#but there's a lot of other stuff going on and i sort of feel like i'm just waiting to die

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

quick question- I was a bit confused in some dialogue during book 1 lol 😭😭 It’s during the later chapters when riddle has collared both ace and deuce after they’ve challenged him for his seat. More specifically, the part where yuu calls riddle out for his behavior (rightfully so) and he responds by insulting them and their parents I believe?

The confusion stems from aceyuu shippers (just wanted to clarify I’m not self shipping lmao) where they say ace ends up punching riddle because he’s explicitly defending yuu’s honor or whatever but i also see other people (non-shippers) who say ace punched riddle because he insulted ace and/or deuce’s parents? Im not quite sure which one it is and went back in the actual game to check but i feel like the wording of riddle’s insults is a bit vague? Idk, maybe im just being a bit of a dum dum and can’t properly comprehend the scene even though it’s quite simple. I feel like it’s also just because i see a lot of people saying different stuff and just wanted to hear your thoughts on it if that’s okay?

I just feel like you really understand both the story and characters in that regard haha

P.S. your posts r genuinely very informative and helpful especially for people like me who kinda have no media literacy (not in a negative way!!) pls keep up the good work you’re rlly great at it <333

Hmmm, I see 🤔

Before I get to responding to this question, I want to preface this with a few disclaimers! Firstly, I do not mean to invalidate or detract from Ace x Yuu shippers or anyone who may interpret their relationship as romantic. You should ship what you like and have fun doing it. My reply aims to be more objective, but that should NOT impede on your enjoyment or whatever it is you choose to ship. Secondly, for those who don’t ship Ace x Yuu, I will be discussing the pairing later on in this post, so please keep this in mind.

Let's first look at how the game and how it depicts the scene. This occurs in 1-22, shortly after Riddle collars Ace and Deuce in their duel for the dorm leader seat. With his victory secured, Riddle begins to gloat about how this is proof that he is "the most correct". At this point, Yuu/the player character is granted two dialogue options:

If you choose "But that's not right!", Riddle replies with, "I am the one who decides what is wrong and right! What sort of pitiful education have you received, that you cannot follow such simple rules?"

If you choose "You can't just use rules to do whatever you please!", then Riddle replies with, "If there were no penalties, no one would follow the rules. I have to wonder what sort of pitiful education left you unable to comprehend so simple a concept."

However, no matter which dialogue option you choose, Riddle continues on to say, "Clearly, you were born to parents with no great magical capability. And as a result... You lack even the basic education necessary to attend a school such as this. It's quite sad."

Deuce becomes upset after hearing this--but before he is able to act, Ace is already on his feet and manages to deck his dorm leader in the face.

Based on the fact that Riddle seems to react to something that Yuu says, the framing here implies that the "you" Riddle is using refers to them specifically. As you can see above, both Ace and Deuce take offense to what Riddle says, but it is Ace that acts preemptively and attacks Riddle for his rudeness. This is what Ace x Yuu shippers will point to as a defining moment in their relationship (though, to be clear, this scene can definitely also be interpreted as platonic!!).

… Buuut it’s not completely clear that Riddle is explicitly directing any and all insults towards Yuu and Yuu alone, even if Yuu was the one to prompt his tirade. Due to the visual novel style format of the game, we have limited assets to base our interpretations off of, so going by the game alone may not be entirely accurate to what is happening in this scene. For example, we don't know how the characters are oriented relative to one another. It's possible that Riddle responds to Yuu's dialogue and then turns away to berate Yuu, Ace, and Deuce for their stupidity, since all three of them are, in his eyes, rule-breakers. We simply cannot tell due to the constraints of a visual novel. Let’s consult the manga adaptation and see how that presents 1-22.

In the Episode of Heartslabyul, the framing of the panels centers Riddle and Adeuce; Yuuken is not involved whatsoever. (On a prior page, all Yuuken remarks on is how fast Riddle is able to cast his spell; Yuuken has no lines similar to game!Yuu’s earlierdialogue options.) Riddle stands imposing over his opponents and rants at Ace and Deuce about their lack of an education. You can see that it really strikes a nerve with Deuce (whom we learned used to be a delinquent prior to NRC). This still results in Yuu punching Riddle.

The manga seems to imply that Riddle is not insulting Yuu, but rather Adeuce. This makes sense to me, given that though all of them are rebels to Heartslabyul’s strict rules, Adeuce are the two who most directly challenge his authority.

You can see in a close-up panel that Deuce is gritting his teeth and trying to hold himself back from going at Riddle. The text in that panel involves the mention of parents who cannot use magic—which just so happens to be true of Deuce’s mother. The same mother that he worked so hard to make proud of, the mother he turned over a new leaf for. But again, it’s Ace that gets the hit in. Why is that?

Let’s check out our final source, the first volume of the light novel. On pages 319 and 320:

Riddle very clearly states “And as for you two.” This clearly refers to the fallen Ace and Deuce. He then unleashes his barrage of insults at them. Again, not at Yuu, but at Ace and Deuce. The text even goes on to remind us that Deuce would be especially rattled by Riddle’s words because of how he had come to NRC for the sake of his mom. In this version, we see our Yuu (Yuuya) being more involved by trying to keep Deuce from lashing out. Like in the game, however, Ace still gets in that punch on his dorm leader.

Okay, so… The game, manga, and light novels are different iterations of the same base story. Based on which you consume, you could walk away with an entirely different understanding of the scene in question. The game, being the most interactive medium with a self-insert main character, a gacha game which makes $$$ from endearing the characters to us, has the set-up which is most conducive for yumeshipping and thus making the player feel beloved and important in 1-22. This is obvious if you also consider that many fanservicey lines from other parts of the game (such as Ace wanting to sleep in Yuu’s room) being left out of the manga. It's also entirely possible that Riddle first reacts to what Yuu says, and THEN shifts his attention to address the group rather than just Yuu. The manga, with a more standoffish and level-headed Yuu, doesn’t speak up like game!Yuu does, so Riddle instead directly insults Ace and Deuce. The light novel, which features a timid and non-confrontational Yuu, is focused on deescalating the situation. And, like the manga, the light novel is NOT interactive and so it doesn’t need to concern itself with making the player feel special. Riddle isn’t mandated to acknowledge Yuu; he can instead be mad at Ace and Deuce all he likes.

If we were to combine information from across the game, manga, and light novel to decipher what is “truly” happening, here’s how I see it!

The light novel contains a scene exclusive to it on pages 176 and 177. As Ace is making himself comfortable at Ramshackle, he formally apologizes to Yuuya for being mean to him in the prologue. Ace explains that his meanness was because he thought that Yuuya had bullied his way to be admitted to NRC under special circumstances. “[…] the rest of us had to work our butts off to get in, and you just sorta walked in.” He proclaims that this was unfair, so it annoyed him.

This makes a lot of sense for Ace’s character. In book 7 of the main story, he expresses that he is insecure about being an ordinary mage and that he hadn’t even developed his UM yet. He calls himself lame and pathetic, someone who is always looking for an excuse to take the easy way out. This is in spite of the bravado he puts on and how he often brags about being better or smarter than Deuce (most notably in book 5). If we believe the light novel dialogue, Ace worked hard to get invited to NRC. He has pride in earning this, and he has something to prove while he is there. Recall that his older brother is an alumnus of the school, and that his own father is a magicless human. Ace canonically has a good relationship with both of these family members and often bonds with them through little things like card trick competitions. When Riddle insults Ace's background... he is also insulting Ace's brother and father. He is also insulting all the effort Ace put forth to get into NRC in the first place. Ace would of course lose it--especially when he has been the primary victim of Riddle's rage for most of book 1. He's the first to be collared, the one who had to apologize and attempted to make an apology tart (which got rejected). Bro's fed UP having to bend the knee to a tyrant and sick of watching everyone else do the same. The punch that comes out of it seems to me like the result of all Ace's pent-up frustrations, as well as his own fury at Riddle speaking ill of him and his family.

While Ace is unquestionably willing to ride or die for Yuu in books 4 (he takes a long public transit route from the Queendom to Sage's Island after receiving a SOS text from them) and 6 (he tries to protect his friends from Ferrymen)... I think book 1's a bit too early for him to be SO loyal to Yuu that he'd get this angry on their behalf and sock Riddle. (Book 1 takes place during the first week of school; Ace seems to have only known Yuu for a few days at this point + hasn't really hung out with them besides sleeping over at Ramshackle since he's not allowed back at Heartslabyul.) His punch definitely feels fueled by a bunch of other things rather than being extremely motivated to defend Yuu's honor. I think maybe a case could be made for the game specifically, since that's the only version where Yuu is potentially addressed rather than Ace and Deuce being addressed. However, this does take some extrapolation. You'd have to assume that Ace is actually very attached to Yuu this early on or pair it with the idea that Ace is sensitive about magicless humans in general being discriminated against because of his own father being magicless (ie Ace was insulted by proxy, even if Riddle might have aimed the comments at Yuu). Not sure if the latter argument holds up very well though, considering that Ace himself did discriminate against Yuu in the prologue because they lacked magic. Likewise, he doesn't get mad for Fellow and Gidel in Playful Land when they share about being looked down on for not being magically inclined. But hey, maybe that was just Ace being in denial and acting contrary in order to cope with his own complicated feelings on the topic. He’s been known to behave like this anyway, acting cocky despite having no UM and denying that Yuu would go home (even though we later find out he deeply does not wish for this to happen).

I definitely think that many of the game-exclusive lines and content are there as fanservice for the players, who are encouraged to project or to self-insert as Yuu. Ace in particular is one of the characters who gets a ton of this kind of yumejoshi bait-y stuff. Everyone has it to some extent, but Ace is one of the rare few who has several pretty overt instances in the main story (whereas most other characters have their fanservice content relegated to voice lines and maybe some events). On top of this scene (which could potentially read as "Ace defending Yuu's honor"), we have: multiple instances of Ace offering to share a room/bed with Yuu (once in book 1, again in book 3), he has shared his number with Yuu and invites them to call him if they "miss him", Ace's entire book 7 dream revolving around a reality in which Yuu is able to freely traverse between Twisted Wonderland and their original world (furthermore, he is the ONLY dreamer we have seen in which Yuu is involved in the dream), etc. Ace is also known to frequently tease Yuu, and, on top of having several voice lines inviting them to hang out, is actually shown hanging out with them and caring about them in various vignettes and events. For example, he has movie nights with Yuu (Idia's Labwear vignettes), asks for their opinion on whether or not he looks the part to woo the Ghost Bride, rides roller coasters with them in Playful Land while previously complaining that his ex-girlfriend wouldn’t, and worries for where Yuu might be (Endless Halloween Night). With this abundance of Ace and Yuu content, I can see why people that have the shipping goggles on--and even those who don't--might interpret early scenes as Ace acting out for Yuu's sake, be it romantically or platonically. More objectively speaking and when considering the manga + light novel though, I don't think I personally read 1-22 that way. I enjoy Ace as a character and I support Ace x Yuu shippers, but the evidence and context suggests that he's venting other frustrations to me.

Again though, this is just my interpretation. Feel free to use this information however you’d like and come to your own conclusion.

[celeste-clearwater-06]

The Kitchen Window (pt. 6 - the epilogue)

Bayverse! Raphael x Fem! Reader

desc- (Raph has to make his intentions clear to you and to whatever it is that you two are)

warnings - none

word count - 2.5k

READ PREVIOUS PARTS BEFORE THIS

“I look stupid, Mike.”

“Nah, bro you look great!” Raph’s younger brother is looking his outfit up and down, trying to perfect any wrinkles or stray threads, “She’s gonna love it, trust me.”

Raph scuffs his new air force’s on the cement, while the other turtle straightens the collar of the graphic tee up around his neck. Maybe he could lend his fashionable little brother a bit of slack. Mikey knew a lot more about this stuff.

It’s early August. Summer’s fleeting, to warm days and cooler nights, which are perfect for this exact occasion.

Raph has been a mess of fluttering nerves all week trying to set this date up, with the help of his brothers and April. Every little detail, meticulously planned.

At first he was gonna do it on his own, in secret. Come to your door, trip over his words and fumble the bag, because lord knows he’s not good with expressing his feelings.

Thank god for April and his siblings, though it hurt his ego a little to come to them and admit he didn’t know how to set up a lousy dinner. Of course they were happy to help. Mikey and April especially.

So now, the five of them were on the roof of your apartment complex and pulling together all of their different tastes and ideas to create this adorable little date for him and his girl.

Raphael didn’t know what the two of you were. After that bizarre (albeit fantastic) first kiss, his visits to you were so much more frequent. Even if it was quick, he’d make a pit stop to your window for a peck on the cheek that kept his spirits up for a long night's patrol. More often than not, you two would be chatting away in the late night hours. And then of course make out a little, with him hanging on the sill like a fool.

It was so great, and it filled Raph with something he didn’t know he needed. Every second he wasn’t with you, he counted down till the next time he'd meet your gorgeous face again, greeting him with a kind, welcoming smile that made his knees wobble. But that was it.

There wasn’t really a label. Not that he liked those anyway.

He just needed some clarity. Some sort of outwardly spoken agreement that you guys weren’t just really good friends who kissed and held hands and tried to hold in your laughter in the dark, trying not to disturb the peace of your neighbors.

“Oh this looks great.”

Raph watches the way April appreciates her work of a cute little vase of flowers on the center of a table, hands settled on her hips. Well, it’s less of a table than it is a large wooden crate with a nice-ish tablecloth, but it serves just the same. It’s not too extravagant, not too drab. Just right. It suits the mix of your different lives. Little, dollar store candles light the area with a warm haze, next to the tin containers filled with the meal you’d taught him to make months ago. He’s hoping it tastes as good as it did when you make it. Raph hasn’t told you how often he whips it up at the lair when he’s missing you.

“How’s lookout, Leo?”

The blue-banded turtle looks over his shoulder, where he’s crouched on the ledge right next to the fire escape ladder.

“All clear.”

Thankfully, everything seems to be coming together just as Raph wanted it to. It settles some of the butterflies that rage in his stomach. The time for one of his brother’s to go and fetch you from your apartment is growing closer and closer while Donnie is scooting the plastic folding chairs next to the crate.

He’s so not ready for this. A little voice is nagging in the back of his head to just back out now.

Raph knows you’ll at least like it. Just how you like everything else he does for you. He has no clue why this is so damn difficult.

“Alright, Raph.”

April clasps her hands together and looks up to him for approval.

“What do we think?”

He thinks it looks great. Raphael loves the gentle little glow everything gives against the dim light pollution that stretches out over the city. Will you?

“You’re a lifesaver, O’Niel.”

“Don’t forget it.”

He snorts.

“I guess it’s showtime then!”

Mikey attacks his older brother with a hug from behind.

“Aw come on Mike!” Raph’s trying to swat him off his shell, but not before his two other siblings, and April crowd him with an embrace, that eases the nerves running rampant. He rolls his eyes, but can’t hold back the grateful grin that breaks through his annoyance. Their words are encouraging and warm, fueling the confidence he’s so desperately been trying to grasp for all this time.

“You’re gonna be fine.”

“Trust us, she is gonna love it.”

Leo’s hand ruffles over Raph’s red bandanna.

“Go get em’, tiger.”

Ouf, what a cornball.

“Alright, alright!” They all break away from the group hug with excited smiles. This is home to Raphael. All his favorite people- well, most - in his corner of the ring and hyping his happy-ass up to romance a cute girl.

“Leo?”

“I’ll go get her for you.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Your apartment is warm. Over the weeks, the walls are filled with picture frames and cute decor that April and the boys have been bringing you. Polaroids of you and the boys are littered on your bedside table and posted on the fridge with little paw print magnets. Most of them are with or of Raph. Him sleeping with an open mouth, or being dog-piled on by Mike and Donnie. Your favorite is the one where you’re sitting on his shoulders, laughing, while he’s grinning into the camera flash. April took it, down in the lair, where he was parading you around after everyone had a few-too-many drinks. The once empty living space is now full of life and love and sooo, so many cat toys.

You’re on the livingroom floor now, playing with sweet Vannie to distract you from the lack of texts from your best friend. It’s been worrying you all day, that Raph hasn’t responded to any of your messages, even the funny memes, like the others you send him daily.

You’d given up on the last message, a little over an hour ago, though it doesn’t keep you from repeatedly glancing at your phone while your cat darts after the laser pointer across the carpet and onto the sofa. The little bell on her collar tinks quickly with each movement. She sees someone through your window before you. Two taps against the glass make your head whip around excitedly.

It’s not who you’re expecting, but Leo’s visit is still a nice surprise.

“Hey Lee!” You hide the disappointment with a happy smile that he returns.

“How’s it going?”

“Good! Good,” he doesn’t miss the way you’re trying to peek over his shoulder, “Have you heard from Raph at all? I couldn’t get a hold of him today.”

“Actually yeah.”

This perks your attention right back up, locking with his eyes that carry a mischievous glow.

“Oh! How’s he doing? He didn’t get hurt on patrol, did he?”

Leo chuckles.

“Nah. He’s been busy.”

Busy? Weird. Even if Raphael were kicking sorry ass, he’d text you back in a heartbeat. Something fishy was going on.

“Oh. Huh.”

“You wanna see him?”

That, you couldn’t say no to.

“Is he here?”

Leo knows, with the way you two talk about each other, that it’s love. He knows more than both of you. It's so funny how his younger brother and you will spend hours at a time just sitting in silence or talking about life, and then when you’re apart, all that one of you can think or say has something to do with the other.

“He’s up top,” his head gestures back up the fire escape. You’re already climbing out the window, while he and Vannie stare. Lee takes a hold of your arm when your foot reaches that first step. You look back at him with a puzzled stare.

“You gotta close your eyes.”

“What?”

It’s a surprise. That makes you nervous.

“Just trust me. I’ll take you up there, you just can’t look.”

Uh oh. You’re hesitant to follow his instructions, but his hand is already blinding your vision, and he’s scooping you of your feet. You shout in surprise.

“Leo, what’s going on?”

The only reply you recieve is his heavy footfall on the metal stairs. He has to take his hand away, but you keep your eyes clenched shut, partially to obey his order, but the other is so you don’t have to see how far up you might be from the ground below.

“This is freaking me out Lee,”

“I’m not gonna drop you.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Oh, he knows. He’s just great at keeping secrets.

The final, thudding footstep lands on concrete, and he sets you on the ground, steadying you onto your feet. Your breath is nervous, heart racing, senses heightened. You can hear the buzz of the city off in the distance. A cool breeze brush through your hair. The concrete scraping on your wooly socks.

“Alright, take a look.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Your eyes blink open. Then again. Your brain isn’t processing whatever is in front of you, until he speaks.

“Hey, Sunshine.”

Raph’s hands are shoved into the front pockets of jeans you’ve never seen him in. They’re new. So are his shoes, and the black, long sleeve tee that’s perfectly tailored to fit, and let his shell still breathe from the back. The casual clothes are incredibly flattering on him. You can still see the faint lines of his toned muscles under the cotton, catching in soft light. He’s so handsome, it hurts. And cute. GOD was he cute.

Shifting his weight, subtly from one foot to the other and smiling, anxious and bashful, while you stare at him in bafflement. Behind him is an adorable, candle lit dinner and your favorite flowers in a glass vase, all tuned with the ambient sounds of New York.

“Oh, Raph.”

His name comes out in a sigh, incredulous, full of shock and wonder. You take a few steps forward to better take in the effort he’s thrown into all of this. You’re nearly speechless, breathless, and trying to swallow the lump in your throat. He set up a date. A date! For you!

“You like it?”

His eyes are hesitant, but full of a childlike hope when they meet yours.

“Raph, this is… you did this?”

“Well, I had help. I ain’t this creative.” Raph chuckles nervously, nodding to where Leo was standing, now gone without a trace, “But… yeah.”

“For… me?”

You’re still so surprised at the sweetness of it all.

“Well, I’d hate to be up here eatin chicken and rice by myself all night, so yeah.”

He’s easing up, gentle grin mirroring yours.

“Raph this is so great!”

Like a kid, you all but skip over to look closer at the make-shift table and chicken and rice in their bowls, stream rolling off in the tepid air, while your fingers over the tablecloth. He’s laughing at your stupidly huge smile.

“I was hoping you might think so.”

You look up at him, face glowing in the candlelight.

“I know I haven’t been texting you back. Been a nervous wreck all day.”

His expression contorted into a soft gout of admiration, a soft smile, and even softer, green eyes. Your heart leaps. You know what that look is. You’ve seen it so many times in Raph’s face and now you’re putting it all together while he stands just feet from you. He’s so perfect.

You stride back over to him and let him take your hands in his. He’s nervous again, taking a deep breath.

“Look,” he begins, “I just… I figured if we’re a thing and all…Well, I wanna do this the right way. I hope it’s alright with you. I know it’s nothin’ fancy but…”

He groans, slapping hand over his face. You giggle at how he trips over his sentence.

“I had a whole, stupid speech for this shit. Now I just look like a fuckin’ idiot.”

Those fumbling, nervous words speak novels to you. He doesn’t have to say much for you to just get exactly what Raph is trying to say.

“I think… that sounds great,” your voice is soft, “And I also think I’m in love with you and I have had no idea what to do with myself, since the first day we met.“ you exhale the words like they’ve been trying to claw their way from your throat.

This catches him completely off guard. Raph’s eyes are as wide as they were the first night you kissed him. His nostrils flare. Before you think you’ve fucked yourself up royally, he pulls you up towards him in a soul-snatching kiss that depletes the air from your lungs, feet nearly leaving the ground. You’re desperately grabbing at the collar of his shirt to deepen it, but he pulls away, and lifts you completely from the ground in a tight embrace, leaving you both gasping for your breaths.

“Jesus, you have no idea how long I’ve been waitin’ to hear you say that,” Raph sighs next to your ear. “I love ya. A lot.”

His arms tighten further around you and you smell a nice cologne in the crook of his neck, where your head is buried.

He sets you back to your feet and lifts your chin with his finger for a much more gentle, passionate kiss, that you accept happily. His hand rests gently on your hip.

“You’re the best thing that coulda ever happened to a weirdo like me,” Raph’s forehead is pressed down against yours, with closed eyes.

“You’re better,” you counter. He gives your hip a squeeze, “Let’s be something. Even if it’s hard.”

He chuckles.

“Nothin’ I can’t handle, Sunshine.”

You’re both right where you belong, centimeters away from each other, smiling like idiots, and finally off that steep cliff that’s been taunting you for months. Raph is your home, and you’re his, far out of that little kitchen window.

A Polaroid click behind you just makes you shake your head with a flustered grin.

“Mikey, are you shittin me right now?”

You can hear his little brother shuffle back into whatever shadow he came from, laughing along with the rest of the party that's hidden away.

“Fuckin idiot.”

fin <3

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Oh no, wait...

What's this?

A gift for my dear readers?

Take a listen 🤭😝

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

I GOT YOUUU

I'VE BEEN SLAVING AWAY AT THIS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST CHAPTER, JUST TO GET TO THIS POINT MUAHAHAHA

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED READING (AND LISTENING!!) AS MUCH AS I DID CREATING THIS FUN LITTLE STORY!!!

The Kitchen Window was SUCH A FUN PROJECT, and I'm so glad I've been receiving all of your guys' support, interaction, and kind words 😭😭 as a token of gratitude, I decided to make that little audio clip that has been the death of me to create 🫠

Thank you all again SO FUCKIN MUCH

This concludes the 6 part story, The Kitchen Window 🩷💓💕

Please, LIKE, REBLOG, AND ASK TO BE A PART OF MY TAG LIST SO YOU DONT MISS OUT ON MORE WRITINGS LIKE THIS ONE

Till next time!

LOVE YA BABESSSS 💕💓🩷🌸🧼🫧

taglist - [ @ladyofparchments @well-its-not-human-anymore @raphaelsrightarm @chiliiscereal @milkytheholy1 @moxfirefly @raphsgrl @leosgirl82 @thelaundrybitch @rheawritesforfun @imthegreenfairy86 @aurora-the-kunoichi @angelhazeisaweirdo @raisin-shell @fyreball66 @redsrooftopprincess @milykins @ahhhhhhhhhfuck @quitecontrary-to-mary @the-cauldron-witch @brins-rogers @yelocaltrashcan @pheradream-15 @asillysimp @miranexx @cinnamonskiss @le0n-ardo @silveritydreams @goldenflowerdragon @loveshrubs @glitterystarfishfestival @supersleepyslowpoke @floflodoesart @crimsonrubie ]

[priyajoyyy]

Scared

Dark!lottie Matthew’s x reader x dark!natalie scattorcio x dark!shauna shipman

Warnings:

Typical Yellowjackets stuff, These are dark! Characters so pretty toxic, Shana and Lottie are freaky 😔, illusions to mental health issues, dissociation, hallucinations, starvation, force feeding, cannibalism, ect

This is a lot darker than I’ve ever written before icl 😭

However I’ve been imagining soo many dark fic ideas with these three specifically and Yellowjackets so I just had to make this

(And believe it or not I had even darker ideas icl so we’ll see if I write anything else like that lol)

Lottie, Natalie and Shauna who accidentally created a monopoly of control between them of the rest of the girls

Who didn’t mean to take over control of the Yellowjackets, but at Lottie as their weird seer, in control of what the girl’s believed, Natalie as their queen, in control of the rules, and Shauna as the butcher, in control of their food supply, it just sort of happened

With Reader who ended up taking on the role as their little pet

Helping with cooking and cleaning but not much else, they wouldn’t want their little girlfriend doing too many chores or hurting their self would they?

Lottie who makes sure you never pick the queen card

Who convinces you to do as they say because it’s what the wilderness wants (not that you have much choice anyway)

Lottie who makes love to you in weird rituals in the woods, speaking words you don’t understand and have learnt to get used to

Lottie who gives you ‘therapy’ sessions daily, the both of you spending time channelling the wilderness

Who has you wear necklaces of bone and headdresses of sticks and flowers, she calls ‘crowns’ to protect you

And who calls your dissociation and hallucinations a ‘gift’ from the wilderness, something Natalie hates

Natalie who has you by her side constantly

Who basically mothers you, who makes sure you eat when you forget and get to sleep on time in her hut

Natalie who even went as far as to force feed you javi after he fell in the river because you were so distraught and refused

Who cares for you when you dissociate from your situation, keeping you warm and looked after as best as she can, stealing you away from Lottie, when she tries to claim your issues as a ‘sign’

And who has to practically babysit Lottie and Shauna most of the time to stop them from doing anything stupid

Natalie who holds you back the night Shauna beats the shit out of Lottie, holding your face into her chest and stopping you from watching while you sob.

Shauna who makes sure you get extra portions of food, much to the other girls annoyance

Who’s basically your guard dog, and is the reason none of the others speak out against your unfair treatment

Shauna who can be the cruellest out of the three of them, turning cold and closed off since the morning she found Jackie frozen outside

And who swears to never let the wilderness take you like it did her best friend or her baby

Shauna who likes to bite. She’ll bite your lips when you make out. Sometimes your neck and arms too.

Who never asks for your input on anything, just makes decisions for you (although Lottie and Natalie only pretend to give you the illusion of choice anyway)

And who likes the control she has over you, who feels like it grounds her

Reader who refuses to resort to cannibalism at first, not touching Jackie’s charred corpse

Who has to be force fed by Natalie when she refuses to eat javi, scared reader would starve otherwise

Reader who refuses to go on the hunts when they take place (not that the three girls would let her come, worried she’d get hurt) not wanting to take part in hurting any of the others

Reader who at one point plans to run away, packing her bag and stealing the knife from Shauna while she sleeps, only to be stopped by the three at the last minute

Reader who’s punishment is normally what Nat calls ‘house arrest’, wether it’s being getting locked in the pantry in the cabin, or having Shauna guard her in their newly made huts for a few days

Reader who loves her three lovers, just as much as she’s kind of scared of them

Who can’t sleep at night without one of them laying by her side

Reader who sees things, shadows out the corner of her eye, or figures with antlers coming out their head in their dreams

Natalie who thinks it’s psychosis, the effect of long term starvation and stress of being stuck out here, just like it is with the others

Shauna who doesn’t think it’s real, she never has, but she doesn’t see the harm in lotties ‘teachings’ when it gives you comfort

Lottie who knows it’s a gift, that reader is like her, chosen by the wilderness to help protect them all

And Reader who prays to the wilderness overnight that none of them get hurt or die, following lotties ‘teachings’ much to Natalie’s chagrin

Reader who hates to make any of the girls upset with her, whos grown to cry at the thought of them being mad at her

Who depends on them entirely, but loves them regardless

[vyoleya]

hihi here's some more stuff of my complicated DR au!! here's a big ramble + a doodle of their designs

annd here's a more detailed + more dramatic version of them :)

okay.. huge ramble/lore dump under the cut. you have been warned.

in a desperate attempt to find his parents, arin ended up joining ras and becoming shattered. arin justified everything that he (and ras by extension) was doing all in service to reverse the merge. his last mission was supposed to be killing lloyd that way ras could become the new conduit, only for arin to discover what ras's true intentions were with his master. (which was nothing short of a celestial takeover.) arin never wanted to kill anyone, especially not lloyd, and feeling very ashamed of his actions, he purposefully attempted to rile lloyd up and give him clear openings for lloyd to kill him instead.

lloyd, not really wanting to kill arin & not taking the bait, kept trying to get him to come home. arin's whole plan backfired as arin got more and more desperate and riled up for lloyd to kill him, and ended up doing object shatterspin which killed lloyd .

in his last moments of consciousness, lloyd clung to the fleeting life inside of himself and (somewhat) merged with his element . due to being a conduit and having carried divine energy by not only the source dragons, but also the FSM, lloyd was able to sort of become a divine guardian . (ill talk more about him later but this is just a summary lol)

lloyd then used his power of life to protect arin, essentially making arin (very reluctantly) immortal. (the drawing of arin is what he looks like when he's close to death, as lloyd expends a lot of energy to keep him alive, and his 'guardian angel' wings become visible, and everyone can kinda feel lloyd's presence watching everything. hence the eye)

sora, after finding out that arin was responsible for killing lloyd, who she saw as a father, she began to believe that the arin she knew died once he became shattered. eventually, after many encounters where she'd beg for him to be 'good' again, she began to search for ways to kill him and free lloyd's spirit.

they both started wearing these wooden masks with painted moons on them, very much inspired by the whole 'the fool who let the moon go' post. arin started wearing his first after he first started getting serious injuries that weren't being healed very quickly. arin found that sora preferred him wearing it, bc then she didn't have to see her best friend's face in her enemy.

arin goes by the name 'z' whenever he can, based on the scar on his cheek that actually looks like the letter z in ninjargan! (he also does because he believes that going by arin is an insult to who he used to be.)

sora, with the help of jordana, ended up tracking down the reversal blade. because if she can reverse lloyd ever dying and arin becoming immortal, then with lloyd's conduit powers, they can stop ras's plans and Everything Will Be Okay Again!

she was planning on taking both herself and jordana to the past, but due to the merge being reversed sooner than planned, sora didn't have time to take jordana with her, leaving her behind.

after… a lot of nonsense on z's end (like the world ending, but him being the sole survival due to lloyd's energy… yikes) (oh and also him recreating the merge despite everything thanks to lloyds conduit-ness + the oni and dragon in him) and he also ends up in the past. now both sora and z are wandering around in the third year of the merge (the year they became ninjas) , trying to stop the world from ending :) (to make it more dramatic, neither of them knows that the other survived. it's a very big jumpscare when they run into eachother.) anyway. i may draw them more + post drabbles about them on ao3! so .... consider this your backstory guide to my overly complicated au . if you read this far then congrats !! (because yes, this is just the backstory) (also if anyone has any questions feel free to ask .. . it'd be fun to answer them)

[eroselless]

─────────────── the spaces between us // 3

series summary: when you accept a job as an au pair in the irish countryside, you expect to spend your days caring for your little new pal but its all upended when his charming uncle arrives to stay for the holidays. [2.1k]

[paul mescal x reader]

masterlist | previous

warnings: kinda angst, sort of complicated family dynamics, emotional tension, little bit of slowburn

note: hiii I got a nugget of inspiration for this one and ran with it! Posts are going to be a lot more less frequent (I know I've been doing a very shit job as of lately, I'm so sorryyyy) since I’ll most likely be swamped with practicum stuff but I’ll try my best! 

The rain hasn’t let up all day. It batters on the sides of the house, the wind outside howling through the cliffs outside. It makes the house feel smaller, the storm trapping you inside like a restless kind of heartbeat. The late afternoon is dark but not necessarily gloomy, you can hear the waves beating down on the cliffs.

Callum sits on the living room carpet, whining about how utterly bored he is. He shifts between his toys, huffing and puffing, he wants to play with Uncle P, he wonders why his mum is taking so looong at work and so on. You’ve been trying to give him anything and everything to do, lounging in front of the fire with him. When he tosses a stuffed animal at you, an idea suddenly takes shape in your mind

“What if we bake something?” you suggest, turning to face him. His eyebrows scrunch before his eyes brighten slightly. “Cake?”

You grin at him. “Better, cookies.”

Callum squeals, abandoning his toys and bolting for the kitchen. You follow behind him chuckling slightly as you begin to roll up your sleeves. When you come around the corner, he’s pushing a stool over to a spot where he can stand next to you. You tell him to pull out the bowl and measuring cups, things he can reach as you pull out ingredients from the cabinets and fridge. 

Soon enough he’s standing on the stool, tiny hand covered in flour, giggling as you swipe a bit onto his nose. He retaliates, cupping your cheeks with his dusty fingers. You let out a laugh, prying his fingers away. 

You turn away, leaning over to set the oven when he lets out an excited squeal. He holds out a chunk of half-mixed dough, expression of surprise on his face of how the bottom of the bowl is still flour and hasn’t mixed in with the other ingredients. 

“Mamaííín, look!” he beams before throwing it back into the bowl. You barely register the word at first—until you spot a new presence in the room. You had barely heard the opening door and the setting down of shoes. 

Niamh stands in the kitchen doorway, her expression unreadable. Her hair is damp from the rain outside, the front of her shirt speckled with drying drops of rain. 

For a moment, you hesitate, guilt twisting in your gut—but Callum doesn’t notice. He continues mixing the cookie dough. He giggles to himself, cutting himself off when he looks up and spots his mum.

“Mam!” he cries, flinging himself at her, not caring for his flour covered palms as he presses them into her navy blue dress pants. She smiles, it looks a little forced as she sinks to her knees to kiss him, fingers swiping at the flour on his cheeks.

You hear the back door swing open. Paul steps in, hoodie pulled over his head as he stops just inside the doorway. He surveys the scene: flour-dusted counters, Callum’s delighted laughter, you swiping at your face.

His lips quirk as he meets your gaze. “You two are a mess.”

You can’t help the nervous laugh that escapes your mouth. “It’s a masterpiece, actually.”

Paul strides forward, plucking some well mixed cookie dough and popping it into his mouth. Callum gasps, pulling away from Niamh as soon as he lays eyes on the man. “Uncle P! You’ve come to steal!”

Paul smiles at the boy, ruffling his hair and smirking. “Just making sure it's safe to eat, mate.” He raises his hands in the air defensively. 

You smile at the interaction, a beat passing as you see Niamh move from the corner of your eye. You catch her look as she moves up the stairs. The way it lingers on the three of you, how her lips press into a thin line. She doesn’t say anything. She just turns and leaves. 

✧・゚: ✧・゚:

An hour later, the cookies are cooling, the house filled with the scent of warm sugar and chocolate. The rain is relentless, still heavy against the glass. Niamh sits in her office, door open as she sifts through paperwork and reports. You’re sure she’s not doing it for any reason, but you can feel her eyes following you. 

You move around the kitchen, now plating the soup you’ve made for dinner. It’s a trick you’ve begun to use on Callum to get him to eat his vegetables, a sort of cream of pumpkin paired with a side of chicken and fries. He finds it amazing how a soup can be bright orange. You can hear him from his spot from earlier, stacking blocks on the floor.

His eyebrows are furrowed in concentration. He tries, again and again, to build a tall tower, but each time it topples over. You stand at the kitchen island, grimace beginning to bud on your face as you watch the tower begin to lean again. 

“No!” he huffs, frustrated, smacking away the pieces that still stand. 

You can see Niamh shift in her chair, rising to make her way to her son. She signals to you as if to say, don’t worry, I got this. 

But the boy closes his eyes as tears begin to bead down his cheeks, rushing to your side just as Niamh reaches him. “Mamaíín, help!” he cries, his little hands clutching at your sweater. His eyes are wide and expectant as tears continue to fall. 

You pick him up, setting him up on a free spot on the counter. You soothe him without hesitation. 

“How about we take a little break, have some of the orange soup and we can try again afterwards?” 

He sniffles, his lower lip quivering slightly as he nods. He rubs at his eyes, burying his head in your chest momentarily before you set him on the floor again. He disappears up the stairs, mumbling something about getting Uncle P for dinner. 

You let out a sigh of relief, the weight of the moment leaving you slightly. It's a touch and go feeling as you see Niamh sitting on the floor by Callum’s toys, a block trapped between her fingers. Her gaze is sharp, not quite angry, not quite anything you can name–but something close. 

You can feel it in your bones. The shift. The crack of something unspoken. 

Dinner is quiet. Quiet to the point where it feels uncomfortable. 

Callum, with renewed energy, kicks his feet under the table. He calls out your name as you scoop a mouthful of soup into your mouth. “Can we go to the park tomorrow?” 

You smile at him. “If the rain stops, sure.”

Callum claps his hands. “And can Uncle Paul come too?”

There’s a beat of silence.

You freeze.

Paul, halfway through a bite, raising an eyebrow meets your wide eyes before glancing at Niamh. 

She’s also gone completely. 

The air around you feels tight, not that Callumm notices at all. He just waits expectantly, swinging his legs.

It's like when you want to make plans but don’t want a certain person there—you just avoid mentioning them when they’re around. His question makes you feel bad; he genuinely wants both you and Paul there. You know he isn't leaving his mom out with any ill intent—he knows she'll be at work. But still, it makes you wince.

Paull is the first to break the tension, chuckling lightly. “I don’t know, mate. I might be busy.”

Callum frowns, “Too busy for us?”

Paul reaches over to caress the side of his face gently. “Never.”

You force a smile, but you can feel the weight of Niamh’s silence for the rest of the meal. 

✧・゚: ✧・゚:

With Callum in bed and Niamh retired in her room, you step out onto the back porch, needing air. You lean against the door, watching as the storm settles into a slow drizzle, mist curling over the cliffs. 

Paul is already out there, leaning against the railing, a lit cigarette tucked between his fingers. He exhales slowly, the smoke curling over his lips as his eyes flicker over you. The damp air seems to settle on your shoulders as you step closer to him. 

“She’s always been like that,” he says, as if picking up a conversation that hasn’t started yet. You exhale, tilting your head up slightly to stare up at the pieces of sky that have begun to peak out from behind the clouds. “She has every right to be.”

Paul raises an eyebrow. “Does she?”

You swallow, shifting your weight from foot to foot. “I mean… yeah.” YOu huff out a laugh, but it’s hollow, just air. Tired. “Callum’s her kid, and he’s asking for me more than her. I feel bad about it. It's not like I’m trying to take over her role as his mum, I’m just doing my job—but if I were her I’d be upset too.”

Paul takes a slow drag of his cigarette before tapping the ash onto the railing. “You’re just doing what you were hired to do.”

You nod. “Exactly.”

But you don’t sound convinced.

Paul watches you, your eyebrows furrowed, your hands twisting in each other on top of the railing. He tilts his head slightly. “And yet, you still feel shit about it.”

You let out a shaky breath, rubbing your arms. “Because it’s not my place. She’s his mother. And the last thing I want is to make her feel like I’m—” you stop short, shaking your head, the thought almost unthinkable. “I don’t know. Replacing her or something.”

Paul is quiet for a long moment. When he finally speaks, his voice is lower, quieter. “You’re not replacing her, Birdie. You’re just doing your job and that just happens to come with the territory.”

Something about how he says it—like he knows exactly what it feels like—it makes your chest feel tight. 

You don’t respond.

The sound of waves fills the silence between you. He lets it stretch before finally breaking it, his tone lighter now. 

“You’ve got flour in your hair.” 

You blink. “What?”

Paul smirks, reaching out. His fingers brush against your temple as he tucks a stray lock of hair behind your ear, his touch lingering just for a second too long. 

You should step back. 

But you don’t.

Neither of you do. 

Paul pulls away first, shaking his head with a lazy grin. “I’m going to make some tea.”

And then he’s gone, disappearing back into the house. 

✧・゚: ✧・゚:

You linger on the back porch for a while after Paul leaves, your thoughts twisting around themselves. The conversation replays in the back of your mind like a broken record—Paul’s dismissal, your own guilt, his fingers lingering in your hair for a second too long. 

Eventually, the cold seeps into your skin and you sigh, turning back towards the house. 

As soon as you step in, he’s there, sitting at the island, cup of tea in his hand. He smiles at you as you silently pull off your shoes and move into the kitchen. 

The house is quiet, the only sound being the hum of the refrigerator and the almost inaudible patter of the rain. He watches as you pour yourself a cup, setting yourself right next to him at the island. The space between you feels all too small, too charged. 

You reach to grab the sugar from the middle of the counter, just as he does the same. Your fingers brush, sending a jump in your heartbeat. His eyes meet yours carefully, his gaze flickering just slightly. 

He’s close enough to you that you can feel the warmth of his body radiating off him. The scent of him—the cigarette smoke and something deeper, something distinctly him. A scent you’d been smelling for a couple days but just now can put a finger on it. It lingers between the two of you. 

You swallow hard, fingers wrapping around the container. He smirks. 

“Ladies first.”

The moment bursts like a bubble, the tension disappearing as you let out a breath. His nonchalance slips back into place as he waits for you to finish before reaching for the container. 

Neither of you want to acknowledge what just happened. 

You don’t have to. 

Pulling yourself from your seat, you bid him goodnight shyly. There’s a sleepy smile on his face. 

“Night, Birdie.”

a/n: helloo, if you gotten this far I wanted to say thank you for reading! any feedback and reblogs are appreciated :)))

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Home Grown 2

Warnings: non/dubcon, stalking, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Cole Turner

This AU is called Watcher Anonymous and will include different series for different characters. This is our introduction to Cole and Eartha.

Summary: loneliness can drive one to desperate measures.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

Cole waits. It's all he can do. He's impatient. He's frustrated. He's angry.

He tenses as he feels the pressure in his core. It lodges deep in his pelvis as his hand glides up and down his dick, pumping desperately for release. He grits his teeth and growls. Almost there. Almost--

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

It's not working. It won't... won't happen. He's backed up. Bad. Worse, the damn erection won't stop. When he does finally get himself calm, it pops back up. He thought of calling a doctor but that's embarrassing. He just needs to let it out. He needs her.

He sits up, jostling the bed, and grabs his phone. The feed is still down. He wants to scream. His balls hurt. A lot. He cradles them and whimpers.

He forces himself off the mattress. He doesn't even get dressed before he goes out in the hall. The thought of anything against his dick right now is torture. Besides, his mom won't be up yet and dad can't do anything these days.

He cranks on the shower and steps under the flow. It stays cold even as he waits for it to warm up. What the hell is it now? At least the frigid water made him limp.

He gets out and stomps across the hall to his room. He grabs his robe and slippers and hurries out. He goes down to the basement to check the water heater. He uses his phone to illuminate the meter. It's not working. He touches the side, expecting to get scalded. It's freezing. Goddamn it! One thing after another.

As he slides the flashlight to off, his phone vibes. He nearly drops it. The must smell of cobwebs and dust has him pinching his nose as he swipes through his notifications.

It's working! She finally clicked on that link. He looked over the email Jensen coded. It's pretty convincing. At least, it worked on her.

He can see her through the lens of her phone. Closer than ever. She's gorgeous. He forgot how good she looks. She frowns as she keeps tapping then gives up. He sets her phone down on an angle, in some sort of stand. It faces her room as she moves around.

She just woke up too. She's in a camisole and short shorts. He's almost hypnotised at the sight of her thighs. He loves the little dimples in them. She turns her back and bends. The fabric rides up on her ass. She's so... full. He can imagine his hands on her, jiggling all that cushion. Shit, he's hard again.

He shoves his hand under his robe as he leans on the wall. She picks up the mess in her room. She can be a bit forgetful but she gets to stuff in the end. She moves around as she plucks up all the clothes and shove them in a basket.

She stands and blows a breath out. Her tit hangs over the top of her camisole and she fixes it. He squeezes tighter and his voice drones from him. He's so close. Just a little more.

As she picks the fabric from between her cheeks, he grunts. His whole body spasms as he cums. It leaks down his robe and spatters down his legs. Shit. Shit, it won't stop.

When he's finally done, he's shaking. He might just fold in on himself. Woah. He can't even imagine what it will be like to really be with her. He'll need to work on his stamina. He wouldn't want to disappoint her.

"Cole?" His mother's voice makes him flinch.

He lets go of his slimy dick and clears his throat.

"You down there? The water's not getting hot."

"I know, ma," he yells up, exasperated, "I'm working on it."

He wipes his hand on the inside of his robe. He has cum cooling on his legs and up his stomach. God, he's a mess.

He goes back to the water heater. He checks the connections and the valves. It's ancient. It's outdated. Just like everything else. It's all piling up. New heater, new tractor, new barn door.

He doesn't want to figure all this shit out. He wants to figure her out. He wants to make her a home she can be happy in. A place where she's not alone. Where he's not alone.

He sighs. He needs help. He hates to ask Jensen any more favours, but maybe there's someone else. Where can he even start?

He went on once, right at the beginning of the Discord. Jensen helped. Gave him extensive instructions. Make sure the firewall is in place and the VPN too. Don't connect without it.

He climbs the stairs and hears his mom in the kitchen. She tuts as she turns the faucet on and off, "Cole?"

"Ma, I said I'm on it." He hisses, storming past her, hoping she can't see the wet spot on his robe.

"Honey, I know--"

"Ma, please, I'm not even dressed," he stomps to the stairs and gnashes down on a growl.

He can't do this much longer. He can't take it. His sister needs to come home and his parents need to figure this out. It's time for the egg to come out of the nest.

He wipes himself off with a cold wet cloth before he goes back to his room. He props his phone up so he can watch her. She's just laying in bed, staring back at him. She must be watching something on her phone. She's so pretty.

He shakes the distraction off and goes through the instructions; firewall, VPN, remote-in. He always thought the darkweb was an urban legend or whatever. He didn't stay on it long the first time, he got too nervous. But he's desperate and he can't go through that again. He can't lose her. Ever.

[pinkteethmarks]

omg.. wait for your valentines event could you please to like frat/playboy! katsuki x soft/nerd! reader (who could also look so fucking hot and gorgeous omggg😫)

so basically they’re just at a party and katsuki finds the reader hot but doesn’t know it’s actually the reader so he goes up to them asking them their name and stuff and then he realizes he knows the reader from their classes together and also realizes he’s in love /w her 😫😫

playboy…frat boy,,,katsuki…. i’m… ugh melting. i love this man so much IM MELTINGGGG. also… aha… sorry for taking this long.. SCHOOL OS ACTUALLY KICK MY BUM BUM SIXTH FORM IS GETTING SERIOUS GUYSS!!! but i’ll put my whole attention into tasks again guys.. sorry if this is really bad lowkey think i’ve lost my sparkle for writing but dw it will come back soon!! suggestive, references to corruption kink, gender neutral reader, use of pretty, sexy, succubus (lmao). 1.1k words!

stephanie; katsuki bakugou

katsuki should be at the library with you right now, you both had agreed to go to continue doing research for the project you were assigned to do together, but katsuki had other plans.

one that involved a hell of a lot of alcohol, cheap valentines decorations and someone to… relax him for the night.

in all honesty, he was avoiding you. something weird was happening, where everytime you grazed him with your soft skin, every look you gave him with those sparkling eyes, all of it, all of you, were starting to make him feel off. as though he wanted to protect you, but also ruin you.

you’re just so delicate, everything about you is the complete opposite of him, kind, loving, gentle, sweet, something about it made him so… possessive of you.

he didn’t know when this actually started to appear, he just knew that the last time you spoke to him in class got him sweating buckets to the point where even fucking shoto (the most socially inept) realised something was off with him.

so, here he was, blowing you off and ignoring your texts to come here. alone. how fucking fun.

katsuki’s carmine eyes whisked through the crowd, trying to find someone who will help him forget all of his woe’s about you and whatever this weird feeling that was bubbling inside of him, until they landed on…you.

well, yes you, but it wasn’t like he knew it was you since you looked completely different.

you were perfect, outfit way too tight and body way too perfect. you looked down right sexy, practically like a succubus waiting to suck his soul but one that had some form of gentleness to you.

regardless, he wasn’t exactly waiting to figure you out, he just needed a quick fuck for the night to get his stress out.

and so, he began to do his signature party trick, the bump and surprise.

he began walking straight towards you, making sure that his gaze was not fixated on you but directly past you until he bumped into you from behind, causing a cute little gasp to leave your lips.

‘reminds me of yn.’ he thought to himself for a split second, quickly trying to rid himself of that thought, of you.

“huh, you bumped into me.” katsuki scoffed, pretending not to be completely flustered as you faced him because damn you looked sexier up close.

those eyes though, felt familiar, they seem to sparkle innocently as he looked at you.

“no, you bumped into me?” you responded softly despite the loud bass of the music almost drowning you out, yet his ear was trained to listen to you.

“guess i need your number so that we can sort this out later.” katsuki smirked, fishing his phone out of his pocket and handing it to you.

“you already have my number, remember? especially since you’re kinda blowing me off right now.” you pouted slightly as you sighed.

“wait, have we fucked before?” katsuki’s answered back confusingly, glancing between all the people he was blowing off right now on his phone and your face.

“what, no?! bakugou, do you not recognise me?” you scoffed.

“um, no?” katsuki gruffed out, tired of all these games. he just wanted to take you to his bed, set you down on the bed and ravage you.

“it’s me, y/n l/n?” you responded sassily, your hands on your hip as you rolled your eyes.

katsuki’s eyes widened, how, in any single universe did he approach you out of every single girl at this fucking function?

you didn’t look anything like you did in school, you were all dolled up, wore something that showed your figure and something that made you look so… fuckable.

not to say that you in school isn’t already a pretty little thing in katsuki’s eyes, but this party-look painted you in a whole different light that was intoxicating to him, dangerous even.

“there’s no way in hell, out of every girl i could’ve approached, it was.. you.” he spoke slowly.

“don’t make it sound like it’s such a terrible thing.” you cutely looked to the side, your face slightly falling.

fuck, even when you were upset you were cute as hell.

‘what the fuck is wrong with me?’ katsuki thought frustratingly.

you kept invading his mind, etched into his soul and locked into his heart. nothing ever overshadowed his constant thoughts of you and no matter how much he tried to look at other people, flirt with others and get into bed with them, he truly couldn’t because every single time, his heart would come back to you.

he fucking hated it.

but, more so, he was scared of it and thus, scared of you.

not like he would ever admit that, he’s katsuki fucking bakugou for crying out loud.

“are you ok?” you asked him.

“i.. don’t fucking know. why are you everywhere, yn? i keep.. seeing you and thinking of you.” katsuki responded, his blush intensifying.

“what.. are you trying to say bakugou?” you looked confused.

“call me katsuki.” katsuki looked to the side, his face almost completely red now.

“ok, katsuki, what are you trying to say?” you asked once more.

ok, that was a mistake, if katsuki was flustered before, now he was completely ruined hearing his first name leave your pretty lips.

“i.. don’t know. it’s valentine’s day or whatever and for some reason the universe brought us together right now so, take a fucking guess.” katsuki scoffed.

“you want me?” you said excitedly, smiling widely as your once unattainable crush seemed to finally feel within your reach.

“depends on what your answer, damn it, katsuki bakugou does not get rejected.” his confidence was now increasing as he saw how elated you were at the prospect of being with him.

“only if you ask me properly.” you teased.

“fucks sake, ok, yn l/n, these past few project meetings had me feeling a type of way i never knew i could feel. you’re gorgeous, and i think now i realise that you aren’t only cute but sexy as fuck. not just that though, you’re kind, you’re smart, you have a hell of a lot of resilience and will power, all in all, you are the dream person for me. so, will you like, be my fucking valetines or something?” katsuki smirked

“yes!” you squealed, running to wrap your arms around his extremely toned torso.

katsuki was slightly surprised, of course he had been touched before - a hell of a lot of times actually - but, this hug you gave him just felt different. a lot more personal and intimate, oddly enough, he loved it all the same.

“you smell so good.” you sighed, immediately pausing as embarrassment flushes your entire being.

“is that so? wanna see how good i smell without these clothes on?” katsuki smirked.

“we just got together! also, i need you to promise me something.” you rolled your eyes yet your tone changed to something more sincere.

“yeah?”

“that you’ll stop with kissing all these other girls.” you sighed.

“kissing- honey, i do a lot more than kiss-“

“don’t wanna hear it! just want you to promise me you’ll stop.” you put your palm up to signify that you wanted him to stop.

“i promise.” katsuki replied, looking straight into your eyes, all that the present was warmth, kindness and love.

katsuki was new to this but he would definitely try, anything for you.

[outofangband]

Blood and Darkness: An Updated Post on the Darkening of Valinor and Maedhros’s testimony from Morgoth’s Ring (History of Middle Earth Volume Nine)

Notes: since my original post, I’ve made several others which can be found in my tag “The Darkening of Valinor” and I might link to them and refer to them throughout

Also special thanks to @nelyoslegalteam and @potatoobsessed999 for listening to me ramble about this a lot

So, for background, just as within the original Silmarillion, Fëanor has been exiled to Formenos for many years and today, during the Mingling of the two trees, he has come to Manwë's court where he was meant to speak to Fingolfin and forgiveness to be reached. Of course, we know, something more happened. Morgoth attacked with Ungoliant and the two trees were destroyed. In Morgoth's Ring, we get a vivid description of the atmosphere around the Darkening and it's also one of the most dialogue we get for Maedhros anywhere.

I imagine this is a post I'll continue to edit and revise, it's one of my favorite scenes

But even as (Nienna) mourned there was the sound of feet hastening in the night. Then through the throng came the sons of Fëanor, flying from the North and they bore new tidings of evil. Maedhros  spoke for them. “Blood and darkness!’ he cried. ‘Finwë the king is slain and the Silmarils are gone!’

I made an entire post about it here but to summarize, these words are so important because they are likely among the first times Maedhros has known anything like darkness or seen blood in this way. He's hunted certainly but this sort of violent death is the stuff of old tales. His cry of blood and darkness, darkness and blood, are not just abstract exclamations of the horrors he has just witnessed, they are also genuine reactions to what was not natural or familiar phenomena to him.

Then Fëanor fell upon his face and lay as one dead until the full tale was told.

‘My lord,’ said Maedhros to Manwë, ‘it was the day of the festival but the king was heavy with grief at the departure of my father, a foreboding was on him. He would not go from the house. We were irked by the idleness and silence of the day and we went riding towards the Green Hills. Our faces were Northward but suddenly we were aware that all was growing dim.’

Maedhros captures the atmosphere so vividly here. Something like a quiet, summer day when there shouldn’t be a thunderstorm but it feels like there will be. Slow and almost crackling and the heavy air starts to feel like dread. I love this description and I’m not doing my response to it justice.

I am just thinking...imagine you have never known true night and all of a sudden the light starts to go away. Indeed, even if you did know night, if the light started to fail at midday?

‘The light was failing. In dread we turned and rode back in haste, seeing great shadows rise up before us. But even as we drew near to Formenos the darkness came upon us; and in the midst was a blackness like a cloud that enveloped the house of Fëanor.’

‘That enveloped the house of Fëanor’. He means this literally of course; he was out riding with his brothers and a cloud of this awful growing dark closes in on them but it's obviously a poignant symbolism as well.

‘We heard the sound of great blows struck. Out of the clouds we saw a sudden flame of fire. And then there was one piercing cry. But when we urged on our horses they reared and cast us to the ground, and they fled away wild. We lay upon our faces without strength; for suddenly the cloud came on and for a while we were blind. But it passed us and moved away north at great speed. Melkor was there, we do not doubt. But not he alone! Some other power  was with him, some huge evil: even as it passed it robbed us of all wit and will.’

The sense of chaos and sheer wrongness is palpable here. I don’t know if this makes sense but the buzzing of the air with tension, the birds and insects and warm weather frogs have gone quiet, like a solar eclipse in a world that does not yet have the sun.  The forced cheerful but wary day of riding turning afoul when this cloud comes and screams are heard, the confusion, them being cast from their horses which have  and unable to move as this dreadful, ancient power draws nearer to them? The Fëanorians were trapped as this horrifying entity passes by them and survive only because they are not directly in the way. 

A sense of dread, static atmosphere, trusted animals acting oddly and then violently, the light going out, helplessness induced as though by an otherworldly power. It's a scene out of a horror tale.

And then what they find when they finally reach home. 

The Silmarillion says that Fëanor would have almost certainly been killed had he been at Formenos when Melkor arrived, indeed it was likely Melkor’s aim. (And Fëanor cursed also the summons of Manwë and the hour in which he came to Taniquetil, thinking in the madness of his rage and grief that had he been at Formenos his strength would have availed more than to be slain also as Melkor had purposed “The Flight of the Noldor”). We can’t say for certain what would have happened in hypotheticals that the author didn’t directly addresses but I have a hard time imagining that Melkor would have showed much mercy had the sons of Fëanor not gone out riding and had instead attempted to aid their grandfather. 

Also the mention of how the cloud that passes robs them of their wit and will. It's intriguing and horrifying. It could almost be read as a natural response to such a traumatic event, hearing your grandfather attacked and slain, his crying out, and knowing you won't get there in time...except for how total and visceral it is.

I've talked a lot about this when it comes to The Wanderings of Húrin and it's always difficult to know how much is intentional but I frequently find it interesting how often these influences of darkness and evil mirror trauma responses, such as Húrin walking 'as one in a dream' and the shadow that takes over him upon waking from nightmares.

‘Darkness and blood! When we could move again we came to the house. There we found the king slain at the door. His head was crushed as with a great mace of iron. We found no others; all had fled and he had stood alone, defiant. That is plain; for his sword lay beside him, twisted and untempered as though by lightning strike. All the house was broken and ravaged. Naught is left. The treasures are empty. The chambers of iron are torn apart. The Silmarils are taken!’

I'm also struck by how incredibly coherent and detached description of finding the murdered body of your grandfather in a place that had not ever seen violent murder. That he had the presence of mind to get his brothers away from Formenos and go directly to where Manwë was is pretty notable! Especially in the dark! I can imagine what that journey must have been like, not knowing who or what is still lurking out there.

And again, I made a full post about Finwë’s perspective on this here but... to think of Finwë’s last stand against this shadow of his childhood who has now haunted him across two continents, who’s evil deeds he has known from the very beginning, who started as a shapeless horror that stole away his kin in the dead of night and became this knowable threat he still couldn’t escape..knowing his grandsons are minutes away in this shadow....

And the detail of Melkor further destroying the whole house! Killing Finwë was likely unnecessary, he could have almost certainly cast him aside, knocked him unconscious, etc. Melkor likely became enraged when another member of that family denied him entry and so he destroyed all he could in his path.

Final note: some of the descriptions in Morgoth’s Ring about the reaction of non Finwëans is also striking so I’ll post about that soon

[carmenized-onions]

It’s been a little while since you’ve posted on here so I hope you are doing well and taking care of yourself!!! 💖

my darling loves, I'm so sorry

I'VE BEEN SO EMBARRASSED. I HAVEN'T WANTED TO SHOW MY FACE AROUND THIS TOWN BECAUSE I'VE GOT NOTHING TO SHOW FOR MYSELF AFTER TAKING SUCH A LONG TIME AWAY FROM YOU ALL.

I've been. violently busy. in a good way, mostly. One of my jobs is the best job in the world and the other one is such a bitch it makes me scream every day forever.

but i'm also spending time with friends and enjoying life !

My mom also finished her last chemo appointment just a few weeks ago!!! YIPEEE!!!! Her CT Scans look GOOD!! so no chemo for the foreseeable future. She's unfortunately got the type of cancer that doesn't go away, but at the very least, it's MANAGEABLE. And that's a huge win. I'm very very grateful.

I ALSO FOUND A THERAPIST!!! gone to 2 sessions so far. every session she uncovers a new fucked up facet of me and honestly, can anyone else relate to this, it's sort of nice for someone else to look at your life and go like "oh wow. oh wow there's like. there's like so much here." like it feels good to think oh hurray. i'm not crazy. life IS fucked!

MY BROTHER MOVED!!! this took up a lot of my time, honestly. i love him and my nephew and my sister in law dearly. so i spent a long time making their gifts. i'm silly.

OUR CAT GOT SICK!!! HE'S GOT PEE CRYSTALS CAUSE HE'S OLD!!!!! HE'S DOING OKAY NOW THOUGH!! HIS STUPID URINARY FOOD IS SO EXPENSIVE THOUGH!!!

ANYWAYS. those are my major life updates right. So what's with the no chapter happening??

i. hated. the draft i'm working on so much. that i didn't work on it for like. a month.

and then in a haze. i left myself this voice to text note in my notes app as i was falling asleep one night.

then i hated that too. a week passes. perhaps two, actually.

i finally gain the courage one night to read my draft over.

it's actually not bad at all

it's actually pretty good

some scenes definitely need reworking but that's because i need to fully realize some character feelings

I just had really intense writers' block and fatigue, honestly. But i'm finally writing and EXCITED about it, again. I'm pulling that shit up on my commute and writing whenever i can. which makes me really happy. i was not loving the way it felt like a chore, for a minute there.

that said.

100% going to be more realistic with this chapter waiting timeline, and put a 'hiatus' or some sort of 'delays' tracker on my landing page. cause like. i keep saying check back in 2 weeks. and that's not fair to me or you girl. let's keep it real.

i think we're like.... hm... 50-60% there. (i'll update my landing the day after this post, it's late and i'm eepy)

i MIGHT write some blurbs in the mean time, it really depends. i keep having ideas and then they blink out of existence. perhaps send ideas. i might do something with them.

BUT YES I AM OKAY AND ALIVE. My silence came from a LOT of life stuff getting in the way and also a lot of honestly embarrassment. i hate coming out here over and over and being like haha. i've got nothing <3

but i know that y'all will understand, and i need to trust in y'all's patience more. and i'm GONNA!!!

gonna try to start up my 'answering one ask a day' trend again. except wednesdays. i work late on wednesdays so fuck that. but perhaps all the other days you'll hear from me.

alright. i'm going to shut up now. was any of this coherent? i don't know. thank you for listening!! i missed you dearly!!

[kibbles-bits]

As someone who wants to start making Ko-fi only content, are there any factors you take into account of choosing which art/comics will be Ko-fi only or do you go by feeling with it? I can only think NSFW content, but I personally don't know if I'd want to draw that sort of thing and wanted to look around for any other sort of ideas for Ko-fi exclusive stuff.

No, I don't really think about it, I just draw a shitton so it's easy to find stuff to put there

Like I literally started posting on there 10 days ago and there's 6 full pages of art in the same format as these:

Bunch of doodle dumps with a loosely connected story.

Fun fact. I used to have a patreon. It went horribly and really put a lot of things into perspective

[the-remainder]

Hello fellow dunnish, Ze here. I've changed the "title" of our devlogs yet again. I suppose that's a form of development, that things have changed, for better or worse. I've taken to call it "tangents", because that seems to be what I write in these things: A few factoids that probably doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone, and a bunch of anecdotes and off-the-cuff remarks that don't necessarily mean more, but at least one of us have fun with!(That's me, btw)

1. Kickstarter progress I spent most of my days packing prints and Nim spent most of theirs cutting them while listening to creepy stories about national parks. Did you know there are supposed to be staircases that go nowhere out in the wilderness? Foodprints that aren't identifiable? Things that scratch at the side of your tent, whispers to you in the voice of your loved one whom you know is miles and miles away from where you are? Yeah, national parks are basically the twilight zone, according to podcasts. Becareful out there, nature-loving friend.

2. Writing Nim wrote and published their first novella! It's a weird mix of romance, horror and erotica. You ever wonder what would happen if you were acosted by a fae in the woods, then decided to follow them and have a wild shag or two? Nothing we can call "good", I assure you. But then again, who wants good? We want interesting. And that's what Many Winters' Briar gets you, an interesting encounter with a fae in the woods. It's completely unlike the Remainder, no one lost their memories, no high magick and tall towers. No world-ending rituals or magick talking cats. Just a cozy time with someone not quite human in a hut who likes berries and pain.

3. The Longing All we did for the longing recently was I THOUGHT about working on it, or rather I felt the urge to work on it squirm quietly in my marrows. That's typical of my process with these things. First the urge squirms in the marrows, then it migrates into the hemoglobin and courses through my veins, then some energetic buildup occurs in the fibres and tissue, then at last the fingers gnarl and twitch and work appears. Yesterday I actually opened up the draft and LOOKED at it. I expect any day now I will be swimming in The Longing again. Watch out for updates; watch along the shoreline for my drenched and cackling form.

4. Agnil's Design I began editing a short story I wrote for Ilar's Teatime stories ages ago, which was a tiny little thing about a magus college student sort of person who had some friction with her mother regarding personal hygiene. Whole thing was about 1 chapter-long if it were a book, and featured 1 character. I know, it sounds incredibly germain, but it's what occurred to me at the time. As I rewrote it, I kept feeling the story was supposed to be about more, and so I nudged it into a slightly different direction just to see what happens. A week later I'm four chapters into what I can only imagine would have to be a novel. Ilar, Vyn, and a few other semi-fleshed out characters were already aching to make appearances. And the threads of the Taldun lore came flowing in from all corners of the realm, and it keeps building. I still have no idea where it goes yet, but sink me it is fun to write. I expect I'll be teasing some of it on our socials soon. It's called Agnil's Design.

5. Other games I also started building another game, just for me, just for fun. It's going to be a rogue-like deck-builder, or as I call it, "body"-builder, where you do some dungeon crawling and collect the body-parts of defeated foe to build your character. I'm making it for no other reason than that I desperately want to play this game and it doesn't exist.

6. Social We are going to dole out bits and pieces of lore, character snippets, new-and-old art, and other enticing stuff over here in the coming weeks. Kindly glue your eyeballs to the bluesky, please. PLEASE, we need the numbers. XD https://bsky.app/profile/the-nim.bsky.social

There, that was less tangential than it could've been, but more tangential than most, I imagine. Big success?

Oh right, if you want to see these images in high res, and a few more sketches, as well as a sample paragraph from Many Winters' Briar and Agnil's Design, head on over to our ko-fi and patreon members section. Your support will help enable us to persevere in our wickedness. You have our infernal gratitude.

[discjude]

Oh boy oh boy its the discjude official COVEN bingo card!!! not many are about the coven themselves because i uh uh don't know too much about them but yeah. I've put a brief explanation of each of these under the cut (because a few are vague) (WARNING its a lot):

Lady Lesso mentioned: this one sort of coincides with "hester true evil speech". I reckon she's important enough to the witches to warrant a mention. Also. I think all of the Lessos might be relevant but I talk about that in my predictions

Obligatory Sophie cameo: she's Soman's favourite. She's showing up

Political commentary: based off of his substack, I don't think Soman will go too overt with it, but I think there'll be a more roundabout one. I'd love to see him address the fact that he wrote in that homophobia is a thing in SGE. Soman if you can hear me

Drag race reference: He's done this a lot before, in QFG mostly, and I think he'll do it again

TCY acknowledged: this could be like a "haha yeah you remember how the storian almost got destroyed? that was kinda crazy aha". I have a horrible feeling that he's going to completely skip over that part of canon

Hester gives a speech about "true evil": i mean come ooonnnnnnn. I also think this'll include something about evil love that contradicts the canon about it

No blatant fatphobia regarding dot: Soman phased this out in TCY I think he'll have stuck with it

Rats are, somehow, back. Not explained: Japeth killed at least one of those things and I genuinely think Soman will have forgotten it

Events of R+F acknowledged: ties into my predictions a bit, but I reckon the setup regarding neverland and the other stuff in Fall might come up

I'm right about my predictions: I think the entire thing looks very aquatic themed, and there's a lot regarding evil water stuff, so a) the mermaids are relevant b) the saders are (still) relevant c) the lessos are relevant. that's the big three in my opinion. I can't wait to be horrifically wrong

Storian still at fault: i mean. name one book where it isn't. and you cant say OTK that doesnt COUNT

Symbolic ending of the series thing: I want the storian dead. thats what this one means

Obligatory tagatha: come onnnnnnnnn

There is at least one twink: yeah. not much to say here

Vaguely pub-style setting: this one also includes "why is everything british" because i said so

None Japeth: Japeth is mentioned by name exactly no times. I'd love to have faith but I really don't

Tennis reference: I fucking CAUGHT Botic being a tennis player's surname in the prequels. he's GOING to try it again

Colour/lighting symbolism: have a draft rn about colour symbolism in SGE and I think Soman might lean into it

At least one snake: please i want to feel something

hestadil real: come ON he's doing this every tiktok post about coven has had the hestadil tag he's doing this

Aric is referenced: goes with my predictions and lady lesso being mentioned. I hate to say it I think he's far more likely to be referenced than Japeth

Big unanswered question gets answered: the BIG!! one is the Aric Dad Reveal. I want to know for parallel reasons and I think it could happen. maybe

no wait! We'll use the power of friendship: speaks for itself. something like this happens

major character death: goodbye dot. im being fr I think she's dying in coven

Thank you dearly to @liketwoswansinbalance for some of these entries I really struggled to think of some. Also no I'm not convinced of my predictions. But it'd be nice. right

[rowansro]

Hehe okay here it’s is, I sort of forgot about it I finished it like a week ago, this is more just yapping than anything, I might turn it into a proper fic at some point :)

After the final break (electra pov)

Okay okay so, i like to think that after their final break porter had done or said something that literally shattered leccy completely. And it hurts them so bad that a day or two after they start full on spiraling and going down a rabbit hole of stuff like ‘i won't ever be able to trust someone again’ ‘why would he say that about me’ and eventually end up to the conclusion that they had done something wrong and that something was wrong with them internally / something wrong with their system so they try to figure out what they did wrong OR what's wrong with them. Then fast forward like two hours and the components have not heard anything from leccy and are getting worried so they send in killerwatt to find out what's going on and he walks into leccy sitting on the floor with their hands inside of them pulling wires out of themselves trying to find the problem, their like in full tears and the tears are getting onto the wires making MORE problems and kw is just standing there frozen in horror with no clue on what to do because their boss is sitting in front of him literally pulling themselves apart and he is NOT trained for this.

Electra is completely oblivious to killerwatt being there and just keeps pulling at wires, just as kw starts walking over, leccy notices him and just as they look in his direction they pull out and accidentally snap the wire that controls their emotions and help them regulate, this sort of severs their emotions. They just kinda stop and look up at KW who is in shock at what he's just watched electra do because he knows what wire they just destroyed and they know had dangerous this situation has just become, as a singular tear escapes their eyes that are like full of horror because they ALSO know what they did, and it's sort of what their aim was, if they cannot feel anything then they can't be hurt by anyone again.

KW sits down in front of them and all theses wires and grabs their hands both to stop them from doing any more harm and to start trying to ground leccy who has literally no ability to process emotion but is somehow the most panicked they will ever be, KW starts frantically calling for wrench and the other components because, well, electras insides are all over the floor. While wrench and all that tend to electra, kw just tries to keep holding leccys hand both for electra and for his own comfort because my man is traumatized, eventually volta or joule notices how traumatized kw is and drags him away.

Killerwatt tries to stay as close to Electra as he can while they recover, the other components have to pull him away to make sure he takes care of himself instead of watching over electra.

I like to think that one of the things about leccys recovery from the breakdown is to do with their emotions, considering that they really went and fucked them up in the breakdown and needed they systems that control their emotions to be replaced they needed to learn lot of things emotionaly again and it kind of changed them as a person, they become a lot nicer and more of a people pleaser, trying theri best ot not hurt someone but also at the same time not letting themselves get to close to other people after they are cleared to be out and about again. Killerwatt his slightly hurt by this but wont show it, over the time frame of a few months KW and electra start to become closer as leccy finds that KW is really good at grounding them when they start to panic or get overwhelmed / overstimulated and slowly opens up to him emotionally. KW at one point does want to talk to electra about his feelings for him but is too scared to because he knows what electra is capable of doing if things work out.

About, i would say 5 or 6 months after the breakdown electra calls for KW late at night and just sort of asks him to sit down next to them on the couch/bed without saying anything else, electra could feel like a panic attack could happen and didnt want to be alone, as they start to feeling like more overwhelmed with their thoughts they sort of interlock pinkies with KW before he catches on to why electra had called him in and properly holds his hand, electra ends up resting their head on killerwatts shoulder and KW just lets them rest for a moment before asking them whats wrong, and in slightly shaky voice they respond with “killerwatt i remember” and KW looks down at them and asks them “remember what?” electra looks up at them with glazed eyes and just bluntly says “i remember how it feels to sit there and rip out my own wires” before they start to weakly sob, although this isn't an odd sight for KW after the breakdown, it's odd for electra to talk about what's upset them so KW pulls them into a proper hug knowing that the physical touch and deep pressure helps electra alot. Electra ends up falling asleep on top of KW and he also eventually drifts off, when electra wakes up killerwatt is still asleep and they kinda have a bit of a ‘holy shit is that what love feels like again’ (they definitely felt this kind of love with porter but as i mentioned before, they had to relearn their emotions) , when killerwatt wakes up leccy apologizes for being an inconvenience and for calling KW in so late the night before but in response KW just hugs them tighter.

Something something, Electra angst in regards to coalectra that end up turning into leccywatt, something something

Im cooking guys I promise

[puppppppppy]

u know when youre bored of everything and it feels like theres a hole that youre trying to close but it just keeps sucking everything up

[chirpsythismorning]

The way fans on the st sub are almost all in agreement Nancy ending up with neither Jon nor Steve wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and how they can even come up with a sleuth of reasons as to why, honestly pretty valid and fair reasons, but then are absolutely gobsmacked when fans merely speculate something along those lines for El is, quite something.

[meddwlyngymraeg]

I'm a learner, so I can link a few resources I've collected over time and the ones I've found useful. Personally I feel like Duolingo should tbh never be used alone, just because it gets you used to searching for the next word in a list rather than forming the sentences fully in your brain. If you can keep that in mind and always speak the Welsh sentence before you look at the options, that's solid.

For speaking and learning the language, I definitely recommend SaySomethingInWelsh, their techniques really helps you start independently using Welsh. If the cost worries you upfront, they make the first lesson of their new course, and the entirety of level 1 of their old course available for free, so at least try it out and see if it helps you.

The BBC has some good resources for listening and reading. They continue to have an archived version of their old Catchphrase Cymraeg site, which has listening in the form of short story-like podcasts. They've also got a Welsh grammar cheat sheet that covers a Lot and is a handy reference to keep.

The Welsh government has an accessible archive of 9 keystage levels of Welsh reading in PDF format. Even level 0 will assume a few things like knowing common auxiliary short forms like 'es' for 'mynd', but hopefully that alongside other resources, googling, grammar guides and lessons is helpful.

Radio Cymru has good listening clips too — Pigion (clippings from the news) and Stori Tic Toc (5 minute children's stories) are good listening podcasts.

On the note of children's material, don't be afraid to listen to children's stuff. When it comes to your language, you are sort of a baby! And that's okay. If you've been learning a few months, you're doing very well to have better Welsh than a baby. Don't be embarrassed to read and listen to children's materials. God knows they're more colorful and comforting at times.

For reading and more study-oriented stuff, the Dysgu Cymraeg courses are comprehensive and have at least 3 levels of material— lots to climb through! I might also have linked the supporting audio files that went with the course. S4C's Dysgu Cymraeg Youtube channel is also a good place to find people speaking and doing little things like reading out a recipe in welsh, with subtitles underneath. Oh really useful stuff to improve your pickup new words! S4C Dysgu Cymraeg also posts a series Welsh Word of The Day (Gair Y Dydd) on the social media like Instagram which is useful again for vocabulary.

I'm linking the posts in which I have previously accumulated resources and links, not just the ones that I mentioned above, but other ones that other people have recommended to me and that I've seen on the internet. Hope you find these useful!

PS, oh, and have a good dictionary at hand. And have fun speaking, and try not to panic when you try and get the Welsh out (which for a learner, is also totally normal)!

hi! so im going to wales for uni next year, any tips or resources for learning welsh? diolch!

Ooh, excellent - llongyfarchiadau!

SaySomethingInWelsh is my go-to recommendation for those wanting to learn Welsh in a natural, conversational way! You can also choose between the two main Welsh dialects, which is handy depending on which university you're attending (northern dialect for Bangor/Wrexham, southern for the rest!). But there's no major difference between the two - I [begrudgingly] accept that the southern dialect is more accessible for learners as it's generally more prevalent in learning materials and Welsh-language media.

There's also Duolingo, which is great for getting to grips with the basics and getting some daily practice. It's unfortunately no longer being actively updated by Duolingo (which is a huge shame!), but a lot of my Welsh-learning friends enjoy it nonetheless.

A lot of universities also offer free or discounted courses for students, so definitely worth checking what yours has to offer! Dysgu Cymraeg (Learn Welsh) has some free resources and regularly provides courses, and a lot of communities provide laidback Welsh cafes where you can rock up and practice your Welsh over a paned with fellow learners!

And finally: defnyddia dy Gymraeg - use your Welsh! Whatever you learn, whether it's a simple greeting or a few sentences, make sure you get into the habit of using it frequently, even if it's just a word or two! A shwmae a day can go a long way, as they say (they don't, I just made that up but I'm trademarking it immediately).

(Note: I'm a native speaker so I don't have much practical experience with these resources myself, so if anyone has any further recommendations, get in touch!)