#also there's probably lots of mistakes but it's okay it was good practice

[shelleysmary]

okay, but in all seriousness, is elrond being too hard on galadriel? the answer is yes. but he is also much younger than her and i think a lot of us can relate to that feeling of being in our early-to-mid-20s and feeling like "right is here, and wrong is there, and why can't these older people see it." sometimes that kind of clarity is needed. this is why generational friction exists, is natural, is necessary to the movements of society. elrond standing up to galadriel and gil-galad after spending s1 mostly in service to them is refreshing because he's finding his voice, he's owning the fact that he is not content to be a herald writing and delivering speeches for others. he cares and he wants to make a difference and speaking out against the rings has been the catalyst for that. at this point in the story elrond is already so many of the things he goes on to be in the third age. he is loyal. he is perceptive. he is wise. but he also lacks experience. he has never been tempted away from the light - probably ever, certainly not by the great deceiver. so it's easy for him to look at galadriel's folly and say "you should have known better. the darkness corrupted you and you let it happen, in part because you wanted it to happen." which technically is a true statement, but the way it feels to galadriel is much different and much more complex, and it's different to us as well because we've been with her every step of the way. we were also seduced by sauron - we were also deceived. but elrond wasn't there. he knows that sauron manipulated his friend; he doesn't know how deeply that manipulation affected her and affects her still, in no small part because galadriel contains a lot of her grief in order to fulfill her roles of commander and self-appointed bulwark against sauron.

we see her in eps1 and 2 desperately trying to make elrond understand her, but elrond doesn't want to hear it. he is frustrated at not being listened to, disappointed in gil-galad and galadriel's willingness to engage with the rings (which, to him, is equivalent to engaging with sauron, for all that he had no hand in their forging), and i would posit that he is also afraid. for middle-earth. for his friends. for himself. because his clarity of vision is being challenged, the right way is becoming obscured, and the stakes have never been higher.

in time, he will learn how easy it is to fall prey to the darkness and - like miv said in an interview - it will make him kinder. the elrond we know in the third age is devoted to healing, unburdening, and the practice of an extraordinary compassion. but those qualities aren't built-in to anyone, not even the first children of iúvatar, not even elrond. they are hard-won - through mistakes made, failures to act as one should. it's natural that he would hurt people along the way - and he has! see durin in s1! what we do know about elrond in the second age is that he tries his best to do good: to act rightly, to keep his word, to seek counsel when he is unsure of the way, to serve all middle-earth and not just elven-kind, to be true to his friends, honor his family... and he isn't afraid to admit when he's been wrong.

if these first eps are any indication, elrond's arc is going to keep carving him into the elf he later becomes and his relationship with galadriel, after these growing pains, is going to come out even stronger, with the mutual trust and near-telepathic understanding we're used to seeing from them in third age media, and i for one can't wait.

[alottiegoingon]

totally my fault

lottie matthews x fem!reader

summary: after winning the state championship, you and lottie decide to celebrate it by baking cupcakes for the team and it goes awfully amazingly wrong.

warnings: fluff, lottie being a brat, reader is a yellowjacket, established relationship, characters are aged up and in college, the yellowjackets are also in uni, reader and lottie being awful bakers, nsfw content (mdni), vaginal fingering and oral (lottie receiving), praise kink?, cursing, reader being slightly mean during sex but a softie overall, prob a bunch of english mistakes

you were beyond excited! the yellowjackets had won one of the most important matches ever, the one that would decide if you guys would go to the nationals. it wasn't very common to see many women playing soccer and you were more than proud to be part of the team and also prove everyone how you were just as good as the stupid boys from wiskayok high. (you guys were so much better).

to celebrate, you and your girlfriend lottie decided to bake at your place after practice. even before meeting lottie, baking was your thing. it first started as a way to have fun as a kid, creating new recipes and seeing the results of it. you would feel like doctor frankenstein wearing pigtails. then, as you grew older, it became a way to deal with every single feeling of yours. happy because you did well in a test? brownie day. upset because you got grounded? that's okay, you didn't need tv when you could have warm cookies coming straight out of the oven.

"shit, we forgot the cupcakes!" you gasp, practically jumping out of the couch to run towards the oven. you and lottie had just put the first batch of vanilla cupcakes in the oven and decided that it was a good idea to put something to watch on tv. except that thid was at least half a hour ago and lottie's messy hair and your puffy red lips made it very clear that paying attention to the screen was the last thing that you guys were doing.

you step into the kitchen and you could barely see the oven. the entire kitchen looked like a cloudy storm and the alarm would probably go on if it had taken you a few extra seconds to find out. lottie was right behind, hiding like a scared little kid, when you open the door and immediately stepped away to avoid inhaling any of the thick smoke. you quickly put on the gloves and desperately took the burnt cupcakes from the oven to place the tray on the counter. "maybe they are still edible." lottie whispered, peeking from over your shoulder. you slowly turn your head around to face her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows.

maybe it was your girlfriend's fault. you couldn't focus and think straight when she was wearing that cute blue uniform right on your couch. but you also couldn't blame her entirely. lottie matthews had money. a lot of money. and thanks to that she had daddy issues and a bunch of people designed to do whatever she wanted to. a butler, a housekeeper, a maid, a private chef. that girl had an assistant by her side since she was a baby. you would never see lottie doing anything that someone else could do for her faster and better. that's why you decided to bake at your house. no pair of extra hands to help except for your own and things were doing pretty well until you were practically devouring her mouth.

"it's really not that bad, look!" lottie was still trying to convince you even though the cupcakes were darker than the grey baking pan. "we could decorate it with some blue and yellow frosting and the girls will love it!"

"yeah, they will. until they take a bite and decide to expel us from the team after we attempted to poison them." your words came out in a sarcastic tone but you weren't mad. it was actually quite funny to imagine how the girls would react to that. Besides, the desperate attempt of lottie's to fix the situation was adorable. "it's okay, lott. it was just a silly mistake. we still have some batter left." you comfort your girlfriend by gently pressing your lips against her forehead.

thankfully, there was enough batter in the bowl to give it a second try and lottie was eager to prove that she could do things by herself. she didn't need help to do such a simple thing as baking. that's why you let her step in, patiently waiting for her to fill the cupcake paper cups using a tiny spoon. she spilled a bunch between a cupcake and another but you were still proud. being completely honest, you would still be proud even if she burned your house down to the ground.

you would be even prouder if you weren't distracted again. you had your back resting against the wall while lottie was slightly bent over the counter. she was too tall for that. you definitely weren't looking at how that shorts could make her legs longer or how her ass seemed much bigger today in this position. you really tried to look away. you did! but lottie wouldn't stop moving her body and seeing that focused expression on her face while she was biting her own lip was slowly driving you crazy.

"what do you think? do you think that this is good enough?" lottie forces you to leave your own thoughts when asking for your opinion. she was staring at you with hopeful eyes and it took you an embarrassing amount of time to realize that she was talking about how the paper cups were filled. you barely took a look at them before shaking your head in agreement almost immediately, feeling your cheeks getting warm at the possibility of lottie noticing how you were staring at her as if she was a piece of meat. "y-yes! those are so good, baby!"

lottie looked at you with furrowed eyebrows and slightly parted lips, ready to say something. you weren’t the best at hiding your feelings and especially not from lottie. your girlfriend had the power of knowing exactly what you were feeling and could read you like an open book. “are you okay? are you… sweating?” lottie’s focused expression shifted to a smug smirk on the corner of her mouth. you actually were. the edges of your forehead were already glistening with sweat and your entire body felt like it was being burned by flames.

“i’m fine. just finish those so we can put it back in the oven.” you did your best to sound convincing but the panic in your eyes thanks to the millions of thoughts about different ways to fuck your girlfriend was making it evident that something was wrong and lottie knew exactly what it was, but she didn’t say anything.

instead, she just agrees briefly, not looking to fond of your lie but not caring enough to confront you. maybe you could pull it off, you thought to yourself. but then, thanks to lottie using the tiniest spoon she could find, she ended up spilling it all over the edges and groaned in frustration. except that the groan sounded a lot like a exaggerated whine and every single sound that lottie made had a deep impact on you.

"okay, that's it." you whisper and immediately moved away from the wall to walk towards lottie, making the loud noise from your heavy steps echo through the kitchen. you didn't care if it was a complete mess, you would deal with it later. you grabbed the pan and threw it inside the oven, slamming the door hard enough to make lottie's eyes widen. but when you look at her, she isn't scared or confused anymore, she's smirking.

"is that funny to you?" hissing, you place both of your hands on lottie's hips to spin her around and make her face you. you push her against the counter and you notice how her breath was already catching in her throat. "hm... kind of." lottie shrugs. she had the dirtiest smile ever on her lips.

you clenched your jaw at the same time as lottie let a weak and whiny moan out caused by your fingers unconsciously gripping her hips tighter. "is that what you wanted? you wanted to be treated like a slut?" you growled while pushing yourself further against lottie even harder to make sure that she was trapped. your eyes were completely filled with lust as they would mirror lottie's. her smile vanished and she was completely speechless. she couldn't say a word even if she tried to.

"what? you were brave enough to tease me before but can't say anything now? so pathetic." you mock your girlfriend while your hands were busy with her body. your fingers were digging into the covered skin of her waist now as your other hand moved up to her neck. your fingertips first scratched the sensitive skin in a slow pace, being a bit too rough once or twice, before you had her jaw wrapped into your hand. you made lottie look straight into your eyes, waiting for an answer impatiently.

"y-yes..." lottie speaks in a broken whisper. with no warnings, you lift your right leg up just enough to make your bare knee in contact with your girlfriend's core. even covered by the fabric of her uniform, you could feel her warmth. a gasp comes out of her lips and it sounded like music to your ears. you pushed it further but stood still and your fingers let go of her jaw to hold her neck tenderly. lottie's body was covered in chills. "please..." she whines.

"aw, lott... i don't think you deserve it." your voice is calm and soothing but you're not exactly being sweet now. there was a kind of confident arrogance hidden under it. you leave her neck to run your fingers through her messy dark hair. after every single practice, lottie's hair would go wild no matter how tight her low pigtails or ponytail was and it was the hottest thing ever. you absolutely loved it. "but i'm very proud of you, so maybe..." you move your knee just an inch or two to the side and lottie immediately squirms against you. she had nowhere to run.

lottie closes her eyes and her lips slightly parted when you begin to move your knee and put more pressure on it. you could feel your skin getting damp by your girlfriend's wetness and it only made you want to rub your leg faster. lottie was an absolute whiny mess. her hands were gripping the counter behind her, desperately trying to hold onto something for support. her breath was heavy and coming out in short shallow bursts while her squirming hips were moving on their own. you had to keep them in place by holding firmly onto them and your girlfriend wasn't very happy. her eyes were drowning in anticipation when they opened to stare into yours.

"more..." lottie manages to spill her words in a breathless beg and you knew exactly what she wanted. here's the thing about lottie; ever since you two started dating and you found out that she was a touch starved girl, she became obsessed with your fingers and it's not like you would complain about it

you played with the hem of her clothes for a few seconds just to tease your girlfriend as long as you could, slowly removing your knee. in a swift move, the palm of your hand dig inside the plaid shorts that she was wearing, touching her exposed pelvis. lottie moaned quietly at the sight of your fingers disappearing between her legs. your firm fingertips slipped down slowly until they met the wet and warm spot still covered by the last remaining thin fabric. "god... you're so wet already." you whisper feeling like your own body was boiling and lottie whimpers softly at first feeling your light touch. she knew that. she could feel it already running through her thighs.

your hand goes even further this time underneath her panties and you finally feel her soaked pussy against your fingers. lottie held her breath when she felt how easily it was for you to touch her. she squirms again and this time you don't stop her. her legs were slightly trembling from so much tension and pleasure combined. "does it feel good, angel?" you whisper gingerly with a mischievous little smirk on your lips, knowing the answer for that. it's not like lottie's increasing moans that were filling the entire kitchen weren't already an answer to your question. lottie doesn't say anything but desperately nods.

your fingers found their way into her puffy clit and began to rub slow circles straight away. lottie's hips jerked carelessly searching for every extra crumb of your touch that she could find. her lips were fully parted now and the only sound she could do were based off in whiny moans and pathetic little sounds of how well you were fucking her even though you had barely started.

you took your time while touching lottie. your fingers were slippery like soap when rubbing her pussy and the squelch sounds that would come out of it was too much for both of you. "you look so pretty like that... such a good girl." you murmured right against lottie's ear, knowing very well that praising was one of her biggest weakness. lottie moaned louder and you noticed how her legs were shaking harder now, that's not how you wanted her to cum. "hold on, pretty girl. not just yet." you press your lips against your girlfriend's cheek and before she could blink her shorts and panties were on the kitchen floor and you had your hands gripping tightly on her waist to lift her up and make her sit on the counter.

"jesus christ, y/n..." lottie exhaled when she realized what you were about to do. her eyes were shining with desire. your hands touched her thighs and spread her legs wide open. you almost fell backwards when you saw lottie's glistening folds and your mouth was suddenly full of saliva. you wrapped your arms under lottie's thighs and pulled her closer to you, making her body half bent as her hands were support her weight by holding the edges of the cold counter. your tongue met her pussy, exploring every inch of her patiently before going back up to focus on her swollen clit. lottie was seeing stars and she couldn't keep her whimpers and moans to herself even if she wanted to. her hands moved straight to your head, getting lost between your hair strands and pulling you closer to her dripping core.

lottie's stomach was contracting and releasing over and over again just like the rest of the muscles in her body and it only got worse. while your tongue was moving eagerly and frantically, you placed your left hand on her inner thigh at first just to move it further and play with her entrance for a couple seconds before shoving two fingers inside of her. lottie screamed your name and you feel her insides clenching against you. "d-don't stop!" she begged and it only made you thrust your fingers relentlessly in and out of her, curling them up exactly on her sensitives spongy spot.

"oh god..." lottie squirms and you roughly fuck lottie through her orgasm, looking up to see the expression of pleasure in her face while still eating her out with amusement. her eyes were rolling back along with her toes curling and her hips were rocking along with your fingers. her chest was moving like crazy at the same time she was fighting for her life trying to breath properly. you hear a loud animalistic moan escaping your girlfriend's lips as she tilts her head backwards and tightens her fingers around your hair. you could taste her cum in your mouth perfectly.

you both were so lost into each other that the unpleasant odour of burning cupcakes went unoticed and just like a clock right on time, the loud beeps of the smoke alarm went off making you both flinch. lottie starts to giggle as she realizes what just happened and you pull away from her core with a cheeky grin and a husky voice.

"okay. this time was totally my fault."

[exhaslo]

Kinktober Day 22- Leona x Reader (Dry Humping)

*Requested by Reader, I only just started Twisted Wonderland, so I hope to every god I got his character right. Sorry in advance if anything is wrong!!!*

        It was a mistake. A huge mistake. You had convinced yourself that everything that was happening was a dream. The fact that you had been kidnapped and brought to this so-called college for magic; the fact that there was no way for you to return home; the fact that you were scared and alone; and the fact that you were now the only female at the college. It had to be a dream, no a nightmare! What were you to do if you could never return home. Sure, the Headmaster was nice enough to let you stay in an abandon dorm and that he would let you study in private, but it was still wrong!

        You were currently sobbing in your room as you stared at the magic books in front of you. You were deemed a 'Beast Trainer' or something along those lines. It was all a blur. The weirdest thing about everything was that all of the students here reminded you of Disney characters, but they also didn't? It was a weird state you were in. All you wanted to do was go home, lay in your own bed and probably eat your favorite meal.

"And I have to join their classes? I was working...My bills....My apartment," You whimpered.

        The only light in this whole mess was that all of the men were hot. Yes, it was something small, but it kept you going. One person caught your eye in particular. You were still getting to know the dorms and the student leaders, but you could have sworn the man had ears. Once you saw the statues of the 'seven greats' you immediately knew it was Scar. Or, at least what you wanted to believe was Scar. You were still confused and still unsure of anything yet.

-----------

        You were a special Herbivore. Leona had taken an interest in you when you first fell out of that coffin. A female at the college. There were a lot of special rules in place because of you. It was fascinating to watch you. Whenever you entered the gym in a hurry, Leona kept his eyes on you. He made it seem like he did not care, but he did. He was waiting for his turn to get to know you. 

"Oof, this sucks!" You whined as you tripped over your own foot, "Why do I get stuck jogging around the track while everyone gets to practice broom flying?!"

"Because you have no magic," Leona said with a yawn, hiding behind the benches. He watched as you flinched, "Back here."

"Uh, I don't think the teacher would like you sleeping during class."

"I'm doing yoga," Leona lied as he closed his eyes once more. You glanced back at the others before sneaking behind the benches,

"I don't think we properly met. I'm (Y/N), I think I remember you were napping in the greenhouse, right?"

"Hmm....That's right, you were with those fools," Leona muttered before slowly sitting up, "So, in your world, do you always approach strangers?"

"Huh?" You grew flustered, "I mean, it's not...safe, but well...I'm not exactly in my world and this is all super interesting." You explained. Leona was observing you,

"Likewise." He yawned, laying back down, "You seem like a tolerable herbivore."

"Haha, that's different, but I'll assume it's a good thing," You noticed his ears and tail. This was Scar, "Is it okay if I visit? I'd like to get to know more about you all and this place."

        Leona resisted a chuckle as he replied with a simple, 'sure'. He wasn't going to admit that he was interested in knowing more about you. Perhaps you would entertain him.

-------------

        Eventually you got to understand more of this world you now lived in. Everyone was kind enough to talk to you and help you with classes, everyone expect Leona. He always brought out the worst of you. Leona was smart, but he always managed to convince you to laze around and worry about stuff later. It was hard because you liked him. You easily listened to him and did what he said.

        Just like now. You had some questions about a certain dream you had about Leona's world, or at least the Disney world you know of. You wanted to ask him some questions, but here you were, sitting on the floor. Leona was on his bed, snoring away. He had, once again, convinced you to be lazy and sleep.

"Leona," You whispered, leaning against his bed.

        Leona let out a grunt, turning towards you. His bright emerald eyes made you melt. Leona was so beautiful. Sometimes, you were lucky that you were the only female on campus. You watched as Leona gave his usual irritated look. He reached his hand out,

"I'm trying to nap," He grumbled. You gave him a soft pout,

"But-"

"Nap with me." 

        You immediately felt you cheeks burn. Leona must have read your mind because he snickered. He pulled you onto his bed, holding you on top of him. You could feel your heart racing a mile a minute. There you were, sitting on Leona's lap. He just stared into your eyes.

"Well, aren't you brave for a herbivore."

"Y-You're the one who pulled me up here!" You huffed. Leona hummed tiredly, rubbing circles around your waist, "H-Hey....that..."

"I quite like this reaction,"

        Leona kept his eyes on you as you began to tremble from his touch. This was something he could get used to. Something that was new. He was already enjoying the fact that you were breaking one of the rules for him. As the only female on campus, you were not allowed to go to any of the other dorms alone. It was deemed too dangerous, you had to have Grim or one of the teachers with you. So the fact that you kept coming alone to see Leona was enough for him to want to keep you.

        You were a pleasant part of his day. Leona actually enjoyed your company. You were also one of the only people to actual allow him to do what he wanted. It was a nice change of pace. Returning his attention to you, Leona was enjoying your expressions. Perhaps this would be a good time to make you his. If you could not go back to your world, Leona would be more than willing to take you back to his.

"You're not stopping me," Leona whispered. You glanced down at him, avoiding his stare,

"W-Well.,..It feels good," You muttered under your breathe.

        Leona chuckled lowly as he started to grind his hips against yours. You gasped lowly, biting your lower lip as you moved along with him. How lovely. Leona glanced down at your skirt, feeling his pants getting damp. Now this was entertaining. Leona held you hips and motioned you to get closer to his face. You, being his cute obedient partner, did so.

"You like this too?" He whispered. You muffled a moan, your damp panties rubbing against his bulge,

"Y-Yes,"

        You gasped as Leona held your waist down. You leaned towards his lips, giving him a light peck. It wasn't fair how he got to have his fun. The least you could do was steal a kiss from the so called King. Leona seemed to have liked your reaction. He immediately reached for your head and kissed you again. It felt like you hurt his pride when you went to kiss him first. Leona would never admit it, but he hated stuff like that. It was cute.

        Leona sat up with you, licking the inside of your mouth for dominance. He easily won due to his strength. You whimpered a moan into the kiss as his grinding got faster. The pool between your legs staining his pants. Each time the tip of his bulge rubbed against your clothed pussy, you felt another jolt travel up your spine. You were getting close to the knot in your stomach to blow. You needed that release. Leona must have sensed it since he started to dry hump faster.

"If I wasn't so tired, perhaps we can be a little more...intimate," He said, thinking about his words carefully. You moaned lowly, not wanting anyone in the other rooms to hear you,

"T-This is you tired?" You buried your head into his shoulder. Leona licked his lips as he bit down against your neck,

"You interrupted my nap."

"L-Leona," You moaned, reaching your orgasm. Leona held your hips tightly as he shook for a moment,

"Interrupted my nap and made a mess," He grumbled, sucking on your neck, "You owe me,"

"Haha, yes your highness," You teased, panting softly for air.

        Leona fixed your hair, laying back down with you in his grasp. He inhaled deeply, nuzzling his head into your neck. You tried to escape, complaining about washing up, but Leona ignored your cries. Instead, he reached down and pulled your panties off, throwing them across the room. You squeaked in response and grabbed his blanket to cover your skirt. Leona chuckled lowly, closing his eyes for a nap. He was going to enjoy having you by his side.

[dookiecurly]

this is gonna be specific just hear me out okay this came to me in a vision +good for writing motivation or practice or whatever

imagine reader is some famous celebrity singer actor whatever and they go on the ship for whatever reason..maybe they really like space or something idk

how would they all act towards them?? would the way theyre treated get changed from their popularity?? 😳😳😳…?i cant imagine jimmy or curly acting too different towards them but daisuke maybe?? hes a fan idk im just thinking…

I'd imagine reader got on the ship because they wanted to experience space.... And because they paid lots for it.

Both before and after crash hc >∆<

Reader death not specified

Yes there's Jimmy, he's the tw

Curly

Before-Crash:

- Confused why Pony Express gave this.. celebrity.. permission to get on a cargo spaceship.

- Tries to be nice. He doesn't act like those ppl that are super excited to meet a popular person. To him, you're just another human.

- But of course, if you make a mistake on the ship he'll go a little easy on you. He assumes you probably didn't get much.. training.

- You're his responsibility as well now! But he also is probably too busy to give you a tour of the ship, he'll ask one of the others. ( Definitely not Jimmy or Swansea. )

- If he's interested in you..... I guess, small flirts when he's off the clock. He takes responsibility!

- Compliments your work if he's a fan.

After-Crash:

- Curly feels embarrassed, and even more embarrassed if he's interested in you.

- At some point, thinks you'll come back to earth and tell everyone what happened and how bad he is at being a captain. Plus, destroying Pony Express's name that MIGHT land a lawsuit.

- During all the........ Deaths, he felt bad that a person that shouldn't even be connected to all this is paying the untold price of going on the ship with them

- Probably wanted to kill himself when he was brought to the table and saw all those corpses!!

Swansea

Before-Crash:

- Doesn't give a shit

- Probably treats you JUST like Daisuke but is a little less aggressive..

- Actually, I think he thinks you're a liability and dislikes you because you're just a rich piece of shit that thinks they can do wtv they want

- Might MIGHT complain and say that you're a liability when something bad happens

- If he's interested in you, you probably remind him of his wife by appearance LMFAO, I'm just kidding I'm not funny.

- If he's interested in you, he'll treat you a little nicer.

- I don't think he'll be a fan..... Unless you're like, Shelly Duval or Frank Sinatra or something. (RIP SHELLY DUVAL AND FRANK SINTRA I LOVE YALL)

- Won't say he's a fan though.

After-Crash:

- I have a gut feeling that he'll act like those drunk adults that go like, “Isn't this how you teenagers do it? WOO!" But like in a "Aint this how you people do it in Hollywood?”

- Says you should get less food because you dont do work around the ship. Won't say this if... He's interested, or only if he's drunk and mad or mad.

- If you die before him, he'll feel a little guilty like he does with Daisuke. I don't know if it's a lot of guilt, but enough guilt.

Daisuke

Before-Crash:

- FUCKING ECSTATIC.

- Wants a picture, and a signature. Treats you special because you're a celebrity.

- Uses his free time to be your friend. If he's interested in you, hes gonna try to impress you with his intern task (Swansea fucking hates it).

- Brings you to fuck around in the ship because I'll assume that you're about the same age, or you at least have the same age mentality.

- If he's a fan, he's way worse/better. Your decision.

After-Crash:

- Once again, if hes interested in you, he tries to be your big prince charming. When they start rationing the food, he gives you more

- I don't know if he'll prioritise you because you're a celebrity, but he tries.

- Tries to cheer you up when things get bad

- If you die before him, he kinda just............ Guilt. Yeah, thats all. Kinda feels like he didn't help enough.

Jimmy

Before-Crash:

- Thinks you're a liability 2.0

- Doesn't respect you

- Thinks you're a bitch because your life is better than his on Earth

- Probably.... JUST PROBABLY, daydreams about doing things to you so he can 'humble' you. Likes the thought of such a loved and respected person gets humiliated.

- If he's interested in you.... He'll have worse thoughts.

- Probably complains about you, in front of you.

- Not a fan, doesn't like the internet.

After-Crash:

- Now thinks youre... Still the biggest liability of the ship. In fact, you're the worst of the worst.

- Says you should get less food because you don't do any work 2.0

- If you die before him... Awesome! Doesn't care. Won't spare you even if hes interested, but cares.

- Gets married to your corpse, AGAIN I'M KIDDING. Doesn't strike me as a person who'd get married unless it benefits him, actually nevermind, go read Jambalaya Enthusiast's fic about Reader in the film industry in Jambalaya Enthusiast's Masterlist.

Anya

Before-Crash:

- Might be curious?

- She'll be nice >u<

- Yeah, she's probably the one giving you a tour!

- Anya will be a little concerned that a person like you is on the ship. In a way that she's concerned that a person who doesn't have any training is on the ship.

- She'll be glad to help you with anything, like motion sickness.

- If she's interested, she'll try to do little gestures for you. I think her love language is acts of something something, I forgot.

After-Crash:

- Anya doesn't really want you to come into the medbay and look at Curly.

- She gets super nauseous, so she doesn't want you to get super nauseous in an unfamiliar and stressing environment.

- Perhaps will give you a little of her food with you. I feel like Jimmy has engraved into her brain that she's not a good enough nurse, so she thinks she doesn't deserve the food she eats ( because Swansea and Jimmy say you don't deserve the food. )

- Comfort her, she's dying in her thoughts and wants to go to the medicine supply.......

- If you die before her, she will actually start spiralling.

[pretty-blkgirl]

Soul’s Desire [Ch. 18]

-Masterlist-

~~~~|~~~~

Six hours. Your mom kept you on the phone for six whole hours. You promised to call her when you left practice, so you did. It was 10 PM for you, and maybe 8 AM for her, she answered and immediately asked why you waited so long to get back to her.

After apologizing for a little bit, she started to tell you about her birthday plans. You listened as you rode home, got in the house, and waltzed into your room. She started accusing you of not loving her when you tried to hang up quickly to take a shower, so you put the phone on speaker and took it in the bathroom.

At the two-hour mark, you made the mistake of dozing off. She was talking about her new boyfriend, again. You admittedly zoned out and then fell asleep, then woke up to her cursing you out.

At the four-hour mark, you told her you only had a few hours before you had to get up to go to work. She told you your career wasn’t as important as her.

At the six-hour mark, she told you that she was tired and needed a nap, you had three hours before you had to get up.

So you spent the entire day running off of 3 hours of sleep. You put on a tired smile for your interviews, tried to be funny for YouTube content, and yawned more times than appropriate in a meeting. The day ended at 9 PM, and you were off the next day, so you wanted to rush home.

You kept your phone off because you knew your mom would call you, and you refused to let her keep you up all night again.

On your way to the elevator, you heard a door open. Assuming it was JYP staff, you turned to the person and bowed to be polite. To your absolute horror, Bang Chan stood in front of you.

You were avoiding the guys, and you’re sure they knew that. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be around them, it was the fact that you had been hearing about how useless and stupid you were a lot more than usual.

You were used to your mother’s bullying, but ever since you physically removed yourself from her, she upped her antics. She was your only family, as she was an orphan and you never knew your father.

You held onto her because you wanted her approval, you wanted her to love you correctly, and you knew that.

The problem with trying to love your mother, however, was her doing her best to make sure you felt no one could love you.

“Hey Chris” You sigh, an exhausted smile playing on your lips.

“Hey y/nnie. Haven’t seen you in a while”

Guilt filled your chest, and you know he felt it because you didn’t even bother to suppress the bond.

“I’m sorry” Is all you say. What else can you do? You avoided them, your soulmates. You probably made them feel like shit, probably made them think you didn’t care enough. They probably hated you. You were rude, selfish, and everything else your mom said.

“Don’t apologize. You’ve been busy, yeah? The boys and I listened to your group’s album, it was so good”

Your smile grew a little, symbol aside, you admired Stray Kids. They were one of the best, and for Chan of all people to compliment your music, made you feel a little better.

“Thank you, we worked hard”

“I can tell. I’m excited for what else you guys are gonna do”

His cute dimples were poking out his cheeks. You hated how much you adored him. You didn’t even know him that well, and he didn’t know you. So why are your knees going a little weak whenever he stares into your eyes? Why is he looking at you like he cares? Like he wants to know what’s been going on?

“Thank you, see you around”

You try to leave, but he calls you back. You knew he was going to do that, and you knew you were gonna stop in your tracks and turn back around to face him.

“I’m sorry if I’m overstepping,” He says, “But is everything okay? I know you’re probably stressed out because of the debut and everything but you look a little…off?”

You don’t say anything, just get a weird feeling in your chest.

“You also haven’t been talking to us and that's okay! We understand. We’re completely fine with giving you space and, the guys and I talked and we said we weren’t gonna try to confront you or anything but I just can’t let you walk out of here without making sure you’re alright. So, are you okay?”

Again, no words. Your members, your manager, and even some staff had been asking you that same question every single day. You had no problem looking them in the eyes and saying yes. But, for whatever reason, you can’t lie to Chan.

It could be because you’re not doing well, or maybe it’s because you know he can feel your sadness building up, but you choose not to lie.

“No” You shrug. Tears seem to immediately start falling. Chan wastes no time grabbing your arm and gently leading you to his studio.

You started to sob once the door closed. Chan jumped into action quickly, hugging you and keeping you from falling to the floor.

He sat you down on the couch, his arms still wrapped around you, rocking side to side as you cried into his chest.

Not once did he ask the specifics of what happened, because he knew you didn’t want to talk about it.

Thirty minutes of crying later, you were sniffling into his damp shirt.

“I messed up your shirt,” you say loud enough for him to hear

“Fuck this shirt,” he says back, making you laugh for the first time in a while

He wouldn’t let you apologize for crying, even though you kept trying to.

“Y/n don’t you ever apologize for being vulnerable in front of me. I’m always gonna be here for you, I want you to know that”

You didn’t wanna go home that night, you just felt like you’d somehow end up calling your mom and crying more.

So, you asked Chan if you could crash at his place, and you barely got the sentence out before he agreed.

You texted your members your whereabouts, and after several childish jokes, they wished you goodnight.

Chan texted I.N. (who seemed both confused and thrilled you were spending the night).

The car ride to his complex was short, and the elevator ride to his door was even shorter. I.N. greeted you both at the door, and you don’t know why, but you asked if you could hug him, and he answered by pulling you into his embrace.

Chan wouldn’t let you sleep on the couch, so you agreed to sleep in his room while he slept in I.N.’s room.

I.N. gave you an old pair of shorts and a shirt he had for you to sleep in. You could tell he liked the sight of you in his clothes by the blush creeping up his neck when you walked out of the bathroom.

You asked Chan if they had any schedules the next day. They did but they were early, so he told you that you were more than welcome to stay at their place until you were ready to go home.

Before you left them to go to bed, you suggested a nice dinner with the rest of the members tomorrow.

You were gonna talk to them about your absence because you felt like you owed them that.

~~~|~~~

Taglist: @chuuyaobsessed @h0rnyp0t @prttyxbby @yukichan67 @hanniemylovelyquokka @xxeiraxx @loveforlee444 @whatdoyouwanttocallmefor @cunninglibrarian @holly-here @galaxy4489 @hyunmikim @yougottobekittenme

[petermorwood]

Microwave Sponge Cake (eventually)

Long ago, @dduane and I had a Whirlpool combi microwave - micro, grill, fan oven - and It Was Great, big enough to use as a proper oven when what needed cooked in a proper oven was small enough that powering up the big proper oven in the cooker was a bit much.

Still with me...?

IIRC it was one of those Christmas presents where Mum, ever-practical, told us; "get yourselves something really useful but not too expensive (I did say practical!) and I'll go halves."

In 2016, after something like 15 years of pretty-well daily use for one thing and another, the old thing expired by stages, micro first, grill second, oven last - it made great bread up until the end - and went to recycling heaven.

*****

We couldn't find a one-for-one replacement (we needed a free-standing counter-top appliance, everyone was selling built-in), so until once was available (optimism) we bought an ordinary microwave.

NB, this and its successors were only used for ordinary microwave things like reheating, defrosting and dealing with freeze-cook stuff. They got nothing like the amount of use of the old combi, mostly because of being incapable of doing a lot of it. As things turned out, this didn't help much.

About eighteen months later, we had to buy another. If a microwave's enamel interior develops a crack (to this day I don't know how), moisture gets in, rust begins and the enamel pulls off the bare metal. That's when you get "sparking".

This demo is deliberate; believe me, when it's unexpected it's even worse.

A private welder show or lightning storm at the end of the kitchen counter when all you want is a hot cuppa is distinctly unsettling. Also, it's only going to get worse, and we could imagine - boy, could we - what "Much Worse" might look like.

To the recycle dump!

(NB, micros with stainless steel interiors don't seem to do this, probably because they're already tuned to deal with the bare metal.)

The replacement, another ordinary micro, Just Up And Died after eighteen months and, guess what, the quote for a check-up and replacements-if-required was as much as the price of a new one.

(Inkjet printers seem to operate on this principal too.)

To the recycle dump again!

We got a third new one (which BTW is still running just fine, because it's been downgraded to Extra, read on), totalled up what we'd spent on ordinary microwaves, said a few well-chosen words about planned obsolescence and the "Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Economic Inequality" and got ourselves a pre-pay credit card whose top-ups were dedicated to Get A Combi Again.

We didn't bother with GACA baseball caps.

That would have been silly.

I don't know if these cards exist in the USA; we treat them as the modern version of a piggy-bank...

...except that to get at the money you need two people acting in accord.

*****

And in 2021 we got one.

Okay, this next bit is going to read like an ad.

It isn't, because the appliance is discontinued. (Whirlpool FINALLY do something similar but not identical.) It's just enthusiastic users discovering there's even more to a gadget than expected.

*****

The New One even bigger than the old one, which had 28 litres capacity; the new one was 33 L (was .99 ft³, is now 1.16 ft³). In non-tech terms, wow, More Room To Cook In.

Reading the figures was no help (to me, anyway) in visualising what a maw the thing had, but opening the door did that and no mistake.

I said something to DD about "bite radius"...

...and she instantly responded with "anyway, we delivered the bomb".

We're a quotesy household. ;->

BTW, The New One does a very good job on seafood, too...

*****

Since we got this, almost exactly two years ago, we've used it from reheating tea to roasting meat to making chilli / goulash / stew / curry (you can run the oven / grill separately or add simultaneous zaps of microwave for much less cooking time) to baking bread.

One of the best things about it is that when the set cooking time is done, the appliance switches off automatically. No risk of busyness, absent-mindedness or out-in-the-garden-ness ending in clouds of smoke, ruined food and possibly even worse.

As for breadmaking, it has a dough-rise setting which is a Time Machine, reducing a two-hour "doubled in size" rise time to about 35-45 minutes...

It also has the most reliable Defrost Butter setting either of us have ever encountered, turning a rock-solid butter brick from the freezer into something spreadable while never - to date - doing the "never mind a butter-knife, give me a spoon or a paintbrush" thing.

*****

However...

There's also a "Chef Setting" where there are some simple recipes. Here's the pastry page.

Basically, you assemble and mix the ingredients, input the correct settings and the machine does all the timing, heating and cooking.

We'd never used this until yesterday, when DD said, "Let's try the sponge cake..."

Yes, this post was entitled "Microwave Sponge Cake (eventually)..." and here we are...

We did all the measuring correctly and checked it by pouring the mixture into a baking container while on the scale, wondering betimes why the recipe says 900g, the ingredients total 925 and what actually poured into the container reads 906... Weird. Really weird.

Then we put the container into the oven, entered the correct code, and let things do what they were going to do.

A little later we discovered something else about the recipe besides a weight anomaly.

It didn't mention the required size of the container. Or or how much the mixture was likely to rise.

It rose...

Let's say more than we expected...

The fluted ceramic container used for baking this one makes it look like a Vesuvius cupcake; not quite a pyroclastic flow, but a lot of flow regardless.

Once it cooled we separated the sponge-cake from the escaped sponge in the same way as sculptors work with wood or marble - "Chip away everything that doesn't look like a cake" - and found that despite its misshapen looks, it tasted pretty good.

So today DD made another, this time using a larger container.

...and this time it stayed put until removed using the cunning base-and-lifting-straps of baking parchment.

It's not the loftiest or best-risen sponge cake either of us have ever seen (a smaller-diameter higher-sided container would probably deal with that) BUT if there's something needing sponge cake in a hurry - this went from cupboard ingredients to done and cooling in less than 55 minutes - that treatment seems to fit the bill.

We're now wondering what other secrets lurk in the simple recipe pages; falafel, quiche Lorraine, stuffed peppers, even Flammkuchen* from scratch.

(*Though I have my own views about Flammkuchen, mostly involving a plane flight...)

And we'll be paying a lot more attention to what size of dish we put them in. :->

[wosoluver]

To undo a mistake

Part 4/17 - previous - next

Lena x Bayern player!reader, Ana Guzmán x Bayern player!reader

Lena Oberdorf Masterlist

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

That therapy session was... something. To say the least. Your eyes puffy once again.

We didn't talk much. I practically just dumped all my problems to her. But it felt good to get everything out, to someone who wouldn't judge you but also wasn't allowed to give too much of her opinion.

When you walked out, Ana wasn't there yet. So you just decided to sit and wait.

It took her around 10 minutes to show up.

"Hey. Have I made you wait for too long?"

"No, not at all. So do you want to go get some coffee? I'm out of practice today and you probably don't have many friends here yet."

"Your the one that looks like you could use a friend. Let's go. You drive, I don't have my license yet."

"First of all, ouch. Second of all, let's go. You'll be my passenger princess." - You said it excited.

Lena never really let you drive, you were always the passenger princess.

And you quickly tried to wisk the memory away.

You were both in comfortable silence in the car. Only the sound of Ana's music playing in the back. And yes you were forced to give her the rights to dj. Passenger princess' rule number 1.

You stop at your favorite place. It was never too crowded, which you were thankful for.

"I'll go order, what do you want?"

"Whatever your having, is fine."

After ordering and getting your coffees you go sit on a quiet corner.

"So, how are you adapting to Germany?"

"Oof- it's so fucking cold here. Not even in the coldest winters we get this temperature in Colombia."

"You'll get used to it after some time. A few jackets and coats and you're good."

"And you? Had a nice time in therapy?"

"Oh yeah. So much fun!" - you answered equally as ironic.

"I can tell by your puffy eyes.

I think today was my first time not crying in there."

"Must be hard. I've never had a bad injury. But it seems like the worse. Lena went through-" - you cut yourself off before you could say anything else. Your face dropped. Here you were again. Everything you think of, brought up Lena, one way or another.

"And Lena is-"

"My ex. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking when I said that."

"It's fine. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." - but then you proceeded to dump everything that had happened into the conversation. - "It's just, my head is still trying to wrap around everything. She already has a new girlfriend. And I'm still dealing with my feelings.

She broke up with me, over the phone can you believe that? I never felt so meaningless, so betrayed. Our five month relationship thrown into the trash. All of that, because Munich is too far from Wolfsburg for her taste."

"Wow, you had a lot to say for someone that didn't want to talk about it." - she said that hoping it would easy the anxious face you had going on. - "It's okay. Time works differently for different people. You have the right to mourn your relationship.

Is that what has been driving you down?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't ready to see her. I'm still in love with her. I mean was. After what happened Saturday, I think it might be time to except it's over."

"You still had feelings for her? Even after what she did?"

"Yeah. I guess I was just hopeful. I felt like in some way things weren't over yet. I just- It just didn't make sense. Lena is not that type of person. She would never do that."

"But she did. Look, if she meant to hurt you or not, you'll probably never know. Unless you talk to her."

"I am not going to talk to her."

"Then you'll have to settle for the unknown."

"I think I will. Can we talk about your feelings now? I've humiliated my self enough."

"Fine. You were right when you said I needed friends." - she let out a deep breath. - "When I first got injured. I was very hard on myself. Specially after hearing the diagnosis and that I'd have to go under surgery. I stressed my self over when I shouldn't have.

I pushed everyone away.

The hardest thing, when we are hurting, is to remember others are most likely going through something too."

"But that's kind of natural I guess. To be so into your own head you forget about others. It's just- there is such a thin line between being compassionate towards people and putting their needs and feelings before yours. To be honest I've never been good at navigating though it either."

"Yeah, I've been getting better about it I think. Therapy has helped me understand a lot of things. The most important of them, I think it was acceptance.

I feel so much better since I accepted that I have no control over this type of things. I couldn't change it even if I wanted to. I just have to go through it. And soon enough I'll be back playing once again."

"It's good to know your coming out better from this one. Sometimes things happen for a reason, and sometimes it's for the better"

"It's getting late, we should get going."

"Yeah. I'll give you a ride home."

For the rest of the day all you could think about was what you two had talked about.

Maybe you could use some acceptance yourself. Of how things were, and not what you think they should be.

And stop worrying so much about what you had no control over.

That's how it works when you live right? Life happens.

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

Have you guys been wondering what's been like for Lena? Well next chapter is Lena's pov!

It's still an Obi fic I swear.

I think from this chapter on, it's finally going to be good writing. I wasn't liking how things the previous parts came out.

[writingwithfolklore]

Taking Notes from Editors

I did a post on giving and receiving feedback, but now that I’ve been an editor for a little longer, I’d like to do a follow up on taking feedback specifically from professional editors.

                While ultimately writers are the rulers of their work and can make the final decisions on it, there's a lot of growth in your manuscript to be found by trusting your editor and taking their notes. As an editor, it’s my job to make your work as good as it can possibly be. It’s also my job to maintain your style and voice and make sure everything you do best shines the brightest.

                We’ve studied and practiced this goal. So the biggest thing I want to impart on you is:

1. Trust your editor

Go into the process with the mindset that you'll accept at least 85% of the edits your editor suggests. When another editor works on my writing, I accept about 95% of it, sometimes %100 (for shorter pieces).

Writers sometimes get hung up on the smallest changes an editor tries to make. Be careful not to be too precious, allow your work to be explored from a different perspective and lens.

You can always keep a separate doc that has your original piece, it doesn’t go away or get ruined when an editor works on it. While it's your work in the end, it's helpful to go into it with an open mind. Often feedback you may have never considered is the key to really elevating your piece. Make some room for your editor's opinion and expertise, trust your editor.

2. Choose your battles

If you are going to reject a suggestion, I recommend it be something really worth going to bat for. Choose your battles, and choose only the biggest ones. You ultimately know your work best, so fight only for the stuff you believe is integral to keeping the same.

This will be an easier battle to win if you’ve already accepted the vast majority of other suggestions. Does it really matter if your main character’s name is Jolene or Veronica? Maybe not, so take that suggestion so you can afford to keep her queerness, or the subplot about her mother, etc.

But going back to the trust your editor idea, don’t think about it as a battle. We are not on opposite sides, we’re both fighting for the same thing—to make your work the best it can be. Respectfully acknowledge a suggestion you don’t like, give it a day or two to think on it, and then decide if that’s something you’d really like to advocate for.

As an editor, when a writer has a solid justification for rejecting a suggestion it helps me understand their work better, and builds trust between us.

3. It’s okay you’re not perfect

Sometimes as a writer receiving feedback, my impulse is to be embarrassed I’ve done something ‘wrong’. Then, of course, I go to defend myself or justify it or attack. We don’t like feeling threatened, and it can cause some high tempers and nasty disagreements in the editing world.

It’s really important that you recognize that impulse to defend yourself, and choose not to react to it.

By that I mean, if you feel yourself getting defensive over a piece of feedback—take a deep breath, don’t answer it right away. You don’t need to explain yourself. Think on it for a bit, just try it out. See what happens when you make that change. If you still hate it, think about why. If you’re just rejecting it on impulse, you’re probably in that “defend” state.

                You’re not being attacked, and you’re not a bad writer. It’s okay if you’ve made a decision that didn’t land, or a mistake that’s kind of embarrassing.

                As an editor, I can assure you that I don’t judge my writers. Ever. When I make suggestions, it’s from a pure ‘just trying to help’ standpoint, and I really appreciate when my writers are open to my suggestions and ideas and accept or reject my suggestions with friendliness and grace.

                I’m not a super experienced editor in any way, but if anyone has any questions about the editing process, the job, or anything else about it, I will do my best to answer!

Next post we're going to talk about when to reject a suggestion or feedback because the editor/reader isn't always right. Follow to catch that when it's out!

[cheresha]

While I was working on my last drawing I thought it would be fun to make a post explaining my process like the one I did for my digital art! This is mostly an excuse to gush about copic markers because they are my absolute favorite medium and I feel like working with them has helped me improve a lot in a short period of time! It's also really fun to take something that isn't made for realism and try to adapt it to my style.

This is in no way a tutorial because I still have a lot to learn and improve upon but I will be sharing some tips that have made my drawing process way easier!

I'm putting the rest under a read more because I'll probably end up writing a novel length post lmao

Now, let's start from the basics - this is the sketchbook I use because it's made for markers and allows you to blend the colors smoothly while giving you a glossy finish.

Please ignore its sorry state, it's relatively new but it fell apart almost immediately 🙄 Not to sound like a grumpy old person but my old one I got a few years ago was of much better quality but it is what it is I guess. I'll still continue using it because it's still the best I've tried. It's also really good for color pencils.

Moving on to the markers - I have quite a few, mostly skin tones and pinks because that's what I need for the result I'm looking to achieve but if you're just starting or are not interested in drawing realistic portraits, this set is pretty much all you need to draw people and you can get whichever other colors you see fit. I have a few bright colors I use mostly for backgrounds.

About the price - they are expensive, yes, but if you are like me and use them 2-3 times a month they can last for a really long time. The one I use the most lasted me for over 1 year so in my opinion they are worth giving a try if you have the budget for them, especially because you can easily mix the colors to create new shades instead of buying new markers.

Moving on to the process itself - I try to make my drawings relatively small, as you can see here.

That's because copic markers dry really fast and you have to work quickly if you want your colors to blend properly 🥲 The smaller the drawing, the easier your life will be (his right arm was pretty stressful to draw ngl). Also since the paper is really thin be careful with your eraser because if you damage it, the marker ink will turn that spot into a weird looking splotch that you won't be able to fix 🥲

I have to admit that lineart is not my favorite thing to draw because I have shaky hands and tend to make mistakes but I think it makes my drawings look better so I try my best to practice more and always do warmups before I start. I got these fineliners from my local art supply store and like them quite a lot since they don't smudge easily. I use the 0,2 one for the drawing itself and the 0,5 one for the 'frame'. I like to wait for at least 30 minutes for my lineart to dry before I start coloring. Also, most of the time I don't ink the eyebrows at this point but prefer to draw them on after I'm done with the rest of the face because I will go over them so many times with my markers that I might end up smudging them pretty badly.

After my lineart has dried, I like to get the background done first because if I leave it for last, it can smudge the hair and stain my marker which will alter its color and that annoys me a lot even though it's fixable. Also, this is probably the only time I use the broad tip of the marker because it's perfect for bigger areas. Otherwise it's not very precise so I use the bush tip for everything else. I usually go over the background twice to make sure it looks as smooth as possible.

Okay, moving on to the face! I like to start from the midtones because it helps give structure to the face from the very beginning. After that I go in with the palest shade I have - pale fruit pink (E000). I use it mostly for blending and for the highlights since it's barely visible and really helps you achieve a smooth look. I like it way more than the clear one they sell specifically for blending, it's such a waste of money and leaves weird discolored spots all over your drawing 🙄

Here we make a pretty big time jump because I was fighting for my life (trying to blend the shadows). I recently got the cool brown (E71) and love it so much, it's perfect for the darker areas, also the hair and eyes! But you can achieve a pretty similar color if you go over E11 or E93 with BV31, I use it a lot because it makes the transition between the different shades way smoother and I feel like it gives extra depth to the face!

And the rest of his face is done! For some reason mixing a decent lip color is not easy for me because they tend to end up looking really cartoonish/unnatural but I feel like these 3 colors gave me a pretty okay result! Fortunately his eyebrow turned out okay too, I went in with the cool brown (E71) first a couple of times to establish the basic shape and later added the eyebrow hairs with the 0,2 fineliner.

I used the same colors and technique for his neck - nothing new to add here.

Same with his arm, except I used only the lavender color for the darkest parts - you can't really see it from the picture but irl it looks almost the same as the cool brown.

Time for the hair! This is probably where I need to improve the most since it always looks the most cartoonish out of the whole drawing and it really doesn't look that good compared to the more realistic skin. Black hair is especially difficult for me since you can't really blend the black marker and trying to go over it does nothing but stain my lighter markers. That's why currently I start from my higlight color - it also doesn't have to look neat since it will get covered by the black later and the uneven strokes help add some depth to the finished hair :))

I think I did a decent job overall and going over some of the highlights with this darker gray helped, too. Sometimes I like using a white pen to add a few more details but here I decided against it since I wanted to keep things simple.

I loooove adding stray hairs but I think I went a bit overboard here ahah I also need to get a 0,1 fineliner for them since this one seems a bit too thick.

As I mentioned before, his other arm was pretty hard because I had to work extra fast but I ended up liking how it turned out! I especially love drawing the small details on the hands so I had lots of fun, too. Also, I used the same colors for his pants minus the pinkish one (E93).

And now it's time for the final boss - the cardigan. I've never drawn such a detailed outfit before but it was pretty simple in terms of colors so it wasn't that difficult in the end and I got to practice drawing two very different types of fabric. I also forgot to add it here but I went over these 2 colors with a light warm gray (W-1) a couple of times to give it a softer look.

Here's the finished cardigan - I also added the black details with my marker instead of a fineliner because I didn't want it to look too precise/neat.

I also added the shadows under him with these 2 colors.

And finally I used these 2 for the sheets!

Thank you for reading this whole thing (if you're here you deserve a prize fr), I love talking about markers sm so if there's anything else you're curious about please don't hesitate to let me know!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

What makes me so sad about Ryuji being reduced to “I am so horny and want girlfriend and also I’m stupid” is that I think he’s pretty much the perfect guy friend for any and all of the main girls to have.

Girls are especially socially expected to hold in anger. Having a best buddy who can and will get angry on your behalf and will encourage that in you and is also a dorky ray of sunshine would be so good for literally all of them.

And the foundations are there!

Ann and Ryuji love picking on each other so much; they’ve so clearly known each other in middle school (which is a time you never want anyone to know you from but if you still do, you probably are bound by blood or something). They have dumbass cousin energy. “Guy you saw in the hallway but never actually got to know until years later and now you’re inseparable and gleefully shoving each other with the greatest affection” energy.

Ryuji jumped in front of a car to help Makoto! On the surface it looks like studious girl and delinquent boy but that’s not it at all, because Makoto is just as gung ho as Ryuji when she gets going. Ryuji has so much respect and a healthy level of fear towards her, and Makoto knows Ryuji of all people is not going to judge her for jumping in headfirst for once… except sometimes her recklessness makes even Ryuji go “whoa, whoa! hold on are you crazy???” And then she tells him to “get on the fucking bike Skull we’re making a getaway” while sirens blare in the palace and Ryuji’s just like “yes ma’am” and trusting that Makoto is not about to get them killed… haha… ha…

Ryuji was probably the most chill with Futaba when they were trying to socialize with her because he was literally just being himself and chatting like he would with anyone else. He’s consistently impressed by her and thinks she’s so cool. Futaba of course loves getting his ass, but that is just how she shows affection. They play video games together for sure.

I still don’t know as much about Haru since I’m still on Okumura’s Palace, but again, I think these two could totally get along particularly because they are so wildly different. Haru is high class, sweet, and she holds back from the full range of her negative emotions for the most part. Ryuji’s mom has to work hard for them both, he’s a lot more aggressive and he’s almost always totally honest about what he feels. I just really think Ryuji could be the one to say “hey Haru, I know you’re being nice and all but that is extremely messed up and I will gladly punch that guy if you want me to” and Haru will pause and say “you know what, you’re right Ryuji, that is messed up. No need for punching, I will grab my axe. :)”

Even Kasumi!!! They’ve barely spoken so far and I already think Ryuji would hear about how hard she takes mistakes and totally cheer her on! Kasumi invites a few people to practice and she’s nervous and then Ryuji starts shouting encouragement at the top of his lungs. He is loud and he will drown out the doubt. (Ren’s next to him and wishes he brought ear plugs. Kasumi is completely mortified but it does, somehow, help.)

And if the game still really wants to make “lol this guy can’t get a girlfriend” jokes, then they literally could with this set up and it would legitimately be so funny. This guy has so many friends who are girls but no girlfriend. He laments this one day. All the girls get up and are like “okay. Operation Get Ryuji a Girlfriend is a go” and Ryuji realizes he’s made a terrible mistake.

Makoto takes it deadly seriously but obviously has no idea what she’s doing. She’s reading from a dating book and trailing off and frowning every once in awhile and taking notes. Ann can give actual good advice on occasion but most of the time she’s just trying various tactics to get free dessert from him. Futaba just wants to witness the chaos. She even brought chips. Haru tries to set the mood but there are rose petals everywhere and the entire movie theater is mysteriously and conveniently sold out so it’s just Ryuji and his hapless would-be date, and the cinema staff are serving 300k yen champagne??? They can’t even drink yet? Kasumi always cheers him on but the cheers slowly become less convincing and eventually peter out to awkward, smiling silence as something inevitably, always, goes horribly wrong. They all return to Leblanc in defeat where Ryuji immediately collapses on the floor and the girls attempt to reassure him that there’s always next time. He remains sprawled on the floor quietly sobbing as they continue to plot yet another disastrous date.

Ren and Morgana walk into this and go “what the fuck”. Yusuke grabs his sketchbook and immediately and eagerly seats himself on the floor as well to capture his best impression of Ryuji’s exhausted despair.

[yuseirra]

I went out for a walk and it helped me organize my thoughts, let me be bold about my theories/assumptions because I CAN and it's a now or never thing till it's proven wrong. But when I write these, I am confident to a degree. I get worried later, but I feel sure when I write them.

I believe Kamiki lied to Aqua to save him the pain of feeling sorry for him, the way Ai was very harsh when she left him.

Also, I believe Ai picked the right guy to love. This guy has a really tender soul. Or at least used to be, I think. He's very gentle in nature. Uh huh, he'd have been really good with their kids if he had the chance to raise them, him and Ai would have made a sweet family the way Ai pictured it to be. This guy's polite and sweet. Let me explain, okay?

I looked back at those segments in 154 when there's a flashback of Ai leaving Kamiki and Kamiki talking about Ryosuke, and the way things are laid out looks really similar to each other. I'd say it actually looks like parallels to each other. The sides of their faces appearing(and we don't see their eyes) and then their backs turned at the viewer. When expressions are concealed like these, you can't read what the characters are actually feeling. And this comic has really powerful expressions that are very on point and let the reader "understand" and feel what the characters are going through.

that entire page where Kamiki talks to Aqua about having wanted to scare Ai? I think 80% of it would be all lies. The only part that I believe is the actual truth would be that he did give Ryosuke the address and he didn't know that he'd kill her, but that's probably something that's slipped out by mistake. The explanation he brings up for having done such an action is utterly ridiculous and dumb. There are so many ways to "make someone despair", and needless to mention that it's so wrong and terrible to do, its also not something that's guaranteed to work, nor is it practical in the first place. It's an action that has really low probability to achieve the said desirable effect. That's why I keep making speculations about this, it does not make sense. I bet most of the fandom would have felt the same way about what he's said as well, saying stuff like: "How could he have never seen it coming?" Yeah, right?? I think he isn't responsible for this happening to begin with. Any person with a sane mind would feel this way, and he doesn't seem that insane. I think Nino could be irrational to some extent but not this guy!!! That's why I'm convinced that it wasn't this guy who could have done this, but Nino after she's been thrown into the picture.

Kamiki would know what he's saying doesn't make quite a lot of sense himself. He's a fully-grown adult!! Over 30 now, and he should know enough to realize what he's talking about. He's just trying to push through because he's been used to lying for other people's behalf and he's pretty confident that he can fool people, the way he used to be ever since he was so little.

What he's saying is just a flat-out lie to save his son from feeling the slightest amount of guilt for having to socially kill his own dad. I think so. Him and Ai are a liar couple. Ai lied and made it really harsh, I think, in order to save her boyfriend from feeling too terrible about the breakup, she wanted him to hate her for it and move on from her quickly and save himself. What Kamiki's doing here's similar. He doesn't want someone he cares about (he does care about his children btw, gonna discuss about this later) to have any remorse or concern over him. He'd feel better if his children just plain wants him dead, that's his way of loving them, the way Ai was for him.

Aqua's reaction towards Kamiki's ridiculous claim is so blank and unmoved, he should have been ANGRY, grabbed him by the collar, scold him, make inquiries, but Aqua just moves on to ask if Kamiki believed Ai's words. And then we see Kamiki's face with eyes, in acceptance, saying he did, continuing to say "everything Ai's said is the norm." That's a totally different approach to the claims he's made earlier, it contradicts it, because just a second ago he claims he wanted to have Ai feel the same despair as him and scare her for having claimed she can't love him, but then, he says what she's said (the fact that she can't love him) is understandable and right. Those two reactions, I believe, can't be simultaneously established at the same time. What he says later is how he truly feels about the situation. He just plain accepted that he was never loved. It wasn't something so surprising for him.

I said this in another post yesterday but he's as much as a liar as Ai is, they both constantly smile to pretend they're all right.

That smile he floats is consistent through the entire time he's shown in the story and the only times it breaks is when it has to do with Ai and when she sees him through. And it starts to break the moment he sees her talking about him. Every expression he makes when he sees Ai in the video are his true feelings. His smiles, on the other hand, are his coping mechanism and are all masks.

If you see his behavior patterns, Kamiki smiles when he's in distress, that's his way of coping when something he can't fully comprehend happens. He cries as he smiles as he seeked for Ai's help in a flashback in 153, and he tries to float a smile when Ai says she's going to leave him. And the way he responds to these tough situations, when he faces them, are... soft. He tries to calm himself down and inquires Ai "Why.. is that so?" and his reactions after that too.. are very far from aggressive. He was always far from being so during the times we actually see him do things.

I don't know how his way of speech is in Japanese, but I have a feeling he'd be the type that speaks in a very polite way. When him and Ai meet for the first time, I think he used honorifics to her and attached a -san to her name? He was pretty polite when he talks to Yura, too, and I mentioned this once but he EVEN ADDS A -KUN AND -SAN TO TRASH LIKE RYOSUKE AND AN ABUSER LIKE AIRI. The guy killed the love of his life and the woman.. I don't even want to bring up what she did to him, he has all the right to show signs of bitter hatred towards them, but.. he doesn't... This attitude of his is also consistent of how he was as a child. As a little boy, he was mistreated but he tried to endure it thinking 'but they're happy'. I don't think that part about him has changed so much. He finds it really hard to hate on people, even when it can be justified. That's why, I don't think he would have harnessed any hatred towards Ai. He didn't even do that to Ryosuke and Airi!!! They're terrible people!!! If he can't do that to those scumbags of individuals, would he to Ai?? Would he?? There are people who are selfish and are strong towards the weak and weak towards the strong but I don't think that would apply to his case. Nope, I don't think Kamiki originally has it in him to harm ANYONE at all.

I wholeheartedly see why Ai really wanted to protect him. He's just so.. vulnerable and maybe even too kind for his own good. Ai has a lot of protective instinct and she's really caring towards others in the ways she could. Seeing a guy like this.. would have really made her wish 'oh, I really want to help him.' AND that's exactly what she does!!! She's even left a message to her kids about this!! Help this guy with me, she says.

Continuing on with the polite and kind bit, this characteristic of him is ACTUALLY THERE in his interactions with his children. He didn't get to be with them, but I think he was happy he got a chance to approach and talk to them, he probably wants to give them their mother back with everything he's got from what I'm guessing. I think he may have just wanted to pet Ruby's head that one time his eye sparkled white and smiled. He could have been a proud dad, he praises his kids every time he meets them, says they're pretty, they made a good movie, congratulates them, says they shine. He understands Aqua's character and pays attention to Ruby when her career soars.

It's similar to how Ai was really proud of her children and wanted to spend more time with them but couldn't. I feel they would have been loving parents if they had raised their children together. It's just as how Ai's pictured it. She knows what kind of guy her boyfriend is. She's the person who'd understand him the most out of anyone, ever in the world and she wanted to be with him while being aware of it. He says he is willing to give his life for her, he STATES that as a quote. So, she did find someone who's pretty good! The guy had sweet nature, is good with kids, also had good looks(she had to mention that as she left lol.. that too is also what hurt him though, she knew exactly which strings to pull to render him speechless), doesn't have that much aggressive tendencies, is polite, a good actor, shares a similar past and could relate really well to her,

he did suffer a lot and that made him a bit insecure but he genuinely loved her and she did too, and if things brightened up a bit.. if he could have been lifted of those burdens he had..they really could have had a future together. The important thing here is that HE is the one she wants. Ai is very serious about love, and she's intelligent, I feel. She figures what's good for her and she gets what she wants. And she wanted to be with him. I don't think her being with him would be concluded as a mistake. There's been so many horrible things that were thrown to the both of them but, they were both essentially good people who found each other and wanted to love. I want the story to end with that sentiment. The more I try to analyze the guy, I feel he may not been that bad... he actually seems to be a pretty tender person inside. If only they could have been happy... idk how, but maybe they can still, you know? Because as they say in the first chapter, this story is fiction, but most fiction has a happy ending. Also, what I could infer from the movie arc when that was brought up again was that "love" isn't fiction. It's something very real that can't be brushed off as fake. Kamiki knows Ai's always loved him now, and he'll try to do something from his end. Love goes both ways and theirs will too, in the very end.

[ladytrist]

Marionetta: Thoughts on how Julia is doing

Just so we’re on the same page: Chapter 53 is the latest update in my country.

Based on Chapter 53, Julia claims that she found a purpose in the circus - being productive with a real job. And her friendship with Kamille is healing. However, I for once believe that she’s not near to being alright at all. I believe she’s just really DISTRACTING herself and is still in the heavy process of convincing herself that everything has already come to place that everything is alright, but I really don’t think it is. Besides Kamille, she needs someone in the circus that she can fully trust but I believe that Julia is still lost, confused, and scared - probably not like the first time she entered the circus but yeah she really needs someone wiser to confide to. And I just don’t think she can fully trust tonny yet.

Someone commented that Julia is being lied to and I 100% agree. I don’t think her letters to her father are actually being sent. Dotty is highly suspicious, the circus is her haven and she would do anything to protect it.

The reason why I’m really convinced that this is really just a calm before the storm is that Kamille is now the first one to be concerned about Julia’s contract. Julia shouldn’t put all her faith to tonny resolving everything

Julia honey, No.

Plus I think Julia still has a lot of things pent up after the stunt sahed pulled her into (unaliving tonny). I just think that tonny and especially dotty has julia on a tether. They’re focusing too much on Julia not to go scheming again while have they even considered her actually mental and emotional well being? I know Tonny had a talk with her about how he made a mistake not being there for julia enough but I still think that he needs to try and genuinely understand ehat Julia is feeling and what she is going through. If they just let Julia be on a leash nothing good is gonna happen.

Also I’m not saying that nobody in the circus has helped Julia in the past. Tonny is a kind person but he definitely could’ve done more for Julia. Before season 2, Julia was just practically running around in desperate for someone to help her. Everybody was just like “oh yeah you’re dead now but relax”, Julia really needed help but she was just overlooked. When someone is distraught, overlooking their issues would create twice the trouble for them. Julia got invloved with sahed because there was no one to guide her. Even kamilled dismissed what she was feeling. Julia didn’t want to be in the circus, Imagine what she felt. Of course people like dotty who sees the circus as their haven would think Julia is just overreacting.

Julia is still definitely not okay…have y’all seen the ending of chapter 53. Our girl was imagining home but it didn’t end well. My poor baby julia needs a hug.

Phew…sorry guys, I just see myself a lot in Julia.

[snowbaamgyu]

Friends don't understand me anymore

This one is a request from @flashymoa , check that blog too ;)

Also sorry this took too long, it's finally here, enjoy!

Their schedule was packed, like, really packed, that was for sure, and they all were tired, no one had the right to complain, they were following that lifestyle since their debut days, if it wasn't dance practice for a comeback it was for a special stage, or even just to make sure they all mantain the same stamina; then, vocal practice or maybe some individual schedules, submitting lyrics, photoshoots, interviews, etc.

Taehyun didn't notice at first, he brushed away some symptoms like being exhausted when he was just finishing his warm up for his gym routine, or how he felt a bit grossed out by the sight of food, even his favorite dishes! It all were signs of his body telling him something was going to happen.

It was a lot and it was taking a toll on everyone but specially in Taehyun, he didn't have the time for his body to do what it wanted, but today he really wanted to stop everything and go home.

Doubled over with his hands on his knees, Taehyun panted trying to catch his breath, everyone was tired but he felt like he had done all four hours of dance practice when they were just one hour into it. Their dance instructor noticed his behavior and got a bit concerned, still asked "Taehyun-ssi, is everything okay?" just in case, Taehyun nodded before standing straight "Just tired, sorry".

The dance practice continued but Taehyun kept making mistakes, tripping over his own feet or bumping into Beomgyu who was kind enough to hide how frustrated he was getting, the rest did the same aside of Yeonjun who huffed in annoyance when Taehyun held onto him to prevent falling down face first onto the floor, the dance teacher calling for a break and Soobin leaving the room.

"Taehyun, I get that you're tired but we're all are too as well, please cooperate for us to go home quickly" the oldest one of the group said, not knowing what to say, Taehyun lowered his head and apologized, finally realizing he wasn't in conditions for that damn dance practice. "I don't think I feel well enough to continue" he said with a grimace, now feeling all the discomfort, the dancing and moving around distracted him but now all his body felt heavy and hot, probably a fever.

"Taehyun, if we all said we don't feel good then no one would be here right now, I also want to rest but work comes first, focus please" Beomgyu now was the one speaking, and Kai beside him just nodded, he thought the same thing as his hyungs.

"You're right, sorry, I'll do better" was all he said, not wanting to keep the discussion with his hyungs, then went to drink some water hoping it would calm his scratchy throat and mildly upset stomach, his hands trembling when he closed the water bottle, he felt a shiver running down all his body, his eyes were glossy and his head started hurting. Soobin entered the room and the practice resumed, when Taehyun bumped into Soobin this time he immediately bowed and apologized, scared that he also was mad at him for not giving his all and slacking off. "I'm so sorry hyung, I promise it won't happen again, sorry." Soobin noticed how Taehyun's voice cracked a bit at the end and gently grabbed his shoulder, feeling all the warmth radiating through him, the younger sweating buckets and breathing shallowly, something was happening. "It's alright Taehyun, are you feeling okay? You don't seem well" at Soobin's words Yeonjun huffed once again, "He's just being lazy, we're all tired Taehyun you're not special today" Yeonjun's words hurt, they were cold and full of annoyance, Soobin frowned but let it go, not wanting to start an argument mid practice.

They all got into their positions again but Taehyun knew he couldn't make it to the end of the song without making mistakes, not with the way his eyes were full of black dots and everything was changing colors until it started fading, still he went on, didn't stop even when he felt so lightheaded that his nose started bleeding, didn't stop when all his limbs felt so heavy he thought he wasn't in control of his own body, with that he collapsed and the music stopped, so did the boys.

Soobin was the first one to react and go check on him, the dance instructor going out to call the medical staff and one of their managers.

"Taehyun, what happened? Wake up, please!" Soobin pleaded as he put the youngers head on his lap, wiping the blood with a towel Kai handed, Beomgyu and Yeonjun stood there not knowing what to do but bolting into action when the younger started waking up but the first thing he did was choke up his lunch or well, what he managed to eat, Soobin titling his head for him to finish throwing up, Beomgyu held the trashcan for him to puke in there, coughing and retching, Taehyun didn't know what was happening.

When he was done Yeonjun took the trashcan and they all tried to give him air with those hand fans, also giving him so space so he could breath normally again, now in that position Soobin could really acknowledge that Taehyun was really sick and not just lazy how they others were thinking, he was burning up and had really dark circles under his eyes, his normally honey-colored skin was now pale, almost grayish.

"Guys, he is sick, why didn't any of you think twice before saying he was just being lazy? How could you even let this get this far?! Really? You couldn't even just try and check for a fever?" Soobin was mad, like really mad, spoke to them not only in his leader voice but also as a friend who had to point out their mistakes. No one could really reply, they knew they were wrong but now they had to focus on Taehyun, when the medical staff arrived they set him up in the couch of the practice room, Soobin never leaving his side, the other three just looked from afar.

"Looks like a mix of exhaustion and possibly a stomach flu or just the common flu, whatever it is, he needs to rest, the hospital is not necessary so just take him to the dorms, he will be fine by the end of the week if he is well rested".

The ride to the dorms was silent, no one dared to speak not only because Taehyun was asleep but also the air was so tense, Soobin was the one who carried Taehyun to his room and tucked him into bed, his face flushed, he was breathing through his mouth and his stomach was rumbling, Soobin winced in sympathy a bit at that, being sick sucks specially if it involved a sick stomach, at the end he left the room to let him sleep.

The other three knew that now they had a long lecture from Soobin, so they gathered in the living room and waited for him.

"Okay, care to explain why didn't any of you believe in Taehyun's words? He clearly told you he felt sick, am I wrong?" Soobin started, looking disappointed at them; "He did tell us that he wasn't feeling well but honestly, I think we didn't take him seriously because we also are exhausted and it wouldn't be fair if only him got to rest" Yeonjun said as he lowered his head a bit, "He's right but also, for me it was because I wanted to finish practice before letting my body be weak and agree that I couldn't make it to the end of the week, in a way I'm kinda thankful to Taehyun because now we have to be in quarantine" Beomgyu continued, they kept talking, everyone giving a reason and arguments until a door slammed shut and Kai shushed them. "Guys, Taehyun, he's throwing up again" now that they were quiet they could hear him and immediately went after him, they found Taehyun in the bathroom with his head into the toilet heaving painfully but only bringing saliva and stomach acid, the coughing just irritating more his throat, this time Beomgyu was the one who crouched by his side and patted his back, Kai prepared him a bath and Yeonjun went to change his bedsheets, Soobin went to the laundry room with Yeonjun.

"Taehyunnie, we're sorry for not believing in you, we'll take care of you so everyone can enjoy this week off okay?" said boy just nodded, not really processing what was happening, Beomgyu flushed the toilet and helped Kai to take off his clothes and let him relax into the water, massaging his scalp and helping the fever to go down, Kai went to grab a change of clothes for Taehyun and drying his hair, now Taehyun was a bit more awake and aware of his surroundings, Soobin appeared into his room with a bowl of soup and some pills with a glass of water, everyone managed to fit themselves to keep him company, even when Taehyun murmured a low "I feel nauseous..." and had to pass him the trashcan of his room, the soup ending up in there, they had to try again later but for now they could try and make him feel better, even if they had the risk of getting sick they didn't care, they had to be there for him.

Three days later Taehyun was feeling much better and had already forgiven them, also had to become the caretaker when one morning Yeonjun had to make a run to the toilet to throw up his breakfast and dinner, they knew it was their karma when the next day Kai also got sick and the day after it was Beomgyu, but eventually everything calmed down and they got another week off, hanging out at home, playing games and watching movies, whatever argument they ever had now forgotten.

[lyraoctaviawrites]

I think my best piece of advice to aspiring writers is to not write your biggest and most important ideas first.

I made this mistake with Into the Phantasm. I started it when I was still inexperienced and the series never felt good enough. I made a ton of mistakes in every single aspect of the storytelling which is totally understandable for the level I was at, but because ITP meant so much to me, it caused so much grief. I simply wasn’t a good enough writer for what I was trying to make.

A hard pill to swallow is that when you start out, you’re probably not gonna be very good at writing and that’s totally okay. Try baking a pie when you hardly know how to boil an egg. Trust me, it ain’t gonna turn out good. I recommend taking your biggest projects and shelving them for later. Write notes, absolutely write a ton of notes, but don’t write them first. Instead, come up with a bunch of random ideas and write those. It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to exist. You’ll be able to learn without any of the pressure of trying to create that story that you know deserves to be as amazing as it can be. And once you’ve practiced enough, you’ll be able to make those dreams a reality.

Write stuff that doesn’t matter, so you can learn the stuff that does.

Also, read a lot of other peoples’ books. Trust me, it’s so important.

[all-pacas]

#he's good in a crisis ok#and a dumb whore everywhere else

I'm the anon that asked why you think Chase is generally stupid,except for some talents. Can you talk why do you think he's a dumb person with a single talent,instead of a generally smart person who lacks common sense at times?

I mean, the short version is I’m joking. Just like when I call Cameron insufferable. The show itself likes to call Chase a Dumb Whore.

But the fact of the matter is that Chase isn’t stupid. House doesn’t hire idiots, even if he calls his employees stupid roughly twice a week. We see in S4 that he will fire someone immediately (CIA chick) if they can’t pull their weight; Chase does.

He does, in show, have a bit of a reputation for being dumb and lazy, and I think both have their… moments? Lazy is easier to prove: Chase tends to be quieter in differentials than Cameron and Foreman. He’s the least likely to argue his points or insist he’s right. Time and time again, he also shows he’s a bit apathetic: in Safe he and Cameron discuss the teenage patient’s boyfriend. They need to test his sperm, and Cameron worries that they should tell the parents, who will not be pleased. Chase shrugs it off. They’ll find out when they get billed for the test. Cameron asks if he’s really okay with them finding out like that; he doesn’t even hesitate before confirming “pretty much.” He prefers to take the easier path.

The dumb is a little more… meta-textual, let’s say. First of all, Chase is an intensivist. Foreman and Cameron are top level experts in their fields of disease. Foreman always thinking neurological is practically a running joke; I’m not sure if fandom has pinged on the fact that Lupus is a running joke because Cameron keeps suggesting it, because she’s an immunologist. They both tend to brainstorm in their specialties, they know a lot of very specific illness and disease stuff for them. Same with House: he has a double specialty in infectious disease and kidney stuff. Chase doesn’t have that kind of background. He’s not an expert in any body part or type of sickness. He’s… good at keeping people alive. And that is not easy, and we see time and again that he’s really good at it. But he doesn’t have that same kind of knowledge specialty, and so in differentials he… contributes, for sure, but he doesn’t have the “it must be lupus!” “it must be neurological!” thing. House also doesn’t defer to him as much — House recognizes Foreman knows more about Brain Stuff than he does, so when it’s a brain thing, Foreman is expected to know. Chase doesn’t have that kind of niche, so he comes off as a little less… brainstorm-y. Cerebral.

There’s also moments here and there in the show where they outright joke or imply he’s a little dim. There’s the “dumb whore” bit and him choosing password as his password. Way back in episode two of the show, he’s doing a crossword puzzle with a medical clue and can’t figure it out; Foreman does instantly. We know about Foreman and Cameron’s very prestigious CV and schooling history (he went to one of the top schools in the US and had perfect grades; she interned at the mayo clinic). All we know about Chase until S7 is that his dad, apparently, got him the job. Also, because Chase is the dedicated Keep ‘Em Alive Guy, there’s a whole bunch of episodes where, say, Foreman and Cameron are trying to figure stuff out or searching the home while Chase is busily working on the patient, so he seems to do “less” than the other two. This is probably where the “Chase screwed up” running theme comes from too: he cuts people open more than the other two, so if there’s a physical procedure (and potential mistake), it’s him and not Cameron who probably made it.

But that all said, all jokes aside, I don’t think he’s dumb. I mean — he’s dumb, but he’s not stupid. He might not be a disease or organ specialist like the others, but he still is able to keep up. He’s very good at keeping people alive. He also has a real penchant for out of the box thinking and creativity that bumps his Solve Rate up higher than any of the other fellows. As early as the Pilot he’s able to come up with a creative solution to prove the patient has Ham Worms. He’s shown plenty of times that he is incredibly good at reading people; he’s a good manipulator and lowkey House’s default “schemes guy” in early seasons, when he needs to trick a patient (or scam money out of the S4 betting pools and Kutner). He’s able to completely see through House and Foreman multiple times; House even goes so far as to say it’s why Chase was hired.

I think if anything it’s laziness that’s Chase’s biggest issue. He’s shown plenty of times he can be brilliant and is observant and creative, he just rarely bothers or cares enough to try. He’s… kind of a spoiled rich kid. He doesn’t have to work hard for things, so he doesn’t. He’s passive and more than a little spineless, and finds it easier to go along than assert himself in early seasons. He might not be dumb, but people see him that way, and I really don’t think he minds. Because it’s easier, and because he doesn’t really care what Foreman (or whoever) thinks. The rare times he does go all out tend to be exceptions: he works his ass off to prove his father wrong in S1, and Treiber in S8, because he’s mad more than because he’s that worried about the case. He figures out the same thing as House in Control, why the patient is really sick, but only because he’s afraid he’s about to be fired. He’s lazy. He works well under pressure.

I’m going to be super pretentious here, but when I was younger I read the short story “A Good Man is Hard To Find.” The main character is a deeply unpleasant and vain older woman. When her life is threatened, however, she becomes desperate and kind and empathetic. One of the last lines is another character’s musing (and I've thought about this line nearly every day of my life since): 

"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."

In a way, that’s Chase. He does great when he’s sufficiently motivated; it’s just that most of the time, he’s only motivated for personal reasons.

But he’s not stupid.

[hoedamn-eron]

baby, please - part 14

You and Santiago go furniture shopping for his apartment. You don't expect to be invited to a Halloween party.

Warnings: Mentions of being sick, so emetophobia warning. Unrequited feelings (👀👀). Some swearing. Teasing between Frankie and Santi, standard bro's. Lightly proofread so definitely some mistakes in here. Word count: 3,616 F!Reader, no use of Y/N.

I'm BAAAAAACK. Sorry it took so long to get this out. Ideally I wanted it out for before Halloween but here we are, nearly at Christmas. My bad!

Also this feels just...a little stale to me. I tried re-writing it and going in a different direction but it just wouldn't fall into place the way I wanted it to. But I think that might be a me problem, and I will probably look at it differently once I'm back into the swing of things.

And I know we've already done a shopping trip with Santiago but I need it for the plot, okay?

Part 13 ● Series Masterlist ● Part 15

He came again with the truck. 

Now was the day to really ask about the car, right? You were twenty-four weeks pregnant; he needed a car. There was no room for two babies in this truck. Oh, but you don’t want to ask him, it was rude, it was up to him if he got a car or not. And honestly, the truck was probably the best thing for today, since he’s planning on buying an entire nursery, twice. 

No, he needed a car. You’ll gently ask him today. 

Santi had finally cleared out his spare room, and he and Frankie had deep cleaned it and gave it a new coat of paint, and it was now ready to be filled with furniture. He had told you that you weren’t allowed to go in the room until the babies were born as there was a small gender thing in there and he didn’t want to spoil it for you. 

“I’ve already looked online with Frankie and his wife, and I have an idea on what I want to get,” Santi said to you as you set off from your apartment. 

“You could have ordered it online,” you say. “It’ll be easier for you.” 

Santi shook his head. “Nah, I like to see the stuff before I buy it. Also, I need your input.” 

You nod and hold back your joke about him being an ‘old man’. You weren’t sure why he needed your input, but you weren’t complaining about spending a day with Santi. Your cheeks warm as you think back on the last few weeks. You hadn’t brought up the fact that you were probably (definitely), stupidly in love with him, and you weren’t going to. You were embarrassed enough that you were practically getting off every night to the thought of him. 

Damn your hormones. 

“How’s your morning sickness?” Santi asked as he focused on the road. 

“Oh, uh…nearly gone, actually,” you say. “It’s just once or twice a day now, or if I drink orange juice. Not sure why they’ve decided now to hate orange juice.” 

He nods at you before smiling. “Good. I’m glad. I know it was getting you down.” 

You bite your lip to stop yourself smiling like a love-struck teenager. “Yeah, it was.” 

You doze against the window of his truck until you arrive to Ikea. As you pull into the busy parking lot, you couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness about the day ahead. It was more than just a furniture shopping trip; it was a glimpse into the future of your babies’ life with Santi, and the thought of that made your heart race. 

Santi parked up as close as he could to the entrance and helped you out of the truck (you will mention the car today). You wobble a little as your centre of gravity was starting to work against you, but you steady yourself by holding onto Santi’s arm for a second before letting go, your cheeks burning. You don’t look at him as you both walk into the Ikea, and you grab a cart before Santi takes it off you. 

“I have to push a double stroller soon, Santi,” you say, grinning at the look on his face. “I’m able to push a cart.” 

With that, you make your way into the large store before he could say anything, Santi soon following you. 

A feeling of togetherness washes over you as you pause every now and then and talk to him about your new house, how it’s big enough for you to fill with furniture. The excitement in your eyes was contagious as Santi navigated you both through the maze of furniture displays, joining in with how the kids would be able to play in the back yard with all the space you’ll have. Your heart swells at the image. 

You’d been imagining two boys, with your eyes and Santiago’s hair. Tanned skin and your nose, and you could see him taking them to baseball games in those jerseys he bought when you both went shopping. 

But sometimes you saw two girls, taking after their father in everything. Down to the curly hair and dark eyes and dressed in those Metallica shirts he was still fawning over. He’d probably get them all matching caps. 

“I could get them a swing set,” you say. “I loved the swing set at my grandma’s house.” 

“Yeah, corazón, I think they would like that.” 

“And a pool, maybe. Not a big one, but a decent sized one.” 

“You can do all’a that now with your house,” Santi says as you both go deeper in the Ikea. Eventually, he does take the cart from you, and you let him with no complaints. 

The first stop should have been the nursery section, but you stop in the toy section. You know, you know, you have bought enough toys for your kids, and Gabrielle has donated enough to you too. But you ‘don’t have this bear,’ or ‘that dinosaur,’ and you throw them in the cart. You grin at Santi as he shakes his head at you, smiling fondly. After a few more additions to the cart (where Santi had to physically pull you away), you finally make it to the nursery section. 

As you walked through carefully arranged cribs, changing tables, and adorable baby bedding sets, Santi's enthusiasm was evident. It was obvious he had done his research, and you watched him with probably heart eyes as he discussed the pros and cons of different options with you, valuing your opinion on every detail whenever he asked you. 

"I was thinking something like this crib," he said, pointing to a sleek, white crib with some wooden accents and a drawer underneath. "What do you think? Is it too minimalist?" 

You shrug, bending to look at the label, checking out the dimensions. “It looks good. But yeah, it looks a little plain. Does it match the nursery at your place?” 

“It does,” he says. He looked around. “But everything does, really. Everything’s so…white.” 

You let out a giggle as you look around too. “There is a lot of white. I suppose it’s gender neutral.” 

“Suppose I could get some sheets to bring in some colour,” Santi mumbled. He looks at you with a grin. “It is a nice crib.” 

“And it turns into a toddler bed for when the time comes,” you say, nodding at the product information. 

“It has a matching chest of drawers,” said Santi, taking a few steps away from you and to the rest of the furniture. “And changing unit.” 

“Ooh,” you say, following him quickly and taking a look. “Oh, I like the chest of drawers.” 

“Yeah? Should I get them then?” Santi asked you. 

“It’s up to you, Santi, these will be in your apartment, not mine. If you like them and you think they’ll go well in the room, then you should get them.” 

You back and forth with him over other pieces of furniture, like whether he should get a rug (“I think it’ll bring the room together nicely.”), or a chair in their room for feeds (“It would make it easier but I’ll probably end up on the couch anyway.”), and after a while, the room started taking shape in your mind as Santiago put more things in the cart. From what you could gather, the room had a nice sage green somewhere, and Santi had chosen a blend of soft pastels and natural wood tones; you had the sneaky suspicion it may be jungle themed, based off of some of the rugs he was looking at. 

You almost laughed. You could take Santiago out of the jungle, but you couldn’t take the jungle out of Santiago. 

As you strolled through Ikea, you couldn't help but sneak occasional glances at Santi, admiring his dedication to making the space – his space – absolutely perfect for your babies. The way he was talking about the future with them with so such excitement and care warmed your heart, and you couldn't ignore the feelings growing inside of you. You were in love with this man. 

Foolishly and despairingly in love. 

“Want some lunch after this?” Santiago asked you an hour later, as you strolled through the warehouse, picking up the flat packed boxes of furniture that he’d chosen. 

You nodded. “Yeah, I could eat.” 

“What’re you craving?” Santi asked, grunting as he pushed another flatpack box onto the cart. 

“Nothing in particular,” you say, shrugging nonchalantly as your eyes roamed over him. “I’ll have whatever you want to have.” 

“Italian? I could go for a pizza.” 

You nod, trying not to obviously stare and get distracted by the way the muscles in his arms move as he loads up the cart. “Sure.” 

“We can stop by my place first, get this stuff to my apartment.” 

You give him a look, raising your eyebrows pointedly at him. His knees. “Santi…” 

He was already shaking his head. “I’ve already asked Frankie to stop by, he’s gonna help out.” 

Your breath hitched at the thought of meeting Frankie. You don’t know why you suddenly felt so nervous, you were going to have to meet him sooner or later; you were pretty sure Santi was going to ask if he could make Frankie Godfather of the babies (of course you’d say yes, why wouldn’t you?). 

“You don’t need to be nervous,” Santi said, chuckling, shaking his head lightly. 

“I’m not nervous,” you immediately say, lying through your teeth. And it’s obvious too. 

“Your face says otherwise,” Santi replies, grunting as he places the last flatpack on the cart. You internally curse yourself; you should have gotten a second one. “He doesn’t bite. He’s soft.” 

“Nothing wrong with being soft,” you quip back, but Santi doesn’t reply. He just pulls the cart out of your reach, and you make your way to the check out. 

After paying (you wince at the price – you offer to pay half, but Santi downright refuses) you make your way back to his truck, where an employee (practically a kid, he looked no older than nineteen, but he was built like a tank) had offered to help load. You, again, attempted not to stare at Santi as you tried not to feel so useless, but every time you reached for a box, even just a small one, Santi quickly shot you down. 

“You’re carrying twins, you will hurt yourself.” 

“I’m pregnant, not elderly!” 

Your protesting falls on deaf ears, and Santi profusely thanks the employee for the help and hands the kid a tip. Santi helps you climb into the truck before making his way back to the driver’s side, and sends a quick text to Frankie, you assume telling him that you were on the way back to Santiago’s place. 

“Want to get Carmelo’s?” Santi asked as he pulled out of the parking space. 

You pull a face. “Their pizzas are greasy.” 

Santi laughed as he looked in his mirrors and drove out of the lot. “That’s what makes them great.” 

“Yeah, ‘great’ at giving you heart disease.” 

“Okay, how about Solorzano's?” 

You go quiet and think about it, before nodding. You’d ordered in with them before, and their garlic knots were to die for. Your mouth practically started watering at the thought of them. Maybe you don’t need a pizza, maybe you could just order appetisers, like the macaroni and cheese wedges, the mozzarella sticks, oh, maybe their chicken wings. 

Yep, Solorzano's was good. 

“Yeah, that’s fine, let’s do that,” you say. 

You arrive back at Santi’s after telling him all about the food you were going to get, him laughing and telling you that you were hardcore ‘playing into the pregnant lady trope’. You pretended to take offence, telling him fact that you were just appreciating good food, that he suggested, whether you were pregnant or not. 

“All right, fair,” he’d said, amused. 

You try not to fawn at his laugh, but you couldn’t help it. You sighed, hopefully thinking Santi took it that you were happy that he agreed with you over your food choices. 

You soon pull up to his apartment and park in his designated spot, only for a dark blue car to pull up minutes after you arrived. Your eyes widen a little as you see the infamous Francisco Morales climb out of his car and approach you both from his place parked behind Santi. He was shorter than he looked in the video, but still taller than Santi. His dark, tousled hair was hidden behind a cap, and it gave him a rugged charm, and there's something about the lines on his face that makes him look like he's seen it all but is still totally approachable. You catch a glimpse of some scars on his tanned arms, on show as the sleeves of his dark shirt were pushed up to his elbows, and it only added to the sense that this guy has some serious stories to share. 

“Hey, Pope!” 

“How’s it going, Fish?” Santi asked, giving Frankie a smile as they hug, patting each other on the back in a way that you would expect brothers to do. The nicknames confused you; Santi had never referred to himself as ‘Pope’, nor Frankie as ‘Fish’. “Could have tidied yourself up a bit.” Santi jokes, motioning to Frankie’s cap and old battered jacket. 

“I’m doing you a favour, hermano, watch your mouth. Sarah asked me to drop this off for you too,” Frankie said, holding up a paper bag before looking at you and pointing at you with a good-natured expression on his face. “You are not to look in that bag, because it is a surprise.” 

Your eyes widened for a fraction before you nodded. “Okay, yeah...noted.” 

“Are you going to introduce us, teo, or did the news of twins and the financial recovery make you forget basic manners and social introductions?” 

Santi gave Frankie the bird before introducing you both. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” you say, shaking his hand as he offered it to you. 

“It’s nice to put a face to the name,” Frankie says, letting go of your hand and taking a look at the bed of the truck, full of the furniture Santi had bought. He nodded towards it as he looked at Santi. “What did you get?” 

“Everything, it seems,” you joke. 

Frankie gave you a grin before turning back to Santi. “When are you gonna get a car, feo? Can’t fit car seats in this thing.” 

You almost laughed in relief. Now you didn’t have to ask and feel like you were intruding. 

“I’m working on it, tu idiota,” Santi replied, opening the bed of the truck. “Now help me with these boxes, you can’t expect me and my knees to do all the hard work. Don’t even think about it.” 

You hold your hands up in surrender at Santi’s firm gaze, landing on you as you had reached for a box. 

Santi hands you his keys and you go up to his apartment to unlock the door, Santi and Frankie following you up moments later, carrying boxes up with them, huffing and puffing together. You grin as you hear Santi grumble that they ‘felt heavier than they did at Ikea’, and you make your way down to get some of the lighter things. You grab the rug that Santi chose, along with the soft toys you’d picked out. 

You eye the paper bag Frankie bought, that was sat in the bed of the truck, the curiosity to take a peek inside itching at your fingertips. You look around quickly before looking at the bag before you finally shake your head. Frankie said it was a surprise, something Santi might have organised, so you shouldn’t. You should leave it alone. 

“You better not look in that.” 

You smirk before looking at Santi, who was giving you an amused look. “I was thinking about it. But I won’t.” 

Santi rolled his eyes in amusement as he and Frankie both grab another box. You grab one last toy before you follow them up the stairs and into Santi’s living room, placing the stuff on the couch. You go back to the truck, taking the last of the small things before sitting back and watching the two men bring back the last of the flatpack boxes. Soon, Santi’s living room was representing the Ikea warehouse with how many boxes were littered around everywhere. You spotted the paper bag sitting on the small dining room table by the open plan kitchen. 

Again, you choose to let it go. 

You step outside, closing and locking the apartment. You see Santi and Frankie chatting by the truck, the bed now closed, and you make your way over. You hear Santi thanking Frankie for the help with the furniture. 

“Don’t thank me yet, you still need help putting that shit together,” Frankie replied. “You’ll probably need all the guys for that.” 

Santi snorted. “Would love to see Benny try to put together a crib...or two.” 

“Well, he put Sofía’s together,” Frankie said. 

Santi went quiet at that, and the two stared at each other. You weren’t sure what was happening, but it was as though they were having a private conversation with each other, without having to say anything. You go quiet, letting them have their telepathic conversation, until you cleared your throat, breaking the awkward silence. “Would you like to join us for lunch, Frankie?” 

After a few more moments, Frankie turns from Santi and gives you a small smile. “I would love to, but it’s Sofía’s birthday next month, and Sarah’s got me running around trying to get the stuff for it and she has me planning this Halloween party in a couple of days.” 

“The guys say they’re still going for Halloween?” Santi asked, crossing his arms over his chest. It was as if his and Frankie’s interaction hadn’t happened. You put a pin in it for now. 

“Benny said he’s still coming, Ironhead’s still unsure, since Claire’s putting a bit of pressure on him to make some solid decisions on the wedding.” Frankie chuckled before looking at you. “You should come,” he suddenly said to you. “I know it’s a bit last minute and it’s mostly for kids, but it should be fun.” 

Your brain stops for a moment, not realising Frankie was suddenly talking to you. You blink at him for a moment before shaking your head. “Oh! Uh, yeah, I’ll definitely think about it. I was gonna go with my friend and her kids trick or treating – “ 

Frankie cuts you off with a wave of his hand. “Bring them along, seriously. Sarah loves meeting new people, she’s been talking my ear off about when Pope was finally going to introduce you to everyone.” 

“Frankie,” Santi muttered firmly, a light blush coming to his cheeks, causing you to giggle. 

You nod at Frankie. “Didn’t realise I was such an interesting topic.” 

“Are you kidding? You managed to get Santiago Garcia to slow down and think about his future for once,” Frankie said, ignoring Santi’s very obvious glare. 

You grin. “I’ll talk to my friend, see if she wants to join.” 

“Great. You’re coming though, right hermano?” 

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Santi replied. “Can’t disappoint Sofía.” 

You feel your chest warm and your heart swell with the way he looks as he talks about his niece, how he was so enamoured with her. You wonder how he would talk about your kids and how he would act with them. You find your eyes quickly swell with years, and you look away from the two men quickly, wiping at them. 

Damn hormones. 

“Great, just let me know plans, yeah?” Frankie said, nodding at you both. “No pressure, though, if you can’t make it.” 

You nod. “No worries, I'll let you know. Or I’ll get Santi to tell you, anyway.” 

“Again, it was nice to finally meet you,” Frankie said, shaking your hand again. “I’ll text you later, hermano.” 

“See ya, Fish,” Santi replied, giving Frankie a quick hug before the two of you watch him leave. You both wave as he drives away. 

“So,” you say after a few moments, handing Santi’s keys back over to him. “What’s with the nicknames?” 

“Our call signs,” Santi said, taking the keys. “Just stuck afterwards.” 

“Oh, right. Why is yours Pope?”

Santi was silent for a moment before he pulled a face, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter, I think it was something stupid Benny said.” 

You don’t believe him, but you won’t push. He was always a little closed off about his days in the army. “Okay. So, ready for lunch?” 

“Sure...yeah,” he answers, before opening the truck door for you. He hesitates again for a moment as you turn to climb in, before he blurts out, “You don’t have to come to the party.” 

You look at Santi, seeing his unsure face looking at you. “Why?” 

“Don’t want you to feel obligated,” he says. 

You study him for a moment, noticing his stance. He seemed a little out of sorts, nervous almost. You give him a reassuring look. “I want to go. It’ll be fun.” Then you give him a teasing smirk. “And besides, I’d miss out on hearing all the embarrassing stories about you from your friends! No way am I missing this.” 

You see his shoulders relax a little at your words before he rolls his eyes. “Funny. Get in the truck.” 

“You know, if you got a car, I wouldn’t struggle so much getting in and out of this thing.” 

“I fucking knew the truck bothered you.”

• tu idiota - you asshole • feo - ugly

Tagged - @khonsulockley, @bluenredndeath, @superficialfeelings, @othersideoftheparadise, @beezusvreeland