#anyway the story is so good I'm getting aggravated

[zannia]

One of the visual novels I'm playing right now hit me with the inevitable "I died so that you can live" and I cannot stress enough how much it makes me wanna strangle someone

Wtf do you mean live without you? You want me to go on living without you? Knowing you died so I could? Is soooooooooo selfish. You think i wanna live a life without you? Don't piss me off. Oh and if i kms suddenly I don't appreciate the gift of life (that i DIDN'T ask for).

[innocent-artery]

I Win

2.5k words

Summary: You’re practicing combat with Bucky, but he never intended to win- not in a fight, anyway.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

For the sake of avoiding spoilers, extensive warnings will not be given. This story includes sexually explicit material, reader discretion advised.

While reading, I recommend listening to enemies to lovers, a spotify playlist by me!

~

"You can't be tired already."

He'd been saying that for an hour. Even when you entertained him in whatever form of combat he demanded next, he threw taunt after taunt at you. Broad shoulders hunched over in a fighting stance, flesh and metal fingers wiggling in anticipation, mouth corners stretched apart in ecstatic snark.

"C'mon kid, you've gotta give me something. We just gonna dance around for another hour?"

You could hear it in his voice that he didn't mean any of it. Bucky had sung your praises on plenty of occasions so you knew he was just egging you on for the sake of a good match. But he also had a knack for reading you uncomfortably well, and he'd commented more than once about how frustrated and stressed out you'd been. So you also knew he was doing this for your own good.

That didn't mean he wasn't driving you up a wall. Combat seemed to be both the problem and the solution in this scenario.

Scratch that. The problem was Bucky and his big mouth.

You heaved a sigh that was audibly frustrated, pouring water down your throat to keep your mouth from saying anything stupid. The weaponry rack right by your head wasn't helping much.

"So are you just-"

Whoosh!

Before even you could comprehend what was happening, you'd swung a knife with a blade the size of your hand in his direction, landing bullseye into a dummy behind him with a dull noise, sending the target flying.

But Bucky just wasn't quitting.

"Where was all that rage during the brawl, huh princess?" He held his hands up incredulously. "Turns out you're holding out on me, all this time I thought you were just weak."

In an instant, you had him pinned. Sat on his chest, legs weighing down either arm, and a knife - identical to the one you'd kabobbed a dummy with seconds earlier - pressed against his throat.

"Ah, there you are." Bucky grinned, eyes shining lasciviously.

"Say another damn word, Barnes, I'm begging you." You grit, pressing the blade in harder.

His voice never wavered, amusement only becoming increasingly more aggravating. "Begging, huh? I like the sound of that."

"Then let's hear it." With sharp and final movements you hoist yourself up and down, seating yourself directly on Bucky's lap.

You may have smirked a little too proudly when you watched the wind get knocked out of him and his body curl into itself. His arms, now freed, flew to your hips. They seemed not to know whether or not to pull you off of him or keep you there.

You didn't give him the chance to make that decision, taking a fistful of hair and yanking it forward so that your mouths met in a sloppy, heavy-breathed kiss. The groan that spilled from his mouth to yours only encouraged your fervor, dragging your hips against his oh so slowly.

The sound that rumbled in Bucky's throat was akin to thunder, his mouth falling open, shoulders tensing and relaxing under your fingers. You felt his Adam's apple knock against the knife followed by a sharp exhale through his nose.

"G'na be the death of me," Bucky breathed, head lolling back when you pressed an open kiss on his pulse point. "Fuck."

"Shut up." You huffed, nipping at his earlobe and letting out a moan, sending shivers down his spine at the sound. A quick hand made quick work of his pants, tugging them down just enough to pull out his leaking cock, twitching at your touch. His hips kicked into your fist at the feeling, but you held him down.

"Be still, or you get nothing," you said firmly, thumb grazing over the top with a feather-light touch. You tapped the collar of his shirt with the tip of the blade. "Off."

Bucky followed, eyes heavy and dark on you as he practically tore the shirt from his body. He was still smirking, but his confidence and snark was beginning to wither and replace itself with something else, something more intense, something needier.

"Open." You said. Bucky watched you for a moment, as if your intentions would be written in your eyes. Although you couldn't read his expression, his jaw dropped slowly, tongue following until it stopped at his lip. His head wasn't tilted up to look at you, he was watching you through his lashes.

Your fingers traced over Bucky's bottom lip, and over the tip of his tongue in the process- you swore his mouth opened wider at the contact. The pads of your index and middle slid against his tongue, and his mouth closed over the digits as soon as they were in past the knuckle.

Your stomach flipped over at the sight, at the feeling. Bucky's tongue laved over your fingers in earnest, quiet noises and huffs barely audible over the television static in your brain.

You had figured out by this point that he'd let you pin him, that he was letting you boss him around. His stare shot exhilaration through you, like he was ready to pounce at any minute, and God knows he was so tempted, but it was something else keeping him there. Whether it be that he was too amused or too hypnotized by your menace of movement and order, neither of you knew. Neither of you cared.

"Not so mouthy now, are you Barnes?" you seethed, tugging your fingers back to his cock, now bobbing heavily at his stomach. When he didn't answer, you glared at him. "Speak."

"No, ma'am."

You hummed, an evil satisfaction rippling through you. Absentmindedly you began toying with his dick, eyes trained on his tortured expression. The way he swallowed thickly when you squeezed his base, gasped when your thumb teased feather-light over his tip, whimpered when you traced the underside with one finger.

You felt him throbbing against your palm. Your movements never got any faster, just meaner. Teasing him without giving any real friction, letting the anticipation bring him towards the edge. His hair was beginning to stick to his neck, a thin layer of sweat forming on his forehead. Bucky's eyes were screwed shut, brows were knit together, and in a curious moment of tenderness you almost felt compelled to smooth it out with your thumb.

But when he opened his eyes, so full of need, you lost any lingering resolve for kindness. Your gaze fell back to the knife, now loosened against him as your attention had wandered. You turned it over a few times, watching the reflected glint of light flicker over his collarbone. Bucky let out a shuddering breath when you traced the tip of the blade down his chest, grazing his stomach, then up again.

It was when the blade moved up his throat that your brain short-circuited. The tip pressed ever so slightly against the underside of his chin, tilting his head up to look at you. Lust-blown eyes, hooded and hungry, stared into your soul.

You frowned when you saw Bucky's lip caught in his teeth. "Nuh uh, none of that." You held his jaw firmly in your hand, and his lip fell back into place, followed by a stream of delicious sounds that sent fire licking in your gut.

What you didn't expect, however, was the small line of red on his lower lip, and in a moment of instinct, you dipped your head down to swipe it away with your tongue. Bucky jerked up at the feeling.

His mistake.

Bucky nearly whined when you let go of him, his cock aching and impossibly hard. You sat back, licking your fingers tantalizingly.

"What the fuck?"

"I said don't move, Barnes. Guess you're weaker than I thought."

Bucky tensed his jaw, fingers curling and uncurling furiously. "Please."

You glanced up from your hand in faux boredom. "What was that?"

"You wanted to hear me beg," he grits, hands tugging you so that you were sat firm on his naked lap. "So I'm begging."

"I'm listening."

"Please. Please, princess, need you on my fuckin' cock."

"Go on." You couldn't help the rolling of your hips, which only made him clutch you harder.

"Please."

"That's it, Barnes, you're getting there." Heat swelled in between your legs at his breathless words.

"Please, princess, need you so bad."

"Bucky."

"Please."

"Fuck me."

Just as quickly as you had him pinned, he'd done the same to you. Knife yanked from your grasp and thrown somewhere across the room, Bucky pinned both of your hands down on either side of your head, licking and biting furiously at your neck while his hips rutted frantically over your core.

But that satiated him only for a moment. His hands pulled yours over your head, weighed down while his flesh hand yanked your shorts down to your knees, where you kicked them off.

"Fuckin' soaked, sweetheart. What's got you so worked up?"

You wanted to wipe the stupid grin off his stupid face- he'd probably be honored to let you- but you couldn't deny either that the answer he implied was entirely correct.

You felt his fingers take a handful of thigh, groping and caressing. His eyes flickered from his work to your face and back, relishing in watching your knee twitch and your breath hitch at every brush, every stroke of his thumb over the seam of your underwear.

"Barnes, I swear to God-"

"What? What are you gonna do?" Bucky leaned down, nose brushing yours and hair curtaining around his head. "You wanted me to fuck you. That's what I'm doing."

Any back-handed response you might have had died on your tongue when his hand jerked your underwear aside and cupped your bare cunt, making your back arch into him and mouth fall open in a moan.

Bucky was no stranger to thorough teasing, and on any other occasion he would have gladly employed it, but he wanted you now. And with your wetness webbing on his palm, he didn't need it. His middle finger pushed into you with little resistance, curling and massaging.

"Oh, she likes that." Bucky smirks with far too much satisfaction. "Sucking me right in, crying for me."

And then Bucky nailed it. That spongy spot deep inside of you that obliterated any sense of reason or shame, replacing it with ecstatic need.

"And there she is." Bucky purred, wiping a bead of sweat tickling your hairline. "You know, you put up a good fight, but when it comes down to it, you're a pliant little housecat. All she wants is a little attention and she'll do just about anything for it. Isn't that right?"

You didn't actually give him an answer, but with how enthusiastically you were crying out, you might as well have pledged your allegiance.

"All she wants is a good dicking down, huh? Get all that frustration outta ya, that's what we're gonna do. Fuck you right to sleep."

He'd given you plenty of cue, but the stretch and friction still had you gasping. You watched his patience dissipate the deeper inside of you he got. His hand freed yours, both coming up to grip your hips and pull you closer, until his pubic bone was pressed against your clit.

His hands were shaking from bliss, and when you started rolling your hips up into his he thought he might die. His movements were slow, but firm and deep and enough to have you seeing stars. He knew your body like the back of his hand, knowing exactly how to angle himself so that his cock dragged against you just right, so that his pubic bone soothed the ache in your clit.

"There you go, princess, y'like that? So strung out, so snappy, needed to get that fixed." Bucky's hand pressed against your lower stomach, a gruff noise ripped from him when he felt his cock push up into his palm- you let out a sound similar, the extra pressure sending you into bliss. “That’s a good fuckin’ girl.”

"God, Bucky, right there, right there," you gasped. "Don't stop, don't fucking stop or-"

"Or?" he practically laughed at you. Your lack of response made him actually do it. "Head's so empty, no fuckin' thoughts except how cockdrunk she is."

Although he might have spoken like he wasn't, Bucky was just as intoxicated by the feeling of you, and his movements showed it. His animalistic thrusts, sloppier by the minute, were unrelenting and passionate. His ragged breath swallowed by your lips, feeding into his ears the purest and filthiest visions of sin that he saw when he opened his eyes.

He could feel you dripping onto him, feel your cunt clenching around him. That and every touch of your skin against his and nothing else.

"Y'like that, princess? Can feel you squeezing me, you must be close."

He knew your telltale signs like they'd been branded on the back of his brain, trinkets of knowledge he'd long coveted and hoarded like a dragon with treasure ever since you'd given it to him. His only goal now was to put it to good use, and Lord was he.

Your hands came up to grip his hair, dragging him down into a bruising kiss. When he pulled away, you whimpered, but he only shook his head.

"Gotta hear you, doll, loud and clear. Atta girl, let me hear everything you're feeling."

"God, so good, Bucky, so close," you cried, nails dragging down his chest and leaving pink lines in their wake.

You knew Bucky was saying something, but the ringing in your ears and white blurring your vision overtook your sense as your orgasm washed over you, bathing you in ecstasy.

Bucky's hips pistoned into you manically until they stilled, rolling softly until he spilled into you with a guttural groan.

The both of you lay still for a moment, basking in the afterglow. Runner's high was nothing compared to the satisfaction you'd both pulled from each other.

Suddenly the intercom chimed, shattering the bubble of haze. "For the record, that is most certainly not what that room is for."

"Stark-" Bucky pulled out of you with as much haste as he could manage while both of you were sensitive, throwing you your pants. "What the fuck are you-"

"Don't worry, I can't see you. I can, however, tell you that if that floor is not cleaned, Christ alive I will send you into your next life."

You let out a laugh at Bucky's expression, a mix between indignance and mortification. "At least he didn't waltz in with a bag of popcorn."

"Such a blessing," Bucky retorted, pulling his shirt over his head. "He'd start making comments like a movie critic."

"Or start cheering like it was a wrestling match."

"Dear god, I hate you." Bucky shook his head, the mirth written on his face indicative that his words held no real venom.

"Not what it sounded like a minute ago."

"Oh yeah?" Bucky cocked a brow, pulling you closer by your hands. "What did it sound like a minute ago?"

"Mm, I can't seem to remember." You cocked your head. "C'mon, maybe I'll remember in the shower."

.

[thesilmarillionblog]

𓏲 𓂃 L o s i n g Y o u

Part:𝟷𝟸

Click here to read the first part.

Summary: Everything was good as a member of Payback and Soldier Boy's secret girlfriend until the team and your relationship with him began to fall apart due to a new member and her developing relationship with Ben right in front of your eyes.

Pairing: Soldier Boy / Reader

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 4624

A/N: English is not my first language.

* This story is inspired by the song "Losing You" by Dream Evil.

It was quite the struggle to train with Ben for a week, especially when he took it extremely seriously and pushed you to the very limit. It was not that he hurt you; it was that in the lab you either lost your will to fight or you just got really weak.

There were moments when you stated to Ben that things might get serious about your power, but he chose to ignore you and aggravated the training, which left you worn out. But you were relieved that he could, in his own irritating way, encourage you that your strength was still there.

Ben answered, “No,” right away when you wanted to stop the exercise.

Right now, the entire home was a mess, and the hole you had made in the wall remained.

“I'm tired here, Ben,” you complained as you fell to the ground, gasping for air. You had been there exercising together since the morning, and it was nearly the sun going down. Except when you needed to eat or pee, he rarely gave you a moment's peace of mind. “I mean it. I'm done.” 

You opened your hands wide on the ground, and he looked at your body while saying, “You're a supe; you can't just feel exhausted that easily.”

You blushed as you noticed him staring at your soaked entire body and replied, “Give me some break.” There's a good chance that you were both thinking the same thing. “How on earth can you find that much energy? Even for a supe, it's too much.”

Ben stared at you and then took off the shirt he had taken off hours earlier, wiping the sweat from his muscular chest. You grimaced, knowing you probably smelled like trash. 

“It's because I am the strongest; I am not just any average Supe.” With the most arrogant way possible, he threw his t-shirt back to the ground and said, “Simply better and more powerful than anyone. But don't worry; we'll return you to the way things were, sweetie. You have my word.”

He gave you a sneaky smirk when he saw you staring at his broad, sweat-damp chest. Ben was waiting for you, literally, from above, all the time you tried to get some rest. His eyes narrowed, and you suspected his head was full of filthy stuff. 

You just muttered, “I hope so,” and avoided giving him a glance as you closed your eyes.

He sighed and went down on the floor next to you, crossing his big arms over his head. 

“Don't think about it that much. You're going to do even better than you are now. Maybe we should just do those trainings more frequently. What do you say?”

“It’s fine. I don’t have another choice anyway,” you replied, cutting it short while keeping your eyes closed. Even if you felt his intense stare on your face, you didn’t react. “What did the doctor tell you, by the way? The one who supervised Compound V's improvement for decades?”

You remembered that there was a lot of discussion following the news that Ben had killed him at his home. You kind of hoped you could have dealt with that cruel piece of shit on your own, though. He was just a monster with a white robe. He had always made an aggressive attempt to cause damage to you and showed no sympathy or compassion for anyone. You got scared and insecure when you opened your eyes, recalling the physical harm he had inflicted. 

“Fucking piece of shit!” Ben angrily exclaimed, his fists clenched over his head. “I should have killed him properly.” 

“What did he say, so you blew up?” 

“Isn't it obvious? That pussy told me how little supes are in the big picture of science, the future of the supremes, humanity, and some other bullshit. It's certain that Vough paid that cocksucker generously during all those years. He lived in luxury, torturing us, and he didn’t even regret it.”

“Did he tell you what kind of research he did on my body?” You asked as you moved your body to face him. 

Ben fell silent for a minute, enraged by what he remembered the doctor had said about you. Nevertheless, his eyes softened as he saw your expression and saw that you were excited to hear what he was about to say and that you were feeling at ease and comfortable next to him. That was all he needed. Ben recognized that if he made a determined attempt to be by your side and touch you in the way he desired, you would push him even further away and that you weren't

ready for physical contact at this time. He therefore forced himself to keep his distance from you and let you do whatever you wanted.

He just turned to face you and stated, “I didn't give him enough time to talk,” straightening his posture and sitting straight up on the floor. “He's just an animal, and he sees supes as rats for research in order to make profit. That's all.”

“When we agreed to live this life as supers, Ben, we already knew that.” You said bitterly, “People in charge always wanted to play with us like we were toys. They used us as they pleased and needed us for their own good. I wanted to leave the company for a number of reasons, one of which was that I was unaware of how serious that whole picture was. What I need to learn is what they succeeded in doing during the decades we were unconscious and at their mercy.”

Ben sighed and got up to get some weed from the nearest table, just after helping you off the floor.

“I was told by that son of a bitch that he examined you to make the future supers flawless. Though I'm not really sure what he meant, it seems to me that Queen Maeve—the woman from Seven—is their new you.”

“Do you think they might have found a way to weaken me? Don't say 'no' right away,” you said in a hurry when he opened his lips to object. “It just doesn't feel right about what's going on and everything.”

Your concerns, which were constantly lurking beneath the surface, took over when you realized that Ben had remained silent. Something was off with you, you two sensed that. Although after your first training day you felt a little stronger, your weakness remained under your skin.

You pulled open a window to let some fresh air in and muttered, “If you hadn't just killed the doctor, we could have learned about it.”

Ben offered you one of the glasses and sighed as if he regretted what he had done, filling the other one with wine. “I didn't intentionally kill him. It simply happened beyond my control. But I would still murder him anyway.”

You raised an eyebrow and sat down, realizing that your tiredness was taking over. “You need to find a way to control it since your nerves are always on edge,” you said. “And also, I need to find someone who can understand all of this.”

Ben sat beside you, stretching his muscles and leaning back into the coach while he listened to you attentively. As you spoke, you noticed that your gaze lingered a little too long on his sweating body, almost making you flush. 

He studied your expression to see how you would react to his suggestion. He said, “I guess the best option is to kidnap or torture a doctor who is in charge or fuckever who's doing supe studies for Vought right now. We can use Mindstorm to look at your memories and thoughts to see whether they have hurt you in any way.”

His suggestion caused your eyes to widen with excitement, and you exclaimed, “That's actually a smart idea. But how are we supposed to find him?”

“Remember the new technology, sweetheart. Anything is possible with these phones, Bluetooth, and GPS technology. Remember how I found you very easily?”

You gave a nod to him, knowing that what he stated was right and that you would be able to reach Mindstorm with ease thanks to modern technology.

After you had your shower, you saw Ben watching the TV with a dead serious face, and you sat beside him.

As you used the towel in your hand to dry your damp hair, you inquired, “Is there any news about us? Almost a week has passed.”

“Not much,” he replied as he continued to listen to Homelander talk about the two of you.

‘They pose no threat to the United States,’ Homelander confidently stated, grinning, as he extended his arms and turned to face the screen. 'As Seven, we've been trying to find them for a week, but it looks like they are hiding pretty well,' he continued. I, Homelander, the Seven's leader, swear to you that they shall answer for their actions. It has been proven that Soldier Boy rescued Y/N, and it's very likely that the two of them murdered the hapless doctors as well as every lab employee in cold blood and without hesitation.'

You and Ben exchanged a look as Homelander continued his speech. ‘Their families and children are in agony even though our government gives them the best care they can. These two criminals are responsible for the deaths of the orphans whose parents they killed. It breaks our hearts to see them weeping and grieving the loss of their families. There are even toddlers among them. Soldier Boy and Y/N will be held liable and made to pay for the harm they caused to the United States and its citizens. They have little time to conceal; they cannot get away.’

As the audience gave him a loud applause and he flew opening his arms out like.

Ben angrily said, “Fuck that. Son of a bitch,” and threw the remote control onto the table in front of him. “They were just another piece of shits who enjoyed torturing supes, nothing else.”

“But I didn't kill anyone,” you mumbled. “We are past the point of self-justification. Homelander is basically controlling the crowds. They would never pay to listen to us, Ben.”

Ben stared at the TV and said, “I'll teach them how to listen,” in a menacing manner. “You see? It's no longer about Butcher and his useless group. It has to do with our future.”

You could have argued with him about the future, but all you wanted was to avoid getting into another fight with Ben. 

“I think such a guy wouldn't be innocent at all. We might be able to defeat the company if we can figure out how to properly express ourselves, explain to them how Vought tricked us, and show the real Homelander to the rest of the world. There isn't another way.”

 “I know, I know,” he muttered.

As you could tell Ben was becoming enraged and feeling overwhelmed, you touched his bare chest, which had a little glow to it. “Hey, are you okay?”

He responded with, “I am,” placing his hand on yours and giving you a gentle squeeze. 

“Can you please stop getting angry for a second? I can sense the heat building in your chest.” You muttered, “You're stressing me out here,” but you didn't remove your hand from his upper body. You could feel him cooling down beneath your touch once again. It was fine as long as it worked; you simply didn't know why. 

“Well,” he said, arching an eyebrow, licking his lips, allowing you to touch him, and gently tracing his fingers over yours. His powerful, slow beats were calming in a way. “It's not too bad. Is it?” 

You withdrew your hand from his sweating chest while rolling your eyes at him and making sure he was okay. 

Ben had just showered when Butcher and Hughie showed up at the house. 

Butcher remarked in a sly manner, “Glad, I delayed for an hour coming here to pick up you two,” as you and Ben got into the back of the car. “We could have interrupted something funny, judging by the all-wet hairs and all.”

“We were just finished training there!” you exclaimed, your face heated. 

“It must be very good training, indeed. The entire fucking house was damaged like hell. You two spent a whole week all showering and training while we were dealing with the shit Soldier Boy caused.”

“Sorry for that, but it's not what you think, really.”

“I thought Soldier Boy and Crimson were having a relationship. Yet life goes on, don't they? There are always new, fine chickens and dolls all around.” Butcher smirked at Ben.

You were ready to add something about Ben and you having nothing to do, but Ben became enraged right away when Butcher brought up the Crimson Countess. 

“Don't you fucking know how to stay silent and shut your useless mouth?” Butcher was obviously enjoying himself when he suddenly made Ben mad. 

“What made you so furious now? Have I said anything untrue?” 

Hughie leaned back in his seat and said, “Butcher, stop that,” sounding distressed as Ben continued to swear at them both and told Hughie to make Buther to suck him soon, so his mouth would be filled enough not to talk stupid.

“Why even do you become irate out of nowhere? After all, you murdered the poor woman.”

You looked up at Ben, asking with disbelief, “What? Why did you even kill Countess?”

The fact that Ben never brought it up startled you even more than Butcher's statement, as though it were nothing important. You were stunned and shocked beyond belief. At that point, you were at a loss for what to think. You were not sympathetic to her, though. After all, Vought used her as a cunning evil to harm both you and Ben. She was the one who paid you a visit in order to deceive you that day. 

He tried to convince you immediately, giving you a gentle look as if he wanted you to understand what he had done. “She deserved whatever I've done,” he defended himself. 

You acknowledged, “I know she did. But why?”

He looked at Butcher and then turned to face you, almost whispering, “Let's discuss this at a later time. All right?”

You found Annie nowhere to be found when you got to Butcher's home, where only Kimiko and Frenchie were inside. Kimiko watched Frenchie play with his phone, seeming bored.

“Why did it take so long for you to come here?” Frenchie inquired in an irritated manner to Butcher. “You give me too much to deal with, though you know I have things to do. Kimiko is also exhausted.”

Butcher sarcastically remarked, “Hello to you too, baby,” as he removed his coat. “I have not even once heard a complaint from her; she is an incredible Supe. She can't possibly be exhausted, right, doll?”

Ben moved you over to the edge of the coach and sat by you, resting his legs on the table, just as you were about to strike up a conversation with Kimiko. You were fine with him being close, though, so you said nothing at all. In fact, if you were honest with yourself enough, you would admit that his behavior around you somewhat comforted you. 

“Kimiko and I have spent days looking for Black Noir and Queen Maeve, but we haven't made any progress so far. It's strange that they were absent from everything for so long. You see, something isn't quite right. According to Starlight, they have vanished.”

“The fuck you mean they are missing?” Butcher asked in disbelief.

“Why would Noir would go missing? It's not his thing to disappear,” you said. You thought you were thinking to yourself, but you had said it loud.

“He must have ran away when he saw us back together,” Ben said in am amused tone. “He fucking knows I'm going to kill him too. He’s a fucking dead man.”

You told Ben, “There must be a reason,” ignoring the way he talked about taking Earving's life. Right now, you don't need to see Ben being enraged over Noir and losing his temper again. 

“How the fuck doesn't Starlight know where Queen Maeve is?” Butcher questioned Hughie. 

Hughie took his head in his hands and responded, “She thinks Homelander did something to her. Maybe he killed Maeve.”

“How about Ninja Cunt, though? He is known as Homelander's right wing. Suppose he murdered Maeve. What about Noir?”

Frenchie remarked, “That's what I'm trying to understand,” and Kimiko communicated with him using sign language swiftly. 

“All right, we'll watch out for this and see if he shows up again.” Butcher ended it quickly and continued. “Tomorrow, Soldier Boy and I are heading to New York.”

You eyed Butcher with suspicion, asking, “Why and why not me?” 

“You two stayed at a lovely house for a week, for God’s sake. Aren't all of the showers enough? Is it not possible for you to separate for even a single day? Would you really miss this cunt that much?”

As Butcher continued to make assumptions about you and Ben, your face heated. Kimiko and Frenchie turned to face you in harmony, taken aback. 

“You're just making the wrong assumptions.” You distanced yourself from Ben and explained, “It's not like that,” acting as though you had been proven guilty. Ben didn't appear to be supportive when you stared at him, yet it seemed as though he was okay with Butcher's comments. “What I want to know is what you're going to be doing here and why I have to stay here.”

“Yes, doll. To catch up with your old friend TNT Twins, we are going to join Herogasm. It's almost like we have to clear your names first. Maybe they know anything about the specifics of those events from decades ago, and they could say something that we could use against Vought. Though things might get messy soon, don't you worry, I'm going to keep an eye on your soldier so that he won't be pouding into any supe cunt there,” he said with a wicked smile.

Ben said, “Maybe we can also find a thing about Mindstorm there,” giving you a meaningful glance and a small touch on the arm before you could respond. You nodded to him. 

“However, why must I stay here?”

“Kimiko needs to get some work done, and we need more muscle to help Frenchie and Hughie here. Let's don't take too much attention.”

“Okay,” you said, acknowledging the situation and giving up on further arguments. Herogasm was something you've always detested and loathed. Ben, the founder of it, was making it even worse. Yet the one thing about Ben's inconsistent anger—the energy in his chest—that scared you was his unpredictable temper. You weren't sure if he could find a way to control it soon enough. 

You questioned Hughie, “By the way, where is Annie?” As a member of Vought and Seven, you were aware of how difficult it must be to handle the entire company's evil by yourself. 

“I don't think she'll find Maeve anytime soon, but she's doing some research in order to locate her. She seemed to have disappeared in a heartbeat.”

You figured she was kind of involved in this too, based on the way they talked about her. 

Ben abruptly stood up and stated, “I guess all the rooms are full. So, which room are Y/N and I staying in tonight?”

“Not full,” Hughie smiled in response. “I suppose there are now two available rooms since I will be seeing Annie tonight.” 

Kimiko nodded quickly as she gave a smile to you.

Ben's expression darkened as Hughie continued to tell him and Annie that they would not be staying in this house any longer, while Ben quietly cursed. He glanced at you for a moment, but you ignored him and asked Kimiko to show you the room where you would be sleeping. 

After an hour of inspecting the room and all of the furniture within, you heard a light knock on the door and knew it was Ben.

After a minute, you said, “Come in,” startled that Ben was holding back, opening the door this time without your permission. 

He whispered, “As you wish, baby,” and carefully shut the door behind him. 

In the dim light, his hair fell over his forehead, and his white t-shirt made your heart melt just a bit. Under his large arms, his t-shirt was too tight. Perhaps you weren't used to seeing him in his regular clothes, which is why you were still excited when you were around him. 

“What now?” you muttered as you sat on the bed and observed him approach you. 

He joked, “Don't get excited; I'm just here to make some conversation,” and sat down next to you right away. 

You said, almost in a whisper, “Which is about?” while he briefly studied your body.

His darkened eyes lingered on your revealing nightgown, but you remained silent, intensifying the tension in the moment. 

Ben's desire to force your body to the covers, get on top of you, take off your sweatpants, and get you ready for some post-breakup fucking was unbearable. He was well aware that you never touched yourself when you were by yourself in the house, and that really disturbed him because he knew that he was the reason for it. Ben could tell by the way you looked at him and by the beating in your heart that your body still yearned for him, but he also understood that he had to rebuild your trust in every way. He had to take care of his meat by hand up until that point. 

After sighing and searching for the right words, Ben uttered, “About the thing I told you that we can discuss later.” He made an effort not to speak about Crimson bitch right away. She was the reason your nerves were already fragile. He had no reason to blame you for it. 

As he attempted to read how you were feeling, you questioned in a cold voice, “Why did you kill her? Was it unintentional?” 

You were curious as to whether he truly intended to murder her or if this was just another unintentional incident similar to the others. You needed to comprehend it, even though you didn't know why it mattered. 

After a while, he said, “I blew up,” and when you realized he hadn't done it on purpose to exact vengeance for you, your posture straightened. 

Ben said, “I was just trying to get information about you and your location before killing her,” as soon as he saw the look on your face. “I was cautious to do anything until she had spoken about you. But I was unable to control myself when she touched my nerves.”

“Did you kill her just because she was unfaithful?” You questioned him suspiciously, attempting to make sense of his motivations. Ben might tell you the truth or a lie, but you would still listen to him even if you weren't sure he would be completely honest with you. “In the end, it's her who deceived you. Whether Vought commanded her or not is important. She was the one who brought you there so they could capture you and then transport you to Russia.”

After pausing to comprehend what you were asking, Ben responded, “I would kill her anyway because of what she had done to both of us,” as if he had no idea how to answer properly. “Especially to you.” 

You said, your eyes softening with sorrow, “I wonder what you would do to me if I were the one to trick you, Ben,” knowing that, after all these years, loyalty was what mattered most to him. “Even if I had every right to do so.” 

“I would never hurt you,” he abruptly rejected, emphasizing each word in a hard voice. “I knew I would deserve it anyway.”

“I'm not so sure of that, Ben,” you said. “You're even more dangerous considering I'm getting weaker and you're ready to blow up anytime.” 

His smile expanding, he added, “Hey, don't say such things,” took one of your hands, placed it on his warm chest, and whispered, “You have every power over me.”

Under his focused gaze, your face flushed, and after a moment, you reluctantly withdrew your hand. 

“So, you're going to Herogasm tomorrow?” you said, attempting to change the topic. “Given how difficult it was to persuade you not to join decades earlier, you must have missed it quite a lot.” 

“Are you feeling jeaolus?” he asked with a mischievous smile, and you grimaced. 

“Why should I be? I'm just saying you might have missed the chance to join the party that you organized after all this time.”

“I'm not going there to fuck, baby; I'm not interested anymore,” he murmured, retaining an arrogant chuckle. “I'm going to call you when I get there.”

“I'm not sure.” You said to quit talking about Herogasm anymore. “I might be busy to pick up when you call.” Herogasm was the world's dumbest thing, especially since Ben founded it. 

“Why may be you even busy, anyway?” This time Ben uttered serious words: “I'll call you nonstop, so keep your phone with you every moment.”

You responded with the same heedlessness, “I might.” 

Ben smiled playfully and narrowed his eyes. “Since you too need to take care of yourself, it will actually be good for us to be apart for just a small amount of time.”

You naively asked, “About what?” as though he would make a crucial point. 

“You might as well relax on this bed while I'm away because I’m pretty aware of you're not touching yourself, knowing I'd hear you in a second, huh?”

You became the deepest shade of scarlet in your cheeks and murmured, “I can't believe you.”

“I'm not making fun,” he declared with seriousness. “It is also a bodily necessity. You don't have to reject playing with yourself a bit. Being the reason is something that irritates me a lot.”

“I don't feel ashamed of taking care of myself because of you or anything else,” you immediately argued, ignoring the heat on your cheeks. “I have no problem touching myself while you're here. It's not all that important.” 

Ben arched an eyebrow at your quick, brave, “If you say so,” followed by a sigh. 

“I'm serious here, Ben,” you continued, growing agitated by his haughty demeanor and enormous ego. “I'll prove it.”

He studied your figure and growled in a low voice, “I won't promise that I won't focus on you or listen to the way you sound.”

“Then don't.”

Next Chapter

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A/N: Comments and reblogs are appreciated very much.  They keep me going. ♡˚.

Taglist: @mostlymarvelgirl @xmariakx @spnfamily-j2 @suspicious-stain-in-spain @atomicsoulcollecto @yvonneeeee @starryperson @mfnqueen1 @chaand-sitara @boywivlove @stilinskisthings @brynanna @delaynew @yoyoanaria @n-o-p-e-never @ghostslillady @certifiedhaters @deans-spinster-witch @demodemo909 @stoneyggirl @cheynovak @libby99hb @moneyburner @jenn-777q @hey-there0-0  @purplerosequartz @shadowghoul2525 @darkqueen1995 @simpin4pixels @deebris @spideybv28

[royalpicaro]

Here are the typed numbered points, final thoughts at the end DISCLAIMER: I used a Sonic ref page from GAMING 2019 to help with mapping and finding out what features match up with the guide lines. I think this is perfectly okay to do for LEARNING purposes like this one.

1. His hair is based off of fresh hair growing after a shave. The Awkward Phase™ 2. I'm terrible with front view shoes >.< 3. Ear tufts! 4. Marks are just slanted rectangles. 5. I will avoid drawing more hands than needed LMAO 6. Based off of a standard sneaker design. 7. Fluffy tail! 8. (Dot) Points of interest. 9. I like the tuft going back this far. 10. Faded and non-faded symbol of Phenthoma's(Fen-tohm-ah) lab. 11. Phenthoma lab symbol on the back of glove. Just the left glove. 12. Phenthoma is a character that is no longer living. A vital part of Elliot's past. We hate her. >:( 13. A design will be here in time! 14. In the short 30 min. that I have been desigining and mapping, I've already figured out how the torso is shaped. If you struggle, I highly rec mapping the characters. EXTENDED: I was still on the first pose when I did this and this genuinely helped me visualize where to put what parts where. 15. Triangles and squares are your best friends! 16. I HATE this angle!! 17. Anything to avoid hands 💅 18. In the mapping pic, you can see I'm much more comfy without too many shapes. EXTENDED: By this time, I already knew how to make the torso and how to position the arms and tuft. The head and body are very much oddly proportional. I believe the reason why we believe it's not is because of how large Sonic and others' quills are because Amy doesn't really have this issue. It works though and I wouldn't have the characters any other way. 19. I wanted to convey that Elliot is VERY fluffy hence the tufts of fur everywhere. EXTENDED: I know this sounds obvious, but I based Elliot off of those giant fluffy wolves that I just wanna hug. Elliot could easily be a pillow for anyone with all his fluff. He is definitely the type to look bigger when dry, but the second he is dunked in water, he looks like a very skinny wet rat. Think of those fluffy cats that look big but shrink SO MUCH when they get a bath LMAO 20. I now know my problem angles, but also how to use non-Sonic ref pics for bigger and better pieces! :D Now, my final thoughts: This was incredibly helpful! I never was really good with Sonic anatomy and I always struggled with it. I love how I was able to find my problem areas and improve on them in such a short amount of time. I want to do bigger pieces with Elliot, but at the moment, I have no plans on writing anything around this character other than the needed empty spots in the lore(THE LORE!!!). Such as Phentoma's full story and how Dean, Elliot's first love, died by Phen's hands. If there is any interest in this then I can answer some questions about the story. Though, warning, Elliot might be a very boring character. Here's some tidbits: He doesn't have the rage of someone who has lost a lot, even though he has, indeed, lost a lot. He's let it go with time. He values maturity in approaching situations with understanding instead of violence or raising his voice. He doesn't like to fight even though he is more than capable. He collects silly things and is hard to aggravate. He's kind and caring, even to those he knows have hurt him or others. He's just a project that was successful and that cost him everything. He hates stargazing, but loves to see the stars in people's eyes when they speak about something they're passionate about. He doesn't mind if his body is submerged in water, but he will not submerge his head. I think that's enough droning on. Even though there's more, I feel like this post is long and intimidating enough to read. Intimidating in the sense of just how much there is. Anyway, please tell me about your Sonic ocs if you have them! I LOVE to learn about other's ocs and how many cool concepts there are!

[wings-of-ink]

I also want to start and IF, im already a writer on wattpad and I want to expand my horizons but I have absolutely no clue about coding and stuff

Is it difficult to code?

That is awesome and wonderful! I highly encourage you to take the plunge and try it out. I would not say coding is difficult, but it's not exactly easy either. You're literally learning a new language depending on how deep into it you go. For me, the way I did it was to learn, say, basic phrases ("Where is your bathroom," or "I'd like a glass of water") and grammar for this language. I'm not fluent, but I'm getting by. You don't have to have it mastered before you start.

For a long-winded breakdown, see below!

I knew absolutely zero code when I started this out. I just knew I wanted to do it so badly. There are good resources online to help you as well, especially questions on forums because we are not the only newbies in this with questions. I find the Twine cookbook thing to be a bit of a nightmare to understand, lol. I am more a type of person that needs to see something in action or do something to truly get it. I cannot just read something and understand it at all.

Two things I did that helped me a lot was to start a Twine project and enter all the code I learned into it and I also started a story to test it all out. I made notes to myself in these to remind me of what they do and how they work as well. I still have those and use them when I learn new things or if I find a new macro that I want to use.

If the Twine documents don't work for you, do a simple internet search for what you need. I started to learn the Harlowe code first, and I honestly found that more difficult than Sugarcube. As a side note, when I started this, I didn't even know that there were multiple languages that Twine could use! When you find a guide or a forum post that is useful, save it! Copy/Paste it or bookmark it. Put the code in Twine and test it right away. You'll find that it all starts making more sense to see it in action.

I can't tell you how many times I've Googled "Twine Sugarcube *insert code issue or desired outcome.*"

I also recommend finding a free coding class just to familiarize yourself with the basic function of html. I did one on codeacademy.com. There's also youtube videos out there from people who really know what they're doing.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows, so go into it knowing you are going to have really aggravating moments. I had times where I was trying so hard to understand this stuff that ended in a few tears of frustration. I'm a person who believes they can learn to do anything, but it takes pushing through those frustrating moments to get there. Our brains sometimes literally try to get us to quit stuff when it gets hard - we are wired to take the easy way out and when it's not easy, the brain is like - THIS IS PAIN. But I feel that if you push against that anyway, you'll get over that wall and things will start falling into place.

Sorry for rambling and I hope this helps you in some way, Anon! ^_^

I could go on, but for your sake, I'll stop there lol. If you have any other questions, please feel free to drop them in!

[myocsfanfictions]

South Side Story

Shameless Fanfiction

Desna Hills has come living in the Southside of Chicago four years before. Taken in by Kev and V, Desna is close friends with the Gallaghers. Let's see how this Southside story unfolds.

MASTERLIST

《 Previous - Next 》

Chapter 21

V's bachelorette party went very well. Desna went with her and Fiona to a night club. They had danced, drank and laughed.

Desna loved when V and Fiona brought her with them. She felt older. An adoult. And for some reason she even felt prettier and more confident.

They walked back home, but since the day after V and Kev would have gotten married, Desna and V would have slept to the Gallaghers, to not let Kev see the bride.

When they got inside the house, no one was at home. Carl was with Lip at the Alibi, for Kev's bachelor party. For what Desna remembered, Ian was at Kesh's house, for their date. And Debbie and Liam were at Sheila's, so that they wouldn't spend the night alone.

"V," Fiona said to her friend, "You sleep with me? Desna can sleep in Debbie's room," V agreed as she walked up the stairs, "That's fine by me. Des?"

"Sure," she answered following the other two upstairs. It didn't take long for Desna to fall asleep. By the time she had taken her dress off and her face hitting the pillow, she fell in a deep sleep. She never woke up. And her sleep had been dreamless, but peaceful anyway.

When she woke up, the next morning, Desna could hear some faint voices from downstairs, but she could not understand what they were saying. She got up, looking around. She needed something to cover herself. She had forgotten her pijamas.

When she opened the door, to look in the corridor, she noticed Lip getting out of his room. She smiled seeing him. He clearly got an hungover. But even in his conditions, ge had noticed her on the door.

"I've really drank too much," he said with a smirk, eyeing her from head to toe. Clearly liking see her wearing only her bra and panties.

Desna giggled as she walked towards him, with crossed arms. "I defenately can say that."

Lip's eyebrows rose, "That bad?"

Desna touched his forehead, "You tell me, Pil," he chuckled. Someone had wrote his name backwards on his forehead. He didn't even washed it away the night before. He must have been wasted.

"And what are you doing here?" He asked taking another good look at her, "Seducing me?"

She laughed, "I was hoping more on a shirt," Desna said.

"How cruel," he said, "Wait here," Desna looked at him as he get back in his room. Lip didn't take long before getting back with one of his shirts.

"Thank you," she said happily, but he took it out of her reach. "Can I have a kiss first?" He smirked. And even if she would have liked to tease him a bit, Desna really wanted to kiss him. So with a smile, she circled his neck with her arms, before crushing her lips to his. She heard Lip smirk against her, before hugging her waist, deepening the kiss. Desna's fingers went to his hair, loving the way Lip kissed her.

"I'm maid of honor and I don't know you had a brother," Fiona's voice got Desna attention, making her break the kiss.

"What is it?" Asked Lip with a frown, but Desna shushed him.

"There's a reason for that," she heard Kev. Desna got closer to the stairs.

"He bust out of preason?" Fiona asked.

"Last night," Kev answered.

"Oh shit," Desna muttered. Lip got more confused.

"What was he in for?" Fiona was asking sitting on the couch, with a cup of coffee in her hand. Desna could already see the distress on V's face as she paced the livingroom wearing only her bra and underwear.

"Aggravated assault, larceny and arson," V answered angrily.

"Arson?" Lip asked from behind Desna, as they made their way down the stairs, "Who you talking about?"

"V's brother," Desna answered, and then she walked to the chair to sit down.

"Oh, is that, like a sibling brother, or a black-guy brother?" Lip asked confused, making Desna glare at him.

"Remember the fire at Curves in the mall?" V started to say, putting her clothes back on, "That was him," Lip turned to Desna, that nodded. She still remembered that day. It had been hell.

"He loves setting fire to things," V kept explaining, "And he hates women. It was the perfect storm," Fi had wide eyes, while Lip had lit up a cigarette, walking towards where Desna was, taking a sit on the arm of the chair she was sit on.

"He's nuts." Kev exclaimed and Desna did not feel to disagree. He was not a presence she felt very comfortable with, "Serious, he's nuts. He came at me. I had to fight my ass off."

Desna's eyes widened, "You okay?"

"Yes, babe," Kev answered, before keep telling his story. "Then one time I'm having a brew, he came up to me; all: 'Ass cunt fuck!' on me."

Fiona frowned, "Is he retarded?"

"He's got Tourette," answered Desna.

"Yeah, coupled with bipolar disorder and drinking problem," V added, "He's a shrink's wet dream."

Desna and Lip shared a look.

"What do we do now?" Desna asked turning to V.

"Kick his ass back to prison," exclaimed the woman, "You know this, Des. If there's one person you can always count on to fuck things up, it's Marty." Desna nodded her head, silently. "I'm going to talk to him," she said, gesturing to Kev to follow her.

"I'm coming too." Fiona said standing up.

"What do I do?" Desna asked.

"You stay here," V said as they walked towards the door. "He's far too agitated."

"Alright," Desna muttered, looking at the door closing. Then she stood up.

"Is it bad?" Asked Lip with brow raised as he blew out some smoke.

Desna shrugged her shoulders, "I wouldn't say 'bad', but surely is an inconvenience."

V wanted nothing but to spend a good daw for her wedding, and she really didn't want anything to ruin it. But Marty could be really stubborn and since he had broke out of preason they rather had to convince him to turn himself in, or call the police. And everything before that afternoon.

"Hey," Lip said, taking her hand so that she could look at him, "It's going to be fine," he assured her, his hands on her hips, "And we are going to have so much fun tonight."

She let out a little giggle. She barely could wait for Lip to see her dress.

"Yes?" He asked pulling her close to give her neck a quick kiss.

"Yes," she answered pulling back, "But go take a shower. I really can't take you seriously with 'Pil' on your forehead."

He chuckled, his lips pecked hers, "Alright. Eat something." She nodded as he walked towards the stairs. Then Desna went to the kitchen to eat some cereal with a cup of milk. In the mean time both Ian and Carl had woken up.

"Hello, gorgeous," said Carl, still wearing the clothes from the days before.

"Hello, Carl," she answered pushing the pack of cereal to him. "Did you have fun yesterday?"

He nodded, "There were strippers." Desna nodded, "I really don't wanna know," then she got up to get closer to Ian.

"What are you doing here?" She asked on a whisper, "I thought you had a date."

Ian looked at her, after making sure that his brother was busy with something else.

"It was too strange," he muttered, "In his room. His and his wife's room. And with all the pictures of their sons."

"That's awkward," Desna could not find it difficoult to believe thst Ian had decided to ran away. "What are you planning on doing now?"

Ian shook his head, "I don't know." Desna smiled affectionstely, before going on her tiptoes, to kiss Ian on the cheek.

"You'll figure it out," she said as he nodded looking at her, "And if you think about calling things off, you're handsome, I'm sure all the boys in Chicago wants to have their way with you."

Ian let out a chuckle before kissing her temple.

After that, Desna decided to go upstairs to wash and change herself. When she reached the top, she saw Lip in his room. He was wearing only his jeans and he was drying his hsir with a towel.

"You like what you see?" He asked noticing her on the door frame.

"You know I like it," Lip chuckled, looking at her. "I like it too."

Desna shook her head, before heading back to the bathroom. Since they decided to get back at their situationship, Desna could feel that there was something different between them. But she really did not want to ask anything. She wanted to enjoy Lip's attentions. Lip became restless everytime she had tried to ask what he felt for her, so she decided to wait.

After having washed up, she went back to Debbie's room to take her belongings. But when she entered, her eyes went to her phone. She had recieved a message. Curiously she took her phone in her hand, and opened the notification.

Hi.

It said only that. Desna looked up at the number, but it was written 'Unknown'. Who could that be?

"Des, you want my pants, so you don't have to put yesterday dress on?" Lip had entered, making her turn to the door. "You okey?" He asked with a frown. He was too intelligent to miss anything.

"Just a message," she said. And that seemed to get him curious as he got close.

"From who?"

"It's unknown," she answered with a shrug of her shoulders, heanding the phone to him, "Probably they got the wrong number."

He read the message, before frown again, "Could have said more."

"Or not," she said taking the phone back, "I really don't want a dirty text from a stranger."

That made him chuckle, "And from me?"

She pushed him playfully, "Stop it," she sid with a laugh, "I want to go see if V and Kev need help with Marty."

He nodded his head, "Cool," he said, "Let's go."

After she got ready, pulling some of Lip's clothes on, Desna was ready to go out. Lip went with her as he promised and Carl had decided to go with them. But when they arrived at Desna's house, they caught Fiona, V and Kev holding a ladder, where Debbie had climbed to look inside the house.

"Call the cops on my own brother?" V was saying, "It's always like this. Nobody can be center of attention. It's always gotta be about him," then she yelled, "You should be in a nuthouse!"

"What's going on?" Lip asked with a frown.

"Veronica's brother is threatening to burn the place down," Fiona expalined to them.

"What?" Exclaimed Desna.

"Cool," said Carl from in front of her, that decided to ignore him.

"He's saying that he's gonna light thr dress and the shit-sack house on fire," Debbie said from above them.

"Oh shit," Desna muttered, sharing a look with V and Kev.

"What a shit-sack?" Debbie asked with a frown.

**************

Tag List: @th3h0nkz @aunicornmademedoit @g0thchick

If you want to be add to the tag list just let me know.

If you liked it, plerase leave a ♥️ and reblog!

[gffa]

Do you know if there is a good way to follow dick/babs ship tags (besides blocking #anti dickbabs) without getting the really nasty dick/babs (and just babs in general) hate? Recently tumblr has been suggesting some really unpleasant posts, which, fine, I can just scroll past, but I was wondering if you had any suggestions. I really don't want to block dick/kory because even though it's not my ship, some of their stuff is really cute and if it's quality art/stories/posts I like to see it too.

Anyways, I love your posts!

I know exactly what you're talking about, anon. :/ Pretty much the only thing I've found is to just start blocking people who put that crap in the tags and it helps a lot! You'll still see the cute Dick/Kory stuff from the cool fans (I'm lucky that I have a handful of very sweet fans I follow on my dash), but you won't see so much of those posts that tear down Dick/Babs just to prop Dick/Kory up. I know it can sometimes feel kind of defeatist to start blocking people or tags, just because a few bad actors ruin the fun for you, but sometimes you gotta ask yourself if it's really worth the aggravation of seeing the nasty comments just to see the occasional cute thing? It doesn't have to be forever, you can block a person or a tag just when you're feeling particularly unwilling to deal with people who can't stay in their lane or who have to tear down something else to build up their thing. Take care of yourself first, find what makes you happy first, even if you're a big person who can pull up their big person undies and just scroll past it, sometimes you want a gentler experience and that's okay. Just block "anti dickbabs" and block anyone who doesn't tag their posts with that and it's okay if you don't see everything for awhile as you settle down. Those cute stories/art/posts will still be there when you're feeling up to navigating the rougher waters! (I will say I've been struggling with this as well, because I'm a big girl who knows where her scroll button is, people have to be allowed their space to like/dislike things and express that as they please, etc., but sometimes it's hard to not feel resentful that it's so constantly being put into the tags that should be a pleasant experience for our ship, it's so hard not to let that behavior bleed over into being frustrated at other ships, when I know it's just a few bad actors, but also like. It's just so completely antithetical to what I'm looking for--I just am not going to be swayed by someone telling me, as I've seen, that I'm wrong for shipping Dick/Babs, but I would be potentially swayed by someone telling me what they liked about their ship. You know, if my nerves weren't currently feeling scraped raw.) (I hope it's clear that this is not aimed at all other shippers of Dick/Kory or any other ship, not even just those that express frustration about DickBabs, but a very specific sub-set of those who feel determined to barge into other lanes about it for other fans.) And, if you're like me, every time tumblr recommends something nasty to you, take that energy and make a cute Dick/Babs post and put it in the tag for me and others to see! You'll feel so much better for it!

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Arc 19, Reflections

Okay, so, Arc 19 > Arc 18, hands down. Not much better, in toto, since it still ran on idiot balls, contrivances and still centered on Echidna.

In terms of important stuff that happens, there's some reveals about Tattletale, good shit there. The portal, sure. And the reveal about Cauldron.

Couldn't we have had them without Echidna, the big stompy plot device with the cheat powers bag?

I'm not normally one to say 'quit talking, get to the action' about my fiction, and I get that the characters doing the talking were ones who couldn't necessarily do much about Echidna directly, but jesus christ the conversations that were being had while this giant monster is rampaging a block over got incredibly annoying, very quickly.

And fine, in 19.7 Tats explains it was her trying to find a new purpose, but I feel like 'survive the BIG STOMPY MONSTER THAT WANTS TO EAT YOU' is a good purpose for the short term, Tats. You don't need to focus on aggravating everyone about Cauldron and the Portal. I mean, hey, maybe if you hadn't kept talking about Cauldron, clone-Eidolon wouldn't have brought it up!

(Unlikely, granted, but still)

and then it brings us back to Echidna. Which again, was way too much focus on these guys. And she's just surviving everything that's throne at her, while also being huge and powerful on her own AND she makes evil clones!

And then, magically, somehow, the second Sundancer gets into the game, that's all it takes? The bitch survives EVERYTHING else everyone threw at her, but Sundancer kills her like that? *snap*?

Like, yes, Sundancer has an insanely powerful power. But still. Legends beams are supposed to be powerful. Eidolon is fucking Eidolon. Alexandria is Alexandria. And they were bringing out a whole bunch of other powerful capes and they couldn't even SCRATCH her?

Now, I'm not saying I don't get why Sundancer was less than willing to do it at first, why she needed time to get around to the idea, but also...

No? Bitch? You could have saved a lot of time and lives if you'd done it sooner.

Also, maybe I just missed it, but it feels like Trickster barely did anything to help Noelle in the fight, which didn't really line up with some of the stuff I'd read before now, but I'll admit I wasn't paying the closest of attention here, since my eyes were glazing over sometimes in the arc.

I'm glad we're finally gone with the Travelers, at least, thank fuck, but still.

I know we're gonna get to Wards!Taylor soon, though we have a few more arcs, and that's great, but what I really need to know, what I'm really desperate to know, is WHY. What did Taylor pick up as a Ward that actually helped the numbers?

Anyway, at least we DO know that the Bay itself is finally in a stable position... for two years. and that's great. But a blind reader... a blind reader is gonna be left waiting for the next shoe to drop on the Bay, right? Because that's all the story has done. Drop shoes on the bay like a centipede coming home from the gym.

And its really tiresome.

And it's only July.

It's

Only

July

All these shit has happened in three months. Way too fucking fast. Too much character growth in too little real time. Let these characters have a goddamn nap.

Maybe he will in the span of Arc 20 and the Arcadia thing, but I honestly doubt it.

I like Worm, I do. I'm bitching a lot, and I definitely didn't really enjoy the last three arcs much, but I hold out hope it will get better. Because there's a lot to like about Worm.

But also, fucking hell Emma is delulu and Sophia is psychotic beyond all belief.

[canonsinthehead]

So I Watched Bucchigiri?!... (My Review)

(Before you proceed, I'll assume you watched the show but honestly you can still read it since i will limit the spoilers for those who want to watch the show)

1.First Impression/Why did i Watched it?

Youtube Ad victim (yes you read that right), the clip showing a mixture of throwing hands and humour looked interesting and fun.

(this crunchyroll ad above) IM NOT GONNA LIE, I 100% WATCHED THIS SHOW BECAUSE OF OUTA TAHIDE'S FINE ASS IN THE AD (CLICKBAIT VICTIM).

2. Story (5/10)

Laconic: A Red Aladdin style genie demon have a 300 year old beef with his blue boyfriend so now a lame loser high schooler maxs his stats and have to fight but dont get it twisted CORN ADDICITON WILL PREVAIL!

ehhh... Trashcan come to the podium. The biggest issue of this show are the plot points & certain characters motivations/personalities (ehum, Arajin. Ehum, Mahoro). Some are gear grinding when they appeared on screen. I'm not gonna dig too deep but the story sounds good on paper but when you add the unsufferabble MC, everything falls down the drains (Matakara should have been the MC).

I understand this is supposed to be a funny show but some tropes fall flat and are aggravating at best. Honestly Arajin & Mahoro are eating up most of the points for this categorie (get the lame simpery and mincest out of here). Other characters and the storyline as a whole did their thing regardless of the cliché they carried BUT ITS HARD LOOKING PAST THE BAD.

3. Characters (9/10) (THE BEST PART)

Before diving deeper, Bucchigiri is a mid show with AMAZING & GREATLY DESIGNED CHARACTERS. Aside from my thirst for Outa, I've looked up other characters before watching the show anf their designs are really good (MAPPA delivered). Which is why i'm disappointed to see them mishandled like that.

Also y'all couldnt have another female character to balance out Mahoro? (please omfg)

3.5. Simplified Characters Impresssions

MATAKARA(LEFT): Welcome back Suzaku Kururugi! ARAJIN (RIGHT): Walking Trashcan, Weirdo Simp from the deepest part of the abyss & Certified Mean Girl.

KOMAO (LEFT): My Ray of Sunshine (Is that a skirt and some dreads? SLAY!) ZABU (RIGHT): Min Yoongi (Suga)

MARITO: Mahito (JJK) + Boutarou the Pirate (Golden Kamuy) + The Pink haired dude from Sk8 the Infinity. OUTA: Some tanning slipped into the Manwha Male algorithm.

THEM TOGETHER : 2025 MatchaBlossom (sprinkle some crack over it)

JABASHIRI (RIGHT): So this is where Zabuza went after dying... Justified Hater of the MC (i stan with him) btw bro a hard head makes a soft ass... HAGURE (LEFT): Under heavy protection, Jabishiri should have beat you up for how you did him during the fighting tournament. I Knew you couldnt fight but i love you anyway... THEY ARE MY FAVOURITE DUO I CANT LIE (or ship i guess).

ARAJIN'S MOM (LEFT): Emotional Wincest Boy Mom MAHORO (RIGHT): That one sided bro/sis wincest in anime. GOING TO HELL IN A CASKET.

I'm not gonna say more.... (Nanami your boy is tweaking)

CAT DUDE (LEFT): Kiba Inuzuka's arch nemesis + Ouran High School Host Club KEN (RIGHT): Tekken/Street Fighter Character + King of Rule34

Well...

4. Watching Experience (5/10)

Yall know i will never complain about a 12 episodes anime (shout out to GANGSTA) but this serie would have benifited from more episodes with the story it was trying to go for. Because it really gave EASILY FORGIVEN and lets all dance around the campfire (wait arent yall opposite gangs or we dropping it and merging together?!.)

Like ive said the MC slowed down the watching experience because i had to actually leave and come back to later due to being so pissed off.

5. Do I Recommend?

As crazy as it sounds, i do recommend it. the 12 episodes will not take too much of your time and these characters a worthy of being love and appriciated to the fullest (the fanart is kinda dry).

In a way this series is a win for me regardless my complaints because the fights are cool as hell and its really showed me how to make great characters regardless the setting. I can see how this show could be a banger to others and it definetly can.

FINAL REVIEW (5/10)

Thanks for Coming to my TED Talk!

[babblingeccentric]

Strawhat Real World Jobs

Yes Oda did give out alternate jobs for all the strawhats in an SBS but I will die before I accept Zoro as a cop and I have a few other quibbles and elaborations I'd like to put forth for Modern AUs. I want you to keep in mind that I'm writing this from a distinctly US American point of view so some of the job cultures may be slightly different to your locality.

Luffy- Firefighter: this one is correct. Luffy needs a job that is highly physical with low organization and intelligence requirements (sorry) This man is not going to college. He isn't a hero but there's no other legal way to get the adrenaline rush he needs. Also firefighters have a higher tolerance for fistfighting than other jobs, but not as much as construction. I think he could do construction labor if needed but I also think he would get bored. He would also be a PR nightmare as a professional athlete or wrestler. Could make it as a YouTuber but only if someone else edited his videos. Honestly YouTuber Luffy is your best choice if you want to preserve the feel of canon in a modern world.

Zoro- Cop: I'm sorry Oda but this is dumb as shit. Zoro would get asked to serve an eviction to a struggling mother of three or clear out a homeless encampment and quit on the spot. Or he would get into fights with other cops and get walled out and have to quit. He could still be a swordsman as a professional Kendo fencer? Athlete? Idk what they call those but he'd go on the pro circuit and absolutely decimate. He'd teach at a dojo in the off seasons. I'd also see him as an athletic trainer. I think Zoro could make it through college

Nami- Nursery School Teacher: While Nami is canonically very fond of children and quite good with them this feels like kind of a cop out. I think meteorologist suits her skills really well and I think she could kill it in the looks contest that weather anchors have to play.

Sanji- Stylist: I love this one so much. Idk what the original was but a stylist in the US refers to either a personal stylist which is a person who picks rich people's outfits or a hair stylist which is a person who cuts and styles hair, usually women's. Both jobs are associated with flamboyant gay men. He goes to his job and he gasses up women and calls men ugly for eight hours and then comes home and cooks Luffy dinner because he got texted a picture of the most fucked up eggs you ever did see that morning.

Ussop- Graphic Designer: I honestly have no notes. Yeah Ussop can hold down a steady job, and yeah it should be art focused. What is art but lying anyway?

Chopper- Grade School Teacher: This one is just so cute. He's got a childishness to him that makes kids like him and he has a soft caring personality that makes him good at his job. He can also be strict when he really has to. I agree Chopper would be a great elementary school teacher

Franky- Pilot: I guess? The thing is I think flying a plane for a job is both stressful and boring and I honestly don't think it suits him as well as say mechanic. I think Franky would be great as a mechanic souping up hot rods and doing weird custom jobs and he would be very entrenched in the local car scene. I also do just love mechanic characters

Robin- Flight Attendant: We all know this is just for Frobin reasons. And while the idea of a hand sprouting from your fold down tray to serve you your in flight meal is charming Robin deserves better than being Franky's beautiful assistant. Also I don't wish customer service upon her after all her suffering. I think she would be a great lawyer. She's smart, she's eloquent, she's poised- she'd kill it in the courtroom. She does corporate law for Crocodiles unethical company for a ridiculous sum before quitting to start her own firm and defending Luffy's numerous aggravated assault charges cause she likes him.

Brook- Detective: I'm not really sure why they picked this but I now want a detective story where Brook runs around solving mysteries (wait isn't that just skullduggery pleasant?)

Jinbe- Train Station Attendant: This is really cute, but we all know he'd be a retired yakuza boss. Maybe in some wild world where none of the strawhats turn to crime. I think he would be a local institution and know a lot of people and ask them about their families and such

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

P5R Random Thoughts #2

(I am currently doing a blind playthrough of this game. Please no spoilers in the tags or notes if you can help it!)

So far I've seen two Persona awakenings: Joker's and Ryuji's. (Morgana already had a Persona so I'm curious about how he awakened but I presume the story will get to that later.)

The neat thing about the awakenings is that they are undeniable triumphs but also not a cure for their problems.

You might think, well duh, they've still got all the cruel things and people in the outside world to contend with - but I'm actually not talking about the external. I'm saying the awakenings are a breakthrough for their inner problems but that they don't "fix" their internal struggles completely.

It's really notable in Ryuji's awakening. Ryuji hears "you're a punk", "nobody's going to look beyond that", "you only cause problems for others", etc., and says. Yeah actually. I'm a punk. Let's roll, baby. And then awakens to a goddamn pirate which is great.

It's triumphant, because Ryuji doesn't say "that's not who I am", Ryuji says "actually, asshole, that's exactly who I am, and you have no right to look down on me for it". Tells him off for looking down on him while smiling then shoots him a cocky, arrogant grin right back. Good for him! *wipes tears* Good for him.

However... as much as this is a triumph, it also suggests some concerning things about the way Ryuji views himself. He spends the entirety of the build up before this point lamenting the fact that he can't do anything useful, even though he brought things with him that he thought would help. In fact, he near constantly brings it up and looks incredibly guilty about it - and what's more, when it comes to the track team and what happened, even though it was Kamoshida who aggravated him and broke his leg, Ryuji doesn't deny the accusation that the track team's disbanding was his fault. Ryuji accepts the notion that he causes problems for other people, when in actuality, he does his best to be as helpful as possible and hates people who take advantage of others. He's trying to offset all these internalized beliefs that he is somehow a "bad influence" and "nothing but trouble" - so, he's caught between the ideas of "I'm a bad influence. So what?" and "I'm a bad influence. I need to make up for that by pulling my weight as much as I possibly can." It seems Ryuji genuinely thinks he's not that great of a person which... come on. I hope we get a bit of resolution to this later on... because he's not a bad influence at all. At least, not on Joker. It's the other way around actually.

As for Joker, I've talked a bit before about how he has the spirit and the compassion and the raw anger to fight against injustice, but is currently rather directionless. The story will likely show him becoming more certain about his beliefs and convictions, and more importantly, what to do with them.

As for my other random thoughts so far:

Morgana is so self-interested and kind of hilariously morally grey. "They seem useful for my goals." "We don't have time to be worrying about other people!" (after they stopped to rescue him...) "Yeah you suck Blondie. Anyways, Frizzy Hair-" *points at shadow* "KILL." Is it bad that I find him genuinely amusing at this point?

Red-haired ponytail girl showed up and she's really, really nice to people. Like... to the point where I'm a bit suspicious? Ugh maybe this is just me being naturally mistrustful but she's really kind of overly nice, and it makes me feel like she's compensating? That plus the promise/deal she talked about at the beginning... I don't know. Consider me curious anyways. All those comments about how thin she is though... I hope she eats properly? Like this situation could easily be a suspicious one or it could be driven by insecurity and self-hatred. Or she could just be nice and I'm overthinking it.

Love the transitions and the way you can see other characters in the background sometimes before their proper introductions. The little details and the overall feel of the game is really nice. Like, I'm pretty sure the girl in the pink sweater is Haru, right? And you get a little bit about how she's maintaining a garden on the roof? (She seems precious, honestly.) Also Joker and Ryuji walked right past Sae and Sushi Boy, which is really funny to me. And in the main menu! If you switch too fast between options, Joker crashes into the screen dfhvndifjvn

Speaking of the menu, in the background, you can see Joker holding his hand up and out, which shields his face from player view, and the words "Don't look at me" in the background... hm... more characterization for the boy, I suppose

[w1ld-wr1t3r]

Trick or treat? 🩷🫶🏼🫂

I shake up my treat bag of writing goodies, reach inside, and pull out your random prize . . . behind-the-scenes of a fic or series! Congrats, trick-or-treater!

Hmm . . . let's go to my Star Wars AU for this one! All about how it was created, my reasoning for certain lore and narrative choices, and how some of my ideas are panning out:

When I say that the idea for this AU grabbed me out of nowhere and started running, I am not exaggerating. I was literally watching the sequel trilogy one weekend, and it happened to be a race weekend too, so F1 was on my mind already. I think I thought something like, "Man, imagine the skill needed to pilot an X-wing properly. And to do it without dying in battle, too!" And then all of a sudden, I was also thinking about how much skill it takes to drive an F1 car without crashing it (because I think we can all agree that most of us wouldn't last five seconds behind the wheel of a racecar. If their necks have to be THAT muscular just to withstand the g-forces, then clearly I don't stand a chance). One thing led to another and now here I am.

I knew from the beginning that I was making this AU in the Rebels vs. Empire era. The prequels are fine, but I wasn't about to make everyone Jedi or something when I knew Order 66 was on the horizon. Plus, the original trilogy era is just generally more exciting to me. And I ruled out the sequel trilogy era immediately. After that train wreck of a trilogy, I would rather stay away from it. (To be fair, I do enjoy watching the sequels. They're entertaining at the very least, and do have genuinely good moments in them. But if you focus on the story too much, you start to notice the plot holes, confusing story directions, and aggravating character choices. Why is The Force Awakens just Episode IV all over again? Why couldn't Holdo tell Poe her plan in The Last Jedi, exactly? Who the heck was Snoke?? How did Luke and Leia know that Rey was a Palpatine but she didn't?? HOW DID PALPATINE COME BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?)

(*deep breath* Phew, sorry about that! Got a little carried away. Anyway:)

The decision to make Lando Force-sensitive was an easy one. My favorite Star Wars show is Star Wars Rebels, and one of the main characters, Ezra Bridger, is a kid who doesn't realize he can use the Force until he happens to run into a rebel group that includes a former Jedi, which eventually leads to him getting hunted down by an Inquisitor, one of the Empire's official Jedi hunters. Lando's story is similar in a way: he joins the Rebellion, eventually realizes "wait a minute, do I have the Force?" and then has to deal with an Inquisitor on his tail when he accidentally reveals too much of his abilities. He's not super strong in the Force, because I didn't want to make him too over-powered, but he can sense things before they happen, move a bit faster than others, sense the emotions and intentions of people around him, and, his most special power, he can use the Force to heal others. Now this last power, I will admit, is actually inspired by the sequel trilogy. By certain scenes from The Rise of Skywalker, in fact. If you're familiar with the movie, then I think you can venture a guess at what might happen to Lando and/or someone he cares about at some point in the story. (no, I'm not elaborating further. You'll find out more when I get around to publishing it! ;) )

Writing this AU has been happening in short bursts. I have about half of the main story loosely outlined and a few of the major scenes written out, but I still have to figure out how to start the story. I also have ideas for side stories and sequels as well, but I haven't started writing most of those yet. I mostly just submit to the whim of my muse when I sit down to write, so if I sit down planning to work on one fic but my mind says I should work on something else, I listen to what my impulses are telling me. I find that I tend to write better (and write more) that way. In fact, I'm actually just coming out of a dry spell for this AU. I opened up the document again the other day and now I'm feeling motivated to write in it again. Hence why I picked it for this ask, it was on my mind already!

To the surprise of absolutely no one, this is mainly a Norrix AU. However, other ships and dynamics will appear too, sometimes just in the background, other times in their own installments in the series. I already know for sure that I want to include Brocedes (though the jury is still out on whether it'll be platonic or romantic in the end). I'm sure we're all familiar with how their drama went down in real life. And in Star Wars, what could be more dramatic than two friends torn apart because one joined the Rebellion and the other joined the Empire? Oh yeah, it's that kind of drama for Lewis and Nico! Will we see an Imperial defect to the Rebellion and fight alongside his childhood best friend again, or will we see them permanently torn apart by intergalactic war? Who knows!

Other relationships that may appear are Loscar and maybe Bearnelli. I have fic ideas involving both but we'll see if I actually get around to writing them.

One more thing about this AU is that I decided pretty early on that if I was gonna write about war, then I wasn't going to shy away from the bad parts. I'm not gonna just torture all of the characters for no reason, but if the plot demands it, let's just say that someone might end up in the med bay for a long while. I'm preemptively apologizing for what I have in mind for Oscar in the main story. And uh, maybe Ollie too, if I do end up writing that side story. They'll both be fine, don't worry!

Maybe.

[stranded-labyrinth]

post fall hannibal and will are regularly blowing each other's backs out on beaches and beds and every other available surface in cuba. life is good and they're killing and eating folks together on the reg. they learn and know everything there is to learn and know about one another, until one night they're cooking and hannibal sees a spider in one of the vegetables and five minutes later he's on the counter while will busts a lung laughing at him but gets rid of the spider in like five seconds while also identifying which kind it is and what its habitat usually is etc etc so basically a little fic based on your post and featuring entomologist will graham

i had to look at pictures of garden spiders for this. i hate you.

anyway, this didn't end up being very crackficy at all. as a matter of fact, this is just angst LOL. i'm sorry for taking it so far beyond the direction you wanted it to go in

also, big warning for arachnophobia, because spiders are talked about a LOT in this fic!

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

The weaving maiden, doomed to repeat her greatest accomplishment and gravest error for years to come.

Every so often, Hannibal found himself thinking back to her story. While he scarcely spoke of it, it had become one of his favorites.

There were two people on Earth who knew why Hannibal so frequently consumed human flesh, and one of them had counted herself amongst the dead that lay in his past. That left only one, who had stood alongside him, searing the other contender’s arm on a grill to show Hannibal the wonders of southern barbeque.

Then there was the classic depiction in Greek myth of mortals boasting to the divine, divinity striking down mercilessly until the mortal would indeed understand that there are fates worse than death.

Rule number one of the ancients: Never equate yourself to a god, nor place yourself above them.

Hannibal was quite certain that, should he have been born approximately 3,000 years prior, he would have been flayed open in public.

That being said, the myth was one of the only ones in existence to truly be able to make his skin crawl, and thus its horror was far more embedded into his mind than any of the other tragic tales of the Greeks (save for one that he’d lamented by heart for approximately four years).

People often made the mistake of assuming that spiders died off in the winter. They could not be more wrong.

There was a time years ago, during those frozen months in Lithuania, in which his captors had been able to keep their fires burning.

Their first goal had always been to simply obtain ransom money and be on their way. Hannibal could remember the glow of campfires then, Mischa asking him when they would be going home. He never had an answer for her.

He remembered killing all the spiders for her in their little den.

Easily frightened as she was, being so young, she sought her older brother when seeing something crawling horribly fast along the wall, or along the floor. Even sitting innocently in the corner, those little creatures frightened her, and thus they were swiftly sent back to whence all things came with a hard PAT.

There had been one that had passed them by, as it turned out. Mischa discovered it sitting in the corner and let out a shrill cry, loud enough that one of their captors had shouted at her for it. Hannibal did swiftly away with the offending arachnid, neither of them knowing what had already taken place before its discovery.

A day came not long after, closer to their freezing days, where Hannibal could remember Mischa growing sniffly. Searching around, he discovered the likely perpetrator: A dust bunny in the corner, aggravating her allergies.

He remembered grabbing it, hoping to remove it from their den.

He could almost forget her hunger pain induced cries when he remembered the way she screamed as hundreds of the spider's babies cascaded over them both. He had very nearly drowned her out with screams of his own that day.

Spiders, for every day since, were associated with exactly one scene in his mind: Fear, death, and the cold.

Arachnophobia, as people seemed to so commonly deem just about any distaste of the horrible little things, always seemed to be the butt of the joke. Something to be mocked for, something pathetic, something weak.

He was not weak.

That being said, he was rather fortunate that the concept never came up to begin with. In their little house, Hannibal had yet to see any of the cursed creatures. The most he’d hear of them were from Will, who would find one on occasion and inform Hannibal that he’d taken it outside, before going on about its species, where it was native to, the patterns of its body, and then inevitably inform Hannibal that he had just, in fact, been bitten by the little rascal.

Hannibal smiled to himself as he went on with his chopping in the kitchen, wondering just how much poor treatment at the hands of an animal Will could withstand. He imagined Will would forgive just about any creature that wasn’t human. Most of all, it was pleasant to be able to find himself unaffected by the knowledge of the arachnid’s presence, for once. Perhaps it could be said that it was because he never actually laid eyes on them.

In the middle of his thoughts, his eyes focused more on the pan he was pouring into than his hands, it seemed that the outer shell of the onion he’d been chopping was touching his hand. Odd, he thought he’d brushed those aside already.

And then it moved, and he glanced at his hand.

--------

Will stepped through the hall, brows furrowed in confusion. He could have sworn he’d heard his name be called, quickly and in a tone he’d never heard Hannibal use before, but he’d received no response when he called back.

“Hannibal?” he called, beginning to head towards the kitchen. “Are you–

Any question he may have had cut off entirely when he stepped into the kitchen, only to see Hannibal perched on the furthest possible counter.

Cowering.

Before he could so much as question him, eyes radiating concern, he spotted movement across the floor between them.

When his eyes locked onto it, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh hey there, little guy,” he cooed as he bent down, scooping the spider off of the floor and into his palms. “What are you doing inside? You’re never inside! Did someone leave the window open, hm? Were you curious?”

He doesn’t notice Hannibal staring at him, his eyes wide, his breathing shallow. 

“Oh, you’re a pretty little guy, aren’t you? Yellow garden spider!” Will declared proudly. “Oh, your stripes are just beautiful…”

Hannibal swallowed hard, willing his voice to not quiver as much as he was sure it would.

“Will.”

Will glanced at him, snapped out of his reverie by the reality of his petrified lover.

“Kill it.”

It was not a request. It was a command.

Will frowned.

“Hannibal, I’m not killing it, you know that,” he argued. “I’m just gonna take it outside.”

Hannibal’s mouth opened to speak, his vocal cords cut off when they were inundated with things he could say. Let it go so it can come back? So it can lay eggs? So it can bring its swarm?

So he’ll be drowned in frightened screams again, no longer knowing which are his own?

Will’s eyes raked over him, his frustration beginning to dissipate.

“Hannibal,” he began, daring to finally ask, “why are you on the counter?”

Hannibal did not answer, his eyes firmly locked on the vile creature in his lover’s hands.

Concern melted back into Will’s look. “Hannibal…” He took a step forward. “It’s not gonna hurt you, see? Look, it’s just–”

As Will held the little beast out, Hannibal flinched.

“Whoa– Okay, okay!” Will said quickly, taking several steps back. “Look, I’ll…I’ll just take it outside, okay? You won’t have to see it again.”

“It’ll come back,” Hannibal said, quiet enough that he was just barely heard. “It’ll come back in hundreds.”

Will stood still, as though searching for a solution. He had never seen Hannibal like this before, not ever. He had never seen Hannibal frightened.

As the creature moved in his hands, he could feel a particular spot beginning to itch. Looking down, he saw a rather familiar two pin pricks in the heel of his palm.

He sighed.

He dropped the spider to the floor.

And he stomped.

He swallowed hard, trying not to audibly gag at the distinct crunch feel beneath his shoe. The quick shattering of the exoskeleton, like tiny tectonic plates forced to shift beneath a great weight. A little world coming to an end.

He lifted his foot, staring down at the curled up remains of the critter he was going to let outside.

Some small agony swelled in his chest, and he looked to Hannibal, the way he always did.

Hannibal was finally breathing again, his face showing nothing but pure relief.

And the agony was gone.

Carrying the spider corpse to the window to give it a good toss outside, the realization dawned on Will that he would do just about anything to never see that fear in that man’s eyes again.

It wasn’t the first time he took a life at Hannibal’s behest that he never thought he’d take.

And Hannibal gazed at him the way he imagined humanity had been gazing at the moon for thousands of years, in silent awe of the beauty he was beholding.

Somewhere deep in his memory palace, a little boy had someone to kill the spiders for him, too.

[vees-genshin-blog]

Progress Check 3

How time flies, because we're finally at progress check 3!! "But, Vee," you might say, "it's only been 14 days?" Yeah, but if you see my first or second post, (which you probably haven't because why would you, why would anyone back read all the posts on this blog 🙃) I actually played for around a week before starting this blog so technically, this is week 3. I just started with day 1 because it's nicer to see day 1 instead of day 8 as the first "daily genshin" post.

Anyway moving on to the actual progress check!!

Character Builds

Since there wasn't much change for each character individually, I'm putting them all together this time!! As always, left is older build and right is current build.

Talent-wise, there was no changes because I still haven't farmed the right monster drops 😔. I'm too busy using the limited time I have to finish the story or use my resin to fulfill my dailies.

Weapon-wise, I gave Kazuha the fav sword and ascended it once. That's it.

Artifact-wise, oooh boy. It is both torturous and fun to farm artifacts because of the RNG. Though that might be because I was farming Emblem with a friend. If you guys have an IRL friend who plays Genshin, I definitely recommend calling and farming with them so you can have lamenting over your bad artifacts and celebrating when you get a decent (or godly) artifact 😊.

For Bennett, I leveled up his sands and replaced his goblet with another one I managed to get in the Emblem domain. My boy now has almost 300 ER which should hopefully be enough for his burst and being a battery for Xiangling's. Now I just need to get a better feather or goblet from the Noblesse domain!!

For Childe, I actually got a good Nymph feather for him!! I just haven't had a chance to level up to compare it with my current feather. Other than that, I finally got an ok 5-star hydro damage bonus goblet!! Hopefully it rolls into crit dmg for the rest of the rolls 🥹.

Xiangling basically got a complete makeover with a new flower, feather, sands, and goblet. I'm particularly proud of the flower because all the substats are good for Xiangling 🥹. Her ER is pretty good too and it'll get better once I level up the sands all the way. Now I just need an Emblem pryo damage goblet or crit rate headpiece (pls hoyo I'm not asking for much 🥹🥹🥹)

Kazuha..... I just leveled up his current artifacts. He's got nothing new because EM artifacts are rare as heck 😭😭😭😭. I just need an VV EM goblet and a 5 star EM sands (though the current one is ok because its better than nothing).

Oh yeah, I've decided that I'm gonna build an Aggravate Keqing team after this team is done!!

Game content

I'm almost done with the 5.1 Archon quest!! I think!!!

I unlocked a few waypoints in Natlan!!!

I didn't finish the Aphid event :(

I want to try the co-op event even though my characters are probably not as well built as I'd like them to be!!

Conclusion

We're slowly getting there with my Childe International team!! I need to finish 5.1!! I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be here so I can play more!!

That's all for this check, and I hope you all have a good day!!

PS: I'll try to write out day 15, but with all my studying, I'll either combine it with day 16 tomorrow or post it by itself tomorrow.

[docholligay]

As I couldn't be there last night, curious as to your Classic Who reactions. I grew up with it, and it's one of those comfort things for me, and there are some great characters, but I don't know that I would be able to get past the flaws of I didn't have the nostalgia glasses. It is, ultimately, a show created for kids to watch with their families and provide a modicum of educational content. And it shows, especially in Classic.

I do not mind my blorbo of a show being ripped apart -- my children do it all the time, with great specificity and knowledge of writing mechanics and structure. The pacing, in particular, has elicited numerous lectures in our house.

Yeah, we watched the Mind Robber, and it was, to people named Doc who are me, not very good. The pacing was extremely, i mean not even slow, but it was all over the place and the conclusion didn't seem to have any larger idea behind it. It was basically a schlocky sci-fi story from "Gee Whiz A Robot" magazine or whatever from the 60s.

And some of that can, of course, be chalked up to the time it was written in, but even earlier than this TZ was putting out sci-fi stuff that is dated now, admittedly, but still excellent--The Monsters are Due on Maple Street was written nearly ten years before this episode. And there are others stories and shows that were putting out stuff with much more thoughtful plotting and a shred of symbolism.

Apparently the whole idea of watching it was that it was meta, but, I don't think that's a definition I would support. Sure, i guess it's fictional characters going into a world where Gulliver is real, but there's no acknowledgement of their own fictionality, no discussion about the nature of writing and what it means to be real, nothing about what an author can do vs should do, even though everything I brought up above COULD have gone into the episode. So, I wouldn't be like "It's SO meta" naw, I think anyone seeking that would be disappointed in a story where one of the cliffhangers is our companions getting pressed into a book like some fucking violets.

I WILL say, for all of its flaws, I found this much much less irritating than that Goddamn Vincent Van Gogh episode, and I think it's because the show wasn't looking at me and going "I'm so clever. This is so meaningful" like it was in the Vincent one. I also hate the bowtie guy way more than this old guy. He's smug and aggravating, while I sort of loved how this guy seemed in over his fucking head and muddled half the time.

Anyway, I know DW is a show that ignites great passions, and I love that for people, but I've never seen an episode of it that made me "get it"

[em-writes-stuff-sometimes]

Hi, I'm in love with your writing and I'm currently trying to write a story with my friend. We're both quite good at doing descriptive writing and imagery but find it really hard to shift it into speach and such. I was wondering if you had any tips how to or if it's just like a skill or something. Have a good day anyways :)))) <3

Hey, nonnie!

Thank you so much for the question! I am not by any means an expert on this, but I like to think I've gotten alright at dialogue-heavy scenes. I'm the same with my writing; I prefer to write imagery/description.

First of all, remember that dialogue is meant to serve some sort of purpose in a narrative; cut out any small talk ("hi, how's the weather" etc. stuff) by summarising it and THEN go specifically into speech. Dialogue should push the plot forward or provide character-building information (i.e. audiences should understand the relationships between characters more after the dialogue takes place).

One of the things I've found helps is to write the dialogue FIRST - that is, write the dialogue out like a script. Then build the scene around it. It is a great way to make sure that you aren't bogging yourself down in imagery and losing track of what it is you want the characters to achieve by the end of the conversation. It's also a great way to keep motivation; the scene's 'hard bits' are already written, and all you have to do is add context for the speech so the audience can keep track of what is going on!

When it comes to things like stuttering, something I always find personally aggravating is when people only repeat the consonant sounds like "I w-w-wanted to!" That would essentially be a clicking noise before 'wanted', when stuttering is getting stuck on the word itself. It makes more sense to include at least one other letter to indicate the sound attempting to be pronounced in the repetitions, like "I wa-wa-wanted to!" Also consider the role of pauses, like your ellipses (...) or dashes ( - ), and your filler words like "uh" or "erm", or "hmm". These sorts of things can serve as character-building and also to add realism.

I hope this helps even just a little bit! Again, I'm not an expert by any means so if anyone else has any further tips that would be GREAT! Thank you so much!