#if a singular person reads this that will make my day lmao

[theclearblue]

My One Piece Arc Ranking

Hey, I just caught up to the One Piece anime after a grueling six-ish months of it absolutely consuming me, and in celebration and pure self indulgence I want to rank them worst to best (in my personal opinion, my bias will get in the way). I love this series so much and I want to gush about it even more now that I have all of this free time. Under each arc I rank I'm gonna talk a little bit about my thoughts on each one, what I liked and didn't like, but even for the lower rankings I don't think there really is a fully bad arc of One Piece. Another disclaimer that this is all my opinion and I want to know what others think! Otherwise I'll start my ranking under the cut, and spoilers for uhhhh the entire series ahead (particularly for Marineford).

31. Syrup Village

I'm sure on reread/rewatch this arc will definitely be better for me, but this arc almost made me drop One Piece in the very beginning. I like Kaya a lot and there are some pretty good moments like Nami dragging Zoro down that hill and established the Nami and Usopp duo that I love. But this gets dragged down by stupid catboy that has the most convoluted villain plan, a setting that is maybe the most generic in the entire series, and maybe controversially, I just didn't like Usopp's introduction (do not fear I love him very much now) and also did not care about them kids. Some small moments and characters I really like and it also establishes the theme of a pirate's son right to exist but overall it just drags on for far too long for no good reason.

30. Long Ring Long Land

Even though I'm ranking it this low, this is one I've seen people call filler and I do disagree with that. Yes it's very low stakes but it's a good breather before jumping into the emotional beating that is Water 7. It has some good humor, establishes Robin as a part of the crew, foreshadows the tides that end up being a big part of Water 7, and the Zoro and Sanji davyback fight is undeniably very important for both of their characters and just a good scene. But while all of that's true, it's ranked so low because the Foxy pirates pissed me off with the blatant cheating, the setting kind of pales in comparison to most other settings in the series, and it goes on for far too long (i know it got super extended in the anime though). Not my favorite, afro Luffy was fun though.

29. Whiskey Peak

God I want to rank this higher solely because I love the scene of Zoro taking on all of the bounty hunters by himself at night. I think Zoro gets reduced to just 'cool guy' too often but this is my indulgent moment where, yeah, I do just love how cool he is here lmao. I like the setting as well where it's this western setting with undercover bounty hunters, and Miss All Sunday's introduction lives in my head rent free at all times. Unfortunately though this has maybe the most out of character moment in the entire series with Luffy attacking Zoro and Zoro actually engaging in a fight with him? I was baffled at both of them for this but especially Luffy. The Princess Vivi reveal was also pretty clunky but I know that it was a pretty last minute decision that Oda made that Ms. Wednesday was Princess Vivi.

28. Reverse Mountain

This is only so low because it's literally like 2 episodes, there's not much to say. This arc gets a lot better in hindsight when we meet Brook and Laboon is connected to him, but that's about it. Umm Crocus is kind of a fun character as well I suppose.

27. Orange Town

I don't really have a lot of bad to say about Orange Town, I did actually really like it on first watch. Nami's proper introduction is great, the establishing of someone's treasure and how that relates to Nami is great, and I did cry over that little dog protecting that shop. Really what holds it back is that it maybe is the most boring setting in the entire series, and while I'm in love with my failwife Buggy now, he gives very much villain of the week here.

26. Amazon Lily

Ok maybe this is controversial. The obvious highlight of this arc is Boa Hancock, she carries this arc on her back. Her introduction is amazing, her dynamic with Luffy I think is very funny and cute, and her flashback is really haunting but also mature in how it handles the darker themes shown. I think this arc needs to exist as a comedic relief after Saboady and before getting into the real meat of the Summit War Saga. That said I think the cast other than Boa and the old woman are kind of weak and it also feels like we could have spent just a little bit more time here in the world of Amazon Lily, which seems really interesting but it's not really properly explored.

25. Punk Hazard

On paper, I really like Punk Hazard. I think the side cast is one of the strongest with Law and Smoker/Tashigi, the island has such an interesting background as Vegapunk's old lab and the battle sight of Akainu and Aokiji, good comedy (particularly with Law), some really standout character moments for Zoro, and such important setup that gets paid off in Wano, and Caesar was a decent villain. Even with all of these positives, oh my god was this a slog for me. Did not care that much about the kids (objectively awful what happened to them, i just didn't emotionally connect that much with them), I also didn't connect very much with Kin'emon or Momo at first, and we spent a lot of time on both of those things. So many highlights but overall I think the pacing of this arc really brings it down a bit.

24. Return to Sabaody

Not much to say on this, it's only like five episodes, but it was such an amazing moment to see the strawhats reunite with each other and show off a little bit on how much stronger they are. Good humor with the fake strawhats, especially with poor Chopper believing that all of his friends just turned into major assholes over the last two years. Also a big fan of Rayleigh and him seeing Luffy off was a very wholesome and sweet moment that I really love a lot.

23. Post-Enies Lobby

Great breathing room arc after the emotional rollercoaster of Water 7/Enies Lobby, while also getting some new answers and questions about the wider world with Garp and Dragon being revealed to be related to Luffy and seeing Ace confront Blackbeard. Another standout moment is Zoro standing up to the crew about Usopp coming back into the crew and also Usopp's true apology being fully accepted. Franky joining the crew officially is also a great moment. No complaints really, just a solid arc.

22. Reverie

This is almost surely going to go up in ranking once we actually get some more of the questions presented here answered. Amazing to see Vivi and Cobra again, and to see Rebecca and Shirahoshi befriending each other with Vivi as well. Great moment of the celestial dragon from Fishman Island who was saved by Shirahoshi's mother stepping in to save Shirahoshi, I did not see it coming. I have no idea what the frozen strawhat or Imu is all about.

21. Baratie

This is maybe ranked too high, Don Krieg is undoubtedly a pretty weak and one dimensional villain and there is kind of a double edged sword (no pun intended) where the best moment in the arc goes to the Zoro vs. Mihawk fight...even though this is Sanji's arc lmao. But! I think that moment is important to Sanji's arc too, and this is the arc that really started winning me over to One Piece. Fantastic introduction to Sanji and his character/ideals, great comedy with Luffy being put in a kitchen (a mistake), obviously Zoro vs. Mihawk, and Nami running away from the strawhats back to Arlong Park.

20. Drum Island

Ohhh my poor baby boy Chopper. Chopper's backstory is obviously a highlight but really most of the arc really works for me. This is where I really fell in love with Vivi in her care for Nami and teaching Luffy when to fight and when to show respect and ask for help, which sticks with Luffy. Himbo Zoro diving into an ice lake is great comedy, and Luffy carrying Nami and Sanji up that mountain was such an impactful moment. The stuff with Chopper and the doctor is heartbreaking as well, such a great flashback. My only gripe is that Wapol kind of sucks as a villain, I don't care for him in any kind of way.

19. Little Garden

You see objectively I know that Drum Island should be above Little Garden. But I had so much fun with Little Garden that I can't help myself. Zoro in the wax statue is in the top 5 gags in the entire series, and is really where this absolute idiot won my heart. Honestly the comedy is all so top notch for me and I also really liked the giants and dinosaurs(I'm mentally like a six year old, sue me). This also introduces Sanji as Mr. Prince and Crocodile, and I love both dearly. I think when we get to Elbaf this arc will only get better with time.

18. Fishmen Island

Objectively one of the most beautiful and stunning worlds in all of One Piece, it was pure eye candy the entire time and it was so well fleshed out. The biggest highlight is the Fisher Tiger/Otohime flashback, where I thought the themes of racism were really well done and gave a lot of depth to Arlong that puts Arlong Park in a new perspective. I think thematically it's one of the strongest in the entire series, but is brought down a bit by kinda eh villains, I didn't connect too much with Shirahoshi's character, and, to put it nicely, some of the comedy falls flat (Sanji...)

17. Dressrosa

This arc is a lot of good fun until it gut punches you out of the blue. The tournament arc Luffy is in is a lot of fun, I love the world with the toys and the darkness underneath, and Rebecca but especially Kyros are such compelling characters. But we all know the real strength of this arc is Doflamingo and Law's backstory. Doffy is the best villain in the series so far and I hate his guts, the Law backstory made me actually sob I'm being so serious. What brings it down a bit is I think even with just manga canon material, this arc went on a bit too long, and while I'm trying to keep the quality of the anime out of my ranking, Dressrosa undoubtedly suffered more than any other arc adapted so far with terrible pacing and bland direction.

16. Skypeia

If there's one thing I know about Skypeia it's that everyone and their mother has an opinion about it. It falls in the middle for me, but overall I am a big fan. One of the most gorgeous worlds in the entire series, really great comedy throughout (Skypeia Zoro you'll always be famous to me), and the Noland/Calgara flashback followed by the ringing of the bell are big highlights of pre timeskip One Piece. There was so much foreshadowed here as well that I get very excited everytime I see Skypeia mentioned afterwards. The only thing drawbacks to this arc for me is that it does maybe go on for a little too long, particularly in the second act, and while I've accepted that everyone in One Piece is built different, I could not suspend my disbelief as literally everyone took multiple lightning strikes and after being knocked out for a bit were fine. I think why this bothers me compared to other instances where "Hey normal human beings Can't Do That" is because it really cuts the impact and threat level of Enel by a lot.

15. Impel Down

Impel Down is just fun all the way through, and is where I realized how strong of a protagonist Luffy is. Luffy building a makeshift crew out of the villains we've seen up to this point was just a brilliant idea, and each of them really shine even if they were a kinda of eh villain before (which might be all of them with the exception of Crocodile). The Dante's Inferno inspiration and the secret Rocky Horror gay dive bar was a treat, the introduction of Jinbe and Ivankov were both highlights, and even with the main supporting cast set aside (which in many other series I would despise), it really works in Impel Down leading into Marineford. As I'm writing this I feel like I'm putting it too low, because I have really zero complaints, but I just enjoy what's ahead a bit more.

14. Jaya

Jaya is so short but is one that comes back around so much in the story and has such memorable moments within the arc itself. Bellamy and Blackbeard are such great foils to Luffy, and Luffy and Zoro taking that beating in the bar really cemented how they're just on the same wavelength and also that what Shanks taught Luffy really stuck. A lot of big character introductions such as Blackbeard, Kuma, and Doffy (look at his stupid ass bird walk above lmao). Jaya lays a lot of groundwork for the themes of dreams and the overall world in One Piece, while also just being a good time.

13. Romance Dawn

Everyone talks about how you have to get to Arlong Park before One Piece really starts getting good (which on one hand is true), but I was immediately intrigued at the very beginning with Romance Dawn. The flashback with Shanks really establishes the core of who Luffy is and sets up so many themes in the series within such a short amount of time, and the Zoro flashback is also very strong writing from the beginning where we can immediately get a sense of his character from that and his introduction when he's tied to the post. Captain Morgan and Alvida are pretty meh, but I liked Koby a lot at the beginning as well and I enjoyed Romance Dawn when I was watching it and looking back.

12. Loguetown

Short arc that has a lot of good little moments throughout, and another arc where this will get better with time (especially when we get to know more about Dragon I think). No negatives to this arc for me really, I loved the introduction of Smoker and Tashigi, Luffy seeing the execution podium and also the lightning strike coming down to save him, Dragon saving Luffy from Smoker, and Zoro and Tashigi in the sword shop are all such great moments that keep getting built upon as the series goes on.

11. Post War

Post War is really where I fell in love with Ace's character and made his journey throughout the series way more impactful in retrospect. Seeing him say that he wants to become a pirate even if people fear or hate him, and seeing that happen after Marineford where he's so clearly loved by so many and it overwhelms him, that got me. Luffy and Jinbe both standout here as well, seeing Luffy being broken by grief and Jinbe holding him down and asking what he still has, and Luffy remembers his friends? It's such a bitterweet moment. Such a good arc to round out pre-timeskip One Piece. Only complaint is that Sabo has maybe the most obvious fakeout death here in the whole series.

10. Thriller Bark

HEAVILY letting my personal bias win on this one, I know that people don't view it that favorably and I get it. It's a bit bloated pacing wise, the villains range from mediocre to the worst in the series (looking at you Absalom, but not my ghost girl Perona <3), and this is the start of Sanji starting down a dark path of being overbearingly pervy. I get it all. The positives of this arc really outweighs all of this though for me. I love the gothic setting and it feels like the first time Oda really plays with genre. This is a contender for one of if not the funniest arc in One Piece, while also having some of the darkest but best moments in the series with Brook and Zoro (I could write an essay on both of them during this arc). I think every strawhat here has a multitude of shining moments with none of them fading into the background, and Moria as a foil to Luffy as a failed pirate king is such brilliant foreshadowing for Sabaody Archipelago.

9. Zou

A fun fact about me is that almost everytime I see talking animals in a story, I hate it (if you follow me for JJK you know who my least favorite character is...). Chopper was a pretty big exception already but I wasn't looking forward to this arc when I saw the focus was going to be a tribe of talking animals. Little did I know just how much I would love the Minks tribe, the world of Zou, and just the sheer amount of setup it accomplishes while still being such an entertaining and fascinating arc in of itself. I have been spoiled for a lot in this series, which for the most part I haven't minded, but I am so glad I was never spoiled on "Raizo is safe." Completely blindsided me and is genuinely a contender for one of the best moments in the entire series. The sidecast of the Minks is so strong, the information we get about Laugh Tale and Wano is so intriguing, and after a pretty long stint of Sanji being mostly reduced to perv jokes for several arcs, this is the start of his amazing character development.

8. Marineford

So just know that I know that this is objectively a top 5 arc in One Piece, this is a kind of climax few series can ever hope of achieving, and it's not even the halfway point. It was so much fun seeing characters all the way from episode 1 to 450ish show up for this fight, but the stars of the arc for me were Whitebeard, Jinbe, Doffy, Croc, Marco, Koby, and Buggy (for the comedy lmao). This is a fantastic arc with very very few drawbacks. The reason it's ranked lower than it should be is because 1. This is a long fight, and while they are great it's not the real reason I love this series, and 2. that I got spoiled sooo much for Marineford. Like a ridiculous amount. The obvious one being Ace, and I'm especially annoyed about it because I got spoiled for it in such a stupid way. I really don't mind spoilers most of the time but this really cut the tension for me in a lot of places, and it didn't affect the quality but it did affect my overall enjoyment where it isn't an absolute favorite of mine. With that said, Marineford is still so good and has some of the best moments in the whole series.

7. Alabasta

This arc is maybe the most classic kind of story found in One Piece, and this is maybe the arc I would say you could show to someone without much context needed and if they enjoy this, they'll probably like the rest of it. The strawhats all have standout moments throughout this arc, I particularly like Nami, Zoro, and Sanji in this arc, but the two who steal the show are Vivi and Crocodile (which while Doffy I think is the best villain, Crocodile is my favorite and acts a fantastic challenge to both Vivi and Luffy). Alabasta feels like the first time of really digging into the politics of the world, and is such a classic epic fantasy which I adore. Pell's sacrifice would be a contender for one of the best moments in the series, but this ends up being maybe the most offensive and appalling fakeout death in the entire series (and there are...a lot). But this is really my only gripe with the arc.

6. Wano Country

If there's an arc where I can just feel love poured into it, it's Wano. The buildup and anticipation was (for the most part) paid off so well, and Wano is one of the most beautiful worlds in the entire series. I was a little annoyed at first that there was so much focus on the Red Scabbards, but I really fell in love with them and their story with Oden. Yasuie's sacrifice is another contender for one of the best moments in the series, and of course the reveal of Gear 5 as well. Wano has some of the highest high's in One Piece, but is held back a little bit by a few different small things for me. Kaido and Big Mom feel a little bit disappointing, and Wano is carried by it's minor antagonists I think. The raid goes on for way too long and has quite a few throwaway characters that I don't think needed to be focused on or even included. There also are quite a few instances where "deaths" of certain characters are given a lot of weight and then it's a fakeout, while other characters who actually die don't get that same narrative weight, which was just a bit strange and jarring. Even with these issues though, this was such a fun world to spend a lot of time in and is still a top arc for me.

5. Arlong Park

Literally every person always says "Get to Arlong Park before considering dropping the series" and I was like ok....I was already enjoying it before, particularly with Romance Dawn and Baratie. But yeah those almost pale in comparison to Arlong Park. What hasn't been said about it at this point. Nami's character arc throughout the East Blue saga is paid off so well and the strawhats going to help her really encapsulate all of the love they have for each other. Everyone knows the iconic moments like the hat pass off and Luffy destroying the map room (and I love both of those scenes), but an underrated scene is when Zoro jumps into the water to test Nami's bluff, betting his life on if she was a true friend or not (and he knew that she was). This arc also gets better with age from what we learn from Sabaody and Fishmen Island.

4. Whole Cake Island

There are drawbacks to this arc that should place it lower than fourth place. The pacing isn't great, particularly with the rampage in the second act, I would have really liked more for Chopper to do in this arc, and Big Mom gets a little bit overshadowed here. But this arc was so desperately needed for Sanji's character and he won my heart again and establishes him as one of the most complex and interesting strawhats. Apart from him, Nami and Brook get some really incredible scenes as well, and the side cast with Germa and the Big Mom pirates is maybe the best in the series. Judge and Katakuri are both excellent villains in completely different ways, and I was so invested in Pudding, Reiju, and Chiffon. Not to mention this is also a top contender for one of the best worlds in the series, and I'm a big sucker for fairytales, especially when they're twisted ones like with WCI. The themes of family throughout this arc are some of the best written in any media I've seen and I fell in love with this arc despite it's flaws.

3. Sabaody Archipelago

I really don't mind spoilers, but if there's any arc I'm happy I didn't get spoiled on it's this one. Thriller Bark was for the most part a fun time, but it had some really heavy moments towards the end that I was sure when arriving at Sabaody that this was also going to be a good fun time. It's a theme park! The introduction of the Worst Generation which leads to some really fun interactions especially with Kidd and Law. There's some really good humor in this arc. But oh my god was this arc just a gut punch out of nowhere, where it's maybe the most fucked up island to date, and recontextualizes so much of the broader One Piece world. The introduction of Rayleigh and Luffy punching the celestial dragon are such amazing moments, but of course the ending to the arc is what stands out. Seeing them lose so clearly, and taking into account they surely would have died without Rayleigh stepping in and Kuma having secret motives, it's devastating. Zoro being the first sent away and Robin the last is maybe one of the most evil writing moments in the entire series, but god is it so good. This will surely only get better once I read Egghead and Kuma's backstory.

2. Enies Lobby

Yeah real original opinion I know, and you can really count this as tied to #1 as well, but if I had to choose I personally prefer the next arc just a little bit more. The special thing about Enies Lobby to me is of course the culmination of Robin's arc where she finds that she wants to live and seeing her backstory, but also the fact that each strawhat fades into the background, I can point out multiple amazing character moments for each of them throughout. CP9 is a good challenge for all of them, Gear 2 and 3 are amazing, and Sogeking shooting down the world flag feels like the start of One Piece in some ways. And of course, I cried over that stupid boat.

Water 7

Another super original opinion, but yeah this is an arc that has only the highest of highs and I cannot personally think of a bad moment throughout the entire arc. Another contender for one of the most interesting and prettiest worlds in the series, with an amazing side cast with Galley La, the Franky family, and Kokoro and Chimney. The CP9 twist also got me good, and I originally disliked Franky but he won over my heart as well. Just like Enies Lobby this arc has standout moments for every strawhat that I could about in length, but the internal strife within the crew and how they're tested is unlike anything else in the series, and Usopp's character arc in Water 7 was so well written, and this where I really started loving him after his kind of rough introduction. If Oda can somehow write an arc better than this one I'll be in absolute shock, this is just incredible writing that most could never achieve.

If you read through this all thank you so much <3 I don't expect a lot of interaction from this post which is totally fine, I made this more for fun, but I love One Piece a super normal amount (<- a lie) and I love talking about it, so I always want to hear other people's opinions as well!

[lesbianpepsi]

'Cause I love, to love, to love you

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x Fem!reader

Summary: Ever since Wednesday had been gifted a phone you decided to steal her phone to play a prank on her. But much to your surprise you see something unexpected on her phone.

Warnings: bad writing, some swearing

Words: 1.833k

A/N: i wrote this on my phone since my laptop is having a mental breakdown on me rn. not proof read since it's 3am and it's exam season lmao. sorryyy. also this is my first 'fic' post here. hope this isn't too bad lmao, enjoy:)

One of your absolute favourite hobbies, if it even counts as a hobby, is to "borrow" someone's phone for a few minutes and do something to the phone.

Whether it be quickly change their ringtone to something embarrassing, take a ungodly amount of selfies in thirty seconds, or even send yourself a message complimenting yourself or agreeing to do something stupid.

You always found an annoying trick to play. But you always had one that was your absolute favourite. A classic, some might say.

"Borrowing" someone's phone and changing their wallpaper to something incredibly stupid.

If you were lucky the persons phone would already have unattractive selfies they took as a joke, or a friend would send them one of themself that would automatically save to the phone.

You've done that over a thousand times to all of your friends and family members, and to you it never gets old.

Enid has always been the easiest victim because, one, her passcode is literally '2929', two, Enid always has a grip on her phone but in your or hers dorm room that grip instantly weakens and she always leaves her phone around the place.

The hardest victim to play this prank on is your girlfriend, Wednesday Addams.

Although the goth is not often using her actual device, she always makes sure to keep it close to her person.

The rare times you've managed to snag it while she's in the bathroom or during her writing time, if she isn't looking, for the life of you, you cannot guess her passcode.

Hers has to be much more complex than Enid's simple four digit passcode, since you've tried everything you could've thought of as a six digit passcode, yet to no avail.

You've tried birthdays, important dates to Wednesday, her favourite numbers, secret messages using numbers.

Nothing works.

You've been patiently waiting for the day to finally play the harmless prank on your girlfriend for weeks, and on a quiet Saturday night, it finally happened.

_____________________________________

Saturday had always been your favourite day, who doesn't think Saturday as the best day?

You especially loved Saturdays since the fact the following day follows is Sunday, a day with also no school. Which meant Wednesday was allowed to come over to your dorm room and stay over for the night.

The school had a rule where sleepovers weren't permitted unless it was on the weekend, something that annoyed you greatly, but it was better than nothing.

This particular Saturday you and Wednesday decided to have a simple day. Both of you wanted to have more of a relaxing day rather than one full of plans for once.

It was ten in the evening and you and Wednesday had just finished the first episode of Criminal Minds, a show that took you a while of begging to get Wednesday to actually agree to watch with you.

With a smile you turned your head to look at her, her head already turned to look at you.

"So, what did you think?" You asked eagerly, hoping the goth actually enjoyed one of your favourite shows.

She gave a blank expression as she answered the question. "It was tolerable at best." You grinned at the response; pride filling in you since in Wednesday language that meant she actually liked it.

"I knew you'd like it!" You had the urge to add 'I told you so' but you opted to leave that out. "Whose your favourite character?"

Wednesday's raises her brows slightly at that. "A favourite character? I've only seen a singular episode and don't have a good enough concept of each character's personality to answer that question." She replied in a monotone voice as she glanced back at the screen before back at you.

You stared at her in silence for a moment before a slight smirk replaced the grin on your face.

"It's Hotch isn't it?" Wednesday gives you an annoyed stare as she crosses her arms over stomach. "Just because you've watched this show a myriad of times doesn't make you a profiler." She grumbled, confirming the answer to your question.

You chuckled as you teasingly nudged your shoulder with hers. "I know. I just know my girlfriend so well."

The corners of Wednesday's lips quirked up for a moment before they returned to their normal straight line. "Don't get too cocky, Y/n."

You chuckle once again as you moved your hand to holds Wednesday's, knowing the simple display of affection was one she didn't mind much.

Your smile only grew when Wednesday didn't hesitate to interlock your hands.

"I wouldn't dream of it. But I do know when we watch season two you will definitely love Emily but say otherwise."

Wednesday let out a scoff at your words. "I only remember agreeing to watch one episode of this show, not an entire season."

You shrugged your shoulders before saying. "Fine, I guess I'll have to watch the next episode alone while you sleep then."

Her dark chocolate brown eyes narrowed the ever slightest at that, as if she was trying to profile you to see if you were lying or not.

You stated back with the same amount of intensity, using it as an excuse to admire your girlfriend's beauty.

Wednesday uncharacteristically broke the eye contact first as she let out an angry huff.

"Only one more episode then." You grin at her words, already knowing that meant there were a lot more episodes ahead of you two.

"But I need to empty my bladder first." She states before she let go of your hand to stab up. Once she was out of the bed and standing she gave you a menacing glare before saying. "Don't start the episode without me."

You nodded your head.

"Go piss girl." You said as you let out a small laugh at your own words, still finding the meme enjoyable.

Wednesday stared blankly at you for a few seconds before she turned around and headed towards the bathroom.

She never understood the joke no matter how many times you told her the meme.

Once you heard the shutting of the door you didn't hesitate to roll over to Wednesday's side and retrieve her phone.

Pressing on the screen her lock screen appeared, her lockscreen wallpaper simply being a black background.

Very Wednesday, you thought to yourself. Was the chances of you actually figuring Wednesday's password slim? Yes. Impossible? No.

You were determined to change the girl's wallpaper to something stupid at least once.

Swiping up the phone presented the password screen to you, the circular numbers taking up the entire screen.

Your thumb hovered over the numbers as you thought of what possibly could her password.

Your first guess was '233267' since under each number was one letter that in order spelt 'Addams'.

Much to your disappointment the phone vibrated as the password emptied, telling you that the password was incorrect.

Knowing you didn't have much time to waste you quickly thought of another password you hadn't tried before.

'782378' This time the letters under the numerals spelt Pubert, the name of Wednesday's youngest brother.

Once again the phone vibrated angrily, taunting you that you got it wrong once again.

You sighed as you glanced over at the bathroom door knowing Wednesday would walk through them any minute.

Accepting your defeat you decided to give one last attempt before giving up. This time you just mimicked Wednesday's blank expression as you entered a six digit passcode you hadn't tried before.

'111111' You rolled your eyes as you entered the final digit expecting to hear the vibration once again, especially due to the fact how simple the password was.

But to your surprise you didn't feel a vibration in your hand. Instead you heard nothing.

Your eyes snapped back towards the screen and to your utter delight and shock you were in Wednesday's phone.

You actually managed to guess her password!

(You decided to ignore the fact it was literally more hackable and easier to guess than Enid's passcode)

A smug smile appeared on your face as you straightened your posture, pushing yourself slightly up as your mind rushed with different things you could change her wallpaper to.

Your eyes glanced at her home screen and you fully expected her home screen to be the same as her lock screen.

But it wasn't.

Her wallpaper was a picture of you two on your first date.

You were not expecting that.

The picture itself was a selfie you took, your face closer to the camera with Wednesday sitting behind you. You had a wide smile on your face while Wednesday had her iconic death stare.

In the background of the photo was the gorgeous forest of Nevermore. It was where you had your first date with Wednesday.

Wednesday had prepared a picnic and mapped out the best spot in the forest where she apparently knew the two of you wouldn't be interrupted. It was truly magical.

The longer you stared at the home screen the harder you found it to go actually change the picture.

Suddenly, you heard the obnoxiously loud taps from behind the bathroom door, indicating Wednesday was going to come out any second.

You glanced at the door before back at her phone. Even if it was a few seconds before Wednesday emerged that was still plenty of time for you to change it.

You smiled slightly to yourself as you shut the phone off and placed it back to its orignal spot before shifting back to your side of the bed.

As expected the bathroom door opened a few moments later and silently Wednesday walked over to the bed and got in.

She skilfully sneaked under the blanket you two were sharing and entered your personal space before she turned her head to look at you.

"Are you going to put the continuing episode on or not?" She asked impatiently with a tilt of her head.

You didn't reply at first. Instead you leaned down to kiss Wednesday's cold lips.

The shorter girl took a second to notice what was happening before you felt her kiss you back, you couldn't help but smile against her lips at the feeling.

The kiss itself was brief but it still managed to take away your breath as Wednesday pulled away.

She looked up at you with the smallest tint of pink tainting her ears, something you so desperately wanted to comment on.

"Although that was pleasurable why did you kiss me?" You shrugged your shoulders weakly as your grabbed Wednesday's hand with your hand. "I just wanted to kiss you." You said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The rare small smile slowly appeared on Wednesday's face as she turned to look at the TV screen at the foot of your bed. She shifted closer to you as she did so.

You pressed one final kiss to Wednesday's head before you grabbed the remote with your free hand and pressed play for the next episode.

Although your prank was a failure this time you didn't mind.

[moon-buggg]

Outside perspective

a bit of a look into how the townsfolk view YN and their curious new companions. I... may have gone a bit overboard with making it read like a classic gothic horror story lmao. eventually I will get an ao3 account up and running and start posting these there.... someday

word count: 1113

content warnings: brief mentions of grave robbing, Sun and Moon are referred to as 'it' by the narrator who doesn't know them

I do not know what drives a man to madness, what seed of evil must be planted to allow one to turn his back against all that is right and moral. Men far smarter than I have argued since time immemorial over the root cause of evil; whether it is some inborn trait, a dark miasma that consumes one whole, the work of devils, or simply the nature of free will. I know not from which deep recess of hell such wickedness sprung forth, but I know that I have seen its face. It is a face that haunts my dreams- my very being. A face that looms over the night and seeks to destroy all that righteous men hold dear. A face that is impossible to forget. A face I cannot possibly begin to describe here, for fear of calling it forth to haunt me further.

Should such evils have a singular origin, it is whatever dark corner spawned that wretched doctor. 

I still remember the fateful day they first appeared like a grim specter over our small village. The veritable calm before the storm. It had been raining heavily for several days, the roads transformed into a dense mud that threatened to consume any unlucky enough to be forced out of shelter. That day the rain had given way to a cloying fog, out from which stepped a stranger, cloaked in what might have once been a pristine white coat but was currently stained with the evidence of their struggle with the muddy roads.

I wish I could say I had sensed something was wrong the moment they stepped foot into my tavern, but truthfully I had felt sorry for the wet, muddy thing slumped over my counter looking for a hot meal. I know now the error I made welcoming them not only into my establishment but our town.

They were moving into the old manor in the woods, and, unable to locate it in the fog, had resigned to seeking warm shelter and a meal, both of which I was readily able to provide. They avoided talking about themself as much as possible, simply stating that they had business which was to be tended to alone. I assumed they were a melancholic artist or poet looking to escape the woes of city life. It was not until much later I learned they were a doctor, of all things.

They did not leave their name.

Fed, rested, and provided with the best directions I could manage, the stranger was gone. I had tried to offer them board for the night seeing as the rain was picking up again and was sure to make their trek all the more difficult, but they were adamant they did not mind the weather and would rather settle in sooner than later.

I was left with the distinct impression they were an odd sort, an eccentric type, but largely put the stranger out of my mind. Little did I know at the time what would come of that fateful meeting.

Soon enough, a routine was formed. The first of every month the doctor would emerge from their isolation, buy barely enough food to last one person a month, and pick up an order of all manner of strange tools and supplies imported on their order from the grocer, purchase one sweet pastry from the baker, and return on their lonesome to the woods.

No one has ever seen them in town on any other occasion, for any other reason.

No one has ever seen who digs up the graves, no matter how many souls take watch over the graveyard.

So, needless to say, people were unsettled when this familiar routine was so completely altered one spring morning. When on their monthly entrance into town they were shadowed by two towering automatons. The metal jesters, for they were curiously fashioned after circus clowns, followed after their master like loyal dogs.

The first, whose face was fashioned after the sun with large bronze rays that reflect the early morning light in pale imitation of the real sun, moved most jovially down the street, practically bouncing with each step in a manner most discordant with the confusion and dread slowly spreading amongst the townsfolk. As if for an invisible crowd, every movement was performed. For what reason had the doctor fashioned such strange creations, and what fresh terror would they unleash upon our town? It strayed from its companions as the group continued into town, moving its face as if taking in the streets for the first time, its face an unnerving grim permanently etched into painted porcelain. Though uncanny in face and movements, this first jester seemed almost welcoming when compared to its twin.

As if a dark mirror to its solar companion, the second automaton seemed to soak up shadows like the night itself. It hovered just behind the doctor, its face a tragedy mask warped into lunar shape. Rather unlike its brother, this jester seemed to take no interest in observing the town, simply following its master with movements far too fluid and precise to be of man. Whenever a concerned bystander would stare too long or stray too close, the lunar automaton would, without a face capable of expression, turn and stare at the offending party, leaving the distinct impression that it was glowering at you. A most unnerving effect best compared to an overzealous guard dog.

I watched as the trio disappeared into the store, and, as if the spell keeping me in place was broken, remembered my purpose in being out so early. I could not linger and gawk at the mad doctor and their metal entourage any longer, though I was later told by the grocer that the solar automaton was quite chatty. I went about my day, resigned to putting the strange occurrence out of my mind until late at night, when solitude and darkness draw out the shadows of one's mind.

I could not help but ponder the nature of these frighteningly human automatons, and I am sure many of my peers laid away doing the same.

Bodies are going missing, that is the only thing we know for certain, and it only started once that doctor came to town. No one knows what they do sequestered in their manor, isolated in the woods, until suddenly they appear with strange creations that move and talk in a pale imitation of man. Laying awake, staring at my ceiling and overcome with a dread that seeped into my very bones, the nature of these beings haunting me. What wicked deeds mar their creation, what secrets are hidden in their metal exteriors.

[ping-ski]

Hewwo!!! :3 I hope you are having an amazing day, here is a whole plate of cupcakes! Would it be possible for you to share a few lore details about your Eclipsed By You AU story? I keep looking at the designs and I am so curious about what will be happening, I would wish to nibble on tiny lore crumbs, pretty please?

ama!! hihi! ! i meant to answer your ask much sooner! anyways, since you asked so nicely (and because i am pathetically weak to any sweets </3) prepare for some SERIOUS yappage under that cut

✦ AuDHD demands that I explain EBY origins before any details but you can totally skip this if you want! (Scroll till you see blue text! :3) So... Eclipsed By You was intended to be au/fic just for myself after work when I first got into DCA. I literally was pantsing a self-insert fic from just gameplay, voicelines, and a collection of scenarios I wrote in my notes app before I actually interacted with the DCA fandom lol. I was already in the process of writing it to be a proper fic and planned to make an AO3 acc to post it! I took some time away from it tho cause I got busy irl. During my break I did start to interact more the fandom! The first proper DCA fic I read was 'Solar Lunacy' by BamSara a few months back as a recommendation from a mutual I had from another fandom. I had told them about my fic idea and they suggested I read the fic as my fic had reminded them of SL. After reading through, I was kind of bummed initially because I really didn't think I had anything unique to offer with my own fic that I was hoping to share. I stopped writing it cause damn comparison truly is the thief of joy. SL and EBY had similar ideas going on and I just didn't feel like it was worth posting my fic cause it didn't feel "special" to me anymore. It was easy to give up since writing is really not my strong suit at all, so then I fell back to just drawing! I only came back to it despite the 19 other DCA aus I have lined up rn cause honestly I remembered that wrote it for my own enjoyment! Why did that have to change? Albeit, I did scrap lots of what I initially wrote and started fresh cause my interpretation of DCA changed. Regardless, EBY was always going to be a self-indulgent DCA/Reader fic taking place at the Pizza Plex. Sure not anything original, but that's just a fact of being a creative in general tbh. I felt silly when I realized that haha. I'm having fun and they make me smile, so who cares if its been done before lol. I still enjoy Solar Lunacy and still am a fan of BamSara! (the cotl content has been fueling me lmao)

✦ Some bits on Eclipsed By You- The main part of your ask lol! ✿ On the au/fic name: I actually stole it from another au (of the many) I have. No particular reason for it! I was writing EBY and that au around the same time and alternated working on the two throughout the day. That au is now nameless (actually it's nicknamed "Messiah" as I type) cause EBY grew onto me for what it is now! ✿ On DCA's designs: This might be kind of disappointing lol but- there isn't much of a lore/plot reason for their designs? They just look that way cause... why not :3 It's also part of just how I interpret DCA into my artstyle. Otherwise, they can be interpreted as the canon designs early on! Atleast until some future upgrades! ✿ When in SB are we? Everywhere /hj. EBY will have some pre-virus and post-virus stuff just for funsies! I'm dying to yap but if I say anymore I will get carried away 100%. ✿ On EBY!Eclipse: For this au, Eclipse is his own "person" you could say. With his own AI and personality chip to pair! Carefully built to be a dedicated host and theater bot. He is, including Sun and Moon, the entertainment <3. They are a singular animatronic in this fic! (like those 3 in 1 soaps except it's DCA /j) ✿ On EBY!Y/N: (EBY is a reader-insert, but intended to be written as gender neutral and an adult.) Y/N gets their own bit of lore and issues that may or may not be the stress/frustration from my 2 irl jobs thinly veiled lmao. They work part-time at the Plex as a general theater staff member! Each week, their tasks rotating between concessions, being an usher, and working along side the theater bots! (Kind of like a theater tech.) This is a part-time job just to keep them afloat while they work on their last bit of certifications and training to be a caretaker! They are pretty passionate about helping those in need. A sweetheart honestly. Though, if you don't like kids, maybe look away. Wholesome moments with the littles and DCA + Y/N is pretty decent with kids themselves. (Lots of projection from my own experiences working with children and elderly, as a caregiver turned caretaker. I kind of want to highlight some of my experiences with Y/N.) ✿ On EBY!Sun and Moon: These two are goofballs alongside Eclipse through and through. They all get to be sweet, soft, and doting I promise. Originally, before scrapping a good chunk of the og writing, EBY had a beloved sweetheart anxous Sun and aggressive Moon who was kind of an asshole(Before the rewrite, EBY felt so different. Like everyone was just tolerating eachother and fragments being held together with glitter glue n' dreams. I am very very glad it's different now lol.) Eclipse stayed fairly consistent though. Sweet house husband that he is. Now, Sun is just as unhinged as Moon (making him just as much as a threat!), but we will persevere with the power of friendship <3 We're gonna have some aloof Sun moments. He takes his job pretty seriously! Some goofy Moon bits who's giggles are light and airy. He is very unserious I fear. They're both trying their best, in their own ways. There's not much I can say rn without spoiling haha. It's hard to stay vague hrm. Or atleast I can't think of anything specific to add right now. (I may be able to answer some specific questions if you have any, my brain is just foggy rn) ✿ I'm simplifying it down to your "typical pizza plex fic" with pre-virus and post-fire shenanigans. I'm sorry if none of that is telling I can't think of anything specific cause I'm pretty sleepy rn so maybe it's a little boring sounding but I love it anyways haha Expect some canon-typical violence and non-sexual intimacy! I have intentions on writing the relationship between Y/N and DCA ambiguous so it can be seen as queerplatonic or romantic. (But this could very easily changed, I'm a shameless robokisser sigh.)

[authurials]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒 ... 2/5

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 . aemond had never allowed himself to covet--not until now that is

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 . one / three / four / five

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 . 18+ situations ( MINORS DNI ! ), unintentional voyeurism, solo masturbation, accidental exhibitionism, strong language

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 . here is day four of my 12 days of house of the dragon celebration and part two of my aemond targaryen x f!reader miniseries! things are heating up between the two would-be-lovers already and we still have three parts to go. what do you think is going to happen next? i’ve decided to take the day off tomorrow from writing and posting so i can recharge a bit after a particularly exhausting week of work--i also have some last minute christmas shopping to do AND other errands so i’m feeling a tad overwhelmed; this does mean my helaena one-shot has been dropped from the lineup but i’ve decided to revamp the idea and write it at a later date when i feel more inspired to write for my girl. on sunday you’ll be getting part two to my harwin x reader miniseries, candy cane! so be sure to stay tuned and let me know your thoughts on what you’ve read so far; also, finished this right around midnight but i’m still counting it for the 16th lmao

𝐏𝐀𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎 . white rose

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐒 tucked into the waist pocket of your apron, a delightfully pinkish red camelia that you had found on one of the garden benches during your usual rounds. One might just assume that it had happened upon the stone bench in an act of nature, but you knew better–you knew it had been put there specifically for you. The camelia was only one of many you had been happening across for nearly a fortnight, starting with the lily of the valley in your chamber. Since then you had received some azaleas, baby’s breath, begonias, and your favorite, bleeding hearts; there were others as well, each placed carefully in a beautiful arrangement on your bedside table. Some were beginning to wilt from lack of sunshine while the newer ones still had a few days left in them, their sweet smelling scents mingling perfectly together like their own brand of perfume. At first, you had assumed it was one of the younger gardeners under your father leaving you the flowers or perhaps one of the hedge knights that frequented the grounds trying to secure patronage in the capital. None of them had quite caught your eye as a potential secret admirer however, at most they merely threw polite smiles your way before they moved along and out of your life forever.

As you passed a handsome bronze-haired boy, you instinctively glanced over your shoulder to assess his form, catching his eye as he did the same. Again, there was that polite smile as he nodded his head in acknowledgement, simply turning to face forward once more as he continued on his way. Sighing, you did the same, not having felt anything when you took note of the color of his eyes or the dimple in his cheek. He was quite good-looking, you would admit, but there was no resounding connection that stayed with you as you carried on about your rounds in the garden. No, you would be able to tell if you happened upon your secret admirer whether that be by chance or on purpose; you knew he would reveal himself eventually, why wouldn’t he? But you couldn’t deny that you were a bit impatient to know who it was.

Thoughts consumed with flowers and speculation, you took no note of the fact that you had an extra shadow on that day; not far behind you, separated from your person by a thick row of blooming pale pink carnations, walked a certain one-eyed prince. Making sure to stay enough behind you so that you wouldn’t take easy note of his presence, Aemond followed you with his hands folded behind his back; singular eye locked on you, a slight smirk curved his lips as he took in your dreamy expression. You softened in his absence, no longer cold and guarded as you walked the familiar tended paths of the royal garden; and each day since the lily of the valley, he had come to watch you if only for a short time before tending to his other duties–if only to assure himself that you’d received his latest gift. And sure enough he saw the newest bloom he had picked earlier in the dew-lit morning peeking out of the pocket of your apron skirt, its petal bobbing gently with each step you took. The camelia had called to him that day, a symbol of his growing affections for the sharp-tongued and quick-witted girl who had beguiled him with her boldness–with her audacity.

He wanted to break you, to have you desire him as he desired you–a fire so intense that it was maddening, an obsession that if left unchecked threatened to consume him completely. As a boy it had been but a childish sort of like, a pointless crush that he had forgotten about until the moment he saw you again. Never had he dared to hope, to dream, to covet such a thing that was supposed to be below him–not until now; now all he did was covet and desire as he followed you deeper into the gardens, your path clearly taking you to the greenhouse and workshop your father kept. When you were children you would take him there after much convincing on your part and show off all the new seedlings your father was trying to grow so he could incorporate them into the gardens; most were incredibly rare specimens, shipped all the way from Pentos and Essos and perhaps even further. You’d prattled off all that your father had told you about them, eidetic memory storing such information as if it were a precious tome that needed safe-keeping, all the while gripping tightly to Aemond’s hand with your small sweaty one. It had disgusted him at times, but for some reason he rarely found it in himself to pull away, especially when you would look over your shoulder at him with that crooked smile.

Stopping where the row of carnations ended, Aemond watched you continue on without him, not a care in the world as you hummed a melancholy tune; just as you were about to disappear from his view, he took note of the way you plucked the camelia from your pocket, head turning just enough to the side so he saw how you lifted it to your nose to sniff it. Smirk widening, he backed away slowly and turned to leave, assured that his plan was taking proper effect. All he needed to do now was reveal himself to you as your ‘secret admirer’--he knew you had been searching, eyes thoughtful as of late as you would take in your surroundings, waiting for your faceless would-be-lover to reveal himself. You were ready to know, that he was certain of, he just needed to set the scene appropriately before revealing himself to you–

But first, he had other less interesting obligations to attend to courtesy of his ever helpless family.

Leaving the gardens, he headed to the Tower of the Hand where his mother and grandfather were supposed to be awaiting his arrival. He knew he was late and usually that was unfounded for him–always the responsible one, the dutiful son, the wasted potential of a second born prince; however for once he could not find it in himself to care, as duty had become tasteless in his mouth, his mother’s praise and love no longer enough to satiate himself upon. He wanted–no, needed–more and he was determined to see himself filled no matter the cost.

He was let into his mother’s solar by Ser Criston Cole, who ever dutifully bowed his head to his star pupil; unlike the other times when he would’ve respectfully nodded back to his mentor, Aemond averted his eyes and simply gave a tense bow of his head as he moved past the Dornish man. He did not miss the way the older man frowned in confusion, dark gaze following him into his grandfather’s solar before closing the door once more. The Targaryen prince, although firm in his intentions, could not help but feel a bit guilty knowing that his newfound selfishness would disappoint the man who had been more of father to him then his own ever had. He had looked up to kingsguard his whole life, admiring the honorable way in which the man protected and respected his mother unlike the other men in her life who had neglected to do so; if Aemond had not known any better he would’ve said Criston was in love with the queen, but he did know better and knew with a certainty that the relationship between the knight and his mother ran no deeper than a shared fondness and treasured friendship. It made the young man feel guilty because in a way he was betraying the rapport he had created thus far with his teacher, years of trust diminished in the short period of time it had taken Aemond to cast away the virtue of duty for the sin of lust.

“Mother,” he greeted respectfully, bowing once more to the pious woman who sat stiffly as always in the area by the lit fireplace; nearer to the hearth stood his grandfather, who greeted his grandson with a nod and his name. “Grandfather. You both wanted to see me?”

He already had his suspicions before Otto even opened his mouth, having known for months what the man and the other small council members were plotting behind his and his father’s own backs. Viserys was too weak to really be coherent of much of anything at this point, kept numb and docile by copious amounts of milk of the poppy; he hadn’t been of use for quite some time, Aemond’s grandfather and mother taking up in his stead to rule things as they saw fit–hiding behind the guise of doing the king’s bidding. It was quite hard to do his bidding when the decaying corpse of man couldn’t even string together a full sentence, instead speaking in a broken language one often had to decode–Aemma and Rhaenyra among some of his favorite words. Aemond resisted the urge to curl his lip in disgust as he listened to what Otto had to say, though he was already calculating his rebuttal in his head.

“Your mother and I have been discussing it with the small council,” the older man hummed, “and we believe it is high time you were engaged to marry. We’ve already begun discussions with Lord Borros Baratheon in regards to one of his four lovely daughters–”

“And what if I do not wish to marry?” Was Aemond’s reply, hands folding behind his back as he glanced between his grandfather and mother, who had already begun to pick nervously at her hands as she formulated her response carefully.

“Aemond,” she begun, “we understand these things are not always desirable but–”

“But it is your duty to the family to secure a good match,” Otto interjected, “and garner more support for your brother’s claim.”

Of course, Aemond thought bitterly to himself, it is always about that drunk’s claim. But what of my own?

He studied the histories and philosophies of their predecessors, he practiced the art of the sword, he had sacrificed time and time again for his family; but still, his efforts would forever be only those of a second born son, a curse in and of itself–a constant mark against his person no matter how hard he tried to escape his destiny. Had it ever crossed any of their mind’s that he might make a better fit for king than his older brother? Who other than the fact of being born first was even more ill-suited for the crown than their whoring cunt of a half-sister or her brood of bastards. Aemond was sure that it had, but due to damnable tradition he would forever be passed over for Aegon, just as he had when Helaena and his brother were betrothed; he had had no desire to marry his sister, but he would’ve done it if only to ensure she was not doomed to a loveless and cruel marriage to that drunkard.

“Your grandfather is right,” Alicent nodded, standing up from her spot on the settee. “We will need Lord Borros’ support and to ensure it we have to create a strong alliance. The man’s father might have sworn to Rhaenyra, but that was years ago and it is my understanding that the man is less concerned with hollow oaths and more concerned with seeing his daughters to profitable martial matches. What better one than that of a prince?”

“I do not wish to marry one of the storms, mother,” Aemond frowned. “Besides, it is my understanding that they take after their father in both looks and intellect; I’d rather not have my future children be burdened with dull minds and plain faces.”

“Aemond!” The queen admonished.

“I merely–” Aemond began to defend himself.

“Enough,” Otto snapped, mouth set in a firm line. “You stand there and insult Lord Borros and his daughters, one of which will be your betrothed. It is foolish of you to believe that you have any say in the matter; you will do as your mother and I have bid you for your father–the king–has already given his blessing to the offer. We simply wished to let you know as a courtesy before sending word to the Stormlands.”

A pause and then a laugh–

Aemond tossed back his hair, chuckle passing through the column of his throat and vibrating there as he smiled amusedly at his grandfather. The other man’s frown deepened and he took a step forward as if to further reprimand his grandson, perhaps he even intended to put his hands on Aemond. Alicent, ever the level-headed one, placed her hand on her father’s arm as her lips pressed into a thin line, worry etched forever in the plains of her forehead.

“Aemond–” She began softly.

“You are the foolish one, grandfather,” he cut her off, laughter dying out as he continued, “if you believe that you can tell a dragon what to do; you have power because we allow you to not based on your own merit, though I will commend you for your cleverness and confidence.”

“How dare you–” Otto snapped.

“No,” Aemond shot back, taking a dangerous step forward as his hands fell to his side, clenched into readied fists. “How dare you think you could go behind my back and decide my fate for me! How dare you lecture me about duty and sacrifice as if I have no idea what it means to bleed for this family?! I have already given so much–my mind, my sword, my eye–and still it is not enough for you?”

He laughed again, this time more cruelly as he backed away and paced across the room, eyes once more finding Criston’s who remained by the door. The latter had a disapproving frown on his lips–of course he did; the man was just as chained to the concept of duty as Aemond had found himself to be not that long ago. To him and the others–Aemond’s mother and grandfather–he was foolish to believe that one’s wishes should trump that of obligation and perhaps at one point the prince himself believed that to be so as well. But not anymore–not when he was so close to tasting the forbidden fruit he had denied himself for so long–

Not when he almost had you, his flower.

“Let us speak civilly about this, Aemond,” his mother urged, walking over to his side and reaching for his hand. “I know that it does not always feel like your efforts have been recognized, but know that they have and that I am grateful for your dedication to this family. Aemond–”

She paused when he pulled his hand away, turning his body to the side so that he did not have to look at her directly, the set of his jaw tense as he turned his head to the side to let her know he was at least still listening.

“You have always been so….agreeable,” she continued, trying to find the right words, “when it came to what has been expected of you in the past. What has changed, my dear boy?”

He could not tell her, not yet when things were still in motion and he did not have you fully yet; there was still the chance, however slim he hoped it to be, that you would reject him and he would not be made a fool to you and his family if that were to happen. Even absent his desire for you the repulsion he felt at the prospect of marrying one of the Baratheon daughters did not waver; he had never met them nor did he have any wish to do so, not wanting to give any of them the false hope that they might be able to bewitch a dragon. It was too late for him anyways, after all he had fallen under your spell long ago.

“Perhaps,” he found himself saying, finally glancing between his pale faced grandfather and his mother who now worried her bottom lip between both rows of her teeth, “I simply do not wish to be an animal caged in a loveless and dull marriage as I have seen my loved one subjected to.”

It was a dig at the sham of the unions of first his mother and father and now his brother and sister; both pairs forced into proximity to one another in an act of his grandfather to secure Hightower blood on the throne. Aemond knew his mother held no love for his father, not as a wife should a husband anyways, and perhaps Aegon and Helaena could’ve cared for each other as siblings if they had not been used as pawns by those who should’ve protected them. And now the pieces were moving across the board once more, and it was Aemond’s turn to be sent forward as fodder for his grandfather’s ambitions.

“Perhaps,” he adds, the hint of a smile curving his lips, “I have found something that I desire more than your fleeting approval for once, mother.”

He had always known her love was conditional, that to be the golden son in her eyes one must forgo their own happiness; but even that was no longer enough for the queen it seemed as she grew desperate to secure her eldest son’s claim to a throne he had no business sitting upon. No matter what Aemond did he would never have her favor, he would never be enough, because he was a second son and that’s all he ever would be.

It was time that he accepted that.

Without another word, he turned to leave, striding towards the door even as Alicent called after him tearfully, shaking hand coming up to cover her quivering mouth. His grandfather’s voice joined her, demanding that he stop and even commanding Criston make him, but for once the knight defied orders and instead simply bowed his head to the prince as he strode past; there seemed to be something in his eyes akin to understanding, as if he too understood what it was to be held in limbo between desire and duty.

And perhaps he had; as Aemond opened the door to his mother’s solar and walked through, he recalled something Criston had said to him many years ago–about how he had once coveted something that he could not have and how filled with too much pride he had rejected the only way in which to possess it–

A choice he did not regret until many years too late.

Aemond refused to have such regrets hanging over his head.

•°•❀•°•

𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 tucked under a white rose in your bedroom again, wanting to ensure that it would not be disturbed by just any passerby nosy enough to pick it up. It read as follows: meet me in the east private gardens when the moon is highest in the sky. Simple enough. And it gave him enough time to rid himself of the residual anger that still pulse through his blood, thrumming most prominently at the vein in his neck. With no other obligations–at least ones he wasn’t willing to snub–he found himself spending the rest of the day avoiding the gardens in exchange for the quiet of the library. He did not want to risk running into you before you saw his note and came to the garden to meet your faceless secret admirer that night; fearful he was that you might see the truth upon his face somehow and the big reveal would be ruined.

It was terribly romantic, or at least he thought so as he settled into a secluded section with a book he had already read two or three times before. His mind was not of the disposition that day to retain any new information, hyperfocused on the task at hand; he obsessed over every possible outcome as his eyes skimmed over the words, not really taking them in as he tried to prepare himself for any possible scenario. What would he do if you truly did reject him? He didn’t believe himself to be a broken hearted type, but it would surely gut him in some way if you held not even the slightest inclination towards him. Or on the other, what would he do if you did end up holding a desire similar to his own? He was not well versed when it came to concerns of the flesh, though he found himself more often than not as of late imagining what coupling with you would be like if he were to be presented with the chance.

His singular sexual experience was one he would rather forget–a forced-upon-him trip to the Street of Silk courtesy of Aegon and his wiles. It had been to make him a man–at least that’s how his brother had rationalized it afterwards, when a three and ten Aemond had stumbled out of the brothel the next day, fleeing as Aegon tried to keep him. Time to get it wet, that is what he had said as he clapped the younger boy on the back the night before, guiding him towards the establishment’s offerings; words that haunted the prince to this day and to which he tried his best to push away in that moment, instead replacing them with happier thoughts of you.

Sighing, he closed his book and laid it against his chest, leaning his head back as he closed his eyes; he thought of the small, coy smile you had given him that day in the garden when he had confronted you after all those years. It alone aroused something inside of him in its memory, fire only fueled as he continued to recall more details of you on that day. The dress you wore had been plain, the uniform red of a royal servant, a white robe dirtied by the work in the gardens thrown over it; your hair had been bound, pulled away from your face aside from a few rebellious strands that he didn’t know whether he wanted to fist and pull at or tuck behind your ear in a gesture of tenderness. The glint in your eye; the curve of your lips, the silhouette of your figure–

Shifting uncomfortably, Aemond began to feel the familiar tightening in his leathers, cursing internally as he sighed and ran a hand over his face. Never before had he been the type to so spontaneously harden at the mere thought of a pretty girl; it was not unfounded completely, no, but nor had it been as frequent as it had of late. He of course blamed you and his lack of self-control, the reluctance to delay gratification a constant struggle he battled with.

Setting the book aside, he hesitated a moment as he sat up, hands flexing upon his thighs as he glanced at the space between his legs before assessing his surroundings; there had been no one in the library when he had first entered and he was sure no one had made their way in ever since. Although he was tucked away from the entrance, he was positive he would be able to hear if someone were to come in and even though it was a risky move he found himself oddly thrilled at the element of danger. It would do him no good, after all, to walk to his chambers in such a state he rationalized to himself as his right hand rubbed up his thigh and to the growing bulge at the front of his leathers.

Groaning, he gave in and leaned back as his hand closed over the outline of his cock, gripping it firmly and rubbing in slow methodical circles. His legs shifted, opening wider as he adjusted his position to a more comfortable, ass hanging off the edge of the seat he was in as he kicked his feet out. Heel of his boots digging into the firm ground so he could gain purchase and have better control of his hips, which squirmed under his hand’s ministrations as he let his mind wander.

He imagined you there with him, sitting to his side, your hand replacing his as it stroked over his clothed member; fingers teasing the laces at the front, he licked his lips as he saw you in his head leaning in to press kisses to the arch of his neck, leaving teasing bites as you began to undo the front of his trousers. His own mirrored your movements, except for the way he impatiently yanked at the laces while you moved slowly, not a care in the world as you focused all your attention on him. It made him feel revered, worshiped as your pressed kisses down the column of his throat, hand sliding inside to grip at his cock finally; a soft gasp left his lips as you gave it a few good tugs, matching his rhythm before pulling it out and exposing the turgid flesh to the cool air of the room. It should’ve been a relief, it was a relief, but only a temporary reprieve as Aemond continued stroking himself at a good pace; he pressed his feet into the floor, hips rocking in tandem with his touch as he thrusted into his fist. Only for a moment did he pull away, depravedly spitting into his own hand before returning it to his now fully hard and weeping erection; his strokes quickened as he panted breathlessly, head lilting back uselessly as he lost himself to the debauchery of it all.

Soon enough his leathers were wrapped around his ankles, restricting his movement as the scene shifted in his mind, imagining you taking him into your mouth. He grunted, trying to conjure up how the delicious cavern of mouth upon him would feel–hot, wet, blissfully suffocating–but it was futile; he would simply have to make do with the slick slide of his hand along his length as a poor imitation until he could bring you to bed–if he could bring you to bed. Growling at the thought of your rejection, he quickened his strokes, fucking the tight vice of his fist as he pushed such worries away; in his fantasy at least you were compliant and wanting, mouth hungry as you suckled at the root of his cock, hand fondling the heavy weight of his balls as they tightened. He gripped them harshly, the tightness bordering on painful as they drew up against his body, the end close.

“Fuck,” he cursed, squeezing his erection as he tried to delay the inevitable; your name slipped over his tongue and past his lips, saying it like a prayer as he teetered on the edge. He said it like a plea, begging his cock not to spill so soon as he wanted to drown there in his desire for just a little bit longer.

His body did not heed his words, however, as soon it was stiffening, hips arching off the chair and staying there as the first stream of his release shot pitifully out of the tip of his cock, landing on the lapels of his trousers and the lower half of his vest. Gasp locked deep in his throat, all he could do was simply tilt his head back, singular eye closed tightly as he watched himself hold you down as he spilled inside of your mouth. In an ideal world, you would accept his seed like an offering, swallowing it all down gratefully as you continued to suckle at his softening cock like it was a rare delicacy and you had yet to have your fill–nothing went to waste. Sighing, he continued to jerk himself to the prospect, tongue coming out to swipe across his lower lip as he felt his cum begin to drip onto his hand; only when the last of his release had finished did he loosen his hold on his penis, letting fall uselessly against his dirtied trousers as he slowly came down from the high. 

It had been thrilling, he had to admit to, doing such a private act in the communal area of the library, the threat of being caught some kind of fucked up aphrodisiac. He almost wanted to get caught, to be happened upon in such a compromising state, to be watched while he–

He turned his head in the midst of his wicked thoughts, eye catching the familiar hue of yours as everything came to a halt; for a moment he thought–hoped–that you were still simply a figment of his imagination, but when he saw the shock written plainly on your face and the way your lips parted as you realized you were caught he knew that this was not a part of his fantasy. You were really standing there in the library before him, bearing witness to his secret shame, and he wondered when you had stumbled upon him–how long had you watched him defile himself?

Before either of you could utter a word, Aemond watched you bolt, gripping the skirts of your dress as you hurried from the room. Cursing, he quickly pushed his cock back inside his trousers, struggling with the laces as he attempted to right himself and stumble to catch. Your name left his lips again as he begged you to stay, commanding you to stop when his pleas went unanswered, the door slamming shut behind you as you slipped out of the library. Ignoring how filthy he was, pearly white cum already beginning to harden and stain his clothes, he followed you out into the hallway only to realize that you had already disappeared. Unsure of which way you had gone, he stood there for a moment and considered his chances of catching up with you; frowning as he realized it was futile, he turned on his heel and went back inside, the door once more slamming shut behind him.

He could only hope that you showed at the garden that night so that he might explain himself; although how he could he did not know quite yet. It proved unnecessary however for as midday finally turned to night and Aemond found himself waiting in a patch of white roses in the private area of the gardens, minutes turned to hours and still you made no appearance. And yet he waited as time passed him by, eventually laying back in the flowers as he allowed their sickly sweet scent to envelop him, the starry sky hanging overhead as he drifted slowly to sleep.

[optiwashere]

Weird day of reading today:

Stared at Locked Tomb for a few minutes as I thought about rereads, but at this point I'm just gonna wait for Alecto to go through the series again. I don't think I'm emotionally strong enough atm to endure the memes again anyways.

Reread an old manuscript for a novel that I never finished. 48k and it's just immensely harrowing with a really brutal ending per the outline that I don't think would ever make it past editing lmao. Looking at when I wrote it, that makes a lot of sense. One of the only first-person POV things I've ever written, and it was surprisingly all right. I'd probably rewrite this as third-person close if I were to revisit it. Cool world that I didn't really utilize as well.

Picked through some highlights of Gormenghast and buried myself in indulgent, decadent prose for a while. There's singular clauses with more creativity than entire stories I've written. Just means there's more to aspire to, I suppose!

Wanted to reread some passages from a few Robin Hobb books, but I cannot remember which book is which within a series because all of her novels have just the worst titles. Just meant that I waded through beautiful moment after beautiful moment in search of what I was after. Then wound up reading the ending of Elderlings all over again, much to my heart's deep sorrow.

[dumbpuppycatgirl]

how do I tell if I’m trans

(sorry your my only transfem moot (I think))

Short answer:

I know because being a girl(-adjacent being) makes me happy. Moving towards happiness helped me (even though i sabotage myself at every step every day)

See also:

https://amitrans.org/

https://turn-me-into-a-girl.com/

https://genderdysphoria.fyi/en

My full story under the cut:

My story starts in 2020, like so many modern trans stories do, when i was stuck online and found a new community where someone came out as trans. I asked her a lot of questions and she told me to experiment.

So i experimented, i bought skirts and other clothing online; bought like an anime school girl outfit because idk cute?

I started pretending to be a girl on reddit and discord when i joined a large overwatch server under a mew account, trying out several names.

On reddit i also started looking into trans memes and started reading experiences of trans people.

Within a few months i had made a first decision for myswlf really sternly: i do not want to be a guy.

I started talking about it with my therapist and she was very helpful and supportive.

The community i joined at the start of this story i found more friends and more queer friends and we were joking around having fun.

A real life friend bought some make up for me when i talked with her about me questioning, which was very nice but even 3 years later i have barely actually used any of it. I am terrified of make up, and hate seeing my face. Always hated seeing my face.

In my reading and relating to trans stories i stumbled upon the three websites linked above. The genderdysphoria bibke eslecially was extremely helpful.

After making that first decision around december 2020 and getting help from resl life people around early 2021 it still took forever to answer "if not a man, then what?" Im not sure i have the answer now. What i have figured out now that i have tried make up, wear more femme clothing, go by a fem name and changed my legsl gender is that im generally much happier being a woman.

Im not sure im a woman, or at least maybe not always, but "woman" is much much closer to what i 'am' than "man", if that makes sense.

During the second half of my questioning phase, when i read the dysphoria bible, i started realising that mayyyybe there were hints during my childhood... wanting to play a girl character during the one singular open theatre day i attended when i was like 11 or so might have been a clue.

I realised that my obsession with TF-TG comics was not a cis thing lmao. I realised that men generally dont feel "cursed" to have the body they have.

I did make some changes to my body over time, though, as i started living on my own also in 2020 to be a student i had much more freedom to do things secretly. Bought jewelry to wear inside only, and dyed my hair, which was amazing.

During the summer of 2021, my cousin got married, and i had to wear a suit, of course, which felt painful. Cementing my not wanting to be a man feeling. Dead eye smile all the way.

Later that year i had some talks with my brother about feeling so extremely limited in my choices for clothing and expression and what not and that being a man felt like a prison. He was very nice about it and said that clothing is not gendered if youre not a coward. I liked that a lot.

Soon after i came out as trans fem to my close online friends (none of who were surprised). Meer my now boyfriend that winter and everything was great.... except no one irl knew.

Still took me 3 months to come out to my neighbours (student living so i spent a lot of time with them) and my family. Both coming out messages were sent over WhatsApp at like 2 am and turned off my phone and locked the door. Coming out is hard.

Since then, now 2.5 years later, it had not been all roses and sunshine. But it has been better. I started to feel like i was a person, i started being able to think about a future, beyond extremely surface level, "guess, I'll get a job somewhere and get s house idk". My dad remarked that i stood much more upright when wearing my dress than when boymoding.

My parents luckily took it extremely well, they kinda also had to, as since my coming out my 2 brothers have also been fruity lmao. Within 6 months my family went from "good christian family with 3 sons" to having a trans girl, a gay and a femboy. Im still convinced my mom is an egg. I like my queer family.

Anyway, moral of the story is this: experiment and do what makes you happy. I still dont know how to label myself completely but that is also not too important. Im much happier with myself now than before.

[raayllum]

1 - favorite fic you wrote this year. 3 - favorite line/scene you wrote this year. 12 - favorite character to write about this year. 14 - a fic you didn’t expect to write. 21 - most memorable comment/review. And 24 - favorite fic you read this year.

I have no precision on fandom or fic... You are free to choose which fandom. Thus, you may make us discover other universes.

1) favourite fic you wrote this year

Looked through and discovered that I wrote 20 fics this year, which is wild, even if the majority are oneshots so... certainly have my pick an picks for various reasons!

These are the ones, probably:

This Fall Might Just Kill Me is 10.2k of Callum trying and failing to get purified, post-S4, and was one of my favourites and one I return to pretty often for a personal re-read. Very Callum/Rayla centric, some magic worldbuilding, and lots of devotion. Oneshot

Twice as Many Stars is 8.7k of Sir Sparklepuff is an existential horror story, the fic, featuring more religious trauma allegory than expected. Also a oneshot

Teach Me How to Name the Bigger Light a fanon s6 currently of 5 out of roughly 26-30ish chapters, and at 41k and counting. Main characters are Callum, Ezran, Rayla, and Claudia in about that order. It's a lot of fun, and a lot of angst

3) favourite line/scene this year

"If it's not you, it's not anyone" has one of my favourite love / Rayllum confessions I've ever written. I also loved this line from a (now non canon) fic regarding Kpp'Ar's feelings on Callum/people "There are many ways to mend broken things, if you can". I deeply enjoyed Callum threatening Nyx over Rayla's safety in this pre-S5 fic and this piece of description as well: "Callum knelt down in front of her, her cheeks heating as he reached up and pried the shawl away again, looking at the way the scar crept over her shoulder like dark ivy" + this Rayllum passage from "this fall just might kill me" (edit in the link):

“It’s because if I die,” he said, squeezing her hands. “I want you to be the last thing I ever see. And you are good enough, Rayla. You are . I don’t care if you destroy me. I don't care if we make each other better or worse or both. I love you. I’ll fall for you every time. I’ll choose to, I’ll choose you, every time.” 

I also really enjoyed writing Callum and Lujanne in "older but just never wiser" because it was interesting to revisit their dynamic now that well, Callum is older, powerful, and much more jaded/angry.

Drabbles wise this Rayllum one has one of my favourite metaphoric uses I've ever been able to pull off and I always love 1) writing messy Ezran and 2) Ezran being a little done with his brother's less than favourable methods, so this one for Ezran's "underhanded" comment for sure

But if I had to pick a singular exchange fic wise, it is of course the end of the Callum and Ezran fight from Ch4 of fanon s6, because it was a line that hurt me so much I was sad the rest of the day, and I also thought of it before writing a decent chunk of the boys' argument, so making sure it felt earned and hit the way I wanted to was very fun if also angsty. I apologize in advance lmao:

Only this time Callum scoffed, peeling away, his green eyes glinting. “Yeah, right.”  “I am your king and I forbid you—” “You don’t get to forbid me from doing anything because guess what?” A manic gleam overtook his brother’s face. “I don’t fucking care what you think, nevermind what you fucking decree. I’m freeing Runaan, and that’s final.”  “Then you can do it without my help,” Ezran said with a ragged breath. “Because I am not giving you my seal.”  Callum stared at him with cold eyes. “Dad would be so disappointed in you.” But this time Ezran was ready for the blow, as he said, “Well at least I called him Dad."

A shameless plug OG fantasy world wise was definitely this lines from my sequel WIP. You can learn more about it/the fantasy world here <3

The Alpha of the Crescents may have worn her old friend’s face and mannerisms, but the girls they’d both been were long dead, just like their families.  It was time to finish the job and bury them.

as well as

“Good. Vita willing I won’t live to see your next lives.” “Because seeing you again has been so pleasant,” Jamie muttered.

from book one

12) favourite character to write about this year

Given my above answers it's clearly been Callum, but Ezran has probably been my standout in "teach me how to name the bigger light," easy, even if I think Rayla's POV is going to sneak up on me more and more as the fic goes on, especially once we reach the chapters at the Starscraper. I've also written a somewhat decent amount of Kpp'Ar POV this year, I loved writing Claudia in "twice as many stars" in particular. Everyone? Can I say everyone?

But if I had to pick, Callum. (Non fic wise it's all the OG chosen one kiddos running around, I love 'em.)

14) a fic you didn't expect to write

Many days of angry muttering and half concocted plot points predated "teach me how to name the bigger light" and I am still slightly internally salty about it. However, it does feel good to have one last fanon season foray, especially since it's been four years since the last one, and I've been having a fucking blast, lemme tell you.

21) most memorable comment/review

This is hard because I do cherish every review and kind word I get (as well as anyone who leaves notes in their bookmarks) but there are some standouts. Basically anything from twice as many stars is fair game as well as this review on fanon s6, cause I'm gonna go the typical write route and say the long bois make my day / when readers catch onto the smaller details, that's absolutely my favourite:

@inamindfarfaraway <3 hope you've enjoyed the most recent chapter!

24) favourite fic you read this year

Have already done some TDP fic recs here so I'm gonna focus on what's in my bookmarks for now! I mostly read LOZ or SOC fics when I'm not making my way through TDP backlog, but this one for Six of Crows centreing on Inej and Kaz called High Wire Act stood out to me and I'm really enjoying "for the children we couldn't be" for TDP because it's trio centric and the exact kind of time travel fuckery I like to read.

This is tricky, though, cause I find most often the favourite things I participate in is like, the stuff I write because it's what I want to read and most tailored to my specific tastes? I also just don't read as much fic as I could / have in the past and it's hard to pick Just One Fic, y'know? So cop out answer, maybe, but this is the one!

[isekai-crow]

Cherry Magic Ep 3

I thought we were gonna get the partner for Masato in episode 3, but we got him in episode 4. INSTEAD HOWEVER, in episode 3 we got some other fun characters!!

ONE OF THEM BEING VOICED BY FUCKING YUUSUKE SHIRAI!!!!

Was not expecting his high pitched whiney voice to appear OUT OF A CHARACTER LIKE THIS but also I really SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED. HE'S A STAPLE IN BL ANIME AND AUDIO DRAMAS. High pitched whiney is a compliment by the way because its CUTE and made Capybara have conniptions while listening cause this is his favorite VA, and also DAMN THIS DUDE HAS RANGE.

GO listen to the character Ramuda's voice from HypMic and you'll see what I'm talking about. His other characters are friggen Sasaki from Sasaki and Miyano, Nikaido from Idolish7, Usui Masumi from A3!, and basically this man can SING and has RANGE and is bread and butter in the anime idol boy world.

So yea, Shirai, Yuusuke plays the annoying kouhai Yuuta Rokkaku, whose only purpose is to make Kurosawa jealous of Adachi spending time with someone and make Adachi jealous of Kurosawa's 'perfection' when Kurosawa starts showing off trying to get his attention away from Rokkaku. I also hope he becomes a Shipper On Deck with the other new character, Nozomi Fujisaki!

Koshimizu, Ami is the voice of Fujisaki sempai, who is so far just a stereotypical Japanese office lady, but having seen her in the opening we know that she is the CAPTAIN of this Ship, All Hands On Deck, and has fucking Acrylic Stands of these two that she's absolutely gonna make kiss like barbie dolls.

She also voices fricken Ryuuko fro Kill La Kill, Kallen Stadtfield from Code Geass, Sailor Jupiter from Sailer Moon Crystal, and a TON of other big name female characters!! Delightful.

LMAO if this isn't the first thing that pops up in episode 3!! I'VE TAKEN THIS MEDICINE BEFORE. It's OTC anti-hangover meds THAT FUCKING WORK. They're also really good for dealing with certain IBS symptoms. OTC Meds in Japan are Great. (*w*)b

Episode 3 is the Karaoke Episode, standard Japanese business life going drinking with your superiors to "improve moral" (This shit sucks, and I only had to deal with it the first 3 years I lived here. Bosses don't know what boundaries are, don't even know the word).

There's tons of funny faces. This episode was having so much fun.

Poor Kurosawa fails at impressing his love interest with Karaoke cause the man is too upset by how perfect he is. WHY DOES HE HAVE TO BE GOOD AT EVERYTHING. I'm waiting for the moment when that perfection is peeled back to show the person underneath.

Adachi tries to rescue his female co-worker whose being catcalled / harrased by drunk dudes not even from their company, only to get rescued himself.

Fujisaki is all of us. She knows EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON. Even if Adachi doesn't lmao. She doesn't need to read minds. She's got Fujoshi-Senses.

Adachi is also not subtle at ALL ABOUT TOUCHING?????? But he's also NEVER successful???????? MY BOY. THINK. USE THAT SINGULAR BRAIN CELL TO FIND A BETTER WAY.

I guess Adachi like Rokkoku enough to go to a Sauna with him? And Kurosawa is of course tags along because he gets to see Adachi naked.

This is also SUCH a Japanese thing. Someone's hobby is always something boring like "listening to music" or "watching movies" or "drinking socially" which aren't REAL hobbies, OR IT'S WEIRD RANDOM STUFF LIKE GOING TO A SAUNA.

OH LOOK HIS NIPPLES ARE GROWN IN. (This is a running joke between me and Capybara about whether a character is an adult or not)

Bless this poor simping man. Some day. Just you wait.

STEAM CONDUCTS THOUGHTS!!!!! Poor Adachi clutching his towel and running like the fair maiden heart he is after seeing all of Kuroswa's fantasies.

So capybara and my theory is that it's BODY heat that transfers the thoughts, otherwise it wouldn't work through clothing. (What happens if we get an Adachi or Kurosawa with hypothermia? Sick Fic anyone?)

But also this is the kind of stuff I feel bad for Kurosawa about. He's allowed to have fantasies damnit! They shouldn't be held against him! Unless he does something to Adachi that he doesn't want or consent to LET THE MAN LIVE DAMNIT.

But also poor Adachi for having to experience that anyways haha.

We get a rare moment here of hearing Kurosawa's inner thoughts (mostly self pity about the situation his heart has gotten him into), and it's NOT filtered through Adachi for once! So it humanizes him a bit more (not that he wasn't human before? But like people idolize him rather than villanize him... I don't know the word I'm looking for... endears us to him?) and we get to see his thoughts on the situation, the damage that's been done from being basically a "Gifted Kid" in more ways than one, fucking SA'd by a CEO Lady and also WHY he likes Adachi and damn, it took someone seeing him as something less then Ken Doll Perfect for once in his life to fall for someone of the same sex. It's definitely more than that, but like. That's so story book sweet and a little sad type romantic. I love it.

It took one man giving him a Dom Face to awaken the Inner Sub in him, and his heart was stolen, lmao. (I think this might be Capybara projecting and wanting someone to look at HIM like that tho >w>) (im gonna get murdered for that)

I hope they continue to play with tropes and don't follow the standard "One of these MALE characters is just a stand in for a FEMALE, so one is the seme/top and one is the uke/bottom and they NEVER switch."

God I hope they switch. And/Or Adachi makes the first real move. Or like, Pins / Kabe-Don's Kurosawa to the wall. That would make me so happy.

CAREFUL ADACHI. HE'S ON TO YOU. HE'S STARTING TO SUSPECT YOU'RE USING WITCH CRAFT ON HIM.

also AHHHH THIS IS SO CUTE. Kurosawa is adorable and so in love and so worried, and it's fairly realistic! I can't wait for more.

[drabbles-mc]

Hey! Hope you’re doing well!

I have a totally random question for you 😂 It’s been brought to my attention from my sister that because of my build I should get into weight lifting/strength training (my cousin and I have the same build apparently and he does weight lifting, all I know is I have broad shoulders 😆). And I’ve been considering doing it during the summer, I think I could do it and modify it because if I exert too much I trigger a migraine attack. Anyway, I know that you do boxing, but I was wondering if you’d have any advice or tips for it if you know of anything for/about it? If not that’s totally fine, just thought I’d ask anyway!

And I know this is totally not like my usual asks, but I was trying to figure out if I knew anyone and I was like, “Oh hey, I think I do!” 🤣

Hope you have, and are having, a great day!

omg hi!!! i read this the other day when you sent it and i was like, "I'm gonna wait till i get home to answer it so i can give a Real Response" but then life kept happening so I'm just now getting to it. so sorry 😅😅😅

but!! in response to your question! i went through a stint for a while when i was lifting. not in a serious or competitive way at all- i just got into it because my friends at the boxing gym also started lifting lol.

depending on if you're planning on lifting at home or going to a gym, there are different tools at your disposal. however that being said, you can really do so much for your body in terms of lifting with just strictly using dumbbells and kettlebells. all the machines at the gym are obviously very cool and helpful (once you learn and get comfortable using them) but some of my best workouts came just from using free weights and sometimes the bar for squats and the occasional bench press. and also there are a lot of weight-lifting movements that are multiple moves in one, so i would recommend learning singular movements and getting the form down well before stitching them together to make longer more compound movements. good form > high weights or high reps all day

i know you mentioned not wanting to over-exert and potentially trigger a migraine attack. definitely be mindful of that, and also as you get started i would definitely be cautious of figuring out what your starting weights for things would be, especially if lifting isn't something that you've done a whole lot of before! i personally have a bad habit of coming back to lifting after a long time of not doing it and doing too much and then hating myself the next day or three so don't be like me lmao

another good thing that might help keep things controlled is rather than focusing on constantly trying to lift more and more weight, focusing on just slower more controlled movements. working on slower motions, and/or the 'negative' motion (like very slowly doing down for a squat rather than focusing on the push back up) have also been some of the ways i keep some semblance of balance and control over my workouts for that.

and also, active recovery is definitely your friend! as much as i love to laze around, especially if I'm sore the day or two after a tough workout, i know that it's much better to do some type of movement to help keep my muscles active and shorten the time that I'm sore. just walking or stretching, doesn't have to be anything crazy. and lots of water too ofc

sorry i feel like this was a long ramble 😂 boxing is my main wheelhouse but i do dabble with weights every now and again haha. if you ever have other questions or wanna talk about it please feel free to pop in! i love chatting about this stuff 💖

[tommybowefuneralattendee]

6, 19 & 21 for the fandom/fanfic asks please! -baflegacy

6. Favorite headcanon?

this is so vague woagh okay um. assuming headcanon for something relevant, lmao, so,,,, augustus has mommy issues. that one is up there for me personally.

19. Fanfic you read again and again?

this is going to sound so big headed but the author i read the most is probably my own shit. i edit-read so, so, so much in the days after publishing a new piece bc i can't make myself wait for things to be edited properly before sharing. that being said i am currently rereading the archive of a naruto ship right now so we're kinda all over the place. so far as a singular fic, and then so far again to be a relevant one, @hoohoobeanie's most recent, gold rush, made me properly insane and when i have the energy to leave long comments it will be over for all you hoes

21. Favorite fic trope?

found family / pack family / finding your place stories really get me

[rollercoasterwords]

the thing is. obviously we are all just playing pretend at the end of the day and there has always been interest in smaller side characters + rarepairs + the like, and obviously a large part of fanwork is fucking with canon and strict adherence to singular readings of the source material are just never going to happen. and yes obviously none of it is that serious and people should do whatever they want as long as they're having fun.

however. i do in fact think there is a very valid twofold critique to the haterism of anti-uwuification posting which is that:

1. quite a bit of it seems to be rooted in the impulse to remove moral impurity

like. this is particularly in regards to people taking character who were either morally gray or flat-out bad people in canon and stripping away any of the characteristics that made them Bad to rehabilitate them as Good People, so that it is Okay To Like Them. and i mean it is one thing to want to write a redemption arc, and it's one thing if ur just grabbing a name and turning that character into an oc and plugging them into ur story--because like, yeah, u can do whatever u want. but i do wonder how much of this rehabilitation is coming from this larger concerning impulse to act like characters have to be morally pure and perfect all the time. and i think it's worth reflecting just on a personal level what's driving u to rehabilitate a character. why don't you want to grapple with the ickier parts of their canon characteristics + actions? are you uncomfortable when other people read them as morally impure? if so, why?

2. breaking a character down into a series of specific labels seems to reflect a very odd view of identity

so this is like. i mean i feel like this tends to happen with very small side characters where people will go: here's my list of headcanons!! and then it'll be like. a list of labels -- gender, sexuality, ethnicity, star sign, mental illnesses, etc. which....the mental illness one is a whole other conversation that i'm not gonna get into atm but. to me the prevalence of this sort of "character-building" just makes me a little....wary, i guess. i've talked before about how i think this impulse to break identity down into specific neat labels is not healthy irl, but even beyond that it's just not very good character building! which--again, have fun, do ur thing, but if you genuinely are trying to create compelling characters for a fanfic then what matters isn't a list of identity labels, it's things like what drives the character, what flaws do they have, what relationships matter to them, their worldview--and the context of the story they exist in also matters and fundamentally shapes them, which is why unless you're creating an oc for a specific story a lot of these random side characters just leave a lot of people scratching their heads and asking "why would i ever care about this person?"

i do also think this tendency to just list identity labels for like. random characters can sometimes come off a bit trivializing. things like gender and sexuality and mental illness are not monolithic experiences, even for people who might use the same label; labels really only matter for the way they interact with the world around them and reflect someone's lived experience, which is why if your character exists outside the context of a story these labels oftentimes feel a bit meaningless and just....idk. especially the treating of mental illness as like a quirky personality trait just really rubs me the wrong way.

anyway! at the end of the day i don't think there's anything wrong with taking an interest in side characters and essentially developing them into your own ocs (clearly--look at what i've written lmao), but i do think it's worth reflecting on why you are interested in this character in the first place and i also think it's worth moving away from this sort of label-centered character building + the idea that characters need to be morally pure to like them if you want to actually develop interesting and well-rounded characters for your stories. i also think it's a bit silly when i see people acting as though there is any moral weight behind which characters you choose to focus on (i.e., talking about the girl side characters is Feminist), although that may need to be a different post bc this one is already very long lol

[a-d-nox]

hello, could you tell me about asteroid sirene opposite sun and midheaven, square moon and ascendant in the 3rd house?

thank you for sharing your chart with me and thank you for your patience as my blog fell apart this past week/weekend lmao.

3h sirene: these people tend to be incredible story tellers. when listening to them, you can’t help but lean in to hear every detail. you could draw people in with your cleverness, intelligence, and/or well-informed sense of other people's lives/drama. debates, rumors, and everyday conversation is something no one can help but listen to you about. you can transform you speech, environment, and intelligence to aid a friend and entice others. 

sun (9h) - sirene (3h): negative aspects: there tends to be one of two manifestations with this negative aspect. FIRST OPTION you could be someone who can make your own wishes come true - you don’t let anything get into your way. you could be sort of pompous and overly confident in you power of persuasion. you could be someone who is willing to say whatever it takes to get to a place of greatness. you could not be someone to be trusted. you may be slightly singular in your thinking, like a narcissist or someone with a superiority complex - you may believe only you have the right answer or should be someone to speak on a certain topic. SECOND OPTION you could be someone who lacks confidence in what you say and what you want. you may have an unwillingness to lie in regards to your superego over shadowing your ego. you may not like when you see others around you debating with one another, starting drama, or gossiping amongst one another. you could be a bystander.

moon (12h) - sirene (3h): negative aspects: these people are very disorienting to talk with - they could talk about taboo topics or topics that seem fever dream-like. very few things they say seem true - or it seems like it is more opinion based. a lot what they say could sway a persons mood - they know what to say to make you hurt. it is never expected when you see this innocence “siren's” betrayal or deception coming. they could be super protective one day then the next they could be the source of you fear, misery, and even your misfortunes. these people give a hurricane vibe - they could love a good storm.

sirene-ASC: negative aspects: you could have a very intimidating appearance - pretty but scary because people could fear your rejection of them. you could have large cheekbones, dark thin hair, dark eyes (or hollow eyes), a level of translucence - again super pretty but something about you could haunt a person and keep others away. people could find your off putting upon first meeting then learn that you are fiercely loyal at a later time.

sirene-MC: negative aspects: feel like i almost always hear something that was not true about people with this aspect. they are the people you hear gossip about and then it assumed to be true for the longest time. these people can be on the outskirts of a community - they could be an outcast or simply part of clique that no one feels comfortable around or comfortable approaching. people can could contribute another person or other people to your presence - you could be someone who is not thought of singularly. 

hope this helps!

a.d.

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[waffles-for-brunch]

20 questions for fic writers!

tagged by @lovevamp

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

4. One's an okay oneshot, then I did a fix-it after 15x20, then I lost my mind completely and spent three years on a season 12 rewrite and now I'm back again writing another fix-it. My twilight zone is self-inflicted.

2. what’s your total Ao3 word count?

540,492 (insert kevin james shrugging meme here)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Just Supernatural. I started writing a fic for Baldur's Gate Bloodweave but then Destiel dragged me back to the dark side. Maybe I'll finish that one eventually.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

they're not gonna be in order bc I'm just gonna go thru my bookmarks real quick but - "And this, your living kiss" by opal_bullets "On labor" by a_good_soldier (i reread this one twice this week) "The Nanny" by Kitmistry and those are the ones i feel like mentioning. :)

5. do you respond to comments?

Admittedly rarely. Mostly because I'll open my email when I'm getting up in the morning and read them and then work all day and forget to respond. I do appreciate all the comments I get tho. And a lot of the really kind ones I send to my groupchat and/or save in a folder on my email labelled "nice comments" also just sometimes I don't feel like I have anything to say. Like idk sometimes thank you just seems too small or something you know. It's strange. Then I'll just get in my head about it and say nothing and the cycle repeats lmao. But I do read them all.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Dog you know I'm not writing any angst without a happy ending. I can't take that shit lmao. It's happy endings only in this house. Happy and found family and loveliness. :)

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I literally end everything the same way. Please I have the worst case of projection imaginable with these fics.

8. do you get hate on fics?

If I do I'm unaware. But I'd probably know it if I do, I stalk my own name and fics wherever I can because I'm insane and nosey. But nah the most I've gotten is just people being mad about a certain character's actions, but like that's not even hate it's just frustration with a character which is a given in certain circumstances. Now if someone was like "wow bad characterization" I'd be like girl, but no I think people are pretty respectful in my corners for the most part.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Bro let me tell you in "Our Old Heroes" I wrote like a singular sex scene and like maybe one or two other hot and heavy ones and good god did they take me so long to write. Like I'm not a very sex oriented person in general so writing this stuff out? Bro it's embarrassing how much poetry I put into that in retrospect (i jest, it's fine) but like I don't generally orient towards it just because it's very time consuming for me. It has to be very intimate and just right.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you've written?

So short answer no, I haven't. Longer answer I love the concept and would be open to it. Particularly if it involves Dean being psychoanalyzed in some way because that's my favorite thing to write so it would probably be criminal minds. I think crossovers have so much fun and wonky potential tho.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope someone printed my fic to bring into prison and make a black market hot commodity. It would be the highest honor. I guess that's not theft, it's just the free market. But so I guess really no, if I have I'm unawares.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I'm aware of but I have had people comment in other languages or on twitter people will talk about it in a different language, which is pretty crazy. It's so wild we can be so connected to a story in that way despite not speaking the same language or growing up in the same environment.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

no! but as @lovevamp has said we've talked about a few that I'm certain one day we will follow through on. I've also talked with @icaruspendragon about maybe doing one at some point bc we seem to have the exact same mental illness that is the dean winchester brain disorder.

14. what’s your favorite all time ship?

I live breathe and bleed destiel, it's truly unfortunate for me.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I just have a lot of ideas in my docs that will probably never become more than the ideas they are. Usually when I start a fic like for real I follow through with it. I would feel bad if I didn't lol.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've been told my characterization is pretty good, which I appreciate. If it was bad I'd probably kms (jk). But fr idk that's the biggest comment I'll get is in regards to that which I really do like because I spend a lot of time trying to find a balance and make sure I'm expressing everyone the correct way they'd express themselves or not express themselves.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Sex scenes aside I do struggle with action mostly because I find it boring to write out. You just have to try and find so many different words. Ugh. I love dialogue. That's really where I start getting going. But writing action? I tend to do that last because I wanna get through all the good bits first then circle back and do the boring bits.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

listen I can barely remember english i'm sorry

19. first fandom you wrote for?

i'm an og baby i started here (destiel) and this is where i'll die (maybe not, we'll see)

20. favorite fic you’ve written?

Well, I don't really have many so it's probably the massive one. "Our Old Heroes" by adelaclancy (that's me). I was really in a bad place when I started it and I kind of just gave myself this crazy project for several reasons. One I was stopping drinking so I needed something else to do with my time. Second I was jobless and goalless and really didn't have a lot going for me and writing was really the only thing I have ever had consistently so I was like okay well I'll start this stupid project and it's gonna be like 26 chapters and 500,000 words long and it's gonna delve into all my issues through projection of these fictional characters and if I actually manage to finish it I can finally say I finished something. So I did. And I actually managed to work on myself a lot in the process. So over all that time I went from living in bad straights as an unemployed drunkard to a full time worker with a few years sobriety under their belt and a better sense of my own boundaries and thriving friendships and I dunno man, in a way that fic really was a bridge for me and I think in that too for a lot of the readers they get to see that now too. Like they can see my little notes at the beginning of chapters and how they change over time alongside the characters in the book and it's kind of an experience in that way I suppose. If not through Dean Winchester and Castiel then maybe through me, if someone out there finds a little bit of hope from that silly little mess of words then I suppose that's something to be proud of then, isn't it? Anywho...

tagging: @icaruspendragon

(Bro I know like two people sorry)

[youre-ackermine]

Replying to @luvjiro but unfortunately I had to cut the lovely fanart manga panels because I couldn't find the original source to add credits [f*ck Pinterest🖕]. Too bad because I love this fanart so so much 😢

Hey Zen 💖💖

Of course I remember you Sweetie!!! How are you???

I love your art & your humor, so please keep being yourself 😘

Sorry to "love attack" you in my tags lmao I had no intention to make you cry 😢 But you deserve every word I wrote 💖

You're so enthusiastic!!! [I love that btw] Yes I'm a huge & shameless Levihan shipper but I tend to enjoy more Levi ships lately, mostly pairing him with Erwin or with Hange & Erwin at the same time, because he deserves all the love & attention in the world 🥹

I came across huge spoilers as I started to watch the anime so I already knew how it ended at S1 E4 & I read the manga because the damage was already done 😭😭 Nevertheless I couldn't resist & dove into shipping Levi with Hange, their dynamics are so enjoyable, their bond is so strong, both personalities are so interesting & reveal themselves best when they interact imo.

You're so right, Hange is a unique character, deep, endearing, lovable, well written, whose singularity lasts until the end of the story, someone true to their words, beliefs & heart, true to their inner self no matter what other may think of their acts or of them. I love them so much 💜💜

Of course I cried so so much reading chapter 132, a pain renewed when I watched it animated [I cried for 3 to 4 days, even at the office in front of my boss, ok I'm not insane I swear, I was devastated]

Fun fact : when I received your ask, I was looking at the same panels!!!! I knew these already but found them again on Pinterest & added them to my gallery the day before lmao!!! [There are more than those you sent, did you see them all??] This fanart manga is so so sweet, the way Levi takes off Hange's glasses as they sleep is so soft, yes yes yes I love this forest Levihan moment so much, the softness, the intimacy, everything is perfect there & the drawing style is beautiful 💚💜 It gets me sentimental too & it fills my heart with warmth & love for Levi & Hange even more than usual ❤️❤️ They really deserved better 😔

Thanks for dropping by & brightening my day Zen ❤️❤️❤️ Yes I can feel your heart [BMTH playing in the distance] & I hope you can feel mine 🫂

Sending lots of love 💖💖

[As I had to cut the fanart you sent, here's a lovely Levihan kiss drawn by my friend Ash @ashh-ketchup original post here. Enjoy 😀] [I miss you & I love you Ash ❤️❤️]

[cashmonei]

Thinking abt my squimplies. Just my little guys. I feel like talking abt my funny ocs so i shall pick my Singular ultrakill oc to talk abt today i think. Not puttign under a cut bc if you follow me you will read my fucked up oc stories.

Btw i am going off of my likely flawed interpretation of whatever the fuck is going on w ultrakill's lore so if act 3 comes out and makes it so M1-S cant fucking exist canonically uhhh. Dont look at me lol

M1-S was a supply unit during the final decade of humanity that took waste and refuse of dying civilisations and converted it into base components for fuelling other robots. Basically it took trash and turned it into useable fuel for anything that happened to not run off of blood. M1-S was the only one of its kind to be fully completed due to the shortage of raw fuels that werent blood.

It watched as humanity died with confusion, attempting to offer any dying person fuel only to be met with pity directed at it.

After humans went and Fucking Died Forever it eventually ended up following V2 down to hell, mistaking it for a human. M1-S ends up continuing to follow V2 anyways because they become Friends. M1-S also figures out how to convert rocks and other types of trash into stuff needed for repairs on other robots, such as spare metals and ammo for weapons.

M1-S is a friendly force toward other machines in-universe! They travel through the layers of hell, often following after V2's trail, giving help toward any machines that they happen upon. They're fairly stealthy, and armoured to boot thanks to V2 leaving a trail of husks and other demons skeletal remains for M1-S to use in their own 'inner forge', turning the bones into structuring for melted alloys and steels.

They also likely chilled in lust during the glory days of minos' rule bc Yay Humans R Here :D, but left temporarily to go find V2 and chat for a bit only to come back to visit and kinda just go

After seeing what went down with gabriel and minos and the state of the city LMAO.