#and i was agreeable. smiley even

[drop--pop--candy]

oh. hm. we're not going to analyze that

[luveline]

Could you do a drunk cuddly Steve if you're feeling up to it?

When Steve comes home to you that night, you evade his hug. “Steve, you smell awful.” 

Steve flinches away from you. In any other moment, you’d notice how lovely he looks —there’s something special about the way he squints when he’s pissed off— but his smell is overpowering. 

“Sorry?” he asks, offended and confused. 

“You’ve got stuff all down you. What is that?” You try to be kinder. It’s not like he smells bad on purpose. “Do you need help?” you ask.

“What are you talking about?” 

“I’m gonna take your shirt off,” you say gently. 

His scowl relaxes. “You are?” 

“What is it, do you know? It doesn’t even smell like beer. It smells like death.” 

Steve doesn’t laugh at your joke, he’s not as smiley as you’d like him, but you suppose that’s the perils of telling him he smells. You grab the ends of his shirt and you pull it over his head, careful not to get the wet part on his face, and then you snag a packet of makeup wipes off of your vanity and pull on out to wipe down the skin near his heart that’s still shiny. 

“That’s nice,” he says, swaying at your touch. 

“Yeah?” You fold the wipe and rub him down. “I’m gonna put that shirt in the laundry. Get in bed, sweetheart.” You touch his face quickly. “Make yourself comfy.” 

You forbid his gross shirt to the laundry basket in the bathroom and take a moment to stretch. Steve, though drunk, isn’t doing his usual sweet brigade. You must’ve really offended him when you said he smells. You aim to put it right. 

“Sorry,” you say, pushing open your door again. Steve’s done as you told him to do, sitting on his usual side of your bed. “That was mean. You didn’t smell awful, just the shirt.” 

You climb onto the bed and kneel in front of him, stroking a perfect lock of hair back from his forehead. “Forgive me?” 

Steve winds his arm behind your back. He presses his face to yours, before his head falls into the curve of your neck, where it stays. 

“I’m sorry for being gross,” he says, heartily drunk.  

“You’re not gross, the beer just surprised me,” you say. 

It’s clear he drank more than he tipped, his movements wobbly, but his hand curling protectively behind you in a good effort. 

“Oh, hello,” you murmur, “this feels like forgiveness.” 

“Some asshole tipped beer on me, I’m sorry.” 

“Steve, it’s okay! Don’t say sorry, you smell just fine now.” You take a performative sniff of his hair. “You smell amazing.” 

He squeezes you and pushes you down into the bed. He has just enough wits about him to be careful about your head on the headboard, shifting over you, and pulling the blankets up to cover your shoulders. His naked torso presses against your arm, your chest and your stomach, his skin feverishly warm. 

“Do you think you can call me sweetheart again?” he asks strangely. 

“That depends, will it make you feel better?” 

He scoffs, which is more like him. “I won’t beg.” 

“No, you asked nicely enough the first time,” you say agreeably. 

When he leans back and pulls you into his chest, you feel forgiven for certain. Slowly, you let your nose skirt along the curve of his neck before kissing the shadow of his Adam’s apple. 

“Sweetheart,” you say, barely audible, “I love you.” 

He’s like an octopus from that point onward. You’re dragged flush to his front with your hand on his collar, his nose and mouth pressed to your forehead. He’s soft underneath you but not without muscle, a strong bicep behind your shoulders squeezing you securely even as he mumbles drunkenly into your skin. “Love you…” And finally, finally, he seems to recuperate from your accusation, “It’s weird when you don’t wanna hug me.” 

“I always do. It was purely olfactory related.” 

“Ol-what-ery?” 

“It wasn’t personal.” 

Steve squeezes you until you sigh. “It felt personal.” 

“It wasn’t. I just blurted it out. You smell really nice now,” you say, and he does, cologne and skin and sweat, too. 

“So you still love me?” he asks. 

“I just said I did, didn’t I?” 

He wrestles you with both great care and great clumsiness to his face for a tipsy kiss pressed to the corner of your mouth. “Can you tell me again?” 

You offer to say it a hundred times, but after twenty he’s snoozing into your shoulder, his thumb stuttering where it lays against your back. 

[callsign-rogueone]

hey cutie! i hope you're doing well! i saw your liam post a while back and bc i seemed to love him and so does literally everybody else, i was wondering (bc im writing a book) what makes him so likeable to people? like why did we all fall in love with him immediately and then die of devastation when he was killed?

hihi!! Liam deserves multiple essays on how amazing he is, but here's some thoughts that I can def expand on later if you'd like, not edited at all (also if I missed anything, feel free to add in comments / reblogs!!)

he has a tragic backstory and he's from a group that you're "not supposed to like". Xaden drags Vi into the marked group, but Liam's the one who truly brings her around on the issue and builds sympathy? empathy? whichever one. for Vi and the reader -- we find out his parents were killed, he was separated from his little sister, both of them are forced to be riders and serve a country that has done terrible things to them and their family...

he has a sweet old man hobby. he WHITTLES. that is senior citizen behavior. I know the hobbies a person can have in this world are a bit limited since their tech isn't like ours but still. he's 20 years old and he whittles for fun. what a dweeb. (I say this affectionately. you all know I will defend this man with my life. and he's very good at it and it makes him happy 🥺)

his whole relationship with Xaden. Liam is this perfect (literally) little puppy soldier that does absolutely everything Xaden asks of him because he quite literally owes Xaden his life (and Sloane's.) that level of dedication is rare. and that he clearly looks up to Xaden (and I HC that he wants to make him proud...)

adding on to that... him protecting Violet without (visible) pushback. he's agreeable to protecting the daughter of the woman who killed his parents and aunts/uncles/family friends etc., most obviously because Xaden asked him to, but I also think he was able to separate the mother and daughter like Garrick did too. he knows Vi isn't at fault for his problems.

he's smiley / laughing / a good time. he's the foil to Xaden in many ways (brothers who look nothing alike, most obviously) but he shows us that not all the marked ones are angry and gloomy all the time. he gets in on second squad's banter, makes jokes of his own...

he's very observant and emotionally intelligent. he knows what's going on b/n Vi and Xaden, and I highly doubt that's because him and Xaden are having slumber parties with Bodhi and Garrick to talk about their crushes (I have to write that now, don't I... the girlfriends having a "girls night" and the boys not knowing what to do with themselves. so they have their own girls night...) he just picks up on all the little things and he knows when Vi is and isn't okay, despite having known her for like... a max of 6 months?

literally mister perfect. he's the quadrant's golden boy. he was forced to be here, but he's top of the class, jogged across the parapet, best time on the gauntlet, dusted everyone. never lost a challenge. I know Deigh is so dang proud of his boy. probably brags to the other dragons about his perfect son <3

Sloane. he's worried about her for next year, he's writing her letters weekly even though he can't send them, and by the time he CAN send them, she'll be in the quadrant herself... yeah, good thing he wrote them in advance... [crickets] anyway, he's a cutie big brother like Brennan, wanting to protect lil sis, and it's clear he loves her so so much <3 (another headcanon of mine that she absolutely adored him and he was forced into all the tea parties and dolls stuff but he did it with a smile. need girl dad Liam so bad.)

and then the circumstances of his death. he died following Xaden's orders (prime directive: keep Violet safe) and while it's been eight months since I last read that scene and I refuse to read it again any time soon, I think he definitely knew that he was putting himself in immediate danger to save her, and he still did it anyway.

that's all I got for now but I am absolutely positive that there's more. good luck with the book!! I did some work on my own today on the flight, inspiration struck after leaving it to sit there for months lol

[mothprincess]

i've realized that i'm so used to being the 'defender' (not martyr, so much) when i come across someone who is being taken advantage of and how it began with defending my mother from angry men and her mother. i wonder where my moat comes from — the wall that i have around myself unless/until i trust someone entirely — and then i remember these things. it's less that i believe that others are untrustworthy, as most people have seemed fine and agreeable, but that i seem to believe that i have bad luck in this regard and must keep myself stoic and removed to some degree, even if i am externally more smiley and girlish

[stepswowdsen]

Sen-core Ship Trope [8-29-2024]

"Freak x Freak who freaks them out (or sane human that tames them)" is the ultimate Sen-core ship trope

I think the overarching Sen-core ship trope is "Freak x Freak who freaks them out (or sane human that tames them)" because it's literally every Meow meow mf ship I'm into LMFAOOO 😂😭

Freak x normie where the normie (more normal S/O) has the freak ™️ on a leash (or at least somewhat tamed)

LimGuda, XanLena, IdaTatsu, JuAli, and KuroEne all fall into this

(Out of my top fave main ships)

The only difference is that with Xanxus and Kuroha, those two, in their respective ships, are not on a leash. Those cats do what they want.

So I'd put them into the category of "Somewhat or partially tamed"

And all of my other ships do too

This is one of the funniest ways to describe my fave ship trope like WHDHSHDSHH

There's also a lot of ship tropes that my fave ships tend to fall under like: Yin/Yang, Light/Darkness, Sun/Moon/Eclipse, Meow meow mf x Ball of Sunshine (of a brighter disposition), Morally questionable (Morally bankrupt) x Morally agreeable

Protagonist/Antagonist, Opposites Attract, Seemingly Opposites deep down so similar, Narrative Opposites/Parallels, Duality, Angel/Devil, Soulmates ™️

The meow meow mf character has the disposition for violence and/or cruelty, bloodlust, murder, sadism, etc. And the other character reigns them in and/or softens their tendencies.

Misc rambles

(CW: NSFW SHITPOST TEXT)

Ok but y'know what else.

This feels like my meow meow mf faves

Aren't all of my meow meow mf faves just this

LIKE ISN'T THIS JUST ALL OF THEM??? LMFAOOO C: HELP YEAH Me: I think this fits with all of them but god I wanna draw this shitpost with Douman and Judar saying it tbh

Not rn cuz I'm working on my KagePro: Outer Science themed illusts for Outer Science's anniversary on the 31st. But someday

LimGuda and JuAli would be PERFECT for this

LIKE I REALLY THINK DOUMAN AND JUDAR FIT THIS MEME BEST LMFAOOO

Like the smug evil meow meow mf just says this to their S/O with the most smug ass face

But even Idate and Kuroha would fit with this, with IdaTatsu and KuroEne tbh.

They would be so SMUG while saying it LMFAO like with this kinda expression (^-^) C: Makes sense lmao Me: I love the little bootsies C: Yee :3

Old Rambles

C: IdaTatsu

Me: LMAO

This feels like both IdaTatsu (WATGBS AU) and LimGuda (FGO)

C: TRUE I ALMOST FORGOT LIMGUDA

JuAli (Magi) has this vibe too

Me: LMFAO

JuAli as well

Especially when later on, Judar's just a neutralized threat who runs around like a gremlin.

C: Just another Sen-core trope fr

Me: I think XanLena (KHR AU) is the only Sen-core ship of mine where it's not "Sweet loving S/O has their collared beast or big cat on a leash." Arguably. Like that trope is 100% LimGuda and IdaTatsu. But XanLena is still big cat x sweet empathetic S/O tho

C: TRUE AND EVEN THEN. IT KINDA IS

Me: YEAH LMAO THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING. IT STILL IS.

Actually. Selena would definitely ease Xanxus' temperament and tendencies for murder. He'd be happier with her around. He'd murder a bit less.

C: Selena just has no leash, that cat [Xanxus] does what it wants

Me: Yeah lol. XanLena is still "Sweet and empathetic loving S/O has their collared cat on a leash, and/or tries to reign in their gremlin S/O's chaotic antics and tendency for murder"

Same with canon-verse Kuroha too, that cat does what it wants

Wait, I decided to broaden the definition. And now with that definition, it fits XanLena too.

Tbh I'd count it if the S/O paired with the meow meow mf is able to soften the others' tendencies to any extent.

Like even canon-verse Kuroha (while behaving and refraining from murder... for now) would act more normal and softer.

C: Yee makes sense

Me: But it's true that LimGuda and IdaTatsu are both this very specific ship trope of "The OP husband who, in healthy amounts, just completely submits to his wife. Like. They listen to no one but their wife." And they're both smiley meow meow mfs (^-^) too

C: Yeah lmfao seems legit. Wife worshippers ;;;

Me: Actually. LimGuda, IdaTatsu, XanLena, JuAli, KuroEne. Aren’t all of these ships "Freak x Freak who freaks them out (or sane human that tames them)"

LMAO

Freak x Normie, where the normie (or more normal and sane S/O) has the freak ™️ on a leash

C: YEAH.

Me: DAHHSDHDSHHSDH

One of my fave ship tropes then LMFAO

C: VALID

Me: Ok, but I'm glad we agree LimGuda and IdaTatsu are "Sane S/O has their big evil cat on a leash"

"Freak x Freak who freaks them out" funniest ship trope description ever. And we found the Sen-core ship trope!!!

You could argue that EdRich (ROTRK) is this.

I'm laughing BHHBHBHHB

Unfortunately ROTRK has nothing to do with them as a ship (sadly), but I love their ship potential. EdRich is my rare pair Golden Catdog x Black Cat ship from ROTRK

I reimagined a whole ROTRK AU based around them 🖤🤍💛❤️🌹

"Black/white colour schemed meow meow mf with a bloodthirsty personality or violent tendencies, paired with a warm empathetic s/o with a brighter disposition" is soooo Sen-core

Btw I think of "Freak (human) who freaks them out" as in, usually the meow meow mf chara of the ship is usually caught off guard or flustered by the candid sincerity of their S/O and emotional intimacy.

The human (normie) freaks them out /lh

Ok, I definitely see how a lot of my ships are like violent/bloodthirsty and/or morally bankrupt/evil meow meow mf murder man x softer sweeter s/o with a bright disposition

Me: "Freak x freak who freaks them out" is technically also ObeGuda and AnKia too, but Andersen vibes like :|

AnKia (Andersen/Kiara) is my fave Fate MLW ship and it's a ship between female Satan and a pessimistic writer. My taste strikes again! 🩷💙

C: TRU

Me: I think the other unintentional similarity between all of my top 4 main ships is that it's a smug asshole violent bloodthirsty meow meow mf with a black/white colour scheme paired with a deeply empathetic (:D) or (^-^) vibes person with bright gold eyes

Sen-core ships be like Meow meow mf x Ball of Sunshine (ex. LimGuda, IdaTatsu, XanLena, JuAli, KuroEne, EdRich, etc.)

Or meow meow mf x ball of anger (ex. HaoRen, SuLinh)

Also (more) morally agreeable S/O x morally questionable (or morally bankrupt) meow meow mf

C: VERY TRUE

YEAH. SOUNDS RIGHT.

Me: Oh yeah and I also have tons of morally agreeable (or morally questionable) x morally bankrupt (or morally questionable) ships. Like all of my meow meow mf ships count as this

C: Makes sense lmao

...

Also noticed another thing

"Obsession to the point of madness/insanity" is a ship trope present in a LOT of Sen-core ships.

LimGuda, IdaTatsu, KuroEne, KaiYami

...

Istg all of my meow meow mfs have this level of extreme devotion to the point of madness/insanity 😭 And they're willing to kill people for their love. Or at the very least they're morally questionable. Or morally bankrupt. And have the capability for murder.

Ships where charas are passionate and devoted to the point of insanity but still in a respectful way are COOL.

[angelsofsmalld3ath]

“Later you can have your way with me. Just wanted to spoil you a bit. Even if I made you wait for it.” His partner’s pleasure was the most important thing and while the point of the bubble bath (if one could call it that anymore as the bubbles had definitely dwindled) was for Matt to relax and sooth his sore behind Liam couldn’t help working him up just a little. “Love you post-orgasm. So smiley and agreeable. Plus I can never get enough of that blissed out look on your face.”

“im gonna hold you to that.” matt teased while he laid his head back on liam’s shoulder, his chest was still rising and falling rapidly. “you just like getting told your right.” matt teased. “especially from me.” matt said while looking up at liam. matt stretched while letting out a quiet groan, the warm water (or previously warm water) had helped his behind.

open too: M!21+

plot: idk matt and y/m fucked last night and now matt is having trouble sitting properly(whether that be from a spanking or smth else is up to you), so no plot.

connection’s: boyfriend, fwb, one night stand, anything really just no incest.

who: matthew miller, late twenties, homosexual, bottom, switch, veterinarian

dont like my starter unless were mutual’s and you plan to reply.

matt whinced as he sat down, shotting a glare at the man sitting across from him. “shut the fuck up.” the blonde spat. “you are the reason my ass hurts right now.”

[storiesbyjes2g]

My children returned home late the next morning, and I immediately whisked them away for lunch. It was all part of my plan to make them agreeable to moving. A new restaurant named Viviana's had opened recently in Newcrest, so I thought eating there and letting them see the area might help. But before I could make my move, I inspected my children. I was so focused on my agenda, I almost missed how different they looked!

My baby girl let her curls out! And was that...lip gloss and eyeliner I saw? Did her little friend have something to do with this? She embraced her femininity more and more, and I was glad to see it. I didn't dislike her tomboyish style, but I worried her admiration for Luca may have gone too far. She dressed like that because he did. It was almost as if she wanted to be Luca. I loved my son, but I didn't want her to be him. I wanted her to be herself—whoever that would be. If she wanted to wear baggy pants and flannel shirts, I wanted it to be because she wanted to, not because she attempted to be someone else.

My handsome son got a haircut, and I could have sworn I saw fuzz on his face?! How had they changed so much? Winter break was long, but was it that long? I sent Ali a text asking what he had fed my children. He returned a laughing emoji.

Once the server took our order, Alessia focused her attention on me like a detective honing in on her prime suspect. I tried to ignore her, hoping she'd stop, but that only made her laser in on me even more. Instead, I began a casual conversation.

"Did you enjoy your time with your dad, Less?"

She glared at me a few moments more.

"You're so smiley," she said suspiciously. "Why are you so smiley?"

"Smiley?"

"You won't stop. It's annoying."

She examined me more intently, and I squirmed under her gaze. What was wrong with smiling? Didn't I always smile?

"You got laid, didn't you?" she asked.

"Alessia," I shouted. "What is with you today?"

"So did you?"

"That's none of your business!"

"She totally got laid," she said to Luca, who was completely unamused.

"I did NOT get laid, not that it's any of your business! This isn't proper table conversation!"

She giggled like she enjoyed making me uncomfortable. "But you went out with him, didn't you?"

"Alessia, I am not playing this game with you."

She sucked her teeth and left me in a tailspin. Was she just that bold and outspoken? Or did my open communication plan backfire on me? Don't get me wrong. I thought it was great she was comfortable asking me that. I want my children to feel like they can talk to me about anything. But I'm her mother, and she treated me like one of her pals. It's great she sees me as a friend, but I want her to respect the boundary too.

I waited a bit for the awkwardness to die down before continuing with my plan.

"This is a nice restaurant, right?"

They both shrugged.

"It's straight," Luca said.

"What if we made this our new place?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "The other place is closer."

"That's true," I said. "We could move here..."

They looked at me like I was one of those weirdoes in the city. Showtime!

"I've been thinking we all could use a fresh start. At least I could. I'll always love our house. We've made great memories there. But we also had rough times, and those stick out to me the most. I think it will be good for us to get away from all that and make new memories. What do you think?"

A staring contest began, as if they communicated telepathically or something.

"I guess it's cool," Luca said. "I don't really care where we live."

Yes! If Luca was in, surely Alessia would follow. But I never knew with her and held my breath.

"Less?"

"A new house could be fun."

I was sooooooooooooo HAPPY! I couldn't wait to tell Dwayne we're moving.

"Great! I actually found us a house already, and I think you'll love it."

"What's it like?" Luca asked.

I told them about it, and at first I worried about my private suite. They were waaaaay too excited about it, and I thought I might have to let them have it. But then I told them about the pool. They lost their minds and forgot all about my room.

"There's one more thing, guys."

They beamed at me like I was Father Winter, fishing for another gift at the bottom of my bag. The butterflies in my stomach began flying again.

"Tofu has returned. She's living with us now."

Alessia's eyes narrowed so fast I thought they'd crush me. I waited about three seconds for a response, but decided that was a bad idea. My decision was final. If I let her respond, she'd find a way to make me change my mind. I needed to stop her before she even began.

"Less, I know you have concerns, but I love Tofu and want her to be part of this family. I enjoy helping homeless animals, but I would never bring one into the house if I thought it was dangerous or very sick. I took Tofu to the vet yesterday, and she is perfectly healthy. She's super sweet, and I know you'll love her. There's nothing to worry about, okay?"

She said nothing. She just sat there, pouting.

"Come on, Less," Luca said. "It's just a little dog. Mama won't let it do anything to you. Didn't you want a dog? We have one now. I thought you'd be happy."

She didn't respond to him either, but I really appreciated him stepping in. With any luck, he'll win her over.

[astroismypassion]

My opinion of specific placements

Credit: Tumblr blog @astroismypassion

VIRGO VENUS

🌼at the start of getting to know them, they will already tell you what they think YOUR predjudge opinions of them are

🌼like they will do it for you out of fear that you are already doing that (judging them)

🌼so at least they want to be the one in the control and be the first to tell you THEIR faults before you notice them

SCORPIO MARS

🌺always some controversial opinions, but will always say after "don't get too offended"

🌺they will only allow you to see a PART of what they do on the daily basis, you might never truly know what their daily routine looks like

🌺they will confuse you a lot with their action, but you'll wonder how is that even possible since they are SO straight-forward otherwise??

PISCES MOON

🌸ahhh, this one

🌸they never open up emotionally, but that ONE TIME they DO, you better listen to them and be emphatic, otherwise they will remember to not to open up to you emotionally EVER again

🌸AND they will hold a grudge against you. Because now, they got an impression that you are a heartless, mean, cruel person

TAURUS SUN

🌟you will always want to know what does their BAD side look like

🌟because they are always just so nice?? It will be very hard for you to comprehend why are they being so nice all the time

🌟but you'll see them doing something more Scorpio like, something more manipulative and you'll be like "now, I get it"

🌟when they show their no-so-nice side, it's always so low-key about it, you might not even notice it if you don't observe them well

🌟that's why you're under impression that they are just always smiley, nice and agreeable

Credit: Tumblr blog @astroismypassion

[theimprobabledreamersworld]

Say You Won’t Let Go

Well, it’s been a little while since I’ve posted a fic! Been a bit obsessed with planning out my Big Bang story recently.

I haven’t really written any fics with brother Roman and Remus as the focus, so I thought I would give it a try! 

So I struggle with touch starvation, and I’m going through an episode of it at the moment, so a fair amount of this is my thoughts and experiences with that. I’m quite proud of how this turned out :)

This is both a gift and a thank you to @red-imeanblue 💛💛 We planned this story out together and I promised that I would write it... Got there eventually! 💛

Writing taglist: @psychedelicships @lost-in-thought-20 @jwillowwolf @the-duke-of-nuts (If you'd like to be added/removed, let me know!)

Warnings: Weapon, violent actions, touch starvation implications, touch starvation mention, crying, a lot of swearing.

R*m/R*m shippers, please DNI. 

Say You Won’t Let Go

Rage… confusion… sadness… loneliness.

Remus felt like he was driving himself insane, all of these emotions pumping through his veins was agonising. He usually tortured others, it wasn’t quite as agreeable when it was happening to him. He stared at the large smiley face he had painted onto the opposing wall with yellow paint, it was mocking him… calling him weak and sentimental.

‘What the fuck is wrong with me?!’ He screamed in his mind. He was the epicentre of intrusive thoughts, he created chaos and horror. His mind was flashing all kinds of images into his vision, and it was agonising… all because of one incredibly stupid fucking thing? Why was it bothering him now?

‘I need to smash some shit.’ He thought decisively, and walked over to his cupboard of weapons. The axe looked awfully appealing right now, maybe he would share that image with Thomas later… but for now, the mace was the only thing that could appease his dire need for destruction.

He stared at the wall he used for this kind of thing, there was barely any gaps left. He had made a grand total of twenty holes in the wall. Most of them were so he could turn them into mini rooms for his rats… but some, he had kept to remind himself, and the others just how dangerous he was. No wonder only Janus can stand to be around him. Even then, that wasn’t true anymore. Janus was spending more and more time with them… trying so desperately to fit in, it was almost like Remus didn’t exist anymore. His grip tightened around the mace and he screamed as he launched himself towards the wall, plunging the mace violently into the plaster.

“I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE ALONE!”

"FUCK YOU!"

"FUCK ALL OF YOU!”

“STOP LOOKING AT ME AS A MONSTER!”

“I. CAN’T. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE!”

Each statement created a new, catastrophic hole. The room shook violently at the combination of his screams and the sheer force of the mace. He felt a little better after each hit, but the emotions just got worse as he admitted the truth out loud. He chuckled to himself bitterly, he really was a clusterfuck… no wonder nobody actually wanted to be around him.

He collapsed against the wall and slid down it with a thud. He chuckled low and quietly, before letting the laughter get more and more out of control. Part of him wanted the others to hear him breaking down… for some reason, he wanted Patton to ruffle his hair and call him kiddo. He wanted Logan to throw a vocab card at him with some stupid slang thing he had learned, he wanted Virgil to awkwardly pat him on the shoulder, he wanted Janus to hug him again… even though he hates it, but Janus would still always do it in a heartbeat without Remus even asking.

A hug, that’s what he was desperate for. Some kind of reassuring physical contact, he would always deny that they made him feel better… but it just reminded him that he was okay, that he was accepted… that he mattered… that someone wanted to be close to him. That’s all he could think about.

It had been so long since Janus has even been around to hug him. He would leave notes by his desk because he had become too embarrassed to ask recently. Janus was so exhausted trying to be heard by the others, especially Thomas, he just comes back to his room and collapses on the bed exhausted. When he finally sees the note, Remus would just knock it off as a joke or would be asleep himself. It had been six weeks now, and he was miserable. He was definitely fighting touch starvation, and he fucking hated it more than anything… even more than soap, and he was allergic to that shit. Despite wanting all the things he was thinking about, it wasn’t enough.

He wanted Roman, he needed his brother again. Just like when they were growing up with Thomas… they were always attached at the hip then. Roman would laugh at Remus telling Thomas to draw a picture of him electrocuting his brother, and Remus would join in with all of Roman’s irritating Disney songs. Until it all came crashing down… until he was the ‘bad one’, the ‘one that should never be spoken about’. Roman got that spotlight he had always dreamed about, and Remus was left in an impossible to escape shadow. He hugged his legs tight and tried to shut everything out of his mind, the images were getting too much.

Time seemed to pass in microseconds, like every second was splitting at an excruciating pace, making him feel more alone than before. It must have been a couple of hours before a tentative knock at the door made his head shoot up.

“Jan? Is that you??” The excitement in his voice was embarrassing, but at this point, he was too exhausted to care. Whoever it was will just mock him, call him pathetic and then move on with their lives anyway.

“Urm… Not Janus actually…” Remus’ head shot up at the familiar voice talking down to him. Roman? Roman was here, in front of him. Roman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure whether he could come in or not. There was still a hidden grudge for Remus hitting Roman with the mace, but once he took a glance at the wall, the concern on Roman’s face became apparent.

‘Oh shit, here we go… the overdramatic concern will emerge at any second.’ Remus though bitterly. There was no dramatics, Roman was slowly stepping closer, holding a yellow piece of paper in his hand.

“I found a note from Janus in my room which read, and I quote ‘For the love of all that’s good in this world, hug your brother- I’m so tired of needing to shower every time he needs one.’ I wasn’t sure whether it was joke or not, so I needed to come and see you.” Roman spoke calmly, and in a reassuring tone. Remus felt strangely calmed by it and he stood up slowly, walking towards Roman.

He could feel his arms ache from where he pummelled the wall, his throat hurt from the screaming and his eyes were raw from crying… but the soft smile on Roman’s face made everything feel okay, just for a moment.

“Now, I know we haven’t seen eye to eye in a very long time. I know the last time we hugged was when Thomas was eight… but I can’t stand to see you this upset, can I hug you?” Remus had to blink a few times, just to make sure this was real.

He nodded and Roman stepped forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Remus. He froze for a moment, it had been so long that he’d almost forgotten what a hug felt like. It didn’t take him long to relax into it, wrap his arms around Roman and feel the tears return. He sobbed into Roman’s shoulder as he felt all the emotions that were consuming him slowly melt away.

“S- say you won’t let go, Ro.” Remus managed to say through the waves of tears as he grasped onto Roman even tighter, even though he didn’t think that was possible. Roman smiled and hugged Remus back just as tight.

“I’m not going anywhere, brother. Never again.” The promise was clear, and this time the moment was being split into microseconds so Remus could remember it for longer.

Neither of them noticed Janus walk past and spy the scene from the hallway. He smiled fondly before walking away.

“That’s my boys.”

[kurohaai]

hello, i like your fantrolls and how you deliver their story! may i know how you connect their class/aspect with their personality? especially daseer, because most bronze bloods i saw are pictured as warm, smiley person, while daseer looks like, something is suspicious when he smile haha. i don't mean it in a bad way, it's just an approach i didn't really think about before! thank you for your answer

Anon, first thing first let me thank you for enabling me rambling more about my OCs. As for my story delivery, I'm just bullshitting my way through as it's actually just a vehicle for me to draw more pitch stuff.

Anyway.

Ofelia Asvini (Ofi) is the Maid of Life. She's generally amicable to any trolls in any hemospectrum because she's a social chameleon (guess what her lusus is) and a waitress. Her profession aligns with her classpect I think, because she is in a way create, fix, and maintain the lives of others (mostly her customers and later, Zebruh's servants) as waitress and as someone who's rather nosy and gave out life advices or trying to sit down with the customers and try to cheer them up. That's why she got this reputation as promiscuously pale/ashen. Funny how normal that is for human standard, maybe you're born in the wrong species Ofi?

Her agreeableness, while making her able to get along with many people, is also making her a bit passive and compliant with the system even though she doesn't necessarily agree with it. She prefers to bottle up her problem and do some self care to soothe herself.

She got tangled in a messy pitch quad with a certain blueblood and started to lose her cool. This is where this guy comes in.

Daseer Wanlyn (Das) is the Seer of Rage. It's interesting how you mentioned how bronzeblood are usually warm, while Das is lacking all those warmth. I feel that it was due to his Rage part in him, also he's a Tauricorn (I always joked that he's probably part clown; ironic since he doesn't like highbloods.)

He works as barista alongside Ofi in the same establishment. He's a pretty reserved guy most of the time. Very laid back and know how to navigate himself out of trouble (Seer of Rage thing).

Though, he really doesn't use his keen observation to help other people, no. In fact, he doesn't really care for other people unless he could witness something interesting from it. While he's not instigating it directly, he followed the trail of chaos and watching it come to fruition. He love himself some entertainment. Just all in all one slimy mf.

He has been subtly pushing Ofi into her pitch feeling because it's interesting. This warm, smiley rustblood seems has nothing who could set her off before Zebruh walked through the door. This piqued his interest, and once he set his goal, he could be very, very stubborn.

[daisylore-au]

5/5 - TOMMY INTERROGATION

part two!! y’all are being careful with henry’s relationship with tommy, huh? nine of you chose to look for tommy elsewhere compared to four equal votes for the others !! and so many people picked up on the book and on the dreams — well done :D

Henry sighs. As much as she wants to read the letters and look at the photographs, she does want to find Tommy more. Not to mention, she isn’t sure Tommy would approve of her rifling through his stuff, so, with a sigh, she begins to head out — only to pause, again, at the sight of the book, unable to look away.

TYRANT. The book is called TYRANT. Henry picks it up curiously: it’s heavier than it looks, and old too — she’s half scared it’s going to fall apart in her arms. TYRANT. Why does this book look familiar?

And then she sees the author, scrawled neatly into the binding of the book, and her heartbeat picks up. TYRANT by Dream. Dream had written this. Suddenly, a memory comes back: sitting in history class, seeing this book in the list of relics, skimming by it boredly as any seven year old might. She hadn’t cared about the name at the time. She hadn’t cared about Dream at the time.

With careful hands, Henry slips the book under her arm, heads out the door with it. She can ask Tommy about this when she finds him.

It’s not hard to find him — as soon as she heads downstairs, there’s the distinct sound of sword fighting, and the flicker of light at the end of the hall indicates where Tommy is. Henry peeks her head round the door, book clasped close to her chest, and sees him: her brother has his back to her, cutting into a straw dummy viciously, four others lying discarded at the side. They have suspiciously familiar smiley faces drawn on them, and one of them has a beanie on its head.

Oh boy. Henry wonders if this is what therapy is like.

“Tommy?” She calls out, and Tommy instantly jumps round, relaxing only when he sees her. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Tommy lets his sword fall to his side. Even from this distance, she can see his eyes are red rimmed in what she assumes to be tiredness. “That makes both of us, I guess,” he says, awkwardly kicking at one of the dummies, “you can sit up with me a bit longer. Just until you get tired. How about that?”

Pleased, Henry slips further into the room, shoving her hands into her pocket and trying to stave off nerves. “Sounds cool.”

Tommy grunts agreeably, already turning back to the dummies. It’s not a good night for him: it’s obvious, but it’s the only night she has to ask, too. Does she just go for it? Or does she try and dance around it with him? She tries to picture Tommy’s responses in her mind: it’s hard to figure out which he’d prefer most.

————————

you have until 20:00PM BST (20 minutes) to pick !!! sorry if my writing seems a little off HEKHDKD i am v tired :’) which should henry be??

1. BE BLUNT.

2. BE SUBTLE.

[kayr0ss]

Sunday Candy

[Diakko, Fluff, Easy going Fic, Grumpy Diana, Established Relationship, Diana POV - Thinking] AO3

Summary: Diana's having a bad day. But Akko lets her know that "I'll be there in twenty!" Everything gets better as she's counting down the minutes.

--

Today was not a good day.

Diana walked briskly through campus, expression perfectly neutral save for the grip she had along the strap of her shoulder bag. It was the only outward manifestation of her temperament that she would allow, and so she poured out all her frustration into the action—so much so that her knuckles were nearly going white.

A frustrating Anatomy class followed by an equally disastrous practical test in Pharmacology. Splendid combination, if one were on a quest to discover the recipe for a medical student’s bad day.

It felt like there were thorns to her chest.

She glowered at the shrubbery of the open spaces between the buildings, finding them dull under the dreary London weather. She set her jaw while staring right into the backs of freshmen who traveled in packs of five and above, walking at the pace of snails. If only her eyes could shoot lasers beams—oh if only. Was it even legal to talk as loudly as their walking was slow? She didn’t need to hear about whatever film it was their social sciences professor imposed on them to watch. 

But she wasn’t as petty as to engage them in conversation (even if it was a reminder to uphold proper student decorum), so instead she had side-stepped along the walkway and walked faster so as to out-pace them. She scanned her eyes along campus, observing students huddled together and playing music along the benches. A dance group went over their routine at the opposite end by the grass. Funnily enough, there was a group of younger students sitting in a circle studying, comically mimicking snapshots from college websites and brochures.

It was kind of annoying. If only because her dour mood was enough to paint any sort of stimulus as unpleasant to absorb. She continued her pace towards the western end of the campus, where she was due to meet Akko for coffee at the library café. It was a passable café at best, she supposed.

Just as she was about to go on mental tirade on how distracting and unnecessary all the campus activities were, her phone vibrated along with a ‘beep.’

16:47 Akko Kagari: ‘I’ll be there in twenty! 😊’

Five words and a smiley.

Five words—looking up at her through the glass screen of her cellular phone—were enough to wash away the weariness that had settled on her shoulders. Her hand relaxed, releasing the leather strap of her bag from her death grip and she only realized after the fact that it was beginning to grow sore.

She took a deep breath, slipping her phone back into her pocket, and continued to walk.

Perhaps she was being a bit mean? She looked over her shoulder, seeing that the group of students who were walking looked lost and weren’t sure where to go. They seemed to find security in their number, excited to deepen what looked like a freshly-blossoming friendship. Perhaps wishing ocular lasers upon them was a bit too much.

Ah but they were so loud!

Diana huffed through her nose, turning back towards the direction of the library. A cup of coffee, a slice of cake, and the presence of her girlfriend were sorely needed if her temper was anything to go by.

Ah. Her girlfriend.

By the time she had crossed through the open spaces along the center of campus it was only fifteen-minutes-to-Akko.

And, okay—maybe she was being overly dramatic about the plants and the weather. While she walked, she put effort into watching the gardens and shrubbery—she noticed they were about to bloom. The milder weather meant their flowers didn’t wilt away, and she fondly recalled many afternoons spent hand-in-hand with the brunette through this very walkway, taking their time to notice how deeply red the petals were.

Like her eyes.

Diana smiled at herself without realizing it. Now that was cheesy.

It was the first smile she had pulled for that entire afternoon and she almost shook her head. “Right.” She mumbled, mostly to herself. “I was in the middle of being grumpy, I believe.”

It would take several minutes to walk from the medical wing to the library. In the journey in-between she had encountered more groups of students practicing in the open spaces. Some danced, like the earlier group, while others had huddled together with their instruments to practice for some sort of performance.

“You gotta slow down to listen to the music!”

Her girlfriend had told her this once. Diana let urgent pace of her footfalls slow into an easier pace. They were singing a song she’d heard Akko sing before—something uplifting that sounded like it had a lot of love to give.

Like Akko.

‘You gotta move slolwy’—they sang.

And then her easy walking fell to a full stop, even for just a minute, and then she smiled. It was from a mixture of the anticipation of seeing Akko, and remembering the sound of her voice.

‘Take in my body like it’s holy’

Perhaps she’d take back what she said about the how unnecessary campus activities were. Especially when they could be as pleasant as this—so effective at pacifying the embers of her temper that were threatening to smother her only minutes before.

Which reminded her—as pleasant as the song was, she had a café library go to.

At ten-minutes-to-Akko, she had forgotten all about the woes of her earlier Anatomy class.

The weather felt much more agreeable now, a pleasant chill against her skin that encouraged the need to hold or be held. It was overcast. How could she have missed this as she walked out of the medical building earlier? Perhaps, after coffee, she’d invite Akko for a walk. The notion of it excited her, and she was surprised to find a spring in her step that would have felt foreign to Diana of a little less than fifteen minutes ago.

She finally walked up the steps to the library entrance, pushing through the double-doors to find a picturesque scene of students milling about the grand central common area, speaking in hushed tones while they buried their noses in either books or computers. Once again, it looked right out of a brochure—but instead of irritation she found it was… wonderous.

It’s as though she could watch and see the essence of ‘learning’ come to life right in front of her; that mood websites and photobooks tried so hard to convey except… alive.

She checked her watch and saw that Akko should be arriving in about five minutes tops.

And that made her feel alive.

The café was at the back of the library, a relaxed environment that was much quieter than the cafes around and within campus—but it smelled just as lovely. It was tastefully furnished and never crowded, and their coffee and pastries were actually better than most. ‘Passable at best’ suddenly felt like a lapse of judgement, and she bemoaned her past self for ever having thought of this place as such.

There were butterflies her stomach, and they chased away the remnants of frustration Pharmacology had left her.

Three minutes before Akko’s arrival, she was reminded of how pleasant the ambience was—with colors that were vibrant but easy on the eyes. There was a little bit of white noise, a clink of the glass here and there, along with the steady, low rumble of chatter. But somehow it added character.

For all her overthinking, she supposed she was a simple woman. She tried to hold in a smile, sitting in her favorite café, wondering what could have upset her so much earlier?

Diana couldn’t remember anymore, nor could she care.

Five words, a smiley—and the reminder that she was going to be here soon had helped her forget.

The first thing she felt were a pair of hands settling on her shoulders along with the weight of a chin setting on top of her head. It was followed by a voice so familiar that her tense shoulders relaxed the moment she could hear it.

“Hey.”

There was soft kiss to her temple. A hand that reached for hers. The moment they had threaded their fingers together, she realized there were no thorns left to pluck out of her chest.

She saw a smile and flash of dazzling red eyes. Diana smiled back, feeling easy.

“’Hey’ to you, too”

At zero minutes to Akko’s arrival, she realized that everything would be okay.

And that today was a good day.

--

You gotta move it slowly

Take it in my body like it's holy

I've been waiting for you for the whole week

I've been praying for you, you're my Sunday candy

--

fin

--

A/N: I was (and am) in such a good mood because of this song. You guys have no idea - dancing in my room and just vibing kind of good mood. I felt like, for Diana, Akko would be someone who'd have that kind of effect on her. All the bad just kinda... goes away! Anyway this was a silly little idea and I hope it works out.

Gifting it to @shmehua1 who I remember through this song because we both like it, she is awesome, and well, she's one of my best buddies out here in the LWA fandom! Love you bro - you know this to be true!

[gild-and-fire]

4.03 thoughts

finally finished 4.03 and then I came on here to sCrReAM and honestly im so surprised about how much ppl hated the episode?? yes, a lot of the criticism is valid and I agree, but I actually felt like 4.03 episode was really well done. so since the criticism is kinda bringing down my mood imma list what I loved about the episode 

the flashbacks provided a lot of color to Beth’s motivations and made me feel for her. I loved how they emphasized dean throwing money around, beth not having anyone around until dean, and that he was pretty egotistical about being the quarterback, because it highlighted how much Beth was attracted to all that glamour and also fell for the idea of someone, anyone, taking care of her for once

also give CH all the awards. her acting in the visiting room took me outttt

young Annie was everything I could ask for. i loved her 

Stan is getting a verrrrrry meaty storyline that I am looking forward to seeing unfold. So far, Stan has been the most upstanding of everyone and yet has been looped into breaking the law so many times. 

Makes me wonder if S1 Stan would like S4 Stan, let alone recognize him

“sup hill” / “sup hill” I might just cry  

beth going off on Fitz. wowowowowow this might be a top 5 favorite scene.

first of all im astounded by how gorgeous CH looked. The makeup, the dress, the wig-- it was all doing it for me!! I am going to be v sad when they change her wig. tbh I would either like to be her or marry her 🥺 

so the moment with Fitz gave me so much catharsis. One of my favorite parts about S1 was Beth speaking her mind and not giving a fuck about being polite or agreeable. Every time she lashed out at Dean or acted with ambition around Rio, I would fall so much more in love with show, and I feel like I’ve been missing those moments recently. So this scene was so fulfilling to watch and it really cinched the episode for me 

also Mae looked so sosososos pretty this episode. idk what she’s been doing during quarantine but I would like some pls

OH and Phoebe. I love Phoebe. I relate to Phoebe--she’s awkward, she doesn’t fit in, has never fit in. She’s dedicated to doing the right thing, yet she often does that good thing badly. Every scene with her makes me laugh and also feel bad for her. I also find her misguided hatred towards beth so fascinating and I hope we delve into that more. idk controversial or not, I stan Phoebe.

you might have noticed that I didn’t talk about the brio pool scene. that is because i am literally overwhelmed by that scene. I have not truly comprehended what transpired. 

all I know is that I fainted somewhere between rio saying beth might wanna hit it again after dean comes back from prison and beth having one moment of pure joy. then I tried to make sense of Rio being so playful and smiley and sassy and overly confident but some weird noises came out of my mouth and my brain malfunctioned

im going to need at least 5 more rewatches before I can even parse the honey nut feelios on this one

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 2: Guidance (originally published December 14, 2020)

Author's note: I think I'm gonna try releasing new chapters every Monday, for Part 1 at least. Anyway, here's Guidance.

Synopsis: Steven helps the students of Little Homeschool get jobs, but they're not very good at them.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven, Onion

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst, Blue Lace Agate,

Ian Jones-Quartey as Bixbite, Snowflake Obsidian

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Charlyne Yi as Doc, Leggy, Army

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Kimberly Brooks as Zebra Jasper, Cherry Quartz

Natasha Lyonne as Smoky Quartz

Colton Dunn as Mr. Smiley

Dave Willis as Andy

--

On another lovely day in Beach City, Amethyst was walking along the boardwalk with a blindfolded Steven into Fish Stew Pizza. "Okay, two steps to the left." Amethyst instructed him as the two stepped into the pizza shop. "There's a chair right behind you." Steven did as he was told and sat down across from his sister figure. "Sit down aaaaand….okay."

When Steven undid his blindfold, he found himself inside Fish Stew Pizza with Amethyst in front of him and another Gem making pizza for them. "TADA!" Amethyst exclaimed with her arms excitedly spread out.

"Fish Stew Pizza? What a nice surprise." Steven giggled amusedly. "I mean, it has been a while since we last been here."

"No, that's not the surprise." Amethyst corrected him. "Notice anything different?" She gestured over to the Gem working with Kiki Pizza, perfectly slicing the toppings to pieces with utmost grace, laying them atop a crust that was put into the oven by Kiki.

"Oh, hi Steven!" the crab-like Gem greeted Steven.

"Bixbite? Is she working here?" Steven asked Amethyst.

"Yeah dude, and she's crushing it!" Amethyst answered. "Bixbite is an expert on slicing and dicing, and now she can put those skills to good use in a pizza parlor."

Another pizza came in fresh from the oven courtesy of Kofi, and Bixbite obediently brought it over to her friends. "Order up you guys!" she declared while setting the pie down. "So, any thoughts?"

"That's awesome!" Steven gasped at the pizza in awe of how well-made it was.

"Check out that 'za brah." Amethyst agreed, shapeshifting her hand into a ruler and a protractor to measure Bixbite's cuts. "Each slice exactly the same length, 45 degrees." She concluded, and then took a slice to eat. "Wow, pure perfection! I almost feel bad for eating this! You made me proud Bixie."

"Thanks for the compliments you guys." Bixbite thanked the pair. "And I couldn't have gotten here without you Amethyst."

As Bixbite walked away, Steven took a slice of the perfect pizza too. "I didn't even know she wanted a culinary career."

"Yeah, we talked a lot about her interests and experiences the other day." Amethyst revealed. "Then I set her up with Kofi, and here we are. Bixie is just the beginning y'know. I've been wanting to do something big for the school, so I've been helping Gems get human jobs, and everything is going amazing so far! I call it Gem-Human Excellence Mentorship, or G.H.E.M for short."

"I get it, like Gem." Steven came to a realization, much to Amethyst's mild frustration.

"No, I said Gem-Human Excellence Mentorship." Amethyst corrected. "Anote the H."

Suddenly, a Ruby clad in a suit and sunglasses burst through the door and let out a war cry while tearing off her sleeves, revealing the gemstone on her left shoulder before regaining her composure. "All clear my mayor."

Another Ruby dressed in the same clothes entered Fish Stew Pizza, wearing her shades over a yellow visor, by somersaulting into the room and stood alongside her compatriot. "All clear too." She repeated before allowing Mayor Nanafua to enter the pizza joint.

"You got Rubies in your program too?" Steven asked. "And why those Rubies in particular? I mean, they didn't try to kill me like Eyeball and Navy did, but they're still a little intense. Especially Army."

"I just found them to be a little more agreeable compared to those two." Amethyst replied while Doc & Army surveyed the area and Leggy helped the mayor to a chair. "Anyway, I got them working as bodyguards for the mayor."

"How many other Gems have you given jobs?" Steven asked again.

"Glad you asked!" Amethyst replied with a smile, and took Steven outside to show him her progress.

--

Amethyst took Steven from Fish Stew Pizza all the way to Beach City Funland, where she showed him just how many Gems she got to work there.

"Blue Lace Agate?" Steven gasped, seeing Blue Lace working at the ring toss booth and using her horns as targets, before discovering Biggs Jasper operating the Ferris wheel and Crazy Lace Agate handing out balloons. "Biggs? Crazy Lace? Have the Quartzes taken over Funland?"

"Yeah, I've been understaffed for so long so it was about time I had a few extra hands." Mr. Smiley said as he appeared behind the two Crystal Gems. "It could take a whole army to keep this park running!"

"An army?" Steven became worried, but then became distracted by what was going on in the sky.

"Hey check it out, Nephrite's doing some skywriting!" Amethyst cheerfully pointed out Nephrite drawing Steven's face in the sky with the smoke from Steven's cousin Andy's plane. "With all her experience flying dropships, it was only natural she do skywriting. Heck, she might even be better at flying than Andy! Still a bit of a perfectionist though."

As Nephrite crossed out her drawing, Steven began getting a little concerned with Amethyst's idea while they walked through Funland. "Um, Amethyst, isn't this a little on the nose?" he asked.

Amethyst however didn't pay him any mind, and instead pointed towards a pair of Gems giving a snowcone to the mayor. "Oh oh, look! Snowflake and Larimar found an ice-related job on the boardwalk!" she shouted while Snowflake Obsidian summoned a large pillar of ice for Larimar to scrape at, and the shavings formed a snowcone for Nanafua to enjoy.

"I still don't know about this." Steven muttered bemusedly.

"About what?" Amethyst asked him. "Everyone's doing pretty fine here."

"I mean, ice Gems doing ice jobs, pilot Gems piloting and guard Gems still guarding." Steven pointed out. "These are basically the exact same jobs they did on Homeworld."

"I swear Stee, these are totally different!" Amethyst nervously assured Steven, only for Leggy to walk by and prove her wrong.

"Wow, these jobs are exactly like what we once did in the old days." Leggy said before she high-fived Army.

"Thanks for the help Amethyst!" Army yelled to Amethyst.

"These are the jobs they wanted, I swear!" Amethyst continued nervously.

"Well sure, maybe they think they want to do this stuff," Steven explained. "but it's still up to us to get them out of their comfort zones!"

"I dunno man." Amethyst objected. "Comfortable can be good too."

"Bear with me for a bit here." Steven declared, and walked towards Snowflake and Larimar. "Hey you two, I just wanted to know what your duties were back on Homeworld."

"I dug ice trenches for the army!" Snowflake answered.

"And I made ice sculptures for the Diamonds!" Larimar added. "You should've really been there for some of my finest work, it was some of the best I've ever car-"

"So is ice kinda your default mode?" Steven cut Larimar off.

"Uh, yeah." Snowflake stated, sharing a look with the smaller Gem. "I mean, with a name like Snowflake Obsidian, what else do you think I do?"

"That's not the point I'm trying to make." Steven said. "Did you ever try doing something else?"

"Like filling ice trenches?" Snowflake answered, just as Nephrite coincidentally flew overhead on Andy's plane, giving Steven an idea.

"How about flying a plane?" Steven suggested.

--

Steven and Snowflake followed the plane to an open meadow where it landed. When Nephrite noticed Steven waving her down, she jumped out to see what was up.

"Hey Steven, what do you need?" Nephrite asked him.

"I'm gonna need you and Andy to talk with Snowflake here for a bit." Steven said, bringing attention to the Obsidian behind him. "I want to get her out of her comfort zone for a bit, so I think maybe she'd like to fly a plane."

"You sure about this kiddo?" Andy asked his cousin worriedly. "I mean, I already got a fine pilot right here." He patted Nephrite on the back, which gave her a smile. "But then again, I'll try anything once. Come on big guy."

Snowflake sheepishly got on the plane with Andy and began for take-off. "I don't snow about this." She punned while the flying machine quickly flew away.

"What's that, can't hear you!" Steven cried over the sound of the engine turning on and the plane finally leaving for the skies. "Have fun!"

--

Next, Steven took Larimar by the hand to the Appalachian, where Cherry Quartz was currently working. "I have an idea for you Larimar." He said to the little ice-carver. "You could operate the Funland roller-coaster. It's a great job, and you get to help people have fun."

"He's right, though I'd really like to actually ride it myself." Cherry agreed with Steven.

"Oh, what is that wonderful noise?!" Larimar asked excitedly while the coaster riders cheered from the adrenaline.

"That's just the screams of joy from everyone on this old thing." Cherry answered proudly.

"Human screams are my favorite of Earth's delights!" Larimar exclaimed happily. "I'll take his job, so I can hear them screaming forever!"

"Okay, that's a little creepy." Steven beamed nervously at Larimar's off-putting enthusiasm. "But I'm glad your heart's in the right place."

"One day, I shall make you scream Steven." Larimar said, before she was taken to the coaster's control room. "I suppose this must help it function, correct?"

"Yeah, you just pull the lever up and down to either speed it up or stop it." Steven instructed. "Why don't you give it a shot?"

"Give me the screams!" Larimar shrieked eagerly, pulling the lever up and making the riders yell louder, while Steven returned from the control room to see Amethyst waiting for him.

"See Amethyst? With just a few small changes, your plan is working even better than before!" Steven claimed, but the overcooked Quartz wasn't buying it. "Don't look so worried, let's go help more Gems!"

--

Much to Amethyst's dismay, Steven went around the town assigning the Gems new jobs far more different than the ones Amethyst gave them.

Instead of working at Funland, Ocean and Zebra Jasper were taken to work at Fish Stew Pizza. Bixbite, meanwhile, was now selling balloons. Army was now selling flowers, Teal Zircon was dragged out to become a taxi driver, Nephrite now worked selling snow cones, and Amethyst was still powerless to stop Steven.

"Wow, sure feels good to be helpful." Steven congratulated himself as he sat at a table at Fish Stew Pizza. "Hopefully everyone can get more experience outside of their comfort zones, but for now, I think I'm beat."

But just when Steven thought he could relax after a job well done, he instead got a pizza to the face. "Order up!" Zebra Jasper cried while she tossed more pizza at Steven and began messily cutting the pies up.

"Delivery, delivery, delivery!" Ocean Jasper yelled as she delivered pizzas by throwing them at passerby's outside.

"Here you go, and I'll take that." Leggy said to a downed person, handing him some flowers and taking his wallet. "Here you go." She added to a woman covered in pizza before taking her purse, and then triumphantly holding up the valuables while setting them on fire. "Yeah, mission complete!"

While Bixbite was handing out balloons, Ocean Jasper threw some pizza at her head, causing her to pop some of her merchandise and let the rest fly away. "Oh no, not the balloons!"

The balloons floated towards Andy's plane, giving Snowflake a shock and causing her to cover the aircraft in ice, making it lose control while the two screamed in fear.

Back on the ground, a car driven by Teal Zircon beeped loudly while it crashed into a lamppost, to the anger of her passenger. "Apologies sir, I have no idea how cars work." She apologized to her customer, who simply walked away in a huff. "Aw come on, not even a hug to make it up to you?!"

As Steven witnessed all the chaos he had accidentally created, he had only one thing to say. "I've made a huge mistake."

--

"Hit me with another Nephs." Amethyst ordered Nephrite to make her a syrupy snowcone at the arcade, oblivious to the chaos outside, when Steven came running in. "Oh hey Steven, want some?"

"No Amethyst, I need your help!" Steven panted in resignation. "Our brilliant plan is basically kaput. I tried to help all the Gems get out of their comfort zones, and look what happened!"

"See Steven, this is what happens when you don't listen!" Amethyst declared accusingly. "You didn't listen to any of my ideas today!"

"That's not true; the Gem mentorship thing is a great idea!" Steven tried assuring his friend.

"It was a great idea when the Gems were doing what they thought they were best at," Amethyst continued. "but then you came in and told everyone what you think they should do! Even me!"

"I was wrong." Steven admitted. "I should've put more trust in you with the program. I don't know why I thought I could just take it over like that! I'm so sorry for today."

"Well, I'm glad you came around Steven." Amethyst accepted his apology with a hug. "Cause right now, I think we have our work cut out for us."

Outside, Teal Zircon was trying her hardest to fix the car she crashed, but to no avail. When she noticed Steven and Amethyst looking at her, TZ changed her tune immediately. "Hey guys! Don't worry, I have this totally under control!" The car then burst into flames. "I'm being serious. Totally under control."

"Yeah, I can see." Steven replied sarcastically to Teal. "So what do you say Amethyst? Want to help me unhelp everyone I've helped?"

"Yeah, alright." Amethyst replied before noticing that Snowflake and Andy were close to crash-landing. With no time to lose, she dragged Steven by the arm out of the arcade, and they formed the chubby half-human fusion Smoky Quartz. "SMOKY!"

Summoning their yo-yo, Smoky Quartz tossed it at the plane and wrapped the string around its tail, but they accidentally cause the tail to break off and make everything worse. "Uh, oops."

While the plane kept spiraling out of control, Smoky bounded off Teal Zircon's destroyed car and summoned another yo-yo to keep them airborne. A third yo-yo was tossed soon after, forming a net that caught the plane and allowed Smoky to return it to the ground safely. "Hey guys, you cool?" Smoky giggled at their pun. "Get it, because of the ice?" The giggling soon ceased and they started panicking. "Anyways, I'm so sorry! You okay?"

"I'm fine." Snowflake answered while clambering out of the plane. "Except that I now have a fear of flying, so there's that."

"Seriously, my life flashed before my eyes for a bit." Andy added, adjusting his flight cap. "Good thing you came in for the save."

"Phew, thanks Uncle Andy." Smoky let out a sigh of relief before they turned to the havoc at Funland. "Gotta run, roller coaster on the fritz!" With that, Smoky made a run for the amusement park, in the process putting out the flaming car with the wind, where the Appalachian had now spun out of control.

"These are not the screams I was hoping for!" Larimar cried, unable to regain control of the ride.

Smoky Quartz began running faster as the coaster started to fall apart, all while having an inner argument with themselves. "Seriously, we're not gonna make it in time! C'mon, faster!"

"If you can save the universe Steven, then I can sure save a roller coaster!" Amethyst declared through Smoky.

"But saving the universe took time!" Steven replied hastily. "I don't have any time, and I sure won't take thousands of years to save this!"

As more of the coaster began falling apart, Smoky was in full panic mode. "Agh, what do I do?!"

"I don't know, I don't know!" Steven replied through their fusion, just as panicked. "Just give me a second!"

Suddenly, Smoky began turning pink thanks to the parts of them that came from Steven, and they suddenly started going even faster than before. Or rather, everything became slower.

"Whoa, cool!" Smoky gasped in amazement at their new form just as they made it to the Appalachian in time and jumped onto the broken rails. "Gotcha!" they exclaimed, but then they noticed how slow-moving everything and everyone had now become. With this sudden new power of slowing down time, Smoky decided to use it to their advantage.

At the front were Sour Cream and the ex-Mayor Dewey, whose hat was flying off his head from the intense speed. "Whoa okay, that goes there." Smoky muttered, putting the hat back on Mr. Dewey while borrowing Sour Cream's phone to take a picture of the three of them with, before returning the device to its owner. "Okay everyone, last stop!"

Smoky quickly got to work, taking all the humans out of the coaster, and safely returned them to the ground. As they were all tossed out of the ride and back onto the pier, they were dropped incredibly slowly due to the intense slowing of time. When Smoky rescued the last of the riders & safely returned them to the ground, time finally returned to its normal flow and they were no longer pink.

"Everybody's all safe and accounted for!" Smoky stated. "Now onto saving that coast-" They were too late to save the roller coaster as it went off the rails and launched off the broken rails into the ocean. "Ah well." They muttered. "Sometimes you can save the people from the roller coaster, but you can't save the coaster itself."

The coaster then combusted in the water, leaving a massive mushroom cloud in its wake. "And that's okay."

--

Later that day, Steven and Amethyst had successfully returned everything to normal and treated themselves to snow cones as a reward. Steven was mostly silent throughout, but Amethyst was ecstatic at how they had controlled time earlier as Smoky Quartz.

"Dude, that was intense!" Amethyst exclaimed. "We basically slowed time just like in one of those manga Lapis reads, but I'm bummed that it didn't come with the power to summon steamrollers. We were going so fast; everything almost came to a screeching halt!"

"Yeah, that was pretty nuts." Steven giggled anxiously.

"It was awesome!" Amethyst added, still super excited. The two of them looked around to admire what they fixed. Bixbite was back to working at Fish Stew Pizza, Nephrite was flying with Andy again, Teal Zircon swore never to drive a car again and the Rubies had now returned to defending the mayor.

"Now that I look at it, you were pretty spot-on with everyone's jobs." Steven confessed. "It just makes me wonder, you think I'm a bit too controlling?"

"Okay, maybe a teeny bit." Amethyst admitted to Steven. "As for me, I didn't just guess what everyone wanted to do. I actually sat down with all these Gems and asked what they wanted. Everyone has had a crazy history, so I felt they should be able to choose how they feel and what they should do in the future. I feel like I finally know what I needed to do; I just needed to figure it out for myself. But now, I feel like I'm just as good at helping Gems decide that for themselves."

"Yeah, you're right." Steven agreed.

"So, what about you?" Amethyst asked Steven. "Now that things are starting to settle down, what do you want to do? Come on, let's talk about your future! The doc is in, first session is free!"

"Thanks Amethyst." Steven laughed lightly. "But I don't know. I still want to help people, but I think I might be losing my touch."

Just then, Steven felt someone tap his shoulder, and he turned to see Larimar standing before him, with a large stuffed bear poorly hidden behind her. "Hello Steven, it's me, Little Larimar!" Larimar greeted Steven. "I got you a surprise. Can you guess what it is?"

"Uh, no." Steven answered, clearly noticing Larimar's bear, but he decided to play dumb to humor her.

"It's a teddy bear!" Larimar announced as she presented the bear to Steven, who took the toy kindly.

"That's so nice Larimar, thanks." Steven thanked Larimar. "But why did you get me this?"

"I got this for you as a way of saying thank you." Larimar responded. "I know I'm not great at handling the roller coaster, but I find myself excelling at giving things to others, like handing prizes to children! Oh, their joyous laughter warms me so. It sounds kind of like screaming!"

Steven and Amethyst were a little weirded out by Larimar's comparisons, but they were still happy she found something that made her happy.

"I think these Earth children quite like me too." Larimar continued. "I never felt so happy in my life."

Steven and Amethyst's nervous expressions turned into sweet smiles, but as the destroyed roller coaster drifted past them in the ocean, Steven made a shocking realization. "Oh my gosh, we forgot Onion!" he panicked seeing Onion still in the coaster, and Onion gave him a little wave, which eased Steven's nerves. "Eh, I'm sure he'll be fine."

--

Thanks for joining me for another chapter of Alternate Future. Like in Regular Future, Little Homeworld and Guidance were merely appetizers for what's to come, because the next chapter will be where things get really interesting. It will be a fusion of Rose Buds and Volleyball, and we'll even get our first hint of something, or someone, plotting against Steven and Era 3. What am I even talking about? Well, tune in next week to find out!

[sweetheartbtsateez]

❣️ The best personality for BTS ❣️

softhxe said to memyselfandkpop:Hi! I love your writings ❤ Could you do a "The best personality for bangtan"? I mean, just saying the best type of person you think BTS needs (for dating) and the worst kind of personality, I hope you understood me uwu And take your time too, rest well and live happily ❤

Thanks for your request love! Hope you like this, and I’m sorry that this took so long <3 -Mary

Edit: btw most of this is written in female pronouns, hope you don’t mind

-This is just my opinion-

Jin

According to the zodiac page I just looked up, sagittarius men are generally idealistic, optimistic, God-fearing, generous, honest and truthful. Since Sagittarian males are gifted with strong intuition, they also make good judges of character. When it comes to love, Sagittarian males are passionate and straightforward. They are slow to commit, love the chase and are capable of walking from a relationship if the problems cannot be resolved. But, once they are committed, then, they can be very loyal to their spouses or lovers. The best matches for Jin would be other sagittarius, leos, aries, aquariuses and libras. Now, onto the request itself, I feel like the best match for Jin would be someone who’s not afraid to speak their mind, passionate about everything the do/enjoy, friendly, romantic, with a sense of humour as complex as his’, loves food (who doesn’t lol), knows how to cook and takes care of their friends. I don’t think he’d be into a overly cutesy type of girl, more like a fashionable and fancy type of girl. Bonus point if you can feed his ego daily.

Hoseok

Aquarius is generally considered to be the sign of the zodiac that is the most forward thinking. They love new ideas, progress, and inventiveness. Aquarians are also major humanitarians, in love with anything that they think will make the world a better place for the human race at large. When it comes to love match astrology, Aquarians are best paired with other air signs, or alternatively with fire signs (sagittarius, libras, geminis). For Hobi, I think he’d fall head over heels for someone with a great sense of fashion, is usually giggly and smiley, but can exude sexiness and confidence easily. Also someone who gets along well with his family (specially his mother and sister) and more on the extrovert side, but I do think that an introvert could also be a good match for him. Bonus point if you can dance (or want to learn) so that he can dance with you.

Yoongi

The Pisces personality is thoughtful and dreamy, it's fair to say that Pisces really does live in a dream land. Pisces is very sensitive and is extremely receptive to other people's emotions and is often weighed down by them, which explains why Pisces isn't compatible with every zodiac sign. The best matches for pisces are taurus, cancer, leos (like me yay) and libras. Now, I think we can all agree that clothing wise, Yoongi would love a girl who dresses in all black all the time, and has a kind of edgy vibe to her, but is actually a sweetie pie. He’d prefer an introvert, so that they can understand each other better. Also someone that loves cuddles, and has a deep love for music. Bonus point if you wouldn’t mind staying up late at the studio with him.

Namjoon

Virgo natives are practical, order-loving individuals that possess a strong need to feel valued and useful when it comes to all the major aspects of their lives. They are also logical, clever, detail-oriented folks who hold themselves (and everyone else as well) to very high standards. Virgos believe that if something is worth doing at all, then it ought to be worth doing right. They are dutiful and responsible, never the type of people to feel comfortable shirking responsibility – even on a temporary basis – and they are at their best when they have plenty on their plate to keep them busy. Taurus, cancer, scorpios and capricorns are the best matches for virgos. Personally, I think an ambivert fits Namjoon better, as I feel like that way he can get the best of both worlds. He needs someone with a positive mindset that can help him with his struggles when he’s feeling down. I think he’d love a girl who dresses well and looks good in anything. Also someone who enjoys quiet activities like photography, reading, hiking...I also see him going for a cute but sexy kind of girl, not too cute, but not overly sexy as well. Bonus points if you’d raise baby crabs with him and wouldn’t give him shit when he breaks something.

Jimin

Libras are beings that are very much concerned with fairness, justice, and most of all peace. They really do seem to live by the motto “can’t we all just get along” more than any other sign. Libras, like the other air signs, are also known for their high degree of sociability and love of intellectual pursuits, music, and the arts. They are definitely considered to be one of the most easy-going, agreeable signs. The best matches for libras are geminis, leos, sagittarius and aquariuses. Jimin is a sweetie pie who needs to be protected and taken well care of, no tea just facts. So I think that maybe a fierce and strong extrovert who always stands up for him and motivates and appreciates him would be the best match for him. Contrary to this, I think he’d enjoy a girly type of girl (wears a lot of bright colors, skirts, dresses...) Bonus point if you’d sing BTS songs with him.

Taehyung

Capricorn is a sign that tends to take a practical approach toward life. Capricorn natives are diligent, prudent, dedicated, and responsible. They never shy away from a challenge, and they are very success oriented. Laziness and apathy are words that are quite simply not part of the Capricorn vocabulary. Capricorns are definitely able to appreciate the finner things in life. Capricorn natives are also people that require a lot of recognition, as well as a sense that they are useful and necessary, in order to feel truly satisfied with their lives. The recognition they crave is generally more of the worldly, material variety, but I think that also translates into needing lots of compliments and words of reassurement. Once again, an ambivert suits Taehyung better. Someone who enjoys art, music, reading, shopping...Style wise, he’d love someone fashionable, who changes up their style almost every day and isn’t afraid to try new things. Bonus point if you’d paint and visit museums with him.

Jungkook

When it comes to romance, Virgo is a shy sign and often tries to hide this fact behind a very logical façade. In fact, strong emotions that seem to come out of nowhere strike Virgo as irrational and downright frightening. Through this lens, it's easy to see why some Virgo love matches fare better than others. Taurus, cancer, scorpios and capricorns are the best matches for virgos. I picture Jungkook falling for an edgy but shy kind of girl. Dresses in a lot of black with a street/tumblr/e-girl style. Definetly an introvert who loves video games, photography, memes and music. Also, he’s the biggest hopeless romantic ever, so make sure you are as well and he’ll love you forever. Bonus point if you’d stay up all night with him playing overwatch and eating ramen.

[deunan403]

Oh my gosh your ‘the name is English’ fanfic is so good. Any advice on getting like. The distinct voices of each of the characters? I’m just dabbling in homestuck fiction and I think I got Dave and rose and jade. But John and the alpha kids are hard

(Edited: I kept thinking about the mistakes I made in this explanation so I’ve finally gone back and fixed them pfffft, Also like... I think I might’ve misconstrued the kind of answer anon was going for, in which case, only the very end end of this long ass response is useful. Welp.)

SO FIRST OFF, I am insanely flattered anyone is asking my advice on how to write Homestuck characters because these are some of the most difficult characters I’ve ever written. Thank you so much! These kids each have an insane amount of dimension to them and I completely understand why they come off a bit intimidating to write correctly. I don’t even think I do that good of a job, lmao. Anywho, I’mma go ahead and apologize in advance because I got a little carried away with my advice. When I get to explaining things I like to over-explain and hope you just pick out what ends up bein actually useful to you. There is... a lot of shit under this cut, so be warned.

Hello! Welcome to this wordy as fuck space under the cut. (Edit: It won’t format correctly so ALL this bullshit under the cut. Thanks tumblr. SMD plz). Unfortunately I can't describe the way they talk without deconstructing a little bit on how I view each of their personalities because a part of me insists it's better to provide context and examples, so again, I'm sorry for these unnecessarily long ramblings. Skip to about the center of each paragraph if you want to focus on speech pattern-specific things, eheheheh.

John's pretty difficult for me too because his vernacular slate isn't as colorful as everyone else's, but this is kind of what I've come to understand about him: His general reaction to everything is a mixture of chipper and blasé--going with the flow. He kind of became the “straight man” in HS to combat the way everyone else was reacting to the wild shit that eventually went down. At face value, the way he talks makes him come off as a simple dude -- what you see is what you get, which isn't necessarily true. He's honest about his feelings but at the same time it seems like he has difficulty processing and understanding them, which makes them come through much milder than what you'd expect for the situation. It's probably why he absorbed his dad's death very slowly and got hit hard when it finally processed that he was gone for good. But not many things get all the way through his initial blaséness which actually makes him kind of callous in that he can give oddly indifferent responses to things others would consider a big deal, such as when Terezi died in front of him. He looked at her corpse and was just like "Eugh. She's so weird." Like damn dude, that’s cold. Ain’t like she bled to death or nothing. Anyway, some speech pattern specific things I keep in mind when I write him: He doesn't use a lot of big words, sticking to casual, simple responses, most of them positive or enthusiastic sounding. He sometimes uses old man speech and idioms, like Jake but toned down by like 85%. He's a bit slow on the uptake, points out the obvious, and says things that he thinks are clever but he's either completely missing the mark or being lame in general, not to say he can't sometimes be particularly sassy/savage, especially when it comes to his immediate friends because he knows them and can see through their bullshit better than he can with other people he doesn't know that well. In the chat client, he likes to divide combined words like "what ever" and "time line". If you're being canon compliant, he adopted some chat quirks from Vriska after they dated, such as multiplying punctuations by 8 for emphasis!!!!!!!! (edit: Ignore this last part. I think I may be thinking of a dead john, lmao.)

Jane's also a little difficult but easier than John since speech-wise, she's more of a balance between him and Jake + if they were super skeptical about everything and cared about being smart. She's actually kind of a wild card to me, because sometimes she has probably some of the most realistic reactions to the more ridiculous things in HS, but has grown used to equally ludicrous happenings such as the assassination attempts on her life in her intro. She also tends to wear her heart on her sleeve, and has quite the temper. She tries to override her more emotional responses with good southern manners because she's polite, god dammit! When her short fuse isn't ignited, her bottomless passion fuels her cheerfulness as well as her fearlessness. She's also pretty inquisitive, about the world around her as well as towards her friends, asking them questions to understand what they may be dealing with better. She tries really hard to be reasonable about things but struggles with letting other things that may be in play ruffle her well-kept feathers. Speech pattern-wise, she vacillates between speaking like a normal teen and a grandma, to a way lesser extent than Jake. Initially, she tries to keep it prim and proper--sophisticated like a southern suburban housewife with an interesting hint of embellished self-narrative like she's the protagonist of a Noir comic (like here), but when real shit starts to go down, she gets quite a bit more casual (like when they're on their quest slabs here). That is to say, I wouldn't say her normal way of talking is something that doesn't come naturally to her because it totally does, but she loses most of the laciness because short and to the point is better, which is the case for any of the kids with more flavorful quirks. She tends to steamroll over other people when she gets passionate about a topic, but when that's not happening, she's actually super accommodating, to the point of viciously ignoring her own feelings so she can be a voice of reason. In the chat client, she uses toothy emojis like :B.

Roxy, on the other hand, comes pretty easily for me because she's really similar to one of my closest friends and speaks much the same way we do when we're chill. We're also from the south, where much of the youth talk like Roxy does, lmao. Roxy is probably the most accommodating of any of the kids, readily bending over backwards to cater to her friends' needs and letting her own needs take a backseat, which probably leads to a lot of resentment she keeps buried. But she's still the chillest one, taking just about everything in stride before and after her alcoholism. She tends to get sad before she ever gets angry. And if she does get angry, it's usually only frustration at others for being difficult. Communication-wise, she's the most shorthanded--thinking and living in chat-speak. She's all about living her best life and taking care of her family so things are fun and peaceful. She wants to be super sure of herself (like Dirk) because she wants to be reliable. When talking, she likes to use a bunch of metaphors (again, like Dirk), and she tends to casually throw in a lot of puns too, such as when she tells Jake that they're still "humanated" when he asks if he's alienated her too. The nature of her responses is typically pretty flippant, even when things are serious. It's probably obvious that getting comfortable with general Ebonics will help a lot when writing her. In chat client, I try to remember these things: typos only happen when she's drunk--when typing her drunk, I avoid actively trying to give her slurred speech. Instead, I kind of let my fingers type a little more haphazardly and leave the typos I made that sound like mistakes she would make. She only tries to correct a small portion of her typos, more frequently the closer she is to sobriety. When she IS sober, her shorthand isn't consistent. One sentence she'll write "u" and the next, she'll write "you". Same thing with "2" and "to" or "4" and "for", etc. She'll cut out unnecessary letters in words, use typical chat abbrevs, and only use singular letters in place of a whole word, like "y" for "yes". Also uses smileys and other signs like <3. She's super fun for me to write because she comes away with a general feeling of "lmao" if that makes any sense.

Jake I'm always worried I'm doing wrong but he seems to be the one people love my characterization of the most so far, lmao. So I guess I must be doing something right. The thing about Jake is he wants to be the "likeable character". He takes what people want in a guy and molds that into this garbled persona. So when he talks to others, even his friends, he tries to be super agreeable, positive and supportive, regardless of the subject matter; he’s always talking these people up to make them feel good about themselves so that they enjoy conversing with him. But the reality is that he's extremely (but not necessarily intentionally) self-centered. He also aggressively ignores anything negative or forcefully turns it into something positive even when it doesn't make sense. He only tends to express frustration when others (Dirk) are being difficult; I don't remember if he ever actually gets angry in the comic?? He also likes to express surprise/amazement at things (a lot more than the other kids do at least), at the beginning of his responses, even when someone says something that's particularly obvious. The thing that gets me about Jake is that his superficial shell is so impenetrable, I don't think that issue was ever really fully addressed, much less fixed in HS, which leaves a lot of questions about his character & several different but valid interpretations of him by the audience. He may very well actually just be an oblivious idiot who's suffered brain damage one too many times (there's not too many pieces of supporting evidence to negate this) but I personally like to think Jake is far more complicated than that. I mean, look at how many convos he's grabbed the helm of and steered into a completely different direction just so he doesn't have to deal with something. His speech is probably the one I have to look up references for the most because he uses a fuckton of idioms you'd only hear one’s well-meaning but probably unintentionally racist poppop use, and a weird mixture of western/country and british vocab + bro speech he probably adopted while talking to Dirk. This is one list I find super useful when trying to find words to use (bless this person), but I still have to google a bunch of goofy phrases and words to be sure I'm not exhausting my material. One thing I know I do wrong when it comes to Jake's speech is use modern British slang such as "bloody" and "bloke", which is something he absolutely never does but I use them anyways because... idfc, I guess, idk. lol, I acknowledge it so it's fine.

Dirk is probably the one that comes easiest to me because he and I behave and talk pretty similarly. Either that, or I just like to think that and I'm just projecting while writing him completely wrong, lmao. Either way, Dirk hides behind the fact that he's super chill and levelheaded when really he's a nervous paranoid wreck. He's always thinking and overthinking about everything and he never gives himself a god damn break. He calculates every response he gives so it comes off exactly the way he wants it to, so when it doesn't because he's caught off guard, you get to see these little snippets of this dude freaking out underneath. He's a neurotic control freak that makes sure the flow of conversation stays on a set course he wants it to or else he gets either uncomfortable or pissed off. He skirts around anything that might get personal to him and dismisses any focus that sheds light on his own emotions UNLESS he feels, again, that he can control that flow of conversation. Or he's already emotionally compromised. Either way, he avoids conditions that might catch him actually being vulnerable because he's just too fuckin' proud. He likes to make a lot of comparisons, using extended metaphors and milking the fuck out of them if he can get away with it because the more he talks, the more he feels in control. He likes to smoothly play along with people he finds are being ridiculous, like Jake and Caliborn, or even just because he knows they'll know he's just playing along like Roxy. That's a key thing for me actually--how much he likes to fuck with people and how inelegantly he takes it in those rare cases someone successfully fucks with him. His speech seems to be a balance between Rose and Dave, a chill bro with access to the biggest vocabulary ever. I encourage aiming towards sounding like a pretentious asshole when writing Dirk because that's what he is all the time sometimes. He likes to Dirk-splain because more often than not he knows exactly what he's talking about, but he also doesn't realize his Dirk-splaining is something no one needed or asked for. Even though he's acknowledged and now resents the ludicrous size of his own ego, he still struggles with not stroking it at every opportunity. He’s a super capable, reliable guy and he knows it, but the reality is that much of what he plans for doesn’t work out. It’s only when he and his friends are really in the shit and he doesn’t have time to think that instinct takes over and he ends up doing some hella amazing things (Unite: Synchronization). That’s why his whole thought process of being better off alone is dangerous--he’s capable because he has people he loves relying on him. (I went off on a tangent unrelated to speech here. I’m sorry. I got a lot of feelings about Dirk and his selfishness vs. his selflessness, lol)

With all that, these are some general notes I try to abide by:

The ramblers of the kids are Dirk, Dave, and Jake, the former two especially when they're anxious. Dave's definitely the worst in that regard. The Striders both act like they wanna come off as men of few words and both fail miserably; it seems like being forced to live in verbal silence for a good portion of their lives gave both of these social wrecks a stigma against any gaps in conversation. Jake on the other hand rambles because he's self-important, not unlike Dirk. It's almost like he's not sure how else to contribute to the conversation if it's not about movies or himself.

For me, it actually helps that I think Dirk and Jake may both be on the spectrum. (I'm sorry if the following offends anyone who is on the spectrum, but this is just my general experience talking to people with those conditions). It certainly explains why their joint communication is so shit and why they either both give long-winded explanations that no one really asks for, or extract themselves from conversations they don't have a good foothold in, the latter being way more common for Jake (I hint a little at all this in my fic, moreso for Jake via Dirk's observations). They both want to be heard but may have difficulty being good listeners because their heads are already filled to the brim with things that have been cycling since before the other person has started talking.

On a final note, I find it pretty important to note the changes in each character's demeanor and way of talking after certain things happen. A glaring example is the Alpha Kids' behaviors after the batshit candy juju episode they all had. When Jake's broken out of his glorified, overwhelmingly positive fake self-image, he's actually very self-critical. However, his self-centeredness is hard to break out of, so when he broods on all the flaws he'd ignored in favor of being the guy everyone likes, he directed all of his nervous energy into finding reassurance from Roxy. (This self-deprecation could've also been born from his constant need to be agreeable, so since he thought everyone considered him to be a piece of shit, he felt the need to agree that was the case. Depends on how you read it.) Roxy had a shorter fuse and was a bit more snappy and resistant to dealing with Jake's ridiculousness. Jane remained calm and acknowledged she can be a bit too stubborn and self-righteous. Dirk finally took a step back from the details and absorbed the big picture of his problematic expectations toward his friends and himself. It’s just something to keep in mind if you fear you’re getting kind of OOC with their personalities. It’s natural for people to behave different based on changes in their mood, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

All that being said (I lied about that final note), I go back and reference the comic a lot when I’m unsure whether I’m representing a character accurately. It’s a good habit to double-check yourself. If you’re unsure how you’re writing a response but wanna move on, write it the best you can and then come back to it later and revise after reading a few conversations that include that character.

Most importantly of all: the thesaurus is your fucking best friend of all time. Fuck everyone else. The thesaurus is your god damn hero. I find “define:”ing words on google actually super helpful when trying to find synonyms that work better for me.

But that’s it! I hope you found at least a few things helpful in that word splurge of fumbling analyses. And thanks a bunch for reading my fic! It’s not super popular so it’s reassuring to know there are people out there who really enjoy it. Keeps me trying to update regularly at the very least.