#depending on how much effort i can put into the art i could really practice my backgrounds...

[findmeinthefallair]

It's me again. The therapist/illustrator who can't stop squeaking and screaming about her beloved son Hunter.

I've been thinking nonstop about him finding the terrible grimwalker graveyard, imagining what would be going through my mind if I were him. Sifting through whatever moments, dialogue and frames that I can find from the existing material, along with references outside of the show, to formulate what an offscreen scene would've been like.. (And seeing if I can find editable and salvageable enough backgrounds so I could perhaps even depict this scene one day)

A soul like him who not only wants to help others, but also acquire knowledge:

heading back here to see the graveyard:

You can't tell me that this wouldn't still be on his mind, and he's even anxious while saying this below, scratching his face a little:

Whether he follows up on this or not, also depends on how he looks back on being shown this:

And is he just going to go cold turkey and totally drop these leads he was pursuing in the episodes before the finale? :

Three things prompted me to finally write this post:

@polyhexian's and @ashanimus's analyses of Hunter's fight scenes in Hunting Palismen and Eclipse Lake (links here and here, they're really cool to read!!), based on their years of experience with martial arts. Reading those was a revelation to me because learning about how high Hunter's skill level is, how in touch with his body he is by default, portrayed so well thanks to the crew...that allows me to make far more educated guesses about his mental health in the early stages of the pre-epilogue gap of about 4 years. Because he is so used to high activity and being on high alert, no thanks to having C-PTSD.

Observing how light and free Hunter's expressions are, and how transformed his demeanor became, in the epilogue sequence. That transformation is an indication to me of the magnitude of grief which had to be transformed within him. To be put back together, in order to be so radiant, generous and self-actualized in the epilogue...imagine how much had to be deconstructed and further broken beforehand. He wouldn't have room to fill his life up with all that amazing newness if the old isn't emptied out first.

This psychoeducational video by my fave author, also a practicing therapist, who specializes in traumatic grief: link. Hearing her address the topic of entering the second year after a bereavement vs. the first year, was interesting. Definitely confirms to me that Hunter wouldn't have carved Waffles until past the 2nd year of navigating his bereavement.

In the years that pass before the epilogue, Hunter will not be able to understand why the efforts he puts into all the rebuilding work, coordinating and leading others, and trying to have fun - only cycle back to him experiencing a mix of a restlessness and emptiness in the deepest layer of his mind. It'll exhaust his energy bit by bit. I bet he's going to generally look as tired as depressed Luz does below, even if he's had an acceptable hours of sleep per night:

That restlessness will be an awful psychological itch that he'll be unable to scratch, caused by losing Flapjack and now also Belos. This is the same as what happened with his anger in For the Future, except Belos was still alive back then. It will be harder to understand and messier to navigate the bereavement this time round. It'll be something gnawing into his soul which I really think only professional help can heal, especially since the show promotes that it's okay to not be okay, and more than okay to seek professional help (Steve and Lilith's conversation in Edge of the World).

He will be trying to claw his way out of that C-PTSD pit, but he'll be aware deep down that he simply cannot reach any emotional high points for long, and something will be blocking his feelings of connection with his loved ones. He won't feel nearly as free and easy the way he used to be in the human realm:

Having a routine like he used to in the Castle, and moving around a lot, was what helped him survive. However, he won't have the awareness that the shift resulting from Belos passing away has been at such a fundamental level: to the point that those old, supposedly tried-and-true methods no longer serve him in any positive way. At least, not until his mental health will be back in better shape.

As he puts in more and more effort to escape that restless emptiness, getting annoyed at himself because he doesn't know what's going on...he'll use up the rest of his strength and eventually crash. That itch won't be solved by going back to overworking tendencies, and like how it is with addiction cycles, he would need some kind of fix for the deep restlessness within. The answer? Productivity to feel useful, which we have seen even in his efforts to fix damaged clothing and well, making stuff in general.

Where the grimwalker graveyard comes in is...once he hears news about its existence, he will stubbornly insist to want to help in investigating it, saying he has already read a bunch of books about them, and can be useful, etc. Worse, if his offer to help to investigate is refused, he will do what he did in Eclipse Lake. Go to the location anyway, to fill that deep void within.

Old habits die hard.

I don't know if he may hear from King (who he'll be seeing fairly often, I think!), The Collector or even Kikimora about it. Since they were the three characters who went all the way down there in King's Tide, and The Collector already knew about these horrors for literal centuries. King and The Collector are also still young kids! Will they have the sensitivity and awareness about breaking this news to Hunter?!

On the other hand, I don't know how the timing will be with Darius, Raine and Eberwolf..Darius will want to get serious about investigating his mentor's disappearance. Once the searching and scouring extends to the location of the Head of the Titan, they will find the evidence staring them in the face. If they want to scour every inch of the Isles, there's also a high chance they'll find the godforsaken grimwalker lab.

Worst of all, Darius would be aware by then of how much Hunter loves to help out in operations like this to be productive. At the same time, Darius's own grief will surface even more, I'm not sure he'll be able to hide that, and Hunter is highly observant. If Darius is trying to hide his own priority of finding closure re: his mentor, I think Hunter will sense that.

Therefore I wonder if this will happen except it's Hunter with Darius:

and then this poor beloved skrunkly son of mine, who so famously said these words at the beginning of his arc:

is probably going to get reckless, and endanger his mental health...not unlike moments like this:

by venturing to the graveyard, whether stealthily or accompanying the grownups, because he'll rationalize it as "getting closure" and once again "being useful". Remember how used he is to moving around so much and being active, combined with growing up isolated so that asking for help can still be a foreign concept to him. He would be anxious about grinding to a halt, and he'd want to be on the move instead.

He may demand to see the graveyard, and holy Titan I'm not sure any dilemma will be as tricky for Camila and Darius to navigate as this one. Because preventing him from seeing something he already knows exists is, in a very twisted way, also an unhelpful form of avoidance. Avoidance is a hallmark criterion for diagnosing both PTSD and C-PTSD.

How far do they go in protecting him from himself? Where do they draw that line? They might reach a compromise where Camila and Darius accompany him there. Once he sees it, it'll hit harder than this:

Letting him see it means his new parents would have to fall with him, in the sense that they follow him to that emotional place: but while he figuratively does not have a safety harness when falling into this deep dark hole, Camila and Darius are equipped with harnesses a.k.a. higher maturity, less of a trauma history, and some tools to help him get better, navigate the trauma, and manage his symptoms.

Camila will have the warmth and sensitivity to catch and meet him as he falls (she interacts with animals in her profession, who don't have the capacity for human language, in a similar way to how serious trauma can't even be put into words at times: it makes you voiceless). Darius's shared past living in the Castle and grieving over his mentor will help Hunter not feel as alone once he has seen these horrors.

And because his heart generally became more open to receiving love and support,

I doubt he'll close himself off almost completely, the way he did in the first two-thirds of For the Future (god, remember these deleted storyboards??):

It wouldn't surprise me if he weeps and panics as soon as he sees the graveyard, and his parents give him maximum support through that breakdown. As complicated as it would be for Camila and Darius to give in to his desire to see the graveyard, a response like this from him - a child seeking attachment with proper timing - is a good sign of growing into healthy attachment with parental figures.

It is an arguably better response than one of the hardest aspects of C-PTSD: where the outpouring of grief only happens after a delay, sometimes a significant delay, at very inconvenient or strange times. Hell...if I were Hunter, I'd probably want Camila and Darius to just hold me close in wordless silence for half an hour until my initial distress and shock passes.

If I use King - a child who is securely attached to Eda, who's definitely had a more stable upbringing - as a control experiment here, he could have the appropriate response immediately in Echoes of the Past and expressed his emotional needs clearly enough:

Whereas this is what Hunter has to now learn, at twice King's age, as he settles in with new parents who take care of him instead of mistreating him the way Belos did. Hell, I can't imagine what kind of Belos punishment awaited him if he cried to demand attachment.

(I need to use more King scenes as a comparison to Hunter's upbringing in my next metas! I realize this can make my explanations clearer)

Anyway, what may happen next after he can't unsee the graveyard is...Hunter will then swing to the other extreme of high activity. I.e. being passive, physically inactive and psychologically crashing into depression, which may translate into habits such as oversleeping (catching up on all that lost sleep...but at what cost?). Supposedly sliding deeper into the C-PTSD pit. A place from which he has to express the desire to seek the forms of help he needs.

Remember that this kid has only known extremes for most of his life. Until he settles in properly with his found family and attends therapy, he has no clear reference point for more balanced approaches in living.

The trauma he went through is a quadruple whammy for a 16-year-old who just survived growing up in a cult. It would be so much. I can't see him not falling into months of deep dark depression, as unfortunate as this sounds.

Grieving over Flapjack, grieving over Belos, over his childhood/upbringing, and now a grisly memory of his predecessors who didn't make it (to add to what he saw in Belos's mindscape). I simply cannot see him handling a load like this without a highly-equipped and sensitive professional, paired with his support network of family, friends and even possibly the wider community at times. Especially now that we've seen him in action during the epilogue.

The epilogue sequence would've had a different feel (and in my opinion, a not-so-good feel) for me if Dana had established that the grimwalker graveyard was still untouched after those 3.5-4 years and if Hunter never found out about it. Something like that is different compared to Dana mentioning in the recent Post-Hoot that in the he does not know about Caleb and Evelyn, or that he is related to the Clawthornes. Mysteries like the Clawthorne heritage can remain an eerie secret that only us in the audience know about, but I wouldn't feel comfy if this were the case for the graveyard as well.

To quote @idlescree's video essay about Hunter's death (link), the show's writers didn't pull any punches when it came to Hunter's development arc. Which means they had to take his story to the "categorically appropriate place for him to overcome" his greatest challenges.

Something tells me that with respect to the grimwalker graveyard and the avoidance theme in C-PTSD recovery, Hunter would've had to put in more work to confront a number of terrifying foes even beyond his Thanks to Them speech. One of which was the graveyard containing the remains of his predecessors.

PS: This is a spontaneous post which branches out from my giant post-finale meta (link) that I pinned to my blog, I suppose.

[telemy]

Completely on yours and hers(?) side in all of this. IK the main complaint is that Ant wants to rape Penelope but that wasn’t even in the original story. In an au you can change whatever you want and Jorge did exactly that w Epic as well (how the sirens look, the fact that Odysseus had wax in his ears in the song but in story was tied to the mast pole to listen to them, the ant wanting to rape Penelope etc). “It’s disrespectful to Jorge” my brother in Zeus Jorge didnt make the original story. In the shipping au I could totally see Ant going “damn can’t convince this woman to be my wife guess I gotta put the moves on the heir of the kingdom. Gonna be king one way or another” cause bro doesn’t care abt her as a person even in the story he just wants the power which is where the idea comes from and it’s a fun idea to explore!

For the age thing: Tele is 20 theres no exact age for Ant in the book but he didn’t go to war w the others 20yrs ago so he had to have been somewhere between 0-10 so at most there’s a 10yr age dif which isn’t that bad (my own parents have a 16yr age dif) Penelope is around 39 cause she got married to Odysseus at 18 and had Tele at 19 (if I’m doing the math right) and then Odysseus immediately went to war soon after his birth and took all of age/able bodied men w him (I couldn’t find the exact age of when men in Ancient Greece were “of age” but it’s gotta be somewhere between 10-16 (puberty age range).

IK google sucks recently Yall but it doesn’t take too much effort to look into this - sincerely a half Greek a half Italian that used the original Greek myths to bind w her culture cause her immigrant parents wouldn’t teach her their native language

Its good to see people from greek culture Agree with all this :]

Every Au changes depending on the creator, in my Au the only difference is that he actually does love Telemachus (and grew up with him). Its a shame that i can't know about Elian's Au because all what happened, and It hurts.

I also think that they shouldn't speak in the place of Jorge. Talya (Wich is literally Jorge's girlfriend) supported Elian and loved her art, wich doesn't give "the creator hates this' vibes..

Also, i noticed non-greek people saying stuff about greek culture and involving it on all of this, wich isn't cool..

(Im not greek, but im an Hellenistic Pagan, and i seen people say that changing myths affects the religion and offends us, wich isn't true. Thats like telling a Zeus devotee that they can't worship Zeus because he did bad stuff in the myths. Myths are myths, fictional, and they are NOT related to the religion.)

Also! In the book 22 of the actual Odyssey, wich is practically before he died, Antinous is called "Young man" wich means that he was still a Young man before he died. This in ancient greece was really Young, probs between 16-21/22/23 or so, wich means he could even be Telemachus' actual age. (Altho, i believe him being atleast 1 year older, he gives off the vibe)

Regardless, thanks for sharing your opinion on the subject, me and more people getting cancelled from all of this apreciate it, we love you 🫶

[anthrubicon]

Hhdd I'm already brainstorming ideas you aren't even ready for what I have planned lmao

i feel like rubi and paparazzi would get along great

Hhdhs telling me this stuff is dangerous because it WILL make me want to draw them together now and there's no power on this planet able to stop me

But yes I'm sure they'd be great friends! Maybe I could draw them going shopping or watching a movie together....

[anbaisai]

Unrelated to twst but I absolutely adore your art. Your lines are so crisp omgg, do you have any tips on how to keep them clean? :>>

Thank you!!! I put a lot of effort into my lines because I admire a lot of artists with beautiful linework, so I'm really happy to hear that you think so 🥹

Obviously steady practice & time will naturally help you improve, but here are a few tips that I personally found helpful!

Try being more confident & fast with your brush strokes - I find that the more that I slow down and hesitate, the more wobbly my lines end up being and it doesn't retain the same "crisp" feel (unless I set stabilization to high, but then the brush starts lagging so I tend to leave it on the lower side). Try drawing a line really fast then doing the same thing again slowly and comparing them, and do it with lines of varying lengths since it’s likely more apparent with long lines than shorter ones, but I hope that makes sense!

If you work digitally, one thing that can help with the above is zooming out - it might feel easier to draw a line on a smaller-looking canvas because you move your hand less, vs. dragging a line across a really big canvas.

Use your whole arm, not just your wrist - think of it like changing the tool you use depending on the type of line you need to draw. Smaller, shorter ones are ok to use your wrist for, but you’ll likely have a harder time if it’s a long continuous line, in which case try using your elbow or shoulder to help. It’s a bit hard to explain without you trying it out for yourself, but with enough practice it should become muscle memory.

Play around with brushes & brush settings - Yes, I know artists shouldn’t expect a brush to solve all their problems, but it’s no lie that some brushes feel like utter crap in my hands and nothing I draw looks or feels right, whereas other brushes feel like they were meant to be. My guess is that it just really depends on your habits, like your speed, how much pressure you use, etc., that mesh well with some brushes and less with others. I myself seem to enjoy brushes that have less variation with pen pressure, so it’s worth messing around in your brush settings or downloading new ones just to see if they feel any different to use! It won’t be as influential as just practicing your technique, but it’s an extra little thing that could help you.

I haven’t done much of it myself, but doing targeted practice where you just draw lines over and over (like you're just cross-hatching) has been something lots of people recommend for improving linework & hand steadiness, so you can try doing that when you’re bored e.g. doodling in the margins of your notes, on scrap paper, etc.

Hope some of these tips help, and have fun lining! ❤️

[fure-dcmk]

As one of my favourite and most inspiring artists on Tumblr, I wanted to ask you for advice about being an artist online

I'm a self-taught artist who mostly draws OCs for my own amusement but I also like trying to draw fan art and I had accounts before where I posted some of my art

But I'm very self-critical so I took down my art because I'm still learning and I hated finding mistakes in it. I also deleted my accounts due to personal life setbacks.

But I really want to get back to posting again one day hopefully after I practice digital art more.

So... do you have any advice for artists who are insecure about putting themselves out there and engaging with a public audience?

I really would appreciate your insight

Thank you

♥️

Aaaa anon i'm not sure if I can give any useful advice but i'll try T_T

personally I'm pretty lenient on myself, i prefer to prioritize productivity than quality. so im not sure how helpful my POV would be to a perfectionist. and i see myself as a 'fandom artist' where people follow me for a specific fandom rather than my own art. plus drawing is my way to consume and process my obsession, I have no inclination to do original stuff. in other word, i truly feel inept in providing an advice on this anon orz

but I'll try anyway, it depends on what you want from posting art online. do you want the dopamine from seeing others enjoying your work? do you want to make friends? are you frustrated a thing you like barely has any content so you decide to cook your own food? you should have a vauge idea of what you want from posting

in my opinion, new artist tend to be more insecure in posting, a lack of engagement can demotivate you from posting entirely. so, posting serious art that take days to make are the motivationally the riskiest. people usually struggle to give feedback to serious art. when these posts flop you'll end up feeling more insecure

my advice is to prioritize fun first. things like memes, funny or interesting ideas. sketchy comics are my go-to tbh. people usually have more things to say on things like that.

so you can try to balance low effort content so that it doesn't hurt as much when the stuff that you do spend a lot of time in flops. doesnt mean you should stop experimenting and improving, just do keep in mind posts like that usually don't do that well, you should set your expectations properly.

^this is the most realistic advice i could give anon.

also im not sure if this would be helpful but everytime i get into a new thing, i will first only draw for myself. I'll only start to upload when i hoard too much and it start to feel ridiculous to not publish them

I'm wishing you luck on your art journey!

[mindflayerapologist]

This isn’t unique to the ST fandom but one thing I’ve noticed a lot is that when people draw fan art they often don’t really bother to try to get their Lucas art to actually look like Caleb McLaughlin beyond making him, you know, black with whatever hair style he has based on the season they’re referencing. Like, people will really make sure they get Finn Wolfhard or Gaten Matarazzo’s features (and I guess to be fair they both have pretty distinct features) but often times fan art of Lucas doesn’t really bother to try to get his head shape, or mouth or eye shape correctly. In fact, I’ve also seen so many artists (I think/hope unintentionally) lighten his skin. Maybe you could argue that it’s lighting, but I think it stems more from people just having a default “black character” skin color that they use when drawing.

I think part of it is the unfortunate fact that many shows such as ST still don’t have much in the way of racial diversity so people want/feel like they need to distinguish the white boys from each other and don’t have to put as much effort into the non-white ones (still an issue ofc), but I also think a larger part of it is just the fact that people don’t give a fuck about drawing black characters all that much and so don’t bother trying to do the actors justice or respect by actually learning how to draw their distinct features. I think there might also be a bit of fear of unintentionally being disrespectful or racist, but my answer to that is to practice and get good - you don’t have to post everything online so you can hide ur unintentionally shitty drawings, no one is perfect from the get go.

I dunno if I’m saying it in a way that makes sense or if I’m just talking myself in circles but it’s a pattern I’ve noticed across the internet and, because my focus is on ST, within the ST fandom. It sucks, and frankly I feel like it’s pretty racist! Like, I can’t tell you what to do and I’m not gonna go around policing other peoples art but I still think it deserves some critical thinking. Give the respect to black and otherwise non-white characters that you would to the white ones (although in this case I’m referencing specifically depictions of Lucas because the fan art I’ve seen of Argyle - one of like 2-3 depending on how important you view The Lost Sister chapter important non-white characters in the show - actually be depicted pretty accurately/respectfully IMO).

[doomhole]

I want to amend this.

Sometimes sucking at things is the only way to do things at all.

And it’s almost always better to do things than to do nothing.

Learning to be ok with the discomfort of amateurism and sucking at stuff is not going to work out if you approach it like a temporary situation.

Like, you are not actually comfortable with sucking at stuff if you are only knuckling through the suckage in hopes of no longer sucking in the future. Like, if that sort of belief gets you out there doing stuff, great! But if you, like me, aren’t likely to get significantly better at things by doing them, this motivation is both unsustainable and increasingly bitter.

I’m speaking from experience, as someone who has struggled to develop, let alone improve at, almost all practical and creative skills. Not everyone starts developing from the same place. Even though I can (and do) improve, I have to work harder for anything to stick, and “improvement” will never really lift me out of being bad at stuff. You could say, if the average person starts at 0 when learning a new thing, I start at -50.

A lot of my practice and effort goes into just getting to the point most people start from. So have I improved at stuff? Hell yeah! But when it comes to creative output, that’s… not enough. People don’t see someone going from Unsalvageably Horrible to Still Really Shit to Pretty Bad to Beginner as equally worthy as someone going from Beginner to Intermediate to Advanced to Master. If we are honest, we know that nobody actually cares how much effort someone has put in. If you suck, you suck.

So you gotta get comfortable with the realisation that maybe you will not ever be good at it -and do the thing anyway.

You gotta internalise that half done, shoddily done, amateurishly done, is ALWAYS better than NOT DONE AT ALL. If it’s worth doing it’s also worth doing badly.

The only truly bad art is the art you talked yourself out of trying to make.

Please.

Don’t make your motivation to do stuff dependent on your ability to gain external validation for it. Not now, and not down the line.

Forgive yourself for being bad at stuff.

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Perverse Incentive Structures: Game Econ

In game development situations, Perverse Incentive Structures are...usefully visible. They make good examples while causing real harm to a comparatively small number of people.

Look at whaling.

If you have a store with cosmic-level purchases available - I'm talking ten thousand dollars or more for virtual goods - and you haven't included any aspect of gambling in the process, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with the practice.

Like, compare it to an art gallery. People find their own value in what's there, and are making their own decisions about how much they're willing to put in, to have it. Five dollar print? Two hundred dollar commission? Four thousand dollar []? Thirty thousand dollar []? Depending on the artwork, the scale, the provenance, none of those numbers are actually unreasonable.

There's something that seems positive, in fact, about the idea of including methods for people who love your game and want to support you even more to do that at whatever level they desire.

BUT.

Then you get into work hours involved in making a product, and making sure that people get their money's worth, and the art of the game design process gets chewed up in the brutal engine of capitalism.

If you have a game where 90% of your capital comes from 15% of your audience, your choice as a dev is to in some way ignore the desires and needs of the people bankrolling your work or pander to the 15% and just kinda...hope the desires and needs of that group match the desires and needs of the majority of your audience. This can have disastrous consequences, because sometimes those desires are misplaced! Say your whales love PvP, because of course they do. They've bought extra in-game power and they want to use it to assert dominance over real people, not NPCs! If you give your game a focus on PvP you need balance to retain players, like, at all, but balance is explicitly the thing the whales are not there for. So you can defeat the purpose of adding in PvP by properly pitting the whales almost entirely against other whales, or you can lose your broad player base by letting the whales beat up on them, putting the game into an irrevocable death spiral where you'll run out of punching bags and the whales will leave anyway.

Also if you're making digital goods to go into your game, the time you spend making fancy goods to sell to your whales is time you aren't spending on the world players get access to without spending the whale-level capital. Even some really great titles have fallen prey to this; FFXIV is excellent about providing great aesthetic choices for players of all walks, entirely through your own effort in-game. But it could be [the exact number of emotes and mounts and outfits in the cash shop] better at it.

[erigold13261]

eve is not good at communication

Oh yea! She absolutely sucks at it!

The way she speaks makes it seem like she is speaking directly, but if you listen to her words she uses a lot of like similes and metaphors, basically dancing around the topic and hiding her emotions from being directly exposed.

She thinks she is good at communicating because she feels her art is a great representation of how she feels, but it's not a good way of communicating because not everyone can understand her art, which means they can't understand her feelings.

And since she isn't directly or verbally saying how she is feeling, only using her art or metaphors/similes to express herself, her communication is honestly very bad.

It's why she clung to Zuke, someone who could understand her way of communicating really well. She didn't have to change for him to understand her, so she clung to that. But once she listened to what Zuke had to say after the fight, I think she is much more willing to put in effort to change the way she communicates.

She would still have her main communication through her art, but now she would be willing to talk things out. It is something she would have to learn and practice, as it was not a strong skill she had for a very long time, but I think she gets a lot better at communicating over time since that talk with Zuke.

One of the main things I think is that she becomes very direct in stating her feelings. I just love the line where she says that it is difficult to hear what Zuke is saying and how she isn't strong. There she is being very direct about her feelings but she seems like she is struggling greatly to say those words directly.

I can see her still struggling at times, but as long as people wait for her to get her words right before she says them, she will be getting better at communicating.

I love to think her and Purl have a similar way of communicating when it comes to personal talks (talking to media or fans is very different). Both talk very directly as well as take their time to get the correct word. You really have to listen to the wording, or even what is not said, to really understand what is being said.

One thing I love to do when having Purl talk in my head, is them just not answering a question they do not want to answer while Eve just takes a longer time to answer. Like if you ask both of them if they are alright when they clearly are not, Eve would take her time to figure out what is the correct way she is feeling (like if she is feeling sick then saying she feels unwell is something she would say than saying she is sick, idk) while Purl would just answer something else, usually about 1010 or a subject that was being talked about beforehand to avoid talking about themself.

I don't know. I just love the fact that these two suck at communicating with most people but have found good ways to communicate with each other as they are always analyzing the words people say as well as putting a lot of thought into their own words that they think people would analyze.

Either way though, they both suck at communicating but can also be really good. It just depends on the situation and who they are with.

[seemawrites]

Writer's Block or Quarter Life Crisis?

I miss being inspired beyond what is in front of me. When I think back to my university days, I’m so grateful that I had the chance to study creative writing and really put in an effort into what I was doing. But when I really think back to it, I feel as if I didn’t do enough. I didn’t try hard enough. I know that I did do well, but I feel as if I could have done better. Maybe this is the writers curse, as we’re all our own worst critics, but that’s how I feel. I had a huge opportunity to study what I loved, and I spent most of it fucking off and just doing whatever, without really thinking of how my life would be now. I mean, I could’ve never guessed I’d be into my second office job (both have been relatively creative, but office jobs nonetheless), and not having time to do many things, like hanging out with my friends or exploring new things. Those things may seem mundane, but I need these experiences in order to write. For art in general, the only way to improve your craft is not only to practice it, but to find unique experiences as you go along in life. And a unique experience doesn’t have to be sitting on an island for days on end, looking at the animals in the trees. It can be a simple thing of having a conversation with a person in their 80’s who has lived longer than majority of those you know around you. It can be just watching a couple in a café exploring their unique love language.

I use to gain inspiration from people watching. People are interesting things, they tend to do things subconsciously without realizing it. Not to say that being in Ethiopia has prevented me from doing this, or that if I lived in a different country I would have more opportunities. Everybody likes to think that life would be so different if they lived elsewhere. And it might be, but I think that is truly dependent on the lifestyle you have. And majority of people I know all over the world have a 9-5 week, party over the weekend, and then do it all again on Monday. But maybe the rest of the world has more diverse options of where you go and who you meet (I say maybe as if I don’t know that for certain).

I tend to force myself to regurgitate thoughts and already lived experiences, but honestly, it feels like I’m drowning myself creatively. I want to read more books, more essays, more poetry. I want to explore new TV shows, and new people, but it has become increasingly difficult the more tired I get. I’ve been in a writers block for well over two months now, and continuously writing untitled poems and creative essays as a self reflection method. But I feel like I haven’t lived enough to self reflect. I have been journaling as much as I can when I do get the chance to do something interesting or if it changes my perspective of what I previously thought upon a topic. But recently, it’s been the same thing over and over. I am very happy to have the friends and partner that I do to keep my happy and afloat, and none of what I previously said is a reflection upon the life I have built with them and here. I just wish that life could be more like the 70’s, where exploring the world wasn’t so expensive, and living life wasn’t something that we look at as a luxury. I wish being a creative still meant something; I wish being a writer still meant that you could fuck off for several months to do your writing. You still can, but the world moves by so fast, you may run out of money before you finish your book.

Maybe I’m just having a quarter life crisis within my writing endeavors, maybe its because I never planned to be alive this long when I was younger, I kinda winged everything until the age of 23. Sometimes I forget you need to breathe, and that the greatest writers I’ve ever had the chance of reading didn’t get their chance to write until well into their 30’s. I’m turning 25 in a few weeks, and I think maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself when it comes to writers blocks, or when it comes to how tired I am after a day of work. Yeah, I think that’s the best thing to do.

[willowcrowned]

Any tips for a non-linguist attempting to create a fantasy language?

Hey! So! This is a great question, but not one I'm really equipped to answer. Because I'm not conlanging in the traditional way (by the seat of my pants while drawing on years of linguistics nerdery and advice from internet forums), a lot of the resources I'm using are ones provided to me by a linguistics professor, and therefore, for copyright and doxxing reasons, ones I can't share. What I can do is give you some very basic tips, a non-risky resource or two to help you get started, and a call for other people who dabble in conlangs to supply resources as well.

The first most basic thing I can advise is to figure out exactly what you want your language to do worldbuilding-wise, because that's going to define a lot of where you put your time and effort. For example, I want Dathomiri to recontextualize the awful, ridiculous, deeply misogynistic and cisnormative worldbuilding around the Nightsisters of Dathomir, which means I'm going to need to spend a lot of time thinking about how I want the pronouns and classes to work.

The second thing to do is to figure out which areas of your language you want to be naturalistic (it can be all of them! a lot of conlangs are made that way), and how naturalistic you want them to be. Because languages are incredibly complex, making a conlang as complex as a natural language in natural ways can take years and years and, for people who aren't Tolkien—who btw didn't even end up with a fully usable conlang—usually isn't worth it.

Of course there's room for changing your mind once you've decided on them, and not everything you toss into a language has to work exactly with your goals, but I think it can be really useful to have guidelines to help you decide which things you're going to keep in or throw out.

What you do after you've decided what you want to do is going to depend a lot on your existing knowledge of not just conlanging but linguistics in general. It's common (and best, in my opinion) practice to start with the phonetics of your language—what sounds it contains—but if you don't know how big most phonetic inventories are, or what patterns show up in them, even that can be rough.

Because I don't know where you're at knowledge-wise, and because I'm about the furthest thing you can get from an expert in linguistics, I'm not going to provide any more advice. We could get lost for days in phonetics, and weeks just on what I know of phonology (my current preferred branch), so instead I'll take this opportunity to list some resources:

First, David Peterson's book The Art of Language Invention. It's an easy read, and oriented towards people who know nothing about linguistics, so it's a really good place to start for a crash course in the basic parts of language.

Second, the World Atlas of Language Structures (https://wals.info/). Peterson's book is good for the basics, but it doesn't supply much in the way of typological information (i.e. what features occur in languages + to what frequency and where). WALS is a great database for looking at where different features of language pop up, and how often they do, which can inform a lot of your decisions about how to implement naturalism (if that's what you're trying to do).

Third—and this one both @mandaloriandy, who knows more about conlanging than me, and my professor recommended—is this word generator (https://zompist.com/gen.html). It can be really helpful for figuring out the phonology of your language—how segments are arranged—as you have to enter your phonological and phonotactic rules for it to generate a wordlist. There's also a sound change applier (https://zompist.com/sca2.html) if you're trying to evolve a language forwards or backwards, though that one I haven't ever used.

I wish I had more to give you, but a lot of what I've done so far has come from my own knowledge of phonology or from a few offhand comments from my professor/his powerpoints. I'll put out a call for resources in the tags so hopefully you'll be able to find some in the reblogs or replies, but beyond that google is probably going to be your best bet.

Sorry I couldn't help more. Good luck!

[amysteriousmessenger]

May I request some fluff RFA headcanons? 🥺🥺

I hope these are okay!! I added Saeran and V just for the sake of it!! <3 these will be a random mixture of with and without MC!

Random Fluffy RFA + Saeran and V Headcanons

Yoosung Kim Fluffy Headcanons

He asks you to marry him in LOLOL, since there’s an expansion pack where you can set up a little house for extra storage. He gets really nervous and a bit sweaty about asking you to do it, he takes it oddly seriously and Zen almost passed out when he thought that you were actually engaged.

He tries to make you coffee every morning, especially if he’s trying a new style out. He thinks it’s really fun and he loves to greet you with it for breakfast. After a while, you come to associate the faint smell of coffee with Yoosung. 

At the start he starts sneakily using little bits of your shower gel because they smell so much nicer than the one his gamer student budget allows him to buy. Eventually, he’ll just cave and buy a bottle of the one that you use because it means he gets to be reminded of you all day and it’s a lot better for his skin anyway.

If you play with his hair when his head is in your lap, he’ll absolutely fall asleep. Yoosung is a little bit like a puppy in that way, it just makes him feel so happy and loved.

Zen/Hyun Ryu Fluffy Headcanons

Zen’s a big person for morning kisses, especially sleepy ones. He’s an early riser and definitely feels extra needy in the morning. He’s also always the big spoon, he likes to feel as though he’s protecting you even when he’s asleep.

Whenever you’re crying and cover your face so he can’t see, Zen’s the kinda person who would gently pull your arms away so he can get a look at you and figure out what’s wrong. He’ll kiss at your eyes and cheeks until you either stop crying, or let him get close enough to pull you in so you can cry on his chest. 

He loves doing skincare on you. If he thinks you’ve had a hard week, he’ll do your moisturiser, clay mask, face mask, eye mask- you name it, Zen wants to pamper you with it. He knows the importance of skincare and he thinks it’s a great way to relax and pamper you. 

Zen’s ‘Happy Place’ that he thinks of when he gets stressed is the two of you, beers in hand, spending an evening in the kitchen trying to cook food. He can hear the laughter, smell the ever-so-slightly burning food, taste the traces of beer on your lower lip. It just makes him so happy to think about and he can feel the desperation in his limbs to sprint home at full speed and make the daydream real.

Jaehee Kang Fluffy Headcanons

Saturday mornings are Jaehee’s favourite out of the whole week. She’s just worked 5 hellish days and Saturday is the day where she gets to have a bit of a lie-in. Usually, Jumin doesn’t ask her to come into the office on weekends and it’s usually just a case of working from home. Jaehee tries not to oversleep too much because she doesn’t want to throw off her schedule but sometimes she can’t help but pass out for 10 hours straight and undisturbed. 

She really enjoys bubble baths with you. When you first start doing it together, she’s a little shy at being seen undressed so intimately, but she still really enjoys the time alone with you. It’s a great way to unwind and she likes being so close to you.

Jaehee isn’t much of a cuddler when she’s asleep, she tends to just sleep flat on her back out of exhaustion. However, if you wake up for any reason during the night, you’ll frequently find her hand holding yours, whether she did it consciously or not. 

She collects really nice and cute stationary. She doesn’t really take them to work because she doesn’t want to be seen as unprofessional, but once she runs the coffee shop, she gets to write in her little hot-drinks-themed stationary and decorates the little cups with tiny stickers for the frequent customers and especially for whenever Zen comes to visit.

Jumin Han Fluffy Headcanons

Sunday mornings are Jumin’s favourites. He usually wakes up really early by routine, but on Sundays he spends a little bit longer curled up in bed with you and Elizabeth the Third, watching you both sleep. Jumin’s also usually the big spoon if he’s sleeping on his side, but when he sleeps on his back he typically still has one arm around your waist so you’re pulled next to him with your head on his chest.

He personally donates to many different cat shelters all over the country. He takes the money straight out of his own bank account and gives generous monthly donations to make sure that there’s enough funding to both feed the cats already there, and take in extra cats of the streets along with getting them adopted. Jumin’s staff actually has a company policy that if they adopt a cat from one of the shelters that Jumin supports, the vet and adoption fees are covered by him, he counts it as philanthropy.

Jumin has a bottle of wine in his cellar from the date you met, the date you first kissed, the date you got engaged and the date you got married. He hasn’t quite decided when he’ll share those wines with you, he just knows at the moment that he wants to keep them for a very special occasion. 

When he’s bored at work but he can’t call you because you’re busy, he pictures taking you to one of his vineyards on the weekend. He’ll picture your smile, you adjusting your hat and lightly squinting against the sun, you smiling at him over your glass of wine. Then he’ll tell Jaehee to clear his schedule for the weekend.

Saeyoung Choi Fluffy Headcanons

Your arms around him, holding him against you, is pretty much the only thing that can bring Seven out of an anxiety attack. If you’re not physically with him, he crawls under the duvet on his bed in hopes of still smelling you. He’ll call you and look through selfies with you that he has on his phone until he calms down. 

Seven frequently tries to make you food. He’s never had to cook for anyone before and he doesn’t really cook for himself, so it’s a lot of trial, error and frustrated takeaways. You try to eat whatever he makes though because you can really tell that he’s put his heart into it and you want to show him that you appreciate the effort he’s making.

He loves you feeling his biceps and gushing over how strong he is. He’s not even particularly ripped but you can tell he has strength in his limbs and seeing you give him any kind of physical approval makes him m e l t instantly.

He’s both the big and little spoon, depending what mood he is in. Sometimes he wants to hold you close and never let go, but sometimes Seven needs a little bit of support too and want to feel like he’s needed by you.

His absolute favourite dates are the arcades, the cinema, bowling and carnivals. He has far too much fun on the bumpercars and he absolutely has it out for you, you spend most of the time trying to escape him.

GE Saeran Choi  Fluffy Headcanons

GE Saeran always makes very over the top hot chocolates for the both of you. He has an arsenal of whipped cream, syrups, chocolate shavings and sprinkles. His hot chocolate is better than any you could buy in a store. He’ll make one for you whenever you ask, and then sometimes just to surprise you if it looks like you’re having a bad day.

GE Saeran ends up getting two cavities in his first few years of living freely. He does look after his teeth, but he let his sweet-tooth go little bit wild with all the new foods he got to try, it was all so new and fun to him, he just wanted to try everything! He took much better care of his teeth after that, but the trip to the dentist was quite a weird one since he’d never been before. 

Slight Angst: Saeran always serves your food first and makes sure there’s always extra helpings if you want it. He usually puts a little bit more on your plate than what you would usually eat. He never quite gets over the guilt of taking your food away at Magenta, so he spends the rest of his time making sure you have more than enough to eat now.

He likes to constantly buy you little gifts that he sees when he’s out and about that remind him of you. A little notebook in your favourite colour? A little forget-me-not necklace? A candle that smells like your perfume? He’d added them all to his cart. 

After lip kisses, Saeran loves giving cheek and hand kisses to you. For him, he really loves getting head kisses and he thinks it’s extra cute when you plant a little kiss onto the tip of his nose.

V/Jihyun Kim Fluffy Headcanons 

V usually wakes up first, unless he was working late in his studio. He wakes you up with a kiss to the forehead, a cup of coffee and soft words. After he’s put your drink on the table, he’ll climb back into bed with you and cuddle until you’re properly awake.

He actually enjoys baking with you. Well, he likes to help you bake and then he gets to do the decorating. You usually bring a cake to any RFA hangouts and it’s always very obvious when V’s helped you bake because it feels like he goes out of his way to put a piece of gallery-worthy art onto a cake with food colourings and icings. He thinks it makes it tastes better, and you have to agree. 

In recent years, V’s been considering trying a more plant-based diet. He thinks he’d like to try vegetarianism, but he’s frequently spend periods of time as a pescatarian, especially after he’s come back from travelling. It also means that he gets to practice cooking more too.

[ein-liebloser-wanderer]

⸸ The Araneae — Headcanons ⸸

(A world where I anthropomorphize as many animals as I can, because I'm just in the mood for legs and some BDSM. This is in the same world as my Scales and Serpent Tales snippets.)

Warning: I gave this blog its name for a reason. Expect eldritch themes. Oh, and light NSFW because of mentioned bestiality.

Includes: spiders, spider-typical behavior, cannibalism, emotional detachment, lack of empathy, manipulation, blue-and-orange morality

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

⸸ The Araneae are an enigmatic bunch. We pass by them everyday, yet never think much of it. You never thought that the woman sitting beside you at the bus stop with her triplets was a Black Widow, never realized that the brawny guy at the gym was a Tarantula, and you certainly didn't know that most of your 'introverted' neighbors are actually Recluses.

⸸ Even among the Arachnids, they are known to be the most reclusive...and it's understandable, really. One must only ask random strangers what they think of spiders, and undoubtedly, most would say they either fear or hate them.

⸸ So, as a rule of thumb, everyone is dangerous. They should be careful as to who they spend their time with, because they will either be persecuted, or be 'exterminated' by pest control.

⸸ But of course, there wouldn't be millions of them in the world if they avoided social interactions all together. They may be comically antisocial, but they do find that special someone whom they desire to spend their entire life with. Someone who can look past their fear (or feel no fear at all), and see them as an anthropomorph with hobbies and interests, likes and dislikes, etc.

⸸ And since you are reading this, would I be bold to assume that you are one such character?

General Things You Must Know:

⸸ Assuming they have taken a human (or someone similar, warm-blooded and social) as a companion, they will do everything to be accommodating. And by that, they will do things we usually take for granted, like kindness, empathy, social cues, etc.

Because let's not forget, the Araneae are Arachnids. Naturally, their way of showing 'love', trust, and 'affection' wouldn't be conventional to how we do it.

⸸ All Araneae are true predators. To put it simply, they look at concepts like 'empathy' and Prey Rights movement (because that would absolutely exist in a world of animal anthropomorphs), and continue eating their 100% fly meat sandwich, forgetting about it altogether.

⸸ The very few that pretend to understand human empathy and morality only do so because it benefits them. For instance...

Let's assume that their significant other has a pet. A delicious, thick wad of meat that they are salivating just to eat.

Except they won't.

Not because it will hurt their partner, but because it will make them want to leave, and practically speaking, convincing them to stay takes too much effort. Also, that might get their SO to attack them.

Simply put, a little snack isn't worth losing the benefits their partner gives them.

⸸ It is commonly stereotyped that all spiders make great weavers and tailors. Among the Spider Folk, only around half of them can actually weave instinctively, and even less consider it an art. The rest just see silk as a practical tool for creating traps, snares, and making wall-climbing easier to do. The most they could do is probably sew up rips and holes in clothes (because clothes are expensive).

⸸ Another misconception is that all spiders are good at homemaking and other domestic duties. Nomads like the Kteis and Lykos rarely ever settle down in one place (or live in civilization for that matter).

Expect mistakes like forgetting to turn off the oven, plugging in things through electric sockets with wet hands, and locking the door from these guys. Home safety isn't something they often think about.

Courtship (What You Were Looking For Don't Lie)

⸸ The Araneae have a very rich dating culture, to say the least. When courting someone, they create elaborate plans to win someone over. Depending on the bloodline, they have unique ways to show it, such as gift-giving and serenades accompanied by a string instrument.

⸸ Males are traditionally the ones doing the courting, but when that isn't possible, the spider in the relationship, regardless of their gender, will do the courting.

⸸ Evolutionarily speaking, there is a reason for this. When the quality of your gift determined whether or not your date will cannibalize you, it's no wonder why your Drider boyfriend may be a tad too perfectionistic about your dinner date.

⸸ Also, you know that they truly want you as a mate when they reveal their identity to you. Because let's be honest, how will you explain to your non-spider partner why their child with you looks like...that.

⸸ Otherwise if they don't, they probably just like having their human partner around, but have no intention of mating with them.

Mating

⸸ Let's go down the route where they revealed their true identity to their partner, and now, they're just dating like any regular couple. They talk, spend time together...and have the occasional accidental murder in the bedroom.

⸸ Traditional or progressive, male or female, a spider will, and always be, cannibalistic. Even if they don't mean to, instincts are a very powerful thing, and sometimes, they can't help but bite a little too hard.

⸸ Don't writhe. Don't struggle. Don't fight them. That will only arouse their predatory nature even more. Seeing you struggle against your bonds in fear of them actually devouring you is such a very tempting sight...they might actually do it.

⸸ And if you think dating a male will spare you from all that difficulty, I'll have you know that even they have that urge. The only difference between the sexes are that the more masculine ones are more subtle, and prefer manipulation. The feminine ones are more dominant, choosing to go for the more aggressive route.

⸸ That being said, most Spiders know better than to leave their mate traumatized, alone to recover from the possibly violent session, so expect them to be very gentle and affectionate when giving aftercare.

Families

⸸ Female spiders have very strong maternal instincts. Stories of mothers fending their brood from bigger predators are very common. Some even go so far as to letting the spiderlings cannibalize her just so they wouldn't starve to death during times of great duress.

⸸ Parental care and concern for males on the other hand, are trained and self-taught. As you could probably imagine, males don't have the same instinct as females do because most of them don't live long enough to see their children.

⸸ Yes, your husband is carrying the baby wrong, but he is really trying. Have patience. It's not like he had a father to teach him and share stories about the difficulties of fatherhood.

[mythicamagic]

Unorthodox: a Sesskag oneshot

Summary: Kagome is pleasantly surprised to receive a present from Sesshoumaru for White Day... until she glimpses the contents inside her gift box.

AN: Written for the Sesskag 2021 Big Bang event on tumblr! @chierafied​ 

I was paired with @milomai-art​ and here’s their lovely artwork: https://milomai-art.tumblr.com/post/648766972634513408/unorthodox-mythicamagic-inuyasha-a-feudal

Rated K+

Words: 3,000

You can read it on Ao3, Dokuga or fanfiction.net. 

Unorthodox

Valentine's day had come and gone, with a notable difference this year for Kagome compared with the last lonely three;

Her return to the Sengoku Jidai.

To celebrate reuniting with her beloved friends, she'd gone all out. Everyone received gifts, right down to Myoga and Jaken; no one had been excluded.

For all her efforts, however, she expected nothing in return. Though she'd explained the concept to the Inutachi, Sango and Miroku were much too busy looking after their children to keep track of dates, Shippo was often away at Kitsune school and Inuyasha had been absent as of late. Besides that, since their relationship had ended, the subject of Valentine's had become an awkward one. She'd had to stress the platonic intent behind her gift to him.

Therefore, Kagome had pretty much forgotten all about White Day by the time it rolled around.

Exiting Kaede's hut with a tub of water in her arms, intending to give the old miko's horse a good scrub down, she dug in her heels the second exquisite silks, armour and a fur pelt registered- having blinked into existence before her. Kagome gaped, swaying. Water sloshed, some spilling to their feet.

"Uh hi," looking up at grave, handsome features, she arched a brow. Sesshoumaru stared at her fervently. "Nice to see you, Sesshoumaru," adjusting her grip, Kagome sidestepped him and flashed a warm smile, used to his minimalistic approach to conversation by now. "Do you need something? Inuyasha isn't here. I think he's helping the next village over repair a-"

"I am not here for him."

Kagome noted his succinct tone, sounding more defensive than usual. Setting down the wooden tub carefully, she straightened, tilting her head. "Then what are you here for?"

"White Day."

"White... ah!" Kagome gasped, "that's right! How did you know about that?" she blinked, noticing he looked extra grumpy today. His jaw ticked, golden eyes narrow. Slowly, the miko brightened. "No way. Did you... get me something?" she breathed, strangely touched.

Of all people, Sesshoumaru had remembered? Was she dreaming?

A hand thrust out stiffly towards her, balancing a small box upon his palm.

Accepting it with thanks, heat touched her cheeks. Weird. She really shouldn't be indulging this- or feeling kind of happy. It didn't mean anything to be pleased, right? Was she even allowed to feel warm and fuzzy towards her ex's brother?

Opening the lid, Kagome tried to squash her excitement- peering down. Slowly, she reached in, retrieving a silky soft thing.

It appeared to be made of something long, silver and fine, the material woven into a pretty design. A bracelet of silk, if she could hazard a guess.

"Um, thank you," Kagome raised her gaze. "What's it made of, out of curiosity? It's very soft."

Sesshoumaru appeared pleased, preening a little. "Only the finest material."

"Really?" she stroked it. "I hope you didn't go to any trouble on my account."

He scoffed, midsummer gaze smiling slightly as his tone became haughty and prideful, "it was no trouble to use this one's own hair."

Kagome dropped the bracelet back into the box. "Whut?"

Lithe fingers combed indulgently into his fall of lustrous silver hair, "you need not be alarmed. The strands grew back quickly."

That isn't what's alarming me, Kagome silently screamed. Now that she was paying attention though, the pale bracelet really did resemble the demon lord's long flowing locks.

Her hand recoiled a little from the box. "W-well, um... thank you very much," Kagome said thinly. "It's a very thoughtful gift. Truly."

Sesshoumaru's keen, piercing eyes roved over her strained features, voice deepening. "If you do not wish to accept it-"

"N-no, I do! I'll wear it right now!" Kagome grabbed it madly, fiddling with the thing while repressing a shudder. She tried and failed to secure the clasp, stiffening when large hands closed over her hand.

The demon lord leaned forward- that same hair currently being secured around her wrist falling free from behind a pointed ear. Silver strands draped down like a gossamer curtain, tickling her flushed, sensitive skin.

Sesshoumaru tilted his head up, expression unreadable.

Shifting her wrist, Kagome observed the threads of hair wrapped around it. His bracelet felt odd, the concept totally foreign. However, she could feel how much the gesture meant to him. She didn't fear offending him because of his dark temper- more because she cared about his feelings and wanted to nurture any hint of a bond between them.

"Thank you," Kagome said. "No one else brought me anything today, so I'm...I'm grateful."

Even if it was the weirdest thing she'd ever received. A bracelet made of hair wasn't exactly traditional.

Straightening, Sesshoumaru's lips thinned as his eyes flickered with confusion.

Kagome blinked, wondering what else he'd envisioned her saying.

"Hn," inclining his head regally, he pivoted sharply and began stalking away quickly, giving a swift kill to the conversation.

---

Without a frame of reference for how long he desired her to wear it, Kagome tugged her sleeve down to hide the bracelet from curious eyes during the next few days. She tried to ignore the sensation of hair continually brushing her skin.

"I wonder if it means something important," Kagome examined it while sprawled out upon a grassy hill, taking a break from her miko duties Kaede had started dishing out ever since her return.

Sesshoumaru had seemed extremely serious while giving it to her. Then again, the gift could've meant nothing. Maybe his hair was just THAT valuable in the Daiyoukai's opinion. She snorted, twisting her wrist and watching silver threads catch on sunlight, making it shine white. "His ego is big enough. I'd believe it. Heh, maybe he'd also give me one of his eyelashes, or a fingernail or..."

Why was Sesshoumaru heading towards her?

Sitting up and fussing absentmindedly with her hair- removing a few stray leaves- Kagome felt heat flood her face.

Okay, no- she shook herself, putting a firm lid over the butterflies taking flight in her stomach. Too strange. Enough of that.

The Daiyoukai stopped a few feet away, expression detached. Kagome knew by now to ignore it in favour of looking into his eyes. They were intent and unblinking today, hinting at his seriousness.

"Hi," she said, patting a spot next to her. "It's rare for you to visit the village again during the same week. What's up?"

Sesshoumaru cocked his head to the side at her odd term. Kagome bit her lip, finding it endearing. Her attention strayed, noticing yet another box sitting innocently upon his hand.

She paled. Oh no.

Gracefully sweeping himself down onto one knee- he thrust the new box out towards her, giving Kagome a dizzying sense of Déjà vu.

I was joking about the fingernails. Please be something normal. Please.

Accepting it gingerly, blue eyes flicked up towards him. "White day is over, you know."

"This one is aware."

"So...why the new gift?"

Sesshoumaru pretended to be interested in the gentle bubbling stream not too far away. "Because it pleases me to give it to you."

He was so difficult to figure out. Not wanting to squash his newfound sense of generosity, Kagome carefully removed the lid.

The contents did not look promising.

Trying not to jump to conclusions, she reached in and removed the long necklace. A single solitary tooth hung from the chord.

"Ah," Kagome squinted. "Open your mouth a sec."

Sesshoumaru's lips parted wordlessly, mouth opening wider to reveal a gap where one of his sharp canines used to be.

"This...is yours?" she asked weakly.

Sesshoumaru closed his mouth and nodded primly. "It will serve you well, should you have need of it."

In what way would I ever have need of a tooth? a wrinkle marred her brow as she considered it, coming to a small realisation. "To make a sword from?"

"Hn."

Well, that explained a small piece of the puzzle. In a very 'Sesshoumaru' way- it almost seemed a little sweet, practical even.

However, this did not help assuage her naturally squeamish reaction while looking at the freshly plucked tooth.

"Thanks," she said lamely. "I-I'm sure it'll be very useful if I visit Totosai in the future."

Her answer didn't seem to be what he was looking for. Sesshoumaru's gaze flitted from her to the dangling fang. "Females... prefer jewels, make-up or clothing, I suppose."

Kagome scratched her cheek, "depends on the lady- but you really don't have to worry, Sesshoumaru," laying a hand over pale knuckles resting upon his knee, she gave a squeeze. "I'm touched you're being so thoughtful. There's no need to give me anything else though, I have more than enough."

His nostrils flared, jaw setting stubbornly. He drew himself up to stand, "you are too modest."

Feeling thoroughly discombobulated, Kagome could only watch as he pivoted with all the grace of a dainty dancer, stalking away with billowing sleeves.

---

For two weeks, Sesshoumaru continued visiting the village at random intervals. His flair for turning up at the most unexpected times made it difficult for Kagome to anticipate his visits. Sometimes he'd arrive bright and early, others- nearing nightfall. Occasionally he'd visit Rin, but their interactions seemed distracted. Rin would whisper fiercely to him while gesturing in Kagome's direction, but he'd ultimately leave without speaking a word to the miko.

It was odd, confusing. She'd used to think of Sesshoumaru as a fairly straightforward demon. As of late, he'd been downright unpredictable and... flakey. She kind of missed their previous easy interactions when she'd pick herbs and prattle on while he occasionally offered a word or two. His silence had felt comfortable rather than awkward.

I don't know how to get that back, Kagome thought sadly.

A chilly wind passed by, breeze rushing around her exposed neck. Adjusting her miko garb, she sneezed, shivering a little. Autumn would soon be on its way.

The heat of an intense stare sent a new chill down her spine. Kagome turned, sensing it- only to find Sesshoumaru gazing at her intently.

Was it her imagination, or did he seem absurdly pleased? As though struck by a revelation.

As was typical behaviour for him, the demon lord began walking away without a word.

---

Trudging back from training in the woods, Kagome shouldered her bow while walking around a thick tree- only to quickly stop, almost bumping straight into polished armour.

Sesshoumaru stood before her, holding another box. This time it was larger, more of a rectangular shape.

"M-more?" Kagome squeaked. Her heart thundered. It felt like so long since they'd last spoken.

Sesshoumaru inclined his head gravely, "hn."

Biting her lip and somewhat dreading what cast-off part of him could be inside this time, Kagome grasped the lid and removed it- only to slam it abruptly back down.

"What… what is that?" she asked thinly.

Sesshoumaru's lashes fell shut and slid open in an unruffled blink.

"My fur."

I thought as much.

Kagome removed the lid with trepidation once more, lifting out the lush, soft coat. Even while her hands sank into the cloud-like material, blue eyes remained wide with distress.

Sesshoumaru seemed to guess her line of thinking. "It is discarded fur that I have shed, not cleaved off. Do not worry."

"O-okay," she said thinly. It's still weird though. Too weird. Imagine if I'd made a coat of shed skin.

It was so odd that Kagome felt a line needed to be drawn, placing it back into the box and numbly accepting it from him. "Sesshoumaru… I have to put my foot down now. I appreciate your gifts but I can't accept any more."

He stiffened, the burning embers in his eyes freezing into glassy orbs.

Kagome rushed to explain, "it's very sweet of you, and I appreciate the thought. I'm just not, uh…sure they're suited for a human. Besides, you seem to be worrying about what to get me instead of talking to me. I'd rather we just spoke like old times instead of this awkwardness."

"I see," he said stiffly.

She took a step forward, eyes widening when he took one back and turned. "This one did not intend to give you things deemed inappropriate and unwelcome. Farewell."

"Wait-!"

Too late, Sesshoumaru blurred away from her outstretched hand.

Kagome grit her teeth, sighing and balancing the box on one hand. Damn it.

Slowly, Kagome lowered the box onto a tree stump and gingerly lifted the coat. It felt lush and divine, her hands disappearing within the sheer volume of fur. Sliding her arms into the sleeves and putting it on, Kagome wrapped it around herself, feeling like she were enclosed in a giant fluffy cloud. His static youki brushed her skin intimately, fanning out from the strands.

It was big. It was a little ridiculous. It was wonderful.

Kagome groaned, burying her face in her hands. Sure, the idea of him collecting his shed fur to sew into a coat was strange by human standards, but actually wearing the coat, she now understood his simplistic intent.

He'd just wanted her to be warm.

"You're such a weirdo," she grumbled, blushing and dipping her nose into the fur. It smelled like him; wild forests, with the hint of refined smoke from a pipe.

Maybe she was weird too.

---

He was absent for an entire month.

Sesshoumaru figured it would help ease the sting of rejection. The second he caught Kagome's fragrance, however, it was like an old wound had been ripped open again.

His lips thinned, firmly keeping all emotion locked tight behind a placid mask as he visited Rin.

Chatting with the girl allowed him to soothe his stung ego for a while, distracted by Rin's news about the village and her training. Occasionally she would mention the miko and his chest would tighten again. How pathetic of him.

Once his cup lay empty and Rin mentioned the need to leave in order to assist the older miko, Sesshoumaru took his leave.

Stepping foot outside Kaede's hut, however, he froze.

Kagome stiffened before him, swathed in furs- his furs- he dimly noted.

More than that, lithe fingers curled around the fang resting at her collarbone. The silver bracelet of his hair caught the light before disappearing beneath the length of her sleeve.

Kagome's cheeks heated, and she thrust out a box, letting it rest on her palm.

"I asked around," she muttered. "Inuyasha was clueless, and Shippo kept laughing whenever I tried to ask him what was going on. Luckily Myoga happened to stop by," blue eyes pinned him in place. "You could've told me what all the gifts meant instead of leaving me in the dark."

Sesshoumaru did not accept the box just yet. "I thought my intentions were achingly clear."

Embarrassingly so, for a proud demon.

"Not for humans!" she huffed, lowering her hands a little. "I was confused the whole time! How was I supposed to know that you were giving me a betrothal bracelet, or that the fang was for any half-demon children I might have when they need a sword? I kind of figured out the coat, but I didn't know it represented your intentions to provide for me."

Sesshoumaru stared. Oh. Perhaps he should've listened to Rin about courting the miko after all.

Cheeks scarlet, Kagome sighed, lifting the lid of her box off and removing something from inside.

"May I?"

Sesshoumaru nodded dazedly, golden eyes widening. His entire being thrummed, heart picking up speed.

Shifting closer, Kagome pushed some dark locks behind her ear, the length slightly shorter than usual. Sliding a black bracket around his striped wrist, Kagome swallowed. Her hair had been woven into a band much like his, though nowhere near as intricate.

The demon stared at it, fixated. Baser instincts purred.

Molten gold eyes slowly raised to pin her with a disarmingly reverent look. He spoke no words of poetry, no love or longing, but it was there, he hoped. Abundantly clear. Kagome seemed to recognise it for what it was now.

She smiled a little, hugging her arms and scuffing her foot. "Don't get the wrong idea; I'm not saying I'll jump into marriage with you, but it turns out I'm kind of interested in dating you. Really... interested," Kagome forced out, obviously embarrassed but soldiering on. "If it's okay, we could...do that," she finished lamely.

Sesshoumaru took a step forward, invading her personal space. She blushed exactly the way he'd hoped she would, babbling. "So the uh- think of the bracelet as a dating bracelet! Maybe down the line it could...it could become an engagement thing," she murmured, voice dimming in the wake of his proximity.

"Hn," honeyed eyes smiled, careful claws unfurling to find her chin. "That would be pleasing," he uttered in a faint rumble, tipping his head down. "I accept."

Satisfaction rolled through him fiercely as she tilted her head just so- lips meeting and brushing feather-light against his. Emboldened, Kagome's hands found the collar of his hankimono just as he took her by the waist as though entering a dance, tightening.

Sesshoumaru let his eyes flutter shut, inhaling sharply through his nose. He could smell her so bright and clear—the sweetness of tangerines, faint, exotic soaps—and her mouth so warm. Kagome kissed him, firmer, hand finding his hair- fingers curling. His breath began to roughen the longer their kisses went on. His heart chanted the truth of it all- 'yours.'

If the foolish woman wanted him, he'd already given himself to her. The ticklish brush of her hair claiming his wrist made him smirk against her mouth, glimpsing his own band of white around hers and revelling in a plume of possessive pride.

Perhaps it was unorthodox by her standards, but they were not exactly normal themselves. And so, Sesshoumaru drowned himself in the curious, raw newness of the strange miko, surrendering to all the oddities that would likely follow during their strange courtship.

End

[aphrodite-would-be-proud]

🕯Anon said: just wanna say I adore your writing and how you write Reiner and the kids and the other warriors is my favourite thing ever !! I just wanna give them all hugs :) do u have any hcs for the types of jobs you see them all doing in modernverse ?🕯

The types of jobs they have in modern au

{Annie, Bertolt, Colt, Marcel, Pieck, Porco, Reiner, Zeke, }

{Implied Reiner x reader}

{ "Porto" 1935 by Renato Natali 1883-1979 }

Annie is an Animal rescue worker.

Having had experience as a dog trainer before, it wasn't hard to find a full time job at her local shelter after graduating high school, having volunteered there before.

With time, effort and a lot of energy she made her way into the position of "animal control officer" now she spends her days busting animal's abusers doors and rescuing injured or neglected pets.

With long shifts and a high maintenance job, her time was all poured into her work. Usually she'd be exhausted after a long day.

Despite that, she's fulfilled and satisfied with her job. Not having to deal with a lot of people is a plus too, it's a hard job yes but she prefers it this way.

Her friends are bumped about not being able to see her a lot but they understand, plus she keeps in touch with them by lurking in the group chat only to send a snarky remark to stir the pot every now and then.

Bertolt sees her everyday because they work at the same animal shelter, even if their jobs are different they still walk home together, she also met some different people like Hitch and Marco at her job.

The kids love her job, they think it's badass, especially Gabi and Udo. Gabi because Annie gets to kick people in the face and Udo because he genuinely cares about animals.

She'd never tell anyone this, but part of the reason she wanted the job was because she felt guilty for her past self and wanted to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves.

Bertolt is a veterinarian.

Having changed his mind post graduation and going to college instead of with Reiner, he graduated after 4 years of studying and is currently working with Annie at the local shelter while also planning to open his own clinic one day.

He takes some animals under his personal care for weeks or months even till they get adopted, he fears something bad will happen to the weak or ill ones if left at the shelter overnight.

Just like Annie, the job takes a lot of his time, not to mention caring for animals off of work. So he's in the same situation as her, but for the sake of his best friend he still finds time to visit and hang out once a week.

Reiner and him still text daily, it's mostly pictures Bertolt took of the animals, Annie on her break, interesting plants he finds along the way. And Reiner replies with pictures of the kids.

They still find time to play basketball together, they try to keep it a secret from Annie because she will kick their ass in it.

Bertolt is comfortable with his job, he feels like he belongs and likes being needed. Yes the long hours are a con but seeing the fruits of his labour grow and get better day by day makes it all worth it.

The kids like visiting his house because there usually will be a new dog or some animal in there every month or so, Reiner makes sure they don't bother the animals. 

Something he's never told anyone is a big part of the reason he changed his mind last minute was because Animals feel much safer and secure for him to work with than humans.

Colt is a college student working part time.

He's majoring in nursing, being a four years degree he's trying to balance his studies with work and taking care of Falco.

Zeke offered him to work full time after graduation at his clinic, since he's been working part time there for a while and the pay is good, plus it's really convenientnal.

He has worked different part time jobs in the past like a barista, flower shop assistant, tutor, kindergarten teacher, etc.

Between all his responsibilities he barely has time for himself, his courses end right before his work starts and the small bits in-between is spent on Falco and his friends. Zeke and Pieck try to take some of his responsibility but he refuses saying it's the least he could do to Falco.

He's really good at his job like multitasking, reading people, gaining their trust and having high stamina that he could stay for night shifts even.

He relies on coffee a lot.

Falco sees him as a real life superhero, they weren't that close before but after the incident he really started appreciating his big brother. 

Something he keeps inside is that despite pursuing this job because he genuinely wanted to make a difference in people's lives and help the sick, he also felt a crushing guilt after his parents passed away, and so he's trying to save other people's lives now instead.

Marcel is a pilot.

It's a dream he always had since middle school, soon after graduation he joined the military to gain enough flying hours and experience to apply to a commercial airline after taking some mathematics, aviation and some general flying courses.

He was officially hired as a pilot after getting his first class medical certificate to check his health.

His work isn't measured by hours to him but by days, he needs to be available 24/7 in case of an emergency call. Now he's working overseas and far away from his friends.

You've actually never met Marcel, only seen pictures of him and received letters. The person he keeps in touch with the most is Porco.

He likes his work, it's his dream. He doesn't like the work hours and being so absent from his friends and brother, he misses them so much at times.

Pieck is a tattoo artist.

Her shop is actually her old flower shop after she decided to change her career. She's always been good with plants and taking care of them, at that time Colt worked as her assistant. 

It wasn't till later after some years of practice and training under other artists that she was confident enough about her skills to start the project 

Her art is full of life, mesmerising and beautiful. She puts her soul in every piece and has gained a good reputation because of it, plus having really high ratings and strict hygiene rules, no health inspector could ever challenge her.

Having her own independent work meant that she has a very flexible schedule, being mostly free ment she could pursue other hobbies like gardening.

A peaceful and simple life where she can indulge in her art and be happy is all she ever wanted

Porco is a frequent customer of hers that gets a family discount, Zeke came once before and later sent his friend, a really tall and blonde woman who became her most frequent customer.

Zofia thinks her work is really cool and wants to go and just watch her do her thing, but it's frowned upon to have a kid just sitting at a tattoo shop.

Despite changing into this career, the town people still think of her as the sweet flower shop lady.

Porco is a bartender.

That job came to him by accident more than anything, he was working part time as a bouncer in a local bar but a slot was open after the old bartender suddenly quit and he gave it a chance.

He didn't expect to love it so much, neither did he know about his hidden talent in mixing drinks. So he took it as full time and changed to better bars after gaining the experience he needed.

Being naturally charismatic and good at influencing people, while also multitasking in making drinks and keeping a conversation going, he was instantly a hit in whatever place he worked at.

Working the night shift ment he's mostly free in the morning, he tries to help Pieck with her gardening and is actually attempting to grow some plants at his house.

Naturally whenever there's a gathering, he's the one mixing drinks and being the self assigned bartender who openly judges his friends for their choice in drinks. The charismatic persona being thrown out the window and replaced by a no mouth filter.

He genuinely cares tho, he's the one taking care of someone when they drink more they can handle. It's mostly Colt who underestimates his drinks and is left clinging to Porco who drives him home.

Because of his line of work, tattoos and general brash personality, the kids' parents don't like him even one bit. They're suspicious of him no matter how many times Reiner assures them he's trustworthy.

It's actually only Colt who trusts Falco with him, and maybe Zofia's mom who is at the bar every weekend. 

Reiner is a firefighter.

With his mother pushing him into this line of work, he applied for the physical and psychological exams after graduation before getting accepted. He wasn't unprepared per say but actually being in that line of work was more than he could ever prepare for.

It instantly took a great hit at his mental health, so much in fact that he was thankful Bertolt changed his mind last minute and didn't follow him in this job.

It was both everything he ever wanted, like saving people, helping children, animals and knowing it's him who saved them even if it means putting his own life at risk.

But also everything he hated, like the hunting faces and screams of the people who were far too gone for him to save, the recurring nightmares and constant guilt paired with imposter syndrome.

He works a 24/72 shift, meaning he works for a whole day before getting 3 days off. Approximately only working 7-8 days a month, not to mention unpaid leave, sick days and holidays.

So it both gave him a really tight schedule on some days and on others more free time than he knows what to do with, that's why he naturally took the main role of being the kid's caretaker. Looking after his little cousins genuinely helped him and he liked playing the big brother role.

Especially to Gabi, he was the only stable adult in her life. It's common knowledge that you call Reiner first for anything concerning her before her parents because he's more likely to answer and be available.

After meeting you, his life improved to the better as you moved in and became a trustworthy person in his life, someone he can depend on to take care of his little cousins on the days he works.

Not to mention that after you persuaded him to see a therapist, his mental health began improving too.

Gabi may or may have not committed arson at one point, she still wants to be a firefighter despite that and follow in Reiner's footsteps.

He hasn't told anyone beside you this, but he really fears for her, but doesn't have the heart to tell her no.

Zeke is a doctor.

Previously he worked in a hospital but was able to open his own clinic afterwards, Colt was a great help to him at that time when he was getting on his own feet and even worked a lot of unpaid hours.

After that he insisted Colt works an official part time job there with a much higher pay, till he graduates at least. Plus the experience will greatly improve his resume.

Zeke is brilliant at his job, he'd be a perfect doctor wasn't it for the fact he's a huge hypocrite who doesn't follow the advice he gives his patients. 

He does a side job in his free time that honestly no one of his friends know what it is, but they know it gained him a lot of connections and made new friends.

Something he always keeps buried inside was that he really never expected himself to become a doctor especially after what his dad did to his mother, and yet here he is. In some way it's like his own personal stepping stone to prove he's a better man than his father ever was.

Bonus:

Falco: middle schooler

He does volunteer work on the weekends, sometimes Udo joins him.

Doesn't want Gabi becoming a firefighter.

Likes all videogames , just all types.

Likes watching cartoons and medical shows with Colt who covers Falco eyes whenever an adult scene is on

His favourite food is chicken nuggets

Wants to try coffee

Is good at PE

Reads comic books

Likes yellow and blue

Gabi: middle schooler

Takes self defence classes and really wants to go to summer camp

Wants to be like Reiner, aspires to be as strong too.

Likes shooter videogames or really hard ones.

Likes watching Anime and cartoons

Her favourite food is Pizza

Wants to try energy drinks

Is also really good at PE and surprisingly good at puzzles.

Likes red and pink 

Udo: middle schooler

Takes music classes at the weekend, wants to go to science camp

Kinda wants to be like Reiner or an astronaut.

Likes calming videogames

Likes watching anime and Minecraft let's play

His favourite food is mac and cheese 

His favourite drink is strawberry milk

Is good at language classes and creative writing, he also just likes animals a lot.

Likes green and black

Zofia: middle schooler (could've been in a special program)

Takes music classes with Udo

Wants to be a lawyer

Likes co-op Videogames 

Likes watching true crime and youtubers drama

Her favourite food is Donuts

She likes strawberry milk and ice tea 

Is good at all classes

Likes white and purple

[depressing-debbie]

Hi I love your blog! Can you do the fluff alphabet for Mikasa?? 🏳‍🌈

YES I love Mikasa <3

Sorry these take forever because they are a COMMITMENT to sit down and write, but they’re also so fun!!

Fluff Alphabet: Mikasa

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

She honestly just wants to be with them, but on special date nights, she would love to go to the park for a walk or maybe an art gallery. Probably her favorite activity with her SO is stargazing, just the two of them curled up on a blanket admiring the sky, it’s so intimate.

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

She is absolutely enchanted by her SO. She loves the way they blush just slightly when they smile, the way they dance to their music when they think nobody’s watching. She memorized all of their tiny unique mannerisms because they’re just so charming. Everything about them is so stunning.

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

She’s not great with her words, but she has such a determination to comfort them. If they were having a panic attack, she’d make sure to get them somewhere quiet and calm. She’d offer to just wrap them up in her arms, or to sit quietly with them. If they were just having a bad day or feeling down, she would clear her schedule so she didn’t have to leave their side all day. She’d lay their head in her lap, running her hands through their hair, and either letting them vent, or talking to distract them. She hates seeing them upset, and her protective instincts kick in instantly.

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

She doesn’t think about the future. Since she was little, she’s had to live in the moment and think on her feet, so she never really lets herself start to make plans. But, once she started getting serious with her SO, she probably let herself have just a little bit of faith in the future. I don’t think she fantasizes about the typical domestic life, but she does love the idea of stability. In general, she just wants more time with her SO.

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Equal, leaning towards Mikasa being a bit more dominant. She tends to fall into the role of protector for her SO, literal or figurative, but there’s obviously nothing definite. She needs to be protected sometimes, too.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

She doesn’t fight over petty things and serious fights don’t happen often, but when they do, it can be pretty rough. She doesn’t yell or anything, in fact, she gets very quiet, and it’s obvious that her feelings are hurt whenever they fight. She’s good at finding compromises, though, because she really hates fighting. Her goal is never to hurt her SO back, even if they said something that accidentally hurt her, because she hates making them upset.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

This baby is sooo grateful! She’s so used to being the one supporting other people, so each time her SO goes out of their way to show their affection or do something for her, she is so ridiculously honored and touched. She considers herself so lucky to have them in her life, and even though it’s awkward, she voices it as much as she can.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

She would never hide anything from her SO that involves them or could hurt them. For the most part, she’s an open book. But there’s obviously a lot in her life that she would have reason to suppress and not talk about, in addition to the fact that she has trouble voicing her feelings. Even still, I think she would make an effort to talk about her past in the name of total transparency in the relationship.

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

I think they inspire each other. She’s such a calming presence, so I think her SO, especially if they’re a pretty anxious person, might become a bit more relaxed around her. On the other hand, Mikasa is absolutely inspired by them every day. She allows herself to depend on them and open up to them, even having some hope for the future. I know it sounds cheesy, but they genuinely remind her that there is so much happiness in the world.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

For the most part, she’s not a jealous person. But, she’s human, so of course she gets jealous once in a while. She trusts her SO without a doubt, but it makes her uncomfortable when she can tell someone is flirting with them. If it makes them uncomfortable as well, she’s scaring that person off instantly. When she does get jealous, she probably just goes to her SO for a hug and a quick reminder that she’s more than enough for them. It’s never caused a fight or anything.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Their first was just a small, soft little kiss early in the morning, and I think they probably kept that tradition of tiny kisses. Mikasa isn’t an overly affectionate person, but she expresses a lot with just a little kiss, maybe even on their forehead. It may not be what people would consider “passionate” but there’s still so much behind it.

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

She probably thought about it for a bit, but she had no idea she was going to confess when she did. They were absolutely stargazing in the park, and she looked over and thought about just how amazing her SO is, so it just came out. She wasn’t even really embarrassed afterwards; if anything, she was overwhelmed by how easily she had said it. And it’s not something that she throws around all the time after that, especially because she has trouble with vulnerability. Every time she says she loves them, she means it.

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

She doesn’t really fantasize about getting married like some people do, but it’s not something she would be opposed to. Personally, she feels secure in her relationship no matter what, and she doesn’t need a document to tell her that she’s in love. But if it would hold meaning to her SO, she’s all over it. She would plan a quietly romantic proposal in private, probably somewhere significant to their relationship. Their wedding would be pretty small, just between themselves and close friends and family, celebrating their love. It would be beautifully planned, too.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

She probably uses “love” sometimes, but for the most part, she uses their name. It just sounds so nice, and it’s a little added connection between the two of them.

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

She’s not obvious at all when she’s in love, except to her SO. Anybody else she interacts with, even the closest family and friends, wouldn’t notice a thing. But her SO can absolutely see the way she stares at them with a quiet smile, thinking they don’t see it. And they notice the way she always needs some form of contact with them, whether it’s holding their hand or pressing next to them while sitting together. She does make an effort to express her feelings as much as she can, even if she has trouble being vulnerable.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

She’s very private with her relationship. The most PDA anyone will see is her holding their hand underneath the table, or slowly sliding closer to them until their knees are pressed together. She also doesn’t really talk about it much. The people close to her absolutely know about the relationship, but she’s not one to brag; she just wants to keep the best parts of their relationship between the two of them.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that's beneficial in a relationship.

She’s incredibly motivated. Sounds like it would be overwhelming for her SO, right?? Wrong. She channels that motivation into helping them, especially if they struggle with mental health and are somewhat unmotivated because of it. She’s that one person who volunteers to help clean someone’s depression room, and she’s her SO’s best support when they need to get something done. She loves being able to lift just a little bit of their stress by lending a hand.

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

She’s incredibly romantic! She loves finding little ways to make her SO smile and express how much she cares about them, so she’s definitely more creative. But, she also probably allows herself to indulge in some cliches once in a while because it’s something she never foresaw herself getting to do.

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

She’s their biggest cheerleader! She absolutely believes in her SO to no end, and she’d do whatever she can to help them reach their goals. She’s honestly inspired by their determination, and she knows that they have the ability to do anything they put their mind to.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Probably a mix of both. She loves getting to experience new things with her SO, especially if it’s something they’re interested in. But for the most part, she feels so comfortable and safe in a routine, and she loves having something she can depend on to be the same. Besides, their routines are likely much more intimate than any new activity, and she adores getting to spend time with them like that.

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

She’s practically a mind reader. It’s really just because she observed her SO at the start of their relationship, their mannerisms and reactions and opinions, and she took note of them all. Now, she can tell instantly what is going through their mind or how they are feeling, and she empathizes strongly, even if it’s not something she’s experienced.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Their relationship is so important to her. Since they became serious, she’s slowly allowed herself to open up and rely on them, trusting that they will be there for her, so I think it would be hard for her to lose that. But more than anything, she just wants them to be happy, whatever that means.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon

She tried to learn to cook for her SO as a surprise for their birthday. So she printed out recipes and bought the ingredients for their favorite foods, and before they were even awake, she started cooking. It didn’t turn out great, but they could tell she was so proud, and it was adorable. She probably had to try not to gag after the first bite, so if her SO ate any of it, she would be absolutely touched.

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

She’s not honestly an overly affectionate person, partially because she has trouble letting herself be vulnerable. She just expresses her love in different ways. But, especially if one of them had a bad day or if she’s tired, she will be very affectionate. She absolutely loves when her SO runs a hand through her hair as they lay together, and she feels so safe with her head in their lap as they trace little circles over her cheek. She also loves getting to wrap them up in her arms, their head pressed into her chest as if she can physically channel her emotions and love to them.

Y earning - How will they cope when they're missing their partner?

She’s definitely not a yearning type. She misses them, absolutely, but she also loves how independent and bold they are, and it makes her happy to see them out chasing life experiences they’re passionate about. She would probably check in on them each day they are gone, though, just to make sure they’re alright and to hear their voice. Otherwise, she just continues to go about her routine, and logs anything funny into her memory to share when they return.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Absolutely. She’s invested in the relationship, especially because she’s not someone to take relationships lightly. If there is anything she can do to make their connection stronger and healthier, or to make her SO happier, she would do it!