#basic handwriting strokes

[eustassslut]

Piggybacking off of the Heat headcanons

What are some of the random quirks or habits of the main four that just kind of make them individuals? You mentioned Wire’s tapping, are there any other little things?

Eustass Kid:

Takes literally everything apart and reassembles it for fun if he's left unchecked.

Sleeps with his eyes open if he's really tired.

Refers to everyone as a bottom and says they're exhibiting bottom behaviours when they annoy him or do anything weird.

Never wears socks.

Incredibly paranoid and stands by the railings of the Victoria Punk just staring into the dark sea looking for ghosts.

Keeps a notebook tucked under his mattress with jokes he saves for future conversations so everyone thinks he's funny.

Scratches off his nail polish when he's bored of it.

Heat:

Juggles whatever he's holding or has nearby when he's bored.

Cannot sit still. His hands, legs or feet are always moving.

Talks like a fraternity brother.

Does everything in 7s.

Sits in his room in the dark beside a candle trying to read his own tarot card fortune because the "vibe has to be right man".

Also sometimes cartwheels around instead of walking.

Over-plans and has alternative plans for every scenario.

Killer:

Fucking loves monopoly; he collects the different themed boards.

Un-ironically loves those erotica novels aimed at middle aged white women.

Does yoga every morning on the deck to prepare himself for dealing with the Kid Pirates.

Has illegible handwriting that he can't even understand.

Eats a piece of dry pasta before he cooks it so he can check if it'll turn out nicely.

Stands way too close to people when talking to them.

Suspiciously strokes his goatee when he's having serious conversations and planning attacks.

Wire:

Taps every doorframe as he passes through them.

Raises a singular eyebrow every time he's confused. Had to teach himself how to do this.

Uses the Eeny Meeny Miney Mo rhyme to decide literally everything he does or buys.

Over explains everything and every explanation takes several minutes.

Sneezes in 4s.

Refuses to eat anything if it doesn't include some form of garlic.

Cracks basically every bone in his body and holds eye contact with people just to unnerve them.

[pinkhairedlily]

“I hope you forgive me for intruding.” Sakura’s former mentor sits at her desk. Tsunade still looks like she never ages, but Sakura notes the fine lines that sprinkle her temple. There are things that Tsunade has allowed to be—like time.

“You’re never a stranger.” Sakura approaches her for a hug. “Sorry about the mess, I finished at midnight.” Open scrolls on medicinal innovations litter her usual squeaky clean desk. 

Tsunade rolls her eyes and smirks, “Honey, have you seen mine?"

“Well, compared to Kakashi and Naruto, you did fine.”

Tsunade’s sight lingers on the edge of the files. Sakura traces her eyeline and sees what caught her attention. She fakes a laugh and tries to sweep the letter under another larger scroll.

“He’s writing?”

“To them.” Sakura notes the disbelief in Tsunade’s inquiry that bubbles under the surface. “Not to me.” She just basically told Tsunade that she steals these letters from her other teammates. Not that they would notice anyway, and sometimes Kakashi leaves them on her table.

Her mentor shrugs and throws an arm over her shoulder. They watch the cherry blossom tree outside of the office, long beyond its flowering season, but still a sight to behold. “Makes sense, considering how he writes.”

“It’s sparse, but he has always been economical that way.”

Tsunade stifles a laugh. “Didn’t I teach you about forensic handwriting?”

Sakura shakes her head, unsure of the conversation’s direction.

“Sasuke writes fast. His letters overlap, almost unintelligible, but whenever your name is mentioned, each stroke becomes heavier, bigger, leaves a more lasting imprint on the scroll. He’s also experiencing some intense feelings. It’s intentional, the way he writes about you.”

“What do you make out of it?”

“Like you give him peace.”

Sakura could only laugh. “I don’t….receive letters yet.”

“You’ll know when it comes.”

When her first letter lands on her windowsill a month later, Sakura notes the difference in handwriting. She asks him about it when he comes home and he asks her to go with him on a hike. On top of a hill overlooking the village, a picnic spread under them, a bracelet of forget-me-nots in progress in his hand. 

“Do you use different pens?” she jests.

“For one thing, you’re more critical with things like handwriting than the two. You often complained of Iruka's style, didn't you?” Sasuke replies. He uses his mouth to close the string of flowers, and gives them to her. “I just also like writing your name.”

She wears the bracelet nonetheless but feels as if it’s her heart dangling on her sleeve with the way his answer left her unsatisfied.

“But not as much as I love saying it,” Sasuke adds, staring at her now and the way the afternoon sun paints her skin. “Sakura.”

[yelspyder]

˚‧⁺.- Nah, just killing the boredom

↳summary: basically Miles having a (big) crush on his classmate (you ofc)

↳characters: Miles Morales

↳Gn! Reader

↳notes: i finally posted something after so long 💪 im not posting as often here on tumblr because of my lack of motivation, but I promise to try to post as much as possible 😼 i swear i'll try to avoid disappearing again and work on my asks. this one is short but i hope you like it

MILES peeked to the side, seeing the book you were reading hidden from the math teacher, which he didn't blame you for doing since this class was super boring.

You were a transfer student who recently joined the school. The first time he saw you in the halls, Miles froze for a few seconds. It wasn't his fault you were pretty. Since then, Miles has tried everything he can to interact with you, but to no avail. He absolutely hated his shyness in those moments when he was prevented from having any interaction with you.

Miles tried to recognize the book by its cover, only to read the title and stumble upon a book he's never heard anyone talk about. Tearing a piece of paper from his notebook, Miles quickly grabbed a pen, writing the name of the book you were reading. Just in case, he thought. He then took the piece of paper and folded it, putting it in his pocket so he don't lose it.

Also bored with all the equations the teacher was writing on the blackboard, Miles surreptitiously grabbed his sketchbook and opened it to a blank page, making sure the teacher didn't see him. Pencil in hand, he began making small squiggles on the page. Absentmindedly, Miles ended up being quite entertained with the drawing, detaching himself from the class while focusing on drawing.

This didn't last long, until the bell rang, indicating the end of the last class of the day. Miles didn't take long to pack up his stuff and get up, ready to go home.

Three days later, again in math class, Miles spied on you. He felt his heart flutter, watching you absently chew on the tip of your pencil as you looked around the room, looking for something to entertain yourself with. How can someone look beautiful without even trying?

Miles then gathered all his courage, and threw a crumpled piece of paper on your desk. Your attention returned to the crumpled piece of paper on your desk. Looking at Miles, you could see him nervously motioning for you to unfold and read the paper. As soon as you opened the paper, you saw impeccable handwriting on it.

I see that you like to read books, and that book you've been bringing to school recently is one of my favorites! The protagonist is definitely my favorite character, even more so after chapter 20, not to mention that the turnaround in his personality in the third book of the saga is incredible 0>0

When you read what was written, you smiled, without delay to scribble something on the paper and crumple it up again, throwing it to Miles' desk. He eagerly unfolded the paper, and read what you wrote, before writing back - in a not-so-pretty, more hurried stroke this time - and throwing the paper back to you.

At the end of the day, Miles had the dumbest smile on his face as he read and reread the notes exchanged during class.

Little did you know that he had spent all of his allowance and the last two whole days dedicated to reading those books to get a good first impression.

[lostintransist]

It Was Almost Love

You would die today. Something in the air tickled at the sense of otherness that had always kept you safe on every other mission.

Your Memaw had been something of a witch and all her children and their children had a touch of what she called the ‘old world’ in them. You had always trusted that sense, but you trusted Memaw’s more.

You had been six when your mother died in a car accident. Memaw had taken your hand at the wake. None of your aunts or uncles would take you, Memaw would shame them for their cowardice in the years to come. She would often complain as she creaked from standing to sitting that she was ‘too damn old for this child rearin’ nonsense’. She loved you fiercely and it showed in every homemade school lunch and her attendance at every performance. You grew up treasured and bathed in love.

Memaw had to have been nearing her nineties when she finally sat you down and explained she would be leaving soon. You had been sixteen.

“Now chile, I not long for this world. Your pappy has been calling me something fierce these past few years. I can only tell that man off so many times before he is going to come to drag me home by my ankles.”

You were sitting at the table that had been old when your mother had been young. The cheery daisies below the plastic sheet offered no explanation as you stared at them.

“Why are you leaving me Memaw?” You couldn’t keep the shake from your voice.

She had been talking about going ‘home’ for as long as you could remember, but never like this. Never before had it been fact instead of a desire.

Her knobby hands reached out, the age spots drawing your attention from the table.

“I am old, and frankly I have earned my rest. Everything is settled in my will, it sits in the family bible. I have left something for each of you, but you most of all. You tell your uncle James that if he contests I have a provision that he gets nothing. Despite my best efforts, he turned out just like my father.” She shook her head, wedding ring digging into your hand. You didn’t dare let go.

“One last thing chile.” She looked at you now, the years hiding her beauty behind gravity, “You will die in the desert, with the forests above you. When your time comes I will come for you; your mother and I both will lead you home.”

You didn’t think about it much. She had been gone the next morning, passed in her sleep the doctor said. The family descended, locust to the famine her death had caused. Again no one wanted to take you, nearly an adult they said. We’ll keep the house till you graduate. They didn’t. You got Memaws and Pappy’s wedding bands; they sat next to your dog tags. All the years of love boiled down to two gold bands and a surname.

You were shuffled from house to house until by a stroke of luck you stumbled into a recruiter's office to wait out a storm that passed overhead. You had just turned seventeen and could, with some sloppy handwriting, get in a little early. By the time anyone got around to verifying your age you were already through basic assigned to a team and only a few months away from eighteen. You had gotten a reprimand and a letter put in your file but it hadn’t stopped you from progressing. You tried twice as hard as anyone else, doubling your hours in training.

It took years of tenacity, but you finally landed somewhere you fit. The 141, a joint task force, had pulled your number somewhere after the third deployment you made it home without a scratch. You were still wary of Captain Price despite the years you had served under him. He looked too much like a man who had hurt you to ever fully relax.

There was Gaz and Soap, two men who tucked you beneath their arms and dragged you into every drinking game they started. You found what it could have been like to have siblings between their ribbing and childish puns.

You learned philosophy in the signs you shared with Roach. he couldn’t speak but the questions he posed set you down for weeks until you could nail the feeling and articulate it with your limited vocabulary in sign language. He told you often you could use your voice but you knew the gift of someone meeting you where you were at.

Ghost had been a whole other beast. Tall, tatted, and always wearing a mask. He spoke rarely, mostly to Soap. You slid under his radar. It took three years of serving with him before he said anything to you other than orders in the field.

“Y/N.” The sound of England never faded from his words. Maybe that is why he used his words so sparingly, to keep home close to his heart.

“Yes L.T.?” You stared at his tactical vest. You had already been reemed by Price for the ammeter mistake you had made today. You had nearly gotten Gaz killed.

“You good?”

This brought your gaze up sharply. You glanced over his face before turning your gaze back down.

“Nope, not at all.”

The tears began to well now. It was Memaw’s birthday and god if you didn’t miss her more than air sometimes.

You sniffed, a statue in front of you.

“Anything else Lieutenant?”

“No.”

You spun on your heel, stalking away from him.

He had been kinder after that. Well, kinder could be a bit of a stretch to call the change. He reminded you of a feral tom you had started to befriend when you were ten. You had found that old beast frozen to death behind the barn one winter. You stopped feeding the cats after that.

You had fallen for him, sand dropping grain by grain until you were in so deep only your nose stuck above the sand.

You never told him. One cannot expect a wild horse to love you more than the freedom of running. You tucked your feelings away, behind your vest and your metals. Always a soldier first.

“Y/N.” A hand on your shoulder pulled you back to the present.

You looked up at Ghost, everything but the whites of his eyes blacked out. You were going on a midnight mission in the desert.

“If I die today, just know it’s not your fault.”

The man who more often stood frozen than in motion reeled back from your words.

“The fuck you mean Y/N? No one is going to die tonight, it’s just a recon mission.”

“Okay.”

You look down at your weapons, counting them and checking strap tightness.

“What’s this I hear about you dying?” Price strolls up to you, the casualness of his pace is betrayed by his words.

You sigh and turn to him, goatee always trimmed and combed to perfection.

“You ever just have a feeling captain?”

He shook his head, his hat casting odd shadows from the lights scattered around the base.

“Not feelings like that.”

“Mmm. My grandmother did, said goodbye to me the night before she passed. Told me I would die in the desert with the forest above my eyes. She’s close Cap.”

You can feel his stare, evaluating. You can see when he decides to let it ride, too much could go wrong tonight to switch out a different team member.

“Just, don’t do anything stupid out there okay?” He sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, the other hand straying for a cigar.

“Cap?”

“Yeah,” he replies around the end of his now-lit cigar.

“If I do die tonight, would you give Ghost my flag? No one in my family will care when I am gone.”

Price puffs a stream of smoke out of his nose, reminding you of a dragon.

“Yeah, I will. Just don’t die out there okay?”

You offer a faint smile in reply.

The time finally comes and you join Ghost in a Humvee, you are the passenger in the front seat. This stupid car would lock up if the front seat got moved back and the mechs team had yet to figure out a workaround for it.

You rode along, moonlight guiding your path until a screech of metal bending, fire, and a shock wave that stole your vision rocked your world.

You wake staring at the stars agony licking along every nerve ending. You can’t hear anything, ears still ringing. You blink and Ghost is there, down by your knees. He is messing with something. You gasp as a tourniquet tightens down just above your knee. You knew what that meant, and it wasn’t good.

Ghost moves up, checking the rest of you for injuries. When he gets to your head he taps your cheek lightly, you can’t hear him past the ringing in your ears that won’t stop.

You grab your mic, you set it to record tonight as well as transmit.

“There’s no saving me tonight Simon.”

His eyes widen, either at the second proclamation of your death or at the use of his name. You had seen it on a single un-redacted file several years ago, a treasure you hoarded.

Your eyes flick around wildly, catching sight of shadows in the flames of your Humvee.

“I just need you to know that Price is giving you my flag.”

Ghost turns your face back to him, he has wrenched his mask up, his mouth visible.

‘why me’ you can make out.

You shrug with one shoulder, “Why not you? I’ve been in love with you for years.”

His mouth gapes like a fish searching for breathable oxygen.

“My mama is here now, I’ve got to go.”

You start to close your eyes.

Ghost shakes you, his yell sliding over the ringing.

“Y/N! You can’t just say that and up and die!”

You smile at him weakly. Everything about you is weak. You’ve lost too much blood. You lift your arm, it shakes wildly as it touches his face.

You slip your fingers below the mask, the bristle of his stubble a shock to you.

“Memaw’s here too. I love you.”

You don’t know how you missed it, serving with him for so many years. But Ghost’s eyes were forest green.

***

Ghost stood vigil with your body. He tucked your leg into place on the stretcher, right where it was before everything went sideways. He followed you, your blood on his cheek until physically restrained from where they prepared to send you stateside.

Price didn’t deny the leave request. Ghost had never requested one before, and your words still echoed in Cap’s ears. ‘Give him my flag.’ Price noted the flag would be given to your teammate, a man who legally was dead while you lay in a box.

Ghost didn’t cry as he sat in the cemetery, little white crosses laid so neatly as a testament to the greed of man. He didn’t cry as your countrymen folded your flag in such a small neat triangle, or when seven repeated shots felt as if they all stabbed into him.

No, he cried in the scummy motel that was rented by the hour with the strongest piss alcohol he could find. You had been in love with him? How had he not known?

You stayed with him. Your picture lived between his shirt and his vest, holding him safe from the missions that got more and more dangerous.

It was almost love.

You were on his mind when he found the bouncing Betty with the toe of his boot.

He managed to clear everyone far enough away before he moved, not quite fast enough though.

He swore you sat at his head, sliding your hand along the same cheek you had caressed so many years before. You smiled at him then, you hardly smiled at him while alive. You disappeared between Soap and Gaz as they rushed in to help him.

The loss of his leg had sent him home. Honorable discharge and a command from Price to stay away from the drink and get well enough to stay a veteran.

He tried so damn hard. He thought about you every day. It was almost love.

He made it until your death anniversary until he painted the walls with his brain matter. He prayed to any god that might listen to that on the way to hell to just let him have a pit stop to see your face.

Masterlist

[vesselandmoon]

Riding the Rails

NSFW so please, 18+ for readers on this one. This has nothing to do with the main Sleep Token fic I've been working on, it's just smut for the sake of it I suppose.

I was going to wait until tomorrow but here. For @hookedhobbies thank you for talking me up. Please read the content warnings and tags. If I forgot something, let me know and I'll add it.

CW: blindfold, pegging, praise

When Celie is allowed to be an altar for an offering to Vessel, she gets pulled into a situation she didn't expect.

Celie dropped her bag inside her bedroom door, wondering how the hell any of this happened. One ritual and within a month she was moved in and basically a pet. The guys had been gone but she expected them back. Maybe they were sleeping? She didn’t know what was expected of her but she’d be damned if she walked away after what happened before.

On her bed a white box with a black ribbon caught her attention. On the tag was oddly neat handwriting requesting that if she was interested, she should put the outfit on and open the door at midnight. Weird, it had no name.

Inside was a corset made of soft velvet. Deep crimson with black lace and thin leather strips connecting to a collar. Maybe II? She tilted her head and poked around some more to find sheer stockings, a garter belt, and black heels but the shorts were what caught her attention. Tight, black, and fitted for a toy which she found off to the side.

“Oh,” she said, blush spreading across her cheeks. Whoever it was wanted her to peg him? It wasn’t something she was too familiar with but she’d wanted to experiment more with it. The thing was, who wanted it? For sure it wasn’t III. He would have thrown it to her, gotten her a stool, and told her to get to work.

Celie smirked at the thought but there was still a question of who. With the blindfold that completed the outfit she was sure she wasn’t going to know until she was engaged in the act. Still, it intrigued her.

Twenty minutes to get ready. She quickly washed up, heart pounding as she got into the outfit, checking the clock constantly. Someone was outside the door. Their shadow moved a little here and there with seemingly anxious energy but there was no sound. No voice. He was keeping quiet though a couple minutes to midnight he was pacing.

She took a deep breath and secured the blindfold, swallowing hard against the leather collar. A gentle knock at the door and she opened it, feeling the figure on the other side fall still. She could practically feel his gaze on her and she shifted uncomfortably before he moved past her, the scent of laundry detergent following him.

No help there. All of them used the same damn soap. Celie bit her lip when she felt him so very close but not touching her, the door closing with a soft click. He locked it then took her fingertips in his and led her toward the bed.

“Are you…” she inhaled. “Can I take the blindfold off?”

He touched her lips and guided her head in a slow motion of “no”.

“Even if I guess? Even if I know?” she asked and again he guided her to “no.”

“Will you speak at all?” she asked as she heard fabric sliding off his body.

“Yes.” His reply was barely a whisper and heat flooded through her body.

She knew.

“I… if you want me to stop, I need you to have a safe word. Do you have one or do you want me to make one up?”

“You.”

Celie could feel his hand around the thick cock he’d chosen for their encounter, the tugging gentle and slow. She wished she could see it. Wished she could feel it as her own flesh. All she knew was that he had lowered himself though whether he was sitting at the edge of the bed or was on the floor she couldn’t be sure.

Fingertips grazed the line of her garter straps, sending shivers up her legs. She wanted to touch him. To feel his face, his hair, his body, and yet there was hesitation. Instead she tested the limits, resting her hands on his but she didn’t shy away. He wrapped a hand around the all too realistic cock, stroking it.

“How about honeycomb?” she asked and a faint chuckle met her ears.

“Yes.”

It was Vessel. It had to be.

“I should probably tell you I’m not that experienced with this,” she admitted. He took her hands, pressing his thumbs into her palms to keep the touch minimum but she could hear something wet. Feel hot breath on the thin strip of flesh between the corset and her shorts, feel the slight motion of the dildo. Was he sucking it?

A low moan escaped him and she felt him take more of the cock in his mouth. Her breath caught in her throat. If only she could feel it as her own flesh. The memory of his tongue delving into her, searching out traces of cum left by the others made her ache for him. She imagined what it would be like to feel the back of his throat squeezing as he swallowed.

He helped himself for a time and she wished she could see his mouth stretch wide. Frankly, she wasn’t sure how he’d take the dildo. It was impressive. Close to IV’s girth but a little longer. Not quite as long as III. Then again, if Vessel was involved with either of them (which she assumed he was) then taking this might not be too difficult for him.

A sucking pop and shuffling in front of her signaled that he had moved but it took him a moment to guide her over to the bed. He pressed a bottle to her hand. Lube? She felt around on it, convinced she was right, when the bed creaked slightly.

Tentatively she reached out, patting about in air before finally finding skin. His lower back and ass. He was leaned across the edge of the bed, ready for her. She could feel the muscles in his thigh shifting as she explored a bit of his body.

“I wish I could see you,” Celie said, mouth gone dry as she felt him spread himself open for her.

Lubed fingers were met with a sharp little gasp and Celie squeezed her thighs together. He was so soft. So warm. The tip of her finger pressed against his ass, feeling it clench with anticipation, then relax. She slid the finger deeper, curling it toward his prostate. He arched his back, pushing her deeper still and she let out a breathy chuckle.

Celie’s mind raced with questions. Why her? Why not ask one of the others? Surely a real cock and someone proficient in using it would have made for a more enjoyable evening and yet he’d gone through so much trouble to put together an entire outfit for this. He’d thought about it. Knew what he wanted, even if she didn’t understand why.

Vessel reached around and grabbed the cock, pulling her closer until it was poised to enter him. He was eager and frankly, she was so turned on at the thought of him spread open for her, she was willing to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it.

She slid the head of the dildo across his ass, pressing in every so slightly only to stop and continue rubbing. Teasing. Never letting it enter him, not even the head. He pushed back against her and she pulled away.

“Relax,” she said, gripping his hips to keep him in place. “We have all night, right?”

“Yes,” he replied, tone tinged with impatience, but she felt the tension ease a little from his body.

“Let me enjoy you.” Celie barely pushed the tip of the dildo against him again before leaning over to kiss his back. He stiffened but didn’t tell her to stop so she dragged her nails down his sides, feeling him arch down into the bed, his hips a little higher.

How was her heart pounding so damn hard? She bit her lip, trying to slow her breathing but he was getting impatient as she continued to tease him. Nails and soft kisses, slick wet sounds of lube as she rocked her hips.

“Please,” he muttered and Celie stopped. “Please,” he asked, a little louder.

The desire to hear him beg flared up in her belly but she didn’t know the limit. Not yet.

Celie put a little more lube on her fingers, stroking it along the shaft of the dildo before guiding it with the other hand. She could hear him take a deep breath as she poised to enter him only for it to escape in a soft moan when she finally pushed the tip into him.

Her fingertips stayed in place, feeling the cock sink into him little by little with every leisurely thrust. She tried to concentrate on what he must look like. How he was stretching around the dildo with those sweet little pants and groans escaping his lips.

“You’re taking me so well,” she said, testing his reaction to her praise. In response he pushed back, driving more of the toy into himself and eliciting a surprised giggle from Celie. “You’re so needy. Calm down love, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Love…” he repeated, contemplative, as if he was rolling the word around in his head. Feeling it. Testing it. “You won’t hurt me.”

“I’d still rather take it slow.” Celie pulled almost all the way out, using one hand to keep track of the depth while the other gripped his hip for leverage. “Without being able to see, I can’t tell how deep I am in you. Maybe it would help if I was on top?”

He let out a thoughtful hum but didn’t move besides pushing back against her, taking the cock and rocking her back a little. He wanted it all the way and his frustrated groan told her as much.

“Fuck sake. So damn impatient. Fine but don’t say I didn’t try,” she said, pulling back and slamming into him all the way to her hips.

Vessel let out a sound somewhere between a sharp exhale and a moan, his breath coming in trembling gasps. She took several deep but tentative thrusts before figuring out how far she could pull back and still keep the cock safely inside of him.

She could feel him move, feel him reach around to grab himself but frustration hit her like a truck and she slapped his ass so hard he hissed in pain.

“If you won’t be patient enough for me to fuck you how I want, then you can’t touch yourself until I tell you.” The moment the words left her mouth she doubted if she’d made the right choice. Had she said that to the others they might have laughed at her and done what they wanted anyway but Vessel relented with a quiet “yes” and put his hands behind his back.

Celie let go of his hips and grabbed his wrists instead. She knew his cock was rubbing on the edge of her bed with every thrust and it would have to be his relief for now. Her confidence grew as the sting of her hand ached with every beat of her heart.

“Hm I wish I could feel this,” she breathed, driving hard into him. “I wish I could feel that tight ass squeezing around me. God you take it so well. So fucking well. I bet you’re pretty when you get fucked.”

She half expected him to stop her, to tell her to tone it down or become uncomfortable but instead her coaxing had him trembling, his groans devolving into desperate moans.

“You like when I dirty talk you?” she asked but he didn’t reply. Another swift smack on his ass and he tensed up, a sharp cry escaping his lips. “I asked you a question.”

“Y-yes,” he breathed.

“You’re being so good for me.” Celie changed positions a little, adjusting her angle which had Vessel’s moans become muffled. She leaned forward and traced a hand around his jaw to feel that he was biting a blanket. “No, let it go. I just told you how good you’re being and now you want to act up? Good boy,” she praised as he released the blanket from his clenched jaw.

One hand still around his wrists, though she knew she couldn’t stop him from pulling away if he wanted, she snaked the other hand around to wedge two fingers between his teeth. Saliva pooled in his mouth but his moans were much more apparent, making her eyes roll back. She wanted him so badly it hurt. Her pussy throbbed. Ached. She needed some sort of relief but every thrust against him only did so much.

Soft desperate whines in the back of Vessel’s throat became wet and he almost gurgled, tongue working around her fingers to swallow the saliva she was sure was dripping from his chin. Celie leaned over, resting her forehead on his back, breath hot on his skin. While she was enjoying it, she needed more. Needed those little moans to turn into begging. Pleading. She wanted to hear his pretty voice cry out for her.

Celie straightened, gripping his wrists with both hands again, fingers on her left hand slick with saliva as she began pounding into him mercilessly.

“Ah fuck,” he whined, squirming against her. His breath came out in harsh pants every time she drove hard into him. “S-stop… stop stop stop,” he begged.

And yet there was no safe word. She would bet his fists were twisted into the sheets, eyes rolling back in his head.

“D-don’t move p-please… please stop. Fuck! I c-can’t I can’t.”

Celie smirked and did just that, pulling entirely out of him and stepping back only for her ears to catch a disappointed whimper.

“Was I too rough, love?” she asked. “I’ll stop, it’s fine. You can get cleaned up now.”

“W-what? No, no wait.

Celie made a show of walking away from him.

“Stop, please. I need this.” The quiet desperation in his tone made her smirk mischievously.

She took several slow steps toward him until she could feel his hands on her hips, soft kisses on her wrists but he was trembling.

“What do you need?” she asked, tracing along his jawline.

“You,” he swallowed.

“What do you need from me? Use your words.”

He hesitated. “I need you to… to make me cum. I need it. Please.”

“Lay on your back,” she demanded and he quickly did so. The bed creaked a little under him and she slid on her knees, guided by him until she could grab his ass again. She pushed the back of his thighs until his knees were spread wide and folded closer to his body.

The head of the dildo slipped easily into his well lubed ass and he bucked against her, the sound of his own cock faintly slapping on his belly with the movement.

Celie wrapped a hand around his shaft, rolling her thumb over the tip, feeling precum.

“Look how wet you are for me,” she smirked tasting him from her thumb.

Vessel moaned in response as she gripped the back of his knees and pushed the dildo so deep in him that he grabbed at the straps of the harness.

“So needy,” she purred, putting her weight on his thighs. “You’re taking me all the way and you still want more? I didn’t take you for such a greedy little cock slut, my love.”

“D-don’t,” he whimpered.

“Don’t what? Come on, use your big boy words,” she teased, pulling out only to fuck back into him the second he started to speak, chocking him on his own words.

“I’ll cum,” he admitted once he could breath.

“Isn’t that the point? Don’t you want me to make you cum?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh? You want me to drag it out? Make you suffer? Well, I don’t plan on letting you cum yet anyway but you’re just going to have to deal with the teasing. I like hearing you beg.”

Celie gripped the headboard with one hand, using it as leverage before she kicked off her heels and was finally able to drive into him harder. Fucking him felt so… empowering. The way he writhed and bucked against her. The way he whimpered. She could feel his belly tremble under her free hand, his cock twitching against her wrist with every thrust.

“Come on, make noise for me,” she said but he choked down a moan. “Be a good boy and tell me what you want.”

“H-harder…”

“Do I need a bigger cock for you, love? These needy little whimpers… fuck Vess, I bet you look so pretty right now.” She noticed how desperate her own voice was getting. “God I want to see you stretched open. I want to see you choke on this cock, tears in those gorgeous eyes… fuck you’re cruel.”

“H-how?” he managed to ask through increasingly frustrated thrusts from her.

“You get all the fun. I can’t even see you getting fucked. I can’t feel this thing, I can’t feel you, I can’t… fuck I can’t even get off.”

She expected some kind of reply but all he did was arch his back and moan with an oddly knowing, breathy chuckle. Was this part of his game? To torment her. She’d make him pay for it. Her shorts were soaked through, body aching. Trembling almost as bad as his.

His fingers traced down her lip to grip the collar around her throat and pull her in close. Desperation and anger welled up in her and she slapped his hands away before pounding into him hard, doing to him what she wanted done to her.

“Come on Vess, if nothing else I need you to make noise for me. Tell me what you want.”

“T-touch me.”

“No.”

“Please… please I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Celie gripped his cock and smeared his precum across the head. “Louder.”

“Please!”

His cock throbbed and twitched with every thrust and her thighs were beginning to burn but she kept up the pace. He tried to grab her hand, to force her to grip him harder but she smacked his ass so hard her hand stung and he cried out.

“I bet you clench so fucking hard around my cock when I slap you. What a dirty little tease. Do you want to cum for me? I want you to cum all over that pretty belly.”

“I need it,” he whimpered. “I need to—”

Celie pounded into him and the words melted into a sharp cry.

“Make me cum, please. Don’t stop.”

He was practically clawing at the headboard, and she swore she heard tears in his voice. He was reduced to a high pitched breathy whine,  pleading with desperation.

Celie clenched her jaw and continued to rail him. “Are you going to cum for me? My messy, needy little slut. You sound so pretty. So fucking needy. Beg for it.”

“Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop,” his words came out as a singular string of whimpers as she stroked his cock to the same harsh pace that’s he fucked him until all she could hear was a strangled cry and feel the heat of his cum as he shot rope after hot rope across his belly and chest.

Celie chuckled breathlessly, driving the cock deep into him as she slowly rubbed his cum all over his cock, making his body jerk and twitch.

“I can’t… I can’t breathe,” he said, trying to make her stop as overstimulation wracked his body.

“You said don’t stop. What’s wrong? You don’t like getting the same torture you give?”

“Fuck fuck fuck.” His high-pitched pleas ended abruptly as he ripped her hands away from his cock. He laughed, breathy and weak. “You want to know a secret?”

“What?” she asked, still buried deep inside of him but now caressing his inner thighs as he went limp.

“There was a toy for you in that box,” he chuckled. “You were supposed to have it in during this.”

All the color drained from her face. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack,” he laughed. “Come here… I suppose I should return the favor. Love.” He flipped her to her back with ease. “So, safe word is still honeycomb?”

[exuvianen]

misc. stationery hcs [housewardens]

short stationery + penmanship hcs with the housewardens!

cw: n/a

notes: another old piece... just some silly hc's don't take them too seriously. i tried writing the same amount for everyone but it’s kinda clear who i’m biased towards… feel free to drop an ask or to add on! likes + rbs are appreciated <3

wc: ~1100 words?? wow. that's more than i expected.

riddle rosehearts ; housewarden of heartslabyul

has everything you need for school. pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, binders, glue, tape, scissors,  you name it, riddle has it.

sorts each subject by color, and color codes all his notes/subjects. do NOT mess up his order! 

has extremely neat handwriting - it’s a bit on the smaller side, but it’s easy to read.

riddle shares his notes with others when they ask him for help, so he makes sure it’s legible and easy on the eyes.

as for stationery in general, he probably doesn’t go too wild. standard neon highlighters, blue and black pens, plain covered notebooks, etc. it’s simple, but it’s good enough for riddle.

overall pretty good taste, a little basic, but everything is of good quality.

leona kingscholar ; housewarden of savanaclaw

literally does not care about stationery. he’s the idgaf king.

he’s that kid who never brings a pencil or pen to class. he barely remembers to bring his notebook too. and he only has one (1) notebook that he uses for everything (he probs doesn’t even take notes in class, he alr knows everything lol).

constantly borrows stuff from ruggie or sends him to buy stuff from sam’s shop. he’s lucky he has ruggie.

has a fancy pen from farena that he never uses, but keeps at the bottom of his drawer. 

does the bare minimum, probably “borrows” other people’s pens/pencils when he loses his. has borrowed at least 20 pens, but was too lazy to give it back. they sit on top of his desk. 

he literally doesn't care about aesthetics, he just gets random stationery to get the job done. has the most mismatched items.

azul ashengrotto ; housewarden of octavinelle

definitely invests in some quality paper and pens. also a stationery nerd who has everything in his office.

probably has those notebooks/folders with the corny motivational quotes like “the grind never stops” or “no pain no gain”. kinda cringe but he likes them b/c they motivate him.

he’s the type to take notes in class, then rewrite them later. he sells the rewritten notes to other students for a steep price.

jots down ideas or gossip he hears in the margins of his notebooks. he rarely doodles, but sometimes he might draw things from the coral sea if he’s feeling particularly homesick.

color codes all his notes, but uses more neutral colors as opposed to the standard bright/neons. he also has sea-themed folders or notebooks. 

he's fascinated by what land-dwellers use, as paper/ink typically doesn't last in the sea. he really tries a variety of products and enjoys it a lot! and takes notes for his future businesses

kalim al-asim ; housewarden of scarabia

the guy who has an excessive amount of stationery. probably buys 20 of the same pen because he likes it so much.

he gets those notebooks/folders that have cute animals or wild patterns on them. i feel like he’d also get a lot of stuff with floral designs.

doesn’t care much about the quality/brand of the things he’s buying - rather, he’s more interested in how cool or fun the item looks. 

def owns funky-colored pens, erasers that smell like food, and sticky notes shaped like animals. probs decorates everything with stickers (he loves scratch-n-sniff ones).

the margins of kalim’s notebooks are filled with doodles. some things he draws often are his favorite dishes and animals, and his family members. he probably uses his notebook to plan parties/parades instead of taking notes. jamil has a stroke

his handwriting is very expressive. it's loopy and wide when he's excited, small and sloppy when he's dozing off, and extremely messy when he's scribbling frantically.

vil schoenheit ; housewarden of pomefiore

owns sets of matching stationery. coordinates his pencil case with his notebooks and folders. probably a fan of minimalism and deep, rich colors. 

has high-quality pens and uses fancy highlighters to annotate his notes (i’m thinking those midliner highlighters and muji pens). he spares no expense for his tools.

color codes all his notes/different subjects, and has a specific color scheme for each subject. he is VERY particular about his color sorting. do NOT mess his categories up.

his handwriting is elegant and beautiful. he probably practiced and experimented with his handwriting a lot due to his fame (he signs autographs and he wants his penmanship to look pretty for his fans!)

he has pinterest worthy notes. he posts them on his magicam stories occasionally to show them off, and to encourage his fans to study hard too.

his fashionista side bleeds into his stationery choices, so he only buys items that are 1) of the best quality and 2) suited for his image. he does NOT cut corners.

idia shroud ; housewarden of ignihyde. 

does not use stationery LOL (or avoids it. technology is just more convenient for him).

everything is done on digitally, on his computer, tablet, or phone. he’d decorate his laptop or tablet with stickers though, like of his fave idol group “premo” and such. 

if he does own stationery, they are game or anime themed. also limited edition. he def collects merch, like pins and badges as well. i feel like he’d make itabags and stuff but he’d never go out in public with them. he’s too socially awkward just like me fr

he has those cool multifunctional pens, the ones with like 10 different colors, and can also double as a screwdriver or some kind of tool. 

he’d also have a lot of cute cat-themed items. they're just too cute, and he can't resist buying them! he's rich so it's fine...

he's probably designed super multifunctional pens before. he definitely has the brains and resources to do so.

malleus draconia ; housewarden of diasomnia

archaic stationery. still dips his pen in ink and writes with a feather /hj

he’s fine with the basics though. he just rolls with pen, paper, and ink. it’s good enough for him. 

has beautiful, fancy cursive handwriting, but it’s hard for people to read, especially for his schoolmates b/c the younger generation doesn’t really learn cursive anymore. think like... the penmanship of historical treaties or declarations. it's charming and still legible, but you just need a bit of time to be able to read it. 

probably owns and uses enchanted quills passed down from his family. it reminds him of home and he treasures them greatly. when he’s homesick he’ll twirl them between his fingers. 

he used to break a lot of pencils/pens with his sheer magical fae grip. he’s learned how to control his strength a lot better now, but he still prefers his enchanted writing tools. 

he's not used to modern technology, so he gets a kick out of trying novel stationary items as well. this pencil is also a pen, a highlighter, and a flashlight? wowie!

[winchesterszvonecek]

Come to Bed - [ Brian ‘Otis’ Zvonecek ]

Summary: You try and get Brian to come to bed

Word Count: 786 short and sweet

Warnings: female!reader, fluff

Masterlist | Otis Masterlist

It was late out. The sun had set hours ago, darkness had crept in and yet still the other side of your bed still remained empty. You knew Brian was on the other side of the door, most likely brooding over Molly’s business, much like he’d done all day. You knew he was stressed, that all this business with Game Day and Arthur was getting to him, which is why you wished he’d simply take some time to himself, before he worked himself sick.

He’d been running on empty for days now, between Molly’s and work, you were surprised he was even able to function. You’d tried your best to make him slow down but it was no use, he could be stubborn at times, but then again, so could you, which is why you wouldn’t be returning to your bed without him.

You slid from the warmth of your covers, grabbing one of Brian’s t-shirts from the dresser and slipping it over your body before you opened the bedroom door, stepping carefully over the dog toy that lay directly in front of it. The last thing you wanted was to wake the dog by squeaking his favourite bear, then no one would ever get to sleep.

Your feet patted softly against the cold ground, sending goosebumps shooting up your legs as they carried you further into the living room, where you could see the faint silhouette of Brian, barely lit up by the dull lamp next to him. He had his back to you but you could tell he had his thinking face on, simply by the way his shoulders sat and his arm was bent, no doubt scratching at his chin.

You didn’t need to see the coffee table to know it was covered in papers, all of which had scribbles of Brian’s semi-messy handwriting on them, making notes about what they could do to help gather more profits. Enough to pay off that sleazy fourth partner who’d weaselled his way in… You never would forget the day you first met Arthur, the day Molly’s had officially been signed over to Brian, Herrmann and Gabby. And you technically, since you were married, but you didn’t want to be involved in all that, something Brian knew and respected. He was also kind of glad as then you didn’t have to deal with Arthur either.

You sighed softly, moving closer to him where you could soon hear his faint mumbles, barely whispers but they were enough to make your stomach flutter, something that still happened after a year of marriage. You stepped up behind the couch, sliding your arms around his neck, feeling his shoulders loosen beneath you as you gently kissed the side of his head.

“Baby, it’s late. Come to bed.” You whispered, leaning your chin on your arm as you glanced down at the papers before back at him, his brow so furrowed you were surprised it hadn’t frozen that way.

“I will… Soon.” He said, the shuffling of papers following closely behind as he flicked through Molly's receipts, most of which came from Cruz and Mouch.

“Brian.” You said a little louder, leaning over him to take the papers from his hands, which he allowed as he was too tired to resist. You threw them aside, lacing your hand with his as you straightened, tugging him gently upwards which got him to his feet. You walked with him down to the end of the sofa, having to practically drag him until the two of you met, his face falling against your shoulder the second your bodies touched.

“You’re exhausted, baby. You need to sleep.” You said soothingly, stroking the back of his head and feeling the soft curls beneath your palm. “Come on… Let’s go to bed.”

“Okay.” He mumbled, allowing you to lead him slowly towards the bedroom, his feet dragging beneath him and his eyes heavy. That was a lot easier than you thought it would be. Guess he really was as exhausted as he looked.

You basically had to undress him as he was too tired to even move now that he’d become aware of how late it was and how little sleep he’d gotten lately. You climbed into the bed next to him, his arm wrapping lazily around you as you nuzzled up against him, feeling his body heat mix with yours as you rested your head atop his chest.

It didn’t take more than a minute before his breathing shifted, telling you he was fast asleep already, something you couldn’t feel more grateful for. You turned your head a touch, placing a soft, lingering kiss against his chest, right above his heart, before you whispered.

“Goodnight, Brian.”

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[rigelmejo]

'lazy' study activities

Yes, this is an extension of the big monster 'study plan' post I am working on. The big study plan post will link more tools and articles to use, this is more like a short suggestion of study activities you could try.

(Scroll to the bottom to see the SUMMARY)

If you already watch cdramas, continue to do so. Download Google Translate app on your phone (and Pleco, and any other translation app you like). Watch cdramas that have hard chinese subtitles on the videos - many youtube cdramas already are like this (you see chinese hanzi subs on the videos). Keep watching with english subtitles on too. Every 3-5 minutes, look up a word or phrase you're curious about. Google Translate allows you to type in words or phrases with pinyin, so if you see 小心 or 你放心 or 他死了 in the cdrama, you can type what you hear 'xiaoxin' or 'nifangxin' or 'tasile' to get the translation. If you don't hear the pronunciation clearly, or don't know pinyin letters-pronunciation well, then you can also do writing input and write in the hanzi you see on the hard chinese subtitles. I'm left handed and didn't know the stroke order as a beginner, my handwriting is usually incomprehensible to writing recognition software, and google translate still usually figured out which hanzi I was writing. So yeah, just watch what you'd normally watch and look up a word/phrase every 3-5 minutes as curious. This activity will ADD up. In a few months you might know a lot of words. If you are a beginner, maybe start with this activity and just keep doing it for a while. Eventually you'll start to pick up dozens of words, maybe even a few hundred. You'll probably eventually get curious about what grammar you're looking at, how to parse the sentences, how to remember hanzi better, and you can use that curiosity as motivation to push you to do some of the more 'intensive' study activities like learning about hanzi and grammar.

Not the laziest activity, because it does require reading an education material: but all you have to do is read it. You don't need to memorize, or study intensely, just read leisurely through it once. Read this dong-chinese pinyin guide, when you have decided you're a bit annoyed you can't figure out the pinyin to type the words you're trying to look up in cdramas. Or read it when you're eager to try typing with a chinese phone keyboard so you can type in hanzi instead of using writing-input, since typing the correct hanzi will make looking up new words easier. (To type hanzi you just type the pinyin, then pick from the hanzi suggested). Reading through this will take as little as 15 minutes, to as long as several days if you're just reading 1 section of it a day in 3-5 minutes. If you enjoy re-reading and reviewing, you might spend a few hours total on this pinyin guide. But if you're lazy? Just read through once, and know you can always come reference it again later if you're confused and want to clarify something. If you plan to learn zhuyin, you can check out the zhuyin guide at the top-right tab of the linked page.

Also not the laziest activity on here, as it will require reading educational material for 20 minutes to 2 hours depending on your reading speed and if you split it into different days and if you personally enjoy reviewing or not. Again, just read through these once when you have a few free minutes to spare. If you're a beginner, you'll appreciate the basic information about hanzi and how they work.

Part 1: Chinese characters in a nutshell

Part 2: Basic characters and character components

Part 3: Compound characters

Part 4: Learning and remembering compound characters

Part 5: Making sense of Chinese words

Part 6: Learning and remembering compound words

If you are a beginner and don't know much about tones, you may also want to spend 20 minutes to 2 hours on some days/weeks you have free on these informational things on tones:

Four Tones Explanation (great explanation video)

Tone Combination Practice (with some useful notes in it)

When Do Chinese Tones Change (good explanation, helpful 3rd tone explanation)

Accent Lab Mandarin Tone Pairs (I recommend this tool for listening practice, and later in your study to check on increasing your listening skills)

And finally, 2 textbook explanations of tones that I've found useful here and here.

Learning new words: if you find the pace of learning slow from just shows, are getting eager to learn more words FASTER so you can understand more? There's a few options.

There's SRS apps like Anki (or Pleco app's flashcard area), and if you enjoy flashcards or can focus on flashcards better than me, then if you do SRS apps 15-30 minutes a day the studying WILL add up. I cannot focus on such apps though, and once my focus burns out it takes me 1 hour to study 5 words... when for most people, they take 5 minutes to study 20 words or more in these apps.

If you're like me and can't focus long term on doing something like flashcards. Option 1: you can still use an SRS app like anki. Just cram 'new words/sentences' ONLY for a few days or weeks (so when you can get through as many words as other people you try to get through as many words as you can in 30 minutes to 2 hours), and when you start to feel the focus fade then switch to only review cards (and only New review cards until you've reviewed everything once). Quit reviewing when the focus is totally gone. You may finish reviewing everything, or you may not. Doesn't really matter. The initial 'new words/sentence' cards were to get an initial exposure of this means X, just like watching shows gives you that initial exposure the first time you look up an unknown word. You will 'review' these words more by seeing them in cdramas and other things, especially when you're still a beginner who needs to learn a few thousand common words. Option 2: same activity, but use a word list (or word list with sentence examples) online or printed on paper. Read through the list once over a matter of days until focus fades, then try to read through the list a second time (review) until focus is lost.

Option 3: Audio flashcards my beloved. If you REALLY do not want to look at flashcards for 15-30 minutes a day, or like me you REALLY can't focus at all on flashcards sometimes (because if 5 minutes take an hour to study like for me it's not very time effective ToT), audio lessons and audio flashcards will be your friend as a beginner. If efficiency is not your highest priority, I suggest you go to the Hoopla or Libby library apps, and looking up 'chinese lessons' or 'learn chinese' and try out some of the audiobooks and audio courses. Also go on Spotify and look up 'learn chinese' and try out some of the podcasts (I used to listen to Coffee Break Chinese), look up lessons on youtube (and things like "chinese sentences english translation"). ANY lesson that speaks chinese sentences, then speaks the english translation? Perfect, you can use it. Anything that tells you the chinese, then the english translation, is making sure you understand the chinese being used enough to start learning it. If you want to be particularly efficient with your time, you'll want to prioritize listening to audio that has MANY new chinese words per lesson. I listened to the chinese spoonfed anki audio files, chinese/english sentence audio, with new words or grammar in every sentence, but also a lot of words re-used in new sentences so i'd get some 'review' of words I'd heard before even if I only listened to new audio files until I finished. Those audio files have ~7000 sentences and probably a bit less words but still thousands. Immersive Languages (library audio lessons you can use) and Chinesepod101 would probably also have fairly information dense lessons.

Why are audio lessons and audio flashcards lazy? Well, particularly when it's just english/chinese sentence audio, you can listen to it while doing your regular daily schedule. Fit 30 minutes or even hours of listening a day, into when you're driving, commuting, walking, cleaning, cooking, grinding in video games, exercising, doing busy work you can listen to something in the background during. I tested this by doing it myself, and even if you are not paying full attention and just in-out of listening in the background, you will learn new words. So listening in the background while you play video games you would anyway? Easier, versus trying to focus on flashcards (very hard for me lol)? As far as 'intentional study' of educational materials, listening to audio lessons and audio flashcards is the easiest to do while continuing your regular daily schedule (aka not needing to carve out extra study time). The main drawback is it is very listening focused, so if you aren't working on reading skills with cdrama subtitles, graded readers, or webnovels eventually, then your reading skills will fall behind.

As an extension to the 'listening is easy to add to a daily schedule' idea: if you are an upper beginner, you can listen to learner podcasts entirely in chinese or graded reader audiobooks. If you're an intermediate learner, you can listen to audiobooks of webnovels you've read, or listen to audio dramas of stuff you've read subtitles for before, or if it's comprehensible enough for you then just listen to new audiobooks and audio dramas. You can listen to cdramas you've watched before playing in the background, or condensed audio (audio of shows with the silence cut out). Not only that, but when it comes to stuff like this, where you know SOME words but not all words? Or where you can read the words, but can't understand them when listening? Re-listen to the audio a LOT. I'm talking 10-20 times, or at least 5 times. Play chapter 1 of an audiobook on loop in the background while you clean your room, or while you level grind in a video game, or while you mull through doing a spreadsheet or lifting boxes at work (if you can work fine while listening to audio), or while you commute. You will, genuinely, notice your comprehension improving the more you re-listen even if you only paid half attention and didn't follow the plot the first few times. It is one of the easiest study activities to do, once you're at the point you can listen to audio materials. Just keep re-listening until you're bored and want to pick another, or until you feel you've understood as much as you can in that audio file (although I bet you if you've listened 5 times and think 'that's all I'll understand,' if you let yourself listen 10 times you'll be surprised how much MORE you end up understanding by then).

If you're getting ansty (as a beginner) about not understanding the grammar of the sentences you see in cdrama. Use that as motivation to spend 5 minutes to 30 minutes a day (or if you enjoy reading just read for 4 hours one day and be done) to read through some chinese grammar guides. You can either look up "basic chinese grammar" and read a few articles, or find a chinese grammar guide and just work your way through reading it. I personally suggest that, if you're bored by it or unable to focus: either JUST read the grammar point TITLES and then read more into the topics you've been seeing in cdramas that you want to learn more about. Or you just read HSK 1-4 grammar points, since they're the basics. Or you skip to the 'grammar point example' and read the examples to get a visual of what's going on. Or only look up specific grammar points as you watch cdramas, if something seems confusing.

I personally felt... it was easier in the long run, for me, to just read a whole grammar guide as a beginner. Did I understand everything? NOPE. I didn't understand like 2/3 at all. But skimming through an entire grammar guide made me aware of all the ways to expect past tense: 去 过 过了 了 以前 etc, ways to expect the future and ability and desire 会 要, how to ask yes/no questions 吗 and suggestions 吧, 有 没有 i have/dont have and how have can be used to express past tense things, 不 don't/not, how 的 地 can make descriptive phrases (地 is like english -ly) (and how in chinese a sentence clause-的 usually goes in FRONT instead of in the middle like in english), how 得 is both 'must' and also has several grammatical functions to look out for (that I didn't get used to until I read a lot to be honest), and 着 has grammatical uses too (the first of which was it seemed similar to the english verb ending -ing to me). These were basic things, and a lot of their more particular aspects went over my head.

But knowing roughly how to pick out 'that's a verb' and 'that's probably a descriptive' and 'that's a clause' and 'that's negative' and 'that's past tense' or 'that's present or future tense' helped me start guessing the overall main idea of sentences and paragraphs WAY sooner than it otherwise would have took me. If I'd only looked up 1 grammar point occassionally... it could've taken years to recognize these basics. Instead it took a month of reading a grammar guide, then several months of seeing that grammar in cdramas and webnovels just to fully recognize what I saw. I did still look up a particular grammar point when confused, but usually I already was vaguely familiar with the grammar point to look it up (like seeing 把 in the sentence and knowing THAT is what i should look up because it's confusing me). So yeah: feel free to do it the way you prefer, as we all will have different preferences and things that work better for us. But for me, it was worth just reading 4 hours of a grammar guide in 15ish minute chunks over the course of a month.

Unfortunately the grammar guide summary i read (chinese-grammar.org) no longer exists. So I will link some options I've found, but if you find more concise and simpler grammar guides please share them! Introduction to Basic Chinese Grammar. AllSetLearning Chinese Grammar Wiki (way too long to read easily in my opinion but I used this to look up specific grammar points later in learning a Lot), Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar: A Student's Guide to Correct Structures and Common Errors (this one is a print book but the only modern book I bought for grammar), and Wikipedia's Chinese Grammar Page (which is the grammar guide I'm currently reading through to consider as a resource - i think as far as summarized it may be one of the shorter options).

Whenever you feel ready to learn hanzi? Honestly the sky is the limit on options. If you like SRS apps like anki, Skritter is an app I've seen recommended for hanzi, I used some "chinese hanzi with mnemonics" anki decks (while I could focus lol). I personally found the easiest way for me to start was to just read through this book (which is for free as an ebook in many libraries/library apps, and can be found in free download book sites):Learning Chinese Characters: (HSK Levels 1-3) A Revolutionary New Way to Learn the 800 Most Basic Chinese Characters; Includes All Characters for the AP & HSK 1-3 Exams. I liked this book because it made up a story to help me remember meaning, pronunciation, and tone. Along with providing example words. It's only 800 hanzi, and all I did to study it was read a few pages every couple days until I finished it - it took me around 3 months to finish the book. I didn't review (though you can re-read and review if you enjoy that).

But the mnemonics really helped form that 'initial recognition' memory and so when I started reading graded readers (once I'd studied 300 hanzi in the book), the graded readers helped 'review' those new hanzi and I learned them fast. For the 1000 hanzi I learned on my own after this book, I utilized the mnemonic story strategy that this book taught, and it was fairly doable to just keep picking up hanzi by looking them up when reading, coming up with a mnemonic story in my head, then moving on. As I kept seeing hanzi again, I'd eventually remember them. (And they say it takes 12-20 times of seeing a word to remember it, so at worst that's how much I was looking up new words... sometimes only 1-2 times though).

I would suggest that if you don't use SRS apps like anki or Skritter for hanzi, use some tool with mnemonics like a hanzi book with mnemonic stories (like the one I linked or a few others that exist). And when you look up new words in cdramas, and later graded readers and webnovels, please listen to the word's pronunciation a few times. So you're getting a bit of initial recognition of the hanzi's components/visual AND the word's pronunciation. If it takes 20 times or less to learn new words, then you'll want to get that much reading AND listening exposure.

When you have some basic grammar knowledge (or if you're really tolerant of ambiguity), keep watching cdramas as you have been. But try to pause the show every 3-5 minutes and read a chinese subtitle sentence. You can use the english subtitles to try and parse the chinese word meanings, or look up keywords using your translation app, whatever you want. Since a LOT of cdramas have chinese subs, and you watch with english subs, you can utilize these dual subtitles to start practicing reading skills and practicing guessing new words from context (in this case the context is the scene, the chinese words you already know, and the english translation). Later in your studies, when you stop using english subtitles sometimes, this will have been good practice of getting used to trying to read chinese. This pausing every 3-5 minutes to try and understand a chinese sentence should not take much time, maybe adding 5-10 minutes of watch time to a cdrama episode (depending on how long you pause). So it should be fairly easy to work into your schedule.

So yeah. The big summary of all this is:

If you want to make progress at a pace most people are going to find not too slow, I suggest 1-2 hours on average of doing stuff with chinese a day. (Or more hours a day on average if you want to get through the beginner phase faster). It'll take thousands of hours to learn chinese. Your pace will be extremely slow if you do less than 1 hour with chinese a day on average.

If you already watch cdramas, then keep doing that and just start looking up words (and eventually trying to figure out some sentences) once every 3-5 minutes as curious.

Spend 5 minutes a day reading articles on chinese writing system, and pinyin, and basic grammar, for a few months. You don't need to memorize or review, just get a basic initial exposure.

Approach other educational materials that way: if and when you start more 'intensively' studying, you can just get an initial exposure to the ideas (like a hanzi book, a grammar guide, reading word or sentence lists if you like to do that). You don't need to memorize or review, you don't need to understand everything. Just get an initial impression. (If you enjoy memorizing or studying though, go wild lol)

Audio lessons and audio flashcard study materials will require no time to fit into your schedule, you can do those while you do daily activities that you can listen to audio while doing. As an intermediate learner, these can also be used the way extensive reading is used - to pick up more vocabulary, improve grammar understanding, improve comprehension speed.

New words take (lets rough estimate) 20 times of seeing to remember. So you'll be looking up new words up to that many times when watching cdramas, or later when reading, and that's okay. It'll take a while to fully solidify this new information and you can just keep watching cdramas and doing things in chinese, and the information will eventually be learned. Especially as a beginner: you'll run into the few thousand most common words CONSTANTLY, you will eventually learn them as you keep looking words up and doing stuff in chinese. You do not need to do any special scheduled review (like SRS anki cards, skritter, pleco flashcards) unless you personally enjoy doing it, or want to speed up your progress and are okay with carving 15-30 minutes of time specifically for doing that.

The process of transitioning to graded readers, cdramas with no english subs, and webnovels is it's own beast - which I can cover if you want (and will in the bigger post's step 3). But the short of it is: if you keep doing activities until you've learned around 1000 words, you should be able to start reading easy graded readers and gradually increasing their unique word count until you're reading graded readers with 1000+ unique words. (And you can start graded readers knowing only 200 words if you want! Mandarin Companion has books for beginners if like me you'd like to practice reading ASAP). At that point, you should be able to transition to easy webnovels (using Pleco Reader/Clipobard Reader, Mandarinspot.com annotation, Readibu app, or highlighting and right clicking and using google translate in a webpage) and to watching cdramas you've seen before or with simple plots in chinese only. How many words you look up, or if you look up zero, is all fine: as long as you grasp the main idea of the plot. If you look words up, and can grasp at least the main idea? Then you can watch/read as long as you look words up (and you'll learn the other detail words from context) If you can grasp the main idea without looking any words up? Then you can watch/read without looking words up (and learn new words from context). The first few months (or even year) of transitioning to webnovels and cdramas with no english subs will feel hard, even if you know all/most of the words. It's just part of adjusting to actually comprehending all the things you've studied. I suggest following Heavenly Path's Reading Guide as soon as you're ready to start trying to read - first graded reading material, then webnovels once you've learned around 1000 words.

[daily-hyosatsu]

I do like this sans serif typeface. The name 宮入, which uses two common jōyō kanji, is read Miyairi.

宮 means Shinto shrine, constellation, palace, or princess. It's read みや, キュウ, グウ, ク, or クウ.

入 means enter or insert. It's read い (e.g. い.る, -い.り, い.れる, -い.れ,), or はい.る, ニュウ, or ジュ (though that last one is pretty rare).

It's also pretty tricky to write and recognize; it's important to pay attention to stroke order, length, and position. If you're doing it correctly, it looks like this:

You want to distinguish it from a character that looks like this...

...which you probably recognize as 人, meaning person, which is readひと, -り, -と, ジン, or ニン. [x]

But depending on the typeface or handwriting, 入 and 人 will sometimes be basically indistinguishable and you'll have to rely on context. So it's important to learn a lot of vocabulary too!

[tokidokitokyo]

Hello!

I saw the word "誤植" in one of your recent post and I have a question, hope it's ok ;;; I checked both the kanji on Jsho, how the kanji are written, each one presents two different forms of writing. It's not the first time I noticed this and I know it's because a form of a kanji can change based on the writing font (on pc/different sites/how it is written by hand). The question is, usually, what is the most acceptable form of the two? If a japanese person were to write "誤植" down for example, would they write this version we can see here on Tumblr? Or the other version? Is there a version that is preferable to study over the other? (I'm studying both but it can be a bit confusing sometimes when these versions differs much)

I hope I'm making sense and that I'm not bothering, thank youu and have a nice day~

Hello, thanks for your ask! I'm always happy to answer questions if I can ^.^

If I understand your question correctly, I think you are talking about the difference between writing the character in handwriting and how it appears when you type it on the screen, particularly for the kanji 誤. (The handwriting for 植 is a little less noticeable of a difference, but the following applies to this character too!)

When you type it on the screen it looks like:

誤

However, when you write it by hand it looks like:

So why do they look different?

Well, to put it rather simply, the typed character is a font, whereas the handwritten one comes from calligraphy.

If you study Japanese formally, stroke order is emphasized quite a bit. The stroke order for characters is generally top to bottom and left to right. So when you write you learn the handwritten form, such as the one you find in the clip above from my dictionary app.

When you read the character in a text, however, it is a typographical font and sometimes they are changed from handwriting. The gonben radical on the left side of this particular kanji (言 = gonben radical, "word" radical) is not written by hand as it appears in a font. Therefore if you write it by hand as the font shows, your handwritten character will look off (and your Japanese teacher will circle it in red ^^;).

There are certain characters that appear differently in fonts than they do handwritten, so it's best to check how to handwrite a kanji when you are learning. You can often do this in a dictionary app on your mobile or you can always look it up online. There are rules with writing kanji that you pick up along the way, such as the first stroke of the 誤 character that looks horizontal but is actually written in a downwards left to right motion.

A quick example: 人 vs 入:

When typed, the characters for person (人) and enter (入) can look very similar (depending on font), but when handwritten (above) they look very different. You can also see the difference in stroke order.

Whereas sometimes when typed (above) the font can make them appear very similar.

Another Example:

Here is another difference in typewritten vs handwritten kanji:

...

So, in the end, basically it's like writing letters by hand vs typing them out. Fonts can do strange things to certain kanji and sometimes kanji can appear very different when compared in handwriting vs typing, so be aware!

I hope this helps ^.^

[maziijapanese]

If I Learned Japanese From the Start, I Would…

Learning Japanese from the beginning requires dedication and a structured approach. If I were to start learning Japanese today, here's how I would organize my learning journey, particularly focusing on preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

1. Learn Phonetics: Hiragana, Katakana, and Pronunciation

Mastering the phonetics of Japanese is essential. This includes learning the two phonetic alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana, and understanding pronunciation rules. Although it may seem challenging at first, getting the basics right will enhance your listening and speaking skills later.

Tips:

Spend 5-7 days intensely studying Hiragana and Katakana.

Practice daily: Use small sentences at first, and gradually practice with longer paragraphs. Consistency is crucial.

2. Learn Kanji Characters

Principles of Writing

Learning Kanji, the logographic characters used in Japanese, can be tough. Start by understanding the basic principles of writing Kanji, which include stroke order and structure. Initially, your handwriting might not be perfect, but it will improve with practice.

Kanji Radicals

Radicals are the building blocks of Kanji characters. Learning the 50 most common radicals will help you understand how Kanji characters are constructed, making it easier to learn and remember new characters.

3. Choose the Curriculum

Choosing the right curriculum is critical for efficient learning. A well-structured curriculum will help you progress faster and cover all essential aspects of the language.

Recommended Textbooks:

Minna no Nihongo: This comprehensive series covers listening, speaking, reading, and writing, making it ideal for beginners.

Genki: Another popular series for beginners, Genki includes engaging exercises and cultural notes.

Kanji Look and Learn: Focuses on teaching Kanji through illustrations and mnemonics, making it easier to remember characters.

JLPT Preparation Books: If you have time, study the JLPT-specific textbooks, which are designed to match the format and content of the exams.

4. Practice Listening

Listening is fundamental to language acquisition. It helps you understand the natural flow, rhythm, and intonation of Japanese.

Steps:

Passive Listening: Listen to Japanese content (e.g., podcasts, music, TV shows) regularly, even if you don’t understand everything. This will help you get used to the sounds and intonation.

Focus on Vocabulary Pronunciation: When listening, try to pick out and focus on the pronunciation of new vocabulary. For example, when you hear 幸せ (shiawase), pay attention to its pronunciation.

Practice Speaking: Memorize useful sentences and analyze their grammar. Practice speaking them to improve fluency.

Contextual Understanding: Apply your knowledge to understand sentences with deeper meanings and varied contexts.

5. Learn Through Apps

Regular practice is essential when learning Japanese. Apps can offer a structured and engaging way to reinforce your studies. You could try some apps likes Mazii, Migii JLPT, Todaii Easy Japanese, HeyJapan…

6. Prepare for the JLPT

The JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) is a standardized test that measures your Japanese language proficiency. Preparing for the JLPT involves focused study on listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary, and Kanji.

Preparation Tips:

Understand the Format: Familiarize yourself with the format and requirements of the JLPT at your desired level.

Practice Tests: Regularly take practice tests to gauge your progress and identify areas that need improvement.

Targeted Study: Focus on the specific skills tested in the JLPT, using study materials and practice exercises designed for the exam.

Conclusion

Starting your journey to learn Japanese can be exciting and rewarding with the right approach. By focusing on phonetics, mastering Kanji, choosing the right curriculum, practicing listening, utilizing learning apps, and preparing for the JLPT, you can build a strong foundation and make significant progress. I hope these steps help you create a structured and effective learning plan.

Wish you all good study!

[summerongrand]

Earlier this year, I thanked a cute veteran-turned-cop for his service. He's basically a Chandler Bing personality meets dudebro meets Chad, so his response surprised me in the best way.

Since Tim is also a cute veteran-turned-cop, I gave his words to Tim in a fic chapter that I had already written. I *think* this will end up being Chapter 7 of Psyched On U, although I'm not entirely sure anymore. Some new ideas for my unwritten Chapter 5 are delaying this chapter from being posted. The joys of writing out of order I guess 🤷‍♀️.

In honor of Veterans' Day, here’s a sneak peek. Be sure to thank a Veteran today!

***

(Rated PG 13)

Tim tickled the underside of her jaw, inviting her to kiss him again. She happily accepted, hands reaching for his face, her tongue greeting his in an unspoken plea that he’ll turn to her whenever he felt close to losing himself. So Tim affirmed her through kisses. He’ll continue turning to her, being completely transparent with her in their personal life … and professionally, as much as their jobs allow.

Her lips lingered on his as if giving him a lifeline to ease the guilt he still felt about his military past despite all the good he's done. She won't end the kiss unless he was ready to.

Finally, as his lips pulled away and his eyes opened, she noticed a tension in his blues—soft yet raw and so full of fierce love for the woman in his arms.

“Look,” his voice caught, thick and heavy with the undeserved weight of her praise as he mustered out her name. He took a shaky breath to steady himself, but his voice came out the same way he looked at her: soft, yet raw, and filled with all the love that he possessed. “You don’t ever have to thank me for my service."

"Tim-" She didn't know where he was going with this.

He took another breath, this time more protective than shaky, "No, let me finish. You're more than worth all of what I went through out there." His hand slipped in through the front of her robe, touching the part of her body that he loved the most. "And you are worth everything, Bee. More than anything I could ever do or give. I will spend every ounce of my life trying to serve and protect you.”

His words sent warm fuzzies through her entire body, settling into the depths of her where his touch couldn't reach. If she weren’t already wrapped up in the masculine sweetness of Tim Bradford on their hotel bed, she would have jumped into his arms and called him a sap.

She traced her fingertips along his jaw, feeling the slight scratch of stubble beneath her touch, and smiled, pressing her body further into his, as if sharing her with him. “You're worth it,” the Detective whispered, almost to herself.

Tim tightened his arms around her, circling his other arm around her waist, his voice low and tender. "Damn straight. Worth everything."

She let the words settle between them before pressing a soft kiss to his chest, still warmer than usual from their earlier activities. “I was eight years old when you enlisted.”

“I know.” Tim smiled at his world. “And I loved protecting eight year old Sava Wu’s right to attend Chinese school.” He teased her, the corners of his mouth lifting in a smirky grin.

She stroked the Chinese characters etched in her handwriting on his rib cage, characters that translated to Bradford. A tattoo that surprisingly didn't take much convincing for him to get. “You’re such a jerk,” she said, her voice filled with affection.

“I know.” Tim winked, his nose nuzzling the apple of her cheek. She noticed a subtle shift in him, that his brooding spell was over, and let out a small sigh of relief that she hoped he took for happiness.

Leaning into the sweetness of his touch, she murmured, “The eight year old me that you protected … she’s the same age as us. We’ve known each other for eight years now, Tim.”

“Nearly nine.” He reminded her.

She kissed his jaw. “You’re keeping track.”

“How could I forget the worst day of my life? You didn’t know which street we were on and left me to die in that shop.” Tim taunted her.

She smacked his chest. “You’re such a dick.”

“You love my dick.” He continued taunting her. “Mrs. Freak in the Sheets.”

She shot him a glare. It’s moments like this that she thinks in a different life her asshole husband would’ve fit right in as a sleazy finance bro on Wall Street. “You keep this up, Bradford, I’m gonna revoke your naked time privileges.”

His hand slipped underneath her robe, affectionately slapping her ass, disarming her heatless threat. “Just don’t revoke quality time with me, okay? These next six and a half months are important.”

“Awww babe.” She wiggled against him, the plush fabric of her robe teasing his skin through his boxer briefs, tickling his relaxed form.

“Where are you, Boot?” Tim demanded gruffly.

“Right here, Sir.” She touched the barely visible bullet scar on his lower abs, a promise that she’ll always have his six, and planted a kiss over his heart. “I’ll always be right in here.”

[savyir-genesizz-the-wizard]

azya: motion, stillness, road, change (for the oc ask game)

Motion

Despite his recovery after stroke being remarkably good Azya still sometimes has difficulty walking straight which makes other people consider him to be quite clumsy. His hand however move very precisely and his handwriting is very nice - he practiced it a lot during recovery. Another thing he does often is sitting down immediately to not tire himself too much.

His clothes are generally very modest, he feels most comfortable when he's covered - part of the reason is that he wants to avoid people looking at him and in part because Ajidiali is rather cold, with the water similar to the Baltics. The first one is also the reason why his clothes are rather plain, tho they become more patterned when he returns to his music career.

Stillness

He gets quite nervous in crowds and puts his hands near nis collarbone, he sometimes also plays with his necklace. He generally sits very still, unless he can't rest his back - he has some problems with balance so it's tiring to him.

His clothes are generally comfortable - fast fashion haven't really become a thing in Ajidiali so it's standard to have adjustments made when you buy clothes.

He's also actually quite tall, compared to other Ajidialians, so he something tries to hide his height by slouching when he sits but he avoids it when he stands up.

Road

So, this is a bit more complicated. Travel on TIWR Earth is very difficult, compared to our Earth. Year 1002 is not an era of medium sized mammals but rather big predators that still roam around outside the settlements, especially in the seas. Extreme storms and winds also make it difficult to travel.

He does travel to the sea from time to time. The coast is largely rocky but has sandy beaches as well. The sea is cold so he wears sensible jacket and rubber boots.

Change

Azya has basically 3 "looks" he goes through in life.

The first one would be from his pop/disco star era, which I would say was mostly based on Agnetha Fältskog of ABBA. Very oblivious choice, he could do Mamma Mia! at that time, no problem.

With time his sense of style shifted towards more bold look of space theme that his band did for three albums.

After that he had this period when he was recovering from stroke, going to open uni, getting married, getting involved in local politics ect... Not very interesting clothing wise. He developed his "adjusted adult" style at the time but it's also the time he got into cutesy mascot animals and aquired a taste for pink and pastels but kept it secret mostly.

And after the TIWR main plot he partially returns to his disco roots but moves it more towards the Bee Gees' blazer + turtleneck combo. He also gets really into weird patterns and puts some kind of a "mystery" (Kate Bush maybe?) into his stage persona.

Bonus Azya in underwear and additional answers under the cut 🚨

Q: Where did that scar on his left brow came from?

A: He hit his head after a concert when he was 24. Quite unremarkable, really.

Q: How tall is he?

A: 155 cm but humans on TIWR Earth are smaller but proportional. Average Ajidialian is 145-150 cm tall so he stands out quite a lot.

(I fucked up the face from this weird ass angle and didn't care to fix it. Anyway he's a catgirl in real life)

(Also as you can see his hair just continues into his back (well, it's technically fur))

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Shin Ecstasy [05]

ー The scene starts in the guest room at the Vibora Castle

Carla: To think that Shin and I would end up missing each other...

This disease has done nothing but get in the way.

...

*Knock knock*

Carla: ーー What do you want?

ー Zweig enters the room 

Zweig: How are you, Great Founder King (1)?

Carla: ...No point in holding me hostage. 

Just go ahead and execute me already. 

Zweig: ーー Not in a million years! I would never do something so wasteful. 

Carla: What are you thinking? 

Zweig: As the Founder King, you have plenty of value. 

Your magic could even surpass that of Karlheinz’ descendants. 

What do you say, Carla? Will you join hands with me? 

Carla: ...I refuse.

Zweig: Haha...You are as cold as ever, aren’t you? 

I suppose I shall patiently wait for you to change your mind. Until we meet again.

ー He leaves

Carla: ...

ー The scene shifts to Carla’s room at Banmaden

Shin: What’s this...?

( I can’t believe Nii-san reorganized his personal belongings while we were gone... )

*Rustle* 

Shin: ...This notebook.

*Flip*

Shin: ( This is Nii-san’s handwriting...He must have written all of this up. )

Huh? ...This...

Monologue

When I went to Mother’s room,

because I needed to discuss something with her,

Uncle Ferzen who had been contaminated with Endzeit,

got there before me. 

Coming from the other side,

I could hear someone expressing their sincere remorse to mother,

leaking through the slight crack of the door,

as curiousity got the best of me, I stood there outside in the hallway.

ーー I truly feel ashamed of what I did. 

Uncle lowered his head again and again,

begging mother for her forgiveness. 

Mother told him,

to raise his head,

apologizing back just as many times. 

ーー “This is fate.”

Regardless,

Uncle continued to apologize. 

While it struck me as odd,

I could not bring myself to step forward.

Instead I returned to my room,

and pretended not to have seen anything. 

It was right after that happening,

Uncle disappeared without a traceーー

Shin: ( Uncle... )

( He might have felt responsibility for the fact that Mother and the Wolf Prince were not able to spend the rest of their lifes together. )

But...If I’m that Prince’s kid, then...

( It basically means Mother committed adultry whilst already being engaged to Father. )

...! Fuck this shit...!! Uu...

( I feel sick...My head is throbbing... )

*Rustle rustle* 

*TIMESKIP*

*Knock knock*

Yui: Shin-kun, I’m coming in, okayーー

ー Yui enters the room

Yui: ...!! Shin-kun!

ー She rushes to his side

*Rustle rustle*

Yui: ...Are you alright!? What happened!? 

Shin: Oh, it’s you...

*Thud* 

Shin: No...It’s nothing. I was just feeling a little tired, so I crouched down. 

Yui: ( Shin-kun...His face is sheer white. Is he really just tired? )

Selection

→ Press him for more answers

Yui: Shin-kun...If you’re struggling with someone, ask me for help. 

I don’t want you to keep secrets any longer...

Shin: ...My bad. But right now, it’s actually nothing.

Yui: ...Really? 

Shin: Yeah. So don’t worry, okay?

Yui: ( I feel as if...I only made it harder on him. )

→ Keep quiet and stroke his back (❦)

Yui: ( I’ll be quiet and stay by his side. ...No need to rush him. I’ll wait until he decides to talk himself. )

( I did promise I would back then after all. )

( But...I hope he’ll let me do this at the very least. )

*Rustle rustle* 

Yui: Shin-kun, will you feel a bit better if I stroke your back? 

*Rustle*

Shin: ...Yeah, thanks. I think I’ve calmed down a little. 

Yui: I see...I’m glad. 

Shin: ...You’re so nice.

Yui: Eh...?

Shin: Stay like this, just a little longer...

Yui: ( Shin-kun... )

*Thud* 

Shin: Hey, you’ll stay with me, no matter what happens, right? 

Yui: Yeah.

Shin: Hehe, an instant answer...

Yui: ...! I mean, I love...

Shin: Nn...

*Smooch* 

Yui: ...!

Shin: ...I know. How you feel. Everything. 

Because you’re here with me...I can keep going. 

*Rustle* 

Shin: Say, can I crave your attention even more?

Yui: ( It’s quite rare for him...to depend onto me like this. )

( Something really rough must have happened. )

ーー Sure, Shin-kun. You can let me spoil you even more.

I’ll be here for you, no matter what happens.

Shin: ...Thanks.

Monologue

ーー Thanks.

As he spoke those words while smiling,

Shin-kun’s expression was just so incredibly pained (痛々しく),

I was at a lost for words.

I pretended not to notice how his arms were shaking (震えている) as he held me,

or how his pretty remaining eye,

quivered with anxiety,

as I stroked the top of his head. 

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes

(1) Zweig calls him 始祖王殿 or ‘shiso-ou tono’, using the suffix for ‘Lord’ in combination with the title of ‘King’. 

[kawarikisaki]

Im sure this is nothing new, but I’m currently overthinking the logistics of DeathNote for no real reason, it's just on my mind.

Particularly the fact the most basic mechanics of writing someone's name while thinking of their face.

Part of the rules is that it has to be their real name, but what criteria determines that? Is it their legal name? Is it what their parents call them? If you wanted to kill a trans person with the deathnote would you have to use their dead name or their chosen name?

If a baby were swapped at the hospital after their parents named them and then they lived the rest of their life by a different name; would the deathnote only acknowledge their original name that only belonged to them as an infant or would it accept the name they went by their whole life.

Also, what if the person writing the name has horrible handwriting? Thanks to the way the face part works we know that to some degree the notebook reads the user's intent. So would it work even if the name is completely illegible, or does the name need to be able to be read since spelling matters.

And since spelling matters what happens if you write the correct letter incorrectly? Does stroke order? Japanese is a complicated language, and different kanji can have specific orders that your strokes are meant to be written in. Would that play in? I mean probably not, there's no way to really expect Shinigami to intuitively know what the correct stroke order is for a given Kanji.

Back to the fact that you need the face and name, what if you want to use the deathnote to kill someone who you haven't seen in a while and their face has changed significantly since you saw them. Like if someone wanted to kill an actress but she just got a nose job and doesn't look like that anymore, or someone wants to kill their childhood bully they haven't seen in years something like that. Or sticking with Light' MO, he killed a fair number of criminals that were already in prison by using the information he could obtain from police documents; so what if a criminal were to lose a significant ammount of weight in the time between Light writing their name and the criminal having been imprisoned and now thanks to that weight-loss they are unrecognizably gaunt conpared to their intake photo?

...

Not saying that I have a deathnote or anything, I just have questions about the rules.

[prabhatjairam]

Coping Strategies for Children with Learning Disabilities

Learning, playing, and growing are the primary objectives of childhood. All kids learn to make sense of the world at an early age. However, some of them face certain challenges. They fight with an undiagnosed disability that prevents them from learning skills. When taught traditionally, having a learning disability interferes with the ability to master various concepts.

Students with learning disabilities have difficulty recognizing content in their minds. They struggle with information integration, such as the ability to sequence, organize, and retrieve skills. So, here are some pointers and tricks to make their life easier. These tips will help disabled children become stronger and more resilient.

Learning Disability: An Overview

The term "learning disorder" is a neurological condition affecting the intellectual ability to send, receive, and process information. It is a problem that prevents students from learning a skill and applying it effectively. A child with this kind of disability may face problems in reading, listening, speaking, writing, and understanding mathematical concepts.

Types of Learning Disorders

A learning disability alters brain functioning in such a manner that it affects cognitive processes related to learning. Some of the notable problems that interfere with learning basic skills are discussed below:

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is one of the major learning disabilities that is neurobiological in origin. It involves trouble reading due to problems recognizing speech sounds and learning how they relate to words and letters. It commonly affects spelling, word recognition, and the potential to match characters to sounds. The primary cause of dyslexia is not completely understood as it could be related to genetic factors that affect brain development. 

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is a common mental disorder, also known as DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder), that affects movement and coordination. Children with dyspraxia reach their developmental milestones late and behave immaturely. Messages sent from the brain to the muscles are disrupted in this neurodevelopmental disorder, causing problems with tying shoelaces, handwriting, grabbing items, and so on. It also makes riding a bicycle and playing sports difficult for children. There is no single cause of dyspraxia, as it can occur due to genetic components, damage to the brain, premature birth, or an accident.

Dysgraphia

Another learning disorder, dysgraphia, causes difficulty in turning thoughts into written language. It affects adults and children, impairing their writing ability which involves spelling, word spacing, grammar, punctuation, legibility, and expression. When compared to an intellectual child, children with dysgraphia frequently have to work much harder to produce written work. The actual cause of dysgraphia is unknown, but when it develops in adults, the cause is usually a brain stroke or injury.

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The best tips for dealing with a child’s learning disability

Kids with learning disabilities experience anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression. They require motivation and support from their peers and educators. Parents should never minimize their role in helping their children learn at each level. The support that they provide to their kids boosts confidence and determination, which are needed to achieve goals in their lives. Here are various tricks that can be beneficial for parents dealing with their child’s learning impairment.

1. Appreciate your kid’s efforts.

A child with a learning disability needs instructions and careful guidance to master the skills needed to be independent. Parents should appreciate their child’s efforts so they can give their best despite the attributes of failure for "not trying enough." When peers praise their kids, they focus more on improving and practicing skills.

2. Builds a strong connection.

Disabled kids need more love, care, and support. The most important thing for parents of disabled children is to create a good relationship and take an active role in their kids' activities. If teachers and parents have a strong connection with their children, they feel secure and safe. Through a positive outlook, you can easily understand your child’s behavior, which motivates them to complete their tasks smoothly.

If you want to enhance your child’s learning skills, get help from an online education portal like “study24hr.com”. It is an exceptional platform that delivers the best services and facilities to its learners. The platform aims at creating a collaborative environment where children can ask their queries and easily interact with their educators. In addition, “study24hr.com” allows teachers and educational institutes to publish notes, question papers, and mock test papers on its website for student enhancement.

3. Provide emotional support.

As a parent, focus on your kids’ abilities and what they can do rather than their disabilities. Usually, disabled children need physical and emotional support. If caretakers help them throughout their interesting tasks, they feel motivated and enthusiastic. Remember, whenever you’re communicating with your child, make sure to use polite and soft language.

4. Spend quality time.

Guardians and peers should ensure that they spend time talking with their mentally disordered kids. They must explain in simple language what it is they're doing, telling them all about their environment, smiling with them, and making noises around them so they can respond to noises. This will enhance their thinking and learning skills.

5. Identify your child’s learning style.

Every child is unique and has a different learning style. Some kids learn best by listening (auditory learners), some by doing (kinaesthetic learners), and some by visualizing (visual learners). To help your kids with learning disabilities, try to identify your child’s preferred learning style and appreciate it.

The Epilogue

Understanding a child’s concerns and requirements should be the primary concern of parents. As a parent, you should never stop trying because it’s only you who can care for and support your child. Remember, if you make an effort, you’ll get the best outcome. Always try to provide positive reinforcement and encourage your child to perform well. However, every kid is unique and important. So, take help from the tips listed above and make your child’s learning journey better.