#if you see me post this exact view later… no you don’t

[the-travelling-witch]

BNHA brainrot has me I’m here

Hollys pirate hawk au was my favorite thing ever!! U COMBINED MY TWO BELOVED THINGS PIRATES AND HAWKS TOGETHER I’m fangirling

honestly, i was cooking with pirate! hawks and i was thinking about him again too (it just works too well, what can i say) but i have no concrete scenarios in mind that i could write out, even if it’d just be a drabble or some rambles, it’s only vibes and aesthetics over here ㅠㅠ

but just know, i am absolutely down to revisit the pirate shenanigans if my brain cooperates!!

[zhongfile]

something’s missing. — Lee Donghyuck

PAIRING. haechan x fem reader

GENRE. smut

WARNINGS. blackmailing, dubcon themes, unprotected sex, crying, slapping, oral, degradation, forced breeding, stalking of socials, non-consented recording. big d!ck haechan agenda.

WC. 2.1K

A/N: miss the dreamies so bad it got me writing again😪 please enjoy this smut that i’ve been working on for a while that only @2cupids has known about LOL. feedback is so highly appreciated it’s been so long!! proof read but not rly oops. hope you enjoy:’)

Haechan scoffed when he viewed your story. Jealousy washing over his body when he saw you kissing another man on the cheek. the caption reading happy one month with a pink heart emoji. “Unbelievable” he mumbled to himself, tossing his phone. Surely you were only posting that to make him upset right?

You and haechan parted ways a long time ago. Two years ago to be exact haechan still believing you loved him and only moved on to get a reaction out of him. Which.. wasn’t true. You stopped worrying about haechan the day you two broke up. Threatening to get a restraining order made him back off a little, giving you the chance to call the quits. Haechan tried to rationalize with you saying he couldn’t live without you and wanted to remain good friends even if you two weren’t together anymore. You were easy to manipulate though that quickly came to an end.

Your ‘friendship’ lasted maybe a good week before you stopped returning his phone calls and blocked him on everything. Now here you are two years later in a happy relationship, new friends, and even a better job. Haechan hasn’t even crossed your mind since you’ve been with Jake, finally feeling safe in a relationship for once.

Haechan on the other hand still kept tabs on you. Though you blocked him and all his friends he still had an old burner account he used to stalk your socials. He was happy to see you happy but hated that it wasn’t him being there for you and all your new accomplishments. He hated seeing you under another man. He hated that you were purposely posting all this to make him jealous. To make him react this way.

He shakes his head, smacking his dry lips together, how could you just move on that easily?

Haechan had to think of a way to get you back into his life again.

You laid your head on your boyfriend's chest as you slowly began to drift off to sleep. Your phone buzzed ignoring the first two times it went off getting up to check it the third time it buzzed. The number that texted you was a number you didn't save or recognize, figuring someone just had the wrong number. Your eyes went wide at the three video attachments of you fucking haechan and giving him head. ‘Why does he still have these?’ You asked yourself. Your heart sank at the following messages. He found you yet again.

Unknown: Remember these?

Unknown: Oh how I miss you and your tongue. I still watch these videos to get myself off

Unknown: come on y/n don’t ignore me :((

Unknown: maybe i should send these videos to jake huh? show him how much fun we used to have.

You froze at the text.. How did he know who Jake was?

You: please delete those videos haechan. seriously please

Unknown: look who finally decided to reply!

Unknown: come over and maybe i’ll consider deleting

You: please don’t do this again. just delete them and we both can go our separate ways donghyuck.

Unknown: either you come over or i send it to him. your call

Haechan smiled to himself when you texted you were on the way. He was going to make you his again.

Haechan decided to tidy up the place before your arrival, spraying some cheap air freshener in his living room to make his apartment seem more comfortable. He wanted seeing you again to be memorable, setting up a camera in the far left corner in his living room hiding it good enough so you wouldn’t see. His hands felt sweaty and his heart rate was increasing, butterflies filling his tummy. He couldn’t believe he was actually about to see you, a grin slowly creeping on his face.

You had a horrible feeling about how this whole thing was going to go. Haechan never takes no for an answer and you had a gut feeling it was going to take everything in you to get him to delete those old videos. The pit of your stomach began to drop when you arrived at his apartment. Horrible flashbacks started playing in the back of your head when you parked your car. let’s just get this over with you thought to yourself as you approached Haechan’s door.

It’s like he could feel your presence at the door opening it before you even knocked. He smiled, “hi”

“hey..” you mumbled under your breath barely looking at him.

Haechan opened the door wider welcoming you in. Everything was still the same.. the exact same. Same old raggedy furniture that he should’ve thrown away years ago. Even your old pictures of the two of you were hanging on the wall. All the memories between you two begin to flood your mind and you need to get haechan to delete these videos so you could leave and never think about him again.

“Come sit,” Haechan patted his thigh, that shit eating grin resting on his lips. You didn’t want to upset or trigger anything obeying everything he asked you to do. You sat on his knee, hands resting uncomfortably in your lap. “So tell me what’s been new? How are things with your little boyfriend?” he asked, moving your hair out of your face to see you better, making you close your eyes at his touch. “Things are okay...”

“Just okay?” he asked emphasizing on ‘just’

“things are good..” you corrected yourself trying to shift off his lap a bit haechan pulling you closer to him squeezing your thigh. “Why are you trying to run away from me?” He asked with a slight pout to his lips

“Haechan.. please” your voice was barely above a whisper refusing to make eye contact with him. “I just want you to delete the videos so we can go our separate ways again”

“Come on, you don’t miss me?” you didn’t reply quick enough for his liking making haechan pull you all the way onto his lap a gasp leaving your lips as you now straddled him.

“Haechan” you called softly “ohh now you can hear me” he let out a teasing laugh rubbing his hands up and down your thigh.

“please..” you begged once again. Haechan rubbed your cheek so softly and sweet like he actually cared about anything you were asking him for. He reached in the front of his pocket pulling his phone out unlocking it and showing you his messages. The video of you two already loaded up to be sent to jake. All it took was one press.

“Haechan please stop” you cry, “i’ll do anything!” you blurted out reaching for the phone.

Haechan locked it and looked down at you. And there it was. He knew you were gonna eventually give in.

He rests his arms on the couch looking at your head tilted to the side. “Get on your knees”

You hesitated getting off his lap kneeling between his spread legs. Your hands were shaking unbuckling his jeans only pulling his pants down far enough to free his cock. Haechan hisses at the cool air hitting his tip dripping in pre-cum. your lips glide over his length trying your best to fit him in your mouth. bobbing your head back and forth gently Haechan getting impatient with this little act you were putting up. You’ve sucked his dick plenty of times. Why are you acting like you don’t know what you are doing?

He grabbed a fistful of your hair making you yelp “Are you trying to piss me off huh?” he slapped you across the face making you close your eyes from the sting.

You shook your head no. “I can’t hear you” he slaps you again, a tear falling down your cheek. “no..” you sniffled.

“Then do it right” he pushed your head back down onto his cock doing the work for you.

“fuck” he mumbled under his breath pushing your face all the way down on his cock almost cumming on the spot watching you gag. You pinched at his thigh trying to get him to let go so you could breathe but Haechan didn’t care. He just wanted to get his dick wet by his favorite girl.

He finally pulled you up smirking at the way you gasped for air. He let out a moan at the sight of you. Drool and spit dripping down your chin and chest. Eyes filled with tears. He loved seeing you all messy like this. He swore his cock got harder from you crying. For him it was his favorite site. He grabbed you by the jaw guiding you back to his lap.

“Sit on it” you sniffled again wanting to tell him no but couldn’t risk making him more upset. Taking a step back to take your shorts and panties off. You align his cock up with your entrance gripping onto his shoulders to help steady yourself. Haechan surprisingly lets you take your time easing down on his cock the stretch feeling unbelievable.

Haechan let out a sigh when you finally sat all the way. Hands gripping your hips “still so fucking tight— shit”

“y/n— you gotta move or fuck— i’ll fuck up into you” you let your hands rest on his shoulder slowly beginning to bouce up and down.

“it hurts.. you’re too big” you mumbled in between sobs.

“Jake doesn’t fill you up this well does he baby?” you close your eyes at the mention of Jake. Feeling completely horrible for even doing this.

“You missed me didn’t you?” Haechan asked, thrusting up into you watching the way you bite your lip to hold back your moan.

your legs were growing weak and you felt like you could cum in any second. You wanted to keep your eyes closed but couldn’t help but look at the way haechan was so into it. His head was thrown back resting against the couch as he helped you bounce on his big cock. Lip snuck between his teeth watching the way his cock goes in and out of your sweet cunt.

“it’s so big,” you whimpered. “I know baby” Haechan cooed wiping at your tears.

“missed you and this pretty fucking pussy so much” he shook his head, “can’t believe you stayed this tight”

you tried to ignore his words grabbing at his shoulders so hard you were sure he’ll have marks in the morning.

“so pathetic your boyfriend can’t get you off the way i can”

“stop” you managed to mumble out. “What's wrong? don’t like it when i talk about your sweet boyfriend?” he teased.

“How do you think he’ll feel if he saw you right now? Whoring yourself out like this for me?” the tears wouldn’t stop. You hid your face in his shoulder begging him to stop bringing Jake up.

He let out a laugh at the way you hid yourself rubbing circles in your clit. “Haechan please.. stop” you weren’t even sure if you were letting out real words anymore. Your head was dizzy and full off of being a shitty girlfriend and Haechan.

“You’re so fucking close i know you” he laughed. “Cumming from the thought of your boyfriend seeing us fuck hm? Pretty fucked up way of thinking huh pretty girl?” The tears wouldn’t stop still hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

“you’re only crying because you feel bad for enjoying this” you begin to sob harder because he’s right.

You didn’t miss haechan and you didn’t miss your relationship but you missed this. The sex life. His big cock that he only enjoyed abusing on you. You love Jake and everything about him but you knew for a fact he wouldn’t fill you up the way Haechan is right now.

“Gonna cum in you” Haechan groaned, closing his eyes shut. You jolted up at his words telling him no.

“Gonna cum in your sweet cunt” Haechan moaned again ignoring your first protest.

“Haechan you can’t! i’m not on the pill—“ he covered your mouth with his left hand tossing his head back as he came in you. Filling you up so good. You closed your eyes at the feeling letting another tear fall down your cheek. Haechan finally took his hand off your mouth trying to catch his breath.

He unlocked his phone showing you to your face that the videos are gone. Deleting all three. You still sat there cheeks puffy and eyes swollen red from all your crying. Haechan wiped your face and kissed your cheeks.

“You don’t have to worry anymore okay? it’s all done” you gave him a nod getting off to clean yourself up before heading home. You couldn't wait to be back in Jake’s arms again.

When you left his apartment haechan promised not to contact you. Apologizing for bothering you in the first place again. You felt pretty good about it this time not feeling the need to block him on anything.

Haechan reached behind his flower pot, stopping the video he recorded. He smiled to himself when he hit play hearing your sobs and pleads. God it was good enough to get him hard again but not tonight. He uploaded the video to his laptop adding to a folder labeled ‘y/n’ where he kept all videos and pictures of you over the past two years. He walked up to his calendar lifting up the page to October. Circling October 21st. That’s when he’ll text you again with another video, surprise. He couldn’t believe how easy this was again.

He finally had your trust back.

[luvymelody]

NAME : katsuki bakugou + shoto todoroki , boku no hero academia

SONG : moment , vierre cloud

SUMMARY : todoroki and bakugou find out they like the same person. thus, turning into a rivalry. wc : 1.6k

[part 1] [you're here] [part 3] [part 4]

(guys i just realised they r in dorms. IGNORE TGE NO DORMS IN THIS AND THE FIRST PART)

(not the exact vibe i wanted for y/n but like.. whatevas)

(tried to make it as quick as possible 4 u guys 😭 sorry if it's bad)

“would you like me to walk you home, y/n?”

“okay!”

it had been a few months ever since y/n transferred to ua. bakugou’s hatred for todoroki was fueled even more now as he listened to todoroki’s and y/n’s conversation, his eye twitching.

“do you wanna get tanghulu nearby?”

y/n asked, holding her bag on her shoulder as she stood up.

“can we also get-“

“i’ll walk you home, y/n.”

todoroki and y/n turned to bakugou who was treading towards them.

“you have cleaning duty, icy hot. remember?”

todoroki turned his head towards the board, seeing his and midoriya’s name under ‘cleaning the classroom today!’.

todoroki pursued his lips, turning back to the two.

“sorry y/n..”

“it’s okay! we can go tomorrow.”

y/n smiled brightly, gripping onto her bag strap as todoroki smiled as her expression. bakugou groaned, grabbing onto y/n’s forearm.

“let’s go angel!”

“hey katsuki- bye shoto!”

“bye y/n.”

todoroki smiled as he waved to the waving girl. y/n whipped her hand side to side until bakugou pulled her out of todoroki’s view.

“so rude, katsuki!”

the winged girl teased, bumping into bakugou’s side slightly as she smiled and he grunted.

“don’t care.”

-

y/n stopped, turning to bakugou.

"well, bye then, katsuki."

they finally made it to y/n's house. y/n was rambling about the homework that she hadn't started at all, bakugou nodded to every word she said, pitching in comments about the work and how stupid she was.

"bye angel."

bakugou said, nodding his head at her as his hands were shoved into his pockets, he took extremely slow steps, watching y/n get her keys out her bag and opening her door, not leaving until he saw her go through her front door, and close it.

bakugou stretched his arms, turning and walking back towards the train station. it's not like bakugou's ever gonna tell anyone that his house is nearly 40 minutes away from y/n's house, she would tell him to not walk her home then.

-

y/n sat on her desk, softly drumming her fingers on the desk while she studied, reading the sheets that ectoplasm handed out in class. then, she heard a buzzing sound, her silenced phone as she stood up, picking it up and seeing the caller id, 'shoto!!'.

"hi shoto!"

"hi y/n, i just wanted to know if you got home safe with.. bakugou.."

"ah! yeah, i'm okay. did you get home safe?"

"mhm, also, i'm coming over."

"what?"

y/n blinked, hearing keys on todoroki's end of the phone.

"wait what are you doing"

"i'm bringing tanghulu. and boba."

y/n felt her heart squeeze, grasping her chest in awe.

"awww, you're so sweet, shoto!"

-

bakugou scrolled through insta, bored out of his mind as he was laying on his bed, one hand behind his head and the other on his phone.

a second later, he got a notification, 'y/nl/n has posted!'. bakugou pressed on the notification, finding a series of photos of y/n and todoroki, eating tanghulu together.

y/n posted a lot of things, her friends, family, places she went to. bakugou told her a lot that she shouldn't be posting everything but y/n just said that 'no one else will see the beauty of life though!'.

bakugou rolled his eyes at the sight of todoroki looking at y/n with a lovestruck expression, holding a hand over todoroki to cover just him and just admiring y/n.

it was a little hard to though, while y/n was in the photo, todoroki’s arm was wrapped around her waist, her arm around his neck as she winked at the camera, holding a stick of tanghulu near her mouth in pose.

-

“this is super sweet shoto!”

y/n munched on the tanghulu, sitting criss-cross on her couch with todoroki sitting right next to her, who was drinking boba.

“is it? i asked the vendor to make it extra nice, just for you.”

y/n smiled brightly as she chewed, a hint of red covering her face but todoroki wouldn’t know. y/n’s eyes lit up, as her hand darted for her phone, opening it up.

“let’s take some photos, i wanna post on insta.”

“okay.”

todoroki smiled at the girl, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. y/n leaned into todoroki, as he held a hand on her hip to steady her from falling. he put up a peace sign, as y/n had told him that in photos, he should put up a peace sign to make it less awkward.

y/n wrapped her arm around his neck, giggling a bit.

“don’t be shy!”

she exclaimed, squishing her face against todoroki’s as his left side started to feel warm, a little hot actually.

“smile!”

todoroki let out a small smile, which made y/n happy as she took the photo.

-

"angel."

"hi katsu-"

bakugou dropped a small box on her desk, standing next to her.

"what's this?"

y/n questioned, turning towards bakugou with her head.

"open it and you'll see."

bakugou grunted, his hands in his pockets as he looked out the classroom window. y/n looked down at the box and bakugou's eyes quickly went down towards y/n when she wasn't looking.

the girl opened the box, seeing her favourite limited edition chocolate. she gasped aloud, holding her hands over her mouth in shock.

"no you didn't, katsuki!"

"oh yes i did."

bakugou smugly smiled, while y/n's smile became wider and wider as she shot up from her desk, wrapping her arms around bakugou's neck as bakugou slipped one hand on her lower back to keep her stable while she was on her tippy toes.

"thank you katsuki!"

"you're welcome, angel."

bakugou said, his eyes trailing towards todoroki who sat in his desk in the back of the classroom. as he suspected, todoroki was staring right at them with a piercing glare.

y/n heard a pencil snap behind her, her arms slipping from her grasp around bakugou's neck.

"what was that?"

"dunno angel"

-

"okay, everyone pair up with whoever you want to!"

midnight said, handing out papers to the people in the first row to hand to the people behind them. as y/n turned to give the papers to the person behind her- which was bakugou, he grabbed the paper, looking into her eyes,

"you're working with me."

"wha-?"

bakugou turned before she could give him an answer and she just shrugged turning around. chairs scrapping the floor as people hurried to the person they wanted to pair up with. y/n sat in her chair still, grabbing a pen out of her bag.

when she straightened up, she found todoroki and bakugou infront of her.

"tell icyhot you're with me."

"tell bakugou that you have a choice."

"who said she didn't have a choice!?"

"literally you, just now."

they stared daggers at each other, then turned their head towards y/n.

"who do you want to be with?"

"hey! don't copy me!"

"i'm not copying you, bakugou."

todoroki and bakugou continued arguing, getting into each other's faces as denki put his hand up for midnight.

"miss! can we have two teams of three? i'm gonna be with kirishima and sero!"

"alright, fine with me!"

midnight said with a thumbs ups, and todoroki turned towards the two.

"great, we can all be together."

todoroki had a pretty, sarcastic smile on his face. annoyance ticking away at him as his eye twitched slightly. bakugou flexed his jaw in anger, gritting his teeth and y/n covered her face, looking out the window as she noticed that the class was staring at the three of them.

-

"your answer is wrong, bakugou."

"what?!"

bakugou clutched his paper in his hand as todoroki and y/n sat together, working together as bakugou was too stubborn to work with them, working on the questions by himself.

"i said, it's wrong."

"fuck you mean it's wrong!?"

"i mean it's wrong."

y/n sweated under bakugou's and todoroki's gaze, stressed from the both of them arguing.

"can you guys not argue for two seconds?"

"if icyhot wasn't so shit at explaining, maybe we wouldn't be arguing right now."

"if bakugou wasn't so bad at listening to people once in a lifetime-"

"what did you say?!"

bakugou banged his hands on the table as he stood up, distracting the class and making them look towards them.

"you three, outside!"

-

todoroki, y/n and bakugou stood outside of the class in a line, bakugou's head was high as his head rested on the wall, todoroki was straight, zoning out and looking out of the window, while y/n was standing between them, blankly blinking.

"okay, can we.. like address something?"

y/n questioned, her eyes looking at the two boys as they looked at her.

"what is it, y/n?"

"are you guys, like in love with each other or something?"

y/n asked, looking at bakugou as bakugou's eyes looked up at todoroki, todoroki's expression becoming a face of horror.

silence was filled between the trio, them bakugou started laughing aloud, pointing at todoroki while todoroki was blinking, a gagging feeling of vomit starting to lace his throat.

"me?! like that half-and-half bastard!? in his dreams!”

“i wouldn’t want you to like me in my worst nightmares either.”

bakugou didn’t hear him, doubling over and holding his stomach in laughter. todoroki looked at y/n seriously, holding y/n’s shoulders tightly,

“y/n, i don’t like bakugou. i like you.”

“say what”

y/n’s eyes widened, bakugou’s laughter stopped, a stomping sound appearing as y/n’s shoulder was grabbed, bakugou’s hands pulling her back and into his chest.

“i like you more than him, angel.”

“no i do, y/n.”

y/n’s head started to spiral as todoroki got closer to them, his footsteps echoing through the hallway as y/n was then squished between bakugou and todoroki.

bakugou had one hand on the side of her waist and one hand on her shoulder. todoroki held both of her hands tightly with one hand and the other on the back of her neck.

“i like her better than you.”

“who said, icyhot?”

“i did.”

“go and die.”

“no you.”

“the fuck?!”

y/n blushed between the two guys, wanting to run and cover her face.

“g-guys, can we talk this out-“

“y/n, i only put up with bakugou for you.”

“when the fuck? i put up with you for her!”

the two boys glared at each other, their hold on y/n tightening just a bit.

“go away, you’re bothering her.”

bakugou said, tugging her towards him.

“no, you’re bothering us.”

todoroki argued, tugging her back towards himself.

“guys i’m not an object..”

the two boys quickly let go out her to make her happy, but were still death staring each other like there was no tomorrow.

‘what the hell man..’

y/n cried in her head, imaginary tears falling down her face.

[tkaulitzlvr]

CITY VIEWS - T. KAULITZ

synopsis: after a long night at another award show, when you and tom arrive back to the hotel room, he's eager to show you the beautiful view from your balcony - in a way you would never have expected.

content: smut

a/n: i'm so sorry for not posting omg😭take this as my apology pls!! andddd i need more tokio hotel friends, so if ur 16+ then PLSSSS send me a message so we can talk! anyway love you all hope you enjoy💗

"beautiful, isn't it?" the low hum of tom's voice from behind snaps me out of my daze, eyes turning away from the complex skyline ahead of me. he offers a warm smile as he nears my stance, resting on the railing of the balcony with a soft hand dangling along the glass. i nod my head in agreement, turning my gaze back to the array of buildings ahead of me, staring in awe at the sea of light that adorns each inch of my vision, the sky, darkened with the coming of the night, displaying the final shades of deep purple before it is covered in a sea of black. i could quite happily sit and stare at the city, easily captivated by something so simple, though when tom rests a hand on my lower back, it is clear that he has other ideas.

“you look perfect baby.” i smile from ear to ear as tom’s breath tickles my neck from behind, thankful that the night is above us, otherwise he would quite easily see the light shade of red that my cheeks have turned. he has told me this all night, whether it be with flirtatious glances that he would spare me when no one was looking, or a suggestive squeeze of my thigh under the table. but he could show it over and over again, and i would still be left the exact same way - though this time i try to hide it. it’s impossible to ignore the steady hand that now trails lower downward, resting teasingly on the curve of my lower back, his lips ghosting the skin of my neck as i try to act like i don’t notice. my gaze remains locked ahead, face not daring to move an inch, knowing exactly what he wants, and more importantly, that i won’t be able to give in if i spare him even a glance.

the view is genuinely breathtaking though, so the task of keeping my eyes on it is not a strenuous one, but it somehow becomes next to impossible when his lips finally make contact with the skin just below my ear, placing a kiss so gentle that it leaves me wondering just what could happen if i surrender my composure, a dangerous mix of nervousness and excitement settling in the pit of my stomach. both of his hands are now wrapped around my waist, thumbs moving up and down the material of my dress, his chin coming to rest on my shoulder from behind. i sigh in relief, thinking that he has finally given up on the desire that has taken over him, regarding his soft touch as a simple act of affection. but it doesn’t take long for me to understand that i have misunderstood his movements, a soft gasp leaving my lips when he pushes my waist backwards, my ass now brushing against his - unmistakably hard - crotch.

“not now tom.” i whine, tilting my head back so that it rests on his shoulder, his breath fanning against my ear as he lets out a soft chuckle, squeezing my hips playfully. it goes silent for a moment, the air carrying nothing besides our steady breathing as tom’s fingers tap against my clothed stomach, though when he presses me against himself once more, i quickly realise that he won’t give up as easily as i had hoped.

“seriously, we can do something later, okay? i want to watch the view.” i attempt to loosen his hold on me, wrapping my hands around his wrists and prying his arms away, soon failing miserably as he only tightens his grip, pressing a slow kiss to my jaw.

“who says you can’t?” he questions, expression blank as i turn to meet his gaze, his eyes peering down at me, heavy with lust yet to be acted upon. i furrow my eyebrows, attempting to figure out what he is alluding to, though he doesn’t make it easy for me unless i say the words.

“what are you talking about?” he finds my cluelessness amusing, a soft laugh leaving his lips as he brings me even closer, my back resting against his chest as he pecks my cheek, his kiss lingering on the soft skin.

“i could fuck you right here schatz. what’s stopping us, hm?” he runs his hands across my hips, subtly grinding my body against his, an elongated sigh leaving his now parted lips. his tongue comes out of his mouth to swipe across his bottom lip, my mind flashing with ideas of what i’d rather him be doing with it, but the realisation of what he has just said is enough to snap me out of it.

“are you crazy? anyone could see us!”

“what from like 15 floors up? it’s just us baby, c’mon, let me make you feel good.” my mouth opens to speak, though it is cut off by his soft smirk as i realise that he makes a valid point. i race to think of reasons why we shouldn’t do this, reasons beside from this not being morally right - the look in his eyes tells me that he is far beyond caring about that. he looks downward at me, his gaze becoming more enticing as it rakes down my figure, only making it harder for me to give a good explanation for why his idea is ridiculous.

but i have taken far too long for tom. each waiting second has been torture for him, and the realisation of this comes along with his harsh kiss as he plants his lips onto mine, turning my body to face him, my lower half now flat against the glass railing behind us. he pushes his crotch against my own, with much more intent this time, his baggy jeans seeming to feel even tighter as his cock pulses through them. somehow we mutually agree to skip the soft and innocent kisses that lead to what we both want, the movements of our lips fast and hungry as he bites down on my bottom lip, earning a quiet moan that allows him to slip his tongue inside my mouth.

the harsh bite of the wind doesn’t matter anymore, its bitterness seemingly non-existent as tom’s touch warms my entire body, igniting a spark within it that leaves me nothing short of desperate, my hands communicating this hunger as they trail to the button of his jeans. he smirks against my mouth, taking my bottom lip into his own and sucking slowly, noticing how my movements falter at the sensation. he tastes of vanilla and cigarettes, the combination addictive as i seek to taste more, pressing my lips onto his own even harsher than before. his hands explore my body feverishly, freeing himself from the restraints that being in the public eye all night had brought as he takes advantage of the fact that we are alone - the skyline our only witness.

when he finally pulls away, lips swollen, chest heaving up and down, his eyes flicker between my own gaze and my cleavage, the hurried nature of his movements leaving me a mess, with my breasts practically spilling out of my dress. his tongue comes out of his mouth, swiping across his bottom lip and resting on his small piercing, only taking a few seconds to admire the view as just seeing it clearly isn’t enough. he pushes me back against the glass railing once more, my back hanging off of the edge slightly. i should be scared, considering that i am at least two hundred feet off the ground, though somehow adrenaline only continues to pulse through my veins, fuelled by tom’s touch as his hands reach for the small straps of my dress on each shoulder, hurriedly pulling them downward until my breasts are freed from the material.

“so beautiful.” he mumbles under his breath before attaching his lips to my nipple, swirling his tongue around the sensitive bud as i cry out, my head falling backward to better his access. my hair blows slightly in the breeze, the cold wind causing me to hiss slightly as it hits my nipples, but the pain doesn’t last long as tom works against them. his hand fondles the breast that his mouth can’t, running his thumb over it as his teeth graze against the other, creating a dangerously addictive mix of pain and pleasure that leaves me pleading for more. only when he pulls away from one breast and turns his attention to the other do i notice the faint purple marks littering my chest, the skin beginning to bruise as his hand runs over it in an attempt to soothe the slight stinging pain that emits from it. my own hands push his head further into me, earning small groans from him that vibrate against me when i pull on his braids, silently encouraging him to carry on - if my inaudible moans don’t do that already.

his head emerges from my chest, his lips pink and breathing ragged, a slight smirk etched upon his face when he sees his work, an array of deep purple bruises scattered around the skin. he runs his hands over my breasts once more, squeezing the flesh gently, his movements faltering and mouth falling open when i cup him through his jeans, his length throbbing against my palm.

“fuck, you see what you do to me schatz?” his head is tilted back slightly, adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallows, a deep groan emitting from his throat when i apply a little more pressure, making me realise just how sensitive he is. his eyes flutter open and closed, trying desperately to watch my small hands as they run up and down his clothed length, the minimal contact driving him crazy. i continue to tease him, taking the opportunity as it is a rare one, control never something that i have when we are like this. though when my fingers trail along the waistband of his jeans, it becomes clear that he is done with whatever game i think i have started, his strong grip wrapping around my wrist as he tugs my hand away.

his eyes stay locked on mine as his hands move to the button of his jeans, undoing it and tugging the zipper down. he stops there though, stepping forward and collecting my hair in his hands, moving the loose curls to the side. before i can question what he is doing, he leans downward, his breath fanning against my neck, warm against the cold breeze. his lips ghost against the skin, pausing for a second, only to attach themselves to it, sucking slowly as he places open-mouthed kisses just below my ear. he knows that this spot drives me crazy, smiling against my skin when i moan in response, the pace of his kisses never speeding up as he keeps them slow and steady. he takes my skin in between his teeth, biting down gently before running his tongue over where his mouth has been. he repeats his motions, trailing his lips down to my collarbone, leaving soft marks as he goes along.

i am far too lost in pleasure to register the sound of his jeans being tugged down, instead my eyes remain shut, heavy breaths leaving my mouth when his lips linger for a few seconds, kissing my skin gently. my mind is somewhere else, lost in the addictive feeling of his lips on my body, not even noticing the low hum of his voice against my skin, until he bites down on it a little harsher than usual. my eyes shoot open as i hiss slightly, his lips kissing the spot repeatedly as a silent apology, the dull pain fading away with each kiss. he halts his movements, keeping his head securely in the crook of my neck.

“turn around. i want you to bend over the railing for me.” his voice vibrates against me, soon replaced by his steady breathing as he feels me nod against him, this enough for him to pull back, eyes studying me intently as i turn my body, now facing the cityscape that i had been so desperate to admire moments ago. though now, the hundreds of buildings in front of me don’t matter anymore. the shining lights, dark sky, low hum of the city, it is all nothing but a distraction from what i really want. and when i push my ass further backward a little, my upper half leaning over the balcony, tom begins to realise that too.

i feel his hands circle my ass, restricted by the thin material of my dress, this frustrating both tom and i as he moves to lift the material upward, letting it bunch up at my lower back. his breathing gets caught in his throat for a second, eyes glued on the sight in front of him, now only restricted by the black lace panties that leave little to the imagination.

“i need you so bad, oh my god.” if his words don’t show his desperation enough, then he makes sure that his actions do, fingers wrapping around the material of my panties as he tugs them down, the cold hair hitting my now exposed heat as i shudder slightly, not yet accustomed to the sensation. my eyes struggle to stay focused on the view ahead, desperate to turn around and focus on the man behind me, the urge becoming too strong to resist. i turn my head, eyes drifting down to tom’s hands, quickly registering where they are. his fingers slip into the waistband of his boxers, groaning slightly when his hand brushes against his length through the material.

“please…” my voice comes out as a low whine, almost pathetic as tom’s head shoots up, eyes meeting my desperate gaze as he smirks at my plea. he doesn’t tease me as i expect though, instead sliding his boxers down, his cock freed from its restraints. it almost hits his lower abdomen, the tip red and leaking pre-cum. my eyes widen at the sight, the aching sensation between my thighs only intensifying. he takes his length in his hands, beginning to pump himself a few times as his head falls backward, jaw clenching and eyes squeezing shut.

“fuck- you ready schatz?” he strokes himself a few more times, positioning his tip at my entrance. he places both hands firmly on my ass, circling the skin before placing a harsh slap onto it, my entire body jolting forward, going next to crazy as the pain only fuels my desire. he knows that too, spreading my asscheeks and smirking when i nod my head rapidly. he runs his hand over the skin, soothing the harsh red mark that his touch has left, its pain more enhanced by the cold air as it continues to hit my skin. he runs his tip through my folds, collecting my wetness as i whine in frustration, moving my hips backward in an attempt to put his dick inside me myself.

“stay still or i won’t fuck you at all.” he plants another harsh slap to my ass as i hiss in pain, feeling the skin turn red. his touch lingers there, easing the pain just a little bit as he resumes his motions one more time, his tip now prodding at my entrance. “you gonna be good for me, yeah?”

i nod my head eagerly, willing to do next to anything if feeling him inside me comes with it, even if i look completely pathetic: bent over in front of him, practically at his mercy. i almost lose balance when he finally begins to push himself into me, my hands clutching onto the railing so hard that my knuckles begin to turn white. he lets out a loud groan from behind me, mixed with the high-pitched moan that leaves my own lips as he stops about halfway. my walls clench around him, attempting to work through the slight pain that courses through me as he stretches me out, my mind silently wondering how the rest of him will fit. i whine at the sensation, already feeling so full despite knowing that he isn’t all the way in. tom senses my discomfort too, bending down to place a soft kiss on my neck, pushing inside me a little further in the process.

“i know, i know. taking me so well princess.” his praise is enough for me to take all of him, nodding my head and mumbling a quick ‘keep going’. he knows better than to question me, instead continuing to push his length inside of me as i cry out. a string of curses spill from his lips, his grip on me seeming to get stronger as i feel him bottom out, his body now flush against mine. i hear his loud and rapid breaths behind me, often cut off by quiet grunts whenever i clench around him.

“please…move.” my voice is breathy, coming out as an almost inaudible plea, though i quickly recognise that tom has understood me when he moves his hips backward, almost completely pulling out, before slamming back against me, his dick disappearing back inside me. i can’t keep my head up anymore, letting it fall forward as i lose all control of my body, becoming more and more weak with each strong movement of his hips. he repeats his motions, moving backward so that only his tip remains inside me, then quickly pushing his cock through my walls, so deep that i swear i can feel him in my stomach. tom notices that my head has dropped, no longer focused on the view ahead that i had been so insistent on watching. he reaches forward whilst continuing to thrust into me, a steady hand wrapping around my neck as he uses it to lift my head upward, eyes now met with the array of buildings ahead once again.

“you said you wanted to watch the view.” he changes the angle of his hips as he speaks, his tip now drilling against my g-spot, rather than brushing against it every few thrusts. i let out a high-pitched moan, eyes rolling to the back of my head at the new sensation. if it weren’t for tom being behind me, my legs would have given out. he doesn’t give up though, his hand now holding my chin securely, preventing my head from falling forward. “so watch it. can’t do that if you won’t even look.”

“can’t…can’t do it-” my slurred speech is cut off by a loud moan when his pelvis brushes against my clit with just enough contact to make me really feel it, my body jolting forward once again. i hear tom chuckle from behind me, beginning to speed up his thrusts as he continues to hold my head in place.

“oh baby, look at you. you can take it. just keep those pretty eyes ahead, okay?” his voice is soft, cut off by his quiet groans whenever he would bottom out, his tip continuing to hit the sensitive spot inside of me. i nod my head, drunk off of pleasure, yet his praise encourages me, prompting me to keep my head up, even when my eyes roll to the back of my head. he tests my ability, slowly moving his hand away from where it had held my chin in place, a low hum leaving his lips when i manage to keep it upright. “there you go. just like that honey, good girl.”

i moan in response, clutching onto the railing as my vision starts to blur, an array of lights consuming my vision, stomach beginning to tighten with the coming of my climax, knowing that i won’t be able to hold on much longer. his hand falls to my breasts, beginning to squeeze the flesh roughly as his thrusts become more erratic, hitting my g-spot effortlessly, earning a loud whine from me each time. he takes my nipple between his fingers, squeezing it slightly as i moan at the sensation, the knot in my stomach only tightening. he picks up on this quickly, trailing his hand down to my clit, starting to rub fast circles over the sensitive bud, watching as my entire body begins to tremble.

“i’m so close…gonna cum.” my speech comes out slurred, almost indistinguishable amongst my frequent moans, though when tom slows down his thrusts, it is clear that he sees that i am close. he wraps an arm around my waist, using it to pull my body upward, back now flush against his chest.

“hold it for me baby. just a little longer, doing so well.” his breathing comes hot and fast, fanning onto my skin before he replaces it with his lips, taking my ear lobe into his mouth and biting gently. he releases it, kissing the spot just below it as i cry out in pleasure, my release getting closer and closer, seconds away from being pushed over the edge. he speeds up his thrusts, pushing my body downward once again and forcing me to hold onto the railing for support. he lands a few harsh slaps onto my ass, kneading the flesh and using it to build up his pace, chasing his own climax as i clench around him, doing everything i can to hold back from letting go.

when his cock begins to twitch inside me, his hips faltering against me, i know that he is almost there too. i attempt to match his thrusts, moving my hips backward as our skin slaps together much faster than before. this clearly has an effect on him, his moans becoming much louder. i turn to look at him, knees almost buckling at the sight. his eyebrows are furrowed, jaw slack and mouth wide open, forehead lined with sweat as he maintains a steady hold on my hips, guiding them back and forth as i continue to meet his quick movements.

“there you go. just like that, fuck yeah. keep going, i’m so close schatz.” he speaks through ragged breaths, nodding his head slowly, his mouth falling open even further when i clench around him once again. he twitches inside me for a final time, his thrusts pausing momentarily, cut off by the verbal confirmation that he has reached his climax. “cum for me, let go baby.”

his permission is all i need to let go of the knot in my stomach, my release washing over me as the only word that i am able to say is his name, the word spilling from my lips over and over as i cum. he groans from behind me, teeth sinking into his bottom lip as his head falls backward, ropes of his hot cum shooting into my walls, his hips continuing to rock back and forth as he fucks it into me, inaudible moans pouring from both our lips. his muscles tense as he squeezes my hips, nails digging into the soft skin as his dick continues to twitch inside me, his release coming in thick ropes as it coats my walls. his movements come to a steady stop, followed by his cock slipping out of me, a mixture of our juices running down my thigh. he turns me around, smirking downward at me, his pointer finger coming to collect the juices that have ran down my leg. his eyes never break away from my own, his body flush against mine as he takes his finger in his mouth, groaning at the taste. all i can do is watch, staring as his fingers exit his mouth, only staying silent for a while as he quickly attaches his lips to my own, capturing them in yet another rough kiss.

“see how good you taste?” he whispers against my lips, sucking on the top one before releasing it. i cringe slightly at the taste, a mix of sweet and saltiness settling on my tongue, the kiss soon turning passionate as i reach upward, wrapping my arms around his neck. he smiles into the kiss, bending down and snaking his hands around my lower back, hoisting me upward so my legs are tangled around his waist. i squeal when he lifts me up, giggling against his lips as he begins to walk off of the balcony and back into the hotel room. though any playfulness that had existed seconds ago is suddenly long gone when my back collides harshly with the bed, sinking into the soft and previously untouched sheets. tom quickly climbs on top of me, ripping his shirt off in the process, soon making me realise that our rendezvous on the balcony was only the beginning.

requests are open! keep sending them in!!

[maximwtf]

“The perfect silence. ”

Tighnari x Valuka Shuna! Reader

Words: 1430

Google Docs Pages: 2,5

Warnings: Established relationship, implied neurodivergent reader but nothing specific, overstimulation caused by noise, angst-ish/comfort

Opening: Valuka Shuna have exceptional hearing, but at times that feature becomes a little too much. Thankfully you know someone who understands. 

AN// G/N Reader. Erm, okay I said I wouldn’t write for him again but this is an exception…but don’t quote me on that if I write more after this. Also yippee, finally posting all my "left in docs to rot" works that I thought were somewhat worth it to finish :"D

“The perfect silence. ”

The whole day every noise and sound had felt amplified, bothering you while working. Having one of those days where you had to collaborate with other forest watchers hadn’t helped, the noise of their chatter having started to bother you as well at some point of the day. But it wasn’t like you could leave them and your work undone, having had to endure it. But that meant that at the end of the day you’d just been worn out, mind overwhelmed. Mindlessly making your way to a place you knew you could find some sort of solace at. 

Tighnari’s office had become somewhat of a familiar place for you, not to mention the relations you had with the man himself. Trusting that he if anyone would understand how you were feeling, if not to the exact extent. But having someone to understand felt better than being surrounded by people who you couldn’t ask to be quiet, without getting odd looks and questions you didn’t have the energy to answer. 

Reaching his office at last with a rather pained expression on your face, ears pinned down in an attempt to block out sound. Though, it hardly helped if there were enough people around. 

Ending up here in this state definitely not being the first time either. Having known from the start that he was possibly the only one close to you that experienced heightened hearing to a similar extent. Even if it didn’t overwhelm him in a similar sense, he had still always seemed to understand in his own way. And you’d been willing to explain it to him in the past, giving him insight on how you were feeling at moments such as this. Seeing how interested he was made you less worried about him viewing the topic as a bother. Making sure you didn’t ever worry about being a disturbance, when he wanted to be there to help. 

You walked up to one of the beds his patients usually laid in, in the corner of the room. Sitting on the very edge of it, curling your tail around your legs for comfort. Pinning your ears further down in agitation. Knowing Tighnari would sooner or later question what was going on. So before he was able to break the silence, you whispered ‘loud’. Which thankfully more often than not was enough for him to catch up with the situation. 

Tighnari had keenly followed as you’d arrived and sat on the edge of the bed. Worried after seeing the distressed expression on your face, not daring to say or ask anything about it before you’d explained the situation a little. But after catching up, understanding what had likely happened. 

Though, fortunately he didn’t seem distressed himself. More so rather understanding and careful, not wanting to make the situation worse. This not being the first time you’d come to him for help, and likely not the last time either. Or so he at the very least hoped, knowing you trusted him and this being a sign of it. 

Even if he knew he couldn’t do much to help, he was still willing to try. 

Tighnari walked up to the bed, carefully sitting down on the edge but not saying anything. If he was correct to assume every noise was amplified for you, he didn’t wish to be an add-on to everything else. 

Luckily for him, you explained the situation a little further. “I had so many group projects today, so many people chatting and moving around”, you whispered. A lot of the forest watchers often coming to you for help, due to knowing how much longer you’d been doing the work. Having had time to learn close up from Tighnari himself, so your help was always appreciated. 

Clenching your jaw after finishing, not liking the sound of your own voice. Thinking it better to not talk before you were able to calm down properly.

Tighnari wasn’t exactly the best at comforting others emotionally or supporting them mentally. Seeing logical conclusions as more effective and easier to come up with. But that didn’t mean he’d just sit and watch you, especially when he knew what was wrong. Knowing how easily his ears picked up noise, he could only imagine how much it must have bothered you. 

Tighnari placed his hand on your shoulder, lowering his own ears in sympathy. A rather unreadable expression on his face while deep in thought, thinking of possible ways to ease your mind. Gaze quickly checking that the door was closed so no one could intrude to make the situation worse. As of right now, the space was almost fully silent. Knowing that it was usually enough for you, but in truth he didn’t feel like it was. Wishing there was something else he could still do. 

His eyes spotting the spiked up hairs at the base of your ears, thinking it must have been due to today's work and the distress. Attempting to gently brush them back in place, mind still racing. Logically speaking, if noises were too loud maybe focusing on something else would help. Something that didn’t make noise but ultimately got your attention for long enough to get the overwhelming feeling off your shoulders. 

Tighnari’s caresses against your ears had somewhat of a calming effect, the subtle sound of it soothing. Yet, the thought of speaking up sounding horrid. Hearing any loud sound did for that matter, making you frustrated. You’d at last gained the silence that you’d been craving for for half of the day, not wishing to waste the chance to breathe. 

Raising your head to see what Tighnari was doing, eyes pleading for an answer or a solution that even you couldn’t name. 

Tighnari responded to the look with an understanding one, pained due to how little he could in truth do. Though, your gaze had returned him to the thought he’d just had. Carefully moving over to his belongings by the table. Pulling out a small bottle of liquid, swirling it around for a moment to see how much of it was left before returning to you. 

Hearing a frustrated sigh from you, knowing how tiring this always seemed to be for you. But understanding exactly why. Watching every now and then as your eyes followed his movements while he opened the bottle. 

A pleasant scent intruded the surrounding area. You soon noticed how familiar it was, it taking a moment to figure out why. It soon coming to you that it was the same scent of the oil Tighnari often used on his ears and tail. And due to its familiarity it got your attention, ears raising a little at the notion. 

Tighnari smiled to himself, cheering internally as his hypothesis seemed to have been correct. Gently moving to apply some of the oil to the base of your ears, combing the messed up parts back in place with care. Combing your hair in place while at it. 

You lowered your head, focusing on the familiar scent of the oil. Only now truly realising how much energy all this had taken out, finding yourself exhausted. Yet, somewhat relieved you were able to notice that, coming back to it. The aroma of the oil being more overpowering than sound for your mind.

You lifted your head to watch Tighnari fiddle with the small bottle. Scared of breaking the perfect silence, but thankful for Tighari for continuing to find ways to help you. And you were well aware that he knew how you felt, yet there was always a deep need to express that gratitude to him time and time again. 

Moving carefully closer to him before placing your head at the crook of his neck. Hands gently holding on to his shirt before moving on their own to wrap around him. To which he cautiously answered to, grateful you seemed to feel better and not so tense. Aware you’d told him that his presence was enough, yet it never felt so for him. Feeling the need to figure something out to do more. 

You moved your head up, knowing you’d likely doze off if you stayed still for too long. Even now feeling your eyelids get heavy from the peace and quiet. A pleasant scent in the air, Tighnari’s form warm against you. Staring at him from a rather close distance, almost mouthing the quiet words, “thank you.” Knowing he could hear it. But also aware how little words meant in these moments, actions being much louder. Watching as Tighnari’s ears drooped a little, calm. Happy to see you doing better. 

[wholoveseggs]

How I look camping ⛺️ your page everyday waiting for you to post… like your writing is so good and I’m so obsessed with it. 💜 But about Kol and I guess the other Mikaelson boys (minus Finn),, they’re all scary in their own ways.

With Klaus he’s scary because of his rage and his plans,, you can immediately tell when he’s angry because he makes it known through his throwing things and shouting.

For Elijah, he’s calm and collected and that’s what makes him scary, you don’t know how he’s truly feeling or going to react because he hides it so well. I don’t remember the exact scene but it was in the originals I believe where you could like see the rage on his rage and that too is scary because he’s so angry in that moment that he isn’t even attempting to hide that rage.

For Kol (my love), he’s a wild card, a loose cannon. He can be violent but he can also be gentle as seen with his relationship with Davina. I just think his personality is so fun and intriguing. There is absolutely no reason for a vampire, an original at that to be using a baseball to beat people but he does just because he can?? does this make me crazy?? maybe a bit?

a common misconception i see a lot is when Kol is undaggered and Klaus backs away from him. this is for two reasons… yes, i believe Klaus was nervous of Kol being awake again because he knows his brother is a loose cannon but also because it meant that the others were likely awake as well and perhaps he could fight one of them but he definitely couldn’t find all of them at once.

no matter though because both Kol and Klaus can admit that Elijah is the “scariest” so your love wins that contest~ 💜

Hello again darling camping anon! I have so much to say on this subject.... like SO MUCH. So buckle up.

I think the fundamental difference between the three of them is how they react to and experience control. It's simultaneously an emotion, a situation and a choice. And something that all three of them couldn't really have growing up.

They are all victims of domestic violence, and each one is dealing with it differently. (And not in a healthy way at allllllllll. They absolutely continue the cycle of abuse...)

First we have Klaus, (The iconic little shit that he is)

He clings to control like a lifeline. Being the most helpless as a boy, he has always felt that if he was stronger, had more power, he could keep those around him safe. He believes that the only way he can feel safe is if he's in control. So, in his mind, any time someone takes that from him, they are actively trying to harm him. He will fight for control over everything and anything. His family, his city, his art and (most importantly) his life. His need to control the narrative around him and keep his secrets, is born out of the trauma and fear that his father instilled in him. His rage is born out of his own sense of helplessness.

Joseph Morgan does an excellent job of conveying that pain. Klaus is always a bundle of anxiety and panic and fear, no matter how he's acting. He's hyper vigilant and constantly looking over his shoulder, waiting for someone or something to try and control him again. It's why he clings so desperately to control, because he never wants to be made a victim again.

Second we have Elijah, born after the loss of Freya. I've always viewed him as a tragic character, who seems to be nobody's favorite in the family, but also the glue that holds them together. He's burdened with being the adult in the room. I can imagine that Esther's grief and guilt around losing Freya sort of imprinted on to him. She probably saw him as a replacement for the daughter she lost, putting all this pressure on him to be perfect, while simultaneously giving him no agency to be his own person. His entire childhood was spent either protecting his siblings or taking care of his mother's emotional needs. (This also applies to Finn, who i'll talk about later)

His relationship with control is nearly equal to Klaus'. He's always been a peacemaker, the level headed, calm brother. Always trying to bring harmony between his siblings. And while he has a much different way of expressing his feelings, he is a victim of the same violence that the rest are.

But, what makes him the scariest is the fact that his anger is silent. Elijah doesn't show his emotions, he represses them. And then when his control snaps, it's like a damn bursting. You don't see it coming, because he's so good at hiding his anger (& all of his other feelings). But when it's there, you feel it. And it's terrifying. Because his anger is fueled by pain and a lifetime of having to be strong. It's a glimpse at a deep well of pain that you realize he has been hiding all along.

Daniel Gillies absolutely nails this simmering rage with his eyes. Somehow that man can convey every single emotion without saying a word. When he looks at his family, or a person he cares for, there is this warmth and kindness. But when he looks at a person he is angry at, a person who has hurt someone he cares about, you can see the light almost dim, and his eyes will become cold and dark. You can feel the danger and rage in them. It's a delight to watch.

Third we have Kol, who is a complicated and messy character. Kol was born into a family that already had a system and a hierarchy, and he was pushed aside and ignored. Nobody's favorite, nobody's first choice. He grew up angry and frustrated, feeling unloved and unheard. He looks to his older brothers and their relationship with control, and takes the proverbial baseball bat to it. If they couldn't love him the way he needed them to, then he would make sure that they would at least remember him. So he becomes the black sheep, the outcast. He's wild and chaotic, doing whatever he can to get attention. He doesn't really care about control, because he never had any growing up. I have always viewed his bloodlust as an allegory for addiction. His response to the violence of his youth is to numb the pain with the rush of adrenaline and power. To take from others what was taken away from him.

His rage is the loudest and the quickest to come to the surface. He's not one to stew, he's quick to fight and fast to burn. Which is why his relationship with Davina is so good for him. She loves him the way he needs, and rightfully calls out his bad behavior. As gross as it sounds, she's kind of the mother figure that his actual mother never was. (IM SORRY I KNOW ITS VERY FREUD OF ME .... BUT AM I WRONG????)

I'm not going to bash any acting... But I think Daniel Sharman captures Kol much better. His complicated relationship with death, control and magic is portrayed beautifully. Especially the scene where he is dancing with Davina before he dies. It shows real growth on his part, no longer the baby brother, no longer the victim and the victimizer. In that moment he's the protector, trying to shield his girl from grief. And it always makes me tear up ...

(This scene always makes me laugh, I truly believe Elijah is the funniest character)

And last, we have Finn. Who I love to make the butt of the joke here on this blog. But I do have a few things to say about his character.... Which is.... He isn't really a character. But an object.

They drag the poor man out to show the audience what bad thing can happen to an original. First with his death in TVD, teaching everyone about the white oak stake and sirelines. Second in TOG with Lucians deadly bite. He's just... Not written to be liked.. and it's never really explained why they kept him daggered for 900 years.

And with Finn... there is no control or lack thereof, because he has no agency. And his rage comes from the fact that he is a man out of time, with no one who cares about him.. And it makes his character all the more sad and pathetic.

They make him this bitter, angry villain. Trying to kill his niece, and they never justify exactly why. I think fear of Dahlia is a piss poor excuse. I would rather he lean into revenge for being daggered than trying to hold onto his righteous nonsense.

(But lets be so real here... its because the writers didn't want to give him any depth. They didn't want us to get overly attached, so they could use him as a low-stakes original vampire that demonstrates the actual deadliness of a weapon or person)

But!!!! Yusuf Gatewood is the absolute GOAT and his portrayal of Finn and his rage is just delicious. He almost reminds me of like a rabid preacher, the way he spits out his hatred and bitterness. But it's so fun and I enjoy it every time.

Anyways.... Sorry to hijack your message lol.. I just love to psychoanalyze crazy fictional men!

[pouletaulait]

"Do you even intend to quit – not really" 🧐

After reading Chapter 58 I thought about this exchange between Yashiro and Kage for a bit:

At first sight this might suggest that Yashiro actually considers staying in the Yakuza. I think based on what we know and how this statement is framed though, I come to the conclusion that this suggests the exact opposite in fact; Yashiro’s reluctance to stay in the Yakuza shines through yet again.

Granted, in the above scene Yashiro does in fact say that he doesn’t really want to quit BUT what he said before that stood out to me. Confronted by Kage about how he’s still affiliated with the Yakuza he first diverts his question by saying „don’t say things as if you’re an ordinary person“; I think this points out that Yashiro doesn’t like to think of himself as that different from Kage (or „civilian“ people in general, probably), he’s sorta putting the two of them onto the same level… outwardly he appears to lower Kage’s „status“ as a law-abiding citizen to his own, but, objectively speaking they both know that Kage is not in fact a shady person (at least from what I can tell, after all, he doesn’t appear to be affiliated with any „shady“ people apart from Yashiro and Kage always complains about Yashiro dragging him into these affairs). So, what this ends up doing is lifting Yashiro’s status up (I hope I’m phrasing this in a way that makes sense). Anyway, I think what this conveys is that Yashiro still looks down on Yakuza members (he’s definitely not proud of being one) and that he’s still not fully comfortable with people viewing him as a member or even acknowledging his Yakuza-status himself. He then goes on to say that it’s not easy to leave. Now, this could suggest a) that it has been on his mind (which we already know to be true) and b) that he feels the need to justify the fact that he’s still affiliated with them. Only when Kage questions him again Yashiro finally says that he doesn’t REALLY want to leave. His way of phrasing it doesn’t sound super convincing and he probably says that to get Kageyama off his case and also because, if he is honest with himself, he still can’t see himself actually taking that step after all. I know I might be reading too much into this but it stood out to me that Yashiro didn’t just throw Kage a snarky comment like „why the hell wouldn’t I still be a member?“, in the same vein as his first comment „what kind of upstanding guy runs a shady illegal casino?“ Instead he is somewhat opening up to Kage in his own way.

Anyway, this conversation is yet another puzzle piece that plays into the theory I’ve had from the beginning, that Yashiro will leave the Yakuza eventually. From all we know so far, Yashiro has never really come to terms with being a Yakuza and has generally a very negative opinion of them. The topic of Yashiro struggling to accept this role and the re-occurring questioning of what makes a Yakuza, who’s a good Yakuza, who’s not fit to be one, etc. strongly suggests to me that this is an integral part of this story as a whole and is most probably gonna be relevant to the conclusion of the story. It’s made clear that Yashiro never wanted to be Yakuza in the first place and he’s still reluctant, like… some 20 long years later 😯. I don't want to include too many quotes here because there are far too many instances that could be mentioned and this post is already getting too loooong, as you'll see 🫣, but there are some I'd like to mention. First I'd like to point to one quote from Yashiro that leads me to believe that to him being a Yakuza is not in fact his real identity but rather a role he is playing. He says to Ryuuzaki in Chapter 5:

He sees himself more as an actor rather than a real Yakuza and interestingly enough, that’s what he had aspired to become as a teenager: (aspire might be too strong of a word here but I think in a way he really did):

Now, I know that I'm arguing that Yashiro is talking about himself here ,even though, he's not just referring to himself in his comment to Ryuuzaki but the fact that he talks about Yakuza being just like actors in general and then further generalizing his statement to „people spend their lives acting“ still plays nicely into Yashiro's perception of his own life which will become relevant in a bit *bear with me*; it suggests that he thinks that people are not really free to be themselves because they have to play their role which emphasizes his passive approach to life in general „I have lived my life accepting it all“ (I reference this quote further down).

Every time Misumi tries to drag him in deeper, Yashiro is acting completely reluctant. We first saw this in the very beginning of the story when Misumi and Yashiro talk about the succession and Misumi says to Yashiro „be mine once more“ (Yashiro doesn’t want to give him an answer), when we learn through Hirata’s secret recordings about the details of another conversation between Misumi and Yashiro in Chapter 14 (Yashiro still doesn’t give a straight answer) and we see it again in Chapter 36 when Misumi basically says to Yashiro „don’t forget what you are“ after the time-skip (Yashiro distracts Misumi from the conversation by provoking him). He doesn't agree to anything but he never outright refuses either (he's completely passive).

His reluctance is further demonstrated by the fact that after the time-skip Yashiro’s not really a full member anymore. He used what happened after Hirata’s attack on him to the best of his abilities in a way to distance himself from the group but he couldn’t take the last step. But this clearly points to Yashiro wanting to get out for good.

I think it’s noteworthy that the only time he completely rejects the idea of quitting (as far as I remember), is in Chapter 27 when he speaks to Ryuuzaki in the back of the police car:

This stands out to me because he says this after he’d made up his mind that he was gonna die. So why keep fighting it at this point? (I’m so glad our cute boy is not in such a dark place anymore 😭)

Yashiro has also tried to keep Doumeki out of this world because he cares so much about him. Unfortunately, he wasn’t successful but the statement Yashiro made about the Yakuza in Chapter 22 becomes relevant again, now that Doumeki got a back tattoo (which as we all know made Yashiro furious beyond belief). Yashiro said something along the lines of „do you have any idea how many upright citizens walk around out there with full body tattoos? And how many Yakuza wear normal business suits?“( I hope this translation is somewhat accurate . I had to take it from the official German translation which is not the most exact at times but the only English translation I could find, didn’t seem to be correct 😅) Basically he’s saying, it’s never too late to quit. This was some unfortunate foreshadowing if you ask me but it gives me hope that Doumeki’s status as a full-fledged member and him getting a tattoo won’t prevent them from leaving the Yakuza world behind.

I just cannot imagine Yoneda-sensei making this aspect such an integral part of Yashiro’s character and bringing this topic up again and again if it isn’t gonna be relevant in the end… I know it might be a red herring but I really doubt it at this point. I read the manga as a story of a traumatized survivor of SA finding happiness in life (yes, I’m very hopeful that both Doumeki and Yashiro are gonna make it out alive because anything else would be too cruel🫣). For Yashiro the Yakuza is a hindrance to his freedom and happiness because it’s not who he truly is as a person and as long as he stays he’s going to be under Misumi’s control and Misumi is gonna try to use him, just like his stepfather and all the other men who SAed him when he was a teenager used him. In a way he’s still this powerless child getting used by others. He was an easy target for Misumi because Yashiro was „completely indifferent about himself“ as Misumi put it. This indifference stems from the abuse he suffered. When Yashiro got shot he remembered the SA and he says: „I have lived my life accepting it all. I’ve felt no sorrow. I’ve blamed no one. My life can’t be said to be anyone else’s fault.“ This expresses exactly what Misumi saw in Yashiro: He’s so broken that he doesn't even feel anger, he is beyond caring about himself, his well-being, his future. Putting it differently; he doesn’t love himself and he doesn’t think that he deserves love or a different, better life. This is why he doesn’t really put up a fight against this fate. He’s still passively accepting everything.

To sum this up, it’s mainly his trauma that prevents him from quitting, just like it keeps him from being able to accept Doumeki’s love. Since I believe this story is about Yashiro overcoming his trauma and finding happiness, I think it would only be fitting that once he’ll be able to accept that he is deserving of love, hope and happiness, he’d finally find the courage to take control of his own fate and break away from the path that he felt forced to follow.

And yes, I'm aware that quitting won't be that easy because of Misumi's obsession over Yashiro BUT even though I don't like Misumi too much and I think he's a creep, he's in his own way quite lenient when it comes to Yashiro, I have to give him that. So, I have high hopes that he actually meant what he said about "caring about Yashiro as a person" and will let him leave without too much trouble.

Of course we don’t know much about Doumeki’s plans for his future but if Yashiro and him end up together (which is what I’m hoping for) he’ll most likely go along with Yashiro’s wishes, I guess 😉 And I know, sweet Nanahara would be disappointed but I bet Yashiro and Doumeki would still find a way to adopt their big baby boy into their little family 😜

maybe they’re gonna open up a beach bar in Hawai’i and Nanahara would flirt with the guests and give away all the drinks for free 🤣

On a more serious note, I hope I didn’t get any of the quotes completely wrong. Nuances tend to get lost in translation so it’s kinda "risky" to base a theory like this solely on translations but most of it comes down to my personal interpretation of the story anyways. And I’m sorry if most of this seemed too obvious but I got the impression that I seem to feel more strongly about the fact that Yashiro might gonna leave his days as a Yakuza behind than others in the fandom and I felt the need to present my case 😉

If you actually made it through my ramblings to down here, you deserve some 🍪🍪🍪 😘

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hey! I was just wondering if you have any ideas of how I can display the fact that a character has aged (not necessarily from adult to elder but just in general) without describing appearance. I’ve tried searching it up but they never really want into detail or they simply advised on changing the character slightly as in giving them old fashioned hobbies. I’m sorry if this has already been answered or does not simply have a direct way and must be decided by the author. Again I am very sorry if this has already been asked I really don’t mind if you either direct me to the answer or copy and paste it if so :)

Showing a Character Has Aged

When it comes to illustrating that someone has aged, you basically have four choices: describe physical characteristics that illustrate age, describe physical activities that illustrate age, indicate the passage of time, flat-out state that the character has aged.

The problem is that aging isn't a wildly specific thing. People don't take on certain physical characteristics, appearance, or activities at exactly the same age. While there are certainly some activities and behaviors that are broadly specific to age categories, age is not accurately defined by behavior, thought process, personality, etc.

If I say, "The last time I'd seen my nephew he was barely crawling, and now he was not just walking, but climbing on everything..." that's a pretty good indicator that this child has aged. But how much? Because babies don't all learn to crawl at the exact same age, or learn to walk at the exact same age for that matter. Some babies skip crawling and go straight to walking. Other babies seem like they'll never go from crawling to walking and suddenly do. This child could be two weeks older than last time or two years older. It isn't clear at all.

Complicating things is the fact that physical appearance is also not a good indicator of age. I mean... as I've pointed out in the past, Paul. Rudd:

Carrol O'Connor (on the left) is the same age in that photo as Paul Rudd is in the photo on the right (both are early 50s here). And while things like hairstyle and fashion do have an impact on how we view someone's age, some people just get wrinkles/gray hair/gain weight/lose muscle tone sooner or later than others.

And, the advice to "give them old-fashioned hobbies" is terrible. "Old-fashioned hobbies"? What, like candle-making and churning butter? What does that even mean? Maybe these people view hobbies like knitting, stamp collecting, and wood-working as "old-fashioned," but I guarantee those are hobbies that are broadly enjoyed by young people to this day.

If I write, "She sat on the couch lovingly knitting a sweater," that tells me nothing about her actual age because:

And, again, the woman on the left could be sixteen or thirty-five, and the woman on the right could be sixty-two or eighty-six.

So, outside of flat out stating that a character has aged, your best bet is to use a combination of these methods to get the point across...

"It had been over ten years since I last saw Mr. Smith. At the time, he'd recently returned from hiking in the Alps. Now he was hunched over a walker, his formerly salt-and-pepper hair now stark white. The deep grooves that had once made his face look handsome and worldly now made him look wizened and tired."

Between stating the amount of time that has passed (over ten years), physical activities (hunched over a walker vs hiking in the alps), and physical appearance (white hair and tired wrinkles vs salt-and-pepper hair and handsome lines), it is very clear that Mr. Smith has aged quite a bit in the decade since the POV character last saw them.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

I’m not sure if you’ve ever said anything about this, but the first time I read new moon, the vote chapter, there was one bit that really stuck out:

(from Bella’s point of view) Edward grabbed my face in his hand, forcing me to look at him. His other hand was out, palm toward Carlisle. Carlisle ignored that.

Bella later went on to say it was hard to talk clearly with how Edward was holding her jaw. I don’t know if I’ve misunderstood what exactly was happening, but why did the entire family watch that and do nothing? I’ve read the metas where you’ve said it’d take a lot for Carlisle to realise what Edward really is, but surely that’s a pretty massive indicator and Carlisle actively ignored it?

Anon, you're hilarious.

An Aside in Which I Say "Look in the Mirror"

I've been running this blog for a few years now (a terrifying thought) and I'm both a) one of the most critical of Edward in this space (which is not a bad thing, mind, people are free to do what they like) b) often get asks in which I am asked by anons to justify why I think poorly of Edward.

This is on top of the thousands of metas I've written pointing out various things from canon, where I've presented many arguments, and anons still will ask me to make more arguments.

This is fandom, anon, relatively objective observers who are privy to information the characters in the story don't have. We know Bella's exact thoughts, we know how Edward has interacted with her in private, and we even know Edward's private thoughts for at least the duration of Twilight because of Midnight Sun.

AND YET, I AM HERE.

And you ask this as if it should be obvious to the most casual observer.

Back to Your Ask

I've discussed this at length in posts I'm too lazy to look up at the moment but the crux of it is that

a) Edward's a beloved family member and it's deeply hard to think ill of those we love and we want to justify their actions

b) the family doesn't see most of what goes on with Bella and are only told things by Alice and Edward with Alice being firmly on Edward's side

c) Due to his having previously had a redemption arc in which Edward came back unprompted to the diet even though it must have been not only humiliating but terrifying, Edward comes across as one of the Cullens who best understands that human life is worth protecting and just why they're all doing the diet.

This particular moment though, I'd also give Edward a pass if I was present. To touch Bella at all, to move her like this, Edward has to be extraordinarily gentle and careful. If he was at all rough with her, at all, Bella would be dead or seriously injured (with her jaw crushed between Edward's fingers, her neck snapped, etc.) Basically, for Edward to do this at all, he's being incredibly mindful and the Cullens as vampires are very aware of that.

Add onto that that Bella can speak, when this is a guy who's hand is made of stone, he has to be holding her incredibly gently from his perspective for her to be able to speak at all (and not have a broken jaw).

Also from the outside perspective, where Bella and Edward are in this romantic relationship (even though they just got out of being broken up) and they all know Edward's deeply in love with Bella, this looks like an intimate gesture than it does a "LOOK AT ME" gesture. It's not something any of them would do, or a normal person would, but they're also not dating Bella/convinced they're soulmates with her.

Add into that that they're in the middle of a very intense day, in which Edward had just tried to kill himself and is very emotionally fragile, Bella's now asking to be turned directly, the Volturi barely pardoned them, and Edward is coming unglued with the idea that Bella's going to be turned and the Cullens aren't at the top of their game.

They're just trying to get through the conversation where they tell Edward (and Rosalie) that, yes, they actually do have to turn Bella.

This doesn't register as physical violence to them, and I don't blame them for this one.

[royboyfanpage]

HELLO BELOVED can u tell me abt how Wally and Roy's friendship/views of each other change after Wally finds out Roy is/was an addict (i think he finds out after Roy is clean???)

The few issues Ive seen abt this stuff were N52 so I feel like ur a better source

Alrightalrightalright

So first thing's first, I'm gonna address-

This, which I feel like is the most notable instance of Wally’s reaction to Roy’s heroin addiction (funnily enough, another mutual sent me a DM about these exact panels a few days ago- we’re on a streak with these). Now, it’s important to note that these panels were from Titans (2008), specifically #23, which was one of the comics leading up to Rise of Arsenal and, later, Roy teaming up with Deathstroke in this same series. At this point in time, Roy was already in the hospital and Lian was already dead- he just hadn’t woken up yet. Now, I don’t have any sources to back up that this is what DC was actually trying to do so I’m just talking from my observations, but this issue in particular very heavily focused on trying to alienate Roy- particularly, a teen Roy who didn’t have Lian yet. Almost all of the flashbacks, and even a few bits of dialogue outside of the flashbacks, are very derogatory towards Roy. See:

Yeah. Just in general, very not nice towards him. It tries to paint him as someone who doesn’t belong with the rest of the team, an outcast (which is just bullshit considering they literally made Roy a Justice League member a few years earlier for the exact opposite reason). A little side note- one of the flashbacks in the issue is a continuation to the ending of Teen Titans: Year 1 #5, a comic which was far more enjoyable than this one, and I wish we’d gotten an actual resolution to that little storyline inside of Year 1 instead of… whatever this is. Anyway, back to #23, at the end of the issue there is one little scene wherein we see Wally and Roy actually getting along in a flashback, and it’s when Lian’s introduced. Which, if you remember what’s just happened at that point in time and what’s going to happen in the Rise of Arsenal arc… yeah, you can see why they wanna push the narrative that Roy’s friends only liked him after Lian was born, particularly Wally.

So! Lets’s rewind back to the 60s and see Roy and Wally’s relationship pre-retcon, both pre and post Snowbirds.

Roy and Wally’s first interactions in the original Teen Titans series were generally pretty positive! Particularly when Roy was a “guest star” instead of an official member, Wally expressed a lot of respect for him and genuinely enjoyed working with him

The main problem with their relationship came from, as most problems do, a love triangle. In all honesty, the Roy Donna Wally love triangle is one of my least favourite Titans things- it’s just kinda unnecessary. However, at least in most instances, in the original Teen Titans run this triangle wasn’t particularly aggressive- in fact, the most aggressive Roy ever got over Donna was actually with Hawk, not Wally. Titans (2008) definitely played it up a lot more than it ever was previously, especially on Wally’s end. But the love triangle was definitely more of a Big Issue between them than Roy’s addiction- when Roy returns to the Titans post-Snowbirds, Wally’s concerns have nothing to do with his addiction but more on “0h great, Roy’s back so I don’t get a shot with Donna”

Generally speaking, Wally and Roy do have a pretty close relationship most of the time, especially when they reach adulthood. The only instance that comes to mind immediately where Wally talks about Roy’s drug addiction prior to pre-Rise era is in Teen Titans (1996) #13, and even that is not particularly negative and also not spoken aloud (though there may be more I haven’t considered)

And even in the Gargoyle issues of Titans 1999 where tensions are at an all time high, Wally’s the Titan Roy has the least significant issues with- going just off of memory the only real “conflict” between them was Wally’s single remark of “he’s not even an original member” and the very brief revival of the Roy-Donna-Wally love triangle for a panel.

I might be forgetting some things (to be perfectly honest, of all of Roy’s Fab Five relationships Wally is the one I think about the least), but generally speaking all the conflict between Roy and Wally surrounding Roy’s addiction was fabricated in Titans 2008. Why Wally? Not sure. But yeah, they’re buddies :)

[cosette141]

How (and Why) to Write through One Character’s Eyes at a Time - Using CHARACTER POVs to Make Your Writing More Visceral and Emotional

*Just thought I'd share this writing tip that I learned over many years of reading and experimenting on my own, because I don't often see this stuff talked about anywhere. Hope it helps someone else! :)

There’s something that’s very rarely talked about when it comes to prose and fiction narration, which brings me to writing this. 

And that’s character perspectives.

This is NOT a post about choosing between first and third person perspective. Choosing a character perspective (aka POV, or point of view) is a step after that, and it’s a step that some writers don’t even know exists (no one told me, at least, lol). 

This post is about the importance of writing in one character’s perspective at a time. By “at a time,” I mean per section. (Think, every time there’s a chapter change or a line break, that’s the end of a section.) 

Staying in one character’s head/POV at a time in third-person is essential to get the reader emotionally invested. Without it, your reader is just reading a bunch of interesting events one after another.

Now, what do I mean by staying in one character’s head at a time?

Before we get really into this, let me give you an example.

Here’s an example of not staying in one character’s head:

Aiden pulled up on his motorcycle, feeling pride well in his chest that he managed to get his license before his sister, Lisa. Over on the driveway, Lisa watched Aiden sit on his motorcycle, jealousy running through her every vein. The front door opened, and their parents walked out. Their mother frowned. I never wanted him to drive that thing, their mother thought bitterly. Their father smiled wide, feeling his own sense of pride that his son was able to finally drive his old bike. 

I switched POV four times in that paragraph - I went into each character’s head. 

Now I’ll do the same exact scene, staying only in Aiden’s head: 

Aiden pulled up on his motorcycle, feeling pride well in his chest that he managed to get his license before his sister, Lisa. She stood there on the driveway, arms crossed, eyes narrowed at him. He smiled a little more to himself, knowing how jealous she was. A creak tore his attention from her, seeing his parents come out of the house. 

First his mother, who frowned immediately, looking at the bike with something between anger and worry on her face, eyeing the machine like it was something disgusting. In contrast, his father walked out with the biggest smile, and Aiden knew he made him proud. 

-.-.

Now in Lisa’s:

She watched from the driveway as her brother rode noisily down the road and onto the driveway. I’d have done that way better, she thought bitterly. Aiden, however, gave her a smug look as he took off his helmet, making her glare deeper at him.

She heard the front door open behind her. Her mother came out, and Lisa was happy to see the woman frown instantly, even if Lisa knew it was because she didn’t like the bike rather than the boy riding it. It was her father’s bright smile that made her blood boil more, for that smile should have been for her. 

-.-.

The mother:

Mother heard the machine before she saw it, feeling dread. She walked outside anyway, her husband following her, to see her little boy step off the dangerous thing. That smile meant he passed his test, and it made her frown. 

She could see Lisa’s negative reaction as well, glad she wasn’t alone in that. But her husband’s clear excitement made her worry shift instantly to anger. I’ll be talking to him about that later. 

-.-.

And finally, the father: 

Father heard the engine the moment it turned onto the block, and he quickly followed his wife to the door. 

There he was, in all his glory, his bike. And, of course, his son. That smile on Aiden as he stepped off the bike made Father’s grow. Father was elated; he was passing down the same bike he was given to by his own father. 

He knew his father would be proud he was keeping the tradition alive.

-.-.

Notice how in these four examples here, we’re sticking with one character, seeing that scene as if through the character’s eyes, one by one. 

That’s how you want to think about third-person, 95% of the time.

As if you, the writer, are inside the character’s head, only able to hear, smell, touch and feel what that one character can.

The big question: why do we want to do this? Why shouldn’t we live in everyone’s head?

Because - which of those examples did you enjoy more? The all-four-at-the-same-time POV, or the one by one? If anything, you were able to feel more in the one-by-one. And that’s because you were put right in the character’s shoes to experience what they experience. 

That’s the beauty of reading (and writing) - being able to live vicariously through characters. 

If we switch from head to head of the characters in the same scene, the moment you settle into one person’s shoes, you’re taken out and put in someone else’s. It’s like someone letting you sit in the driver’s seat of a new car and asking you, “How does this car feel?” As you start to see what you feel, you’re picked up and pushed into a new car, and asked the same question. Naturally you’d respond, “I don’t know what I felt; I was only there for two seconds!” Since that switch happens so often, you never get to settle into it, you never get to relax into it, you never get to sit there long enough to really feel it. Only long enough to get an idea of what that car is like on a more objective level. 

In stories written in prose, we want to let the readers sit, feel and settle into that character so they can experience it. Just like you want to feel that car seat and atmosphere, so you can experience the journey of your drives. Not just get to your destination. (AKA, not just list plot point after plot point).

The reason this is just for prose and not script or playwriting is because both scriptwriting and playwriting don’t stay in one character’s head; it’s in all the characters’ heads the whole time. Simply because the script’s job is to tell the director and actors how to show it. If the script says Lisa is jealous, the director and the actress will decide if she crosses her arms or glares. 

But, in prose, we (the writers) do the showing. And showing occurs where we show how characters feel. A script is a bit more open for interpretation, but a prose story or a novel is more like a moment captured in time, and we’re just recounting exactly as it happened. It won’t be done a different way; this is it. 

It’s vital to write in one character’s POV at a time in order for your reader to not just know what’s happening in your story, but to experience your story. To live through your character. If you don’t stay in one character’s POV at a time, your reader will not be able to feel what your character feels. This makes the difference between a reader simply understanding what’s going on in your story, and actually living vicariously through your characters. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF STAYING IN ONE CHARACTER’S POV AT A TIME

I’ll reiterate that this post is not about choosing first or third-person POV. However, to explain what I mean about character POVs, let’s revisit first and third-person POV. 

We’ve all heard of the two major narration perspectives in novel writing: first person and third-person. (There’s also second person but less than 0.5% of books are written in that one). To quickly define them:

First-person narration speaks from one person’s mind and perspective as if written like a diary straight from their mouth. It uses I, me, we. 

Ex. I walked to school today. Dana didn’t talk to me. Instead I spent the day with Ashley; we walked home together. 

Third-person narration speaks as if from an unrelated party that follows the main characters around. It’s like that deep narrator voice that comes on before or after many cartoons and says things like, “Superman has saved the town; now our hero is off to his next adventure.” It uses he, she, they.

Ex. She walked to school today. Dana didn’t talk to her. Instead, she spent the day with Ashley; they walked home together. 

(If you’re curious, second-person speaks with you and us and is most often used when writing a letter to someone. Ex. I miss you, do you miss me? Therefore it’s used more rarely in stories as narration, though sometimes this peeks in even in 1st person narration where sometimes the character will address the reader as  “you”, as in the narration.) 

BUT that’s not all we need to know about character perspectives! There’s something about POVs that people forget or don’t understand about third-person perspective that people usually do with first-person. 

To get the most emotional investment, you have to stay in one character’s head at a time, even in third-person.

It’s most obvious in first-person to see when a writer jumps from character to character in the same paragraph, chapter, or book as a whole. 

Let me explain:

Ex. I love her. I look at her across from the quad, wanting to tell her. I love him. I see him staring at me from across the quad. 

Here the confusion is clear. 

First you’re confused because you don’t know what’s going on - those things contradict and don’t make sense next to each other, and somehow later you find that they’re not the same person. 

But say we separate it with a line break or making it two chapters:

Ex. 

I love her. I look at her from across the quad, wanting to tell her. 

   .-,-

I love him. I see him staring at me from across the quad. 

Here, it makes much more sense. Names would make it even easier to discern, but we get the fact that two people are here. 

It is possible to write first-person stories in different characters’ heads, but usually the author will let you know which character is speaking by posting their name before their section or making it very obvious. 

But, what I want to talk about here is that we need to do the same thing in third-person perspectives. 

In 95% of all writing scenarios in fiction prose, it is essential that you stay in one character’s head at a time (per section, chapter, or the entire story). That 5% of scenarios is for where emotional investment is not as important; think of slapstick humor, or stories where we get the rare chapter that follows the bad guy, say in a spy novel, where the chapter is only there to give us exposition. (That’s not to say you can’t write your story in one head at a time 100% of the time, nor is this to say that you’re wrong if you do not. This is just a more impactful way of writing, so I recommend it, but writing is also art, and therefore I would never come out and tell anyone they are doing it wrong.)

Again: this is for prose, not script or playwriting. 

Notice also my mention of: emotional investment. 

This is all about connecting your reader to the story in the strongest way possible.

At this point, you might be wondering something like this: “But if I have a scene with two or more characters, and both of them do something vital in a scene, how do I write it just from one of them?”

Have no fear!

There’s two ways around this: one is to write the scene in one person’s POV, and then in the next chapter, backtrack, and write the same thing from the other character’s POV. If both POVs are super vital, this is really great for that. I’ve done this many times, but it’s not viable for every situation. It works best when, say, the characters were in different locations but talking on the phone, and we get to see what both of them were doing and feeling at the same time. Or, if one or both of the characters are hiding a secret or their intentions from the other character, and we want to backtrack so the audience has both points of view. There’s a lot of reasons to do this, and we’ll go over that a little later. 

Essentially, you’ll choose one person’s POV for each scene, and there’s a special way to decide on that character, and a special way to factor in the other character’s actions and emotions without a flashback.

The second way around it is to commit to one person’s perspective by deciding whose perspective is the most important to the story.

And if you’re wondering but what about the other characters?, I’ve got tricks for that too.

There are many ways to tell the reader what the other characters are doing, thinking and how those other characters feel without being in their head or perspective. 

Sound like witchcraft? 

It… kinda is. 

But first… 

We need to figure out what character’s perspective is the best one to choose, and this is, at least, how I do it.

HOW TO CHOOSE WHICH CHARACTER TO SEE THROUGH

In 95% of prose (that other 5%, again, being more exposition scenes or scenes where it’s not really about emotional investment such as slapstick comedy) we need to choose one character’s POV to follow - one set of eyes to see through at a time. Think of that one character you’re choosing as the camera we’re seeing through. And remember - you can change character POVs throughout your story. Just make sure you make a break in the chapter when you switch, or start a new chapter entirely so that the switch doesn’t confuse your readers. 

But here’s the million dollar question—how do you choose which character to see through?

That is entirely up to you, the writer. 

There’s a few ways you can decide. 

The best way to decide which character POV to use is which character is most essential and interesting to see through? 

That entirely depends on what is going on in your story and what matters to you. 

For example, if the story is about how Aiden goes off to be this champion of motorcycle racing, about his struggles and journey to win the pride of his father, then we probably want to see things through Aiden’s point of view, feel his pride, etc. 

But what if this story is about Lisa? What if Lisa wants to gain her father’s pride, and this moment with Aiden showing off makes her determined enough to go out and get her own license and race against him, winning the race and her father in the end? This chapter from Aiden’s POV doesn’t make sense anymore then. The story is about Lisa, and this is a pivotal moment where she gains enough fire to spur her into action. 

But what if the main character is the father? And this is the moment where his son is beginning to set after the dream he’s always wanted for himself? And the story is about how the father bonds with his son in the way he never did with his own father, achieving a goal he never could himself? In that case, this scene doesn’t make sense in Aiden’s nor Lisa’s POV. 

But what if the mother is the main character? What if the story is about how the mother lost a sibling to a motorcycle accident, and now her son’s dream is to race them of all things, so she sets out to try to stop him from following his dream by sabotaging the championship, and perhaps her relationship with him and her whole family in the process, leading her to have to make a very crucial decision in the climax? In that case, again, no one’s POV makes more sense than hers. 

See how it totally matters on the context?

But, what if the story has two main characters? And you want to spend time with both of them because they both are interesting and essential to see through? What if it’s a sibling rivalry between Aiden and Lisa, and both are important to the story? How do you choose which character’s perspective to take for a scene they’re both in?

I fall into this trap all the time. Often I have more than two characters I want to use for the scene I’m writing. So, how do I choose which POV to take?

If they’re all essential in the scene, then move onto who is the most interesting in this moment? No matter what, someone will be.

Let’s take the example where Aiden and his father have the father’s storyline - where the father wants the son to win a race he lost as a kid.

They’re both main characters who will bond in the story. But in this moment, who is more interesting to experience this moment through? The same way you’d think about what outfit you want to wear today, think of your character POV. Which character seems like more fun to write right now? Which one fits the mood? The theme? Whose thoughts and feelings do we learn from more in this moment? Which character is more emotionally invested?

Well, I think this is the beginning of the story, and later Aiden will learn that his father is trying to live through him rather than support him. But he doesn’t know that in the beginning. So, Aiden’s simply happy. But his father is witnessing the beginning of a second chance. I think I’d take the father’s POV. There’s just more to work with there, and I feel an emotional weight with the father - I’m more interested in the story from that perspective. Basically, I have more to work with and draw on with the father, due to the emotional baggage he has and the ulterior motive. Aiden’s story is a bit more one-dimensional at that point, if we’re going with this context for the story. So I just simply have more pieces to play with with the father, and it’s much more interesting (at least to me).

And if you’re torn on which character to choose, do what I did earlier— write the scene out in each character’s POV separately. You’ll know which ones are more fun to write cause they’ll feel good. They’ll feel right. The ones that aren’t right will be shorter and harder to write. For me, that was the mother. I didn’t feel very interested in her part of the scene. That’s how you narrow them down. 

There will never be a tie.

Someone will win. 

And again—even if it ever does get close to a 50/50 split between characters, you can always backtrack. We’ll talk about that later.

HOW TO SAY WHAT OTHER CHARACTERS ARE DOING AND FEELING THROUGH ONE CHARACTER’S POV

So you’re probably thinking to yourself that if you have to stay in one character’s head at a time, everyone else’s thoughts and feelings and POVs are going to fall off the face of the earth, right? Actually, that doesn’t have to happen!

You can tell the reader what other characters are thinking and feeling even when you’re staying in one character’s head at a time.

This is not as hard as it might seem.

The best way to think about this is to think about how you would describe people sitting in a room with you. 

Say you’re in a waiting room at the DMV. There’s two people waiting beside you: a man and a woman. 

Now if someone asked you what the man was feeling, would you be able to say, “He had his license taken away and was nervous he wouldn’t get it back”? 

Of course not! 

He’s a stranger. And unless he says these words out loud, we have no idea what he’s feeling or thinking. And we certainly can’t literally feel what he’s feeling. 

What we need to do is infer.

We can infer what he’s feeling. If someone is crying, they’re probably upset about something. If someone is tense, they’re probably nervous. If they’re holding a bridal magazine, they’re probably getting married. Do we know this for sure? Of course not. But this is as far as we can get to knowing those people around us, because we are in our own head, and we cannot go into someone else’s.

So, put your main character—let’s call him Jack—in this waiting room. If we have this guy sitting next to him in the waiting room, and he’s all tense, not even leaning back into the chair, and very uptight, what can we infer? The man beside Jack looks like a deer in headlights. He seems to be nervous about something. 

The word seems (or synonyms of it) will be your friend. 

Because if instead we say “The man beside Jack is nervous,” we don’t actually know that. We’re inferring based on what we see. Remember: we only see and feel through one character. 

Let’s take the woman.

There’s a woman waiting next to Jack. The woman is dressed to the nines, and briefly Jack realizes her purse must cost more than his whole apartment. She’s inspecting perfectly manicured nails as if looking for a flaw. She seems to think she’s better than this place. 

More inferring. We’re taking what we see the woman wearing to give her the beginning of a personality, the beginning of us trying to understand what she could be thinking and feeling.

Doesn’t mean we can’t do this:

The woman dials a number on her phone, telling the person on the other line, “Yeah, I’m still waiting. … Look, I don’t know why I had to go and get these stupid clothes and manicure. I hate these nails. I can’t wait to get them off.”

Now we have a totally different personality. Our character was wrong about this woman. You can also show what other characters think and feel through dialogue, just like in the example with the woman on the phone.

This is where we get clever.

Just like what I did with the woman on the phone call, you—the writer—can come up with ways for the main character you’re seeing through to learn what the other characters are thinking and feeling. Using actions or things the other characters do or say, such as talking to our MC or someone else and saying things about what they’re thinking or feeling, or facial expressions, to help denote what they’re feeling. 

This is an example of not staying in Jack’s head:

Jack looked over and saw a woman dressed to the nines. She seemed like she didn’t think she belonged here with the rest of them. 

The woman, Sandra, hated that she had to come here. She was missing an important appointment with a divorce attorney, and she was nervous about it. 

Across the room, Jared, a teenager was anxiously waiting to hear about the state of his license. He didn’t want to lose it for a dumb mistake; his parents were going to kill him.

Jack’s name was called, and he got up.

Here’s the same thing in Jack’s head:

The earlier examples of just staying in Jack’s head helped to keep us grounded in him more; this way around feels very surface-y. 

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU WANT TO GIVE MORE THAN ONE CHARACTER POV IN THE SAME SECTION

The first option you can choose is what I mentioned earlier; you can just do the same section twice, from both perspectives. I’ve used this for phone conversations a lot, to show what was happening on the other side of the line: 

Damien shook his head to himself, sitting alone at the restaurant his brother was supposed to meet him at an hour ago. He dialed his number and waited as it rang.

“Hello?”

Damien’s brows kneaded at his brother’s voice; he sounded weird.

“Jack?” asked Damien. “Where are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago,” he said, the accusation falling heavily.

There was a pause from the other line, and Damien’s anger was traded for suspicion… and concern. But before he could ask, Jack said hollowly, “I’m… in a little pickle, here. Can you come pick me up?”

Damien sighed, signaling for the waitress to bring the check for the drink he ordered. “Why?” he asked Jack, already knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer; his reckless little brother tended to get into these “pickles” often. “What did you do now?” he asked with an exasperated sigh.

Now, let’s see what was happening on the other line:

Jack’s phone suddenly rang; it was Damien. 

Uh oh; his brother was going to kill him for being late. 

Jack reluctantly picked up the call, panting hard from where he was stuck under the ladder that fell on him two hours ago. “Hello?” he coughed out.

“Jack?” came the confused voice on the other line. It was his brother; Damien. “Where are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago.” 

Jack winced, trying and failing to free himself from the ladder pinning him down. “I’m… in a little pickle, here. Can you come pick me up?”

“Why?” asked Damien, but Jack could already hear suspicion in his tone. Then, an exasperated sigh. “What did you do now?”

If we kept this in the same scene, we miss the emotion, and we also miss the mystery. I, personally, love the fact that if the Damien perspective comes first, we don’t know what’s wrong with Jack yet, and we’re confused along with Damien. 

Also notice things in this like “Jack could already hear suspicion in his tone.” This is another way you can be in Jack’s perspective, but tell us how Damien’s feeling. He hears suspicion in his brother’s voice, rather than coming out and saying Damien is suspicious. Or, Jack hears an exasperated sigh from Damien, rather than saying Damien is exasperated. 

Plus, you can also have the characters simply just assume what the other is thinking or feeling. That’s such a human thing to do, and it makes your narration feel even more relatable.

This same technique works even if we don’t have a phone conversation in separate locations, and instead just want to see both perspectives so that we the reader have the whole picture, even if the characters themselves are still stuck inferring.

There’s a bunch of ways to do this, and relying on inferring things about the other characters is really key. When you only see through one character at a time, it’s all about what that character thinks about the other characters, what they assume, what they suspect. But that makes the story even more interesting and clever in its own right, because when the reader isn’t entirely sure what’s going on either (in a suspenseful way), it makes the story that much more satisfying. Even if the main character draws wrong conclusions and then later realizes they’re wrong. There’s so much room for interest and character development.

So, you don’t have to write this way; you can feel free to continue writing in all the characters’ heads at a time. 

But if you do want to keep readers even more engaged, to really get them emotionally invested and allow them to live vicariously through your story, then I really do recommend trying this on for size. :) 

[summerlinenss]

Re the previous post.

I get why someone might see people saying Taika's not straight cos he was at a Paris Hilton concert as perpetuating stereotypes (i personally saw it more as a joke though and maybe a light hearted pushback at those who are rabidly determined hes straight and queerbaiting and use it to delegitimise his work with queer themes).

But imo these people (mostly white queers) who are DETERMINED he's straight cos he's only been known to date women bother me more, and I feel like the first argument almost demands we all assume he's straight when he's never said one way or another (and is under no obligation to) and I don't like to assume people's sexualities.

Like, all that backlash he got for the 'everyone's queer' comment people comparing it to nt people saying 'everyone's a bit autistic' when it's not something I personally agree with but I've only heard queer friends/people say they reckon everyone is a bit queer, and others accusing him of 'queerbaiting' and he's even had think pieces written about him saying he shouldn't be seen as a queer icon cos they assume he's cishet, while David Tennant has never got the same treatment (he's not said his sexuality to the best of my knowledge either).

And like you said, he might not have said much more hinting at his sexuality after because of the backlash, and he grew up in a time people acted like bisexuality (esp in men, add on top of that dequeering of poc and assumptions all lgbtq people are white and all poc are cishet, one example is how people react to him making comments possibly maybe hinting at not being straight as an older guy with such vitriol in contrast to how Con was hero worshipped for coming out later in life, and you were seen as a monster for slightly critiquing him at that time) didn't exist.

Sorry I go off on tangents a lot lol and cram a lot of info in, I have a lot if feelings and things to say on the matter hehe

yeah and again, i can understand having a sort of trigger response to stereotyping and getting defensive about it, but i think there are people who go a bit too far with the whole “well he’s definitely obviously 100% straight and even suggesting he might not be is so unbelievably inappropriate.” like it almost feels as if the idea of him being queer personally offends them, which is really weird since he’s only ever had the exact opposite reaction.

i have a lot of thoughts about the whole “taika can’t be a queer icon unless he puts a label on himself” thing since many of the most prominent figures that are idolized by the lgbtq+ community and called “queer icons” have actually outright said they’re straight allies, but i’m not gonna get into that right now.

also without sounding too preachy i think people need to remember that the strict concepts of gender and sexuality are very much so a westernized construct. i don’t think it’s much of a secret that even people within the queer community still have very rigid views of sexuality. they understand things like bisexuality in theory, but they struggle to actually accept fluidity in practice and the fact that even finding an accurate label can be difficult for some people. it can be an extremely personal thing to even figure out and, at the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong way to present your identity.

[ponyosmom35]

I remember you (Elliot x OC)

Elliot Alderson x Original Character

Synopsis: The reader was dating Elliot before he forgot who he was, she never left his side. and months later he remembers.

He clutches his head as memories flash through his eyes. 

There she was, standing in a dress, her hair was curled and she had a smile on her face as she opened the door to see who’d knocked. This woman, the most beautiful creature he’d ever seen in his life. All of the air is stolen from his lungs as he meets her eyes. Her aqua-colored eyes. After seeing the note she posted in the mail room about needing help with her computer, Elliot was curious. He surprised himself by responding to the ad and emailing her. Two days later he stood in front of her door, his heart beating out of his chest. His palms sweating. He’d never felt this way before.

“Hi, Elliot I assume?” she asks  

“Uh yeah” he responds awkwardly 

“I’m Willow, and I cannot thank you enough for answering! I tried taking it to a shop but they wanted to charge me $200, this was kinda my last resort” she explains 

“I’m happy to help”

“I hope you’re good, because I don’t know the first thing about computers” she says “come on in” 

Elliot follows her into her apartment, the layout the exact same as his. She’d decorated the place well, it looked like a home. She had tons of plants brightening up the space, as well as wall art covering every inch of space. A lot of color. He noticed her large bookshelf, a gorgeous color-coded collection. Her windows had sheer multicolored curtains which kept her entire apartment incredibly visible from onlookers. She had no tv and a large cat lying in the center of her bed. Her desk sat in front of the window just like his own, giving her a view of the apartments across the street. He wondered if they could see into her space just as well. The thought made him sick to his stomach. 

“Here it is” she says leading him over to the desk, her MacBook sits in the middle of the desk, perfectly aligned with the planner next to it. As soon as he laid eyes on it, he could tell that it was a simple fix. Five minutes max. A part of him felt disappointed that it wasn’t a large project to keep him in her apartment for hours. 

“I see what’s going on, its no problem” he says as he begins typing in a code

“Oh my gosh you are literally a lifesaver, I need this for work like seriously my entire life is on this dumb computer” 

“Fuck me” he curses 

“Elliot what’s wrong?” she asks 

“No I told you, dinner is on me as a thank you” she smiles as she sits across from him in the diner. “What sounds good?” she asks 

“I’m not sure” 

“Well I can recommend their garden burger, it’s one of the best I’ve ever had” 

“Garden burger?” he asks 

“Oh I’m a vegetarian by choice. I watched an animal cruelty doc in high school and now I’m scared for life”

“Okay, I’ll try it” he nods 

“Really? Nobody has ever actually listened to my recommendations before” she laughs 

“If I hate it then that means you’ll just have to take me out again” he says, smiling at her

“Deal” she smirks 

“you’re scaring me”

“How did you get into coding? It seems like such a niche skill” she asks as they walk down the street side by side. His jacket slid over her shoulders. 

“My dad taught me my first code, I taught myself the rest” he shrugs 

“Why?”

“I always found it to be interesting, the power of hacking into something and being able to see all of the secrets someone’s hiding. You can see exactly who someone is, no sugar coating no lies. You can always trust a code” he admits, shocked that he felt comfortable enough to actually say any of this out loud. 

“Have you ever hacked me?” she asks quietly 

“No” 

“Why not?”

“You’re different, not like the rest. You don’t rely on technology to survive. I wanted to know you” he says 

“I’m glad you responded to my ad Elliot” she smiles 

“Me too”

“Do you want me to call Darlene?” she asks 

Elliot stands to his feet and scrambles to his door to see who would be knocking at 9 pm. He looks through the peephole and there she was. He rips the door open and stares at her in concern. Before he could say a word she drops her head as her lips tremble. Tears fall down her cheeks and Elliot panics. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks

“My boss, he asked me to dinner tonight to discuss our big meeting on Friday. But he never even brought it up,  he told me that If I didn’t sleep with him then I would lose my job. I can’t afford to lose my job, Elliot! I love what I do, fuck I don’t know what I’m gonna do” she responds. His body is filled with rage as he takes in her words. 

“What did you say?” he asks 

“I told him I had to go and I ran straight here” she sniffles 

Elliot pulls her into his arms, holding her body close to his as he lets her cry. He clutches onto her hair, smoothing it gently. He’d never been comfortable with touch before, yet at the moment he’d met this girl he wanted to touch her skin, feel how soft it would be. He craved her like nothing before. 

“I’m gonna fix this, don’t worry” he promises as he places a kiss on her head. 

“Please say something!” she pleads 

Elliot had just gotten off of work. He hated his new job. A simple programmer, protecting Allsafe from any potential hacks. The simplicity of it was nice, yet he craved more. He was capable of so much more. He sets his bag down and sits on his couch. He was tired, after he’d spent the night talking to Willow’s boss, he hacked him and exposed him to the police for money laundering. He’d stolen millions. He closes his eyes to attempt to get some rest when a hand slams on the door, pounding angrily. He gets up and opens it to see WIllow. 

She pushes past him and walks into the center of his apartment and crosses her arms. “Did you hack my boss?” 

“Yes” he shrugs 

“He got arrested at work today, they said he was stealing money” she snaps, he does not respond and stares at her blankly. “You can’t just do things like this Elliot!”

“I was protecting you” he says, causing her to stare at him with an unknown emotion in her eyes. 

“Its not your job to protect me, you put yourself at risk” 

“I don’t make mistakes, and I don’t leave evidence behind” he says moving closer to her

“I can take care of myself” she says in a small voice as he stands mere inches from her. 

“I know you can”

“So why do this?”

“He made you upset, he tried to hurt you. He doesn’t t get to go free after that” 

“Why does that matter to you?” she asks

“Because you - you’re everything to me Will” 

“I - what?” she asks 

“I refuse to let anyone hurt you ever again” 

Elliot places a hand on her cheek and kisses her gently. She gasps in shock and melts into his hold. The touch of her skin against his makes him feel alive. This is what he’d been searching for his entire life. Peace washes over his anxious brain. All of the loneliness that consumed his nights melted away. This was it, this was everything. 

His eyes finally focus on her own, noticing the panic in her eyes as her tears threaten to spill. Two years’ worth of memories flooded him. All of the unconditional love and support she’d given him. The hours she held him while his body fought his anxiety. The way she would curl into his chest at night, tucking herself into him. Her loud laugh bounced off the walls of the apartment as she forced him to dance. He was happy, he was loved. And he’d forgotten her. Treated her horribly. She’d never said a word about who she was to him. Despite all of his words she stayed by his side. 

“I remember” he says simply 

“What?”

“I remember us” 

“Don’t fuck with me like that Elliot” she warns, stepping back. He reaches out and grips her arm out of instinct. 

“Your real name is Margaret, after your grandmother, but you go by your middle name” he says, watching as her tears fall. “You’re a Taurus and your favorite flowers are roses even though you’re allergic. You are my girlfriend, the woman I love. You are real”

“El?” she asks  

Elliot pulls her into a hug, holding her as though she may disappear any second. Willow breaks down into tears and cries into his shoulder. Her entire body shakes as she sobs. 

“Fuck I’m so sorry - I can’t even begin to apologize for what I’ve done” 

“It’s not your fault” 

“I left you”

“I knew something was wrong, it wasn’t you. I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me” she says as he wipes her tears 

“You knew?” 

“I wasn’t sure, but I knew that he wasn’t you. I’m just so glad that your back” she smiles

[thealogie]

hi! can you pitch true detective season 1 for those of us (maybe just me and my partner lol) that started watching the latest season, got interested in the lore, tried s1 and got severe whiplash from what felt like very edgelord, male gaze-y vibes? the lead actors are good but the first ep failed to hook us bc of aforementioned vibes. is it worth another shot/are we misreading it? i trust your taste and opinions (watched and loved mash bc of your posts), thank you in advance if you answer :)

First of all good to know that the latest season is good. It looks intriguing to me and I’ve heard mixed-to-positive things about it, so I’ll have to give it a try. I trust a fellow mash-enjoyer

Second, I can’t promise you’ll love it but I would say definitely give it another shot because I had the EXACT same reaction as you the first time I tried to get into it and then years later it clicked for me that I had been misreading it and I loved it. First time I watched every time Rust said one of his angsty fake deep college freshman lines I was like “white man im going to KILL you?” and Marty is just an insufferable misogynist. I kind of tuned out after the first couple of episodes and just saw bits and pieces as my friends watched it. And then years later I rewatched the first few episodes (and watched the whole thing for the first time) it really clicked for me from the get go that the show is very very aware of how terrible they are and that the show has a deep sense of humor about both of their special brands of bullshit.

it’s really a story that’s self-aware about the toxic masculinity. Rust, like, does believe some of the shit he says but then you see it’s not the narrative being like “ooooh dont you love our edge lord guy.” It’s like…this man is clinically depressed and traumatized and has built up some insane life philosophy to protect himself. Marty sucks in much more straightforward “masculinity can kill you” ways. And they both cling on to the idea that maybe if they solve this one case that’ll be their salvation. It’s also the story about the friends (or boyfriends) we make along the way.

Anyway it’s been many years since I watched so stay tuned for more nuanced and informed views. These are just my memories of the show. I remember there’s a point at which it fully clicks that the show is more than it seems at first but I don’t quite remember where the is yet

[gothteddiesdotcom]

the thing is that 99% of us exaggerate our sexual experiences when recounting them on here. not intentionally, not even consciously. it’s just because the way emotions are tied into our current experiences. if you read some of my partner’s posts recounting their experiences with me or even some of the things they’ve said about having sex with me, you’d be forgiven if you got the impression that I was exceptionally skilled and rock my partner’s world. that’s just…not true however. I’m completely average. in skill, in stamina, in size, in attractiveness, in dirty talk. when someone recounts their experiences though, they recount what they liked and what they really liked. so not only do you get the rose tinted glasses of being with someone you like, you get another level of happiness goggles because of the adrenaline and dopamine released from sex, AND you get the implicit bias of a firsthand retelling that skips over any awkward or unattractive or boring parts of having sex. people get a very restricted, very exaggerated highlight reel of what the sex was really like. and the funniest part??? a lot of that rose tint fades away immediately after you become involved with someone. people start viewing their past experiences with someone in the exact opposite tint, only remembering the awkward and annoying bits from their partners. it’s funny seeing viral posts about sex with people’s exes they wrote when they were together that years later they regret because they aren’t together and the sex wasn’t even that good and now everyone on tumblr thinks their ex is a sex god of some sort

basically what I’m saying is. don’t believe content creators when they talk about good the sex they have is. don’t believe certain people on here are particularly good at having sex smut novel style. none of this is real! jack off to a few text post recounts and move on

[hellhound5925]

Alrighty, so as I have mentioned before, I am switching gears to write a Mandalorian fic. I have finished what I’m calling the Prologue for now (idk if I really like that) but its a little story from a time before the actual fic itself takes place. I hope you enjoy! There will be plenty more Din/Raven where this came from and don’t worry I’ll still write for Hunter from time to time!

Welcome to,

Cyare Verd *Beloved Warrior* The Mandalorian Edition (I know, I know, I’m not original but I suck at titles)

Prologue - The Encounter

Summary:

This is setting up a little backstory for the beginning of my new fic. There will be fun mood boards for each chapter created my both myself and my wonder friend @lune-de-miel-au-paradis who is hella talented! (Thanks girl 💖) I hope you enjoy and be on the look out for Chapters going forward! If this is something you would like to be tagged in please drop a comment, send me an ask, send a message, whatever fits your fancy 😊 I promise I’ll shut up and we get right to it!

Warnings:

Always gunna put 18+, violence and thats bout it for now. Smut will be in the actually fic itself but I’ll post the warning accordingly. Also, If I miss something I’m sorry, I’m not very good at warnings 😅 There will be Mando’a but ya girl always provides a translation so have no fear.

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The entire time I've been looking for this bounty, someone else is a few steps behind me. How do I know? Well I backtracked and paid a bar keep to get ahold of me with any information about someone asking about the individual I had. The Twi-Lek contacted me only hours later with a description. She sounded worried but not for me when she said "All I know is he looked just like you." Two Mandalorians hunting the same bounty? Strange but not completely out of the ordinary. I mean a lot of our people resorted to bounty hunting, with our skill sets and love for getting into fights makes us the best at the job. I decided I would make my way back and tail him for a bit, seeing if he took the bait. Thanks to my cunning wit he did.

    This must be the one the barkeep was talking about - I think to myself. A Mandalorian man walks a few paces ahead of me covered in mismatched pieces of armor topped off with a shiny chrome helmet. I chuckle to myself, knowing that because of my cloak he won't know who or what I am. He stops momentarily like he's aware of my presence but little does he know, I'm a master of hiding in the shadows. Spinning around on his heel he walks my direction, hand hovering over his side arm. I take the opportunity to slip further into the dark, down an alley. He stops in almost the exact spot I was only moments ago. Now that he's closer I can now get a good look at his stature, he's taller than me and definitely more muscular.

    His shiny helmeted head slowly looks my way down the alley - so he's smart...I'll give him that. Taking a few cautious steps, he makes his way towards me. I climb up onto the rooftop of the short building next to me. He should paint that armor, he sticks out like a Bantha in the ocean of sand on Tatooine. Smirking to myself I wait until he is directly below me before clearing my throat. He immediately looks up, drawing his blaster taking a shot at me. Crossing both vambraces in front of me, the bolt pings off my armor, breaking the cold dark silence of the night with a loud crack.

    As if time stood still, I jump down in front of him and one hand connects with the elbow of his outstretched arm causing it to bend, pointing his blaster away from me. Using my other hand, I free the blaster from his grip sending it somewhere into the shadows. He counters with a left hook which passes over my head as I duck, rolling back into the shadows. He loses track of me and frantically spins around preparing for my next move.

    I slink around him in the darkness just out of his view, like a predator circling its prey. He reaches up in a slow careful movement, for his vambrace likely to change the setting on his HUD - I would do the same. To stop him, I crouch and in one swift movement of my foot I catch his ankle, pulling hard, and sending him to the ground face first with a grunt. Standing to my full height, I can't help the chuckle that escapes watching the large man hit the ground by my hand...or foot.

    His head snaps in my direction and I'm immediately full of regret. Using his whip cord, he grabs my leg pulling me flat on my back into the light. I hit the ground so hard it knocked the wind out of me. Next thing I know, he's standing over me staring down at me through his visor. His body language shifts and I realize why, my hood fell while I was being pulled to the ground exposing my helmeted head. Slamming my fist and throwing my head back on the ground, a string of curses in Mando'a leave my lips. When I pick my head back up, he is still standing there staring down at me, the T-snapped visor is almost menacing at this angle.

"You could at least help a girl up" my sassy tone, exaggerated by my helmets modulator.

    He offers me a hand, I take it and he pulls me to my feet.

"I'm sorry if I had known—"

"You weren't supposed to" I cut him off, my tone annoyed "Kinda the point of the hood." I'm not sure what annoys me more, his reaction or the fact he actually got one over on me. I brush myself off and straighten out my Kama. Looking up, I realize he is watching my every move.

I break the silence, getting right to the point "So you've been tracking me? Or my bounty at least. Why?"

"Quite honestly, I didn't know I was tracking you. You cover your tracks well." He compliments me and for a moment my pride swells. I didn't work this hard to become the expert I am just to have some di'kut (fool) ruin it. He pulls out a bounty puck from his pocket, showing it to me. It displays the face of the same man I'm hunting.

"Well I hate to break it to you, but I was here first." I say, poking him square in the chest plate. Now with how close we are and standing still, I can see how worn his armor is. It probably belonged to a family member of his or something. Although with the shiny shoulder pauldron and helmet, it makes me wonder if he's a foundling. They often use whatever armor they can find or are given until they can make their own. These days however, beskar is quite difficult to come by.

His voice pulls me from my thoughts, "How about we work together. Share the profits?"

I immediately scoff, crossing my arms over my chest and shifting my weight to one leg. "I don't think so. I work alone. Plus I'd be taking a pay cut."

"Your loss" He says monotone before turning to pick his blaster up before walking away.

    I'm taken aback by his comment. Does he really think he's better than me? One of my biggest downfalls is people doubting me just because I'm a woman.

"You know...the last man to doubt me ended up with a broken nose and stitches."

He continues walking as if he didn't hear me, but I know he did. "Te jatne beroya kelir parjir (may the best bounty hunter win)" I whisper under my breath. Flipping my hood back over my head, I storm off in the opposite direction he went.

    Cursing to myself in my native tongue, I take a few moments to collect myself from the encounter and get back to work. Before the Twi-lek had gotten a hold of me about my tail, I had tracked the bounty to a small village a few kicks due north. It's quite a distance to walk but I really don't feel the need to take my ship there. Thankfully I've stashed my speeder bike on board, it makes for tight living quarters but it works I guess.

    Once I reach my ship, I give the bike a quick once over before dragging it down the ramp. Giving it a quick start, it seems to be running fine. I hop on and speed off towards the small down, in hopes my counterpart hasn't already caught on. Luckily for me, I paid the Twi-lek a little extra to send him astray.

———

    By the time I make it to the village, the early morning sun is beginning to brighten the sky. The village also appears to be waking up which is perfect. A few people are milling around giving me strange looks and at first they are stand offish - which really is not a surprise to me...people seem to be afraid of Mandalorians. I approach an older woman who doesn't seem to be bothered by my presence.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you but I'm looking for someone and was wondering if you might help me?"

She doesn't stop what she's doing and speaks quietly, "Not here...follow me." She turns and heads between two of the small huts.

Leading me into a small hut that appears to be some kind of storage shed, she stops. "I figured it was better we talk here."

I cock my head at her. "The locals around here are uneasy about people asking questions. I think I know exactly who you are looking for. You see there have been mercenaries lurking around."

I don't move or say anything and she continues, "You look like a capable warrior....get rid of them." She must sense that I'm eyeing her.

"You must be wondering why I would trust some stranger...I've heard the stories about Mandalorians...it will be easy work for you and solve our problem."

I offer her a curt nod, "Where can I find them?"

———

    Having followed the exact directions the old woman gave me which lead me to a camp just east of the village. I find a good scouting spot and perch myself at the top of a hill near some brush. Using my HUD's thermal scan, I get a read on how many are down there - 12...I've taken out worse...Leaving my perch, I walk towards their camp and they do exactly as I had expected. A group of 2 meet me at the road while 2 others stand guard.

"You lost?" One of them asks. I tilt my visor between the four of them, calculating my move depending on how this conversation goes.

"I asked you a question."

"I heard you" I sass.

Scoffing the man turns to the others laughing.

"Did I say something funny?" I snap, starting to lose my patience.

"This one seems to be a little slow" another one says, his tone mocking me.

"You've got quite the mouth on you, young lady" The first man says walking a circle around me checking out my armor.

I'd take him out right there but there's always a bigger fish. Not only that, he'll get what he deserves,

"No. I'm not lost. I'd like to speak to the one in charge, since it's clearly not you."

After he finishes his circle he stops in front of me with a disgusted look on his face, "Follow me." He leads me into the camp with the others trailing behind.

Stopping at the fire, and the man turns to me "Wait here." He disappears into their ship.

    Looking over my shoulder, I make a mental note of where the other 3 are standing behind me. As I look around more come out of the woodwork, coming to a grand total of 10 - someone's paranoid and rightfully so. Just then the man from earlier appears followed by 2 more - one wearing the face of the man on my puck.

"I hear you asked to speak with me" he says, voice booming through the camp.

"There's a bounty out for you. I'm here to collect" my tone is flat, this group seems like one that would get spurred on by irritation.

The bounty takes out a blade and starts walking towards me laughing "Darling..." He starts and drags the flat side of the blade across my chest, to my shoulder, and around my back.

"Wonder how much we could get for armor like that? What'd ya think boys?" There's a series of whoops and hollers.

He stops dragging the blade and leans in to whisper, "or maybe I'll just keep it as a trophy."

I smirk to myself, "Be careful what you wish for" venom dripping from my words.

Sliding my hands down towards my blasters, I get ready to draw them. Just as I'm about to, their leader takes the knife and puts it to my throat, getting in close, "I don't think so."

    Kneeing him in the crotch he drops to the ground in pain. Seconds after blaster fire begins to ping off my armor. I let out a low growl that sounded quite feral through my modulator. A few of the mercs begin to drop but not by my hand, blaster fire from an unknown source rings out through the air. The men in front of me look around in confusion and I take the opportunity to quickly restrain my bounty and knock him out. I then draw my blaster firing at the 3 closest to me and their bodies slump to the ground. Bending over I grab the blade - that was previously dragged across my armor - and send it flying through the air before burying itself into the chest of the man taunting me earlier.

    Getting both myself and my bounty to cover, I make mental note of the direction the blaster fire comes from. Once I figure out where they are, I pick the bounty up - who thankfully is a small human man - throwing him over my shoulder, and racing to my speeder. Putting as much distance between me and the sound of the fight behind me as fast as I can.

    Once I get there, I quickly throw him on before starting it up and jumping on myself. A blaster bolt flys over my head and a familiar modulated voice yells something that I can't quite hear over the speeder's engine. Annoyed, I whip my helmeted head around, to see the Mandalorian from last night running in my direction. With a smirk plastered on my face, I speed off towards my ship. Getting away with the bounty we both wanted.

"I guess we know who the better bounty hunter is."

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