#every time I get time to create this character something happens that needs immediate attention

[mothman-productions]

I don't think I've ever had an oc fight me so hard to not be created as much as my lost boys oc. The lengths the universe is going to stop me is almost comical, like I'm ready for the laugh track to start playing

[evieelyzabethh]

"lacy"

⭒"i see you everywhere, the sweetest torture one could bear"⭒ Arcane characters when jealous {fem reader}

cast ✧ Vi, Ekko, Jayce, Viktor, Mel

cw ☞ slight angst but they all have a happy ending, kissing, and the usual stuff (slightly pervy Jayce)

♞Vi♞

♞Making Vi jealous is a terrible game. She is about that action and absolutely loves to fight, nothing beats that flow of adrenaline as she chases someone down to bash their face in. I feel like she would also get a bit mean. Jealousy is a nasty thing, it bites, and she bites back harder. The pit it creates in her stomach tries to swallow her whole and sometimes she wants to bring you down with her

♞She doesn't understand why you would want or need the attention of anyone else when you have her. Chiefly at the beginning of your relationship, it would cause a rift, intention or not. Vi doesn't have a proper education, she’s constantly guilt ridden about her childhood and her sister, she's broke, and an absolute hot mess. She's already constantly questioning why you're with her in the first place and the last thing she needs is some random coming up and flirting with you and you even bothering to dignify their presence with a response.

♞She would go dead silent, brushing you off for what feels like weeks, stewing in her increasingly negative thoughts. She doesn't even think you're cheating, but she feels like it's only a moment of time before you realize there's something better out there. Always the one to make the wrong decision, she pushes you away for a bit. She's very short with you, brushing off your attempts to make peace, playing a mean game to see if you're gonna give up on her so she can use it against you. This is definitely her biggest red flag.

It's dark and rainy out, rain pelting at the ground, seeping and sliding into its cracks to rehydrate the already soft foundation. It was supposed to be a calm night out at the Last Drop involving a few drinks to get Vi out of her current terrible mood, bookended by an unstable walk home as you both barely support each other under your weight and constant fit of giggles. Instead, Vi was a few paces ahead of you, hands shoved into her pockets, her head down rather than putting her hood up to keep her head dry from the rain. Every time you approach her, she slightly leans away. At first you thought it was an accident, maybe she was trying to avoid stepping on a rock or into a puddle, but after the umpteenth time it happens, the message becomes clear. She's avoiding you. As argumentative as she is, you may even be worse. "What the fuck is your, problem?", you bark, the alcohol in your veins curving the embarrassment of passersby clearly tuning into the argument they think is about to break out. "You've said some choice things and have been awfully rude these past few days, and I really don't appreciate it, Violet." But she doesn't have it in her to make a big scene. It's definitely the alcohol, because she's genuinely scared that if she starts a screaming match with you right now, she'll cry. She turns to you swiftly, hair dripping wet, stray dye rolling down her cheeks and down the slope of her nose. You had just dyed it together a few days ago, back before she decided to be mad at you for who knows what reason. "Look at me", she grabs your chin before you even get the chance to break eye contact with her. Petty, pissed, and unable to jerk your face out of her grip without giving yourself whiplash, you close your eyes. This pisses her off even more. "What, you don't have any more charity work left in you? You can giggle with what-his-face for hours, but you can't even look at your girlfriend?" That gets you to open your eyes, at first confused as to what the hell she was talking about then glittering with amusement that causes her to immediately let go and continue her fast paced walk back home. She isn't far enough to escape your light voice, cheery with the realization that you finally broke her down and occupied with what you think is the silliest thing in the world. "Oh, my gods, you're jealous about that guy from last night! Vi, you're so ridiculous, I don't even remember his name." And she is still teeming with anger, but that anger will dissipate soon after that last admission. Once you sober up, you don't find it as funny, but she's at your every beck and call trying to convince you it won't happen again.

♞After a little while together, she feels more stable in the relationship. Trust, she still gets jealous, but it usually looks like a smirk on her face before she pulls you into a heated kiss in front of whoever is bothering her. She makes a real show of it too, prying open your mouth to slip her tongue inside, her hands squeezing your sides and hiking up your dress, knee pressed firmly in between your legs. She continues long after the person leaves, before shrugging and sarcastically wondering where they possibly could've gone off to. You often scold her for this. You've never been to jail, and you'd hate to go for a public indecency charge.

★Ekko★

★Ekko doesn't really get jealous, like out of everyone I think he would get the least jealous so most of this section would be about his complete lack of jealousy. He doesn't believe in getting into relationships without trust first and it's because of this confident trust that he wouldn't get jealous. If anything, he wouldn't be jealous as in feeling like your relationship was in danger but jealous when it comes to your time. Like he would get slightly pouty if he felt like you were spending too much time with your friends, and it was significantly cutting out of your time together. Even then, he wouldn't really act on it.

★Ekko would be a "I don't care what my girlfriend wears, I can fight" kinda guy. Especially because he likes picking out your outfits, he does it with the intention of showing off the goods. He likes looking at you, he knows the world likes looking at you, he sees it as doing a favor to society. He is the first to tell you your tits look scrumptious in that top.

★Same concept with you being approached or flirted with. If they have the gall to do it in his direct presence, he has a great many words to say about it, but if he's watching it go down, he likes to watch it happen. He'll get involved as soon as he gets the feeling you are uncomfortable, but for the most part he sits amused a few feet away laughing at the glances you give him as the conversation goes on.

★I feel like if anyone was to get jealous, it would be you. Ekko spends a lot of time with a lot of different people which leaves space for certain people to not know that he's spoken for. I think he would be less aware of this than you. You are always at the forefront of his mind; he cannot fathom giving his attention to other people. Especially because he talks about you so often, he makes it quite clear that he is not single and when people choose to ignore that fact, he doesn't notice.

Warm light flitters into your shared room through half open blinds that reveal the orange and yellow that the blue sky had faded into. Ekko had just gotten home eager to strip down into some old, tattered tee shirt and some boxer shirts. Instead, he was met with a slightly agitated girlfriend, and he notices this immediately. He gives you space at first, greeting you at the door and asking you how you were and listening to your expectedly short answer. He only lasts a few minutes of this passive aggression before sliding beside you on the couch, sliding his arm around you and pulling you in close. You reluctantly lean in, trying to ignore how inviting he smells and how warm he feels. "Baby," he draws out, scooping you completely into his arms to straddling your thighs over his waist, his large palms remaining on your upper thigh. He's trying to whittle down your resolve and it is working. "Don't you wanna tell me what's wrong?" You rolled your eyes. "I've already told you what's wrong." He thinks it's cute that you're jealous. He likes the way your arms cross over your puffed chest, and you furrow your brow to try and appear serious but all you look like to him is a rabbit about to thump its foot. "And I have already told you, I am completely yours." It's cheesy and he knows it and he amps it up by scattering kiss all over your face, even as you try to evade his touch. "I don't doubt that, it's just..." He derails your sentences as his kisses move lower and his hands get more adventurous, exploring your upper thigh and the curve of your ass and the small of your back from underneath your shirt. "Hey!", you snap, "I'm being serious, Ekko." He pauses, withdrawing his hands to the fat of your hips and, reluctantly, his lips from your neck. "I'm listening, baby." "I've told you I don't know how many times that I do not like that girl. She is all over you." His mouth opens to try and protest, but you cut him off. "I can literally smell her perfume on you." He gets slightly defensive at this. "You don't think I'm cheating on you, do you?" A look of hurt flashes across his eyes. "Of course, I don't, Ekko. I'm not questioning you; I'm questioning her. I know she knows we're together and she just doesn't care, and you don't shut it down. Why else do you think she kept you out this late? What were you two doing?" Nothing. A whole lot of nothing, actually. The girl you were referring to, Thalara, had been a topic of conversation before. She was new to the commune, which landed her the benefit of the doubt with you, but it's been months now and she still hasn't laid off. Ekko, ever trusting of his people, never assumed malintent, but you saw right through her. You cup his head in between your hands, looking him in his eyes to make sure that the message is clear. "I love you, and I'm not mad at you, but she's pissing me off. You need to make it very clear that she needs to leave you alone or I will send the message for you." And you meant that. He makes it very clear to her the next day that he has absolutely no interest and comes back to you the next day beaming in accomplishment.

★Jealous you turns him on so incredibly much. Whatever you say goes, he is not one to turn you down when you're in a jealous mood.

❂Jayce❂

❂I feel like you would both get jealous, but he would get far more jealous than you do. While he is far from someone who would tell you to change what you're wearing, he does try and tag along with you when you're wearing something low cut. Like babe, what do you mean you don't want him to join girls night? Are you sure you're not cold?? You must be cold; your ass is hanging out, why won't you take his jacket?? Please take his jacket!!! Because of this he walks behind you, making it much harder for those undeserving to stare at you like he does.

❂While he loves showing you off at fancy events, ain't shit funny if you look too good. If you're lucky enough to make it out the house on time (he insists on helping you zip up but then gets confused which way zippers go), being there is a struggle. He likes staring at you and did not have the forethought to think other people would enjoy staring at you too. Let someone make a comment too, he is glued to your hip for the rest of the night.

He waits anxiously for the stupid gala to be over. Had he been more of a drinker, he would've been content to have a few glasses of the fancy champagne they brought around, but he hates the ethanol aftertaste it leaves behind and that is the last thing he needed after already feeling nauseous. He was trying so hard for you, he knew he had to give you your space, and he knew you were excited to go out to his Hextech showcase to show your support. He's being bitter and he hates it, he hates biting his tongue while watching you giggle with a councilman and the fact that he feels like a petulant child watching some other kid play with his toy He's been getting better with his jealousy, honest! That's why he's self-aware enough to know that his urge to go after you, sling you over his shoulder, and carry you home himself is childsh and silly and that you would chastise him over it as he looked at you like a kicked puppy. Gods, this was stupid. But he puts a smile on his face anyway, making his way over to you from the balcony he was just standing on, and sliding his hand on your shoulder. You look over at him, startled for a second, but relax when you see his amber eyes and slightly gapped smile. And then you say the magic words. "Oh, I was just about to go looking for you. Are you ready to go?" He cannot say yes fast enough. After he has you all to himself, he is insatiable, kissing you deeply as soon as you step foot in the carriage taking you home, losing balance and nearly sending you both toppling onto the floor of the moving vehicle. The seats are awkward and not long enough to properly lay you down, but he's too desperate to care about the discomfort, his hand cradling the back of your neck to make sure you are as comfortable as you can be. He's ruthless, the force of his kisses knocking the breath out of you and you can never catch up. You're almost dizzy, his desperate whispers nearly going through one ear and out the other. "You love me, right? Me and only me? You don't need anyone else.", and he's trying to find your zipper again, but his hands are clumsy and cold, and it only serves to arch your back further into him, not that he's complaining. When you do come to your senses, you giggle, running your nails through his hair as he looks up at you with wide eyes. "How long have you been holding that in." He looks at you sheepishly, fighting the urge to hide his embarrassment in the crook of your neck. "All night." You shake your head at his ridiculousness, pulling him in for a slower kiss, properly savoring the moment, before pulled away to peck his nose. "You are the only one for me, handsome, I don't know how many times I have to say it." He shrugs his broad shoulders. "A few more times wouldn't hurt." You roll your eyes and ask if he wants a collar, and he does not look as adverse as you expected.

❂He is so incredibly unhinged when it comes to jealousy. He doesn't act on it, but his mind goes to wild places. In a modern AU, if you dare not reply to a text in ten minutes he's asking, "What position he got you in?" Even worse, he knows he's being senseless, it's his way of asking for reassurance in a joking way. It's so absurd, you don't take him seriously which slightly frustrates him because he wants you to reaffirm him on what he already knows.

❂He gets really pouty when jealous too. He'll usually try and thrust himself into his work to occupy his mind and get it back to a rational place. Viktor calls you immediately because he ends up talking to him about it and he thinks the entire ordeal is unreasonable and doesn't have time to be asked at the ass crack of dawn "I know she loves me, but what if (insert insane scenario here)." He is a chronic overthinker and sometimes you just have to shut his brain off.

☽Viktor☾

☽Viktor is another one who doesn't get super jealous, but when he does, it usually stems from insecurities surrounding his leg. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes, especially as his condition gets worse, he gets frustrated that he can't do the things as easy as he used to be able to. However, he is entirely too proud to admit it or act on it. You probably wouldn't even notice, to be honest, and he wouldn't want you to.

☽I think he would absolutely throw himself into work when jealous. He's already at the lab damn near day and night, but unlike usual when he'll try for conversation here and there and be more lively, he's throwing himself into it out of necessity. It is one of his pride and joys, when his ego takes a hit, work is his refuge. This, of course, hardly ever works because he does not get good work done when it's being forced. He'll usually end up staring at the photo he keeps of you at your desk and feel lonely.

☽He'll invite you around to his lab more, though he is uncharacteristically stiff and rigid. He's trying too hard to focus but he just can't. His leg is tapping furiously beneath the table, he's biting the inside of his cheek, his hand is running through his hair every couple minutes. Things just aren't computing like how he wants them to and he hates it. His pride is a double-edged sword here, jealously is Jayce's thing. He thinks he is leagues above it and he gets frustrated with himself when he feels that green sickness in his heart.

☽He would be the type to address it head on. Once again, he's very analytical. He will tell you what exactly got him upset, why exactly it upset him, be very clear that he isn't blaming or upset at you, and silently hope you go overboard with affection for the next few weeks for the sake of his ego. After he does, he likes to ignore it even happened. Him? Jealous? You must have him confused with another ridiculously attractive, impaired, Czech-accented man. Jealous isn't even in his very extensive vocabulary, he has no idea when or why you dreamed of this completely fictitious scenario. He wouldn't try and gaslight you that it never happened, but he is petty enough to get selective hearing when it comes to mentions of it

For the first time since...ever, Viktor is home before the sun goes down. To say it catches you off guard is an understatement, so unused to the doorknob jiggling before the wee hours of the morning, you had a knife in your hand before you heard his keys in the door. You had been making dinner, and the smell alone makes his heart skip a beat. He hardly ever gets a warm dinner and for a minute, he deeply regrets being in his lab all the time. He slides off his shoes and loosens his tie as he pads over to you in the kitchen, wrapping one hand around your waist and the other gripping the counter for support. "You're home early.", you chirp, turning around to face him to peck his lips. "I was just making dinner, you want a taste?" Though he would never say no to that, you already have the spoon to his lips with a hand under to catch anything that might fall before he can even answer. He indulges, of course, and as the warm liquid soothes his throat, he hates that lab even more. Soup is one thing; but warm soup is to die for. "It's delicious, tchotchke." You smile as you turn back around. "Any reason you're home so early." He looks back the new ceiling fan you called Jayce over to put up and lets out a sardonic chuckle. He understands why you called him; he'd need to get on a ladder to put it up and have to abandon his cane for however long it took to hold the thing up and take care of the wiring. He wouldn't be able to balance himself and if he came down, the fan was coming down with him, probably on top of him. And yet, he still would've rather done it himself than you call Jayce to do it. "Yes, but it's admittedly a very stupid reason." You cannot fathom this. You remove the pot from the stove and onto a folded cloth on your counter and desert the stove. "Did something happen?" And he can't handle the look of concern on your face over something he knows to be trivial. "It's just that..." when he realizes he can't put it off any longer, he sighs. "I got jealous of Jayce." Had it not been for the serious look on your face, you would've burst into laughter. Those words had never fallen out of his mouth in that order before. "I know it's absurd, but it started when he put the fan up and it bothered me more than it should. I don't like that there are some things I can't do around the house, and it's been this way my whole life, but it's different with him. He's just always "the guy" and I hate the thought of him being "the guy" to you. It's irrational and a leap in logic, I know, but I hate it." And even better than pity, you just smile at him. In a way it's better that you want to laugh at him, he wants to laugh at him too. The thought of Jayce replacing him is maybe even more of an impossibility for you than it is for him. "So, next time I should just call a guy." He chuckles. "Yes, please."

☼Mel☼

☼I feel like she would be very calm about her jealousy, but also have a slight inclination to anger, albeit a silent one. She doesn't fear the betrayal of a potential cheating, but rather the embarrassment. If she were to see you get too chummy with someone, rather than approach you, she would watch from afar to see what you'd do. This is also a big reason why she usually doesn't take action herself; you never disappoint her when it comes to letting people know you're taken.

☼She is a bit clingier when jealous, but more than that she would insist on doing more couple things together. If she feels it is not known enough, she will make it known that the two of you are together. This often means gifts like expensive jewelry that only she could afford you, a new outfit that conveniently matches with one of hers, or even just letting you borrow bags or earrings of hers. It's her way of scenting you almost. She's too classy to try and "stake her claim" in a more showy way, so she does it in a more inconspicuous way.

Waking up alone wasn't something you were completely unused to. Mel was a very busy woman, and you were content with the nights you had together and rare mornings. These mornings were made extra bearable when you woke to a box on your nightstand, wrapped in a silk ribbon with a note in your girlfriend's handwriting slipped under the bow. 'From my heart, to my darling', it read, a lipstick mark beneath where she had signed her name with an elegant flick of her wrist. Perhaps just as eager to be opened as you were to open it, the ribbon fell loose as you gently picked up the box. It was too small to be a dress and too large to be a ring but large enough to contain maybe a fancy watch or a necklace, but judging by her unusually clingy demeanor last night, you had a feeling you could pretty accurately guess what was inside the ornate jewelry box. Unsurprisingly, within it lay a gold and pearl necklace, pearls that must’ve been rare due to their black hue rather than their usually pale pearlescent coloring.  The chain felt light in your hand, the heaviest part sinking into your palm as you stared at. Your first initial and an M. No matter which way it was taken, the M to be her first name or her last, the possessive message was clear, not that you minded. Mels smile was bright when she saw you for the first time that day, and even brighter when she saw what decorated your neck. She excused herself from the councilmember she was talking to before walking over to you, practically gliding on air. She takes your hand, kissing the inside of your wrist then your knuckles then pulls you by your hand into her. "I take it you're enjoying your gift?" Your hand still in hers, she spins you, taking you in at all angles for the first time that day. "It's beautiful, but I can't help but wonder what inspired the decision." She knows you know exactly how she works, and she doesn't mind admitting she's jealous. "Am I wrong to give my pretty girl a gift?", she says, mocking the comment you received last night. She rolls her eyes and her face gives away her impending rant. "Am I wrong to give a pretty girl a compliment? I still can't believe he said that to you last night. He only did it to piss me off, you know." You bite your lip to hide your laughter, but it eventually slips from you. "I hope I'm more entertaining than Salo was last night." She can't even feign annoyance, not with the sound of your laughter filling her ears and her name around your neck. She laughs herself, with how much the two of you talk shit about the man, you'd think anything he did could never affect her, but she had been biting her tongue since last night. "Shall I list to you all the ways you're better than Salo?" She waves the idea off nonchalantly. "No, my darling, I should hope I never need an ego boost that desperately."

☼You would definitely get jealous far more often than she does. She's gorgeous, smart, well spoken, rich and affluent, and perfection embodied in a person, there is much to be jealous of. Especially as someone who is on the council where part of the job is being great at sweet talk, I feel like you would get your feelings hurt sometimes. You catch more flies with honey, and she may be the sweetest honey there is. She does tease you for your jealousy though, she finds it utterly adorable.

☼She wouldn't allow you to be jealous long. She is very good at reading you and your emotions, she seems to always know exactly how you're feeling. You couldn't even hide it from her if you tried, she'll always find a way to corner you and help you talk your feelings through. She tries very hard to make sure that you can never question who she loves the most.  

[mythicmanuscripts]

hello!!! love your blog!!

Could you talk about what intense subdrop is like with Aegon, Aemond, and Jace? like what makes them drop, and what happened/how it went the first time it happened in front of the reader? with lots of soft aftercare? thank you!!!

Of course I can anon! Absolutely. So I definitely have spoken vaguely about subdrop with all of the main three but I don't think I've ever sort of just given overviews of it? So for each of them I'm gonna write a bit about what I think their general triggers for subdrop would be and what they'd need, etc cause then I think we can have a really nice groundwork to discuss some of the stuff further. So let me know if any of these thoughts inspire you! Or you can always apply them to an AU as well.

I'm also happy to share or hear thoughts about other characters for this as well :)) Anyway, there's some non-graphic NSFW content in this answer so if that's not your think then feel free to scroll on by otherwise, enjoy!

AEMOND:

So with Aemond I think he'd only experience subdrop a few months into your relationship, when you've already had sex multiple times and he's already showing his submissive side quite a bit. I think it would only start then because until he reached that level of comfort he always had his walls up?

Even though you were praising him and commanding him and giving him aftercare, he still stayed guarded. Make no mistake, he loved every single moment with you, but despite knowing that his brain still takes longer to catch up to the fact that he's actually allowed to properly let go. As a result, you get lulled into a false sense of security where it seems like the only aftercare Aemond wants is for you to help clean him up and dress him and cuddle a little bit. He was always up and about within an hour after the scene had ended. But this wasn't because he was fully recovered, this was because he had never let himself fall fully into you and so had less to recover from.

It's when you finally does start to do that when this arises. I think the trigger event for him fully lowering all his walls might actually be when you start to indulge him in non-sexual submission? You have him kneel while you read to him, watch him from the bed while he folds your laundry, etc. It's the praise and safety he feels in those moments that allows him to give himself fully later.

He drops hard after the first time he stopped trying to hide. You noticed a difference of course, he was much louder than before, much clingier too. He's just so expressive. Of course you praise him for it, telling him how pretty he looks and sounds like this.

But then the scene is over and you immediately get up to begin drawing a bath for him. When you return with the bucket he's curled up in bed, crying softly to himself.

Needless to say, a much more involved routine is created after that moment. But even with that, subdrop is something he never really grows out of? Doesn't matter how much he loves you and how perfect the aftercare routine is, the bottom line is that he's used to always being on high alert and sometimes he's going to drop when he has to come back from finally giving up that responsibility.

AEGON:

Aegon is another one that just lives to please. Before you he would try to please his mother and father and the whole bloody kingdom, but from the moment he feels the satisfaction of knowing you are pleased with him.... well none of the others matter anymore.

Of course you love that about him, and you always make sure to give him both enough commands and praise. But Aegon's problem is that he doesn't only want to please you, he also wants and arguably needs your attention and time? That's where his conflict comes from. He never ever wants to be a nuisance to you, but despite that desire he still needs to be kissed and held and comforted, and of course he also needs to be dommed.

He tries to balance those two needs but if one must be chosen over the other then he will always choose to serve and please before he chooses the attention. This is a recipe for disaster of course, especially because it forms a very vicious cycle where he needs you more because he's so unsettled because he hasn't pleased you but not having pleased you only makes him need the comfort worse and so it goes.

The solution to this isn't to try and strike a balance between domming him and commanding him, but rather to just stop the cycle completely? There's nothing that turns Aegon's mind off more than when you take over fully and he just does as you say.

Now when you start to see the signs, start to see him looking for things to do with you, hovering over thresholds of doors uncertain if he should come in and spend time with you, then you act. You actually have to be very firm with him, tell him that you're the one in charge so he doesn't get to decide what you do with him. That coupled with staying at his side for a few days sorts him out, at least for a while anyway.

JACAERYS:

His subdrops tend to have one of two main triggers. Firstly, and most obviously, is when he cums and can't do anything else. He gets better at lasting longer and feeling less sensitive afterwards, but there will always be times where his orgasm takes the wind right out of him and he's left unable to do more than just whine and grab your hand. He always feels so guilty, especially at the start when you're still getting used to being able to tell what stimulation will send him over the edge too quick. He feels like a complete failure and that tends to trigger a drop most times, which unfortunately you can't really mitigate the risk of because he's just wired like that.

The only way to comfort him is to promise him that you will let him please you once he's recovered? He won't allow himself to have your comfort until you've told him exactly what he can do to you once he's recovered.

The second trigger is actually something happening outside of your relationship? Jace can't separate those two parts of himself. When he feels he hasn't lived up to his responsibilities as prince then he carries that feeling into the bedroom, and no amount of love and praise can get him out of that headspace. You've tried simply telling him that you won't dom him that night and you can either have vanilla sex or do no more than cuddle but this backfires because he sees it as another rejection.

At first you had no idea how to lower the chances of that trigger for subdrop because you can't change his duties to his mother and the realm and you certainly can't talk him out of scening at all without making it much worse. The only thing that helps is when you give him very detailed instructions for very easy tasks. You watch him closely as he makes the bed or folds the clothes or takes out and repacks the bookshelves, etc. It's always tasks that are very easy but that's the point, the point of the command is so that Jace can do something 100% correctly and receive praise for it.

[allimocha]

AlliMocha Fancuries FYC Post!

Hi Hello, Pip Pip Cheerio! Fancuries is here once again! And boy do I have something to share this FYC post.

So, I haven’t worked on Bittersweet X Daydream in a hot minute if I'm gonna be honest. A lot of other obligations have been taking time away from my main fanseries sadly. BUT I do have one new thing to show you guys regarding it.

…

Hear me out.

A redesign.

I KNoW I know I said no more redesigns, but after having these characters for so long, it's only natural that I'd want to change how they look. Specifically, there is only one character that I've redesigned so far anyway…

Lei Sandiego / Cure Spice

“𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘚𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘺, 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢! 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦!”

Age: 16 (Second year/Sophomore)

Birthday: September 18th

Height: 5’6”

Ethnicity: Hispanic American

Cure color: Blue and Scarlet

Essence: Charismatic

Often referred to as “The school beauty”, Lei is admired by almost all of her peers. Her amazing charisma, along with her intimidatingly cool and beautiful looks immediately captures everyone’s attention. But despite this, she’s really just a big fashion geek. She prides herself in her impeccable style savvy-ness and studies the latest trends all the time. Lei is also a very confident person, sometimes to the point that it can be overbearing, but she’s never arrogant and always means well. She’s a hopeless romantic and is constantly trying to look for someone who likes her beneath her looks. Although she’s fashion-centric she’s also very athletic, being the co-captain of the girls' volleyball team, and so devotes time to doing both hobbies.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

That's not all, however, because I also have a new series that I've been working on. A crossover series if you will. Based on one of my favorite Disney movies of all time:

Sugar Rush! Precure

A group of girls go to the arcade after school every day to hangout. They excel at most of the consoles there, notably the racing games. One day, Vanelope finds a weird token like she had never seen before, as it was engraved with intricate patterns and a shiny gold. When she attempts to use it in a racing game, it flashes in the machine and floats out as another trinket (henshin item). At that moment, a mysterious person is creating havoc outside the arcade, clearly looking for something. He spots the trinket in Vanelope’s hand, and we all know what happens from here.

Yep! Cures based on the sugar rush racers from Wreck-It Ralph! So far, I only have 2 of their designs, but I'm still completely in love with where this is going. Speaking of which, lets show those two off!

Vanelope Von Schmitt / Cure Sweets

Age: 16

A very confident girl, Vanelope is definetly the ray of sunshine that brightens anyone’s day. She’s very friendly, but is also not afraid to tell it like she sees it. She also has a habit of being overly sarcastic or jokey, which can come off as annoying to others. Not really good at school and overly clumsy, so sometimes covers her negative emotions with jokes or sarcasm. Adores arcades and always states it’s her home away from home.

Tabitha Mathews / Cure Taffy

Age: 16

Very rich and spoiled and it definetly shows. She can be cocky and overbearing at times, but she’s got a good heart. One of the more popular girls in their school, and accells in all her extracurriculars. Due to her father being principal, people have rumored that all her grades were boosted due to nepotism, but that’s not true. She works hard to get where she is, and while vain and sometimes a little rude, she isn’t afraid to help others in need. Goes to the arcade to get away at times.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

So that’s all I’ve been working on so far! I can’t really say I’ve done much with my fanseries over the years, but hopefully you all like what I do have!

Byieeee~!

[fauxnotice]

ALIEN SKINCARE. v! blue lock/male! reader. originally posted on quotev. masterlist.

CHAPTER I. YOU JUST LOVE BEING NOTHING, RIGHT?

Your daily routine is a terribly ordinary, if not a rather dull one. 

That’s fine, however. Its normalcy comes from predictability, and with predictability comes a sense of control. Every and each new possible variant is easily molded to fit into what is already established. 

Days come and go, much like clouds in the sky, and you’re content. You love your painfully droll, boring routine.

Which would be a lie by definition, so to deny your restlessness would be the same as trying to deny that humans need air to survive. Or to deny that the Japanese football team will never win the World Cup. 

But alas, you live. 

One of your classmates, Hamada, you think pensively, since you make a passable effort at remembering names of the people you have to spend considerable hours of the day with, is acting rather friendly today.

You think he wants something from you. That’s probably why he’s asking you to go somewhere with him after school. Sadly, it seems he’s unaware of the few universal truths of life.

That is that you’re never free after classes. 

Everyone in your immediate vicinity is aware of this, so you’re led to believe that Hamada is extraordinarily out of the loop. Or maybe he’s being a contrarian just to appear unique in your eyes. 

Which is not working, by the way.

“Sorry, but I’m busy today.” You say, an apologetical smile creasing your face in a familiar way. 

“Oh.” He recoils, losing confidence at your rejection. “Maybe some other day, then?”

Whatever. He should just steal all of your money and fill your shoes with nails at this point. He should spit at you and kick you until you’re a stain on the floor. Unfortunately, you’re [L/n] [Y/n], so you nod. Kindly. With all the positive hidden implications in the world.

Hamada regains some of his previous enthusiasm. Thankfully, the teacher enters the room before he could take your politeness as an invitation to further communication.

Like a good student, you listen and take notes carefully. This teacher in particular talks very slowly and often loses track of his thoughts, which greatly gets on your nerves. 

That’s okay. You’ll live.

School time passes by comfortably. You demonstrate your gracefulness and virtue at every chance. Some students swoon. Plenty of girls, and curiously, a good chunk of boys as well. Some scoff at your supposed imitation of perfection. Talk about how you’re probably a faker, eager for attention and praise and whatnot. Not that you mind. They must think about you a lot, enough to start making theories on the topic of you and the nuances of your character. 

Not that they'll ever get any confirmation. You let the invested have fun. Do the divine throw bricks at the religious? No. 

Your school’s football team is having a game tomorrow. Obviously, you make your way to practice. Though, ultimately, you believe you’d be making a better use of your time by trying to fold a thousand origami cranes with just your feet and then wishing for a better team. Yet, here you are.

You move across the field like a corpse. Metaphorically, of course. To the other’s untrained eye, it looks like you’re giving it your all. However, in your head, you’re trying to to remember at least the first ten digits of pi (you’re failing), so you switch to creating a satirical retelling of some subpar movie you and Bachira watched at the premiere some time ago (you got reasonably angry at the mediocrity of the so-called social commentary that was flaunted around as “never seen before” and “a heart clenching story that dives into the complexities of our society”, and Bachira got bored, so you both ditched it, wasted money be damned). 

All that, and yet nothing of worth is happening before you. For shame, since you do think your teammates are decent people, in the same way drivers who stop their cars before they hit you are decent people. Except the probably forty something father of two who let you safely cross the street this morning probably had more ball expertise than these frankly appalling clowns throwing themselves around do. 

Of course, you pride yourself on your ever persisting decorum, so you keep your mouth shut as you pass the ball to the guy a bit to your left, since you’re a good teammate and teamwork makes the dreamwork and yadda yadda. Even with your absent minded play, he just needs to push the ball with some semblance of force and boom, it’s a simple and clean goal. 

But as if by some otherworldly intervention, the boy trips. Genuinely gets sent sprawling over the central object of the game. 

It takes you every drop of self control to not lunge at him with the intent of questioning just how does this happen a day! A day! Before the match. Now, keep in mind, this strange specimen is known for his blunders. At least to you, but the rest of the team and the coach seem to hold this guy in some type of high regard. Which is crazy, since you don’t think he’d be able to score a goal without you specifically holding his hand, making the whole predicament even more baffling since you’re the actual ace of the team. 

Now, you think this team could go places, if you had the time to score more, but you have to spend it making sure your companions don’t sabotage the game by playing like it’s their first time seeing a football. You surely have grinded quite a bit of your teeth mass down by pretending to be content with this charade, just so the court jester of a coach wouldn’t call you uncooperative or something similarly humiliating again. God forbid he sends you to meet the bench. 

The comically incapable guy turns to you, after all the shock and laughter has faded from the group. “Ah, I’m sorry for ruining your pass, [L/n]-kun. I guess my nerves have been getting to me, haha.” 

You wish it was “the nerves”. 

“Don’t worry about it.” You respond, channeling every bit of kindness you could find remaining within yourself. “I’m sure you’ll do fine tomorrow.”

Well, he doesn’t do fine, that’s for sure.

The morning of the next day came quickly. As usual, you woke up early, got out of bed, and went through your usual routine with the goal of looking the best you possibly could, which did turn out to be a rather lengthy process, although that was nothing new. You still thought it was an insanely long and dumb.

What meets you next is the sight of your legal guardian, sprawled across the couch, still clad in her work clothes. You conclude that last night was a busy one, so you sneak past her quietly. Making things worse for her is the last thing you want, after all. 

Next is making a nutritious breakfast. As a product of meticulous repetition, you’re quickly done with it, making sure to leave a portion for Sayaka as well, along with a note about your plans for today.

It’s a nice, sunny Saturday. So, like you always do, you set out on a morning jog. Chiba has quite a few pleasing sights, especially when there are no hideous eyesores scrambling around in the form of people. You specifically pick a time when the crowd’s minimal, right after the early workers leave for their job. Beautiful. The fresh air stirs up every fiber of your lungs. 

All this joy and wonder, you almost forgot about the match that’s supposed to be held in the afternoon. In fact, the memory of that shitshow of a football practice from yesterday almost entirely left your mind. From your increasing frustration, you don’t notice how your pleasant jog turned into a full blown sprint. After a good hour or so of this, you notice just how sweaty you were. 

Gross. You’d have to shower again.

Right as you’re about to open the gate of your residence, a weight slams against your back at full force. You remain entirely unbothered, however, as you’re already very well versed in such occurrences. 

Bachira Meguru has his arms wrapped around your back, clinging onto you much like an eccentrically colored koala. It seems like the fabric soggy with your sweat doesn’t bother him at all. He’s always been a bit strange like that. 

“Bachira-kun.” You smile. It comes easier to you. “Good morning.”

“Good morning!” He grins, lips pulling back to reveal the full expanse of teeth. “You didn’t invite me to go jogging! Again!”

Having a conversation in this position, with your posture being as straight as a tree and Bachira acting as some type of a humanoid backpack or a large parasite, would be inconvenient to most, but the two of you have long made this a part of your “normalcy”. 

“That’s because you’re never awake that early.” You retort easily, with a light teasing tone. “I’m surprised you’re even up right now.” 

“My monster got restless, so I wanted to play football.” He says, like that’s a totally normal thing to say. Like pointing out how the weather is nice or such. 

Listen, you genuinely do like Bachira (as far as someone like you is capable of liking), and you suppose he shares the same sentiment to some degree, because his whole “Monster” thing isn’t something that you talk about with just anyone, unless you want to be wheeled off to the nearest institution and shunned forever. You pride yourself on your patience and understanding, so you tend to brush this topic off whenever it comes up in a conversation. Mostly because you have no idea what to say that wouldn’t be extremely harsh. You want to honor Bachira’s companionship and trust in you, which means that him getting upset over something you stupidly spat out without thinking is not on your to-do list.

You do think that seeing a professional sometime in the future would do him some good, though.

Putting that aside, you nod in understanding. “I see. But-” You poke at his leg. “-Can you get off, please? I want to take a shower.”

Bachira hums a long tune, but he makes no move to do what you’ve requested of him. After a passage of silence, he asks a question, even if he knows the answer already. 

“Hey, can we play together? Just for a bit?” 

He can’t see your face, but he can clearly visualize the apologetic expression that graces it. It looks the same, every time he asks. “Sorry, but I need to save energy for later. Maybe next time?” 

There it is again. Despite it being a few years since you two met, both lovers of football and everything football related, you’ve rejected his proposal again and again. You always have an excuse, something about being busy, or not feeling well, or this and that. 

Bachira has been resigned to it. Yet, he still repeats the inquiry, like you’ll change your mind someday. Maybe next time? As if that will ever come.

He lets it go, as he always does.

Finally stepping down, he leans onto your side. He’s rather sweaty too, you notice. “Right! You have a match today! Make sure to score lots of goals, ‘kay? I’ll be there to cheer for you!” 

Bachira thinks you’re not aware of the fondness you let slip into your gaze. It’s for the best, though, since if you knew you’d probably try to mask it with some form of artificial politeness. He likes you the most when you’re honest, in these small tidbits of time, after all.

“Sure.” You say, simply, as some things are.

The tensions are high before the match. For what reason, you don’t know. The match is purely for practice, although you’re curious on how a low tier school such as Kagayaku High managed to schedule a match against some bigshot from Kanagawa. You’d think they’d consider it a waste of time, but you guess not. 

A notification lights up the screen of your phone just as you’re finishing putting your jersey on. 

Sayaka

I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to make it to your game!!!! Work is hell today 𖦹 ´ ᯅ ` 𖦹

But I hope your team does well! Do your best ৻(  •̀ ᗜ •́  ৻)

You snort at the woman’s usage of kaomojis. It was hard to imagine that she was nearly forty years old. Keeping your eye on the clock, you quickly type a response.

You

Please don’t worry about it! 

Take care of yourself!

Sayaka

You’re too nice to me, haha

The breakfast was delicious, by the way! It really made my day Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

I’m gonna make us something to eat later, as a celebration and payback! ᕙ(  •̀ ᗜ •́  )ᕗ

You gnawed at your lip worrieldy. While you truly did appreciate the sentiment, Sayaka’s cooking skills … weren’t something you’d write home about. Her message truly left you worried for the safety of the stove. Before you could try to change her mind (and save the neighborhood from a possible fire), one of your teammates gestures for you to move.

Ah. It’s time.

You

The game is starting, ttyl

The match goes just as well as you thought it would. 

The opponent’s defense tears through the clumsy guy like a knife through butter within the first few minutes of the game. They’re not too shabby, you have to admit. But the more you watch them, the more holes ripe for exploatation you notice.

The rush of excitement still evades you, as you circle an opposing player who is attempting to take the ball from you. Your mind is still in its autopilot mode, where you make boring, yet entirely rational plays that have carried your team to where it is now. Move your leg and lean to the right, and when the guy is still thinking of his next move, kick the ball between his legs. A safe and classic nutmeg. After that-

A movement leaves you startled; someone dashes past you with unforseen speed and snatches the football right from your possession. You’re forced to be wide awake, left feeling like a bucket of icy water was thrown over your head.

Huh?

For what seems to be the first time in years, your heartbeat echoes loudly in your ears and shakes your very core.

You gape at the distancing back of the player who had just turned your world around. In bold letters, the name Itoshi acts as a mockery of you. Helpless in your shock, you can do nothing but watch as your newest adversary scores a clean goal into the net, while Kagayaku High’s goalkeeper does nothing.

For once, you don’t blame him.

The clowns of your circus are talking amongst themselves. You think they’re trying to include you as well, but you’re too busy rebooting your brain to care.

You wanted Itoshi gone. An irritation so strong its frightening festers under your skin as you stare, long and hard, at the intruder who had come to ruin everything for you.

But was he truly ruining anything? 

When a teammate of yours moves with the ball, you abandon all uniform strategy. This stupid team could go to hell. Both yours and the enemy’s. This game should be just between you and him. 

Much to the shock of your team, who had probably gotten too comfortable with your usually passive way of playing, you pick up the pace, with the speed and technique built up through many regular torturous sessions of trying to polish yourself to your extremes.

It’s something you had to do, lest you want to be left in the dust when the real threat appears.

Is Itoshi a real threat?

A wispy smile still hangs from your lips. It looks … out of place, possibly, as it’s no longer a carefully planned tool of deceit.

Astonished shouts of your team as you steal the ball from your own comrade is nothing but background noise.

There he comes. His gaze is glacier cold as he weaves between the humanoid obstacles in his path. Surely, he’s wholy confident in his domination of this match. You wait.

Itoshi moves with clear intent of making you crumble under his might. That won’t do. Who does he think he is? Who does he think you are? Does he think you’re a mere bug, a speck of dust on his road to victory? That doesn’t make sense at all.

“Pass to me!” Someone yells at you, as if you weren’t the damned ace, as if you weren’t the one who gave this shitty team the ability to get off the ground in the first place. 

You’re nowhere near the penalty area. The other team’s defense is scattered around, trying to cut off all your routes. Now aware of the possible danger you represent, Itoshi is right by your side, with his eyelash rimmed eyes watching you like he might tear you apart. At least he’s fast on the uptake, you muse, as you almost carelessly roll the ball across the grass.

The angle is terribly narrow, but it’ll do. 

Avoiding Itoshi’s attempt at ridding you of the ball, you raise your leg and deliver a swift kick to it, sending it flying in a rather flimsy arc (your brows furrow slightly at that), which manages to slam into the net at a spot left open.

1-1.

You stop and take a long look at the goal. That was a five out of ten. Hell, maybe even four. But it seemed like it was enough to make your current “rival” appear like he wants to explode you with his mind.

That makes you … giddy? Edges of your lips wobble as you attempt to keep your expression under control. Even if you just single handedly destroyed the foundation of your team as well as the way its members saw you, you still had appearances to keep. From the corner of your eye, you spot Bachira watching, with a grin so manic it bordered on deranged.

In the end, you lose the game. And yet, to you, it feels like a victory, sweeter than any other. You managed to keep Itoshi from scoring another goal (well, you didn’t score another one either, but that was fine), and you got the front seat to the slow unraveling of his stoic disposition.

His team manages to secure a victory with their goal. But their ace, visibly pissed, makes his way to you. His tone is biting, befitting of an untouchable beauty such as himself.

“Next time, I’ll crush you.”

And then he leaves. One for dramatics, that’s for sure. Mommy’s little edgelord. Deciding to play along, you wave at his retreating back, signature smile set in place. “If you say so, Itoshi.”

Pointedly ignoring the troupe of mongrels, you collect your belongings and make a swift departure. Of course, nothing is that simple for you, because Bachira is waiting for you outside. Predictably, he lunges at you, but is considerate enough to take note of your possible exhaustion and not jump on your back like he usually does, instead opting to sling an arm around your shoulders. 

“That was pretty insane, you know.” He begins, although you note the sharpness of his grin that was unknown to you, up until now. “I never knew you could play like that.”

Then, he goes on to speak more, but you’re already ensnared within your own mind. A familiar thing; anger, ire, all-consuming, starts to ignite your entire being. A combination of many factors give way to its rise, both from Bachira’s subtle and probably unintentional downplaying of your perceived capability, and from … well, everything about the game. Especially Itoshi. What, did they all think you were some insignificant ant? A poser, perhaps? Maybe a-

You pause all thought. Suddenly, your legs feel weak. Not from tiredness, of course not. Embarrassingly, the weight of emotions was always a bigger burden than anything of physical kind. 

That was your weakness. A flaw that you needed to demolish. 

“Bachira,” you gasp out, voice small and uneven. “Bachira-”

The boy in question tilts his head. “Huh? What is it?” 

“Hold me.” You say, just before you collapse.

[vikkirosko]

Some time ago, I found a comic in which Charlie sang a song about setting fire to a studio using just one hand, and I wanted to write something inspired by this comic. That's how this oneshot appeared.The format is also a bit unusual for me and differs from how I usually write oneshots, so this can be considered, in a sense, an experiment

🕷 Angel Dust x male!Reader Oneshot I'm sorry, I burned down the studio 💖

Over the centuries, you've watched the Pride Ring change. Sinners were replaced, and the city itself was replaced, becoming more and more a city saturated with vice. Perhaps you would have stopped visiting this place long ago, but for the sake of your precious friend, you were ready to stay there.

You and Charlie have known each other, perhaps, since you were born. Your families were friends and thanks to this, you two were able to become friends. Your parents were only happy about this, seeing how the princess has a beneficial effect on your short-tempered character, and she herself became bolder next to you. So you have remained loyal allies of each other for many years. And it was to you that she turned when the idea of creating a hotel in which sinners could atone for their sins appeared in her head.

Did you believe in her idea? Not very much. But you would never have told her that. You knew perfectly well how much she was worried that sinners died in Hell every year at the hands of angels, and since she decided to create a hotel, then you were ready to help her no matter how. You and Vaggie were by her side and supported her, so you were able to get along, but most of all you seemed to be interested in the first guest of the hotel, Angel Dust.

You didn't care who he worked for. You've lived in Hell too long to worry about such little things, but the more you talked, the more you realized that he was an interesting conversationalist, he had his own special sense of humor, which you liked and his courage seemed charming to you. Charlie was the first one who decided to ask you if you were in love, and it was her words that helped you realize exactly what you felt for a sinner. You really fell in love without expecting this from yourself, but you didn't want to lose this feeling. It was too warm and pleasant for you to try to get rid of it.

You knew perfectly well that Angel had problems that he didn't tell anyone about, and your assumption was only confirmed when your best friend returned from the studio in tears. You were too busy trying to calm her down that time, and she wouldn't let you leave, knowing that you could get angry. Even when you and Angel talked about it later, he didn't tell you what really happened, just saying that he didn't want you to get into trouble because of him. But he didn't even realize that his words were an additional incentive for you to find out about everything that really happened. That's why you followed him to the studio the next time he went there, after receiving another message from Valentino.

No one dared to stop you when you went to the set. You perfectly saw the fear in the eyes of the sinner who was telling you exactly where to go. In another situation, it would have amused you, but right now you were too busy with your little mission to pay attention to it.

You opened the door with a bang, not even intending to hide your presence, and immediately felt a lot of eyes fixed on you. The shocked stares of the employees, the frightened look that belonged to Angel, and the Valentino's angry look. You obviously prevented the start of filming, which was just to your advantage. The last thing you wanted to do was get there in the middle of the action.

"What the fuck?! Who let this bastard in here?!"

You saw perfectly well how angry overlord was, but you didn't care about it. Something else caught your attention. A bruise on Angel's face. You walked up to him, ignoring the others, and spoke with concern on your face.

"Did he do this?"

"You need to leave... Please..."

You gently stroked his cheek and smiled affectionately.

"Don't worry about me, I'm a big boy and I can stand up for myself, you better answer my question."

Instead of words, he just nodded, after which you straightened up and turned to Valentino. Overlord has been watching you, shocked by your audacity. No one dared to treat him so disdainfully, but you acted like you didn't even know who he was. You were either very brave or very stupid.

He wanted to pull out a gun and shoot you, but before he could even reach for the weapon, he collided with your gaze. You were smiling like something very good had happened. The next moment, fire broke out in different parts of the room, engulfing the equipment and part of the scenery.

Angel looked at your back in shock. He remembered how the princess once said that you were a demon, you were born in Hell and had, as she put it, a short temper, but he could not have imagined that she was talking about it so literally. He saw sparks flying from your fingers and the fire only flared up more, while there was no fire around the bed on which he was sitting.

Attempts to put out the fire did nothing, but you felt more and more the evil fun that had not been in your life for a long time. Charlie didn't like it when you hurt someone and for a long time your fire couldn't be released, but now you had a completely objective reason why you stopped holding back. You were angry and you weren't going to put up with it.

Valentino understood that you were the cause of the fire, so he rushed towards you, intending to hit you, but you grabbed his arm. A second later, Val let out a cry of pain, pulling his hand away. There was a severe burn on his skin, and there was a wide, joyful smile on your face.

"Don't you know that you shouldn't touch fire with your hands?"

You laughed like you'd said the funniest joke in history, and Valentino was furious. He retreated only because of another flash of fire, which was your fault. The fire was only getting stronger and he needed to focus on preventing the spread of the fire. Everyone was running around trying to do something, and you kept smiling, starting to hum some melody that turned into a little song that only angered Valentino more.

"I'm so sorry~

So sorry~

That I burned down your damn studio, bitch!"

You laughed again, turning easily to Angel. You took off your coat, threw it over his shoulders, then picked him up in your arms and walked away.

"It's time to go home, your work is obviously canceled for today."

The fire parted in front of you like the Red Sea in front of Moses, and finally you took a look at Valentino, who was furious at how helpless he felt at that moment.

"I'll be back, I hope I don't have to burn you alive to get the Angel's contract."

You left without regretting anything you did. You knew that as soon as you got in the car, Angel would scream, because what you did was reckless, you knew that when you returned to the hotel you would have a very long conversation with Charlie and Vaggie, but you were ready to burn out both Hell and Heaven if it was necessary to protect those who is dear to you. And Angel, although he didn't know about your feelings for him yet, he was already one of the most dear people to you.

[whentherewerebicycles]

this year I want to try to write down at least one craft lesson I learn from every novel I finish. it doesn’t have to be a super complex or original craft “move”—I think the purpose of this exercise is just to teach myself how to pay closer attention to the nuts and bolts slash the very basic building blocks writers use to construct novels. I can also identify craft moves that didn’t work, or things I thought the book could’ve done better. my first book of the year was rainbow rowell’s slow dance, which I found charming but pretty unexceptional.

some good and meh craft lessons:

the story unfolded as a present-day narrative interspersed with out-of-order flashbacks of the characters’ high school and college days. one interesting choice was that the flashback memories were always alluded to in the present-day narrative, but the flashback itself didn’t immediately follow the first mention of the memory. so we’d learn about something that had happened or been revealed in the past, but then the memory of what happened might not come for 50-100 more pages. I felt like this made for a slightly more layered reading experience and created a bit more natural tension for the reader, since you never knew quite when or if you were going to get the full story. this craft choice is in direct contrast to a book like leigh bardugo’s six of crows, where you’d get an allusion to the past in the present-day narrative and then were IMMEDIATELY plunged back into the full memory of what had happened in the very next scene (sometimes in like, the very next sentence lol). I think rowell could’ve used this to greater effect if the revelations from the past were shocking or surprising or dark, but since this was very much a cozy, low/no-conflict romance, it just felt like an interesting quirk of the structure rather than like, a really intentional move.

I liked that one of the main characters had a specific tic that she did (physically poking and messing with the other main character) whenever she was having big feelings she couldn’t express. but it also kind of became predictable over time because she just did the same thing over and over—there was no change in behavior or context, and so it started feeling pretty repetitive. something that made her feel dynamic and recognizable as a character at first eventually made her feel flatter.

the slight tension I described above was pretty much the only narrative tension in the whole book—it was a will-they-won’t-they romance where the reader (and every other character in the entire book) knew they obviously would get together. there were no real twists or surprises and only some small external wrinkles/barriers. there was also no big crisis at the 75%ish mark, which is where I usually expect things to go off the rails in an interesting way… it was just like, a straight shot through to their happy ending.

dual POV in a romance rarely works for me because I think it zaps the narrative tension from the start. the only time I can get on board is when it’s enemies to lovers and the two characters have such incredibly skewed perspectives on each other that they are continually misinterpreting everything the other one says or does. it doesn’t work as well in a friends to lovers type plot where a five-minute conversation is basically all they need to sort things out and get together.

[dangraccoon]

So Close

Day 3 ~ Set up for failure ~ Wrongfully Arrested ~ "I Warned You ~

Fives

Word Count: 968 Content: manipulation, major character death, mental abuse, mind games, sheev being an asshole, Anakin Skywalker Don't Be A Dick For Five Minutes Challenge (Impossible), Bio Chip Arc, TCW s06e04 Orders, Fox doesn't kill Fives

“Stand down, soldier!” Fox barked. “Stand down!”

“No, no, no!” Fives cried, his hands up. “Stay back!”

“Don’t, Fives,” Rex pleaded, his hands slamming against the shield.

“Get this ray shield off!” General Skywalker ordered.

One of the Corries looked around briefly before aiming his rifle at the shield generator above them, disabling it immediately.

Rex tackled Fives as Fox and the Guards closed in.

“Rex!” Fives begged as Fox secured binders around his wrists. “You can’t let them take me! The- the chancellor– he’ll kill me!”

“Stow it,” Anakin scowled. “The chancellor wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s alright, Fives,” Rex assured him, his hand never leaving his brother’s shoulder. “We’re going to get you the help you need.”

The Guards hauled him to his feet and led him away while Fives sobbed protests.

“General,” Fox stood at attention. “Will you be needing transport?”

“No, Commander,” Skywalker shook his head. “But keep me posted on his status.”

“Yes, sir,” Fox answered, giving a nod to the General, and another to Rex, before turning away and getting on the transport.

Rex watched helplessly as the Guard took him. His heart was pounding. Something wasn’t right in a way he struggled to articulate.

He shuffled to a crate and sat, holding his head in his hands.

“Rex,” Skywalker said.

“I don’t understand,” Rex murmured. “Fives is a good man– a good soldier. I- I don’t understand what happened. What happened on Kamino?”

Skywalker sighed. “He’s sick, Rex,” he said. “Whatever infected Tup must have gotten to him, too.” 

Rex shook his head. “No, something isn’t right,” he insisted. “Fives wouldn’t try to kill the chancellor– he just wouldn’t.”

-

Fives was surprised when he woke up. He’d expected that when the medic at the detainment center injected him, it would be some merciful, yet lethal substance, not a sedative.

His head spun as he looked around the room. It was all too familiar.

“N-no, wait,” he muttered. 

This was the room. This was where he begged the chancellor to listen to him. It’s where Palpatine revealed so much to him.

“Let me out,” he begged the members of the Coruscant Guard he could see. “He- he’ll kill me! Please, brothers!”

“They cannot hear you and will not be releasing you, trooper,” a calm voice snarled from behind him. He strode in front of him. Palpatine.

“In fact,” he said, turning to his security team. “Wait outside.”

One of the guards seemed to startle. “But, sir-”

“The trooper has been adequately secured,” Palpatine waved off his concern. “I will be fine.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard said, and he and the others left. 

Palpatine watched them go until the doors closed behind them. He then turned to face his prisoner.

“You’ve caused quite a stir, trooper,” he said pleasantly. “You’ve nearly created a mess for me to clean up. Nearly.”

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” Fives grunted, pulling slightly at his restraints.

“Don’t you worry,” Palpatine cooed, his voice as sweet as honey. “We’ll get to that part all in due time.”

Fives watched as the chancellor took a seat in a chair that had been set for him.

“First, however, I wanted to grant your wish.”

Before Fives could ask what he meant, Palpatine produced a data stick from his sleeve.

“This is an audio recording of our previous conversation,” he explained.

Fives’ eyes widened. 

“Now, where were we?” the Chancellor hummed. “I must tell you; you’ve created quite the problem for me.”

Fives blinked. “Sir?”

“You see, you’ve nearly uncovered a plot that dates back to before you were even created,” he said, holding up the slides containing Fives and Tup’s chips. “I had these organic chips created by the Kaminoans to be implanted into every clone trooper created for the Republic.”

Fives’ head was spinning. “Sir, I don’t–”

“Every clone trooper in the galaxy has one of these in their head. Save for you, now,” he tipped his head to Fives. “You’re probably wondering ‘why’, yes?”

“Yes,” Fives repeated breathlessly.

“It’s simple really,” Palpatine sneered. “I wish to see the downfall of the Republic, and with it, the entire Jedi Order.”

Fives felt like all the air had been sucked from his lungs. This man wanted to destroy everything he and his brothers were built to protect.

“These marvels of bioengineering are to help with this plan. You see, this entire war between the Republic and the Separatists; it’s all a farce. Think about it. An entire army, trained and ready to fight at the very moment the Separatists attack? Your entire existence is all a part of my grand plan. You and all the other clones were created for one purpose and one purpose only; to kill the Jedi.”

Fives felt like he was going to be sick. Clones killing the Jedi? They were their Generals, their commanders, their friends! They couldn’t just betray them like that. “Why- why are you telling me this?”

“Because you will not live long enough to tell a soul, not that anyone would believe you,” Palpatine grinned. “Guards, kill him.”

If Fives couldn’t get the chips, he could get this data stick as evidence. General Ti and General Skywalker would have to believe him then. He pulled harder at his restraints.

“This is all you need to clear your name, and save the galaxy from falling into the hands of a Sith Lord,” Palpatine sneered.

Fives watched as the self-proclaimed Sith dropped the data stick to the floor, his heart and hope shattering along with it as Palpatine smashed it beneath his foot.

“I warned you,” Palpatine snickered. “You weren’t believed, were you? And now? Now you will die. Not as a hero, but as only a number. A clone who went mad.”

The last thing Fives saw was a flash of lightning.

« Previous Day Next Day »

Thanks for reading! - River

Whumptober 2024 Masterlist DangRaccoon Masterlist Taglist Form Read on AO3

Tags: @nekotaetae @lokigirlszendaya @get-wr3ckered @jediknightjana @idoubleswearimawriter @lucyysthings @unstable-kiwi @6oceansofmoons @l3xi3luv @savebytheodoresnonjosestuff @winter-phoenix1995 @nomercyforthewarrior @Padawancat97 @flowered-bicycles @error6gendernotfound @techs-goggles9902

[eliounora]

Good grief, I don't know how someone could have read your last post and responded with the amount of dismissiveness that last reply did. Apart from the whole thing smacking of Calvinist bull****... that's just not how humans work. We're not meant to function in total isolation, and I've never met a creatively-inclined person who *didn't* hope to see their work connect with people. Part of the joy of making things is sharing them with other people, and even if nobody owes you their time or attention or validation, it *is* disheartening to feel like the things you share in hopes of people connecting with them aren't acknowledged for whatever reason. Please do whatever you need to for your own mental health, but I hope you won't delete your blog here; I'm someone who's generally too shy to interact, but I've adored your art for years, and was beyond thrilled when you opened your quick comms a little while back (I now have an Eliounora original and it makes me so happy every time I look at it <3). Your latest Thranduil piece is gorgeous (and immediately became my favorite visual interpretation of the character I've seen so far) - I saw the Bilibin references in the frame right away and was delighted to see someone marrying it to Middle Earth! It gives the whole thing a perfect old fairytale feel. I hope it helps a little to know that your work has at least one quiet but sincere admirer here.

CALVINIST BULL is the perfect way to describe that mindset hahaha! you're so right, like even when you draw or write or create anything as a kid you often run to a caretaker or a sibling or whoever to show your work! and even when I was a kid, if my scribble did not get the reaction from my mom I was hoping for, I'd be super sad, and I think that speaks to our need to have our work appreciated!

of course you should primarily create for yourself, like writing, knitting, drawing, painting, singing, playing an instrument, all that should be first and foremost fun for you, but I think it's also important to remember that it takes guts to share your work, and when you put yourself out there like that and don't get the reaction you hoped for, of course that feels disheartening. we are bound to believe that the more work we put into something, the more recognition we get!

I know many other people feel like this too (I mean look at artists on this website begging for reblogs), and I think it speaks for the content creator.....isation? of artists and the change in fandom culture which has resulted in lack of community. while disappointment is bound to happen from time to time, like maybe your fic did not get as many comments as you wished for or your art got less notes than you expected, for me it feels like disappoinment is the norm.

I really hope this does not come across as whining about how I don't get the recognition I think I deserve (although that's what it is I'm not going to lie), because I do appreciate every shy and quiet person out there who loves my art, like you💗 and of course nobody has to interact any more than they are willing, but I think the general trend that interaction with people's works is lessening will dishearten many artists, especially those who don't have a large following. and oftentimes even a few excited words about your work will take you a long way! like yours right now, I FEEL SO SEEN!!! my thranduil, your favourite? FUCK YEAH!!!

[milktea067]

Moondrop x reader with anxiety part 2!!

Hello everyone, MilkTea here! This was written two years ago, and I’m just now getting around to posting it. This is supposed to a sequel to “Moondrop x reader with anxiety” that I wrote about two to three years ago. Anyone who is still following me and has been since the beginning might know what I’m talking about. ;)

It’s been a crazy couple years, lots has happened and I’ve grown and changed in many ways. I love writing and I love all of you, and I’ve decided that I want to come back and start doing what I loved again, and hopefully make you guys smile in the process. Whether it’s due to nostalgia after reading about this character for the first time in years, or genuine enjoyment, I want you to know that every smile makes me happy.

Thank you for reading my fiction over the years, and enjoy this little time capsule. <3

Warnings:Mentions of lip biting and scarring from anxiety/Mentions of fear and chasing/mentions of crying and overthinking/serious injury (not to reader) but lots of comfort! Let me know if I missed anything!

Not proofread very well 💀

———————————————————————

After a few hours of blissful sleep, you were awoken to the sound of shuffling.

You found it hard to remember where you were for the first few seconds, eyes stuck together from your sleep and still hazy with fatigue. Sucking in a deep breath, your eyes slowly began to scan the area, searching for whoever was moving about.

“Hey..hey kid.” The robot said, his finger reaching out and awkwardly poking your shoulder. “Wake up. We need to go right now. It’s not safe anymore, we can’t wait until morning.”

Moon was currently crouching next to you, his hand on your back gently helping you sit up while the other one frantically waved in front of your eyes in an attempt to keep you lucid. You could tell by his nervous body language and frantic waving something serious had happened, and you didn’t like it one bit.

“Hmm..? Wha…what happened..? I’m sleepy..” you muttered, rubbing your face as you slowly stood up, legs wobbly and weak.

“The others are looking for you. Apparently you caught their attention when you were wandering in rockstar row, they aren’t happy.” Moon said, slowly leaning down and picking you up carefully.

It took you a bit of time to process what he was saying, your head still full of static and fuzz as you wrapped your arms around his neck, your cheek pressed against his sleeves. “Is (parent) here..? Can I go now..?“ You yawned, sleepy tears filling your eyes as you clutched onto him.

“No no, its okay, just go back to sleep…” he muttered, deciding it would be easier to get you out safely if you were sleeping and not scared or upset, wanting to make sure he got you out of the building as stress free as possible.

He still cared about your feelings despite the situation, and that scared him. What if something happened to you? What if he wasn’t strong or smart enough to stop the others from hurting you? He couldn’t stand the thought of you ending up injured or worse because he was incapable of taking care of you.

He’s spent months unintentionally scaring children, making him feel like failure. He was created to make children feel safe, and if he screwed it up with you he knew it would prove that he wasn’t capable of doing anything right. Just like they said.

That’s why when you finally woke out of your haze and began to panic, he knew he couldn’t let anything happen to you. Wandering out of the daycare, he was careful not to make a sound while he gently stroked your back, trying his best to comfort you.

“It’s okay, just relax..I’m going to get you out of here I promise..” he whispered, trying his best to combat the horrible anxiety crawling up your spine. You immediately began to overthink, your lips stinging as you chewed on them, biting at little pieces of skin as he walked.

It was something you had always done, your lips now scarred from years of biting and chewing on them to help relieve your anxiety. Your legs and arms also looked similar to your lips, picking and scratching at every scab when you were forced to socialized.

Taking a deep breath, you tried your best to calm down, not wanting to make the situation worse. Moondrop’s presence was helping, but the seriousness of the situation was beginning to eat at you. Would your parents be upset? What if they were worried about you? What if they weren’t worried at all? We’re they relieved to have gotten rid of you? What if-

Your anxiety riddled thoughts were immediately put on hold as a loud bang echoed across the entire building, your eyes darting up to see a big green animatronic alligator staring directly at you. He had just sprinted through a wall, the dust covering his body enough to tell you he had turned that wall into a pile of rubble just by forcing himself through it.

You felt as if the breath had evaporated from your lungs, your heart literally skipping with fear as Moon snapped his head in Monty’s direction.

“There you are.” He said, his claws squeezing around a pipe sticking out from the wall he had just destroyed, steam immediately shooting out from it.

“Shit..” Moon muttered, his grip on you tightening as he turned around, hiding you from Monty’s terrifying stare.

You could feel his fear as he held you close to his chest, his red eyes locked on the alligators form. “Kid..listen to me..you need to go- don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Find the exit, get out of here.” he whispered, the ground shaking as Monty began sprinting in your direction, your heart shaking in your chest with every step and as you were about to reply, you were suddenly tossed onto the carpet.

“GO!“ he yelled as you slid across the carpet, your skin now covered in red and pink carpet burn as you looked up just in time to see Monty and Moon begin to fight, the sound of metal clashing and crunching hurting your ears as Monty shoved Moon to the ground, his jaws inches away from Moons face as he tried his best to push the alligator off. “Run! Go!!”

Finally tearing your eyes away from the horrible scene, you began sprinting in the opposite direction. You could still hear the horrible sounds of metal scraping against metal, being ripped apart during the fight. You tried your hardest not to think about what that meant, tears filling your eyes as you hoped you would see Moon again soon.

In one piece.

Taglist!: @femalemarvelself @boxofbadsenses

[elliemarchetti]

Unstable System

My first time writing for @marauders-rarepair-fics and I’m so excited. Hope someone likes this, and let me know if you’re interested in other underappreciated couples!

Prompt: Yellow (Prompt 1)

Ship: Sirius x Marlene x Remus or Marlene x Remus if you’re not into throuples, up to interpretation I guess

Words: 647

In the position she has been covering for nearly two weeks, Marlene was starting to feel a bit like a tennis ball, tossed from one side to the other of the court – the squabble escalated into an argument made of silences and sulking – by two obstinate players, namely Sirius and Remus. As if founding herself thorn between her best friend and boyfriend wasn’t enough, she didn’t even know exactly what happened, only that a prank had gone wrong and the other Marauders refused to get involved to make things right.

“You know I always do everything I can to defend him, but this time it’s up to Moony to choose whether to forgive him or not,” James had told her when she confronted him, and Peter had been even less helpful, saying he was willing to alternate the days he would spend with one or the other if things didn’t work out.

“They should manage on their own, they’re old enough by now,” commented Lily, between a yellow Every Flavour Bean and another, when she’d seen her drop facedown into her bed after dinner, and she would’ve agreed, if the issue hadn’t been between those two specific Gryffindors. Sirius was proud even when he apologized, and she knew too damn well how infuriating it could be, but he suffered greatly when there was no immediate forgiveness on the other side once he pronounced the magical word sorry, perhaps due to his impatient character or perhaps because of the rift his family created between him and his brother, a relationship apparently irreparable despite their young age. On the other hand, Remus was a good soul, patient, understanding, and the betrayal, as he put it, pushed him to distance himself only for fear of being hurt.

“What if it happens again? What if I’m just an expendable pawn in the long story of his life?” he had asked her one morning, as they climbed the stairs leading to their next class. “I’m not as sociable as him, I’m not that good at making friends. You, Sirius, James… you’re everything to me. My parents are old, I know they won’t be able to stay with me forever, and without your support, after all these years at Hogwarts…”

Marlene didn’t need to hear the end of the sentence to understand, because she shared those concerns as well, although among girls it was less rare to console each other during moments of weakness, while boys tended to bottle up their feelings, especially if they thought they made them look weak. Fortunately, something about her made people feel at ease, and she rarely had to extrapolate certain revelations by skirting around the issue.

“Remus, if James is Sirius’ sun, you are his moon,” she reassured him, but despite her decidedly poetic words, he didn't seem convinced.

“And what does this make you?” he wondered, making her laugh. Even when he was heartbroken, even when he should’ve been the protagonist of the conversation, he couldn’t help but worry about others.

“Probably a star: pretty to look at but not essential,” she decided, taking his arm as they crossed the threshold of the classroom to make sure he sat next to her. She hadn’t said that phrase to make him feel sorry, she knew what her place in Sirius’ life was and she didn’t mind not necessarily being in the first, but Remus seemed horrified.

“You’re not just a pretty thing to look at!” he exclaimed, catching the unwanted attention of some other students. “If I’m a moon, you’re like a planet of your own, and I orbit around the both of you incessantly.”

“It doesn’t seem like something set to end well,” she replied once she found a desk at the back, wondering if they were still talking about Sirius, and the sensation she felt gripping her guts meant something she should’ve realized sooner.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

5 and Violetta. But this time, can you get something else than Angie babysitting Vilu? Those are really cute but I wanna see what else kinds of babysitting stories you can create.

5 - Someone is babysitting.

Alright - so, babysitting is always interesting in dcla because no one in canon has any child that is of an age where they need a sitter (except for maybe Esmeralda's daughter Ambar. When I think about it, that would be hilarious... but it's not what I will write today). Which means you have 4 options: 1. Go into the future, where someone babysits someone's future kid 2. Have it still be set in the show's present, and create kids for them to babysit. Someone's younger cousin or sibling, maybe. 3. Have it be set in the past, when one of the characters was young and gets babysat by someone. This is one I often pick simply because I just love the idea of Angie bonding with Violetta in her early age, and Violetta causing trouble that Angie needs to fix. 4. Go bananas and let a character randomly get regressed into a kid and then they need to be babysat while someone tries to get them to go back to their normal age. I will choose to have it be set in the past again. This time it's Camila, who is around 8, and her 3 younger sisters. I first thought of having it in the present and let Camila's friends help her babysit her sisters, but I thought it would be way funnier if she also was a part of the kids causing chaos. The babysitter, I first thought it would just be someone random, but to make it more funny: It's Priscila. By the reason being that I think Cami and Ludmi were born around the same time and their mothers hung out when they were babies, and now Priscila is doing her mom a favor... by seeing what happens when kids get raised in an opposite enviroment.

"Thank you SO MUCH for doing this, Priscila!" Mrs Torres said.

"I owe you from the time you babysat Ludmila when I needed to go to an appointment."

"Well, the girls are all in the living room. Girls! We're leaving!"

"Bye!" several voices called back. Priscila was a bit baffled that none of them even went up to wave their parents off. She'd find it a bit rude if her Ludmila would have done that. Nonetheless, these girls must still be pleasant. Not that she knew them very well, and she had not really kept in contact with their mother a lot either besides some brief phone calls and catching up whenever they ran into each other in stores, but how hard could this be?

She stepped into the living room, where four girls sat on the couch, watching TV. The oldest was Camila. She recognized her immediately. She had a little baby in her lap, seemingly the youngest. The other two seemed to be around 5 years old, and was dressed exactly the same. Priscila knew Mrs. Torres had twins, but last time she saw them they were sleeping a stroller when the family was out grocery shopping.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," Camila said. She and her sisters were way too busy watching whatever kids show was on to even pay attention to her. Priscila glanced at the screen, and frowned.

"What kind of kids show is this?"

"It's not a kids show," one of the twins said. "It's an adult show."

"Why are you watching an adult show?!"

"Lola needs to get cultured," Camila explained, "She will never be anything if she just watches teletubbies."

"Who is Lola?"

Camila stood up, holding the baby. "This is Lola. I'm Camila."

"I know. You've grown so much!"

"And we are Eva and Ada!" said the twins in unison, so you could not tell who was who.

"Quick, sit back down, he's about to shoot him!" Eva or Ada said. Camila excitedly sat back down.

"Look, Lola!" she cooed to the baby, "Violence!"

"No!" Priscila said and instantly turned off the TV. All the girls started to mutter and complain. "How long is your TV time?"

"TV time?" Camila asked. "We just watch TV as long as we feel like it."

"You don't have a TV time? My daughter has a maximum of 1 hour every day, and she needs to take a break after every 20 minutes."

"Your daughter seems to have a very boring life."

Priscila sighed. "Maybe you need something to eat."

-

It turned out, the Torres girls did not have any table manners whatsoever. Priscila expected the baby to eat messily, but she was by far the cleanest out of them all. The twins ate with their hands like wild animals and Camila chewed with an open mouth.

"Is this how you eat in public?" she asked, horrified.

"We're not in public," Camila argued.

"Yeah, and at home we can be free!" Eva or Ada exclaimed, making everyone cheer.

"I think you should have a table manner everywhere..." Priscila said. If this was her own daughter, she'd scold her right away. But since this wasn't her kids, she was so unsure what to do. And it got worse.

"Ada! Think fast!" Eva shouted and threw a meatball on her. Ada laughed and threw it back. The two started to have a food fight.

"Hey, I wanna have a food fight too!" Camila said, and one of the twins threw a carrot on her. The three laughed as they threw more and more food on each other. Their baby sister just stared blankly into thin air and Priscila started to lose her mind.

She stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "ENOUGH!"

The girls stopped.

"It's not okay to throw food at each other. Food is for eating! Look, you scared your little sister."

Camila looked at the baby. "No, we didn't. She just pooped her pants."

The twins giggled and Camila took out Lola from the high chair. "She always does that face when she pooped herself." She sniffed at the baby slightly and then handed her over to Priscila. "Go change her."

"Me?"

"You're the babysitter. We are just kids. We don't know how to change a diaper."

Priscila hesitantly took the baby. "Alright, but you need to clean this up when I am back!"

-

About half an hour later, Priscila came back, barely wanting to hold Lola, as she put her down on the floor. The others noticed Lola was wearing a completely different outfit.

"Why did it take so long?" Camila asked, "For me it just takes a minute."

"Wait, but you said you didn't know how to change diapers?"

Camila smirked, "I was just joking because I wanted you to do it."

Priscila sighed. "Have you cleaned up in the kitchen?"

"Yes."

Priscila went inside. Indeed, the kitchen seemed to be clean. She felt a bit of relief. At least they could do something. She decided to open the cupboard to get a glass. She needed some water. But as she opened the cupboard...

"AAAAAAAAAAAA-"

The girls came running in after hearing the blood curdling scream. They started laughing as they saw Priscila covered in food.

"Did you like our prank?" the twins asked in unison.

"I thought you said you had cleaned it up!"

"We decided to have some fun and put all the food in the cupboard instead!" Camila explained.

They noticed how Priscila's eyes started twitching. They found that to be even more funny.

Priscila stomped into the bathroom to clean herself up. As she got back up again, she was met with a new scenario. The twins had the bright idea to get the toy wagon their little sister used to practice walking to ride down the stairs with. Camila was the one who was pushing, fully into this idea. Lola meanwhile, had been left unattended and was heading towards the DVD-VHS player, planning to lick it. Priscila instantly ran to the baby to get her away. At the same time, Camila pushed the twins down the stairs, and the wagon came in rapid speed, crashing into Priscila.

Everyone was laughing as Priscila was on the floor. But now Priscila truly had enough.

"ALL OF YOU! TO THE COUCH, NOW!"

They all sat down as she tried to take deep breaths.

"No more," she muttered. "You will all sit here until your parents arrive!"

Camila glanced at the window. Then she smirked. "Okay."

-

Not even a minute later, the front door opened.

"We're home!" Mrs Torres announced.

Priscila came up to them. "Oh, thank heavens..."

"Have the girls been good?"

"Well, you see-"

"Aww!"

Priscila was caught off guard. The girl's mother was now staring at the couch, where all the Torres girls "magically" had fallen asleep.

"They must've really tired themselves out. Thank you for babysitting, Priscila."

"I... no problem...?"

The parents went to take off their coats as Priscila got one final glance on the girls. That's when Camila opened her eyes, and gave Priscila a smug, almost evil looking face. She wiggled her eyebrows and then closed her eyes again.

Priscila barely said goodbye, and decided to never set her foot in that house ever again.

[wholehear-ts]

Organized Free Thoughts on Forgiveness

Forgiveness is an intentional action. Sometimes people are just hot headed at the time and when the dust settles, they realize that there wasn’t much of a reason to be angry. Imagine this as a scratch wound. Sometimes someone did something to someone else that causes a wound in the other person which pains them deeply when it is remembered. This can be more like a bullet wound. It doesn’t heal by just leaving the issue alone. You have to apply yourself to forgive the other person. In both cases you forgive so YOU can get better. In the case of the scratch you put a bandaid on it and give it time. You don’t keep poking at the issue or else what was once a little thing could turn into an infection and then blood poisoning all because you didn’t leave it alone.

Bullet wounds are different. You need immediate attention to make sure you don’t let this issue bleed into other areas of your life and harm those. Imagine, you’re being bullied at school. If you don’t address it right away, you might start to believe you deserve the bullying because you are the things they say. You could start self harming or doing things you characteristically wouldn’t. You need to isolate the issue.

Start by praying about the issue. Sometimes things are out of your hands but it is good to remember things are in good hands.

Start by comforting yourself.

Think back on the situation and be there for yourself in the most loving way possible.

See your attacker as a hurting human instead of some animal of emotionless, hardened enemy. It will help you let go of some of the anger when you can have compassion for someone who is hurting rather than someone who did x to you.

You can work at this by imagining a hypothetical world where you can pity the other rather than be angry.

Detach yourself from the incident. What people do has more to do with what’s going on in their inner world than what it actually has to do with you. They raped because they are a rapist and they had the opportunity to rape. You happened to be their victim. Depersonalizing it will help get rid of emotions like betrayal, shame or fear that will keep you wrapped up with them forever frozen in that incident.

-Create a nice wish for the other person. Seeing them as someone you can still be kind to elevates your character as someone who is kind in the face of whatever injustice. The wish could start out as little as “I hope you have a quick death instead of being tortured to death.” Make your wishes something you actually agree with instead of something that you just say. If you can say honestly say that you don’t hope for severe torture towards the other offender with all your heart, then it is a good day. And you can try to better your wish for them some other time.

-I say this for minor to medium situations, but always assume ignorance instead of malice. Although it merits punishment as well, most people don’t hurt others because they are psychopaths wanting to watch the world burn. Most people are just in their own bubbles swayed by whatever emotion or distraction and hurt others because they aren’t conscious of how they affect others. This is another way of seeing them as human as you are.

-Forgiveness doesn’t mean that the offense wasn’t an injustice but it means that you aren’t going to let it trap you into negative emotions every time you’re reminded of the incident. You can get to the point where you forget about it and carry on with life as the person you’re becoming.

-Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to allow them back in your life if they are committed to toxic behaviour. If someone is genuinely focused on bettering themselves and that incident has very little change of repeating, then you should reevaluate the depth of your forgiveness. Philemon had a real reason to be vengeful, but both were really trying to walk towards Christ and that’s why he was asked to forgive.

Having compassion for yourself looks like:

Keeping your body healthy

Taking time to heal when you’re sick

Removing things that are toxic out of your life

Following your passions

Talking to yourself encouragingly, kindly, realistically

Following through with the things that are important to you

Maintaining healthy relationships

Keeping your conscience clear

Having compassion for humans looks like:

Believing they can love you back in a way that is sweet

Believing that you’ll have a happy life together

Stripping away the hurt to give him/ her another fresh slate

Respect and duty is given whether he gives love or not 

Give the other person hope 

Help them grow in faith 

Love them adoringly anyways 

Having compassion for animals looks like:

See the ways they are in pain and alleviate that

Not eating them unless there’s a dire necessity

Give them places and time to live without fear (Sabbath)

Treating them right if they are in your care

Not killing them

Having compassion for the earth looks like:

Living no to low waste

Walking and biking more than driving

Not wasting the things you have

No polluting through gmo seeds

Creating ecosystems that are good for the earth

Letting the earth rest on her Sabbaths

Using less plastics

Finding creative uses for junk

[goatsandgangsters]

shadow and bone episode 7: suddenly the kudos emails I’ve been getting from ao3 make a lot of sense

also you know what was NOT on my bingo card for this season? getting CONTENT for my TINY LITTLE RAREPAIR DOMINIKOLAI HEART?? 

previous liveblogs should you require more thoughts yelling flailing etc

……okay one more belated comment on episode 6, because I was so floored by the existence of dominik and the intense homoerotic eye contact that I forgot to process dominik calling young nikolai a “quiet wisp.” dominik. dominik he has undiagnosed adhd. they hired you as a whipping boy because it was the only way they could think to make him sit still or shut up dominik. dominik he merrily chattered your ear off for your entire childhood dominik. he recreationally caused explosions with you dominik.

OKAY! HOLD ON! THAT INTRO! A BODY OF WATER BEING FROZEN AROUND A ROCK??????? HAVE MY DEMON IN THE WOOD PRAYERS BEEN ANSWERED? DID I JUST NEED TO BE PATIENT??????????? are we perhaps going to tie the destruction of Keramzin into his own childhood trauma, thus linking together these two events as a loss of innocence and commentary on the cycles of violence wrought from the desperation Ravka creates? is that too much to hope for?

“The tracker is not to be touched by anyone other than me” oh is THAT why my ao3 email every day has a SIZABLE CHUNK of kudos on my Malarkling fic? I’ve been wondering at that one getting more attention than I expected, I really didn’t think it was gonna have much readership

I really like the costume design for his grisha, the richer gem tones are really nice

I knew I’d have to see it based on the episode title, but oh my godddddd do I really need to see this flashback again? it was in THE FIRST FOUR EPISODES of season 1! every single episode! burn it down aleks I have seen this meadow way too many goddamn times

OH OKAY. MALARKLING TETHER SCENE????????? I understand the kudos emails, I understand the kudos emails. “I knew there was something I liked about you,” he said, like a liar. or maybe he’s not lying, we all saw that electricity in season 1. oh my god. the wheezy fucking laugh of disbelief I just made. “DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT YOU’RE THE ONE IN CONTROL HERE”???????? I understand why I’m getting so many kudos now on my kinky Malarkling smut, I understand it.

Ben, I think this is more than 10 book lines you squeezed in. anyway, “you have a bad habit of acting the fool and calling it heroic” IS an underrated book line, thank you Ben for your service and your post-it note covered books and your list of favorite quotes

stop calling each other cousin, it’s weird. IF YOU HAVE TO GO BACK LIKE 40 ENTIRE GENERATIONS UNTIL YOU HIT YOUR COMMON ANCESTOR, I DON’T THINK IT ACTUALLY COUNTS AS COUSINS. I THINK MOST PEOPLE ARE RELATED IF YOU GO BACK THAT FAR.

like obviously we know his prime motivation is not wanting alina to have enough power to tear down the fold, but I DO actually like that he’s arguing from the angle of “what’s going to happen to her without you” because. like. yeah. it’s good, it’s that thing he does where even when he’s arguing for his own ends, he’s NOT WRONG about what he’s saying. he’s using something totally true to make his point. he knows exactly what losing someone important will do to a person. let’s revisit those mal luda parallels we were making in season 1 with this new content/context

I really just don’t know why, of all the people on this show, Archie and Ben have more sexual tension than any other pair of characters. none of the canon ships can hold a candle to …. whatever these two are doing anytime they’re on screen together

RETROACTIVE PREFACE TO THIS BULLET POINT: I wrote this whole spiel about Appreciating The Ambiguity Of Nikolai and Alina’s Relationship, only for that to immediately dissolve a scene later, BUT WHATEVER, HERE WERE MY FEELINGS: I’m really pleased by how they’re doing Nikolai and Alina’s relationship this season. I love that the exact nature of their dynamic is sort of open to interpretation with what/if there are Feelings Feelings, but the trust and warmth and genuine friendship between them is still palpable. like, I have A LOT of feelings about these two and I’m in the “queerplatonic soulmate” camp with them, the “love has many forms and sometimes love is stronger if it’s not romantic” camp, but in a very adamant THAT ISN’T LESSER THAN IF I SHIPPED IT ROMANTICALLY way, like I am DEEPLY FEELINGS about them, because I think they see through each other and understand each other intrinsically. they’re both characters who have been given A Role To Play as a figurehead and I think that when they’re together that’s the one space where they can set those roles aside and find comfort with the only one who really understands the weight of Being A Figurehead (and I think too much emphasis on romantic pining would get in the way of allowing them that vulnerability with each other, and I like The Vulnerability Space more than I like Romance). I’ve never Queerplatonically Shipped something this passionately, but god I have feelings in my hEART about them!! and I like that canon sort of…. lets you go shippy if you want to go shippy, and it lets me go Queerplatonic Soulmate because I want to go Queerplatonic Soulmate

I’m Fucking Feelings About This Scene, they’re both so good, THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SO MUCH EVEN THOUGH THEY’VE ONLY KNOWN EACH OTHER A SHORT WHILE!!!

me, writing an entire paragraph about how I like that the show kept the nikolina relationship ambiguous. dominik, five seconds later: sO THOSE ROMANTIC FEELINGS YOU HAVE. me: god fucking dammit. you two, kiss instead. it’s time to make nikolai lantsov canonically bisexual. the people have waited long enough.

okay well as long as I’m paused to tell you My Many Many Headcanons About The Delicate Ambiguity of Nikolai’s Love Life: despite me yelling KISS, my actual default interpretation of Dominikolai is not childhood sweethearts but that there was either a) pining that never got acted on, and then it was too late, or b) nikolai not even realizing until he’s older and dominik’s long dead that in retrospect, Those Were Feelings, bc I think that’s a very first queer love mood. anyway, I will be choosing to interpret dominik asking after alina as being infused with some jealousy, because poor dominik has been quietly carrying a torch for Years  

DOMINIK IS CLEARLY IN LOVE WITH HIM, LOOK AT THIS EXCHANGE. “a king who won’t shut up.” feelings about it, thank you!! much as I have fun with nikolai’s self-aggrandizing humor, I do love that the self-aggrandizement is covering for his very self-deprecating inner monologue

Mal fixing the thing that’s clanking by retying the rope is SUCH a good quiet character moment, it’s the kind of quiet character moment I love, it’s one of those small little actions with a character alone that tells you so much about them, I LOVE THAT WE’RE TAKING MORE TIME FOR QUIET CHARACTER MOMENTS THIS SEASON, I LOVE THAT DESPITE DOING THREE ENTIRE BOOKS WE’RE GIVING THE STORY MORE BREATHING ROOM

this long shot of mal’s face while hugging nikolai has got me like ;____; ARCHIE IS REALLY GOOD, he’s doing “man heading willingly to the gallows” SO fucking well!!!!!

“then I met you and for the very first time I thought this is the life”? oh, we’re even feeding the malolais this episode (malolai? is that accurate? sounds better than nikmal). crumbs for ALL the multishippers of Ravka!

nikolai’s face like “iiiiiiiii also envy Sturmhond’s life. oh god, mY PATH IS ALSO SET. OH GOD.” you can watch in real-time as Mal’s talking that Nikolai is having a whole-ass realization that he’s actually king now oh god

THE “DESERVE HER” HITTIN REAL HARD NOW THAT I ACTUALLY LIKE MAL. god, I will say, “you can’t win unless you kill your love personally” is one HELL of a fucking trope. that is narratively delicious. that is juicy as fuck. but the question remains: do we actually follow through on this emotional set up? or will it all be a convenient bait and switch? Will We Be Brave Enough To Stick To Our Narrative Stakes?

David is So Fucking Cute

oh don’t stop his heart for two minutes, that’s CHEATING! it’s ALWAYS BEEN CHEATING! if you set up emotional stakes and then TAKE A SHORTCUT AROUND THEM, you are SHORT-CHANGING THE WEIGHT OF YOUR OWN NARRATIVE!

“SO WHAT SHOULD WE AMPUTATE” oh david. you’re iconic.

hm. turning Epilogue Narration into Dialogue. that’s Suspicious. are we….. are we perhaps………. making the brave writing choice?

OHHHHH WE’RE TURNING NIKOLAI’S INNER MONOLOGUE INTO A DRAMATIC ROUSING SPEECH, I’M HAVING FEELINGS ABOUT IT!!!!!!

god there are truly SO MANY book lines in this season, WAY MORE than season 1. it’s making me glad I have as good a memory as I do for Sentences. because I’m constantly like AYYY THAT LINE. AAYY!! THAT LINE!!!! AYYYYYYY THAT LINE!!!!!!

my boy my beautiful boy my beautiful perfect boy, I love him so much

also are we gonna have time to volcrafy him? is that coming soon?

“that your religion would deny you satisfaction” “there is other satisfaction” and on that day pekkathias was born and everyone felt confused about it

“HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED” kjshdfgkjhfdg god Archie’s comedic timing / dark humor is SO good this season

“fOR REAL NOW” how is this scene simultaneously so funny and so Deeply Uncomfortably Emotional

AND THE STAKES ARE RAISED

Dominik helping an injured Nikolai along :3333333

YOU KNOW, WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING, “DOMINIKOLAI CONTENT” WAS NOT SOMETHING I EXPECTED I’D BE EXPERIENCING. DID NOT SEE THAT ONE COMING. I know Nikolai mentioned a Dominik a couple episodes ago but I was like “don’t put your clown shoes on, it’s just a guy with the same name” but for once! for ONCE! the shoes were not clown shoes. and here I thought I was gonna have to use that guy from the WWI period drama Paddy did in order to make a very niche Dominikolai gifset. NOPE, I CAN JUST GIF THE GODDAMN SHOW! insane! this is insane to me!

Vladim having an amplifier tattoo instead of bone is a really cool concept

also cool concepts: 1. expanding the fold to cover your battleground, THAT IS A FUCKING STAKE THAT YOU ARE RAISING, I’m extremely excited about it 2. the nichevo’ya popping up and grabbing the volcra by the throat, I love it. this escalation is exciting as hell.

[Volcra munching] OH I LOVE NETFLIX SUBTITLES. NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS [TENTACLES SQUELCHING WETLY] OR [OMINOUS SYNTH MUSIC] BUT YOU DO LOVE TO SEE IT

that now that was an ENTRANCE Inej!!!

“BIG FAN” I love Nina

“NO NO NO NO NO! NO HEROICS!” have you ever seen a man more in love than Dominik I-didn’t-catch-whatever-last-name-the-show-gave-him?

TAMAR AND NIKOLAI HUG!!!! one of my beefs with the later books is that there’s not enough…. friendship between Nikolai and the twins. BUT THERE SHOULD BE. THEY HAVE A LOT OF HISTORY.

Zhaban siblings Squalling together with each of them having only one good arm is Really Good, and I might have to finally forgive Adrik for the crime of being super annoying in King of Scars

Dominikolai shooting together is Really Good, and I don’t know what crime it’s going to make me forgive, but I’ll find one and assign that as my recompense. lack of Oncat, maybe.

me every single time Dominik does Literally Anything in this fight sequence: no don’t be a hero, you’ve already been doomed by the narrative from the start!!!! I know I’m going to watch you die in Nikolai’s arms, I just don’t know WHEN

has anyone in the history of storytelling ever said “cover me” in a heterosexual way? I Think Not

watching Lewis Tan do stunts is EXACTLY as beautiful as I’ve heard. he really does have a beautiful fluid way of moving

THIS COUNTRY GETS YOU IN THE END BROTHER!!!!! SOLDIERS DID NOT CRY, PRINCES DID NOT WEEP, NIKOLAI KNEW THIS, BUT THE TEARS FELL ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you’d allow me to put on my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say that I do think it’s thematically more important that Dominik was originally killed on the Fjerdan front, because it taught Nikolai the ordinary everyday ongoing horrors of Ravka, and the casual violence and loss of life that everyone is subjected to. It’s important that Dominik represents the “every man” killed in the mud and bleeding in the snow, as so many have. That he was just one more death of many—on a regular day, in a regular war, not even particularly noteworthy except to the one person who cared about him—in an endless and ongoing war that treated the entire country as cannon fodder. if you’d allow me to take off my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say I CANNOT BELIEVE I GOT A MINI-DOMINIKOLAI ARC ON MY ACTUAL TV SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

…………david what ARE you doing DAVID YOU DON’T DIE UNTIL RULE OF WOLVES, DAVID WHAT ARE YOU DOING DAVID DAVID DAVID DAVID DAVID

if you’d allow me to put on my literary analysis hat for a moment, I will say that I do think it’s thematically more important that David was originally killed BY FJERDAN BOMBERS, THUS DEMONSTRATING THE SENSELESS ONGOING VIOLENCE OF RAVKA’S WARS—

I am actually going to give props for the camera lingering on Enemy Inferni dying and the other two being gutted about it. most things don’t usually show The Bad Guys mourning their losses, I am going to give a point for that

okay Jesper taking Sankta Neyar’s advice and using his buttons as bullets is Very Good

alright well Dominik’s dead, time to shift into Kazolai mode

augghhhh Nikolai casting that finally look at where Dominik’s lying as they leave, even though he’s out of frame of the camera

we don’t have a lot of time left in this episode, are we going to follow up on the very Demon in the Wood intro sequence, or have I been BAITED AGAIN. hAVE I BEEN DECEIVED. LIED TO. TRICKED. are we not doing that thing I said about the loss of innocence and the cycles of violence, because like, I had a point with that. they need to listen to me, because I have POINTS about THEMES and how to dO STUFF WITH THEM

The visuals on the firebird light streams is VERY good with the red and the wing-like formations

oh god the silence on the end credits oH GOD

anyway, that was some genuinely incredible extended fight choreography that didn’t skimp on the emotional moments in favor of the action, I had a good time

[suzuran777]

Review: Laughter Land (Langmaor)

After many people recommended this game to me, I finally played it! It’s a dark fantasy game published by Langmaor, directed by Yura, who is of course well-known for Luckydog 1. She was also the main artist of the three other Langmaor games (Enzai, Absolute Obedience and Teikoku Sensenki) though this time it seems like she took a break and Yuzuki Ichi was in charge of the art and character design. If you’re okay with games like Enzai, I think this one should be no problem to play, but of course avoid it if you’re not into that kind of stuff.

Synopsis This story focuses on protagonist Richard McBain (Dick), a young boy living in a small village, who grew bored of his everyday life. One day when he attends the local village fair, he meets a mysterious boy who seems to resemble a jester. He introduces himself as Guillered and talks about a different world called ‘Laughter Land’. In this world, every wish can be granted and children never grow up. Every day is fun and nobody has to work or go to school. Before he knows it, our protagonist finds himself in Laughter Land. Everything Guillered promised him is almost too good to be true...

The game’s story sometimes reminded me a little bit of Peter Pan, the children in this game can stay young forever and they don’t naturally age. Upon entering Laughter Land, Guillered implants a red gem into everyone’s bodies, which gives him the ability to make wishes. He however fails to explain that not everyone in this world stays young forever, the second they develop a more mature mindset their red gem turns into a blue gem and they’re not allowed to stay in Laughter Land anymore. Well... guess what, this also happens to Dick in the first route you play. Guards surround his house and he is forcefully taken to the ‘Forbidden Zone’, a place where people who possess blue gems live. These gems aren’t able to grant any wishes anymore and basically serve no purpose. 

The Forbidden Zone is not a place most people want to live, rampant with criminal organizations and drug problems. However not everyone who lives there is bad, there are many people who were unfortunate enough to be born there or who ‘matured’ after being brought to Laughter Land.

Characters

Richard McBain (Dick) Our protagonist. Everyone in the game calls him Dick (...yeah that's something I had to get used to lol). He's a curious young boy, but a bit sceptical to the rules of this new world he got transported to. Soon after his arrival he starts regretting his decisions of coming here.

Guillered The person who created Laughter Land and who is responsible for bringing all of the children there. He tells Dick that he just wants everyone in this world to be happy, but he seems to be hiding something. Throughout the story he often appears to give Dick advice.

Ioan A very intelligent boy who can often be found at the library. He is very shy and can often be found studying and reading. He can sometimes be a little bit clumsy which often results into him making mistakes.

Roddy An enthusiastic boy who highly values his friends, always willing to help others in need. He is always looking for someone to accompany him during his daily adventures. He loves flying in the sky and going to various places to play.

Cornel A boy who helps patrolling Laughter Land, always looking for ‘blues’ who aren't allowed to stay there. He likes being the center of attention and has a hard time admitting any of his mistakes. Can often be found together with his brother Oswald.

Sergi One of the people who live in the ‘Forbidden Zone’. He's very serious and calm. Likes bargaining with people. He seems to be looking for his family who also seem somewhere in Laughter Land.

Greg Also lives in the ‘Forbidden Zone’. He gambles a lot and immediately spends all of his money. He can sometimes be a little bit strange, but he’s very protective of his friends and often takes care of stray animals and injured children.

Dag Another resident of the 'Forbidden Zone. A watchmaker who also seems to be working on several other projects. However, his laid-back behavior and love for alcohol prevent him from completing any of these projects. He is a very friendly and caring person who takes care of his friends.

The game uses an interesting mechanic which allows the main character to travel back in time, so the whole first route is one long ‘common route’ which introduces the world and characters to you. After this I tried playing the routes of each character with a red gem first, because they’re the first ones you meet in the common route. I was also interested in learning why exactly these characters were able to stay ‘young’ forever, while others couldn’t. Many of them have been living there for years so their real ages remain unknown.

Even during these routes in which Dick’s gem doesn’t turn blue, not everything is as happy as Guillered claims. The second anyone is transported to Laughter Land they forget about people who they used to know in the real world. Furthermore, every time they make a wish, one person they know in the real world will forget about them. By doing so, children who travelled to this world have no reason to return to the real world anymore, as nobody will be waiting for them anymore at ‘home’. You can keep track of this in-game too which was quite interesting!

I played the game in the following order: Roddy > Ioan > Cornel > Sergi > Greg > Dag > Guillared > True route. However when I look back at it now it might be better to play Cornel's route a bit later because he returns in Guillered's route too. Sergi's story is also surprisingly relevant to the True route, so maybe that's also one better saved for last. I used half-a-net's guide for this one because the one posted on Aarinfantasy seemed to spoil some endings. Each route is not super long compared to most other visual novels, but I think it's just the right amount. Even though not every route has the most happy ending, the ‘true’ ending definitely makes up for that. 

By the way, I really like how the game’s user interface always displays the gem, so you can check if you’re aiming for the right route. When you make more ’mature’ decisions the red germs starts getting darker and eventually turns purple. If you keep making these decisions it will eventually turn blue. In Ioan’s route it’s mentioned that purple gems can still turn red again, but the second your gem has turned blue it’s too late and it won’t be able to turn red ever again. 

I think the only thing that didn't get explained much is whatever this side character called Zachariah’s purpose is. He is the leader of this kind of shady organization and the casino owner. I thought he was going to be the main villain but he wasn't really (?), but maybe he's just there to add some suspense to the blue gem routes. That's honestly the only thing I can think of that doesn't make much sense to me, but it’s probably also not that important. I think I do want to try getting a copy of the official setting book eventually, but because the game’s so old I’ll have to hunt down a second-hand copy.

I honestly had no idea this game even existed because Jast only localized Enzai and Absolute Obedience (Zettai Fukuyuu Meirei) a long time ago, which also means Laughter Land is only available in Japanese. It was released I'm 2006 but I still really liked the the art in this game, the CGs are really pretty and colorful. I also really liked the OST! 

I guess I will continue playing older BL visual novels because you never know when you’ll find something good nobody talks about. Definitely DM me if you have any more recommendations!

[lost-the-plot-reviews]

1917  - 2019                                  Dir. Sam Mendes

Date Watched: May 8, 2023         Platform: BBC iPlayer (until Jun 7th)

TW: War, Gore, Blood, Explosions, Gunfire, Death, Burn Victims, Loud Noises, Jump-scares

Synopsis: Set in the intense trench warfare of the First World War, 1917 follows two British Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield as they are sent to deliver an urgent message to an isolated regiment to prevent 1,600 men from walking into a deadly trap. The mission sees the pair cross no man’s land and through supposedly abandoned enemy trenches to deliver the orders before it’s too late. Shot and edited to create the illusion of being one continuous take. 1917 follows the two courageous men through every step of their dangerous journey.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Again something I have been meaning to get round to watching and I have this on DVD so absolutely no excuse but as someone who isn’t so connected with war strategies and army jargon like the generations before me, purposely watching a period war epic wasn’t really on my immediate to do list. However when I found this film showing on BBC2 I decided to sit tight and make the time and I am so pleased that I did. Following the main characters through trenches and no man’s land in war torn France through one “continuous” shot means you don’t miss anything out, there are next to no gaps in the protagonists story that could leave you confused or distracted. I felt like a video game particularly the way the camera pans around the characters. Following this story in such closed parameters as this allows you as a viewer to experience the gruesome and terrifying atrocities of WW1 close-up but not so much that it can overwhelm. The characters are always moving, they have to be determined to just get to their destination no matter what so we don’t have time to dwell on the rat infested mine shaft or the mass of dead bodies damming the river. There are plenty of jump scares which again reminded me of a video game just a bit. These scares aren’t overused and are a very effective way to have the grim reality of war acknowledged by the characters and the story. The fear of every breath being your last is very real in this film and the story doesn’t shy away from sudden deaths. Even with the characters’ need to keep going desensitising them from the horrors around them, there are some extremely emotional beats in moments where I as a viewer felt like I needed to cry just by the sheer rollercoaster I felt I had gone on with the protagonists. The ending isn’t necessarily a happy one but, with the help of a score by Thomas Newman, the film ends on a hopeful note. Rather than a joyful ending the emotion is more relief as the script could’ve ended on a far gloomier note and you are incredibly thankful it didn’t.

This war epic feels like one of the most accessible I have seen as the no-visible-cuts approach in the edit does wonders for the pacing. It could have ran for an extra hour and I probably would not have noticed. Even one of the major plot points that happened at the half way mark had me questioning if it was too early for that to happen but only because I had felt like it had barely been on ten minutes. I say that as a compliment because with my attention span and tendency to tune out of media even when I am actually interested in it, this film engaged me from start to finish to the point that I didn’t want to leave the room for anything. I wish I’d seen this in the cinema at the time but again gritty war epics aren’t really marketed to me and maybe they should but also maybe I should be more open minded. Also I am like an OG George McKay stan (I voted for him when he was nominated for BAFTA Rising Star and I’m still sad he didn’t win) and I think his performance in this should’ve been more recognised during award season, I don’t really understand how anyone is still sleeping on him after seeing this film but anyway you were still my favourite lost boy George. Now if you are technically minded about the making of films like me you might be desperate to understand how this film appears to be one long take. This is almost exclusively editing trickery like no fortunately they didn’t have to shoot perfectly for two hours like how would that work outside of a play anyway. The effect was created using invisible transitions such as when the characters go into pitch darkness or behind objects and set pieces for example. It doesn’t ruin the immersion but allows for cuts to be made however it does require a lot of precision and rehearsal. It reported took 6 months for the actors to rehearse this film before shooting so they could get every detail precise and accurate. As a result the longest unbroken shot is only 8 ½ minutes and the shortest just shy of 40 seconds. Editor Lee Smith also worked on the Bond film Spectre so if you are at all familiar with the opening of that film than this might give you an idea of the undertaking that was the process of making 1917. This film really affected me in a way I didn’t expect and I think I would choose to watch it again, the level of immersion, emotion and stakes is why I have awarded 5/5. I urge everyone to make time for this movie even if you think you won’t like it.