah?” She asks, struggling to hide the excitement in her voice as he showers her in affection. She gasps out as she feels the wetness of his mouth devouring her nipple through the bra, feeling his tongue roll along her breast. Peter removes his mouth from her nipple and nods in between her tits and she can feel his smile when he does before she even looks down to see his eyes staring her down. 

She averts eye contact, closing her eyes and humming while she wraps her fingers into his hair, tugging at it lightly. 

“Don’t do that,” He quietly demands, much to her confusion. 

“What?” She pouts, furrowing her eyebrows at the absence of his body on hers. She opens her eyes and sees him shaking his head while he readjusts off to the side of the bed to take off his shirt. On a side note, she doesn’t think she’d ever get tired of seeing Peter shirtless, if she had it her way his physique would be in a museum. 

Peter’s answer takes her out of her daydream. “Don’t close your eyes. Look at me.” He insists, to which she rolls her eyes to before staring at him. She clenches her thighs closer together at the sight of his body, muscles defined even in the low lighting of the room and his hair tousled (courtesy of her). 

She nods, biting the inside of her cheek, still captivated by the sight of him. Oppositely, Peter focused on the way her heart beat was picking up as he unbuckled his pants. While he pulls his pants down, he watches the way she crosses her foot behind her leg, shifting her weight on one arm to inch closer to the side of the bed he’s standing by. 

“That’s my girl,” He says smugly, making her thighs clench together again. She positions herself on all fours now, fingertips teasing the waistband of Peter’s boxers while you palm her erection through the fabric. She smirks as she feels his cock twitching at her touch, gripping tighter around him as she feels his veins through the material. He covers her hands mid stroke and gently gestures to her to stop, to her frustration. He half-smiles. 

“I think you’ve done enough today,” He playfully scolds, before kneeling on the bed, making her back away. She’s back to her original position on her knees, still sitting up to meet Peter on eye level. She shakes her head, laying back down in the pillows in defeat, knowing what he wanted to do. She knocks her knees together while flat on her back and feet planted in the bed. Peter maneuvers himself to separate her legs with himself, aiming his face to attack her heat. 

Then, Peter thinks better of it. “I wanna try something,” He declares. She starts to speak but he picks her up by the waist, replacing her previous position with himself. She finds herself with her legs on either side of his waist before she can think better of it. He’s now beneath her, smirking at her confusion before she asks. “What is it?”

“Sit on my face,” Peter says nonchalantly, almost shrugging as he plays with the straps connecting her stockings to the garter. She lets go of a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in and barely sets her weight on top of him, very hesitant about his request. Peter is trying to read her face and pouts slightly when he senses her discomfort. 

“What if I hurt you?” She seriously asks. Peter laughs a little too hard, causing her to fall forward to hide her face in his neck.

“Stop it, ‘m serious,” She mumbles against his skin when she feels his chest heaving slow down. Peter runs his hands along her spine, one eventually resting on her ass cheek to cup and squeeze it. She plants her hands on his pecs before raising herself from her previous position to face him again. She sees him grinning, still amused by her previous question to which she rolls her eyes at. 

“I know you are,” Peter lightly smacks her ass causing her to moan, mindlessly grinding on his lower abs. 

“But think about it as my final birthday gift, yeah?” Peter’s face lights up at the suggestion as she can feel him practically clawing at her backside, excited to readjust himself to place his mouth to her wet cunt once she says yes. 

“You won’t hurt me,” He adds seriously. She knew realistically she wouldn’t (or couldn’t), but there was a bit of self consciousness making her too afraid to put her entire weight on his face. The same fear that she had when she originally started sleeping with him and hated being on top for the same reason, until he displayed his insane strength and started slamming her own hips onto his. 

“Okay, yes.” She nods and exasperates jokingly before Peter quickly worms his way down his bed to position himself right underneath her slit. 

Her thighs were on either side of Peter’s head, he acknowledges this by peppering them in kisses, making her drip in anticipation. He wraps the back of her knees with his own arms, hands firmly grasping her hips before letting her put her weight onto him. 

“My pretty girl,” He murmurs underneath her, lips lightly grazing the fabric that separated her wetness from him. “Gorgeous body too,” He adds before giving her a much stronger smack on her ass, making her yelp out and lean forward in pleasure. 

Peter moves her panties to the side, finally lowering her body onto his mouth and forces her to rest her weight on his face. He savors her, licking long stripes on her slit making her squirm on top of him from under the amount of pressure he put on her sensitivity. She felt like her thighs were going to crush his head and attempted to not squeeze any further but he noticed this, shaking his head before he interrupted to speak. 

“What did I tell you?” He says, a deeper, domineering voice sending sharp vibrations through her body. 

She whimpers as an answer. Peter doesn’t like this. He slaps her ass again making her yell once again, unconsciously clenching Peter’s head around her thighs and he forces her to hold this position. She feels his mouth go to work on her as she mindlessly grinded against his tongue. 

She ruts onto his mouth from the strength Peter was displaying by not only holding her up, but squeezing her skin so hard she’d be sure to feel the bruises the next morning. Peter’s enjoyment could be heard through the room by the way he slurped down her wetness. He readjusts one of his hands to the front to play with her clit during, making her legs shake on top of him. 

She eventually stops fighting it and squeezes around Peter, only encouraging him further by as he applies pressure onto her cunt with his tongue and her clit with his thumb, She leans down grabbing his hair for some, any leverage as the sensation felt like she was about to see stars. She begins panting, begging Peter to relax. 

“Peter please slow down,” She cries, wanting to lift off but Peter refuses, keeping her on at the same amount of pressure. He only holds her tighter, shaking his head in between her thighs while his tongue thrusted further in her folds. He only let her lift off briefly, before bringing her back down to suck on her clit, slowly at her request. 

This bastard, she thought, but all that came out was a moan that could barely be heard. Her soft stomach heaving up and down from the contractions of her orgasm building up. 

She rocked her hips as slowly as she could in his hold, still not wanting to hurt him, but it became harder with the way his tongue skillfully rolls along her nub. He playfully grazes it along his teeth making her cry out louder. 

“Fuck,” is only one of the obscenities that was strewn along with his name. She removes her hands from his head, and moves to the headboard in front of them, and starts to actively grind against his mouth knowing what he wanted.  

“Faster,” She mutters, making the bed creak beneath her at the pace she was moving. 

Peter briefly pauses on her clit, fully maneuvering the hold he had her under to replace his mouth with his thumb and looks at her from below, grinning with a mouth and chin covered in her wetness. She still whimpers with his touch, feeling like she was going to cum soon off of the rubbing alone. 

“I still gotta prep you baby,” Peter says, making her dizzy. He uses his other hand for the prepping in question and slowly inserts one one of his long, calloused fingers inside of her. Without thinking, she reached down with one hand to spread her lips wider for his insertion, making him chuckle at her desperation. 

“My needy girl, want me to fill you up that bad?” Peter teases, shining his perfect smile at her. So perfect it only makes her more frantic. He quickens the thrust of his own finger, watching her carefully which makes her shy, but she knows he was gonna spank her if she avoided his eye contact. 

On second thought?

She looks back up, bracing herself for the loud smack that would send tingles right to her cunt. He bites his lower lip before fully removing his one finger and a loud blow is sent to her cheek. She clenches around nothing, leaning even further down with her forehead on the headboard, a loud curse being shouted in his bedroom. 

“Look at me,” Peter says in a much gentler tone than earlier, squeezing her burning flesh before movin one of his hands back to her desperate, dripping cunt. Her back straightens up, meeting his eyes when she looks down and nods, tears brimming her eyelashes from how good it feels, and how badly she wanted him to continue. 

“You want me to stop?” Peter seriously asks. She shakes her head profusely, before verbalizing. 

“I want you to continue Peter.” Her breath was ragged, reaching for his free hand, lacing his fingers with hers before kissing the front of his. He gives her a few more seconds to breathe which she takes to show how eager she was to continue. She sits back up, giving him space to fully readjust inserting his fingers in her, this time two. 

Bouncing up and down on them, she focuses on returning Peter’s intense gaze, finding it hard to compose her expressions. Peter found it hot, jaw practically on the floor while he stared up at her almost losing herself only on his fingers. He starts to curl his fingers inside of her, making her briefly throw her head back, breasts almost falling out of her lingerie. Peter was making a mental note to make that happen sooner or later. 

He soon adds a third finger which makes her hips stutter, a little too full inside of her to fully ride but Peter is determined to make her comfortable. He moves back within her thighs and places his mouth on her clit, holding her backside to make sure she was still able to feel his fingers within her. 

Soon she loosens up enough to continue grinding on his mouth and fingers, but feels herself heaving once again, an orgasm building up in her stomach which inevitable by the way Peter was repeatedly hitting all the right spots. 

“I’m gonna cum,” She gasps. She cuts Peter off by the smug look he has in his eyes and speaks again. 

“And I can’t hold it,” She moans, internally begging him to continue at the pace he was going at. He obliges, pumping in and out of her repeatedly until her orgasm is basically engulfing his fingers back in. She slows down her movements on his fingers, barely able to breathe or form a coherent thought at the moment. 

Peter removes his fingers from her cunt and raises her a few inches higher so he can worm his way back to a sitting position, back against the headboard and her in his lap. She’s already exhausted, trying to wake up from that orgasm because the night had just started and her set was still fully intact. Her head is resting on Peter’s collarbone running her hands against his chest while he holds her closely. 

“Tired?” He jokes. She can hear the smirk on his lips and wants to kick him right there. 

“Mm,” She grumbles. 

She trails down her hand to his boxers, slipping beneath the waistband and her fingers immediately feel the wetness of his precum leaking all over his erection. She playfully gasps in shock before tipping her head back to whisper in his ear. 

“Are you wet?” Her voice sounds as if it’s a scandal, trying to mimic the same teasing tone Peter loves to pull on her. His laugh fills the room, making all the energy from earlier come back to her body. He brings his hand up to her face, staring at her with love. 

“Ready for round two?” He questions, holding her chin in between his fingers to catch her gaze. Her eyes flicker in between his eyes and lips in a half lidded stare of lust. 

“Nuh uh, lay back down and get ready for a taste of your own medicine.” She grins, already getting a strained moan from Peter’s lips as she starts to tug at his cock.

[purple-babygirl]

Omg your writing is so amazing!!!!!! I love it so much 😭💜 So I have a bunch of stuffed animals, and some think I don't need anymore. Could you maybe do one with a little Reader wanting every stuffie in the store and daddy Bucky's reaction? Sorry if you're busy!!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Pairing: Daddy!Bucky Barnes x f!little!reader

Word count: 490

Warnings: ddlg dynamics; it's pure fluff.

A/N: thank you so so much dear Nonnie! First i wanna apologize for taking too long tho please forgive me. Second, there's no such thing as too much stuffies, love😌 treat yo self😌 maybe you don't need anymore, but if you want more? Go ahead and get 'em👀💜 if you're still around i would love love love to see your stuffies one day if possible and if you're comfortable enough 💜 please enjoy xx💜

~~~

never too much

“And him too, dada!” She said excitedly, grabbing yet another stuffed animal from the middle shelf.

Bucky has been trailing behind her with a bunch of stuffed animals in his hold as she only picked more and more to add to the pile.

They had entered after she’d promised to only pick one new stuffie, but now that it’s been 30 minutes, one stuffie definitely wasn’t the case.

“No, no, doll, hold on. You already picked a penguin, see?” Bucky spoke from behind the mountain of stuffies he was carrying in his arms, showing her the small penguin with a cute head bow hanging out on his forearm.

She shook her head, her smile soft.

“That’s baby penguin dada; she needs daddy penguin,” she explained, giving Bucky the stuffie she picked anyway, leaving it to him to figure out a place for it among the others.

“Like I have dada.” She kissed Bucky’s cheek, before running off to the next shelf.

Bucky’s heart did backflips inside his chest. The man could only sigh, a fond smile forcing its way on his face as he continued walking behind his baby doll through the shop. Bucky just couldn’t ever turn her down. And her argument was valid if you ask him.

“Doll, don’t you think these new friends are enough for now?” Bucky asked, desperately adjusting all the stuffies in his embrace after she’s picked 3 more. In the matter of 6 minutes.

Bucky thought they would never get to go home at this rate. They would just end up buying the whole toy shop. He didn’t want to upset her but she already had a lot of stuffed animals back at home.

“But dada, I gotta get more friends for my other friends at home too,” she replied, “this is Mr Tiger to be friends with Leo and this is Fluffball to be friends with Bunny, and-”

Bucky admired her sweetness; he tried to remind himself they were just stuffies and the ones in her room at home already took up a lot of space, but couldn’t. She’d already given the new stuffies names. She knew why she got each and every one of them. Who was Bucky to break her heart by stopping her?

“Where are they all gonna sleep, doll?” Bucky asked, trying and failing to reach his itching nose for a scratch.

“In my bed,” she replied simply, offering a big smile as her nail scratched up and down Bucky’s nose for him.

“And where are you gonna sleep?” Bucky chuckled, pecking the tip of her finger.

“In dada’s bed.” She bit her lower lip, tilting her head and awaiting Bucky's approval.

Now Bucky couldn’t say no to that. She could never have too much stuffies anyway.

“You know what? Get this handsome giraffe too, it’s about time Fifi got married.”

Her giggles ringing throughout the quiet toy store made Bucky forget all about wanting to go home.

~~~

Tags:

@harrysthiccthighss

@tinystudentfirepurse

@lavendercitizen

@tumblin-theworldaway

@pretty-pop-princess-hs

[fabuloustrash05]

I wanna hear apriltello get roasted in the ship ask lol (last ask for today I swear)

001 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

1. When I started shipping it if I did:

Never did. I remember watching the show when it first came out, I was 11 or 12 and even then I thought the ship was dull and uninteresting, but still kinda cute at rare times.

2. My thoughts:

As I got older I realized the ship is more than dull. It was toxic at times (and so were the shippers) and April should have been honest and straight forward with her feelings instead of giving Donnie false hope and stringing him and even Casey on a ride of manipulative. April as a character is not a bad. I liked her in the show (when she was doing something that didn’t involve Donnie or shipping), and I'm sure she wasn’t doing any of her manipulation intentionally, but she should’ve been honest and told Donnie she wasn’t interested. At the very least I wish Donnie moved on from her.

Rottmnt apriltello is better and had more potential to be a good ship

3. What makes me happy about them:

When they actually have good moments together that don’t feel creepy on Donnie’s end or manipulative on April’s (which is rare). 

4. What makes me sad about them:

How they had so much potential to be a good ship with a fun and entertaining dynamic but the writers just messed it up. Season 1 Apriltello was great! Season 2 and onward though... 

5. Things done in fanfic that annoys me:

Making Casey come off as a bad guy. My poor boy is just as much of a victim in this as Donnie was! 

6. Things I look for in fanfic:

I don’t read Apriltello fanfic and never will. But if I had to I would want them to  actually be a good couple, but when that happens they feel like entirely different characters. Heck! When I write small Apriltello moments in my fanfics it doesn’t even feel like it’s them because the show didn’t convince me that they’d be a good healthy canon couple!

7. Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

April with Casey, I honestly wish they got together at some point even if it was just temporarily, or Leo cause they were cute together. 

If Irma wasn’t revealed to be a Kraang bot and was just a regular human girl, then I would’ve pair her up with Donnie. 

8. My happily ever after for them:

*plays “F**k You” by Ceelo Green*

Donnie realizes he deserves better and dumbs April and moves on with his life and becomes a rich successful scientist. 

9. Who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Do you really want me to answer this?

10. What is their favorite non-sexual activity:

April’s favorite activity is toying with Donnie’s heart

[ejm513]

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BIRTHDAYS AND ZODIACS

Hello my lovelies! So this is a result of me making a timeline and list of people's ages for the story I'm working on, and after I noticed there were no official birthdays for the characters I used my growing interest in astrology to come up with whatever the hell this is.

Just be aware that I am not doing ALL the characters, most of it is random, and with some of these characters I'm just guessing their ages and will probably be WWWAAAYY of but MEH... I tried

Please chime in what you would think and give your opinion if you have one! I'm really curious.

Edward:

February 3rd, 1899:

This was the only technically official birthday I could find. This would make Edward and Aquarius which uh I can attest from having an Aquarius Grandmother is accurate. He's stubborn, extremely hot tempered, extremely intelligent, a big thinker, closed off emotionally... the list goes on.

Winry:

December 3rd, 1899:

Winry just SCREAMS Sagittarius. She is bubbly, independent (I read somewhere about them loving freedom) and optimistic. Obviously everyone is their own person with their own personality by most of the Sagittarius's I've met have been just as wonderful and as she is. Plus fun fact the date I chose is Amanda Seyfried's birthday, who could have pass for Winry when she was younger.

Alphones:

July 3rd, 1900 (side note I didn't mean to pick a lot of threes... just an accident): There is a simple reason I think Alphones is a Cancer, and that is mainly because he reminds me of the Cancers I know if my life-which basically means he is the kindest and softest cinnamon role. He's definitely doesn't fit the stereotype of Cancers bring the cry baby's of the Zodiacs but he is definitely more emotional and just all around softer than Edward. He's also loyal and protective and can be just a moody as Edward. My Grandfather, who I never got to meet was a Cancer and that's where I got the birthday from.

Roy:

April 14th, 1885: Besides the obvious fact that Aries is a fire sign.... I'm just gonna leave this brief description;

"Aries are entrepreneurial, independent and creative. They have the nerve to get things started and can be inspiring leaders. Their crackling energy is infection, and they are children at heart, buzzing with the force of life itself."

I rest my case

Riza

May 13th, 1889

I'm a Taurus myself and the birthday I chose is my own if my user name wasn't a give away (I know I know), but to be frank I do a little Taurus qualities. She's very kind and soft hearted despite being very reserved, very down to Earth, saying she's loyal is an understatement, is a hard worker, intimidatingly angry when provoked, and this is the big one-admittedly stubborn. She is very much a girl after my own heart.

Maes

August 4th, 1889

This man... this beautiful... beautiful man... radiates the best qualities of a Leo. As I did with his counter part and best buddy Roy I'm just gonna leave a brief description of a Leo's personality;

"Like a crackling fire, Leo's tend to be warm, passionate, and dynamic. They delight in opportunities to let their charismatic, inclusive personality shine. And like the lion that represents them Leo's are also strong, brave and ready to dominate everything they set out to do."

And I can't believe I'm saying this but can we get an F in the chats for this beautiful man who deserved so much better.

I wanted to do more but I opened my computer yesterday and saw cracks that weren't there before and I wanted to get this out so maybe a part two?

s

[plutoswrath]

i’m sorry to annoy you with this again. i just look up to your kpop mixed with astrology content. but lucas’s neptune contact with his mc is going to annoy the shit out of me until this is fixed. the cloudiness that neptune brings to his public image is something that i think possibly fuels these situations further. false accusations and mixed perceptions based off of them is exactly what makes these scandals to continue on and on. and i’m sick of it. both sides ignore what the other is saying and it gets nowhere. neptune, the malefic bastard.

Hello! I saw your recent asks and I appreciate your words regarding my content, thank you so much for the kind words! <3

I will touch on astrolgy under the cut, but before this happens, I want to leave a few words. There's a reason why I didn't answer the previous questions I received (not only yours op) regarding the Lucas situation so far. For several reasons I didn't want to feed into any sort of (perceived) sensationalism in regards to the Lucas situation, even though I'd really love to look at the situation from an astrological point of view. That people are divided on this topic is to be expected, but I think the way it has been handled by majority so far is very bad. I really want to elaborate on my reasoning why we should rethink the way we talk about/represent the Lucas situation right now, but as this topic is very kpop specific everything will be under the cut.

My reasoning for avoiding any questions about it until now:

1. People already don't take the situation seriously enough: Regardless of what your standpoint is, I'd like for people to consider looking at it from a more critical point of view for a second: The allegations are not about him being exposed as ‘just a f-boy’ as some people make it out to be, they are more serious than that. Lucas allegedly manipulated and used these women for his own emotional/sexual/financial needs and ego boost. The fact that he has money and allegedly still used other people to provide financially for him just demonstrates the power play underneath it all. He abused his position of power as an idol, the power dynamics between him and fans who idolize him are plain and simple just completely off. Please think about the fact, that he allegedly decided who to date on at fansigns. This alone gives no security to any fans that want to attend fansigns in the future. TW SV: he also talked one of these women into having sex with him + doing it unprotected, which is not only emotionally/sexually manipulative/coercive and can possibly be traumatic for them but also heightens the risk for transfering STD's as END TW he was supposedly seeing people at the same time/cheating. In general, the behavior he gets accused of leaves trauma and is abuse, to be more specific abuse of power on multiple levels and his social position makes it just easier to continue abusing that power. As you've mentioned yourself op, there is a huge back and forth about the allegations, and I know people like to take situations like the one of Taeyong as an example to justify that not every public apology is real and that allegations turn out to be false years later, but I believe it's different this time and that the allegations that came forward were real. Even his cbar closed, a fanbase that works closely with Label V (!), that alone shows that there is 'at least' some truth to the story, or else his hardcore fanbase wouldn't have decided to turn their back on him in matters of just days. Also, all the 'jokes' and the portrayal of 'juicy gossip' people make about the situation just downplays and ridicules the possible traumatic experiences of the people that were hurt by his actions. If anyone decides to not believe these allegations until SM gives a more specific statement, that's fine, but please do so without making fun of the people who were victims of his behavior, as there is already little to no sympathy for them online. It makes it just way harder for any survivors in the future to speak out on their experience. People say it's 'nothing illegal, just morally wrong' but given the fact that he is also a person in power, the line between 'just' morally wrong and illegal can be very thin in some cases. And please overthink arguments such as: 'this is typical boy behavior for someone in his 20's'/ 'he's just an f-boy' or 'boys will be boys' because they are deeply misogynistic and we shouldn't normalize behavior like that, thus making the root of the problem actually way deeper than most people think.

2. WayV's future: This mainly goes for people who are fans of WayV. I know not everyone probably likes to hear this, but another thing why wild speculations, sensationalism or even possible defence about this situation should be kept on the low is WayV's career. I want to be honest here, but I'm scared for their future, their comeback for october has been cancelled for now and they are put on a hiatus for several months as far as I know. They were on a good path of gaining more and more recognition and establishing themselves even better as a c-pop group, but now Luca's reputation in China (their target audience) is as good as gone and that pulls all of WayV down to rock bottom with him. People really need to try seeing the story out of the eyes of the korean and especially chinese fans as well, their perception of the allegations (especially after the Kris Wu situation!) are way different and more serious than the ones of i-fans and i-fans have to accept that. Also, we all know how companies (especially SM) handle these type of situations: keep the people on the low till the storm has calmed down. But will the storm ever calm down for Lucas when his public image is basically destroyed, and thus WayV as well? What I want people to understand is that this whole situation affects WayV and their career directly, actually on the biggest scale possible. All the work so far is at risk to be for good and I think a lot of fans tend to forget that, things look especially critical for HenXiaoYanKun if WayV would be to continue/redebute/fall apart. It doesn't matter if Lucas talking bad about the members/the companies/shows he works with/for was real or not in the end, because unfortunately damage is already done, WayV's image (WayV= family) is already tarnished and WayV as a group will suffer from this. You summed it up with malefic Neptune the best actually: We all don't know the full confirmed truth about the situation and will most likely never know it. (small astro insight here as well, but part of Neptune is to accept fantasy for what it is: fantasy, and thus turn to cold reality when you're in too deep)

3. What O'd advice the fandom to do right now: Regardless of your opinion on the situation, what we as a fandom can do best right now is staying on the low, wait things out, and stop adding more fire to the situation with our actions and wait how the situation actually developes, since a) we can not fasten the process and b) a lot of rumors, false information and unnecessary details get exposed to mudd the waters and to discredit the statement of the victims as well. I've seen some strong reactions from both sides, but as someone who's a big fan of nct in general I really just want to say that part of the fandom throwing a fit on the internet leads basically to nothing, it actually only reflects even worse on nctzens/weshennies and thus on WayV's (and also NCT as whole) image as well. Things right now are handled internal, not extern. Whatever gets through to the public will be half of the story anyway. A lot of people seem to forget, that we talk about SM and all they care for right now is saving themselves economically (think about the domino effect this situation has on the whole group/company), so we will have to see what their final decision is going to be, if anything will happen at all. For now, be patient, wait and see. Last words: It's okay to feel hurt/confused/angry/drained. Even though most of us are aware that we dont know any celebrity's character, it's still hard to swallow and to digest because you were a fan of that artist. Let it take time and vent. Take a break from it if it gets too much! Talking about it to process your emotions better is okay and very valid, but keep in mind that you should not worsen the situation by doing so - it's already absolute chaos.

Also: This statement is by no means a direct attack to anyone or me trying to push my opinion onto you, just my two cents in how to handle the situation best right now, because our hands are basically tied. Also: agree to disagree. If you don't like that I side with the victims (unless there is an official statement that Lucas is proven not guilty, which I doubt, unfortunately) then so be it, but don't start a war in my inbox for our opinions differing.

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Now, to astrology:

Disclaimer: This analysis will not be very light-hearted, but remember that it's just a theory and not me trying to confirm anything!

First of all op, sorry for just answering you know, but I neded some time to think through how to adress this without adding to the fire with my astrological analysis! Boy, does the birth time fit the shoe right now. To be fair as I did my short rising sign analysis about him recently, I cancelled out every other fire rising except for Leo, because I got stuck on the ego part a bit. Anything for me made sense, as long as it highlights his ego, which by itself doesn't have to be a bad thing automatically, but there's always two sides of the coin as we all know.

I looked into the transits the past week and added a few asteroids/mathematical points as well. An anon before pointed to the full moon happening in his tenth house, conjunct his sun, etc. (I deleted the ask because I didn't know what was going on at that time and thought it was just the 'usual' rumors that once in a while get spread around, but after looking more into it I decided this was not the right time to stirr the pot in any kind of way or treat it as funny, hot gos). But yeah a full Moon in Aquarius happening in his 10th house AND on top of that Saturn in Aquarius, conjuncting that Moon and his natal Uranus in the 10th! Talk about destrcution of any stable foundation and a change in a public image! Honestly, looking at astrologically the way his public image just got radically destroyed over night, with Saturn and the Moon having been in a conjunction (in his chart it was in the 10th house) is kinda eery even. Talk about collective consciousness - not only exposing quiet literally the feelings of the collective, but also doing so in the favor of others and gaining collective emotional consciousness. Take this with a grain of salt (!), because we're still in a tense situation, but I'm tapping into the darker, unfriendlier side of astrology now. Taking his confirmed birth time, he has Nessus in Sagittarius in his 8th house and as I saw that I could feel myself shifting into the surprised pikachu face. I am not saying that this prooves the allegations whatsoever, but as you seemed to be very interested in anaylzing the case in-depth as well, the allegations fit his Nessus - jumping from partner to partner, carelessness (regarding physical intimacy as well), making people share all their ressources with him/finacial gain, and basically the whole jist of gaining control/being in a power position in intimate connections. Keep in mind that this is only one interpretation of Nessus though, Nessus can also show the complete opposite to someone 'turning to their dark side'. On top of that, his Nessus was conjunct transit Phollus the past week, so if anything, we can see that a large event triggered him to 'open his eyes' and face anything of an 'obstacle' that hinders him from seeing the 'truth' to a larger picture and his own nature/destiny. Pholus can symbolize change that will alter your perception of the responsibility you have for yourself and others.

But my latest new interest with these two asteroids aside (asteroids just add a little more nuance to a situation after all), I want to touch on Lilith too, since you (op) have mentioned Lilith before in one of your asks!

He has his Lilith exactly conjunct his Descendant when we consider his confirmed birth time. What happened just now can be seen as 'backfiring' of his actions, either Lilith embodying the women who expose him now for his 'inappropriate' behavior, but also simply fans shaming him now for his alleged manipulative/imoral behavior, especially shaming him about who he chose to date and how. Next to that, you've mentioned Lilith opposite Moon and it just makes me think about him possibly feeling very indecisive and potentially in denial about what he actually needs to be fulfilled in order to be emotionally happy and thus leading to him appearing to have this 'second, dark side' to him now. BML is not necessarily opposite the Moon in my opinion, it's just the side of the subconscious we don't really like to deal with and all we're told not to express and desire because it can be conflicting in the eyes of others (thus BML also leading to a lot of recklessness on the negative side). I think if we take the allegations into consideration, regardless of how much of it is true of it, it can be a good example what happens, when an opposition gets out of balance, as it also manifests outwardly a lot! Lilith shows in his 'double life' aka what he allegedly did with fans. Lilith wanted an outlet and found one by working behind the scenes. If we take in his supposed Taurus rising, which his Lilith is in an exact opposition with, it's a good example of what can lurk underneath the surface.

And of course, last but not least, Neptune and Sun conjunct his MC. People are quiet literally blinded by him more than they would like to think. Also: Lucas was always known for his 'flirty & charismatic' nature, this is another reason why people think we shouldn't be surprised he 'turns out to be like that in real life'. I'm not analyzing this argument right now, but what I think is very interesting is how Sun conjunct MC literally ties a good amount of their personality to their career - they want to be accepted and shine for their personality/big part of their individuality. Idols play a role, no matter how transparent they appear to us, but it's really funny how this 'image' of him melts almost seemingly with parts of his personality (almost af if you were to quiet literally sell your self) and as you've mentioned: Neptune only adds to that, unfortunately.

[reversecreek]

hi it’s me... clicks across the linoleum of the dash wearing high heels w a spray tan like i’m a member of jersey shore suddenly..... best summary of willa is that she got moira rose as her #1 chara on a What Character Are You Most Like personality test out of thousands of options.... says so much. u can find her pinterest here n her playlist here 😋 like this or hmu fr plots!!

* ashley moore, cis female + she/her  | you know willa deneurve, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, most of her life, on and off? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to watch me by the pom poms like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole sticking gold stars over old polaroids until you can barely see faces, dressing as marie antoinette at your high school prom & delivering fake laughter to a bratz doll you’re pretending is a talkshow host thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is august 1st, so they’re a leo, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt, she/her )

HISTORY:

willa ws born to honestly like….. the perfect family not to honk my own tit bt……………. they were jst rly quite wholesome. her mum celeste was this larger than life person who could never b contained by the four walls of any room she was in. she hd the presence of a gold glitter chess piece on an otherwise mundane wooden board. her dad marlon used to always joke that he had absolutely NO idea how he landed her bc he was just this like. rly average guy by all accounts n purposes….. blended into the sea in high skl……. had a few close friends but was never rly Notable or made a proper impression anywhere…… he always retold it as him coasting thru life until he met her in college. kind of like he’d been half awake before. they just Clicked n no-one cld believe she’d chosen him bt she was jst. completely head over heels n didn’t care what anyone had to say bc that was That

willa always very much took after celeste…… there’s this one quote i remember reading that goes vaguely like “my mom and i would sit and listen to leonard cohen and joni mitchell lyrics together. from a young age i remember her being like "i’m playing this song and when it’s done i want u to tell me what’s happening in it” n she would give me a fake glass of wine when i was 8 and i would listen and b like. i think there was an affair.” which so much summarises their dynamic…… she ws just so like. dramatic n fun n always encouraged that in willa too. her mum was like. everything she aspired to be…… got scouted by a modelling agency in college n shot one campaign before blowing it off simply bc she was bored. starred lead in a play. spent a few weeks travelling asia selling handmade candles shaped like koi fish or curled up foxes or elegantly stretched hands. dated a parisian movie star during a break she and her father took n was featured in tabloids on his arm at the premiere. sm fun n exotic stories willa literally cldn’t get enough. whenever she’d tell them to willa as a kid her dad wld roll his eyes like ohhhhh here she goes again but it’d all b playful n he’d smile bc he honestly cldn’t get enough either. the stuff dreams are made of luv (lizzie mcguire stans rise)

(car accident & death tw) so u know when ur walking down a flight of stairs n then out of nowhere u miss a step n u get that lurch in ur stomach like ur in free fall? yeah. i won’t go into it too much but one night they were driving back from getting frozen yogurt and then suddenly they weren’t. she doesn’t rly remember much about it except for completely ignoring the doctors trying to give her the news and just saying “dad chose pecan. who chooses pecan?” n repeating that over n over n over until it didn’t rly register in her ears as english any more.

willa was uprooted from irving at 11 to go n live w her aunt in NY. this was like. a huge adjustment honestly….. her aunt blanche hd always been a little unconventional bt extremely glamorous. she lived in an old defunct theatre she’d bought out n came from a lot of money. willa’s mum’s side of the family hd always been well off bt celeste opted to live a little more Ordinarily shall we say after settling whereas blanche ws jst balls to the walls dripping w eccentric excess…. wld say she was never naked bc she ws always wearing black opium by yves saint laurent…… probably the living embodiment of la vie boheme….. she’d been admitted a yr early to a rly prestigious parisian design school n is an AMAZING seamstress. a corset she stitched a broadway star into got commissioned fr an actress’ red carpet walk at an indie film festival. rly just lived such a life rich w lots of stories n lots of talent too…… had that star quality essence tht her mum had n that was smthn willa found quite comforting everything considered.

(grief tw) u would think maybe a situation like this (one involving so much sudden change) wld cause a kid of tht age to withdraw into her shell bt willa only came out of her shell MORE. she coped w her situation by spinning it into a celebrity origin story inside her head. the tear jerker tale someone tells during their x factor audition to get the judges rooting for them. mentally streamlining things. repackaging all that hurt as a surefire ticket to success bc it had to be useful for something right? there had to b a point to it right? willa decided the point was she’s a star. KFHSGKFHGFKHGKJSFHG. get it girl….. she ws literally just like ok well clearly i’m destined to be famous n i’m the main character of this story. this story called earth. it’s all about me.

rly heavily immersed herself in her high skl theatre scene……. loved experimenting w fashion n literally wore the most outlandish things like. she treated the hallways like her milan f/w debut every new school yr…… a lot of the things she wore were actual like. costumes frm her aunt’s collection…… she has a multi-story closet u have to climb ladders to reach things in like a very rustic library…. it rly wasn’t uncommon for willa to turn up one day corsetted like a pirate with billowing sleeves or sporting the baby blue gingham of a swedish milk maid. it’s like she literally jst…… became a role. always. every day. the world ws her stage. the cameras were always rolling. her aunt only encouraged this tbh n honestly? icon. we love to see it. willa partied a bunch n rly lived a lax lifestyle where responsibility was concerned…. her aunt ws her best friend…… made rly gd friends with performers in the drag club scene n loved the glitz of that….. lots of wild nights turned grossly bright mornings

snagged an agent fresh into her first yr of college (she gt accepted to a pretty competitive theatre program at [redacted] in NY bc i haven’t looked into what that wld be yet <3 i’m merely a helpless british lass <3) n booked a few commercials n things….. when i say willa wld enter audition rooms like she owned the place i’m rly not exaggerating…. once she turned up to a casting call for MEN n just walked right to the front of the line scraping a random chair along the way n then took a seat w her legs crossed popping a bubble in her gum as they all glared at her like wtf is literally going on who are u. she received several complaints n she was just like “ur all acting so jealous of me….”

i feel like she got a pretty big role in a theatre production in her last yr at school. haven’t decided what yet. maybe smthn rocky horror or even mimi in rent. this was meant to b some like huge moment for willa like yes girl finally making it ur on ur way this is what u wanted n she WAS happy abt it but once it was wrapped she jst had this strange like Huh feeling in her chest……. n a la celeste w all her exciting stories was just like well i’ve done that so what’s next? i think she’d graduate n then jst suddenly decide to move to irving in a fit of impulse. to all her college friends she’d be like “ugh a beach retreat is so necessary honestly the city is sooooooooo toxic this place cld literally enlarge my pores if i wasn’t so rigorous with my skincare routine” bt like 🤔 what u seeking girl? results pending.

SO basically i feel like she finally moved back to irving little over a yr ago. she hd a brief stint starring on a reality tv show tht filmed in one of the larger beach houses where her dog gained a handful of fan accounts dedicated to him……. u maybe will see why in the first bullet point of her personality section………… FKGHKSHFGGKFSHKHG. honestly she ws received pretty well too (mostly bc she’s so fking dramatic n like a caricature of a person) bt it wasn’t anything to warrant actual Fame (despite what willa herself might think). she’s mostly jst like. chilling honestly. accepting scripts n flying out fr auditions still. she’ll nab the occasional part bt she’s looking for that One Thing that rly feels like her big moment….. otherwise i cn just imagine her treating irving like a little dollhouse compared to the roaring mansion of NYC n having fun playing around in it. strikes a pose w a hand on my hip…. and now to personality.

PERSONALITY:

got a very large n lithe greyhound n named him marlene dietrich bc she was a black n white hollywood starlet famously known for her affairs n “bedroom eyes”. willa was like ugh. icon status instantly. didn’t rly foresee the responsibilities tht came w owning a dog tht loves exercise n complains abt him being like “ugh he wants to run soooooooooo much 🙄 like where are u literally going”. having said tht loves him dearly n he can often be seen wearing little clothes. a baby’s bonnet. a quilted leather waistcoat. a custom dog boa. he’s very glamorous. willa calls him a gay icon despite no evidence to support this theory. she also says he can sniff out evil in ppl so she brings him sometimes when she’s first introduced to a friend’s new bf n if his nose quivers a certain way she’s like “marlene has spoken. it’s done”. her friends r like omg? what’s done? willa gets up n walks away without elaborating. marlene’s little paws clicking along the floor w attitude.

literally dressed as marie antoinette for her high skl prom even tho there was no theme pertaining to this. jst loves the spotlight. can fake cry and WILL to get out of a parking ticket or teach someone to watch their tone or even simply for the theatrics of it all. the Most dramatic………….. rly fits being an actress like when people find out what she does it’s very like oh that makes sense.

says she doesn’t get hangovers. she’s just like “i revoked that it doesn’t happen to me”. alludes tht this is bc she’s an all powerful deity that was Chosen to be Blessed bt really she’s jst great at bouncing back n acting fine even w a blistering headache. it’s about believing the performance so much that u even convince urself.

has an extremely elevated sense of self importance bc this is kind of the equivalent of several layers of bubble wrap to cushion her frm the world. strives to b extraordinary bc ordinary honestly feels like a death sentence n there’s nothing she’d want to b seen as less. despite this weight she puts on that she rly doesn’t tend to let ppl’s opinions affect fr the most part like she’s quite firmly set in this I’m Literally The Most Gorgeous And Beautiful Angel Star Creature To Walk This Narsty Little Earth view

probably an incredibly big fan of dramatic short lived love affairs. she wants the glamour of it all. the scandal. the randomly breaking up w someone in a public place n sliding on sunglasses after delivering the words over a freshly ordered coffee (tht she’ll leave without drinking bc that’s star power babey she waits fr no man or no hot beverage)…….. has no preference gets w any n all regardless of gender……… romanticises things so they hv a better spin or story in her head n doesn’t rly take things seriously like jst has fun in her fantasy world…. she’s like ugh chuck i know u wanted to marry me but i’m a beautiful bird in a cage n u literally need to undo the latch n set me free……. the guy’s like……. my name’s chase n we’ve only been on two dates….. willa’s like…… please don’t take this so hard i can tell ur besides urself but people r starting to stare……. gets up n leaves. no-one was staring. chase is confused n honestly probably semi concerned fr her welfare.

always has to b the hottest n most glamorous person in a grocery store…. probably goes to them when she doesn’t even need anything jst holding a basket nonchalantly over her forearm glancing over at a cashier in her wizard of oz corset seamed interpretation on a dorothy dress thinking he wants me soooo bad it’s not even funny….. seduces him over the check out counter jst for him to ask her to come back to his so she can lean back scandalised n cry “IS THAT THE KIND OF WOMAN U THINK I AM, PAUL?! YOU’RE A GHASTLY LITTLE MAN, YOU ARE….” with all the gusto of a telenovela. attracts the shocked glances of all surrounding elderly.

speaks fluent french. probably on her brief stint on tht reality show i mentioned earlier was like “ugh can you believe Deneurve of this guy?” n in her head was like this catchphrase is sensational it’ll catch on fast the twittersphere is abt to implode but it didn’t become a thing except for in a small isolated community. despite this she’s like “yeah it went viral….. go figure. just another day in the life.”

honestly like a lot of fun bt also a huge handful at the same time. keeps her real Serious emotions in a locked box bt is always overflowing w melodramatics n rly giving her all at the drop of a hat where Performing is concerned. probably Loves parties n sees them as another form of production in which she wants to b the lead. rly just. loves herself. except does she? 🤔 lifts my hand up like rihanna n winks. find out next time. lucky by britney plays as i slowly disintegrate in spiderman rp…..

WANTED CONNECTIONS

unrequited flame: willa burns thru people like matches. bright n fast. honestly i feel like she struggles to take romance seriously so it cld be fun to play around with someone who’s been singed by that in the past…. mayb they hd actual feelings whereas willa was just messing around n having fun…. living la vida loca so to speak…….. we can discuss a time frame or specifics to expand upon this but. sexy angst perhaps.

those she knew from childhood: willa moved to NY at 11 n i feel like it was very sudden n soon after the accident. maybe she didn’t even say goodbye. maybe they were rly close n all of a sudden she didn’t show up to school the next day n when they rode past her house on their bike the sign said sold and that was that. honestly very dramatic of her even at a young age. we love a disappearing act. houdini who?

acting rival: honestly jst feel like this cld be funny. willa’s so dramatic she’d be like i literally want them dead they’re a despicable little gremlin fr trying to steal my spotlight. cld be as simple as having auditioned a few times fr the same parts or something.

childhood sweetheart: i think it cld be rly cute n sad if there was someone that kind of echoed the dynamic her mum n dad had except she was the celeste n they were the marlon…. (open to any gender)…….. so like. willa was always very larger than life commanding attention in a room n they were more to the sidelines but they just kind of got each other n brought out the best in one another. added angst to the fact tht willa wld maybe want to avoid them as much as possible now bc it dredges up feelings she doesn’t want to confront where her parents r concerned n also in a way any possibility of them winding up together feels like sellotaping an expiration date to both of their foreheads in willa’s brain

someone who was either a fan of or also on the reality show willa was: i imagine it like a reinvention of the hills honestly except based in these irving beach houses…. probably didn’t run that long bt there was a bunch of drama on it mostly staged…… maybe they were willa’s love interest bt it was all fake fr the cameras…… it wasn’t like. a huge deal n didn’t rly catch flight so much where popularity’s concerned bt. cld be fun to play with <3

patti frands: jogs in high knees to translate that into party friends as i adjust my spectacles. willa’s very sociable bt she’s also like kind of full of herself n obnoxious so do with that what u will. KFHGKSHGKGHFSKG. she knows hw to have a gd time tho like growing up she was rly into the gay club scene n the drag scene in NY so like. let’s hear it fr the gays who know how to do it right <3

someone equally over the top: i luv the idea of willa having someone who just like runs with made up scenarios n roles she makes up on the spot n them hanging out is like a 24/7 improv session tht they reel random surrounding strangers just fr the fun thrill

the other woman: willa is quite detached n selfish so she wld easily be the other woman in a relationship n not care about it n this cld make for good spice <3

[oftincturedwords]

For the unique writing ask: 18 (+ loved your answer on (I think it was) 1, about the platonic love. I totally agree with you ^^)

unique writing asks🖋️ : accepting !

18. What writers have inspired you with their use of language? What are some of your favorite quotes?

i’m glad to hear more are of that opinion , thank you for saying so ! platonic love is just as important as romantic love , it’s sad that it’s usually brushed off as not or that it must develop into romantic love to have any merit.

&& i’m so happy that you asked this question ! i was really hoping that someone would send this one in , so thank you !!

one author who inspires me in my writing is patrick o’brian because of his descriptions in his writing. i love the detail he places in describing a scene ! i’ve hear some say he’s too descriptive but i love that , it’s truly helps me see what’s happening in my minds eye & i think a lot of authors nowadays rely on the reader to fill in the blanks or just assume what’s happening / the finer details of a scene / the microexpressions & subtle notes within body language or tones. which is fine , but i do much prefer & feel all the more inspired when i read an author’s in-depth descriptions. ( not to mention i love the dynamics between aubrey & maturin <3 ) he inspires me to add how much detail i want , that no amount of detail is too much.

favourite quote(s) : “ For a moment Jack felt the strongest inclination to snatch up his little gilt chair and beat the white-faced man down with it ; ” — Master & Commander ( book 1 ) , it’s thought by jack about stephen upon their first meeting , this line never fails to make me laugh when i read it because stephen can be so pretentious & jack just wanted to enjoy the music agdjfkglg but hey they turn out good friends in the end

““ Jack, you've debauched my sloth. ”” — H.M.S. Surprise ( book 3 ) , said by stephen when he came back from a lesson in teaching bonden to read to find that jack had got his sloth drunk on grog & cake , it’s just a very funny line & i find the interaction between jack & the sloth rather adorable the entire thing. although i don’t condone his actions in giving the animal alcohol , that is bad.

i fear this post would get too long if i were to quote my favourite descriptions from patrick o’brien or any more quotes from him , but i will mention another funny one is when stephen basically trips over the ship’s cat down a hatchway & when i believe it was a wombat of stephen’s tried to eat Jack’s hat , when jack called stephen to help him , the doctor just said it wouldn’t hurt the wombat ahdkflglg. another sweet one is when jack accepts hollom as midshipman even though there’s hardly room on Surprise for him , jack suspects hollom is near tears at the look on his face & changes his mind.

another author who i very much love is j.r.r. tolkien. again i love his attention to detail in describing things. as well as all the detail he placed into his world building for his books , creating his own languages & all the names / maps , events , theology , etc. that he created or took influence from to create middle earth & all its content. plus the overall stories ( meaning the hobbit & lotr ) are inspiring in themselves. as well i love his words choice / sentence structures , it’s reads wonderfully & archaic when i love ! he inspires to me add details that some may not think of & to add detail wherever i see fit.

favourite quote(s) : “ All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. ” — The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings ( book 1 ) , i like this quote because it simply sums up that our time is important & we must do our best to spend it how we see fit because it is our time & our life. I just remember this quote being very impactful to younger me when i first read it & it still rather is.

i love all the scenes in two towers with gimli , legolas , & aragorn as well. not a specific quote but their interactions are some of my favourites , their dynamics & path are something i can always reread & never tire of <3

again there are several quotes i could take from tolkien’s works to say here as a favourite , but this answer is already so long. i apologise. this is a topic i could converse about over countless hours.

as well i want to mention c.s. forester because his descriptions on sailing are very good & too i like that hornblower is a very flawed yet brilliant character who battles with low self esteem , he just seems a very real character. so it’s definitely an influence to ensure characters i write aren’t glorified to the point of being without flaw or always choosing the correct course the first time. let your character screw up & make mistakes , have doubts & be human. that’s what he inspires me to do when i write. ( as well bush & hornblower <3 love those two )

favourite quote(s) : directing you to this post of mine so as not to add more words here but it’s very much one of my favourites.

too i love the scene between hornblower & kennedy in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower when they get caught by bolton being absolute dorks. it’s nice to see a lighter side to hornblower. same with the scene in Lieutenant Hornblower after bush hear that hornblower has been promoted & they drink , bush is still recovering & gets a bit drunk so hornblower is helping him away & bush is just grinning & singing ‘he’s a jolly good fellow’

&& some honourable mentions since this response is getting rather long ; jane austen , mary shelley , charles dickens , bram stoker , leo tolstoy , william shakespeare , john flanagan , neil giaman , terry pratchett , c.s. lewis , alexander dumas , oscar wilde , ernest hemingway , madeline miller , f. scott fitzgerald , tim o’brien , & etc. so many others.

*please note that it is the writing of these authors that i adore & take inspiration from , this does not i particularly praise the author as a person

[imjeralee]

Comfort in Despair: Chapter 9 - Leon in Love?

Leon x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Summary:

Galar is rich in folklore and tales of the supernatural.

As a Pokemon Researcher who specialises in ghost types, this is a great opportunity for you to investigate and learn more about the paranormal.

Along the way, you meet Leon (in the most awkward way possible) who becomes embroiled in your adventures.

^ Basically this story is about ghosts :/

Rating: General/Teen

Extra Note: How tf am I at chapter 9 lol...reader and Leon still ain’t together yet either

Leon in Love?

…

…

[Headline from The Kalos Telegraph:

"Mystery of the Laverre Town Disappearances." Police are appealing after two individuals were reported missing from an address in Laverre Town. A well-known Pokemon Researcher and his five year old daughter has vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind his wife and eldest daughter. Inspector Chris Graves has said: “If anybody sees these two individuals or knows where they are I would ask that they call police immediately."]

…

…

With the Mimikyu safely captured, you explain to Leon and Hop that you had a client from this morning who complained of a haunted doll and left it with you; the doll itself must have switched with the Wooloo plush which you believe should be still at home. You apologise profusely but they tell you everything is all under the bridge and as long as Hop isn't hurt, everything is fine and dandy.

You're left to keep Mimikyu for yourself because Leon doesn’t seem to want the killer doll anywhere near his little brother so you will deal with it later and you will need to give Hop the actual Wooloo plush...

The evening progresses and you go downstairs with Hop, Leon, Charizard and Gengar, making your way into the yard where a strong and smoky smell wafts in the atmosphere and the grill is sizzling loudly, huge puffs of smoke billowing in the air.

Leon’s mum stands with a pair of tongs in hands and an apron that says ‘License to Grill’, flipping chicken wings and ribs over the griddle whilst the grandparents are setting up the table. Hop immediately heads over to assist whilst Charizard and Gengar make their way to the garden where Wooloo is, lounging near the garage. It looks like Charizard is showing Gengar around.

You and Leon head to the table; there are plenty of dishes ranging from potato salad, pasta salad, assorted fruit, guacamole and tortilla chips. Hop helps himself to some chips along the way and immediately his grandpa barks at him but Hop chuckles and grabs another before he scampers away to the kitchen with Wooloo at his heels.

He returns with two large pitchers of orange juice and water. Leon goes to help and whilst you attempt to trail after them, everyone tells you that you are their guest so Leon pulls out an empty chair for you and you thank him, his face growing red as you neatly sit down on the chair.

You watch as he goes to help Hop, his mum and his grandparents, observing their dynamic and think about your own family.

The thought makes you sigh gently and your smile vanishes and you slide your forlorn gaze to the ground which Leon notices as he emerges from the kitchen.

Whilst Hop sits between the grandparents, Leon goes to help his mother again though he does occasionally throw you concerned glances every now and then but now you are engrossed with watching the pokemon; Gengar and Charizard are basking under the sun on the mini battle court whilst Purrloin and Wooloo chase each other playfully. You watch as Purrloin crouches on her front paws with her hindquarters in the air, shaking her tail before she pounces on the little sheep playfully.

And when Leon sees you smiling at the pokemon, he smiles too.

Eventually, Leon’s mum waltzes towards the table with a large platter full of barbecued ribs, sweetcorn, a few sirloins teaks and the wings and moves to sit at the very head of the table whilst Leon seats himself beside you. It’s a small, cosy table and your arms brush against each other. The close proximity has your heart thumping hard again.

“Help yourselves!” Leon’s mum exclaims and you glance at all the food available, unsure where to begin.

“Don’t mind if I do!” Hop belts out joyfully as he grabs a knife and fork, “Thanks, mum!”

“Yes, you’ve truly outdone yourself this time,” says grandmother, and Leon’s mum snorts under her breath and rolls her eyes.

“Thanks, mum, this looks great,” Leon says.

Now it's your turn to show your gratitude. “Thank you, Mrs-“

“Please, you can call me ‘mum’,” says Leon’s mother with a smile aimed at you, and you blush and nod.

Everyone begins to pile up food on their plates; Leon’s mum helps Hop and the grandparents tuck into their bland oatmeal but scoop the occasional guac whilst you glance around the table inquisitively, wondering what to try first. Everything looks delicious.

“I’ll help you,” Leon says, as he grabs a spare tong, “What would you like?”

“I’d like some chicken wings and some of the steak. Maybe some of the guac, too.”

“Excellent choice, my dear,” says grandmother, winking at you.

Leon begins grabbing the food off the platter and sliding them onto your plate as cleanly as possible. He unexpectedly gets some sauce on his fingers which he licks off. You cannot help your staring, but he does not notice. Holy crap, does Leon have a secret kinky side to him after all?

“Thank you, Leon,” you say with a weak smile, trying not to be too affected by how his lips enclose over his fingertips.

“No problem. Try some of the Vespiqueen Honey on the wings,” Leon passes you a bottle of squeezy honey and pulls the lid off, handing it to you which you hold upside down; you drizzle some of the orangey-gold gooey goodness over your pile of wings.

“That looks good.”

“Try it with ribs next.”

“Okay.”

As though oblivious to the rest of the people sitting at the table, Leon’s mother and the grandparents watch your interaction with amused expressions before they exchange wide grins at each other.

“You’re the first girl our Leo has brought home. You must have made quite the impression on him,” grandma says all of a sudden, chuckling under her breath.

“Grandma….” Leon mumbles, and he chooses to take a big sip of his sparkling water whilst Hop merely beams at grandma and they both exchange a high five.

The conversation continues, with Leon’s mother mentioning how you saved Leon and how indebted she is to you but you tell her she doesn’t need to repay you in any way. Then they ask you how you and Leon met. Leon’s face goes pink and you suppose he’s thinking about how he bumped into you half-naked in the middle of the forest somewhere in the Rolling Fields at night but then you recall you had actually met him earlier.

“We sat beside each other on the train to the Meetup Spot,” you say.

“We did?” Leon looks confused.

“Yeah, I think you were sleeping though so you didn’t notice but I saw you at the station. You ran past me.”

“Oh.”

"Then we met again in the Rolling Fields."

"My dear, do you know what this means?" gran says, leaning forwards in her seat, "It's fate."

Whilst Hop chews noisily on his food, glancing between you and his brother, Leon’s mum and the gran exchange more all-knowing looks coupled with some eyebrow raising and it’s rather obvious that they are quite possibly up to something and they ask how you found him in the Pokemon Den but Leon steps in, telling them that you rode on Charizard who went to look for you when he went missing.

“Lee, didn’t you say that if Charizard lets a girl-" Hop begins, but Leon shakes his head immediately and Hop pauses in his sentence, eyes wide, “Oh, uh…Never mind!”

“What?” you ask, only for the brothers to grin widely at you. They resemble each other when they smile, it’s rather adorable…

Grandma says, “And what do you work as, dear?”

“I’m a Pokemon researcher, specialising in ghost-types.”

”That sounds grand. You must get to see so many interesting Pokemon.”

”I certainly do. I also deal with a lot of hauntings. Did you know there are several types of hauntings? There’s residual, intelligent and poltergeist,” you say. Now that ghosts have been brought up you can’t seem to stop. “Residual hauntings are described as a video playing over and over again at random times. It’s believed to be trapped energy or an imprint because something traumatic happened at that location and thus it is bound. It’s not considered an intelligent haunting which I’m going to go onto next, but it’s widely believed that something can trigger it to occur such as day or time.”

”Now, an intelligent haunting,” you continue, oblivious to your audience and if they are actually listening, “is associated with a consciousness. For example, the consciousness of a dead person and therefore it’s more the most common type of haunting which investigators like myself would look into and it’s a lot more common than one would think.”

”And a poltergeist haunting,” you’re still outlining as you busily cut into your steak, “people are under the impression that they are malevolent ghosts, usually demons, and they’re very violent, throwing things around and attacking people and-“

You finally stop when you realise Leon’s family are staring at you with incredulous expressions and even Leon himself, is watching you mutely.

There is a brief silence as your cheeks go red with embarrassment.

”Ah........ sorry, I got carried away. Ahem.”

Leon’s mum breaks the silence, laughing awkwardly but you feel the atmosphere of the table has become severely gloomy all of a sudden...and it's all because of you and your talk of ghosts. “That’s all very interesting, my dear. Do take care of yourself. And what do your parents do?” she asks.

“They’re ghost-type Pokemon researchers too."

“And where are they right now?”

You hesitate to answer and all eyes land on you. “…They’re...they’re uh…” you struggle to reply, clinching your fork tightly. Leon notices as your expression gradually grows more and more uncomfortable. “It’s hard to explain.”

Leon’s mum asks, “How so?”

“Mum,” Leon says, and she gasps.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“No, no, it’s okay,” you say quickly, “They went missing."

"Missing??"

You nod and suddenly, the table goes quiet. You’ve never told Leon this either so he glances at you in surprise as you stare at your plate of uneaten food. Suddenly, you have lost your appetite even though you were hungry earlier.

It continues to be quiet and awkward around the table as Leon’s family throws each other discomfiting glances, knowing that they've put you in an awkward position.

However, you clear your throat and flash a reassuring smile at everyone, cutting into your steak as delicately as possible. “It was a while ago. I haven't stopped looking for them since," you reply.

“My dear, I am so sorry,” Leon’s grandmother reaches over and squeezes on your hand, “Is there anything we can do?”

You shake your head.

The conversation gravitates away from you and you inwardly breathe a sigh of relief. You haven’t been on the spotlight for such a long time that it was fairly intolerable. Leon begins to peek at you at random intervals; he's hoping to be subtle but you can tell when someone is staring at you, and as the dinner continues, you don’t look at him nor does he say anything to you and vice versa.

The barbecue is over and all the leftover food, dirty plates and cutlery are carried into the kitchen to be washed.

You volunteer to clean up but Leon’s family assure you once again that you are a guest and they want you to spend more time with the champion. You are left on your own devices but when you are about to pass the kitchen, you accidentally overhear Leon's mum inside.

"Is she okay?" Leon's mum asks, "She has sad eyes."

Sad eyes? You have....sad eyes?? You weren't aware, and you tiptoe away from the kitchen and back into the yard to ponder how on earth to get happier-looking eyes. Maybe you should smile more? Arceus, you have no idea...

You return to the outdoor table and Leon emerges from the house and to the yard, snapping you out of your miserable thoughts when he tells you he has something to show you so you head back into the house and retreat upstairs.

He takes you to the top level and into the hallway where he jumps an inch or so off the ground and grabs a little string that is dangling off the ceiling and tugs on it; it is looped to a square hatch on the ceiling and he pulls it down, revealing a rope ladder that will take you to the rooftop.

Leon climbs up first which you are grateful for considering you are wearing a dress, and when you are at the top rung, he gives you his hand and you slink your little palm into his and he hoists you up onto the roof. There are several pairs of flip-flops the family uses whilst walking around the roof, and Leon hands you a pair which you slip over your feet whilst he slips on a pair of his own.

"How's your hand?" he asks.

"It's healing, so all good," you mutter, and you can’t help but notice that your hands fit well together, though his palm is considerably larger, your fingers curl together neatly, his thumb sweeping over your knuckles.

When you unintentionally give him a squeeze, you’re surprised to feel that he squeezes your hand back. His palm is a little sweaty however, and you wonder if he’s held hands with a girl before.

Leon carefully makes his way around the roof, holding your hand along the way. You’re suddenly aware of how high you are as you tread over the bumpy, uneven surface; you briefly peer over the ledge, you see Charizard below with Gengar, who are vigilant in case either of you should lose balance and fall.

Although it’s dark outside now, you can see that Leon’s cheeks are fairly pink as he leads you over to a clean spot.

He finally releases your hand to sit down and you join him, settling yourself carefully and tucking your dress underneath as neatly as possible. The rooftops grants a beautiful view of Postwick and Wedgehurst as you sit side-by-side; you can see various Wooloo and Dubwools in the fields being herded into barns by farmers for the night. Their white wool makes them stick out like sore thumbs in the darkness.

The air has grown extremely chilly now and your dress isn’t helping you here so Leon quickly pulls off his sweater to loop the thick fabric around your shoulders and over your back. As you thank him, this thoroughly reminds you of the time when you watched the sunrise together.

You and Leon stare over the horizon; a blanket of darkness sweeps the sky, illuminated by the stars and the lush full moon. Down below and you see rows and rows of little lights emitting from the windows of the cottages that are spread out. You can also see Wedgehurst train station whose clock face is lit up with a tawny glow. It’s incredibly serene and tranquil here and you sigh under your breath.

”Leon?”

”Yeah?”

”Am I a kook?”

He immediately emits a loud laugh at your question. “No!”

”But... when we were having dinner...”

”You’re passionate about your work which we can see, and I admire that. Don’t forget that I’ve seen you work, remember? There are things out there that can’t be explained and you’re the only one who’s dedicating their time and energy and effort to look into it. No one is as brave as you are.”

Your lip wobbles furiously at his words. “Thank you, Leon. For a second there, I...I doubted myself, believing I am not normal. I’m far from it."

Leon offers you a reassuring smile. “If the Champion of Galar thinks you’re wonderful and perfectly normal and fine the way you are, then you are.”

Your face grows red in response as he shifts his gaze to the night sky.

Leon thinks you are wonderful and perfectly normal...

...and fine just the way you are.

Your heart begins to thump hard as you thank him whilst emitting a meek sniff.

“I'm sorry about earlier,” Leon suddenly mutters, “I hope you didn’t feel pressurised.”

“It’s fine, it’s normal that people get curious whenever it’s to do with my family, and I haven’t spoken about them for a while.” you reply, sighing, “And it didn't happen at the same time by the way."

As you focus your gaze to the starry sky above you and pull your knees to your chest, Leon watches you worriedly; he copies your movement, lifting his knees to his chest too.

"It was my father and Rosie first, then my mum disappeared a few months later."

Leon senses your discomfort and says, “What can I do to help? I can speak to the Chairman, we can do a television broadcast, radio or-"

You respond with a weak smile, shaking your head. "None of those are going to work, Leon."

He looks confused. "Why not?"

"A lot of people think they're dead so they refuse to help me but I don't believe them and so I've been working hard to get them back since I moved to Galar, and I'm doing everything I can. I'll get them back myself. Only I can do it."

Noticing your saddened expression, Leon isn’t sure what else he can say to ease the situation nor does he know if it’s wise to press you further on this matter. Therefore he slowly moves to slide his hand over yours, grasping your fingers tightly.

You glance at his hand over yours in surprise and he takes a deep breath before he says, "I have an idea. I know what will cheer you up.”

“What?”

“A ride over the Slumbering Weald,” Leon says, before he lets go of you to stand and takes a small step towards the edge of the roof.

“Leon, be careful.”

He turns to you with a grin, “I’ll be fine -- hey Charizard, you there, buddy?”

A few seconds later, Charizard appears before him in the air. He greets you two with a snort, air puffing from his nostrils before he lands in front on an empty spot over the roof, his claws crunching under the hard tiles and he folds his wings, throwing his gaze to the two of you.

With a grin, Leon climbs on Charizard’s awaiting back and holds his hand out to you. “C’mon.”

You tug your spare bobble off your wrist to tie your hair into a tight ponytail before standing up and carefully making your way until Charizard reaches for you and bites on the hem of your dress, pulling you forwards.

“Alright, alright…” you utter, wondering what he is so impatient about but it seems he wants you to be as close to Leon as possible.

The champion grins haplessly at his friend and you slip your hand into his; you assumed you’d sit behind him but Leon suggests you sit in front of him and you do so anxiously, swinging one leg over Charizard’s back and with Leon’s help, you’re quickly seated comfortably over the flame pokemon.

“Comfy?” Leon asks, and you nod. “Okay, let’s go.”

He proceeds to inch even closer to you than possible as he lean forwards and levies his weight gently over your back and shoulder, you have no choice but to lower yourself to a somewhat forty five degree angle so he can reach and grab onto Charizard firmly, caging you within his arms securely at the same time.

“Oh my…” you croak out, as Leon settles himself behind you, his chin almost touching your shoulder.

Heat rushes to your cheeks as his sturdy chest presses smoothly against your back and you feel the light, feathery brush of his lips by your ear; your heart begins to thump frantically and you gulp the growing lump in your throat.

“What’s the matter?” he asks; you hope he doesn't notice.

“Nothing. So uh, how many miles per hour can Charizard reach?”

“Over a hundred or so, I think, but we’re gonna go nice and slow today, won’t we, buddy?”

Charizard snorts and rolls his eyes again as Leon pats his neck and the flame pokemon takes off from the rooftop with a kick of his hind legs and soars into the air.

“To the Slumbering Weald, Charizard!” Leon exclaims, pointing to a massive cluster of misty, foggy trees in the distance.

Charizard has allowed you to ride on his back before but it’s worse with Leon seated closely behind you and speaking so smoothly in your ear. It’s a nerve-wracking and tense ride and as the pokemon picks up speed and zooms towards the direction of the woods, Charizard deliberately flies into a thick batch of clouds and you squeeze your eyes shut as the wisps smack you in the face. When Charizard emerges, you cough and splutter from the moisture of the cloud.

Charizard is purposefully making the flight bumpy and so you cling on for dear life; as you're jostled for the third or fourth time, which forces an anxious squeak from your lungs and Leon's chest to press further over your back as he ensures you're fine; then he carefully slips one arm around the front of your waist to prevent you from slipping or losing grip, sending uncontrollable tingles to shoot down your spine. This is either the ride of heaven, or hell.

Soon, the pokemon settles for a smooth and slower pace so your gut can unclench. Leon notices your calmer disposition and grins. “Not used to flying, are you?”

“N-not really,” you choke out, when you realise he is unfazed.

You have to admit you prefer the Corviknight taxi over this. There is less turbulence, that's for certain.

And as you gradually relax, your fingers don't cling onto the Pokemon's leathery skin so tightly and Leon's arm loosens in grip, though you were getting a little used to having his arm around you. His warmth was so welcoming and made you snug, and now you're slowly becoming cold.

Whilst you wonder how long the ride will take, the Slumbering Weald looms into view; a misty and muggy fog hangs over the bizarre forest and down below, you can see Galarian Weezing and Munna lurking in the dark grass.

Charizard glances around for a suitable spot to land and when a large but broken stone arch and an altar surrounded by water appears in the horizon, he begins to descend and lands within the spring, nestling himself carefully over the ground; Leon slides off Charizard’s back and scoops you off, sliding his arms around your waist.

“Thanks,” you murmur as he helps you onto the ground.

“No problem. How was the flight?”

“All good," you say meekly with a thumbs up, though you're really wanting to suppress the urge to hurl.

Leon grins and pats Charizard warmly, “Thanks bud.”

Charizard growls loudly with affection as the two of you glance around your new surroundings.

Strangely enough, the temperature here is warmer than Postwick and although you most certainly are alone here, the woods feel alive.

The stone arch stands proudly before you with a glistening stream of water to your left, the altar itself is illuminated by a beam of moonlight that shines between the leaves of the thick trees that surround it. Despite the beautiful scenery, the quietness of the woods perturbs you.

“Look,” Leon says, and you follow to where he is pointing to.

Glittering pearls of multi-coloured light float gently in the atmosphere within the middle of the altar and you head over to inspect; you use your fingertip to prod at some of the lights and there is a faint chiming sound as it disappears once your fingertips make contact, vanishing into mist.

“I know what this is…It’s a fairy light…” you mutter, peering at the little lights curiously before you cup some in your palm and return to his side.

“Fairy light?” Leon utters, as you open your palm and blow gently, the light sprinkling over his face and hair. He looks up and around as it gets caught in his bangs and you giggle lightly.

“Yeah…they're very similar to a will o’wisp and they're identical to the lights emitted by Morelull. You can see a lot more in Ballonlea and in higher concentrations…” you say as you raise your arm, hold your hand out and more lights settle into your palm, “If you follow a trail, it’s supposed to lead to the fairy folk of Galar.”

Leon looks intrigued as you continue your ramblings, oblivious.

“The fairy folk steal children away, never to be seen again. Sometimes it’s out of malice, to punish neglectful parents… but in the end, what they do with the children, nobody knows. It’s a shame I don’t come here often because there’s so much interesting myth, though unfortunately not ghost-related.”

Holding your hand out again, the little lights settle in the base of your palm once more and you gently blow them away, sending an array of glittering lights into the air. You smile widely as the shimmering lights dance around you, the twinkling lights casting a warm glow on your face.

“It’s so beautiful here,” you murmur as the lights gently float in the air, dancing around you.

“Yeah…” he breathes out.

When you turn round, you see his eyes are glued to your form and you tense on the spot; anxiety sweeps over you upon realisation that you’re completely bathed in the light and thus you hurriedly step away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble about fairies stealing children away. Just make sure Hop doesn’t come here on his own, or he might come back but it’s not really him, it’s actually a changeling and-” you promptly stop yourself in time, mentally kicking yourself. “Sorry.”

Leon chuckles loudly in response and your face grows warm as you nervously place your hands behind your back whilst Leon crosses his arms. “I can take you here again tomorrow when it’s daylight if you’d like,” he replies.

You purse your lips. “I’ll be asleep, most likely.”

“Oh.” he sounds disappointed.

“Thanks for bringing me here though. I feel better now.”

The look of disappointment vanishes from his handsome face, replaced with a grin. “Of course! Anytime.”

When your smile broadens, his grin widens too and you are both gazing at each other wordlessly; his eyes search your face for a few seconds or so until you realise that you’re staring and you hastily break off the eye contact, swerving your gaze to the side where you see more of the little pearly light surrounding you.

“Oh, uh, I have something to show you,” Leon adds, before he fumbles through his pockets and brings out two capsules, “Come on out, guys!”

Tossing them into the air, you stare as an Aegislash and a Dragapult emerge and Leon beams at his pokemon as they immediately head over to him, greeting him affectionately. Leon gives Dragapult a hefty pat on his head and smiles warmly at Aegislash.

“I have some ghost-type pokemon on my team,” Leon says, “I thought you’d like to meet them.”

You blink blankly before a massive grin appears on your face. You’ve never seen such wondrous critters in person, and so close, too! “I didn’t know you had an Aegislash and a Dragapult, Leon.”

Leon chuckles bashfully at your enthusiasm, then introduces you to the pokemon and they float over to your side curiously; Dragapult sniffs you and the two Dreepy’s it carries in it’s horns float out and peer at you enquiringly before they decide to slink around your arms and shoulders, making you giggle as they weave in and out of your hair and over your neck and cheeks.

Aegislash offers you his lilac ribbon which you are about to touch until Leon quickly grabs your hand albeit gently.

“Be careful….he might drain some of your life force,” he warns.

“Oh, that’s okay, I don't mind, it would be good for an experiment,” you reply, as he slowly releases you, “Leon, this is amazing. Aegislash are known to stay loyal to people who have qualities of a true leader. They’re also featured in historical paintings depicting kings.”

Leon’s face grows red as he contemplates your words, “…I’ve had him since he was a Honedge…”

He’s being modest again, which makes you smile and Leon responds with a wide grin of his own.

Aegislash proceeds to circle you inquisitively whilst Dragapult slinks around and tickles the tip of your nose with his transparent tail.

“Thanks for showing me your pokemon, Leon. I can tell they’re very well-cared for.”

Leon flashes you a gentle smile. “Thank you.”

As you return his smile, Leon holds your gaze once more and you’re both staring at each other until Charizard snaps the both of you out by emitting a loud huff, indicating that it’s time to leave which relieves you of this strict tension you have constantly experienced between yourself and the Champion.

“It’s getting late. We should head back,” Leon says, and you nod.

After he recalls his pokemon, the two of you hop onto his back once more and you leave the vicinity of the woods.

Charizard carries the two of you safely back to the front door of his house. Checking your wristwatch, you decide to head home. The pokemon allows you to hop off his back and Leon helps you, holding your hand tightly in his once again. You briefly enter the house to say goodbye to his family and to pick up your belongings before Leon escorts you outside.

“I had a great time,” you say as Gengar greets you before jumping into your shadow, hitching a ride. “I wish we could do this more often. It’s a shame you’re booked out for the rest of the year.”

Leon hesitates before he replies with a rather despondent, “Me too.”

“Well, uh…I better go now. Thanks again for having me over. Goodnight.”

“Wait. I’ll walk you,” he says quickly before you can leave the doorstep and you glance at him questioningly as he quickly grabs a hooded jacket off the coat rack and throws it on, then he steps out of his house and shuts the door quietly behind him. Leon recalls Charizard and rushes up to you with his hands in his pockets, grinning.

You give him an awkward smile and you begin the walk; he stays close to you, much like how he did in the hospital despite the ample space of the empty path, your shoulders bumping together.

Once you reach your house, the lights are on and you stop at the front door and slowly turn to him only for you to almost bump into his chest. He’s standing so close to you...

“Thanks for walking me back,” you squeak out, and he takes a step backwards as though aware of your close proximity.

“No problem.”

”Will you make your way back okay?”

”Yeah, Charizard will help.”

“Oh, cool. So I’ll see you again…someday?”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, before he reaches for your bandaged hand and you stiffen when he clutches your palm tightly with his, curling his fingers tightly around yours before he brings your entwined hands to his chest.

“…Leon?” you breathe out, eyes wide.

“Charizard told me what happened. I won’t forget what you did for me,” he says softly, and you hold your breath. “I wanted to ask if…you would like to see the sunrise with me again?”

Your breath becomes stuck in your throat but you manage to croak out, “Tonight?”

He’s still holding your hand, which he grips with far more pressure than before, “Ah, um…not tonight, but some other day.”

“Oh…sure, I’d love to.”

He seems delighted with your response. “Thanks. I better go back now. Goodnight.”

“G-goodnight.”

With a huge grin, Leon releases your hand and proceeds to rush off, dashing down the path until he is out of sight. You open the door clumsily and stumble into the house, your heart racing as you remove your coat and hang it on the hook.

“Hey, you’re back! How was it?”

Looking up, you see Sonia at the stairs, holding Yamper under one arm.

“It was good,” you reply, and you outline the details briefly albeit skipping the part about Leon falling on top of you and your short trip with him to the Slumbering Weald. Overall, you had fun and you can’t stop smiling, which she notices of course.

She giggles and retreats upstairs whilst you head up to shower and get changed into your nightwear; you also decide to slap on a cucumber mask too because your skin's looking rather pasty and dull. Returning to the living room, you see Gengar lounging around with Poltea and Cutie and you remember you had captured Mimikyu.

With Mimikyu’s capsule in hand, you let it out and Mimikyu emerges; it’s two little glowing eyes blink up at you and your pokemon (Gengar in particular), before it dashes behind the coffee table to hide.

You watch as Poltea and Cutie head over and they briefly communicate with it, coaxing it out of its hiding place. It’s still using that hideous doll disguise and you carefully step forwards; once you spy it hiding behind one of the table legs, it starts hissing threateningly at you.

“Hey Mimikyu," you murmur in a gentle voice as you crouch before the small pokemon yet it continues hissing, the twinkling dots underneath the ruined fabric glowing brightly with apprehension. “I’m sorry we ruined your hair and costume. How about I make you a new one?”

It ceases to hiss at you and blinks. “…Mi mi?”

You nod with a smile, “Of course.”

Lowering your arm, it takes a small step forwards and then hops onto your elbow where it’s as light as a feather and you look at it and it looks at you before you smile; though it lets out an indignant huff under it’s breath, you carry it out of the lounge and into the bedroom, opening the door where you see Sonia at her vanity table, brushing her hair until she spots the ragdoll and shrieks.

“W-what is that?!”

“It’s a Mimikyu,” you say with a wide grin, “I’m going to make it a new costume. Can I borrow your sewing kit?”

“Sure…” Sonia watches with widened eyes as you head over to your cupboard and pull out a drawer where you keep some old clothes you can depart with.

“What do you think?” you ask.

“Hmm…Mi mi mi,” it says with content, nodding.

“Go crazy,” you reply, and Mimikyu glances at each of the shirts curiously.

“Mi mi,” it replies, before its stitch mouth splits apart to unleash a long and black, shadowy tendril and making it point to a grey shirt. Sonia stares at this appendage as she inches her sewing kit towards your direction.

“This one?” you say.

“Mi,” it replies, nodding.

“Don’t you want to look like Pikachu?”

It shakes its head. “Mi. Mi mi mimikyuuu.”

“You prefer your ragdoll disguise?”

“Mi,” it confirms with a stern nod.

“Got it,” you take out the grey shirt and thank Sonia for letting you borrow her sewing kit, then Mimikyu spots your scissors, along with a ball of black yarn near your stationary tub and grabs those using two shadowy tendrils and you both make your way downstairs.

Seating yourself on the lounge, you let Mimikyu hop off and sit beside you on the couch before you switch on the TV with your feet up. Mimikyu takes the fabric off you with several shadowy tendrils along with the scissors and begins snipping away, singing to itself in various octaves.

As Mimikyu hands you the trimmed fabric, you look at the expert handiwork. Mimikyu must be used to fixing it's costume, and you open the sewing kit and take out some grey thread and a needle and begin sewing the fabric together. Occasionally, it will help you by using a shadow tendril to hold the fabric in place whilst you sew together a finicky part.

You occasionally throw glances to see how Mimikyu is doing before you recall that no-one has ever seen what Mimikyu looks like underneath its disguise. One scientist even died from shock, apparently.

Therefore you slowly reach a hand and pinch one small corner of the ragdoll body with your fingers and attempt to look inside only for Mimikyu to slap your hand away in the span of a split second with a shadowy tendril.

“Ow!” you retreat your hand and cradle it to your chest as Mimikyu wags one clawed finger at you in a chiding manner. “Sorry…I won’t do that again."

"Mi!"

"Yes, I know I could've died."

Suddenly, the phone rings and Rotom flies over to you. “Leon izzz calling!” he exclaims gleefully and you sit up properly in your seat.

“Leon???” you utter in surprise and Rotom nods as he switches to video mode and you see Leon on screen, grinning at you.

He’s in his nightwear consisting of a white t-shirt and black joggers and when he gets a look at you in your nightclothes and cucumber mask, the grin widens.

“H-hi Leon.”

“Hey!” he greets you cheerfully, “Sorry to call you so late, but Citizen Kangaskhan is on TV. Would you like to watch it together?”

“Really?” you exclaim, whilst Mimikyu continues singing to itself.

“Yeah, it’s – oh, is that…?”

“Yeah, it’s Mimikyu. I’m helping her make a new costume,” you say with a smile as you glance at the pokemon and Rotom hovers to Mimikyu who looks up.

“Hi Mimikyu!”

“Mi…me hello.”

You feel numerous chills run down your spine, “Bloody hell, Mimikyu, I forgot you could speak some of the human language. I'll need to study you later if you don't mind."

“Mi…heehee," Mimikyu replies happily and Leon chuckles.

“What channel is it on?”

“Sixty two.”

“Alright, let’s watch together,” you grab the remote control and change it to the channel and indeed, Citizen Kangaskhan is playing. You get comfortable as your Rotom settles beside you on the empty seat of the couch.

Together, you watch the movie, with you and Mimikyu sewing the new costume whilst sitting together in the safety of your house, and Leon in his own.

...

[mcttys]

* ･ﾟ ❀ { cis male . he/him } wait ! is that HARRY STYLES we see moving into bloom 36 ? oh no , its just MATTHEW “MATTY” HARRISON ! bloom’s newest tenant is a TWENTY FIVE year old WRITER from CAMDEN, MAINE — yellow spring’s just got a whole lot brighter . if the HOPELESS ROMANTIC isn’t stowed away in their loft , you can almost always find them WRITING AT THE IVY . 

hello !! i’m sam and i am so excited to be here. i have been looking for a place to play my bb matty for quite some time. i’m tweaking his backstory a little bit to fit better with the plot but he is just a soft lazy love sick mess of a boy whomst i love dearly and hope you can tolerate as well ! please see below for some headcanons 

full name: matthew “matty” ryan harrison  age: twenty- five birth date: march 7, 1995, 3:13 pm zodiac: pisces sun, taurus moon, leo rising  hometown: camden, maine religion: raised roman catholic but kind of agnostic now  sexual/romantic orientation: bisexual / biromantic  character parallels: rob gordon (high fidelity the movie), richard papen (the secret history), theo decker (the goldfinch), charlie (perks of being a wallflower) aesthetics: hazy golden afternoons, second hand poetry books, a yearning for the italian country side, worn out vintage t-shirts

pinterest board

writer by choice, romantic by chance: i have this in his pinterest board and i feel like it rly sums him up! he’s such a romantic to the point that it is a flaw. he romanticizes everything which has gotten him into trouble before. i.e....mistaking things that are certainly not love, for love. 

you may say he’s a dreamer: big goals! big ambitions! big lazy boy! he has dreams to move to a big city like new york or paris, to live in a chic and cozy apartment, to write 3/4 of the year and vacation in some beautiful getaway in the south of italy every summer. somewhat unattainable especially considering he’s currently drowning in student loans but a boy can dream?

i kno that u got daddy issues: grew up in a small, picturesque town in maine. you know the boy romanticized it yes sir he did !! but that doesn’t mean he had a perfect childhood. he was an only child of a loveless romance. his mother and father had him at 16 and 17, respectively, and tried to make it work despite the lack of actual emotional connection between them. his dad and he never really bonded, especially since matty was more interested in reading picture books and playing dress up than he was tossing a baseball outside. he’d always been closer with his mother. still, it didn’t hurt any less when he came home from school one day at eight years old, his father’s things gone. it didn’t hurt any less to watch his mom cry over him for days.

money, money, money, must be funny: after spending four years of undergrad  studying literature and creative writing at brown university in rhode island, the kid is swimming in debt. he got involved in some shady businesses for money, doing things he didn’t really want to be doing, and still feels ashamed of today, so he doesn’t really talk about his past much! but, the reason he moved to yellow springs was because he fell in l*ve back in rhode island. it ended up going south, quick, so he packed up his things, took what little savings he had, and found yellow springs. this was when he was twenty-three so he’s been living in the bloom apartments for about 2 years now? 

sloth and the seven deadly sins: matty is a total homebody, but that isn’t to say he doesn’t like going out at all. he does! he’s just kind of a wallflower when he goes out. much more of an observer. he does prefer to stay in tho, with a huge fluffy blanket and a big cup of tea. please...have sleepovers with him. he’s a huge cuddler.

another delusional pisces: yes...he has his head in the clouds okay! sometimes they are so far up in the clouds that it’s hard to tell if he’s living in the same reality as everyone else. something he perceives as true is often totally false. it’s often why he thinks he’s in love after 1 date and everyone else is like that’s called INFATUATION , MATTHEW . 

wash your dishes and take out the garbage!: not a slob but quite messy. his room has clothes strewn all over the place and he can never keep his papers organized. he often forgets tea cups in his room until the entire collection of mugs ends up on his bed side table and he’s like whoops ! and brings them out to the kitchen 

cat: has a cat named cat. basically when he still lived in rhode island for school he came back to his place one day and he realized a cat had followed him home. and he was like shoo cat ! and she didn’t listen . he was like . i can’t take you in here cat . no pets allowed . anyway he ended up having a full on conversation with this cat in the hallway and then the cat followed him inside his dorm ANYWAY and he hid her  and took care of her for the rest of the semester and just called her cat and now that’s her name and he took her with him to yellow springs and they are best friends 

wanted connections: dang u know i want them all but !! let’s think. 

ambiguously gay duo - give me a brotp where everyone is like “are they....you know....” but it’s just PURE , UNADULTERATED FRIENDSHIP  (m/nb) river

ok this is piggy backing off the above because they very well could be the same connection but the schmidt to his nick. matty is lazy and unmotivated but extremely creative and needs someone who is motivated and passionate and they make a good dynamic duo !  inspo: ( x , x , x ) (f/m/nb) zane

cuddle buddy - this can be completely platonic but if any muses love to hang around the house as much as he does !! please give him someone to be lazy with (f/m/nb) sumi

unrequited love - it’s a bad religion !!! give me someone matty is head over heels for but they just........do not feel the same way.  (f/m/nb)

muse - matty is a writer, so i would love to have certain eccentric characters be people he models his own characters after ? i think that would be so cute and this could work for a few connects  :( (f/m/nb) selene

extrovert to his introvert - someone who drags him out to social gatherings, makes him do things outside of his apartment, yknow. forces him to get out and get active ! he probably would not go to parties if it were not for this person (f/m/nb) gemma

exes - matty’s been here for 2 years so this all depends on timelines. but ! give me exes on bad terms ! exes on good terms ! anything ! (f/m/nb) domenica 

ex fwbs / one night stands - on the same note, matty is the type of guy who falls in love in 0.02 seconds but can fall out of love just as fast. this would be one of those circumstances (f/m/nb)

college friends - matty went to brown university in rhode island so if we got any pretentious ivy leaguers in the house say aye 

[fyrapartnersearch]

Why can't I hold all these cool stories?

CURRENT CRAVINGS: Please see this GDoc, because I have some plots I’d like to try! I’m primarily interested in original plots and characters; setting them in original worlds or fandom worlds is fine. I am not interested in playing canons other than as side characters/world filler as of right now.

DISCORD: KYLO REN AT CHILI’S#8808

  PERSONAL PREFERENCES

I’m over eighteen, and would prefer my partners are, too. This doesn’t mean I’m interested in NSFW-heavy plots; I do not write smut. It just means I’m more comfortable writing and interacting with other adults.

I consider myself to be lit-adv. I tend to enjoy partners in the lit+ category, but as long as you’re an enthusiastic and engaging partner, I don’t care about perfect grammar. I would rather write with someone just as involved and excited as I am, than I would with someone who isn't very engaging but knows exactly what to do with obscure punctuation.

I’m not interested in playing only one type of character or playing against only one type of character. I typically don’t enjoy writing with people who are only interested in playing one type of relationship dynamic or one kind of character (such as only m/f, playing the female, or m/m, playing the “bottom”). I have no problem with these dynamics or characters at all, nor do I have an issue playing against them. I just prefer more variety, compromise, and opportunity.

 OOC chatter is really important to me. I can’t write with someone that I don’t feel like I can get to know. I’m looking for friends, not a faceless reply robot. I won’t communicate over any medium but Discord. I've tried Kik, Hangouts, etc.; they just don't stick for me. If you would prefer first contact be through email, you can shoot me a quick message and your handle to jordrps@gmail.com.

I’m fine with threading in a GDoc or a server, but I will not thread over DMs. It’s difficult to have OOC chatter and the thread over the top of each other.

If you're looking for a partner that writes a reply a day without fail, that's not me. I prefer that we don't have "posting schedules” or set posting times, because I find that it turns writing into a chore. It's great if you reply immediately, and it's totally okay if you need a week to figure something out! You’re absolutely free to poke me. I’m not always the most mindful. However, I’m not going to reply every day. Three to four times a week is my frequency.

  PLOT PREFERENCES

I’m interested in both fandom and original settings, and I’m down for playing both canon characters and OCs. I don’t necessarily prefer one or the other. 

I definitely prefer canon doubling from my partners in fandom plots; I mesh better with people who do a little give-and-take when it comes to that. If you only play one canon character or only play OCs against canons and won’t play canons, I don’t think we’ll work.

I can play as many characters as needed, whether it's just one or it's six. Whatever our story calls for, I can manage that. In fact, I would love to play multiple “main” pairings so we can both get what we want, versus a single main pairing (unless it’s a pairing/dynamic we both like equally well). I find more than one facet to a plot really interesting, and multiple characters helps flesh out a story’s dimensions.

I’m absolutely interested in joining groups, so please don’t be shy about asking me to participate in plots with more than two players. So long as they don’t involve me writing sexual NSFW, we’re Gucci; everyone else writing NSFW isn’t a deal breaker for me.

Multiple threads and plots at the same time are no issue for me. In fact, I love the idea that we click so well that we just can't stop coming up with good ideas! So definitely don't be afraid to pitch something new to me, whether it's because you want to switch gears (and drop a thread for another), or want to do everything at once.

Romance is a must for me! I prefer slow and agonizing journeys to get there, but my attention is best held by romantic chemistry between characters.

I can provide writing samples upon request, though I never require them from my partner. Additionally, I have some plots written out if you're interested in that sort of thing. Otherwise, we can brainstorm together!

  FANDOMS

I’m very much a fandom player. I’m always down for AUs, or inserting our own characters into the plots of fandoms! This is in no way a complete list; never be afraid to ask if I’m into something! I’ve probably forgotten a hundred things I love. 

Most of my fandoms will have favorite canon characters listed with them, both who I like playing and playing against; you’re always welcome to ask about others not listed.* There’s a good chance I’m pretty good with them!

*I will play OCs in every fandom, but I might not play canons in every fandom.

  ALWAYS

The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Nathaniel, Kitty Jones, and Bartimaeus), DC (any Titan, Jinx, Arthur Curry, Steve Trevor, Circe, and Diana Prince), Elder Scrolls (player canons and/or OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Fallout: New Vegas and 4 (Arcade Gannon, Paladin Danse, R.J. MacCready, Arthur Maxson, Veronica Santangelo, Cait, Rose of Sharon Cassidy, and player canons), Game of Thrones (Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Ramsay Bolton, and Willas Tyrell), His Dark Materials (OCs preferred), Hunger Games (OCs preferred), Inception (Arthur, and Eames, but OCs preferred), Marvel (Peter Parker, Scott Lang, Bucky Barnes, Miles Morales, Loki Laufeyson, Thor Odinson, Gwen Stacy, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde, and Megan Gwynn), Miraculous Ladybug (Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste), The Mortal Instruments (Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, and Alec Lightwood), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase, Will Solace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez), Star Trek (Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy, S'chn T'gai Spock, and Pavel Chekov), Star Wars (Obi Wan Kenobi, Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel, Mara Jade Skywalker, Rey Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Sintas Vel, and Ahsoka Tano), The Walking Dead (Glenn Rhee, and Negan), Warriors (Firestar, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, and Hawkfrost)

  SOMETIMES

Boku no Hero Academia (Bakugo Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijiro, Todoroki Shoto, and Uraraka Ochaco), Bungou Stray Dogs (OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Digimon (OCs preferred), Dragon Age (Fenris, Cullen Rutherford, Cassandra Pentaghast, and Dorian Pavus), Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Reno, and Sephiroth), Harry Potter (Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Regulus Black, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Luna Lovegood; play my favorite ship with me, and I'll do whatever you want, literally.), Mystic Messenger (Choi Saeyoung, Han Jumin, Kang Jaehee, and Choi Saeran), Naruto (Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Gaara, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke), Ouran High School Host Club (Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Hikaru, and Hitachiin Kaoru), Pokémon (Red, Blue, N, Guzma, and player canons)

  NOT SURE, BUT WILLING TO EXPLORE

Avatar: the Last Airbender (particularly Zutara), Eragon, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiznaiver, The Legend of Zelda, Soul Eater, Steven Universe, Tokyo Ghoul, Twilight, Yuri!!! on Ice

  GENRES

For the most part, I’ll genuinely play most any genre! Of course, everyone says that, but then they shoot down all your suggestions because everyone has stuff they don’t like doing. I’ll try to make this as brief as I can, and know that if something isn’t listed, but you’re pretty sure (based on everything else) that I’m into it, then definitely let me know what you’re thinking!

SETTINGS

A/B/O (I will not play only alphas for only omegas, nor will I play overly trope-y, non-con, “boys love”/"yaoi" plots.), Age of Sail, alien worlds/alien invasions, celebrity, fairytales and mythology (including “inspired by” retellings), fantasy (including medieval, urban, and high fantasy), alt-historical and modern royalty, mutants/gifted, organized crime, science fiction (especially including aliens), some historical (excluding medieval, colonial, and the Roaring Twenties/Great Depression), supernatural, Victorian (especially the London ton), post-apocalyptic

PAIRING DYNAMICS

arranged marriage (I’m always down for slinging our characters together, whether or not they want to. It’s always a bonus if their families hate each other.), enemies to lovers (I love conflict of any sort, especially romantic!), human x not-human (The not-human must be sentient.), bad guy x good guy, intellectual x emotional, captive x captured (especially when the captured is willful, annoying, and full of fight), step-siblings (I don’t play step-parents x step-kids, so please don’t ask!), status/power imbalances (such as characters being from different socioeconomic strata or different ranks/positions in an organization), celebrity x bodyguard (I’m okay with the celebrity being the son/daughter/offspring of someone famous!), famous x not famous, rivals of any sort, unwilling traveling companions, unwilling soulmates

  If any of this interests you, please feel free to reach out to me however! I'm really looking forward to hearing from you!

[rp-dreamland]

Why can't I hold all these cool stories?

CURRENT CRAVINGS: Please see this GDoc, because I have some plots I’d like to try! I’m primarily interested in original plots and characters; setting them in original worlds or fandom worlds is fine. I am not interested in playing canons other than as side characters/world filler as of right now.

DISCORD: KYLO REN AT CHILI’S#8808

TIMEZONE: CST

PERSONAL PREFERENCES

I’m over eighteen, and would prefer my partners are, too. This doesn’t mean I’m interested in NSFW-heavy plots; I do not write smut. It just means I’m more comfortable writing and interacting with other adults. 

I consider myself to be lit-adv. I tend to enjoy partners in the lit+ category, but as long as you’re an enthusiastic and engaging partner, I don’t care about perfect grammar. I would rather write with someone just as involved and excited as I am, than I would with someone who isn’t very engaging but knows exactly what to do with obscure punctuation.

I’m not interested in playing only one type of character or playing against only one type of character. I typically don’t enjoy writing with people who are only interested in playing one type of relationship dynamic or one kind of character (such as only m/f, playing the female, or m/m, playing the “bottom”). I have no problem with these dynamics or characters at all, nor do I have an issue playing against them. I just prefer more variety, compromise, and opportunity.

 OOC chatter is really important to me. I can’t write with someone that I don’t feel like I can get to know. I’m looking for friends, not a faceless reply robot. I won’t communicate over any medium but Discord. I’ve tried Kik, Hangouts, etc.; they just don’t stick for me. If you would prefer first contact be through email, you can shoot me a quick message and your handle to jordrps@gmail.com.

I’m fine with threading in a GDoc or a server, but I will not thread over DMs. It’s difficult to have OOC chatter and the thread over the top of each other.

If you’re looking for a partner that writes a reply a day without fail, that’s not me. I prefer that we don’t have “posting schedules” or set posting times, because I find that it turns writing into a chore. It’s great if you reply immediately, and it’s totally okay if you need a week to figure something out! You’re absolutely free to poke me. I’m not always the most mindful. However, I’m not going to reply every day. Three to four times a week is my frequency.

PLOT PREFERENCES

I’m interested in both fandom and original settings, and I’m down for playing both canon characters and OCs. I don’t necessarily prefer one or the other. 

I definitely prefer canon doubling from my partners in fandom plots; I mesh better with people who do a little give-and-take when it comes to that. If you only play one canon character or only play OCs against canons and won’t play canons, I don’t think we’ll work.

I can play as many characters as needed, whether it’s just one or it’s six. Whatever our story calls for, I can manage that. In fact, I would love to play multiple “main” pairings so we can both get what we want, versus a single main pairing (unless it’s a pairing/dynamic we both like equally well). I find more than one facet to a plot really interesting, and multiple characters helps flesh out a story’s dimensions.

I’m absolutely interested in joining groups, so please don’t be shy about asking me to participate in plots with more than two players. So long as they don’t involve me writing sexual NSFW, we’re Gucci; everyone else writing NSFW isn’t a deal breaker for me.

Multiple threads and plots at the same time are no issue for me. In fact, I love the idea that we click so well that we just can’t stop coming up with good ideas! So definitely don’t be afraid to pitch something new to me, whether it’s because you want to switch gears (and drop a thread for another), or want to do everything at once.

Romance is a must for me! I prefer slow and agonizing journeys to get there, but my attention is best held by romantic chemistry between characters.

I can provide writing samples upon request, though I never require them from my partner. Additionally, I have some plots written out if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Otherwise, we can brainstorm together!

FANDOMS

I’m very much a fandom player. I’m always down for AUs, or inserting our own characters into the plots of fandoms! This is in no way a complete list; never be afraid to ask if I’m into something! I’ve probably forgotten a hundred things I love. 

Most of my fandoms will have favorite canon characters listed with them, both who I like playing and playing against; you’re always welcome to ask about others not listed.* There’s a good chance I’m pretty good with them!

*I will play OCs in every fandom, but I might not play canons in every fandom.

ALWAYS

The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Nathaniel, Kitty Jones, and Bartimaeus), DC (any Titan, Jinx, Arthur Curry, Steve Trevor, Circe, and Diana Prince), Elder Scrolls (player canons and/or OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Fallout: New Vegas and 4 (Arcade Gannon, Paladin Danse, R.J. MacCready, Arthur Maxson, Veronica Santangelo, Cait, Rose of Sharon Cassidy, and player canons), Game of Thrones (Sansa Stark, Robb Stark, Jon Snow, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Ramsay Bolton, and Willas Tyrell), His Dark Materials (OCs preferred), Hunger Games (OCs preferred), Inception (Arthur, and Eames, but OCs preferred), Marvel (Peter Parker, Scott Lang, Bucky Barnes, Miles Morales, Loki Laufeyson, Thor Odinson, Gwen Stacy, Jean Grey, Ororo Munroe, Kitty Pryde, and Megan Gwynn), Miraculous Ladybug (Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste), The Mortal Instruments (Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, and Alec Lightwood), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo, Annabeth Chase, Will Solace, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez), Star Trek (Jim Kirk, Leonard McCoy, S'chn T'gai Spock, and Pavel Chekov), Star Wars (Obi Wan Kenobi, Jacen Solo, Jaina Solo, Jagged Fel, Mara Jade Skywalker, Rey Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Luke Skywalker, Boba Fett, Sintas Vel, and Ahsoka Tano), The Walking Dead (Glenn Rhee, and Negan), Warriors (Firestar, Squirrelflight, Jayfeather, and Hawkfrost)

SOMETIMES

Boku no Hero Academia (Bakugo Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, Shinsou Hitoshi, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijiro, Todoroki Shoto, and Uraraka Ochaco), Bungou Stray Dogs (OCs preferred, but feel free to ask about canons), Digimon (OCs preferred), Dragon Age (Fenris, Cullen Rutherford, Cassandra Pentaghast, and Dorian Pavus), Final Fantasy VII (Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, Reno, and Sephiroth), Harry Potter (Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Regulus Black, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, and Luna Lovegood; play my favorite ship with me, and I’ll do whatever you want, literally.), Mystic Messenger (Choi Saeyoung, Han Jumin, Kang Jaehee, and Choi Saeran), Naruto (Hatake Kakashi, Umino Iruka, Gaara, Hyuuga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke), Ouran High School Host Club (Ootori Kyouya, Hitachiin Hikaru, and Hitachiin Kaoru), Pokémon (Red, Blue, N, Guzma, and player canons)

NOT SURE, BUT WILLING TO EXPLORE

Avatar: the Last Airbender (particularly Zutara), Eragon, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiznaiver, The Legend of Zelda, Soul Eater, Steven Universe, Tokyo Ghoul, Twilight, Yuri!!! on Ice

GENRES

For the most part, I’ll genuinely play most any genre! Of course, everyone says that, but then they shoot down all your suggestions because everyone has stuff they don’t like doing. I’ll try to make this as brief as I can, and know that if something isn’t listed, but you’re pretty sure (based on everything else) that I’m into it, then definitely let me know what you’re thinking!

SETTINGS

A/B/O (I will not play only alphas for only omegas, nor will I play overly trope-y, non-con, “boys love”/"yaoi” plots.), Age of Sail, alien worlds/alien invasions, celebrity, fairytales and mythology (including “inspired by” retellings), fantasy (including medieval, urban, and high fantasy), alt-historical and modern royalty, mutants/gifted, organized crime, science fiction (especially including aliens), some historical (excluding medieval, colonial, and the Roaring Twenties/Great Depression), Southern gothic, supernatural, Victorian (especially the London ton), post-apocalyptic

PAIRING DYNAMICS

arranged marriage (I’m always down for slinging our characters together, whether or not they want to. It’s always a bonus if their families hate each other.), enemies to lovers (I love conflict of any sort, especially romantic!), human x not-human (The not-human must be sentient.), bad guy x good guy, intellectual x emotional, captive x captured (especially when the captured is willful, annoying, and full of fight), step-siblings (I don’t play step-parents x step-kids, so please don’t ask!), status/power imbalances (such as characters being from different socioeconomic strata or different ranks/positions in an organization), celebrity x bodyguard (I’m okay with the celebrity being the son/daughter/offspring of someone famous!), famous x not famous, rivals of any sort, unwilling traveling companions, unwilling soulmates

If any of this interests you, please feel free to reach out to me however! I’m really looking forward to hearing from you!

[authenticaussie]

What do you think the difference would be in a TMNT/OP fic with different collections of turtles?

oooooooo okay so I should be getting ready for class tomorrow but you have 100% captured me I’m so invested in this

mainly I know 2003, 2012, and Rise - well, at least, they’re my favourites and have the most distinct characterisation tbh bc they’re long-running series - SO I’ll do those guys :DD

THIS GOT LONG (because of course it did, I’ve never made a short post in my LIFE) SO FIRST: 

the main difference in fic would be tone!!!!!!!! The turtles are all really affected by the shows they come from so there’d be big differences in how they react to the new situation. Combining OP and 2018, they’re both such loud and bright shows that writing them sad would be kinda….disatisfactory to a reader. 2012 is the one where you could get kinda dark, and go down the genetic experiment and “oh wow these kids need a therapist” and Luffy being >:T wtf why are your lives so Fucked Up route, and 2003 would be hilariously awkward because they’re technically all in the same age range but they act so different wheezes

Second!!! Fun character analysis and Shenanigans under the readmore. 

2003

Probably the most responsible on this list, they’re like??? tbh, barely teenagers?? Or at the very least, 18 or 19, and they can be air-heads but 2003 goes feet-first into the whole plot and character and Everything Happens. I mean, literally in season one there’s this whole subplot about how you define monsters and genetic testing and Wild shit like that so they feel Way more adult than the Strawhats get at times. Even though One Piece covers some dark topics it….the characters - the strawhats, in particular, is what I mean - don’t feel like adults the same way the 2003 turtles do. 2003 also doesn’t feel as dark as 2012 gets sometimes, but I feel 2012 is also because they seem really young, and in 2003 at least they get to process their trauma. 2012…..kinda beats them up a lot akhsdg pft.

Sticking them with the Strawhats would be !! Honestly really funny? I feel Mikey would get along with them really well - in every iteration he’s very good at going with the flow, and hey, pirates? and they’re nice? and cool powers? - he’d have the time of his life. Donnie would try and figure out What Was Going On (as the resident “please fix this in case it’s dangerous” guy, that’s probably what his role would Often be) but I can see him being easily distracted by Franky and the whole devil fruits thing. GOD him and Franky is a thought and a half omfg. The level of tech in One Piece is so different when compared to the modern world, and it operates on rules but like, rules that are just ever so slightly different. 

Raph would be in debt Immediately. Mainly bc Nami’s manipulative like that but also because he’s just………..Like That. He’d be rude and insulting and if the strawhats were helping them out he’d be the team’s voice of reason. Or, distrust, I suppose. The one who hangs back, who’s prickly, who’s the last to offer his trust because his family needs him to be uncompromised, just in case. I think he and Zoro would clash for a bit, not like, in words but just in gestures, until the crew + turtles had been through their adventures, and gotten to the end of Whatever fic was being written, and then they’d be friends. Not best buds but like, healthy respect for each other. 

Leo……….absolutely does Not understand why Luffy is leader. It’s like making Mikey the boss; it doesn’t make sense to him, because Luffy is too trusting and he’s strong but strength doesn’t make a good leader, and in 2003 Leo’s kind of a pushover so he’d stay on the sidelines and watch with Raph. But, as everyone knows, Luffy’s magnetism is Pretty Hard To Deny, and the crew’s respect for him does a lot to show to Leo that he may be missing something but that he doesn’t have to understand. 

2012

I always……..feel so bad for TMNT2012 //weeps They’re just kids and they get put through so much like wow I’m only at season two but from spoilers there’s like?? their dad keeps DYING and being bought back to life???/ THAT’S GOTTA FUCK YOU UP!!! Plus all of them have all these different insecurities and they’re kinda mean to each other (Raph….has only given a proper apology for being a dick once so far, and I’m like. mid-way through season two. I’m sorry if this makes me mikey kin @@zali but pLEASE I cannot stand this LET THEM BE NICE TO EACH OTHER ;A; Like they’re still obviously a family but gosh they’re– so prickly)

Honestly depending on how the Strawhats meet them, like holy shit :o they might be Enemies. In 2003 I feel like they’ve been through enough to try and de-escalate a situation first, but 2012 are so Paranoid that unless they had April with them they’d be like WELP this is another mind-control alternate dimension thing, time to ninja vanish. And sure, after they ended up on whatever quest they needed to go on, Luffy would be fascinated by them (2012 definitely pushes the limits of what you can Actually do, in terms of hiding and shit, but I think that makes it fun !!) but I feel the turtles would be pretty paranoid at first. Mikey & Donnie would be the first two to be dragged out of their shells (snickers) because Donnie would be super curious (and also…probably kinda aggravated and confused) about how the one piece world rules work, and Mikey because…friends!! They already have a reindeer mutant on the crew, they’re obviously cool with mutants :D

akhsdg okay I mention that 2003 would hang back and assess Luffy’s leadership still but like 2012 would be such a dick. He never seems to learn the lesson that people have different strengths and different ways of doing things >:T and watching Luffy lead would drive him crazy. I bet he’d try and make plans and be all structured and in control and Luffy would wreck things and/or the strawhats would be like “lol no lmao, you’re not the captain”. Even if he did have a good plan, like….the Strawhats rarely follow plans if Luffy says they’re doing something different snickers. I feel a major part of this could just a nice subplot line of Leo learning to Chill and also like………give the 2012 a fun adventure I’m begging you sobs. Do a Long Long Island filler arc or smth, where it’s dumb and silly and barely dangerous because they’re all competent af. 

Also: Mikey constantly trying to find a devil fruit because “dudes, it’s probably not gonna apply when we go back home and think about how SICK superpowers would be!!!!!!!!”

He does not get one, to his disappointment. 

2018

These guys are IDIOTS and would fit in with Luffy’s brand of chaos p e r f e c t l y 

Okay so yeeeeah I’m probably biased because I think Rise may be my favourite (the family dynamics!! the character designs!! the animation!!! the stupid jokes!!! the sudden flashes of deeper plot!!!!!!!!) BUT. No-one can argue with me that Rise turtles are chaotic as fuck and they’d have the time of their LIVES with Luffy’s crew. Raph would fall in love with Chopper (Chopper would be terrified of him, continuing the terribly sad trend of Raph being Bad With Animals), Donnie would go wild glitter-eyed over the devil fruits and technology and immediately try and do a million mad scientist experiments (and look. SMILES are fucked up. But this boii would totally try and make one/figure out how they worked). He’s….a mad genius and maybe a little bit evil. 

Leo would either drive Sanji crazy or be INSTANTLY adopted and taught how to be “cool”, but I can also see Sanji and Zoro lowkey fighting over him SNICKERS. Because Leo has a sword so he’s obviously Zoro’s, but he’s suave and likes fashion so he MUST be Sanji’s, and it’s not an argument persay, until Leo says he thinks both of them are cool and then it’s a battle to the death. 

(The end of leo’s sentence was “not as cool as me tho ;P” only they didn’t notice that bit.)

April would absolutely fall in love with Robin. And also Nami?? But I feel mainly Robin like Oh Man Robin is so cool and both of them are hypercompetent??? April’s like teach me how to be a badass assassin and Robin smiles and laughs and absolutely does. 

Mikey’s so loud that he almost terrifies Usopp, and terrifying Usopp is kinda a no-no in Luffy’s book, but he likes these guys and Mikey’s just excited to have an artist friend and so both of them bounce around the ship like ping pong balls. 

There is………yeah. A lot of paint covering the Sunny after they’re through. I can’t decide if Franky would cry or laugh but I know one (1) single drop of paint got on Nami’s tangerines and she Banished them. Rise turtles probably have a really good time and the crew figures out they’re basically children really quick and make sure nothing bad happens to them. Leo promises to try and get better at portal-making so they can come visit New York sometime, and everyone is like “what the fuck is new york??” at the same time as Donnie says HEY WAIT, I THINK WE’RE ON AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION and they get teleported home :DD

THANKS FOR LETTING ME SPILL ALL MY TURTLE FEELINGS EVERYWHERE

[thepersephonecabin]

16, 20-23, 36 ? For Riordanverse asks!

16. Where would you live in the riordanverse world (CHB, CJ, The Waystation, Valhalla, the Kane Manor, etc.)?

Camp Half-Blood! I know it’s kind of basic but I have the kind of nostalgia for CHB that most potterheads have for hogwarts. I even have a home-made CHB shirt (though i don’t know if it still fits me because I made it uhhh several weight fluctuation cycles ago)

20. Favorite ship?

It’s a suuuper small ship but i really love NicoxPercyxAnnabeth. I’m a sucker for some good healthy polyamory, and though our little group of shippers are small there are some just incredible fics. Honorable mentions: I would die for fierrochase, and when I, a non-binary, found out Riordan was doing a main character romance with a genderfluid character I uh, big cried. Also a big fan of Thalia and Reyna.

21. Least favorite ship?

So please don’t get mad, this is a personal opinion and not a judgement on anyone in the fandom who does ship this but my least favorite is actually solangelo, but hear me out. I think it’s really great that Rick gave Nico a happy ending with someone who is as kind and caring as Will! I think that’s a great message for younger queer kids reading the books who could benefit from seeing that they deserve happy endings too! So I’ll never begrudge anyone for shipping solangelo, but I have, a weird relationship with the ship personally.

For me, it’s less that I dislike the solangelo ship itself, it’s more that some solangelo shippers especially in the time right after Blood of Olympus came out got kind of nasty to people who weren’t immediately on the bandwagon. For example, I remember some people saying, “hmm I’m not sure I’m warmed up to will and nico as a couple yet” and solangelo shippers coming down and saying that they were being homophobic for it. (additionally, I made a post about this a loooooong time ago but I feel a little uncomfortable about how quickly solangelo grew in popularity with the fandom before it was confirmed canon because it felt crappy that no one had put that sort of energy behind any f/f shit in the riordan-verse. and then, almost simultaneously, people started shitting on riordan for not having any wlw in his books, but when the waystation girls were introduced it was like. radio silence in the fandom.)

so yeah. this is no shade to you if you ship solangelo, it’s more that i got burnt out on seeing the ship. I still think will and solace are cute in TOA, and i still see and reblog good art/fic of solangelo when I see it, it’s just not my cup of tea.

22. Favorite platonic ship (Brotp)?

Do Percy and Tyson count if they’re actually brothers? I love their dynamic and how in school Percy would defend Tyson even though he new it’d isolate him from others even more. Also I know I talked above about liking the nicoxpercyxannabeth ship but I also just like Nico and Annabeth bonding platonically after the books, the idea that they have to be jealous and nasty to each other just because nico had a crush on percy is so tired.

23. If you could save ONE of the people who died, who would it be (pick one, no cheating!!)?

SELENA! Her sacrifice was so poetic and I loved the parallels between her death and Patroclus’ from the Iliad but also! She and Clarisse should be married!!

36. The most controversial opinion that you have about the books (be honest, and friends/mutuals don’t kill the person who answers!!)

Oh gods I feel like I already outed myself on this one with my solangelo answer, but for the sake of fairness I will give another different controversial opinion.

I don’t even know if this is something people are still arguing about because I have weeded the whole conversation out of my dash but back in the day a lot of people on tumblr had beef about the age difference between Hazel and Frank because in physical years Hazel is younger than him. 

I can understand people’s complaints about the age difference because I get that irl even a difference of a few years can mean a significant power indifference. I saw this with a lot of my own friends in the real world and I even experienced a lot of my older brother’s friends pursuing me romantically (the people in question would have been 3-5 years older) when I was in middle school and high school and as an adult I look back at that and I’m so thankful that I dodged those bullets by standing my ground and not getting involved with those people who were older than me.

However, I think it’s also kind of convenient that people will discourse over Hazel and Frank being together, but not for example, Percy and Nico or Nico and Jason who have a similar age differences. And if I’m being honest, if you ask me why I think Hazel and Frank get so much more discourse about the age gap, the only answer that makes sense to me is the fact that there are few ships in the Riordan-verse in which BOTH SIDES of the ship are POC, and HazelxFrank is one of them.

This is something I’ve avoided putting out on my blog, I just try to ignore the whole thing tbh? but Hazel and Frank both separately got weirdly mixed reactions from the fandom and neither are particularly popular compared to some of the other characters. But when you think about it, nico has an age difference with most of the characters he’s shipped with, but I rarely see people upset about it. (not to mention there are so many other ships with significant age differences like leo and calypso, sadie and anubis, and paolo and apollo, etc who i also have not seen age discourse about). so idk. I understand why some people are made uncomfortable by it and that’s totally their right but I do still wonder if some of the frazel hate is misdirected

Send me a number!

[fabuloustrash05]

Thoughts on Apritello 2012

Oh ho ho ho! Fasten your seatbelt, cause you’re in for a fun ride!

So basically in the beginning I tolerated Apriltello. It was nothing special to me and I thought it was ok, they had cute moments together and I can always enjoy the dynamic of love struck dork and clueless love interest. Apriltello in season 1 was pretty good. It was the typical “will they, won’t they” but growing up I was never head over heals in love with the ship like everyone else was. To me it was a ship that was just there, and I never really cared for it.

Season 2 and onward, however, Apriltello made me slightly uncomfortable and started to annoy me. Donnie to me started to get really obsessive towards April and got jealous way too much and easily and I started to notice that April was playing with Donnie. She obviously was aware of his feelings for her by season 2 and you can tell it made her uncomfortable and instead of being honest with Donnie, she plays a game with him, toying with his emotions and not being honest with him. And don’t get me started with how toxic the Apriltello shippers got when Casey entered the picture.

I think the farm house kiss is what really made me dislike Apriltello. Here I was thinking that this ship was going to go through a change, Donnie’s obsessive nature was gonna end and he was gonna start moving on from his crush and we were going to see proper growth with this ship.

(Also quick side note: That music box gift and him making a move on April was extremely inappropriate. You guys literally just lost a major fight! The enemy won and you were forced to flee the city. Your father and every you know and love are either dead or capture and you think NOW is the best time to make a move on your crush?! WTF Donnie?!)

Anyways, after the lesson he went through in that episode of Bigfoot’s obsessive uncomfortable love for him was a call out to his obsessive uncomfortable love for April. I was proud of Donnie for letting April know that he’ll stop chasing after her. I liked the message it was giving children, that you can’t force someone to love you and sometimes you need to take a step back and rethink your actions towards this person.

But then the last 5 seconds of the episode f*cked it all up When April kissed Donnie. My 13 year old self stood there is utter shock and disbelief. Wasn’t she painfully obvious that she didn’t feel the same way?! Remember her reaction to the music box earlier in the episode?! It didn’t make sense to me!! And then in the next couple of episodes she doesn’t give him the time of day! It just frustrated me!

You know what would’ve been better? If April didn’t kiss Donnie at the end of the episode and instead just told him that she does care about him and she’ll always be his friend. They hug and Donnie walks away feeling satisfied as the episode ends with us seeing April, her face turning into sadness, hinting that maybe she does have romantic feelings for him, but she’s just not ready. I would have also loved it if Donnie met another girl and start to move on from his crush and that’s when April starts to realize that he was the one for her.

If I’m being honest I’m so happy that Apriltello didn’t become canon in the end because I honestly don’t like April x turtle ships. They seem wrong and it makes me uncomfortable. I much rather prefer April being a big sister or mother figure for the turtles than a love interest (that’s why I love Rise April so much and prefer her over 2012 April) Her being shipped with the turtles ruins her character. Any time she interacted with the turtles it was always with Donnie, she rarely talked to Leo, Mikey, or Raph, and when she did it felt new, refreshing, yet a little out of place. I remember that when April did have a moment with one of Donnie’s brothers, being nice and friendly with them because they’re friends, the fans would freak out and get violent with April, calling her names and say that she’s cheating on Donnie (even though their not together). It felt so different when she interacted with the other turtles and she rarely did! Making April a love interest for Donnie ruined her dynamic with the other turtles because she was always forced to be by Donnie’s side because “Shipping”!

In conclusion: Apriltello had potential. It’s just that the writer did them horribly. Season 1 Apriltello was good but by season 2 and onward just got worse. April shouldn’t even be dating one of the turtles in the first place. It ruins her character. She’s best being a big sister figure for the turtles.

Yet even after all I said, I still added Apriltello to my fanfic Courting a Salamandrian, making them a couple, because like I said, “they have potential” and I plan to try to fix what the writers broke.

[ciathyzareposts]

Game 329: Darklands (1992)

When you start up the game, this woman says “Welcome to Darklands” in a digitized voice.

          Darklands

United States

MicroProse (developer and publisher)

Released in 1992 for DOS Date Started: 24 May 2019

Excited about killing orcs and finding treasure, I fire up a game and crack open the manual. Three hours later, I could give a university lecture on political intrigue in the court of Emperor Frederick III in the 1470s. If it hadn’t already been made clear by the box and title screen, I would know for certain: I am playing a MicroProse game. One of these days, I’m going to add a column to my game rating sheet indicating whether the game manual comes with a bibliography, and thus determine whether it has a correlation to the GIMLET. I suspect it will.   Darklands is perhaps the most anticipated game on my blog, so much so that when I went to do my customary pre-game search of player comments, there were far too many to review. Readers were telling me that they were looking forward to the game back in my first year. There are many who feel that it marks the beginning of a new era in both mechanical complexity and quality of role-playing.            

A brief animated scene shows a gargoyle awakening and flying through a medieval city.

          The game is set in the Holy Roman Empire, staring in 1400. For those who haven’t had much excuse to think about the Holy Roman Empire since high school, it was a political organization in central Europe that existed for about 1,000 years, between 800 and 1806 or between 962 and 1806 depending on what you regard as the beginning. (Pope Leo III revived the Roman title of “Emperor” for Charlemagne in 800, but his empire fractured afterwards and wasn’t put together until 962 under Otto I.) At its height, it included modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Czechia, Slovenia, most of Italy, and parts of France and Poland. The Holy Roman Empire and its emperor never had the centralized authority of the earlier Roman Empire; kings and dukes and princes existed within it and sometimes had more real power than the putative emperor. The HRE was universally Catholic (Martin Luther wouldn’t vandalize any doors until 1516), feudal, and caste-obsessed. Its political machinations are the stuff of legend, and thus it serves as a great place for an RPG. Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) will later be set in the same era.

The gimmick of Darklands is that the game isn’t really set in historical reality, but in the era as the people of the era believed it to be. Thus, witches and demons are real, werewolves prowl the forests, mixing alchemical ingredients produces results, and saints occasionally deliver miracles. Otherwise, the game adopts realistic terms and concepts from the era. Money consists of florins, groschen, and pfenniges. Knowledge of Latin is an asset. And the player has to get comfortable with terms like schulz (local leader), dom (cathedral), raubritter (robber knight), and zeughaus (barracks).            

The game map reduces the complex borders of the HRE into a convenient square.

            The player controls a party of four characters, generated through a complex system that recalls MegaTraveller. After specifying a name and sex, the player choose the character’s social background, from nobility down to rural peasantry. He then spreads a pool of points among six attributes: strength, endurance, agility, perception, intelligence, and charisma. I would note that these are the same attributes as the later Fallout, minus luck, but there is a “luck” statistic in the game in the form of “divine favor.” Attributes exist on a scale of 0-99, although only a range of 10-40 is available on starting. They are dynamic throughout the game, as wounds cause direct damage to strength, endurance decreases with fatigue, and agility goes down with encumbrance.

Next, the character can take one or more occupations for blocks of 5 years. Available occupations are limited by skill, attributes, background, and previous occupation choices. After each 5-year term, the player can allocate a pool of points among the game’s 19 skills. These skills are organized into three groups: martial (e.g., Edged Weapon, Throwing Weapon), intellectual (e.g., Alchemy, Religion, Latin), and crafts (e.g., Stealth, Riding). Some of these skills are adjusted automatically based on occupation. They exist on a 0-99 scale. Since the game does not have levels as such, I assume increases in these skills are the primary means of character development.           

Improving a characters’ skills between occupations.

          You can stop the character’s career at any time. Older characters will start the game with more skills but will also age and die. My understanding is that the player may end up replacing characters several times throughout the game, particularly since there’s no such thing as resurrection, so I didn’t waste too much time trying to get it right the first time. I came up with:            

Chestremagne: Her to a noble house, strong and fit, schooled in edge and impact weapons, Latin, reading and writing, and riding. From ages 20-25, he was a student and developed all his skills a little more. He is presently 25.

Lothair the Lender, an unscrupulous trader and moneylender. He comes from a background of urban commoners but used his high intelligence, perception, and charisma to work his way up from peddler to trader to traveling merchant to merchant-proprietor, along the way developing skills in both common language and Latin, streetwise, woodswise, and artifice. He is now 35.

Tabitha, the child of a wealthy urban family pledged to a religious and healing order. She worked for 5 years as an oblate and then 5 as a novice nun. She is moderate in all attributes and skilled only in religion, healing, virtue, and alchemy. She is 30.

Adelaide the Ant, a famous thief. Ugly but shrewd, perceptive, and agile, skilled in streetwise, artifice, stealth, and the use of edged and thrown weapons. She has alternately been a thief and bandit for several decades, and is the oldest of the group at 40.

              I can see a couple of weaknesses in the party. First, I have no one obvious “warrior.” Chestremagne was headed there, but I stopped his education early. Second, I have no one particularly strong in alchemy. I tried to get Tabitha there, but I guess there really isn’t a lot of affinity between alchemy and the religious occupations; I should have moved her along a more “student” track. I probably have too much duplication between Lothair and Adelaide; there really aren’t that many thief-specific skills, and I could have combined what I was attempting with the two characters into a single character. Nonetheless, I’ll go with this party for now.            

The first party.

            Darklands has no particular backstory, so you have to decide for yourself how this weird crew came together and what they’re trying to accomplish. The game has them starting at table in an inn. I think the location is randomized; in my case, it was the Rheinischer Hof in the city of Dortmund. Anyway, as the game begins the group has just sworn “a pact as blood brothers, to seek good and avoid evil, and to bring everlasting honor and glory to our names.” They then spend some time debating next steps, such as getting jobs locally to acquire more training, improving their equipment, or hunting for street thieves at night.            

The party unites in a vague quest for fortune and glory.

        The game then hands control over to you, and you can start exploring the city via a series of nested menus. For instance, if you head out to the main street, you have options from there to visit the stadtplatz (the political center), the alter markt (central market), the churches, the guilds, an inn, a scenic grove, various side alleys, and the city gates. Each of those locations opens up a new series of options. For instance, in the stadtplatz, you can view local notices, listen for rumors, or go to the stadthaus and try to get an audience with a local official. Each option costs time, and the days pass quickly. There are different options at night than during the day.           

Some of the options specific to an inn.

        My party first went to the market to check things out, but I was a bit too concerned about finances to make any purchases. We then went into a back alley and nearly immediately entered combat with a group of thieves. Darklands features a real-time-with-pause combat system that I’m still figuring out, but it anticipates the Infinity Engine titles. You basically hit SPACE to pause, select each character and issue orders, and then hit SPACE to watch them carry out those orders to the best of their abilities. At the beginning of the game, I can’t do much more than attack.           

The party and the thieves engage in the very definition of “melee.”

          With the thieves, that was enough. I killed them without taking much damage and looted their bodies for some useful pieces of armor and excess weapons to sell in the market. The game is pretty light on types of equipment, incidentally. You get a melee weapon, a missile weapon, “vital” armor, “limb” armor, and a shield.          

Hear that? My massacre of the thieves was ordained by God.

         The next day, I visited the stadthaus and got an audience with the ältere herren. He confided that there is a plot to take over the city. His men had intercepted some reports going to the fugger (banker) in Fürstenberg. He wants me to go to that city and “steal prior reports.” From the map, Fürstenberg is quite a distance to the east. My understanding is that you might get similar quests from churches, guilds, and other important people in the town.           

How do we know that Fürstenberg won’t rule the city better than you? Which of you favors universal health care?

        I left the city to check out the wilderness. (Entering and leaving the cities involves a bunch of options depending on whether you want to pay the associated fees or hide from the guards or whatnot; I’ll cover that later.) Outdoor travel takes place on a world map full of landscape features and roads. There are miscellaneous encounters with friends and foes every few minutes. I was able to bluff my way past a couple of hostile parties as I headed east.            

Lothair bluffs his way past some bandits or worse.

             Everything I’ve described adds up to a game that’s an awful lot like a medieval RPG version of MicroProse’s Pirates! There are direct analogues in the menu towns and the randomization of quests. Just like the earlier game’s Spanish Main, here were have a rich backcloth in which somewhat random events transpire, with or without the player’s involvement, thus creating a different experience for every player.          

Hiking around central Germany replaces sailing the Spanish Main.

         Even the goals are similar. It appears that as I solve quests and slay thieves and whatnot, I’ll gain fame and reputation specific to each territory. I can “retire” the party at any point with that fame score, just as you can with the main character in Pirates! There’s also a main quest to find, lurking somewhere. Still, it’s clear that part of the game’s legendary length is related to the dynamic, somewhat random way the game world evolves.

I may roll a new party and choose to stay more local before getting a quest, or just go with it and see what happens. There are lots of things I have not yet explored, including the alchemy system and the praying system. Since the plot can’t really be spoiled (I assume), I’ll be happy to take plenty of opinions on this one.

Time so far: 3 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/game-329-darklands-1992/