#hope to get to those descriptions at some point 🥲

[orykorioart]

Between Raihan and Leon, who do you think would be better at drawing? And what kind of stuff would they draw?

This mighty’ve have been a general ask, but I had a little idea so here’s a quick sketch! (Sorry it took a WhileTM to get to it haha)

I don’t think they draw a lot, but when they do their pokemon would be the top candidate for being drawn. They are probably somewhat supportive (with the classic hint of rivalry that they usually have) of each other’s arts… their pokemon on the other hand 👀…

[polaroidpascal]

may || javi gutierrez

AO3 || MASTERLIST

pairing : boss!javi x f!reader

summary : fresh out of your last final for the semester, you learn that your application was accepted for a summer job at a fancy Majorca resort. you're excited to get to tour the place and start working. more importantly, you can finally meet your mysterious boss who you find doesn't easily leave your mind.

tags : no smut, just some set up :), no use of y/n, no description of reader besides an outfit description (all baggy-fitted clothes!), javi is your boss and gabriela works with him, copious text exchanges with friends (because for some reason, i can't stop doing that), not proofread or beta read so plz be nice 🥲

WC : ~3.4k

a/n : long time, no see 😅 life has admittedly been a little chaotic but this idea came to me and i wrote this very quickly honestly just because i got excited. this part is just a set up but there will definitely be more to come!! 🫶

“Have a nice summer,” you whisper to your professor as you hand in your final exam, the last one for the semester. He kindly smiles back offering an equally quiet “You too,” before you turn to leave the classroom.

Relief floods your body as you walk down the hallway. You hadn’t had time to fully appreciate where you were until now; studying abroad in Barcelona during the beauty of spring right at the turn of summer. 

You had only just transferred to this school this semester, finally abandoning the tedious life you knew in your hometown. The comfort of familiarity where you grew up but had ultimately trapped yourself in while searching for schools, too nervous at the time to apply anywhere else.

You finally hit your breaking point with the numbing monotony and applied to this place. The day you got the acceptance letter was one of the happiest you’ve ever had. Now, you’re far from home but the company of the friends you’ve made during the past few months makes the homesickness easier. A slight ache of dread grows in your stomach when you remember that while it's the very end of May and the academics are over, your next battle is to find a summer job. 

You open your phone to check your emails, hoping one of the places you’ve applied has gotten back to you. A few haven’t, and those that have all say some variation of, “Thank you for your application, but we are looking for something different than the skills you have to offer.” Your shoulders slump a little, disappointed that you’ll have to go applying to places again, but right before you click your phone off, a new email comes through.

It’s labeled from a hotel resort in Majorca, just about an hour’s flight away, that you had applied to after seeing their ad pop up on your phone one day. 

You skim over the preview, “Thank you for applying to Bond Resort & Spa, we appreciate your…” The suspense of the cutoff is enough for you to stop and tap on the email. “…thorough application. We are pleased to tell you that you have been accepted for employment for the duration of the summer. We excitedly await your presence on the Bond team!”

You can’t help but smile down at your phone. Out of all the places you had applied, this one was admittedly the one you wanted most. Not only were you going to be able to see yet another new place, but hotel staff duties were not something you considered especially taxing, and the pay was pretty enticing too. You excitedly opened your messages to quickly tell your friends back home the news before clicking your phone off and making your way to your car.

The next morning, you wake up to all of your friends’ congratulation texts.

WHAT?! THAT’S AMAZING

so happy for you!!

we should have a group call to celebrate. call around lunch time for us tomorrow?

we’ll see what she says when she wakes up LOL

You chuckle and write back, lol that works for me :)

They call you later that day as you’re sitting down to have your dinner, excitedly popping open your laptop and sitting at your kitchen table. You talk for a while listening to their lives, the gossip you’ve missed out on, their grades, their flings, their lives—

“But you! All the way in Spain and you have that great new job for the summer!” your friend Ella says, breaking you from your thoughts 

You chuckle a bit and blush. “Yeah, yeah…”

“No, seriously. We’re so happy for you!”

Your other friend, Sophie, jumps in, “You got out and you’re seeing the world!”

You smile back at them. “Thanks, guys.”

“So… tell us everything!”

And you do. You tell them about the friends you’ve made in your classes and all the places you’ve gotten to see. They ask countless questions about every little thing as if you haven’t sent them pictures and updates while you’ve been gone.

“And what about the job? What’s it all about?” Sophie asks.

“Uhhh, well it’s at a hotel resort in Majorca. Which is only, like, an hour flight away.”

“So you get to visit another new place?!” Ella exclaims.

“Yes,” you laugh, “Another new place. And they have places at the resort where employees can stay, so I don’t even have to find an apartment or roommates or anything. The room, water, electricity -- that’s all included as an employee benefits thing, but that’s all.”

“‘That’s all,’” Sophie mocks in air quotes and the three of you laugh. “How about the boss, did you meet them?”

“No, not yet. I just submitted my application and they told me I was hired. The owner’s got a little contact section on the website, that’s how I got my application in. Actually, I’m supposed to have a little meeting thing with him tomorrow.”

“Wait, so they covered the flights too?” Ella interjects.

“Yeah, I guess I forgot to say that, didn’t I?”

“Uh, yeah! This place must be nice if they’re covering all these things for you.”

“Okay, okay, I do admit that it’s one of the nicest resorts I’ve seen. I really can’t believe they accepted me to be honest.”

“Well, I bet they can just sense that you’ll be a great employee. I’m sure he’ll be a great boss, too. And if he’s not, we’ll fly out there and show him what’s up,” Ella says.

“Yeah, exactly,” Sophie adds, both of them nodding to you.

“Well, thanks guys, that’s really nice of you,” you laugh, and they begin to chuckle too.

Your official interview-slash-orientation meeting is scheduled for noon the next day, and as you drift off to bed that night, you wonder about how your new boss and coworkers will be.

You’re woken by your sharp alarm at 8:00, stretching and rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You grab your phone to turn off the alarm and see more texts from your friends.

have fun today!!

and don’t forget to tell us all about your boss later too 🤭

thanks 🥹 i’ll make sure to update later <3

Your morning goes as usual, slipping into the clothes you picked out last night to save yourself from the half-awake decision making this morning. You chose a loose-fitted blouse and flowy pants complete with your comfiest sandals, topped off with a little bandana to keep your hair back and a tote bag. You decide to sit and eat at the cafe near your apartment instead of making something and grab your sunglasses on your way out the door.

The weather is not as hot as you had expected, the light wind breezing through your clothes a little bit and keeping you cool. It’s a little past 9:00 on a Sunday morning, and the streets are relatively quiet. When you reach the cafe, it's fairly empty and your food is out right away. There’s a free table near the water that you sit at, enjoying the serenity of this little place.

As you eat, you think about going home later to finish packing before you officially settle in for your stay at this resort. You pull out your phone and go to the website, scrolling through the pictures of the pools, the beach access, suite layouts… at the bottom of the website is your bosses contact information.

You click on the tab again, the same one you searched a few weeks ago when you first put in your application, showing the resort address, email, phone number, and the name of your new boss: Javi Gutierrez. Still no photo, just like the last time you checked.

Curiosity grabs hold of you, and you look up his name to see what else you can find out about the man. Nothing really shows up besides the hotel website, a LinkedIn, and a private Facebook page. All you can see is the profile picture, but it’s not a person, it’s a beautiful sunset picture of the beach.

You find some more luck under the photos tab, though. Pictures from a few articles over the years pop up but they’re unfortunately all grainy. If you squint, you can see curly brown hair, maybe even a few sun bleached streaks here and there. The skin on his arms looks tanned, the color one would get from sitting in the sun regularly. In this picture, he’s wearing a nice blue blazer, khaki pants, and brown loafers. You can at least tell he’s a pretty good looking guy.

After your little investigation, you finish up your breakfast and walk to the bus stop to make your way to the airport.

The flight is short and sweet, and everything goes well. As you walk through the airport, you see the driver with your name on a card (they did say all travel concerns would be taken care of). The driver helps you into the back of the car and drives you to the resort.

You pull up into the main circle of the place and you’re immediately overwhelmed. The building is gorgeous. It towers at least 20 stories and the detailing on the sides is fucking incredible. Each window is adorned with the most intricate and beautiful designs etched into the concrete with metal faux balconies to top it off. Leasing into the main lobby, marble pillars of angelic-looking women dressed in silk stand at attention on either side. You’ve never seen a place look so beautiful before.

The driver helps you out of the car just as he did before and you’re immediately greeted by a beautiful woman holding a clipboard.

“Hello!” she exclaims, extending her arms out for a hug. “It is so nice to meet you! My name is Gabriela, I’m the general manager of the resort.”

“Nice to meet you too, Gabriela! This place is amazing.”

“Yes, we take a lot of pride in our decor. Everything was hand-picked by the owner of the hotel. He wanted everything to be absolutely perfect.”

You get lost in a quick thought, thinking about the couple of pictures you found of him earlier and still having no idea what to expect from this man. But, this is a start. He hand-picked these stunning statues…

“Oh, don’t worry, you will get to meet him today!”

You blush, knowing you must have looked so spaced out for a second. “That’s great,” you nervously laugh off.

“Why don’t we just get started, huh? Plenty of places to show you around!”

You follow Gabriela into the lobby and marvel at the even prettier decor inside. Tall ceilings, glossy floors, beautiful floral carpets, and your favorite part of the whole room: a gigantic, sparkly, detailed and delicate chandelier dangling from the ceiling in a complicated web of crystals and lights. Your eyes must twinkle in its reflection as you stare up into it.

Gabriela smiles at you. “Beautiful, no? It’s one of my favorite parts of the whole resort.”

“It’s absolutely amazing,” you say, an almost childlike wonder lacing your words.

Gabriela chuckles and grabs a couple more papers from the front desk before leading you around the resort. She shows you the rest of the lobby as well as some of the shops on the main floor. She leads you to the hub of elevators, briefly taking you into one just to peek inside. She takes you to the pool, the little arcade, the beach walk that leads to the beach… You can’t help but silently awe at how picturesque everything looks. Like if you were to pick a postcard off a random shelf and plop yourself right into the middle of it.

You walk back to the lobby and elevators and this time she presses a button, then taps a card to the card reader. “Javi’s office is way at the top, best view from there.”

“Oh, okay,” you say. Suddenly, your palms start to sweat and you gently wipe them on your pants and your heart starts to beat a little faster. You don’t know why you’re so nervous, everything seems to be going very well and they pretty much said you already have the job.

Maybe it’s something about the mystery of this man. All you have to go off of so far are grainy article pictures and his choice of architectural decor. What if he’s actually a little blunt or rude? What if he doesn’t like you? What if you don’t like him and you’re stuck with this job and a boss you hate and—

The elevator doors open up right into his office. His desk is facing away from the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows that let the light in, a beautiful blue sky adorned with giant clouds behind the glass. His chair is turned around and he stands by the window staring out to the beach and ocean below. He turns around when he hears the elevator doors open with a ding.

“Ah, you must be the new girl!” he exclaims with his arms out wide. “Come, please sit.”

He assumes his chair as you and Gabriela sit and holds out his hand to shake yours, “I’m Javi.” You take his hand and introduce yourself, trying not to let your voice catch in your throat with how dry your mouth feels. “I see you’ve already made good acquaintance with Gabriela.”

“Yes, she’s been wonderful,” you say, crossing your legs and resting your hands in your lap.

Now that you’re sitting right across from him with the nerves dying down just a little, you can fully take in the man sitting across from you. Those grainy pictures did him no justice; he may just be the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen. His hair is definitely a little sun bleached just as you suspected, faintly blonde streaks adorning a few of his curls. His hair perfectly frames his face as it falls down his head. His mustache and patchy beard look kept but natural. And his skin… where his sleeves are pushed up a bit, his beautifully tanned complexion littered with freckles stares back at you.

Whatever he has been saying to you is completely lost on you as you blankly nod back pretending to listen. You’re already entranced.

This is going to be a long summer.

“So, what did you think about the resort?” he asks, leaning on his desk with a gentle intrigue.

“I thought it was absolutely beautiful,” you say, trying not to stutter over your words after being so quiet for a minute. “Gabriela was telling me how you chose the decor?”

“Oh, yes, I did,” he shyly admits. “I got to oversee the design choices when we were building. I wanted it to be perfect.”

“Well, mission accomplished,” you chuckle and they both laugh.

“I haven’t shown her where the staff stays yet, that was our last place to stop today,” Gabriela tells Javi.

“Perfect! Would you mind if I tagged along?” he asks you.

Gabriela looks to you, both awaiting your answer. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t mind that at all!”

“Excellent. Shall we?” Javi moves to stand, pushing his chair out from under him. You and Gabriela stand as well, the three of you moving towards the elevator. You only go down two or three floors before the doors open again.

The elevator opens into a room with a few couches and tables, another wall of windows greeting you. There are some people around, some in uniforms waiting to enter the elevator and some in normal clothes lounging around. This must be some sort of common area, you think, and politely smile at the people looking at the group of you before stepping out of the elevator.

“These are the other workers here, this is one of the floors where we have employees stay,” Javi explains. “This is a common area to hang out, in case you get bored of the same four hotel walls.”

“These floors can only be accessed with your ID, it’s programmed into the card so you need to tap it in the elevator to get past a certain floor. Completely safe, no other room keys have the access,” Gabriela adds.

“We’ll get you one of those tomorrow so you can move into your room,” Javi says to you with a gentle smile.

“Thank you,” you smile back and try to ignore how it makes your heart skip a little bit.

He holds your eye contact for half a second too long before seemingly coming back to earth with a slight shake to his head. “Well, um, it was very nice to meet you,” he says and shakes your hand again, cupping it with his other hand this time too. His hands are big but soft. And warm. You feel a blush threaten to creep onto your cheeks.

“Very nice to meet you, Mr. Javi.” If you had been more calm at that moment, you might have seen the twitch of his chest with the small but sharp inhale he took when you said that, but your tunnel vision was focused on getting back into the elevator with Gabriela before you said or did something stupid.

She walks you back through the lobby to the front of the hotel again, giving you a friendly hug before helping you into the car.

Back home, you finish your half-done packing (just clothes, you were coming back when school started again in the fall) and take a quick shower.

You let the water wash the day away and your mind wanders while you gently massage the shampoo into your scalp. You can’t stop thinking about this new job. And Gabriela.

And Javi…

But you stop yourself. You’ve literally just met him. And not only is he your boss, but he is probably an extremely busy guy, owning an entire resort and all. That may just as well be the most time you’ll ever spend with the man.

You finish your shower without entertaining any more thoughts of Javi, dry off and slip into some comfy clothes, decent looking enough that you planned to wear them tomorrow as well. You settle onto the couch and order some takeout for dinner.

As if on cue, your phone starts buzzing with texts.

how did everything go today? how’s this mysterious boss?

yeah, how was it?

was he mean or hot

ella 💀

what? I WANNA KNOW

guys plz, i only met him briefly. another girl showed me around mostly

okay, was SHE hot?

ELLA 😭

lol yes ella she was very pretty

omg

what did she show you?

the lobby, the pool, the beach, and then they both showed me the living floors. the views were insane, i’ll have to send pictures as soon as i can

that’s so amazing, we’re so happy for you 🥹

we really are, it sounds amazing 🥹 but back to my earlier question… WAS. HE. HOT.

yes ella, he was hot

omfg.

Settling into your room the next day takes no time at all. You move your clothes from your suitcase into your drawers and make yourself at home with a few blankets here and there. On the dresser where your tv also sits is a neatly folded uniform, a towel folded like a little bear, and an ID with your name on it. Next to the stack is a little folded notecard. You open it up and read the inside:

We hope you feel cozy in your new room! If you ever need anything, mine and Gabriela’s desk phone numbers are written below. Welcome to the family!

— Mr. Javi

You feel a faint, dull flutter in your chest holding the note but you quickly shake it off. He’s the boss, he’s most likely written one of these for every single person who works here. Just a friendly and personal way to leave contact information in case of emergencies.

Nothing to dwell over. Nothing at all.

You grab one of the magnets on the mini fridge and hang the note there in case you ever need it. 

But your mind wanders like it always does and this time you can’t reign it in quick enough.

Mr. Javi….

Yeah, this is definitely gonna be a long summer.

a/n : please lmk what you think! more parts will be coming, i promise! and thank u for reading 🫶

[inkstainedhandswithrings]

TBB s3 ep4 Thoughts!!!

Oooohh starting off strong

Omega immediately wanting to go back because “it’s right”

Crosshair wanting to keep moving, not because he’s scared of going back but because he understands that he can’t help anyone if he’s dead

Ah there he is. The bitch. The Hemcock.

I wanna say Nala Sa deserves to be in prison but idk I’m starting to feel for her

Pretty sure she won’t survive the season though

IM SORRY THAT SHOT WHERE THE COAT IS HANGING OVER THAT POWER LINE???

is that,,,, a reference to yanno,,, shoes hanging from a power line?

hahahahahahah poncho stormtroopers

“You’re the one who wanted to bring… the hound.”

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

YOUR HONOUR I LOVE THEM

best duo this show has given us

If Hunter was the hesitant but willing dad, Crosshair is the exasperated older brother that was forced to bring his younger sister to the party he was invited to an now has to spent all night watching her

Ey not cool Omega. Someone was using that jacket to advertise their business

“See, isn’t this better?” “No.” “Ugh.”

HAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHHA

“I could take out half of them before they even know what happened” 😳😳

Yeah, I believe you sir

Damn fuck how many more clone crushes will I have to be burdened with

Jesus Christ

“That went well” “Stow it”

THEM

YOUR HONOUR

THEM!!!

Scottish Robot ahhahahahahaha

Say what you will about Crosshair, when that dude sat down across from Omega he was ready for a FIGHT

big ol’ softie <3

“You or your dad”

Glad Hunter wasn’t there to hear that

Or Crosshair for that matter

Both would’ve blown their cover

Tbh Crosshair makes a fair point about leaving while they can. The planet is filled with Empirials and they are running out of time

But he also hasn’t been part of a team in a while and maybe he’s forgotten some of what that entails too

Either way, loving how “selfless” and “selfish” are meeting in this ep

“I’ll do it your way BUT I WOULD LIKE THE RECORD TO REFECT THAT I DONT WIKE IT!”

Crosshair giving Omega a boost to get over the wall I’m crying

“Shouldn’t we free the other animals too?” “Don’t push it.”

HE IS MY SOULMATE (based on sarcasm. I am vegetarian and I would free those animal friendos in a heartbeat)

The extra head shake and eye roll at that question too, he is already so done I can’t hahahahahahahah

“I hope your take-offs are better than your landings” “we’re about to find out”

Aaaaaaand that just reminded me that Tech was the one who taught her to fly

🥲🥲🥲🥲

That fucking shriek when the stormtrooper got blasted by the engine hahahahahaha

Ohohoh altered batch theme after take off? Okayokayokay I see you👀

Jesus Christ, Crosshair trying to prepare Omega for the very real possibility that Hunter and Wrecker are dead?

Like I know it seems cruel and defeatist but it’s actually kind in a way

Managing expectations in order to save her from a worse fall out

FUCK I THOUGHT I’D HAVE TO WAIT TILL NEXT EPISODE FOR THEM REUNION

JESUS

AAAAAAHHHHH

“We crossed the galaxy four times looking for you”

SIR

I AM QUACKING

why did Hunter’s appearance suddenly piss me off

Like Wrecker had a cute line and Hunter had to walk up like

“Um, five actually”

Like idk it felt like he was taking over the moment (which makes sense because he’s her dad but still it just sounded awkward)

EXCUSE ME??? I BEG YOUR BIGGEST PARDON??

Omega just explained that she only got off that planet AND survived so far thanks to Crosshair and all they can do is look all bitchy butt-hurt

Like I expected this from Hunter but why isn’t Wrecker hugging him?

Bc they went looking for Cross before, I thought we were past the straight up hate?

Love how stoically Cross is taking it though

I have to admit, so far this is one of my all time favourites. The comedic timing, the very real story line, the confrontation of previously opposed characters? Wonderful. But the pièce de résistance? Crosshair’s character description rings true again. “Severe and unyielding” Tech had said. I’ve rambled about this a lot recently, but the boiled down version is that when Crosshair commits to something, he commits all the way. Like how he committed to the Empire so hard that he hunted down his brothers. Or when he finally decided the Empire was a bunch of shitbags and shot officer shitbag (I forget his name) in the face. He has now decided to commit to Omega, for whatever reason. And it shows. Because even when she tells him to go, he’s literally only a minute behind her. He lets her employ her own strategies despite his preference and experience. He’s ready to beat up Captain Dickhead (did they even give him a name?) for sitting down across from her. He tells her to get into the ship first while he lays down cover fire.

Crosshair’s next “severe and unyielding” decision is Omega’s safety. And I couldn’t be more excited to see where it goes!

AND I cannot believe how much I suddenly like his character. I was so disinterested in him for like s1 and maybe 90% of s2 but now I am more interested in what becomes of him than I am in what the deal is with Omega’s M-count.

I’m saying it now. These seasons hyper focuses are: Rex, Echo and Crosshair (in that order) (for now, we’ll see)

Thanks to everyone who sat through that, have a good day/night/whatever, friend!

[earthtooz]

hello! i love your works so much everything you write is perfect! i stopped writing more than a year ago but reading your works inspired me to write again 😊 it’s crazy how we are the same age but our level of writing is completely different, yours blew my mind 🤯🤯🤯 (in a good way!!!!!) i was wondering if you could give me some tips to improve my writing as i feel like i’m lacking in many departments (if you’re comfortable in doing so, ofc!) thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

this ask was send march 5th, and i'm happy to report that four months later, for the first time in a while, i think i'm finally at a point in my writing where i'm confident giving out tips that are not generic and stock standard. i do not know if anon is going to ever see this, but i hope you do, and i hope that you're still as inspired to write as you were when you sent this :) a lot can happen in four months!!

i'm just going to get straight into it. you'll find that the further you go, the more... catered the advice might be to you (it's long, and maybe a bit rambly, but i hope it’s useful in some sort of way 🥲)

# ONE - THE MOST BASICS:

the most DEVASTATING thing you can do for your writing is not have a purpose for each scene or snippet you write. give your scenes a point, don't let them be just images that you sit on the document to take up space! are you trying to prove that character x oc's relationship is growing? are you trying to show that it's breaking apart? are you trying to set up the character as someone who's beginning to fall in love and hates it? give everything a purpose. every word must be linked to your intention.

you know what they say about chekhov's gun, if you are going to mention some little thing, give it a purpose later! you mention reader likes sweaters? let character give them a sweater! this works in many-a-ways.

this all comes down to the planning, which i would give tips on, but i'm writing this part too late. i'm also trying to keep this first part brief because this is a very long post.

for english speakers, the second most devastating thing is to not know your grammar LOL (i cannot criticise those who speak another language as their first! kudos to you, keep doing what you're doing.)

# TWO - FIND YOUR STYLE: easier said than done, but it's an essential part of any art. writing takes time, and only time will evolve your skill and therefore, your style. if you do not like what you write off the bat and believe you are 'lacking' in some departments (no such thing, there is room to improve instead of being 'incapable' of doing something), then i always turn to some of my favourite authors, whether they are published or another fanfiction writer, turn to them and study them. DO NOT PLAGIARISE, just try and emulate what you see from their works and put them into your works, with your own sense of individual style.

i have my list of esteemed tumblr writings that i look up to, as well as writers that i adore. ocean vuong will always be one of my favourite writers, i listen to him frequently when i am stumped by my own writibg. he has this sort of creative aura that drips of his own idiosyncrasy that inspires me every time i try to listen to him, him just speaking calms and invigorates me so much.

so yeah, find your writer, and learn from them :)

# THREE - THE 'DEPARTMENTS': the departments that i have included are:

characterisation

dialogue

description and artistic expression (this one is long, bear with me.)

like i said earlier, there are indeed departments are writing that we all have room to improve in. i will talk about the few that i might find specific to fanfic writing because i am nothing like an actual author :,)

characterisation: a fickle little thing T^T the worst thing ever. to characterise properly means you know the character like it's your own, but in fanfiction that's just truly not possible :,) so i can try and give you my own tips on how i deal with characterisation.

listen to the english dub (or your first language) - DON'T CRUCIFY ME. PLEASE. BUT LET ME SPEAK. for my fellow fluent english speakers, listening to a dub in a language we do not understand can only go so far in the way we understand a character. when listening to english, we hear the intricate ways of their tone and personalities work, and what kind of dialogue best flows with them (toji fushiguro is excluded from this. never listen to that man's english dub.). when i was writing for bakugou- he's not the hardest character to understand, but with the help of the english dub, the dialogue that i wrote for him flowed a lot easier than if i had just tried to internalise his jp dub. he's gruff, and rude, and cocky, and his english va captures that in quite an adorable way! ofc you can never just ignore the original, the original is there to provide you the blueprint, but sometimes a little help explaining the blueprint goes a long way !!

characterisation can also be perfected through the subtle changes in dialogue that you see. a big part of character is how they talk, and even just the subtlest of changes can go far. let me start with the example "this is a really bad idea." if i were writing itoshi rin, then i would change the sentence fit to his speech and embody how he'd actually react to a 'bad idea'. he's curt, doesn't say more than necessary, and unashamed to be cold so he'd probably just say "this is stupid." before walking away LMAOO if i were writing someone like gojo, then the sentence also changes too. he doesn't mind talking and adding more to his point, so i would write something like: "you sure? this doesn't seem like the brightest idea." and if i'm really trying to sell a romantic relationship, i'd add a 'sweetheart' there or something.

dialogue: this is a personalised experience, so as is everything in writing. i have been complimented on my flow and dialogue a lot of the time but in truth, i am merely having a conversation with myself in my head. i try to become the character i am writing about and then i just chat with myself :3 it can be that simple. dialogue does not need to be something you over-complicate, i am my own, ethical character.ai.

description and artistic expression: look, i can't say much on this one except that you're all on your own. i am still trying to perfect my own skills in this department because this is perhaps one of my most vexing parts of writing. i truly am just not... as poetic and imaginative as i want my words to be, but i am trying and i am improving.

my biggest tip regarding description and artistry is: if the reader can imagine it, you don't need to write it. you don't need to fill in the gaps with actual scenes, if your characters are walking through the park as a filler for getting from destination A to B, then that park scene does not need to be as descriptive as A or B. a mere 'you took a shortcut through the park' will suffice. or even better, just go straight from A to B.

say my 'A' scene is starting at a cafe, and my 'B' scene is going to the mall, you could just go 'calling for the waitress to get the bill, you then find yourself in the mall within 15 minutes'. spend time on the gaps that require a bridge to cross, not the gaps that you can merely step over.

these kind of things appear in your planning and admittedly, i don't even plan ROFLLL but i have primary scenes that i have sketched out which i sometimes add to. like spider webs, when going from one thread to another, sometimes the journey is not all that important if it does nothing for your plot.

again, i find inspiration in a lot of the writers i look up to. a recurring motif is something i love adding, whether that be dialogue or a recurring item that symbolises something (like the hairband in between love and lies - a nagi fic). techniques like motifs or an extended metaphor add a lot of depth in your writing that you can't find otherwise. you can also omit going too over the board with reader's emotions too, or just the character's. if it's obvious that they are angry, sad, happy, you don't need to go too far in detail about said emotions.

another so crucial thing is to take note of the things you see in real life and apply it in fiction. the most mundane of things you are doing can have beauty in words.

are you at the beach? why don't you take a look around. tell me about the people that sit on towels, minding their own business. tell me about the way the sun sits high in the sky, unforgiving and burning before going into the main plot.

are you sitting on a bench, killing time? tell me about the breeze you feel, or perhaps the heat that overwhelms you. tell me about what you hear- bikes, children laughing, whilst you're waiting for your date to show up- all of these minute things, so long as you don't go overboard, will matter a lot to the imagination of the reader!

# FOUR: TAKE CARE OF AND LOVE WHAT YOU WRITE writing will always be hard :,) not a single draft goes by where i do not find inconsistencies and flaws, but i love them all the same. i love the drafts that i read over once and posted and i also love the drafts that i poured blood, sweat, and tears into. neither of them are more special to me because they were all born from a simple idea.

to look back on what you wrote and going 'i can do this better now' is beautiful, no? i love the end product for what i learnt on the way.

i know me giving this advice is kinda hypocritical because you'll find me going 'i hate this' in the tags, and you can choose to believe me or not, but i adore all of my stories the same. some of them i just hate that i couldn't give them the attention and love that they deserved, which shows through in the end quality. not that you guys seem to care, it's all in my head sometimes lMFAO.

# FIVE - KEEP THE POV CONSISTENT: now we are getting to the tips that i've been learning myself recently. how funny is it that i learnt this whilst reading from a writer that i so admire?

whilst reading a long fic, i noticed that the flow is satisfying because there was no swap of perspectives. the character was in the focus the whole time and the reader was the reactor, the catalyst being the character's actions and internal dialogue. on the other hand, the reader's thoughts and feelings being in the spotlight can also be significant.

i had always known that keeping the pov consistent would influence your writing, but i never knew how much.

which pov you might want to choose is all intuitive. writing is intuitive- every other tip that i have revealed is all intuitive and i'll cover more of this later. more importantly right now, which perspective you want to execute is all on you, and no one else. if you know your character, your storyline, and your skills, you will simply know how the story shall go. it is just as powerful to write it from reader's pov as it is the character's because it comes from your knowledge and authority as the writer!

# SIX - LEAVE THE COMFORT ZONE: this kind of returns to tip four. sometimes the only way to evolve is to do something we are bad at and that advice applies to writing too. writing is a path set by previous writers but it is not one that we have to follow all the time, why take a shortcut when the long way is prettier, and more rewarding? your journey of improvement is dependent on what you realise and give yourself opportunities to improve in.

for example, recently i have been trying to improve the depth of my descriptions and- don't laugh, but the way i've been doing so is as followed:

i input myself into the scenario, i empathise with the characters within the scene and i describe it. maybe it's emotional and the character can't look you in the eye because they don't have the heart to, not when their chest is filled with a smoke that is so unbearable that all they can focus on is not turning to ashes. maybe it's a happy scene and all you can look at is the character. maybe it's confronting, and the only thing you can think about is defending yourself against their clenched fists that will never actually hurt you, but you know damn well can break your walls in one swing. leave the comfort zone, write new au's and new dialogue pieces, write new metaphors and similes and use rhyme, listing, repetition- just try something new every time and let it be meaningful to the story.

# SEVEN - GIVE YOURSELF TIME. like the growth of your muscles or the mobility of your limbs, or the way your hands flow along the canvas or keyboard, writing is a skill that can only be improved with time. fanfic writing is intuitive and completely reliant on your own tastes.

i can sit here, speak for ages about writing, but the only way you can learn is to do. i have people who see what i do and praise me for being one of their favourite writers, and as honoured as i am every time, i am merely born from the six years i have put into this craft, as well as the hours i put into writing and planning what they see. if you could see the behind the scenes, you would go 'what the fuck am i looking at' LMFAOO.

when i write and then i reread and i know what it is missing, but i cannot speak about this like it is easy, like i have not spent the past few years of my life consistently writing for various characters and growing along the way. to be fair, you don't need to take six years to get good at writing, it can be a very smooth process! i don't think i was the brightest cookie at 12 ngl but i took my characters and rewrote them into different scenarios and here i am today, at 18 and (marginally) better.

as long as the urge is there, worship it, take the step and write. then post, if that is a step you want to partake in. simple as that :)

that's all for now! sorry this is so long, now that you've reached the end, i just wanted to say that i have no authority over what you produce and how you do it. these are simply just things i've learned along the way and i hope they can provide you some sort of revelation.

[bougainvillea-and-saltwater]

20, 39 and 58 from the writers ask meme ☺️

Also hope you’re doing good 💙🌸

🖊️ask game🖊️

Aaaah, thank you so much for these, Blossom! Admittedly, I'm not on my best days, however, these asks did lighten my mood, and it was a joy answering them! 🥰💖

20: Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Oh yes! As I was revising some chapters of TPATD a while ago, I noticed I used the word 'brim', quite frequently. I guess I like the expressions it can be combined with, e.g. "her eyes brim with tears" or "he fills the jug to the brim" or "the table is brimmed with hearty food". You get the picture! My fic is also brimmed (see what I did there?) with the hurt/comfort theme, which is my absolute favorite theme, and I believe that if I ever write for another fandom, hurt/comfort will be predominant in the respective story too. In almost every chapter, I do have a foreshadowing pattern for those who are willing to read behind the lines—this is also something I love catching in other stories! Hm, what else? Ah! I love descriptive prose in everything I write, and mostly when the descriptions make me feel what is being described, e.g. I like describing Jia when she's working with her alchemy or when she's cooking her food—I want to grab and munch whatever she's eating there...👀

39: Share a snippet from a WIP.

I updated my fic just two days ago (after 4 months of absence...🥲) so I haven't got any WIP to share yet, but! I'm going to put a snippet of the freshly baked chapter 19 instead:

I had never expected the Last Dragonborn to be a female, in all his dread not to be pinned down and discovered shred by shred by her luminous, sun-rivaled gaze, Miraak pretended to sound as scathing and condescending as he could during their first encounter in Apocrypha, when all he could think about was, she came to me at last, the favorite jill of Akatosh. I have read about you, in old-worn books hoarded in Seekers’ hands, piled in endless ever-shifting pillars, sometimes in the feminine shape of a human, others as an elusive firey-crimson specter of a dragon, and Oblivion has heard me humming tunes written and sang in your name. Indeed, your deeds are tremendous, strider of Sovngarde, deicide of Alduin.  But your soul’s sorrow is bigger. Miraak feels himself shrinking at his thoughts. Her very breath humbles him.

58: What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc).

Translating! I love this feeling when I know a part of my draft is finished in my native language, and now I have to translate it into English, build it, make it wholesome, perfect it, before proceeding on to the next. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it isn't so much, not really. I've heard contrastive opinions on whether translating is really helpful or not, but it works for me. 😊 Another part of the writing process I enjoy is reading my lines out loud and acting them on the respective character's voice—actually, I have brainstormed major plot points and ideas while acting out my characters, and I guess this is my ultimate sign that I must become an actor one day. 😂

[peace-for-levi]

Happy 600!!! SO proud of you! 🖤

For your event, I’d love to have my boy Levi & the prompt: “Don't look at them, look at me."

I’d love for this to be canon.

Levi gets a serious injury in the field for the first time and You can’t keep your relationship a secret anymore from the Scouts while Levi fights oncoming unconsciousness.

You just want to comfort Levi and be there for your baby before he gets the medic, talkng him through it and keeping him with you. If he mentioned “it hurts,” I will cry. Bonus points.🥲

Levi has fear in his eyes for the first time in his life and he just needs You to save him.🥹

so you and i sorta talked and to those of you apart from alla reading, we settled on recreating the after-effects of the thunderspear incident! this isn't my best but i do hope you sorta like it? focused more on the feelings rather than dialogue.

w/c: 3,842

content and warnings: descriptions of drowning, self-hatred and shame, and canon-typical gore/injuries. Slight canon-divergence in the sense that I wrote Levi with a stomach injury on top of his face being slashed open. Implied secret relationship. Reader goes berserk at Floch momentarily but i don't blame them tbh.

The soul of the heavens arrives in generous pellets of water. In downpours this heavy, one might feel cleansed and humbled. The mud on the ground is putted, washed clean of any footprints.

The crashing and roaring waves of the river – with no thanks to the rain making and pushing and pulling so merciless – are no less inviting than the pure Titan transformation he spots for a split second before his brain slows to a sudden halt. His eyes are shut as he's airborne, unable to brace himself.

There is a crash upon the impact: the impact of Levi being catapulted into the river. It's a heavy blow, he feels, and suddenly he's still; in limbo.

The water is murkier underneath than the surface. He feels it seeping in, keeping him snug as he plummets further. The dull ache in his right hand is gone.

He sinks further. It's slow, stagnant.

He feels like he's rotting now. The comforting lull, the darkness all around… It was eerily hypnotic and he feels his heart slow.

Death, right now, seemed so inviting.

I failed you Erwin and Hange, he says as he falls.

There's a feeling of decay building within him. His limbs feel heavier than a few moments ago.

[F/n], I… I failed you, too, he admits. He opens his eyes a bit at this realization.

Drowning was such a bitch of a way to go. Panic, fear, and then nothing. The stray hairs of his undercoat float up. Absent-mindedly, he reaches for something. He thinks he sees a hand – your hand – reaching for him; he wants to see your hand reaching for him.

[F/n], please…

Who's he begging to? More specifically, why was he begging to you? He's so far down below, he's a deadman.

He reaches forward some more. Is that the light of the sun he sees, or is this the light people talk about as you're about to cross over?

Death, right now, seemed so inviting… but not today. Not for him.

Not yet!

Levi does not get to rest easy.

He feels his lungs seize and he gasps. His throat burns and eyes snaps open, blearily blinking through grime and dirt. With whatever he could muster and before his lungs give out, he starts to swim upwards. It’s a struggle, even for someone like him, to try to swim in these conditions.

He heaves in massive strokes once he breaks the surface and thankfully, he’s not too far from the banks of the river. He fists onto one of the reeds sprouted by the river’s edge and pulls himself ashore. He braces his weight to the heels of his palms, but he buckles. He catches himself in time and lands on his back.

Everything feels heavy and dirty and wrong. He raises his right hand to dab at his face, and– oh.

His lips part. His index and middle finger– where did they–?

Before he can even contemplate where the fingers may have fallen to, he’s clutching his stomach in pain. Bile is building up in the back of his throat. Even as he lies dead still, blood is gushing out of whatever arteries were severed in great surges. Every time he blinks to try to clear his vision, his right eye will not adjust.

He tries again, and again, and again.

Eventually, it all clicks to him.

Defeated – he truly feels defeated. Zeke was probably long gone. Even if he was nearby, it'd make no difference; Levi's in bits, his ears are ringing and drowning out everything and he is in no position to fight.

Still, he relents and tries again to prop himself up again for he can't let Erwin down like this. It has been four painstakingly slow years and he was so fucking close, and it blew right up in his face. Literally.

He failed Erwin, again; he let the Beast Titan slip away, again.

I failed, I failed, I failed…

With shaking hands and shuddering breaths, he is left to lie there in his misery.

I'm sorry…

His eyes snap shut and he gasps in deep strokes. This is the closest he has ever been to Death's doors since he was a kid. Is this what it feels like to be left behind while you are too weak to go on?

I'm… terrified, he admits. Letting out another choked sob as he succumbs to his fragile emotional state, Terrified of dying and of dying so slowly, terrified of letting people down again. Terrified of leaving you behind in this crazy, unsafe and new world, and that you may have to navigate it without him.

But he can't just leave you behind… not when there's still a slim chance he can still push through this. He can't just toss in the towel now – he still has to fulfil Erwin's final order.

He just can't help it that he's tired.

Even so, he refuses to close his eyes.

He will get through this.

For you. For Erwin. For Hange. For the kids. People are counting on him; depending on him.

For a while the world stills and slows, though, and as a harsh gust blows through the coniferous trees, he swears he can hear your agonized screams.

.

.

[F/n]...

.

.

[F/n], please…

.

.

I'm so terrified…

.

.

It all hurts…

.

.

He briefly comes to his senses when he feels warm hands cup his bloody cheeks. At this point, he's running out of energy to keep himself conscious. He can just breathe and stay calm. But when the fingers gently shake and rub away some of the grime from his face, he focuses his gaze a bit. He hears agonized sobs piercing the air.

A gasp. "...[F/n]?" He blinks more, surely he's dreaming.

He snapped his gaze over to the footsteps he hears.

Jaegerists.

"Don't look at them. Look at me." You whispered hastily, tapping at his cheek as if to keep him awake. "Levi… Oh, Levi…"

It was such a sobering sight to see Levi Ackerman like this. What could have happened… He looked like death. You hurriedly pressed two fingers to the pulse point on his neck.

Slow and shallow.

You continued to whimper, silently begging to the goddesses above – would they help you now?

Hange rushes up beside you, a hand on your back as they move to assess him. You bury your eyes in your hands, unable to stay remotely professional.

Any more theatrics and Hange might find out about you two, after all. And what would that mean for the Jaegerists? A close association to Humanity's Strongest? That didn't spell good news.

You hear footsteps behind you.

"Is that Captain Levi?"

Fucking Floch, traitorous bastard. What could he possibly want? You peer up behind you and your eyes zero in on the shotgun in his hand.

No way, he wouldn't–

"Heh, I don't know what happened but we're lucky it did. The biggest threat we faced is lying in a bloody heap," he said.

A soldier beside Floch stepped forward, clearly very eager to use his shotgun. "We should put one in his head just in case."

You gasped and immediately rose to your feet. Adrenaline surged followed by a swift kick and the man was disarmed, shotgun kicked far out of reach. You reach for his arm and twist it behind his back and just as you go to bend it:

"There's no need, he was caught in a thunderspear explosion at point blank range. It shredded his guts… killed him instantly…"

The soldier who was once at your mercy is dropped and you fall to your knees opposite Hange. You rest your hand an inch above his mouth. Strange; for a dead man, he was breathing semi-regularly. That's when Hange gave you the quickest look; had you blinked, you would have missed it.

Stay quiet, their eyes seemed to say.

"Floch!" a Jaegerist cries out.

You and Hange snap your heads to the commotion, the strange sight unfolding has you both stunned silent. There was a small class Titan probably no more than thirty yards away, hunched over as if in pain and steam that is normally excreted from a dead titan is being sucked back in.

This had to be an abnormal.

"Is it disappearing? Did it die?" Floch cried out, still holding his weapon from before. Though it was not like bullets would do much against a Titan anyway.

"No. Titans don't normally suck in steam like that when they disappear." Hange replied.

Eventually, the Titan's carcass did break down and evaporate. Rays of light shone through the clouds, like spotlights shining down on what was to be unveiled. You heard a rattled breath pass through Levi's lips as a figure fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Your teeth gnashed together at the sight of Zeke standing before you. You don't know how, but Zeke was responsible for Levi's grave injuries; Levi wouldn't get this injured by mishandling a Thunderspear by himself.

The Jaegerists stare in shock while Hange turns to face you. You see them stare past you and towards the river. You quickly get the message.

While Levi is physically unable to protest as he is plunged into the icy cold river, his body screams out in pain. The murky water seeping into his injuries did him no favours.

The swift current takes Hange and him along; they expertly swim with the swift pull of the river.

Amidst the crashing waves, Levi cocks his head to the side trying to see what you'd do.

Waiting for you.

*****

It's in the evening by the time you find Hange again. They had mouthed a few numbers to you before they dove into the river with Levi. You made a mental note at the time to remember, but you initially didn't understand. Once they were far out of sight, it clicked: Hange was telling you coordinates of the map you two had followed to get here. Coordinates of where they'd take him.

Cryptic, but clever; that was Hange in two words.

There was a clearing in the forest where they laid Levi down. By the time you had arrived, they unfolded a spare blanket on the ground for him to lie on, and another laid over him to keep him warm.

Hange worked in silence to get the bleeding on his face under control. It was obvious his right eye would never work again, which was a shame. His right eye once the colour of liquid mercury now was bloodied and had a milky hue to it.

Hange had asked for mostly silence but as the situation settled, you two began to talk a bit more. Good thing for you, you could hardly stop rocking back and forth as your mind raced.

"Is he going to be okay?" you blurted out.

Hange looked at you anf back down to him. "Nobody would have survived something like that, normally. But that is it to say the Ackermans aren't built like the rest of us. He'll be fine, but... He won't be doing any fighting anytime soon."

You can only nod as you watch Hange expertly stitch up. Your eyes continued to well with unshed tears every time you looked over at him.

If only you had rode a little faster.

If only you had convinced him harder in trying to stay with him the past month.

If only you had searched the Jaegerists harder and inspected the wine...

It's not like you'd have known.

Admist your introspection, Hange spoke. "So... how long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you two been seeing each other. Romantically, I mean."

Shit. Were you two going to be in trouble? No, hopefully not. Hange was one of you guys' closest friends. You had done your best to keep it under wraps, but as the war drew closer and closer, perhaps you two let some thing slip due to the sheer exhaustion of everything going on in the background.

"How did you know?"

"I'm not that stupid. But, if you must know... I always suspected something."

You gulp, but don't say anything.

Hange further clarifies: "It was your reaction to his injuries; you're a person who can normally stay reasonably composed. It was also the way Levi shifted beneath me when he heard you. And while his face was all bloody and battered, he... looked at you in a way I have never seen him look at someone before."

You nod. You figure it might be alright to tell them now. It wasn't as if you couldn't trust Hange – there was no one you trusted more after Levi – but it was purely so that there would be no outward bias and favouritism from Levi or you.

But also, because Levi was so vital to humanity's survival and victory – he couldn't afford to be chained down. As Humanity's Strongest, his duty was to humanity before it would ever be to you. But when he was just Levi? Was Levi allowed to be selfish, especially when the war was nearly over?

"A few years, around the start of 850 or so. Look, Hange–"

"--For what it's worth, I don't object," Hange interrupted. They continued to work on Levi's stitches. "I know people aren't meant to date superiors, but there is no one better suited for him than you. Look after him, okay?"

You blinked and sat back on your haunches. It was the first time that day you weren't craning your neck over to look him. Instead, you fixated on the bespectacled brunette.

"'Look after him, okay?' Hange, what do you–"

"...I just feel like this is it for me."

That was uttered so quietly, it was as if they were confessing a sin.

You're not sure if that was something you were meant to hear or not. Your lips parted and you blinked, owlishy. "Hange, no... What are you–?"

They are very quick to shut down whatever questions you had about their uncharacteristically morbid disposition. "Can you go check that we aren't being pursued? I had that we're just squatting here and there could be more Jaegerists looking for us."

Oh, you want to press further. But Hange was stubborn in every sense of the word; their stubbornness is what helped Humanity because they had to push Erwin to capture Titans and to study them more.

It's a later conversation, fine. You make your way to the entrance of the forest.

You feel a slight pressure in your head as you run. It builds and builds, and it's not long before your surroundings change. You were no longer in the forest but in a desert-like landscape. Your eyes widened at the sight of an aurora in the sky, myriads of root-like paths of iridescent light shooting out in all directions.

"To all Subjects of Ymir. My name... is Eren Jaeger..."

As Eren delivers his message, you sink to your knees and bring a hand to your forehead. Eren was actually going to ahead with this. What did this mean about Zeke? Was he still involved with this?

You scrambled to your feet and sprinted back as if you being chased by the marching Wall Titans themselves. That message was delivered to every Eldian and stunned them all silent.

"Hange!" you yell out. You hop over a few bushes and logs and push some brambles out of the way. "Did you see–?"

Levi was being pushed down by Hange as they spoke. That means he was awake, right? He was going to be okay, no? You ambled forward and plopped before him, sitting on your haunches. Levi reached a hand to you, wanting you near.

Hange smiled softly and stood up. "I'll give you two some space."

You smile at Hange as they walked away before you turned your attetion back to Levi. You gingerly cradled his bandaged face, thumbs smoothing under his cheekbones. His brows were knitted together; you initially assumed it was out of pain but he would have spoken up if that was the case.

He was devastated.

He was ashamed of himself.

Zeke was long gone now, but that didn't matter. He'd chase after him to the ends of the Earth in the name of fulfulling Erwin's final order. He'd fight to the bitter end if it meant making the world a safer place for you both.

"I failed." He finally admits.

How could he think that? He was a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was the only time he had underestimated the enemy. And Zeke was no ordinary enemy.

He was your safe haven; your release. It hurt you just as much to see him this way.

"I should..." he pauses to cough. You rest a hand on his tummy; his breaths are laboured. He has to catch his breath in between speaking. "I should have predicted the explosion."

"Levi, stop, you couldn't have–"

"It's been four years, [F/n]. Four shitting years. And I am no clo... closer than I was in Shiganshina." He said this through gnashed teeth.

You lean back and sigh. Even when he was gravely injured, he was still thinking about this damn promise. It's not that it wasn't worthy of being a promise, but it kept Levi awake at night (more than usual.) It was how Levi planned out every movement of every day.

"Erwin wouldn't want to see you struggling like this," you settled. Levi swallowed thickly. He looks towards the fire and tries to distract himself with the sparking embers. He begins to shiver a bit. With all the care in the world, you move him a little closer. "And neither would I."

He turns his head away. He has a bitter look on his face. He was probably pouting – as best as he could – beneath the bandages. "You heard 'em, [F/n.] They think I'm dead. I should be out there, fighting alongside you all. And I fucked up and now you and Hange and everyone in Shiganshina is paying the price."

He pauses, his eyes shutting.

"People's lives are on the line, and I could have been there."

It's a grumble. He's not looking at you, probably out of shame.

"Who says it has to be just you to take down Zeke, huh? Because Erwin said so?" You challenge. You are aware you're overdoing it and that you're cutting deep, but he is too stubborn and too familiar with shouldering everything that he has forgotten that sometimes even the strongest need a rest when they have been taken down. "You are not going after Zeke in this condition. Not until Hange gives you the all clear. Let us help you!"

"Tch, you don't–"

"–I don't understand?! Levi, I almost lost you today!" you choked. By now you have allowed yourself to – gently – slump over his body, trying to find some solace in his arms. You sit up again quickly, looking into his good eye. "I know killing Zeke is important, but you need to rest first, please! If I saw… If I had to see you that bloody and battered again…" you stop yourself from saying anything else.

It's not that you were arguing out of jealousy or anger. But it was likely Levi's first thought upon waking up was just Zeke. He was wholly consumed by this lofty goal. He wouldn't see himself as worthy unless Zeke was dead.

Levi Ackerman cannot afford to fail. Not now, not ever. At least that was how he disciplined himself.

You couldn't find it within yourself to continue the conversation. It just hurt. You were still reeling from seeing Levi so beaten up. Still reeling from the fact that if he wasn't an Ackerman, he would have died.

"I'm sorry, Levi. Sorry for… yelling. I just…"

He only nods, teeth chattering. "I know… It's okay. I know this must be a shock…" he says as he lifts up his right hand, looking at the missing fingers. "It is for me, too."

The silence that permeates between you two was initially palpable, but it becomes comforting the more you listen to his steady breathing.

Here's here now.

He's alive now.

And you would do anything to protect him.

"How are you now? Still cold?"

You hear him sigh through the bandages. He coughs before answering. "Sore."

"Where?" you ask, but that's a stupid question. Everything hurts from his head to his heart. You lean down and kiss his forehead, and trail a few kisses down his temples and uninjured cheek. "I love you so. You are no failure, Levi."

You swore you heard him inhale shakily, and that you saw his lips wobble.

"What about you?" he asked. How am I supposed to protect you in this state?

All you do is shake your head. No, stop it. Don't beat yourself up.

He relents. You weren't about to let yourself feel victimised. But also, you had to ease him of his doubts. If that was at all possible.

"You need not worry about me. Hange and I will come up with something, you just need to rest and heal."

He exhales, shakily. "Tch," he grunts in pain. "It all... hurts." You nod, smiling sadly. It was a smile that didn't - couldn't - make it up to your eyes. You smooth a thumb under his eyes, catching the stray tears that trickled down.

"Cry if you need to, I'll always listen."

You thumbed away every stray tear and listened to every worry the man had.

"Is there anything else I can do?" You ask him.

A shaky hand reaches out for you. He wants you closer. "...here. Stay. Stay with me."

Of course you would.

You'd follow Levi forever; loving him, listening and caring for him.

Hange, themself, had asked you to as well, and you were not about to let them down.

[eldritch-araneae]

I started notice Bee's personality change into angsty teen since tfWFCNetflix and Earthspark. Seriously,I want my happy kiddo and understanding Bee back like G1 Bee's personality 🥲

Hey, sorry I didn't answered immediately, I wanted to watch the show and digest what I've seen to give you my thoughts)

Spoilers for Earthspark under the cut!~

Personally, after watching the show I don't read TFE Bumblebee as angsty teenager, even tho some ppl gave this description of him to me. I guess could be a thing if you only read him on the very surface level in the episode 3 when we get the first look at him.

This is a bit of combination of others Bumblebee's from previous continuities, but if I'm reading stuff correctly, I think there is the G1 Bumblebee lies at his core.

What we see a young adult that has some lever of maturity, but still has a growing to do. He's the youngest among legacy bots, which mean he probably was born into the war. Plus, he was in hiding since the war ended, and the end of EP 3 gave me ab impression we was isolated and alone for decades.

So he lacks some social soft skill (we can see how he struggles to connect with Terrans at the beginning), which he is slowly gaining as we keep watching the show.

Another thing I read like G1 Bee, he struggles with sense of belonging and the fear of failure. This is why he tries to hype himself up at times and wanting to go back to be a hero. This makes him feel important, and if he's important ppl will accept him, and that mean they won't, leave him behind. Team means family to him.

And this is why he's afraid to fail, this is why he laments about how he can't bear hearing about how great he is when he in the middle failing everything. The last word is important, it shows what he thinks that failure will bring. He afraid to lose what he has.

The very moment Dot empathizes with him ( she's a mom so she understands children are hard) and believes in him, it becomes a turning point for him.

Bumblebee sees that failure doesn't mean the end of the world here, that he can just try different approach, different tactic when previous didn't work and he wont be punished.

With Maltos he has nothing to fear, nothing to prove and he can be just himself. And we see his attitude changes. He grows into the family fast that he stops trying to brute force the mission so he could rejoin Autobots. He starts caring about them and we know he will protect them with his life.

Another thing he definitely afraid to show vulnerability in front of people, that why he usually to goes with his "cool" persona or tries to hide it. We can see clearly in EP7 when he didn't know how help starving Terrans. He's upset, scared, and even sorrowful in the moment when Mo asks him if they gonna be okay. He doesn't even look at the kids, he doesn't show his face to them.

Then when Terrans are rejuvenated, he looks liked he's about to cry and runs to hug them tight (so tight that the metal creaks) that how relieved he was. Ofc he lets go quickly and tries to play it cool, but the first step been made! I hope in future episodes we will see him opening up more and allowing himself to be vulnerable ( and have hugs lasting longer) as he realizes more and more that with Maltos he has nothing to fear.

Btw, he is growing to be more understanding I love those moment in the show like:

He comforts Twitch in so she could calm down and transform. He holds hands with kids so Thrash could transform.

He stops teaching Terrans if they too unfocused or tired or distracted. And even bring them to school so their could see that Mo and Robby are okay despite the vortex of emotions they are feeling.

He connects with Alex thought the tradition and happily participates in it.

He comforts Alex who tearing up upon thinking about losing Dot by playing the song that is important for them.

He offhandedly mentions that kids missed the pool party to look for Terrans, so they would talk about their feelings.

Is he that understanding with anyone? No, and I can't blame him tbh ahaha. But he cares ( or even dare I say, loves) his new family and he wont even care about Emberstone being lost as long they are alive and well.

I'm excited to see more and where this writing is going!

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Wow that a long post ahaha! I guess it is expected to happen when people ask me about my favorite character of all time! :D

Bumblebee is special to me, and I'm finally happy to see a version of him in canon that I find satisfying~

[genshinluvr]

hello hello~! this is not an ask or anything, more so pointed towards the readers; in and out of the discord. I'll break what I'm about to say into smaller sections to try and get it through some of your thick heads(I mean this lovingly, mostly.)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, just READ if requests are opened or closed. I'm tired of seeing our dear author getting frustrated with people merely not seeing or straight up ignoring it. they've even placed "closed' in their bio for easy accessibility for everyone. do not be one of those people who merely skips around and thinks it's ok to send something in without checking rules FIRST. THIS ALSO APPLIES TO THE UPDATE SCHEDULE WHICH IS LOCATED ON THEIR PINNED POST!! PLEASE STOP FILLING THE INBOX WITH EASY ANSWERED QUESTIONS, IT WILL GET CLOGGED.

2. For the love of morax, PLEASE, stop going into anon mode when it is available to shit on author's work because YOU don't like it. because guess what?? NO ONE CARES! if it's such "bad" writing MOVE ON, have your parent figures never taught you the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, then dont say it."?? it's SO easy to go "eh I'm not into their content" and SCROLL AWAY, OR EVEN BLOCK THE PERSON! please use your brains and THINK, because I can guarantee this doesn't make you look "badass" or "unique". at most, a handful of you end up being huge memes and seen as absolutely idiotic inside the discord for letting something as simple as FANFICTION, make you upset.

3. On a softer note, I KNOW what I'm about to get into is more so with genuinely curious people, i hope. when author posts anything angst related, please do NOT flood the inbox asking if there is comfort somewhere in said fic. why? well author does this neat thing where the writing is hidden underneath the "read more" button. plus, she DOES put at the very top, right under the title, what kind of genre the fic is. you don't have to continually ask in her inbox what genre this fic is, because I PROMISE YOU; it's in the fic description at the top. I know anxiety might weight heavy on some who ask this question, but it would be easier on you AND author if you simply opened the fic you are curious about; read the genre as well as the description attached. author is VERY good at making sure warnings are properly labeled, she'd never try to hurt someone on purpose through possibl triggering content. so please, make this easier on everyone and read the tops of her fics before flooding the inbox. it helps keep it a little cleaner, and able to see what requests/brainrots she has.

i try not to be rude about this, but the amount of times author has expressed some sort of problem makes my blood boil. I love her writings as much as the rest of you, but you MUST remember she has a life outside of this blog. she has things to do, or hobbies to interact with. she is not some machine that is capable of pumping out idea after idea after idea. she is HUMAN, like the rest of us. she needs rest, she needs food, she needs BREAKS. As a writer myself, writing is very time consuming, as well as exhausting. do not push author too hard, burnout can happen at anytime. merely enjoy the works she pushes out, and respect her choices in what to do next. thank you.

sincerely,

-🧸 anon

Damn, 🧸 anon popping off in the inbox! I hope you're doing well, 🧸 anon ❤️ I lowkey feel like even if I did answer this ask, people will still not read or see it LMAO 🥲 I appreciate you very much 🧸 anon! You and all of my mods in the server, who I consider to be friends of mine ^^

Also, this week's fanfic is currently in the process of being uploaded, so keep an eye out for them :>

[isabellehemlock]

WIP tag (with a twist!)

The fantastic @sindirimba tagged me for a really cool WIP game 🤩🥳👏🏻❤️

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. (You can make your own post or reblog this one!) I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? Dnd campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!

Because how fun is that? Not just writing but other WIP projects I'm doing! SO *cracks knuckles* LET'S DO THIS!!

Boy this got long (that's what she said)

Personal WIPs (I'll skip over the two that are technically WIPs but I have already started and are almost done on AO3):

Cult AU (some 10k already written but put down as I focused on fandom events this year) - picking it back up in November!

Soft sequel of Memento Mori (but I'll upload it as a Ch 2 and 3 to bridge between that and - . . . ) 🗡

Fandom Event WIPs

Memento Mori: America (vs London above) - my FTH project #1 🌇

FTH art project #2 📚

TOG BB 🏫

TOG BB pinch hitter art project :)

@lmzine (digital, kickstarter mock ups, prepping for sales in October)

Cover for the LMZine (happy accident, but I'm excited to try a different style than I normally do)

And I sadly lost like five art WIPs last week due to an app crash that didn't back them up properly to the cloud 🥲 BUT currently working these personal art WIPs:

Eddie Munson (also in a diff. style than I usually do) 🤟🏻🎸

And my hubby and me are prepping our FIRST DND characters EVER for our very first DND CAMPAIGN ever (fingers crossed for this month!) . . . So I'm hoping to draw him soon!

And finally blog/discord related:

Coding and setting up a multi fandom server for basically like two dozen friends in October lol

And the interfaith fandom blog 🌈❤️

Tagging: @nade2308 (returning the favor 🥰) @awolfstudio (you always have such lovely projects going on!) And like ten other people I haven't tagged recently lolll

Extra rambles lol: I also technically have some eight other WIPs with like rough outlines but at this point can't see myself even beginning to take a look at them until like early spring of next year (things from like a year, to a year and a half ago lol, but maybe TOG2 will help get those revived 🥳)

And why yes, I do have everything organized with Google docs and notes lol and am so excited to share these with everyone as they start rolling out for fandom events - oh! And I did two pieces for the LMZine and the Spring Tides (OFMD) Zine over the summer that I'm also super excited for y'all to see come fall 🍂🍃

I deal with a lot of chronic health issues, as does my family, but usually over the winter months I'm stuck indoors a lot and honestly it's easy for this ESFP extrovert to get fairly bummed - so having things to look forward this winter to stay connected with people and community is actually really helping curb the existential winter dread this year lol! So though this all may seem like a lot - it's all really helpful for me and I'm excited to write and read and play around in fandom spaces a lot over the winter 😊