#in the same way that I might show a character doing laundry that includes a binder to telegraph that this is a trans person

[giantkillerjack]

Exactly! I totally get why someone would be hyper aware of queerbaiting and erasure, but just imagine how out of place and weird it would be if that woman then said,

"Hello I am his wife and we are in a straight relationship."

Like, your brain would be so stuck trying to interpret what the fuck that was that you wouldn't hear any of the incredibly cool and complex mystery stuff that happens in the next 5 minutes!

so I finished watch glass onion like 30 minutes ago and it was fucking incredible. absolute masterpiece. but I wanted to talk about The Gay Moment for a hot sec.

so maybe this is a sign that I Have Been On The Internet Too Much Today but I was scrolling through the glass onion tag and I kept seeing this theme of people not realising until afterwards that High Grant is Blanc's husband

and people in the replys keep saying 'oh I don't blame you, it was blink and you miss it, it wasn't explicit enough, etc.' but guys you are missing the point.

the point is that if a woman opened blanc's apartment door, wearing and apron and covered in flour, your first reaction would not have been 'ah yes, Benoit blanc's maid/roommate/cleaner'

I'm sorry loves that is not the movie being unclear that is just the power of heteronormativity

[disabilityreminders]

Tips for Cleaning

Cleaning is one of those tasks that a lot of us find exhausting, overwhelming or just overall daunting for a number of reasons. It could be related to executive dysfunction, disabilities or just feeling overall burnt out. 

While it’s a good reminder that your space not being clean doesn’t affect your worth in any way, sometimes being in a mess makes us feel worse and we really want to fix it. The question is, where can you start when it’s already so overwhelming? 

Please keep in mind that a lot of my suggestions might not work for you personally. And if that’s the case, that’s really valid but hopefully they can help you come up with your own ideas! 

This might be more overwhelming for some, so don’t do this if you think this wouldn’t work for you. But for me personally, I like to go into a room and make a list of that room. This list might include wiping things down, sweeping, moving garbage, etc. I do this for any and all rooms I have the energy for. Having a written list makes it feel less overwhelming to me. I can just pick an item and cross it off. I tend to cross off the quicker/easier items first because making my list look smaller makes it seem more manageable. You can break the tasks down as much or as little as you want. I personally like to have “wash dishes”, “put away dishes” as two separate tasks while others might just want to put “dishes.” 

If you can’t think of things to put on the list, I find that googling some generic cleaning lists helps me get started and reminds me of what tasks to include. 

Now I’d like to share some general tips for cleaning when it’s overwhelming that help me! 

Break it Into Little Steps

There aren’t really any major rules for cleaning. Things got a lot easier for me when I realized I don’t have to do it all at once. When I’ve had the dishes pile up in the past beyond a point of manageable for me, I made a deal with myself. Every time I went to use a new dish, I had to wash that dish and one other dish (or a couple utensils). This ensured that the pile gradually got smaller each time I used a dish but made it a manageable amount for me. 

The same can be said for things like folding laundry. I would fold a piece anytime I walked into my bedroom. I would pick up garbage anytime I walked by it and toss it. Over time, it felt like it looked more manageable and I was able to just focus and get it all done. Sometimes we find this helps us jumpstart the task because for me, starting is the hard part. But once I start, I’m able to keep going. Telling myself I only have to do “two dishes” or “dishes for 5 minutes” made it seem a lot more manageable to look at it as a small thing. But often I’d find as I got going that I was able to keep going. 

Combine it With Something You Enjoy

For me, cleaning while doing something I enjoy has helped a lot! I love to fold laundry while I watch my comfort show. It’s one of those tasks that I can do while still doing something I love. I find I don’t focus so much on the folding and the pile is getting smaller before I know it. 

Some other ideas of things you can do: 

Listen to a playlist that makes you feel pumped up (maybe even have a dance party if you're up to it.)

Listen to an audio book or podcast

Have a show playing in the background that you enjoy

While it’s considered its own thing as “body doubling” sometimes, having company helps. Even if that’s just talking to a friend on the phone, or even texting with a friend while we both clean our own spaces. It’s kind of like an accountability buddy and leaves me feeling like I’m not doing it alone. 

Make cleaning a game! This might include things like picking a colour and then only dealing with things with that colour like only folding blue clothing, washing blue dishes, etc. This might include rolling dice and assigning certain tasks to certain numbers. Or it might be something silly like cleaning while pretending you're your favourite character or even something like a robot. You could use mannerisms or phrases that they would use and react to things how you think they would. (It might be fun to pretend to be a villain having to do your own chores because your "minion" disappeared for the day. How unimpressed would they be? What would they say while they folded laundry?)

Adjust the Tasks to be Easier for You

One thing that holds me back from cleaning is I’m in a lot of pain usually. Things got a lot easier for me once I realized that I can make adjustments as needed. For me, even though I can’t do it all at once, I found sitting to sweep was really helpful! 

Other ideas:

Use disposable cleaning wipes. There are even disposable options for toilet wands and things like that! I found the act of filling up a bowl with hot water and cleaner to be the thing that would freeze me. Just grabbing a wipe, or using a spray and paper towel was a game changer for me. 

While a lot of people do this already, I’ve heard others that don’t but I definitely recommend soaking your dishes in hot, soapy water. It makes them significantly easier to wash. 

Get a duster with an extendable handle so you don’t have to get up on chairs or things like that. 

Invest in a grabber tool. This is a tool that can be used to grab things in hard to reach places, or if you have difficulty bending. 

Get a chair that's easy to move around. This can allow you to do tasks like sweeping or wiping stuff down while sitting. I personally have a rolling chair!

Some General Tips 

If you’re finding it too overwhelming to start, try setting a timer for something like “10 minutes” and then see what you can get done in 10 minutes. You could start by grabbing all the garbage, or clearing a table or something that’s straight forward and can help you start. 

Don’t overdo it. It’s okay to pace yourself. In fact, you should. Take your time getting caught up, and once you do, try to do something small every day rather than trying to cram a lot into one day. 

It’s okay to just do one thing. This kind of ties back into how I caught up on my dishes. My friend has to pack to move and she’s having to organize her things into what she’s packing, donating, or discarding. She made a deal with herself that each day she would handle a set number of items. (A number like 5, 10, or 15). If you need to de-clutter, planning on finding just 5 items a day to get rid of might be a good place to start. 

Find some structure. I personally like printing a cleaning planner that breaks down my weekly, monthly and sometimes tasks that are every few months. It also helps me because I’m not sure how often I should be doing things like cleaning out my fridge, or bigger tasks like that. Having a check list and when I should be doing it helps a lot. 

It’s okay to ask for help! I know that we often feel ashamed of asking for help, or showing someone our space if we don’t think it’s clean enough. But it is absolutely okay to ask a friend for help. My friend regularly found laundry exhausting and overwhelming. When it fell behind on her, it paralyzed her. I would go and fold her laundry for her. And it helped her feel less bad about that when she’d do me a favour. (For example, she loves to cook and I’m often too drained to, so she made me some meal prep.) 

Find products you like! I love using certain scented products and while I never get excited about cleaning, there is something I enjoy about smelling them! 

Focus on one room at a time if you can. When it’s overwhelming, I even just pick a corner of the room and work my way out. 

Reward yourself! This might not work for everyone, but I love doing this. If I do this one task, then I get to do something fun. I’ve actually assigned tasks certain point amounts because I love seeing my “points” climb up and then I get a bigger reward at bigger numbers. (Also I always recommend cute stickers for your lists!) 

Take a before picture or video. Sometimes, we find that we can’t see progress despite being at it for awhile. It’s easier to forget where you started and seeing the progress can be really motivating! 

You don't have to follow a set of rules! What I mean by this is it's okay if you don't put away your dishes. Just because you've been taught that's a part of doing dishes doesn't mean you have to put them away. If it doesn't bother you, it's totally okay to leave the clean dishes in the sink and use them as needed! Try and get it out of your head that you need to follow a certain set of rules and do what's right for you.

Cleaning is overwhelming. While a cleaner living space can make us feel better mentally, I do want to remind you again that living in a mess is not a moral failure. You aren’t less worthy if you’re in a mess. You are still worthy, valuable and enough as you are. 

[slut4thebroken]

Exposure Therapy pt. 8

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Pairing | Jonathan Crane × reader

Summary | You make the poor choice of teasing Dr. Crane, so obviously he has to punish you.

Warnings | 18+, sexual content, smut, p in v sex, unprotected sex, breeding, kissing, hickeys, praise, edging, crying (but in a hot way), consensual sex, orgasm denial, cockwarming?, emotions? idk, neither does he tbh, bestie has no idea how to comfort you💀

Words | 3.6k

Notes | Trying really hard to keep his character accurate😓 lmk what y’all think lol

Ao3 link | <3

Fic Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Part 7

Neither of you mentioned his confession again. He seemed to be acting mostly normal and only a little awkward and withdrawn so you tried to remain the same to assure him that nothing changed. You were sitting on the couch, doodling with a spare piece of paper he found as well as an extra pencil, when you broke the silence. 

“Where are you planning on sleeping?” You asked, eyeing the large space that was empty save for a desk, a chair, and a couch. 

“The couch.” He said, not looking up from what he was working on. 

“Where am I supposed to sleep?” You asked, making him sigh and turn his gaze to you. “For now you may sleep on the couch, I doubt I’ll be sleeping much anyway.” 

“Oh. Don’t you have an apartment? A bed?” 

“The cops are going to be looking for everyone that escaped, including myself- especially myself, because I created what caused all of that.” 

“Oh… What if I go? I can bring you back some clothes so you don’t have to stay in that and anything else you need? I doubt I can lift a mattress on my own though.” 

“You want to go to my apartment in the middle of town, wearing that?” He asked, raising his brows. You looked down at your outfit and frowned, just now remembering that you’re wearing it still. 

“People are dumb enough to hang their laundry up outside. I’ll just take something before getting downtown.” You suggested, but back tracked when he was silent for a moment. “I don’t have to, it was just an idea.” 

“What will you do if the police show up?” 

“Um… I’ll tell them you’re my boyfriend and I left something there that I need.” That made him scoff. 

“They won’t believe that.” 

“Fine. Ex boyfriend. Who’s been so busy working that I had to just go there myself.” You shrugged and he narrowed his eyes at you for a moment. 

“Fine. Know that if you get caught, I have no power or leverage anymore to help you.” Honestly you didn’t expect him to agree. You figured he might want to keep you within his sight at all times but that wasn’t the case. Trying not to read into this new found trust, you were going over the plan in your head. 

“Wait, is it even within walking distance?” You realized, worried the whole plan just fell apart. 

“It’s not on this island, so no. And the train is still down because of the bat.” 

“Oh… I can probably walk, it’ll just take me longer I guess.” The sun was rising anyway, so it’ll probably be fine. “Or I’ll ask someone for a ride.” 

“Do not do that.” He said sternly, making you frown. 

“Why not?” 

“Because this is Gotham and you are a young, attractive woman. You will more than likely be kidnapped, raped, or killed.” 

“What am I supposed to do then?” He let out a heavy sigh, and got something out of his desk drawer. When he told you to come to him, you stood, leaving the pencil and paper, and walked over. 

“Give me your hand.” You held your arm out to him and he gently grabbed your hand to put on a very weird shaped bracelet on your wrist. “In case you don’t have time to put the mask on, point it away from your face and hold your breath, then push this.” He pointed to a lever near the heel of your hand and you reached for it, trying to test the motion and get used to it, but he stopped you. 

“Not- now.” He strained, uncurling your fingers. 

“Sorry.” You said sheepishly. 

Then you were leaving, finding clothes that looked about the right size and changing in an alley behind a dumpster. The tricky part was the shoes but they’re subtle enough that they shouldn’t draw very much attention. You found an empty paper bag near the dumpster and put the mask in it then started looking for someone to drive you. You spotted an older woman getting into a car and immediately walked toward her. 

“Excuse me?” You said, making her pause. 

“No change, sorry.” 

“Oh no, I was actually hoping you could give me a ride. I have a job interview downtown and it probably wouldn’t make a good impression to show up all sweaty. But I understand if it’s too much trouble…” 

She only hesitated for a moment before agreeing, telling you to get in the back and asking for the address. You read it off the paper to her and ten minutes later you were pulling up in front of an apartment building. 

“You sure this is it?” 

“It’s for a small business.” You explained, quickly getting out of the car. “Thank you so much.” You dropped the smile as soon as you turned around to walk into the building. “Fuck,” You groaned, “I don’t have a fucking key.” How could you have forgotten that part? You decided to just walk inside, breathing a sigh of relief when you spotted a front desk. 

“Hi, I lost my key and my boyfriend’s out of town and I’m supposed to feed his cat,” 

“What number?” The man asked, bored. 

“178.” He reached back and grabbed a key, handing it to you impatiently. “Thanks...” He wasn’t lying when he said everyone and everything is corrupt or just doesn’t care. 

You made your way to the elevator and pushed 17. As you waited, you went over the list he gave you. Most of the stuff was easy, an extra pair of glasses in his desk drawer, a few pairs of clothes, shoes, a toothbrush as well as the extra one under the sink for yourself, etc. But you were mostly worried about the safe and the papers he wanted. What if you can’t open it? What if you grab the wrong ones?

The elevator opening with a ding removed you from your thoughts and you made your way to his door. You worked quickly, not wanting to increase your chances of getting caught, but you took the time to fold his suits, worried he’d be upset if you just threw them in his duffel bag. You opened the safe on the second try, putting the money that was in there in the duffel bag. 

Then you made your way to the desk. Even though the rest of the place was completely tidy, the desk was covered in different papers. He said they would be on top, not in a drawer, so you grabbed everything just to be safe. 

Before leaving, you went through his dresser, praying he wouldn’t be pissed, and got some shirts and sweatpants for yourself, as well as a hoodie and socks. 

The ride back was much easier since you had money to take a cab, but you still had to walk a few minutes, not wanting to be dropped off right in front of his “hideout” just in case. 

“No trouble?” He asked, barely glancing up from what he was writing. 

“Well I realized I forgot to ask about a key- speaking of which, you should probably move because the guy at the front desk just gave it to me.” The corners of his lips turned up and your cheeks went red, still not used to it. 

“Good job.” You stared at him in shock, feeling your cheeks heat up even more, but you tried to play it off. 

“Did you just compliment me?” You scoffed teasingly. 

“Don’t get used to it. Did you bring the papers I asked for?” 

“Oh- yeah.” You set the duffel bag on the desk and he opened it to inspect the contents. “I- I hope it’s okay, I brought just a few shirts and pants for myself too.” You said nervously. When he didn’t respond, you figured that meant it was okay. He started looking through the papers, then turned to you with raised brows. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bring the wrong thing so I just took all of it.”

“Thank you.” He said, making your eyes widen. 

“Mhm.” Was all you could say in response. “Oh- here.” You said, suddenly remembering the wristband and taking it off to give it back. 

“Keep it.”

“What?” You choked out. “You- you’re not worried I’ll use it on you or something?” You asked, staring at him with furrowed brows. 

“Of course not.” He scoffed, then set the papers down and took out a suit and the shoes as you just waited awkwardly, not sure what to do. “Are you just going to watch?” He was teasing you, but there was still an edge to his voice. 

“N- no, sorry.” You blushed, turning around and staring at the ground, listening to the sound of clothes rustling behind you and thinking about how you’ve only ever seen his face, neck, hands, and cock- nothing else. The thought made you frown. “Unless it’s okay… then I’d like to watch.” You said quietly and the rustling stopped. 

“Why?” His tone was guarded. 

“I just- I haven’t seen you yet and you’ve seen all of me.” You explained meekly. “Nevermind, sorry.” You waited anxiously as you heard no movement from the man behind you. 

“Go ahead.” He said in a measured tone. You tentatively turned around, finding him in just a pair of dress pants, straight jacket on the floor and shirt in hand. The first thing you noticed was how lean he looks without his suit. The second were the small scars littering his torso. The third was his happy trail, leading down into his pants, teasing you. 

“Satisfied?” You looked up at him when you heard his voice, not able to read his expression. When all you could do was nod, his lips curled up into a small smirk. “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll fuck you stupid over the desk.” He warned, voice laced with arousal. 

“Is that a promise, doctor?” You purred, stepping closer to him, setting the wristband on the desk to have both hands free. He stiffened, but allowed you to move until you were right in front of him. Staring deep into icy blue eyes, you slowly raised your hands, as if you were approaching a wild animal who could attack at any second. His eyes moved to your hands, watching, but he didn’t say anything. So you slowly moved them closer until you could almost feel the heat from his body against your palms. His eyes moved back to yours and you searched them for a deterrent. When you found nothing, you placed your hands on his chest, sliding them down his stomach, making sure not to linger on any scars. You reached his pants and brushed over the button teasingly before snaking them back up his body. 

“You’re playing with fire.” He said lowly. Your hands reached his shoulders and you trailed them down his arms. Once you reached his hands, you grabbed the shirt and set it on the desk, then took both of his hands in yours, moving them around your waist. 

“On the contrary, Dr. Crane. I’m getting exactly what I want.” You placed your hands on his stomach again to snake around to his back. 

“Oh? And what’s that?” He said coyly, playing along. 

“You can let me keep teasing you to my heart's content or you can punish me. Either way I win.” You smirked, moving your hands down his back to his pants and following the waist line around his body until they met at the button. 

“You think you’ll enjoy however I choose to punish you?” He scoffed. 

“You said it yourself, doctor. You don’t want to hurt me. So I’m sure I can take it.” His hands moved to your hips, gripping tight enough to make you wince as he pushed you against the desk. 

“Foolish girl. You underestimate my desire to watch you crying and begging for my forgiveness. I have no problem torturing you, in fact, I’ll enjoy it.” You faltered at that. “Does that frighten you?” He asked, tilting his head. 

“You don’t scare me anymore.” You said quietly, feeling the arousal in your stomach quickly make its way between your legs. 

“That’s not what I asked.” He teased and you swallowed thickly, squirming under his gaze. 

“No.” You tried to keep your voice steady. 

“Maybe not yet. But I’m sure it will soon.” He reached a hand up to wrap around your neck, squeezing and pulling you forward as your breath hitched. “I don’t have to hurt you to torture you. You should know that by now.” He said quietly, gaze straying to your lips. 

“I can take it.” You said, equally as quiet, not even believing the words as they left your mouth. 

“You think so?” He cooed and you nodded in response. “I guess we’ll find out then.” He took a step back and you whined at the loss of his touch, reaching out for him. “Pick it up.” He said, gesturing to the straight jacket. Your eyes moved anxiously between him and the garment, hesitating. “This is the only warning I’m giving you— You don’t want me to tell you again.” You leaned down and picked up the straight jacket, then waited for his next command. 

“Put it on.” 

“Dr. Crane,” You whined, but he raised his brows, making you close your mouth and reluctantly slide it on. He stepped closer again then started buckling the restraints. 

“You seem to think that pain is the only form of punishment I’ll inflict. I guess given my history I shouldn’t be surprised but you need to get that idea out of your head right now or things will only get worse for you.” You stared at him with wide eyes but his gaze remained on the task of restraining you. “There are plenty of ways I can punish you.” He said clinically, like a doctor explaining something to a patient. “Like denial, for example. Not just orgasm denial… You can’t touch me either.”  

“Please- I’m sorry.” You whined, giving him puppy dog eyes that did not work at all. 

“I bet you are. I bet you’ll say whatever it is you think I want to hear right now. Unfortunately, the only sounds I want from you are moans and cries.” He led you over to the couch and kneeled in front of you to pull down your pants and underwear before having you sit. He discarded your shoes so he could fully remove your clothes, then pulled you forward to the edge of the couch and spread your legs embarrassingly wide. 

“I think you also underestimate my patience. I am more than willing to do this as long as it takes.” He started dragging his hands up and down your thighs, teasing you, never getting close to where you wanted him.   

“Please.” You whined as your hips started squirming. 

“Come now… We haven’t even started and you’re already begging? At least save that until the actual torture begins.” 

“Don’t want torture.” You muttered. 

“No? I thought you said this would be a win for you? That you can take it.”

“Please.” You whined, much brattier this time— all but throwing a fit.  

“There’s that attitude.” He chuckled. “Keep that up. It makes it more fun for me when you break.” His hands snaked up your thighs, then back down, teasing you. You whined and squirmed, but surprisingly, it worked. He moved a hand between your legs, swiftly pushing in two fingers and rapidly curling them against your walls. You let out a choked moan from the sudden pleasure as your head rolled back onto the couch and your hips bucked. He pulled you even farther down the couch, then leaned down and took your clit in his mouth. 

“Oh fuck,” You said through a moan, hips flinching as he groaned against you in response. Lifting your head to look down at him, you found his eyes already on you, making you blush and squirm under his gaze. After getting so turned on and not coming when you sucked him off before, your orgasm approached quickly. The volume of your moans increased as you started trying to rut against his face. He suddenly pulled back, his fingers halting, making you whine. 

“Please, I was so close.” You pouted. 

“I know.” He leaned back down, resuming the motions of his fingers as he started working your clit over in his mouth again. Your breathing grew heavier as you felt yourself nearing the edge again, but you let out a choked sob when he stopped. 

“Please!” You cried. 

“Shh. Be a good girl and take your punishment.” He muttered before leaning back down and continuing. You weren’t sure how many times you were on the cusp of pleasure before it was ripped away from you, but you knew it was at least five— after that you weren’t able to concentrate on counting through your crying and desperation. He pulled back but continued moving his fingers as you babbled out incoherent pleas. 

“I have to admit, my patience is wearing thin so I’ll only keep this up for a little longer.” You sobbed in relief at his words. “Once I’m ready to come, I’m gonna fuck your ass. Remember how much you liked it before? It won’t be nearly as pleasurable this time and you certainly won’t be able to come from it.” 

“No- no, please.” You said, panicked. The thought of being empty was enough to intensify your crying. “Please- I don’t care if I don’t come, just please fuck me.” You whimpered. 

“Shh, it’s okay.” He said softly, but you just shook your head. 

“No, I- I need your cock- please!” 

“How do I know you won’t come?” He asked, slowing his fingers to a stop before removing them, making you whimper at the emptiness. 

“I won’t! Please- I promise I won’t!” He watched you cry for a moment before cursing under his breath and working on taking his cock out of his pants. 

“Can’t fucking say no to you.” He muttered, helping you to lay down on the couch as he crawled over you. The second he pushed in, you let out a relieved sob that turned into a whine when you tried to move your arms. 

“Please- I want to touch you. Please let me touch you.” You whimpered, watching the way his brows furrowed as his mouth opened in a silent moan when he was all the way in. 

“I can’t, you still need to be punished.” He said breathlessly and you sobbed the hardest you have all night so far.  

“Please! Please- I’m sorry!” You cried and he shushed you as he brought a hand up to wipe away the tears on your cheeks. 

“I know, it’s okay.” He cupped your cheek and leaned down to kiss you as he slowly started moving. Trailing kisses up your jaw to your ear, he whispered, “You’re doing so well, little one. Making me feel so good.” You sobbed harder at the pet name— not used to such affection from him. 

“Oh god,” You moaned, already feeling close again. When he picked up the pace and began kissing and marking your neck, you started panting again. You tried to at least tone down your sobbing a little bit, but after you started, it was really hard to stop. 

“Fuck- I’m already close.” He whined, rutting into you desperately now. His hands never left your body as he buried his face in the crook of your neck, letting out quiet moans and shaky breaths. When he stilled with a low groan, your cunt ached at the way his cock was twitching inside you, painting your walls with his come. After a moment, his moans stopped and he was panting heavily into your shoulder. When he started pulling out, you sobbing intensified. 

“No! Please- please don’t- not yet.” You whimpered. 

“I need to get this off of you.” He said, lifting his head from your neck to look at the straight jacket. 

“I don’t care- just please don’t leave yet.” You cried. 

“Okay- It’s okay. Sit up like this.” He maneuvered you so that he was sitting on the couch and you were straddling his hips, his cock never leaving you. He started working on the straight jacket, unbuckling all of it until he could slip it off if you and toss it on the floor. Now that your hands were free, you realized that you couldn’t even do anything with them, not without making him uncomfortable. So you continued crying. 

“Okay, just- come here.” He muttered, pulling you down to lay on his chest. Your hands gripped his shoulders tight as you turned your cheek, listening to his heartbeat and feeling the warmth of his skin. His hands fumbled around for a moment before eventually settling on your hips and you knew that he was probably miserable right now. Honestly you’re surprised he didn’t just throw you off of him instead. 

“I’m sorry- I…” He shushed you, not letting you continue babbling out apologies. 

“Just breathe.” He said softly and you couldn’t help but obey. You let out a slow shaky breath, trying to calm yourself down. “That’s it. Just focus on breathing. You did so well for me, I’m very proud.” You let out another quiet sob at the praise and shushed you again as he moved a hand up to your hair, lightly stroking it to soothe you. 

“You’re okay.” He said softly. “Just breathe— you’re okay.”

Part 9

(For the sake of the plot, bestie is no longer taking oral contraceptives because he had her get an iud or something back in Arkham lol)

[poisonedprose]

𝐈. 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐀𝐘. ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 - taglist

IN WHICH, leon is giving his all and trying so hard to save your relationship after the tragic incident but you have given up all hope on everything, including yourself. you've let yourself go, pretending like your actions have zero consequences, fighting with leon in the early mornings, making up with sex, and then doing it all again. doesn't it get exhausting making the bed?

WARNINGS, i. 2.4k, no dialogue, curse words, drug consumption, alcohol consumption, throwing up, healed self harm scars, mentions of neighbors having sex, intrusive thoughts

Leon's harsh words rang through your ears. He was livid, more than you'd ever seen him. Curse words that he saved for special occasions spewing out of his mouth like they were saved up in a bank and he was taking out a deposit or like he had just won the jackpot and the coins were falling into the pot. No matter what you compared it to, it didn't matter. You weren't listening.

You never listened to him yell, at least not recently. You'd heard what he said a thousand times before. The same thing in different words. It never made the pill easier to swallow. You tuned him out, not wanting to cry yourself to sleep in your shared bed tonight. That was your excuse, but you always tuned him out. 

It was easier, pretending to listen to his stupid lectures to keep him satisfied, to keep him from walking out the front door and watching the years go by without him. You didn't want to be lonely, you wanted to be alone. Leon's voice was loud, booming at you the words he's kept bottled up but he was shaken tonight, the cork popping off with rage. You wanted to scream back at him, justify your stupid actions of letting your friends convince you to pop some pills, but your voice was hoarse and you had things to do tomorrow.

The stars in the sky sparkled, each one taunting you as you looked out the window. They were free, and their only responsibility was to keep on schedule and appear when the moon relied on them. But maybe having someone relying on you with such intensity was too much for the stars to handle. It was just one thing they had to do but would it mean the weight of the world on their dulling points? There had to be a reason stars burnt out after all. 

The wind howled almost with as much force as Leon's words. You feared he might wake the neighbors, the walls of the apartment that you and your boyfriend spent way too much money on were thin. You were chilly, maybe a window was left open or maybe the alcohol that was probably swimming through your veins by this point was starting to wear off. It didn't feel like it was wearing off though, in fact, you were feeling drunker than ever. 

You were still sitting on the couch as Leon loomed over you. It was comical, looking at his red face from screaming for so long. You almost laughed to yourself as you imagined smoke coming out of his ears like he was a cartoon character and you were just watching late night television. Despite everything, he still looked so beautiful. The moon illuminating him, showing you his gorgeous face in the dark, chilly living room.

He was still in his police uniform for some reason. Maybe he was working late tonight or maybe he had no clean clothes left. Had you done the laundry like you promised? You couldn't remember, surely you would have heard an earful by now if you hadn't. But then again maybe you did and you just weren't listening. You could check later.

This had to be some world record for how long someone was scolded for. It felt like years, like each second passing you could feel a gray hair grow from your roots. How he had this much to say you would never know. However, you didn't need to lend him your ears to know he was saying the same thing over and over, hoping if he says it dumber each time it'll finally get through to you. 

You heard words every once in a while, like 'you could have died!' and 'be better.' or even 'you're immature.' It amused you to no end. He always felt like he had power over you. Maybe it was a god complex that came with the package that the man was or maybe he developed it while patrolling the streets in his fancy cop car. Maybe it was in the dye they used to make his uniform the deep navy blue that you loved.

It was times like these when you were lost in thought, that made you wonder what he saw in someone like you. As you sat there, you couldn't help but think that you weren't the same person he fell in love with. You had changed in so many ways, for better or for worse, yet he never wavered in his love for you. You wondered what it was that kept him in love.

Maybe it wasn't love, maybe it was selfish need rather than the feeling you once understood as love. You knew selfish need all too well, most nights that was all you knew. Was it because he was scared to be lonely like you were? Was it because he didn't want to start over and try again with someone knew? Had you finally cracked the code to his mind or were you simply projecting your own fears onto him? Had you seen this film before? Had you liked the ending?

You felt too buzzed to care anymore. So what if he was being selfish? He was the lucky one, you convinced yourself. Your eyelids were heavy and Leon knew you couldn't stand, or sit, to listen to any more of his lecturing. He stopped, saving his breath for another day like he was going to run out of it. 

His stomach was in knots. The mix of anger and concern made him feel sick. Your stomach was in knots too, but not for the same reasons. You felt like you were going to vomit, the drugs and the drinks catching up to you. He could see it in your face and with a sigh he dragged you to the bathroom. He sat with you as you puked into the toilet. He held your hair out of your face, he always preferred your hair away from your face so he could admire your beauty. 

You wondered if he could still find you beautiful as you puked your guts out with spit drooling from your lip and your eyes bloodshot. Were you still his pretty girl? He hadn't called you that recently. So, maybe it was far before this point you had stopped being pretty to him. You didn't find yourself pretty either so you didn't blame him.  

You thought he was pretty though. It made you burn with a passionate rage. He didn't have to try. He could wake up in the morning and look as pretty as ever. Your veins were laced with envy. They always were, even far before you met Leon. You blamed the sun in the sky and the worms in the dirt. There was no reason, truly they could never be the reason why you were shattered and glued back together with envy., but you blamed them anyway.

Hot tears streamed down your face as you finished puking, nothing left in your stomach. Leon flushed the toilet. He grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped your mouth clean. Your lips were cracked and dry, more than ever due to the chilling air of autumn. You feared what winter would bring. 

You were drawn out of your thoughts by Leon repositioning you. He was leaned against the sink cabinet with you in front of him, your head resting on his chest. His legs were on each side of your torso, bent at the knee to keep your shambled body upright. His hands rested on your thighs, feeling the raised bumps of your dreaded past.

You were so interesting to him, for better or for worse was to be determined. The topic of the scars felt taboo. He never judged you for them, stupidly comparing them to the finishing garnish on a 5 star meal. It was the thought that counted, you knew what he meant. You laughed out loud as you recalled the memory. Leon didn't bother to ask why, too tired to listen to you explain something he probably wouldn't find as funny as your inebriated self.

The bathroom was warmer than the living room. The enclosed space was great at conserving heat. There had been multiple occasions where Leon had to get out of the shower and crack the door open due to the intense heat. And plenty of times you'd do the same when you were straightening your hair, the iron's heat had a bite bigger than its bark.

There was hardly any noise, only the sound of the crickets and the occasional car passing outside. It was odd to hear, normally you'd hear the neighbors. The one's on your right always blasting music in the depths of night. The neighbors on your left were an older couple but their love was still strong which they reminded you of every night. You'd grown accustomed to hearing their bed creak and the wife moan through the thin walls. 

You wondered why tonight was different. Perhaps they were listening in on you and your boyfriend's argument, putting their own pleasure on pause to have the enjoyment of drama without raising their electric bill. You felt embarrassed, unsure if they did hear anything but if they did, you'd cry. You were never strong when it came to being yelled at. It was partially the reason for not listening carefully to Leon's words. Your skin crawled with worry as you thought of the stares you'd get from people as you walked the halls.

Leon's hand gently and begrudgingly carded through your hair. The taste of vomit lingered in your mouth, making you long for a cup of water. You were too tired to get up and even more stubborn to ask Leon to get you water. So, you dealt with the taste.

There were no words exchanged between the two of you. You were scared to say anything in all honesty. The once petty and 'don't care' attitude you once held high was crumbling. You knew you hadn't been the best girlfriend recently. You were playing with fire but you'd be damned if you called the fire department. You'd rather burn down completely than admit you were wrong.

But, honestly, maybe you were that wrong. You were just having fun. It wasn't your fault that Leon didn't approve of the way you obtained your enjoyment. Surely, when he was your age he was doing the same thing. He was a few years older than you, standing at 22. Sure, he was a cop now, but there was no way he didn't partake in fun that young adults always indulged in.

Though, he wasn't your age anymore, and he was a cop. So really, it was his job to scold you. You were lucky you were his girlfriend because if you were anyone else, you probably would've been arrested the moment he saw you. You still thought he had a stick up his ass. 

It wasn't fair of you and part of you knew that. It was in the far back of your mind but you knew. You loathed how he could make you feel. You were never good with the concept of other people's feelings, always too wrapped up in your own to notice. But with him, you always noticed. You knew this was hurting him as his fingers shakily combed through your hair. If you were to look back at him right now you'd probably see him with glossy eyes, looking like a sad puppy.

So, you didn't look back. You looked ahead. The shower in front of you slowly turned into a void of nothingness as you stared without blinking. Your heart was heavy. You wanted to rip your heart out of your chest. You imagined yourself with your heart in your hand. Beating. Sobbing. Tears and blood pouring with each beat. The sight was morbid but you had a small smile on your face. In your twisted fantasy, you were still breathing, even without your heart. 

And for some reason, endless scarlet blood poured from your chest but you never felt any weaker. In fact, you felt more powerful. People always told you that you were heartless, and now, you really were. Your breathing never trembled, you should be dying but you weren't. You looked down at your chest, and where the hole in your chest should be and it wasn't there. Your shirt wasn't soaked with blood like you imagined it to be and your breath was trembling.

Right, you forgot you were crying. You wiped your tears with a shaky hand. You took a deep breath, leaning further against Leon as you did. Your heart ached and you wished for your daydream to be a reality. You never voiced these thoughts to Leon for fear of what he would think. You were always fearful. Though, there was a point in time where you weren't. You reminisced on the past. Little you would be so disappointed to see the way you were now. A scowl on her face with tears in her eyes.

She wanted to be an astronaut, she wanted to sail the sea. Her dreams were big. Most childhood dreams were crushed by parents who were jealous of their children. Not yours, you were the only cause for your dreams being crushed. It wasn't a scornful parent or a teacher who hated kids. It was your own damned, wretched self. There were tears on your face despite the fact you just wiped them. The dripped off your face and onto Leon's hand that rested in your lap. 

A sweet kiss was delivered to the crown of your head and the hand on your thigh made its way to your waist. He held you tightly. You hated how he pitied you but you were too tired to start another fight. You simply push his hand away from you which earns a scoff. He wants to say something about how ungrateful you are. He was taking time out of his night to sit with you and comfort you, and you push him away?

You knew it was wrong of you to do. But as long as you pretended Leon didn't have any emotions, it was easy to do. It wasn't fair to either of you, and it probably won't ever be again. Leon kept his mouth shut, silently standing up before dragging you up with him and into the bedroom. You fell onto the bed with a sigh and watched as he looked with a disappointed look in his eye.

‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎┊ㅤㅤ🩻 ㅤㅤ ﾟㅤㅤ ┊‎‏‏‎@ginswife @mymizery @catsareawesomek @valsthea @mememgx ‏‏‎

[pastafossa]

Using Tarot To Help You Write

Right ok, so I’ve wanted to do this for a bit - there are vague references to tarot in my story TRT and I’ve answered a few questions about how I use the RWS-style tarot to write but now I have a little bit of time while I wait for my laundry to dry. So let’s get into it.

If you’re looking for another tool in your writer’s kit, you could strongly consider adding a box of tarot cards to the bag. Set aside, for a minute, what you’ve heard about it. Set aside any spiritual aspect, telling the future, the ‘OoOOOooOOh evil’, or even the ‘DRAW DEATH MEANS DEATH’ you see in movies. Instead, strip it down to its base.

Tarot is about telling a story.

(Below: Oak, Ash, & Thorn Tarot)

From a storytelling perspective, the first 18 cards of the RWS style tarot, known as the Major Arcana, essentially tell the Hero’s Journey as the Hero sets out on an adventure and searches for knowledge. There’s disaster, love, temptation, and wise people they meet along the way before eventually finding enlightenment at the end of their journey. The Major Arcana contains major archetypes and themes present through so many stories. When you add in the rest of the cards in the Minor Arcana - the other 56 cards, encompassing a variety of emotions, archetypes, figures, and various life events you might run into - you’ve got something perfect when you want to introduce new elements to your story. I keep a small deck on my desk and use it frequently when creating random OCs, plotlines, or problems for characters to solve.

And before you go, holy shit Pasta that’s a lot to take in, using tarot for your story doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need to have 20 years of tarot experiences, you don’t need to be an expert, you don’t need A Great Gift. You don’t have to know about tarot at all, really. You just need one thing:

The right storytelling deck.

More below the cut.

Look, there are a million styles out there, some that focus heavily on storytelling imagery and some that focus more on symbols; some that feature animals or nature, and some that focus on people. I generally lean towards animal-based decks since I’m more familiar with animal/nature imagery, body language, and symbolism, but in reality the best deck to use for writing is simply the one you’ll actually use. If you’re drawn to one, go for it. That being said, if you’re looking for something to use without needing to get into all the symbolism of each card, I generally recommend using a deck in which all cards, including the Minor Arcana, depict a scene you can examine - aka, one that plays up a story rather than a straight up symbol. Let me show you an example with three decks.

Left: Mystical Cats tarot; Middle: Oriens tarot; Right: Children of Litha tarot

These all depict the same card: the Seven of Swords, meant to depict deceit, theft, betrayal, lies, and trickery. The middle card relies a little more heavily on symbolic meaning (the black widow spider, which ‘betrays’ when mating and uses a sticky web - symbolizing a potential trap), whereas the other two cards show an active scene (Card 1: OH NO HE’S GONNA STEAL YER MOUSE WHILE YOU’RE NOT LOOKING; Card 3: YOU LOVESTRUCK DIPSHITS, TURN AROUND, THE SNAKE’S EATING YOUR EGGS). I’ve found cards like Card 1 and Card 3 are faster and more convenient for storytelling, because you’re basically presented with a scenario/characters/a situation right off the bat, whereas a symbolic card is more open-ended and might require some digging unless you’re already fairly familiar with the symbolism. If you’re going to get a deck that depicts people instead, I recommend looking for a deck that’s diverse. Humans come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and having a deck that reflects that (something like the Modern Witch tarot) is valuable for storytelling. So if you’re picking a deck to help you write, look for:

Decks that use scenes/storytelling imagery for all cards

Decks with imagery/body language you can easily read at a glance

If you’re looking for a deck with people - decks with a diverse range of body types, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders

A deck with imagery you actually like, otherwise you won’t want to use it

‘Ok, so let’s say I’ve found a deck, or I already have one. What does using tarot for fic even look like?’

Let’s do two quick readings for two writing scenarios you might use this for! This will also show you can be as complex or as simple as you need to be. These are also the two scenarios I use tarot for most when writing - character construction, and plotline construction. First I’ll use the Children of Litha tarot, which uses a moderate amount of storytelling imagery. Then I’ll use the Mystical Cats tarot, which is probably the most story-heavy deck I have, imagery-wise. That way, you can see how construction gets a bit easier depending on how scene-heavy a deck is.

Scenario: I need an original character for this chapter or scene! Quick, draw three cards!

Quick reading: she’s very gentle but there are also two tigers inside her and one of them wants to kill you, especially if you fuck with her pet birds

More complex reading - Personality, Flaw, Backstory:

Card 1 - Personality: This character is someone who’s unafraid and bold in their kindness even when faced with danger, and they know when a gentle touch is needed. They believe strength is found not in being cruel or violent but in responding with love. This usually works out for them, to the point that even Scary People (TM) seek this character out, knowing they’ll find love and affection. Alternatively, this character is one half of the Brooding Rough One Loves The Gentle Soft One trope. Whatever works for you!

Card 2 - Flaw: Despite all that, the gentle character’s got a temper, and it exists in direct conflict to what they believe about strength, thus producing cognitive dissonance. This is someone who’ll dodge conflict to avoid showing their temper, but eventually that repression’s going to blow up into a real fight and it’ll be messy.

Card 3 - backstory: This temper and conflict avoidance is due to some tragic incident in their past that left them deeply wounded. It’s one reason they’re so gentle, but there’s a lot of lingering anger and trauma. These wounds are not healed, and if you look deep enough, you’re going to find blood.

Depending on how important this character is, you could add even more: a card for a strength, a card for a challenge they need to overcome to grow as a person, their family dynamic, etc. Again, you can make it as detailed or as simple as you need.

PASTA NOW I NEED A LITTLE PLOTLINE FOR CHARACTERS TO SOLVE. Quick, draw four!

Quick reading: holy SHIT your characters gotta move fast, cause there’s a pissed off dude out there who wants revenge NOW and is ready to fuck up a *shuffles cards and draws* religious temple of peaceful cat loving monks, one of whom is the one that fucked up Angry Dude in the first place WHEN HE WAS A BABY WITH HIS MAMA, PLOT TWIST OH NO, IT’S PROBABLY THAT ASSHOLE STEVE IN THE BACK OF THE THIRD CARD, LOOK AT HIM LOOKING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE.

More complex reading - Theme, Problem, Setting, Solution:

Card 1 - Theme: As you can tell from our cat with zoomies, your protagonists are on a clock. The theme here is urgency, it’s speed. Things will start off with a bang and they won’t have much time to slow down. This’d be good for a one shot or a chapter.

Card 2 - Problem: look at that cat, they’re so ANGRY, they are PISSED, someone did them dirty and they’ve been stewing over it for a while. They can’t stop feeling that betrayal no matter how much they try to lick it off shake it off forget about it. They want REVENGE for what was done to them and they’re gonna cut someone up.

Card 3 - Setting: Ah, a peaceful, sunny place where everyone’s just chilling. Everyone’s happy. Maybe a religious place, say, a church or a convent or hell, a nudist retreat. Either way, no one knows what’s coming. Except (and this is why scene cards are so fun)... for STEVE there in the back. Look at him. Everyone’s relaxing in the sun but he’s staring out into the distance. He knows. And just like that, Steve’s the In Hiding person who betrayed our Problem - Steve the Asshole isn’t a part of the Sun card’s meaning, but a storytelling scene card lets you stretch like this and have fun.

Card 4 - solution: Clearly the only person who can stop Bad Person... is their MAMA (or potentially his siblings). Maybe a character goes to find the Problem’s mother and brings her to the church to talk the Problem into giving up. Maybe the protagonists desperately tell the Problem that your family wouldn’t have wanted this, even if that family was hurt - the Empress is generally very nurturing and loving, so that’s a fair bet. Either way, the solution to the Problem is their family.  

Once you get the hang of this, you’ll start to find other ways you can use it. I’ve used it for creating quick or more complex or more randomized characters, for creating plotlines and character arcs, for a few of Jane’s cases in TRT. You can use it for backstories, for settings, for problems and solutions, for deeper themes to explore with your characters. Hell, if you want some practice, you could literally go through the Major Arcana and write one-shots dealing with each card’s theme. Ultimately the possibilities are endless, whether you want to construct a detailed plotline or if you just have a new character you want to randomize or flesh out a bit.

In short: go get yourself a deck and have some fun!

[ghostoffuturespast]

Glitching The Matrix: Portrait Photos and Getting Up-close And Personal With NPCs In Cyberpunk 2077 Vanilla Photomode

Howdy, folks! Ghost here, back with some more tips and tricks for vanilla photomode. Some of you may have read my previous tips and tricks guide (laundry list?) a few months back, but I’ve learned some more fun things since then that I thought I’d share with you all. Specifically, in terms of taking portrait style photos and getting intimate with your favorite NPCs. (Well, as intimate as vanilla will allow.)

With the 2.0 update and the release of the PL expansion, I imagine a lot of people might be going minimal with the mods until they get up to speed, or maybe you just want to take some bomb photos if you’re running on a console, or you don’t have access to mods. Whatever the case, just know that with the right application of cheese whiz, you too can get dope photos.

I don’t claim to be the world’s best anything, but I’m always happy to share what I know and what I've learned.

Portraits

I have yet to actually play any of the expansion, but I’ve seen that there are some sweet new outfits and some hella cool new backdrops, and who doesn’t want to show off their Vs & OCs?

Now, there is nothing wrong with pulling out photomode and snapping a photo with the standard settings and not touching any of the sliders. I'm not here to ruin anyone's good time or dictate style. However, if you're looking for techniques to add a bit more panache to your photos, I’m going to do a quick rundown of some key things that I keep in mind when I'm taking portrait-style photos.

If you've been taking VP for a while, you may already know these things. But, hey, never hurts to review the basics.

Field Of View

The Field of View (FOV) slider is one of the most important tools in your toolbox and is basically the zoom on your camera. (Okay, it's a bit more complicated than that but I'm not that technical) It’s located on the far left tab. I utilize the shit out of it, and, if you aren't already acquainted, I’d recommend you become friends with it.

Rather than simply moving the camera closer to your subject, which, if you leave it at the standard 60 setting produces a lot of distortion and doesn’t give you much detail of your subject, slide that setting all the way to 15 to zoom in and then adjust the position of the camera to frame your shot how you want. At this point if you want to you can pull the Field Of View out to a higher setting or play around with where exactly you want the camera, for instance if you want to include more of the background or if there’s additional characters. 

By using FOV in conjunction with the camera position, it’s possible to get crisper detailed shots of your subject with less visual distortion. And if you have decent lighting and play around with some of the other settings (exposure, contrast, highlights) you can get some stellar shots with minimal editing. 

Just for reference, I usually don’t do any post-production on my photos. They’re all straight off my PS5. Photo editing is a bit of a time sink so it's personal preference that I don't do it. I barely have enough time for most of my other hobbies, so it's one less thing for me to do. If you want to do photo editing after the fact, more power to you.

Play with poses, look at camera, rotate poses, and camera location

I know that heading is a long list, but seriously, play with the angles! Since we’re working in vanilla photomode, all the poses are canned, everyone’s got the same stock poses and unfortunately some of them are just downright goofy. Which is fun on occasion, but maybe you're looking for something a bit more natural. So, in order to jazz things up and give yourself as much variety as possible, you’re going to want to keep angles in mind.

A lot of times I’ll cycle through all of the poses to find one that gels with the photo I’m trying to take, and at times I’m surprised at which ones those end up being. You zoom in close enough, you can barely tell you're using the JoJo poses. And rotating your character, rather than having them face straight on, can also help spice up the stock poses.

Swinging the camera around wildly in a circle also helps me scout out interesting compositions and backgrounds. I'll pan the camera around 360 so I can find the spots with the most visual interest. And I typically will make attempts to jam the camera in the weirdest places possible. (Through door ways, behind furniture, along walls, in between people and other objects etc.) I often think I know what I want when I go into grab photos, but often times a change of perspective helps me find something even cooler.

Not every pose has a look at camera option, but some of them do. Rotating your V/OC or changing camera position while using this feature will allow you to add some extra variety to your poses and expressions. You can get your character to look straight at the camera (which can be very striking), get some side-eye action, gaze off into the distance, and my personal fave, over the shoulder shots.

You can also add some additional flair by doing low-angle or high-angle shots too. And if you want a portrait orientation instead of landscape? Rotate the camera 180 degrees. It’s a bit disorienting at first, and try not to crik your neck, but now you can get full body shots. The only editing you'll have to do after exporting is rotating the photo to the intended viewing orientation, which you should be able to do in most photo viewers. No editing software required.

NPCs

If you’re taking photos of an NPC, you don’t have the option of posing these characters in vanilla, but if you time it right you can grab some awesome shots! The easiest time to snag photos of NPCs is usually right before you select dialogue options. They’re static, will cycle through a handful of actions, and main NPCs also eye-track V, so you can use this to your advantage if you need them to turn or want them to look in a specific direction.

It’s possible to grab action shots as well! They’re a bit trickier as it requires a lot of timing and you may need to hop in and out of photomode or even reload a previous save if you miss the monent, but totally doable. It also helps to be familiar with the flow of action for the quest by having done it at least once, that way you know when to bust out the camera. (I've lost count how many times I've played this game... Too many.)

Unfortunately, lighting is going to be very hit or miss during missions. If you keep your eyes peeled for good lighting opportunities it's possible to find them, and sometimes you can even kite NPCs over to it if they're following you. (Turning the muzzle flash on when your character is in a gun pose also works in a pinch, but might look a little silly depending on the context and if you're also trying to get your character in the frame.) When you're out and about free roaming though, it's much easier to come across good lighting sources as you can adjust the time of day or utilize the lighting you do come across.

But remember field of view, camera angles, playing with the poses, and adjusting the effects sliders can all help enhance a portrait shot.

Glitching The Matrix

Sooooo, I may have mentioned previously that I couldn’t do anything to help you all take shippy/otp pics… I’m more than happy to have proven myself wrong. Obviously, there are limits to this (you're not going to be able to get anywhere close to posed pics like you can with mods), but it’s a hell of a lot more feasible than I thought it was.

With help from this post (Thanks again, Heather!) and applications of sheer stubbornness on my part, I did in fact manage to glitch the matrix. It is entirely possible to bypass the collision physics around characters and certain objects with a little ingenuity.

Grandpa V & Old Man River are my otp, but I went ahead and took some additional photos for the sake of science. They aren’t cannon to my V’s timeline, but I just wanted to show you all the realms of possibility. And for all you SilverV shippers out there running vanilla, yeah, you can finally kiss your own brain worm.

This is as close as I'm gonna get to kissing Keanu Reeves lol.

(SilverDyne shippers… I’m sorry, I have no control of either rockerboy. It’s out of my hands, they’re just too spicy for vanilla. Or if you got a multi-ship or rare pair outside of the player character, can't help you there. Ask your local modder for assistance.)

Be advised, in order to take these kinds of photos, there are specific environmental parameters that need to be met and getting your V/OC posed correctly is going to test your patience the first couple tries. It's a finicky technique but once you get a feel for how to do it, it gets much easier and you'll know what to look for in order to setup this kind of photo.

Steps:

Find a time when your NPC is static (i.e. not moving from a particular spot. Doesn’t matter if they’re standing or seated. I don't want to say it's impossible to attempt from moving, but getting everything timed right is mega tricky and I haven't had much luck with the times I've tried so far.)

Make sure you have plenty of overhead clearance and that you have some room to pan the camera around. (If there’s an overhead barrier like a ceiling, cabinets, umbrellas, awning etc. it’ll impede your ability to move your character into position. For those of you that know me, I tried on the water tower and in the kitchen with River. I really did, but no dice. Dumb cabinets, and there weren't any objects at the right height that were close enough to use on the actual water tower.)

Get some height in proximity to your destination. You want something relatively close and around shoulder/head height of the NPC. (Can be anything really so long as it's the right height and close enough. If it's too high up, or too far away, you won’t be able to get your character in range. Too low, you won’t be able to circumvent the collision physics.)

Open photomode and hope you have access to all the action poses.

Find an action pose that has the up/down slider (Off to the Races is a good one to start with) and move your character all the way up. Then position character above NPC, lower them down into the NPC, and pray they clip through.

Mess with all the poses and pose sliders until desired results are achieved.

*If you cannot complete 4 or 5, exit out of photomode, adjust position, and repeat until you can clip through the NPC. If you can't get any kind of clipping to occur or you keep sliding around the NPC when you're positioning, you may not have the right environmental settings and may need to try in a different spot. It happens.

(Trust me, the horror face sucking is a good sign.)

Panning around so it looks less awkward, make some camera adjustments, and voila! (Good thing Judy's rocking that asymmetrical haircut.)

Your object also does not have to be right next to the NPC, like with Judy and the van. I used the white box thingy that Grandpa's hovering over in the photo above. The roof did get in my way on a couple of my attempts, but I did get it to work.

If you can get the full catalog of action poses to populate and you can get your V/OC to fully clip through your desired character/object without suddenly rubberbanding or deflecting when you move them around, know that you made it. 

Getting to this point though, may take several attempts. It’s also important that you use the action poses to move your character around as most of those have the up/down slider positioning, which is not available on the idle poses with a few exceptions. I’ve had the best luck with Roundhouse Shot to the Face, Just a Peek, Take Cover (left or right), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Off to the Races.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any solid advice on best practice for getting them into position however. You’re just gonna have to feel it out as the position sliders have a tendency to behave very erratically since you’re doing shit you’re not supposed to.

Do your best to not accidentally exit out of photo mode, be patient, and if you get a half-way decent shot or even kinda close, snap pictures for posterity in case something goes awry and you have to start over. If nothing else, you can have a good laugh about it later.

Utilize the tips from the portrait section above as well. You can’t change the NPCs expression or make your characters close their eyes (unless you get really lucky with your timing), so you’ll have to pull out all the camera tricks in your arsenal to make the setup look sort of natural.

Behind the scenes is pretty hilarious though.

And you can use this technique for objects and certainly for non-ship pics too. I demoed kissy pics because those are the hardest to set up. Maybe you just wanna hang with the chooms instead, y’know? S'all cool.

Grandpa gets tired and sometimes she needs to sit down. There's no pose to get your character to sit, but with some creative camera angles and poses, it sure does look like she's sitting.

Or you can finally just annoy the crap out of Johnny.

Anyway, hope this was helpful, and feel free to hit up my inbox if you’ve got questions!

May all your cheese be fine and remember the most important thing:

Have fun!

Grandpa's got the best seat in the house as far as I'm concerned.

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

My year at a glance and the ranking of the cream of the crop

I consumed 206 media this year according to MDL. Of these, 1 TV show, 60 films/short films and 145 dramas. This includes 72 media that were released this year or whose airing ended this year.

I diligently awarded stars from 1 - 10. At a glance, there were 1 one, 2 twos, 2 threes, 6 fours, 7 fives, 6 sixes, 14 sevens, 13 eights, 10 nines and 11 tens (am I too easy to please or just too nice?).

For the following rating, I simply ignored the fives to sevens and concentrated positively on the eights and higher, and took everything below five into account. The results for the individual countries with more than/equal to five contributions this year are as follows:

Japan

Old Fashion Cupcake

Eien No Kinou

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry

Kabe-Koji-Nekoyashiki-kun Desires to be Recognized

Takara-kun to Amagi-kun

South Korea

Once Again

Semantic Error

Choco Milk Shake

Happy Ending Romance

Oh! My Assistent

Taiwan

DNA says love you

About Youth

My Tooth Your Love

Plus & Minus

Papa & Daddy 2

Thailand

180 Degree Longitude Passes Trough Us

Triage

Bad Buddy

Secret Crush On You

Ghost Host, Ghost House

Before I get to the crème de la crème, here are a few honourable mentions and, of course, the series that one would prefer to forget again.

Honourable Mentions

Apart from the five best, there were of course many other wonderful media that fascinated and captivated me. Others were just a little better.

The Miracle of Teddy Bear

The Eclipse

Not Me

Love Mechanics

Roommates of Poongduck 304

Ocean Likes Me

To My Star 2

KinnPorsche

Remember Me

Those that one would like to forget

5. Even Sun – just boring

4. Fahlanruk – boring and repetitive forced drama with unlikeable characters

3. Coffee Melody – boring with an unlikeable main and painful acting

2. That’s my candy – stupid, confusing story with no likeable characters

1. Check Out – this was pure trash, lame story, whiny characters and zero chemistry

But now! The crème de la crème!

Once Again

No other series this year has taken me away as much as this one. It is everything at the same time, a warm blanket to snuggle up under and the angry person who snatches it away again. It is my comfort show and at the same time the show that has given me the most emotional damage. It's not big and lavishly shot and yet the story is touching and the relationship is so precious. The supporting characters are also well written and serve a purpose. This is like a little treasure and I wish more people would find and cherish it.

2. 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us

I have written my fingers to the bone analysing and picking apart every little detail of this fantastic series. More than once, the series has left you desperate along with the characters and pulling your hair out in rage. It is intense, grim and insanely insistent. It doesn't wrap you up like a warm blanket but, on the contrary, it pulls our protective hands off our faces so that we look and realise. Realise that not everyone can be saved, that people are different, that trauma leaves traces, that words can be weapons, that life means taking the leap to the other side of the bridge, even if you might fall. An insanely great series that deserves more attention!

3. Old Fashion Cupcake

Oh how glad I am that I found this series. A series about pleasure and about allowing yourself to experience indulgence. It is not only a story of two people who become closer over eating desserts together, but also of a man who learns to enjoy life again, even though he thought he was not allowed to do so because of age, being single and being a man. The series works to soften a certain image of men, always aware of the society in which it operates, and manages to do so in an admirable way. Nozue's story gives courage and makes you happy, at least me.

4. Semantic Error

Okay, who doesn't know the series? The story of the cool design student and the nerdy and cool computer science student became so popular that there were even billboards of it. And rightly so. The story is well thought out, well executed and very well acted. I've seen it several times by now and am happy that I can now watch it without interruptions thanks to the movie. And if you can't get enough of it, the Manhwa is highly recommended!

5. Triage

A series about time travel, desperate love and character development of the finest kind! The series has made a lasting impression on me. It has drama, but is not overdone. It has a story that is comprehensible and exciting. The characters grow with the story and the chemistry is good too. All in all, a little hidden gem that should have had much more attention than it got when it aired (which was also because it was/is hard to grab for international fans).

I am looking forward to 2023 and what the year

Now I'm excited to see what great and not so great series 2023 has in store for us and most of all I'm looking forward to experiencing them with you!

Thank you all for such a great journey this year!

And that is a wrap!

[nellie-elizabeth]

Bob's Burgers: These Boots Are Made for Stalking (13x14)

We get a nice classic Tina-centric outing this week. Let's dive in!

Cons:

I don't really have much to say in the way of negativity. This wasn't an episode that's going to go down in history or anything, but nor is it an episode I have any complaints about.

Pros:

Gene and Louise spend the episode trying to outlast each other on a ridiculous point of pride: wearing dirty socks around their necks. It all starts because Louise wants to humiliate Gene for leaving his dirty laundry in her room, but Gene pretends not to mind, challenging Louise to try it as well. This feels like real sibling shenanigans, and I always love to see that. I also love that in the end, Louise realizes it's ridiculous, and they decide to give up their dirty sock necklaces at the same time, to spare themselves and everyone around them. Louise is a character who will always go the extra mile just to say she won, so it's nice that she's sometimes able to come to the rational conclusion and back down when her quest isn't serving anybody's interests, including her own.

I always love to see how hard the Belcher family will go for each other. When Tina decides she wants to be like the confident and cool new teens who have been hanging around the restaurant, Linda goes with her to get new clothes, and the whole family piles in the car to take her to the concert where she hopes to make her new friends. They even follow said teenagers down the street and send Tina into a Greek restaurant after them, to help her on her mission. They might think she's being ridiculous, but they'll back her play.

Tina has to learn the lesson that the coolest thing she can do is just be herself: not exactly a groundbreaking message, but this show and this family are just so sweet and comforting that I still like to see Tina wrestle with this. In the end, wearing her own regular clothes and not forcing herself to like music she doesn't like, she actually has a cool, casual exchange with one of the kids she was admiring. Go Tina!

That's all I've got. It's always a little hard to think of things to say when reviewing a short comedy like this, with no forward plot momentum. I had fun with it! That's about all I've got to say.

8/10

[hovershiplogos]

Alrighty, this is mostly cutscene heavy, so bear with me! Here we go!

But before I do, I only just realised this but with the two Persephone kiss scenes, Ghost is the only one out of the three (Niobe, Neo and himself) that does the kiss in one go. Niobe's was apparently so bad that Persephone wished she'd shot out her kneecaps instead.

Now that is the face of a happy man, he's gotten the rest of the team out, now he can rest!

And Ghost can finally have his long overdue nap!

Considering the time frame of the film, the Neb can't have been too far behind them, maybe an hour, tops? I wonder if there was a queue to get back into Zion, since everyone was called home. I'll focus on Niobe's trip home, then Ghost's. Sparks unsurprisingly doesn't get a cutscene showing what his home is like (those cutscenes are for playable characters only!), but can guess laundry of some sort will be involved.

Unfortunately, despite Niobe's best intentions, the commander issue decided to come to her:

You don't even need dialogue here to know exactly what she's thinking.

Also, I love any glimpse into the apartments here, how they've adapted to post apocalyptic cave life, etc etc

Trust me, the commander would've liked that.

See!

Aww, poor Jason. Niobe has completely checked out of this conversation, and he just wants an answer as to why Morpheus keeps doing this shit. And well, maybe after a while, your line of logic might turn to 'is it because I'm dating his ex?' too.

Priorities, Niobe has them, and they do not include either Morpheus or Jason.

Look at his face, he adores her and it's just not reciprocated in the same way. After rewatching this scene, as well as the Persephone kiss scene, I just feel really bad for Jason, and I'm fairly certain their relationship hit rock bottom pretty quickly once the truce was called. I hope he had a long, happy life with someone who loved him. He needs it.

Okay, now let's see how Ghost is getting on:

Finally getting 40 winks! Also, if this is his bedroom I have some words for him. I'm also inclined to believe that he flats with someone (maybe Sparks?). Also, interesting set up with the computer, you just impale yourself on the headjack, and off you go! I honestly hope he has some pillows, and that's not how he sleeps!

Also, I love the little piles of books he has!

The face of someone who is here to cause trouble.

I've never had siblings, so I can't comment, but from what I've seen, this seems to be peak sibling behaviour. And of course, I'm sure that garden had a koi pond at one point, before Trin tossed him into one too many times!

Wow, okay Ghost, wow. I don't think you needed to cajole her, I think she was ready to tussle with you!

Also, Trin is also wearing a leather version of a kung-fu vest, as you do!

And cue fight! It doesn't matter if you win or lose, although if you lose Ghost states he's happy to be her punching bag any day.

Yet Ghost kinda likes it. Although I suspect if it had been anyone else to wreck the shit out of his garden, he'd be less than pleased. Also, here we learn that Ghost also believes that Neo is the One, and will succeed, in his own way.

I mean, that much is true.

Awkward, but not in the way that this would suggest.

And now, for one of my favourite bits of dialogue. after suggesting that Ghost needs a girlfriend, Ghost simply states he's dedicated to a higher purpose: Onanism. Go look that up.

Well, he's not wrong! Also, if Sparks ever heard that, I'm sure he'd be laughing his ass off. Who would've thought Ghost had it in him.

Trinity thanks him for talking with her, and walks out. But look at this face here, that is the face of a man who is both longing for his love, and resigned to the fact that he'll never have her. And yes, this is his adopted sibling. Yeeeeeah, both sad, and a little bit sus. But mostly sad. This is sad boy hours after all! First with Jason, now with Ghost.

That's all for tonight, next time will be more cutscene heavy again, but we also get to see Niobe and Ghost's section of the Highway chase from Reloaded. See you then!

Guess who's doing rewatches again? It's me, and well, not entirely a rewatch:

Yes, that's right, it's Enter the Matrix. Because it's criminal that for a blog named for the little ship that could, I've haven't actually done a deep dive on the game itself! So I'm going to fix that!

I'm also going to play through as both Niobe and Ghost, as depending on who you're playing, the missions play out slightly different, and the cutscene dialogue varies as well. Also, not going to do like a  blow by blow kinda thing. Only going to comment on things that caught my  interest, or seem rather amusing to me.  If you want a little more context, I suggest checking out the couple of playthroughs/cut scene compilations on youtube.

Also of note, the game picks up right after the Animatrix short Final Flight of the Osiris.

Anyway, let's get to it!

AND IT'S THE MAIN REASON I'M STILL HERE, BECAUSE OF THIS PESSIMISTIC SNARKY COWARD RIGHT HERE. And he's self aware about it as well.

Also interesting to note is that according to this cutscene, Sparks has been operating on board the Logos for 3 years. Now, a standard US navy tour of duty (and I'm going with Navy rather than Army as Zion's army is referred to as a Navy fleet) is between 2-3 years. Not really going anywhere with this, but it's interesting to note.

Niobe is a 'my way or the highway' kinda person. No wonder it didn't work between her and Morpheus. It's also telling that Ghost has known Niobe for long enough to know that this is what she's like. I wonder if Ghost is the glue in this ship dynamic? As in, he knew Niobe and Sparks separately before they knew each other, if that makes sense?

And it's the little hovership that could, the little lightning bug of the fleet! Those red lights on the ship look like they're the same as the ones on the sentinels. I wonder if a bulb blows or something they scavenge one from a deactivated squiddie as a replacement?

It's not particularly clear, but I never realised that Niobe's hair is tied with what looks like string with gold in it? Maybe a metal band with gold on it? I'm not sure, but it's pretty!

Also, I appreciate that they give a reason why Niobe is going after this drop, rather than waiting for someone else (ie: Neo) to go get it.

Also, saying are you red or blue on this is a very cool in universe way of saying are you with me or not?

The subtitles are missing here, but what he says:

"You know me Niobe. It's not a choice, it's a way of life."

Ghost, you're awesome, you know that, right?

I get Sparks' complaint here, there are only two of them, and it would be a lot safer to wait for back up to help them out. But nope, you know what Niobe's like, get it done.

Also, as I remarked earlier, the fact that Niobe is willing to risk going in without support , especially given what she says about Thaddeus not using the drops unless he had no choice? And now they're all dead? They definitely need to get that package before the agents do.

I personally love Niobe's little eye roll here.

I also love that Ghost is more chill and amused by Sparks than exasperated like Niobe is. Yeah, Ghost is the glue holding the team together.

Also, a little mention of Zion funerary practices. As someone pointed out to me years ago, I suspect that the gardens is similar to the Exodus fleet's method of burial, but who knows?

Yup, words to live by!

Once again, Niobe is rolling her eyes behind the sunnies. This is what she has to put up with. Also, I would love to think that one time Sparks pranked Ghost by running some program that sent his guns soaring upward.

I always used to think that Ghost was the serious, no nonsense one in the crew, but I'm beginning to think I'm wrong on that front.

Sparks, why do you want his boots? They're too small for your big feet!

Niobe has great taste in old muscle cars. Good old 1967 Pontiac Firebird, in eggplant purple instead of black. Very stylish!

That's all for now, next up will be the post office. See you then!

[yukidragon]

How much of “Jack” as we know him do you think is Joseph putting on a persona? I love your analysis of him as a character so much!!

Thank you very much! I’m glad you enjoy my posts! 💖

That’s a difficult question to answer at this point, since we only have the demo, some teasers, and Sleepy Time Jack to draw hints from. I suspect that there’s a lot more of Joseph’s personality in Jack than he would be comfortable acknowledging.

All of us wear a persona when interacting with other people. It’s just human nature. Most of the time the persona is of the person we want to be rather than who we think we really are deep down. I think that’s Jack’s situation in a nutshell.

Sunny Day Jack is an ideal self Jack wants to be. Joseph is not.

That doesn’t mean Joseph was a bad person, even if he was a troubled teen who struggled to get along with others. He seems to have befriended his co-stars as an adult. He was invited to the wedding of one and called “a good man” by the other. He seemed genuinely concerned about doing right by the children in the interview with the psyche consultant despite mistakes he made when he was a teen.

It seems like Joseph was just a man who made mistakes as a teen. He learned from his mistakes, matured, and was trying to do better in the present after reinventing himself. However, despite his efforts and friendships, being reminded of his life as Joseph now is traumatic for Jack.

We see shades of Joseph disliking his past self in the psyche recording. He reinvented himself by changing at least his last name and running away. Jack is Joseph running away from his past identity and self for a second time. Even in the interview, he seems uncomfortable thinking about his past.

Judging by how some of the comments from his school days still haunt him enough for him as Jack to turn it around onto one of his hypothetical victims, it’s possible that being reminded of his past would cause a similar traumatized reaction.

Hell, for all we know, the yogurt could have reminded Jack of his time as Joseph Cullman and not as [Redacted] Haberdae.

I suspect the Jack persona is, in a way, surface level, much like the makeup, clothes, and wig he wore to dress up as the character when acting. It’s still mostly the same person underneath, but with a much more polished presentation.

Even the birthmark on his cheek is covered up when he’s dressed up. Judging by the same mark appearing on his hypothetical child, that mark could have been inherited from one of his parents as well.

Jack has no tattoos, which Joseph regrets getting. Jack is always happy and cheerful, never getting tired and worn down, needing to get a fix to make it through the day (cigarettes, if not worse). Jack was beloved by so many people across the USA, both young and old. It might be another reason why the interviewer digging for dirt, such as nude photos, set him off.

Sunny Day Jack is “clean” and wholesome. He was the “candy coating” over more unpleasant things on the show, and I think that Jack is the “candy coating” over Joseph in the present day.

The jokes, the positive affirmations, the colorful clothes, the makeup and hair, the squeaky-clean G-rated personality who could never swear... (Heck, he even smells like fresh laundry according to Sauce. The scent of nicotine lingers for a long, long time even after a person quits, so this is a deliberate change as well.) I think these are the parts that make up Sunny Day Jack.

The parts of Joseph that Jack has kept, at least in my opinion, is the more emotional side of him, the unguarded bits. These include his fears of being alone and forgotten, his love for MC, and being so very starved for love and physical affection.

I mean, hell, the fact that Jack makes out with MC and even has sex is absolutely something we can attribute to coming from Joseph rather than Jack. After all, that sort of NC-17 rated behavior is not fitting for a wholesome kids TV host.

Of course there’s also the yandere tendencies. Violence is a bridge too far for Sunny Day Jack, but those urges are there in Joseph. He can justify the sex as another way of expressing love, but hurting someone? Killing someone? He can’t justify that as the character he’s playing. But he needs to get rid of these threats, and he’s just so angry with them for getting in his way. This is why I think he basically talks the person into doing harm to themselves.

Ultimately, I do believe that the person we know as Jack really is Joseph, just lost in his role. Everything ideal about himself is attributed to being Jack. Anything “unclean” is attributed to the person he was before. Jack has reinvented himself as the character, but the core of Joseph is still in there, whether he likes it or not.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars

[junniepop]

JJK men and a male reader

So I died and came back. Now my inbox is filled with a lot of Jujutsu Kaisen stuff with a male reader, so I looked around and noticed there aren't a lot of male writers or even gender neutral ones, meaning that's what I'll be doing for awhile. This first request is...

before I get started, if you'd like to request something, then please see my masterlist

JJK boys with a male s/o

Warnings: aged up and language oh and some nsfw stuff cuz that's what they wanted.

Characters: I. Yuuji, F. Megumi, G. Satoru, N. Kento, R. Sukuna, T. Aoi

I. Yuuji

Isn't hung up by you being male, I feel as Yuuji got older, the more open minded he became. His sexuality was something that evolved as he aged and had a big change in his mid teenage years when he was exploring himself. Into his late teens he began seeing people of all types of representation, he simply did not care how they presented themselves.

That leads us to you, our gorgeous male that has Yuuji simping. All seriousness, this man loves entirely, some might even find it to be smothering. He is the type to text you paragraphs of good morning and goodnight texts, always leaving something for you to eat in the fridge, brings something home because it reminded him of you, and always always makes time to call you before a mission.

Yuuji always has random thoughts about you. Like, "Should I make his favorite tonight?" "I wonder what he's doing." "Oh....that would look so cute on him, should I get it?" "AH this charm has our initials on it! that means it was meant to be!"

If you're a sorcerer, Yuuji d e m a n d s to be your partner on missions and he will have a fit if someone says no. Is constantly stressing himself out over your well being, even if he knows you can handle yourself. always asking about your technique and is amazed every time he sees it. Very protective, stands in front of you a lot and when he see's you struggling he doesn't hesitate to get the curse's attention regardless of his own situation.

Also just because I feel like he would: Yuuji gave you a promise ring when he realized you were the one he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

He has this need to prove to you that he is a fit partner, Like showing you he can cook, has his own place, very responsible with his money and what not.

The type of guy to send you a million snaps a day. He will literally show you everything he did that day and wants the same in return.

Every date with him somehow includes a physical activity. Going out to dinner? chances are Yuuji will see an arcade and more specifically the DDR in the background.

NSFW

In terms of sexual stuff, Yuuji seems like a top, but has definitely thought about bottoming and upon trying it- was not into it. Does not matter if you're much bigger than him or not, he will top you. However, Yuuji is rather submissive when it comes to his partner, he will say yes to whatever it is you want. You want him to be soft and gentle, he'll do it. You want him to absolutely wreck your ability to walk, he'll do it.

The first time Yuuji tried stuff with a guy, he for sure looked up if it would hurt and read that anal could be very painful, was TERRIFIED that he would hurt the guy. Definitely was asking with every movement if he was okay. With you he's more confident, but still askes if you're okay throughout the event.

Man is simple, likes very intimate positions where he can see your face. Heavily into pleasing you, he tries any kinks you're into even if he's not that into it. Loves being praised, it just does something to his brain, in that same line- any sounds you make go straight to his dick. Really enjoys marking, is proud to cover you in them too.

The type of guy to enjoy eating you out, like fully sit on his face. Plus it helps his dick slide in smoother.

Yuuji will lose his mind if you say you want to milk him. Yuuji usually never thinks about his own pleasure, so when you want to pleasure him until he's empty, mans is not readyyyy. Just stutters out an okay and proceeds to go stupid when you start.

Conclusion

Yuuji loves you entirely. Trusts you 100% and would do anything to keep your life stable and happy. Yuuji just wants to grow old with you tbh, so in love with the idea.

If you were to break up with him, he would be devastated, unable to continue on for a long time. I mean he placed his everything into you, why would you do this to him?

all in all, it is a very stable relationship as long as you don't take him for granted because he is prone to letting people use him.

F. Megumi

Definitely did not care you were male. Megumi cares about a person's mentality, their goals and dreams, the way a person carries themselves. When Megumi met you, he found you quite attractive, your drive is what lured him in and from there his feelings developed.

Megumi is subtle in showing his affection. Little touches here, sticky notes meant just for you, always carrying 'extra' snacks. It actually might take you awhile to notice his affections for you, simply because it is so subtle. Megumi seems like the person to wait until you confess. However. Megumi would confess if he gets pushed to or knows he won't get rejected.

Once he confesses, his love is soft and soothing with a hint of awkwardness. Megumi in the beginning would be showing affection through words and small acts of service, always telling you how much he appreciates you and doing things for you. Some of these things would be things like picking up snacks for you, doing your laundry, leaving you some of his clothes. He likes to do these things without you knowing because I think it lessens the embarrassment he feels doing it.

Even if you are in a long term relationship with him, he always gets flustered by you. Megumi is naturally reserved, so telling him I love you with sincerity will cause him to malfunction. Poor boy freezes and stutters around his words while avoiding eye contact.

Now, physical contact in this relationship is a tell tale sign of how much Megumi trusts you and loves you. Megumi is the type of person to reserve physical touch for someone he completely trusts, so with you, this will let you know his true feelings.

Touch would start with closeness at first, just grazing hands or bumping knees, but would develop into hours of intimate cuddling because he's touched starved. KISSING, oh my lord- his kisses tell you everything he feels. so intense, no matter how soft he kisses you.

if you're a sorcerer, Megumi is the type to go on missions with you, but doesn't complain if he can't go with you. However, worries a lot and contemplates going after you. Unlike Yuuji, who would go to literal war, Megumi trusts your strength a lot. The only time he is like yuuji is against a particularly strong curse. Loves fighting together though, it shows how much you trust him.

NSFW

Megumi gives me verse energy. Like he was a top for a long time, asked you if he could bottom once and was surprisingly into it. So now when the mood arises, its whatever you guys are in the mood for. You guys often take turns.

His first time was with you- Megumi just seems like a late bloomer and you were the only person he did stuff with. He's very gentle because he knows it can be painful, I think sexually his fear is not being good enough for you, so give him as much reassurance as you can.

Now this boy is rather kinky despite his personality. Loves when you beg, drives him mad to hear your pleas and whimpers. Likes the pain of you needing something to hold onto when he tops which results in scratches down his back and the pulling of his hair. Doesn't think condoms are necessary because you're the only person for him in his eyes- aka likes breeding. When he bottoms, he enjoys riding and wants to see your face as he does. Do not get it twisted though, he's very much into you messing him up and railing him.

SEND THIS BOY NUDES. DO IT. Mans will sprint home if he has to. Don't do it too often or he'll get used to it. Maybe like once every two-ish weeks. Or better yet do it while he's on a mission. Megumi always tries to answer you, so expecting something serious, he short circuits when its just a pic of you in some underwear he thought he ripped the last time you guys were intimate.

Conclusion

Shy boy into some kinky things with his partner. It might take him some time to develop a deep relationship with you because he's scared you'll leave, but as long as you provide him the security he needs, he'll stay by your side indefinitely.

If you were to break up with him, you're just like his dad in his eyes and the betrayal would result in him locking many people out. Unlike Yuuji, who's emotions pour out of him, many wouldn't know Megumi is barely scrapping by.

G. Satoru

Gojo doesn't give a rats ass how you present yourself, he lives by the motto "a hole's a hole." What truly would make Gojo invest in more than casual hooking up is your personality. Gojo needs someone who doesn't need him and doesn't care about who he is in the sorcerer world. Someone like that would capture his eye rather quick and this man is like "Eh? I'm GOJO SATORU, you know top dog?" and you would just blink and go back to whatever it was you were doing.

Shows off so much trying to impress you. "ne ne (Y/n) did you see me squash that special grade into dust?" *sigh* "Yes Gojo, I also saw you split one into a thousand pieces and turn another into a ball." so unamused by his abilities.

The one time he saw amazement cross your features is when he was playing the piano (I feel Gojo's other talents were never looked at and everyone saw him as this god like being, all he wants is someone to look at other things he can do.) and his heart skipped a beat. Because his first goal was just get into your pants, he was quite surprised you were more interested in his normal talents. This is where he begins showing you his real side, still a teasing man child, but he begins asking you about your interests and seeing what you have in common.

The more he learns, the harder it is for him to find a way not to commit to you. You see Gojo subconsciously looks for a reason to leave, he hates being tied down and is super flighty. Then there's you, ticking all his boxes without even knowing it. There's only been one person to do that.

So he takes a leap and goes for it. He's still scared that he'll get burned like last time, but he's willing to try.

One of the requirements to being with Gojo is you need to be strong in your own right. Gojo is an extremely powerful man with many enemies, so his partner must be able to handle themselves. Being a sorcerer, Gojo would B E G you to go with him on literally every single mission and would throw the biggest tantrum until you say yes. Sometimes when he's being particularly childish, he'll stop fighting the curses to watch you do it. "You can do it (Y/n)-chan, if you win I'll give you kisses." Takes everything in your power not to launch your technique right at him as he sits there with his shit-eating grin.

This man in the beginning of your relationship is immediately extremely handsy. Just all up on you all the time, but little do you know is, this is really a protective measure for when you're out of the house. At home, he's still handsy, but you can just feel how different it is. He'll come and fall asleep on you, stand behind you when you're doing your skincare routine, always following you around the house.

Overtime, you'll become his place to rest when he needs to recharge. You're the only time Gojo gets a break from being at the top. It makes you wonder if he ever truly gets to be normal.

Overall, Gojo's love is deceptively delicate because his personality is quite childish, he uses it as a mask to hide how he's really feeling. So you might think everything is going swimmingly until he ups and leaves you. Once he starts showing you that real side of him, that's when you have him wrapped around your finger.

NSFW

This man is incredibly horny. His stamina is very high and he's very kinky. Gojo is a dominant verse whore. It doesn't matter if he's taking or giving, he's always in control. Honey you were not first and you might not be the last, this man is very confident in pleasuring you.

Gojo like I said, is incredibly kinky. He enjoys degrading you, overstimulating you until you beg him to stop, he wants to break you and make you only crave him. Seriously, you might want to think about a safe word because this man won't stop until you're not even speaking coherent sentences. In saying that there are somethings that you can try (key word 'try') to do to make him lose his mind. One of those things is a blowjob, his dick is incredibly sensitive in certain areas, so he'll become a mind-numbed mess if you're good enough. Another is softly begging in his ear and saying how he's the only one who makes you feel this way aka call him your god in bed and he'll bust right then and there.

Phone sex. Legit will call you if you guys haven't been together for a few days and all you hear are his whines and groans. "Guess what I'm doing cutie~"

THIS MAN- you're never safe to answer your phone because one time you opened the snap and it was him lazily jacking his dick. You have a small heart attack every time the notif is a snap from Gojo, just praying you can open it in public and 9/10 you can't.

The type of guy to get handsy in public places. Just in your ear like "Baby pleeeeasssseeeee can we fuck in public, I promise you'll still be able to walk when I'm done."

Conclusion

Gojo is a rollercoaster of a relationship that needs it's rider to be okay with a lot of distance for awhile and sudden disappearances. Without the right criteria, the relationship is doomed to fail.

If you were to break up with him, he would immediately sleep with as many people as he can to numb himself from the pain of having a hole ripped right through him. He'd go back to that childish personality, but you can feel the edge in his words despite his tone.

N. Kento

Nanami gives me 'gave up on the sex of my partner ages ago' energy. Like he has tried relationships with a lot of people and realized all people suck. So you being a man means nothing to him, you just have to prove to him you're not shitty like everyone else.

The type of guy that takes you out on proper dates in the beginning. It's usually dinner because of his job, but sometimes he'll ask you to lunch. Nanami will bring you small gifts like flowers or Knick knacks he thought you'd like.

Nanami likes someone a little younger than himself, probably around 23-24, they still have that idealistic thought process but with realistic foundations. He likes someone who can be serious, but still enjoys things like joyrides or going out bowling.

Nanami is a very uptight guy, so you're going to have to work to get him to relax. When you do, this is when he starts to see you as long time partner rather than someone who is just for fun. Literally goes from stick up his ass, to a big softie that just wants to curl up in bed with you. He'll start smiling more and doing intimate things like bathing together.

Nanami would probably rather have someone outside the sorcerer world so he doesn't have to think about work when he sees you. He wouldn't complain if you were though, gives him a lot less to worry about since he knows you can handle yourself. Doesn't even stress when you go on missions by yourself, he respects your strength.

NSFW

Now Nanami is moderately kinky. He's definitely a top and will not change. He's into ddlb (dom daddy and little boy for my innocents out there.) Very much into control and making you take it, he's not one for brats and will tame that shit right out of you. Doesn't need a safe word, he's very good at gauging your reactions. Really really into deep throating and you better learn how to breathe or you'll be struggling. Likes breeding, so he would be glad you can't have children.

Conclusion

Nanami’s love is traditional and straight forward. He likes routine to a certain degree and that degree ends at stable relationship, everything else is not that fun without a level of risk to him, but he likes that when he comes home, you'll be right there.

if you were to break up with him, Nanami would sigh and say he told himself so. He's hurt, but it'll solidify that people are still and always will be shitty.

R. Sukuna

Sukuna does not do love. period. The only way I could see him giving notice to someone is if they are powerful, someone who can bring him amusement. Sukuna only does thing for his own entertainment end of discussion.

I’m going to be using post-Yuuji Sukuna, so he’s restricted by Yuuji himself and can’t outright cause chaos at all times. This way Sukuna has to spend more time with people than he’d like to, normally he would just kill something once he’s bored, but now he has to deal with them.

Noticed your technique through Yuuji and was amused, much like Megumi, he thought your curse technique had a lot of potential to be devastating. As Yuuji spent more time with you, Sukuna began noticed more things about you, like that you cooked better than Yuuji, were extremely versatile in battle with your technique and so on.

The type to notice your attraction to him and act on it. He can’t really do much since he’s in Yuuji’s body, so he’s going to work with what he’s got. Didn’t care if you’re male or female, he just likes a strong partner so he can go harder during sex.

Your relationship would start with being his toy, something to bring him pleasure that is all. With Sukuna, you must both respect him and not fear him. He’s very big on respect and trust, but hates when someone he views as ‘important’ fears him because they’ll betray him the second they can. Everyone else can fear him, he doesn’t care.

Sukuna is also highly unpredictable and unstable, be prepared for death at a moments notice tbh. He’ll kill you if he feels like it. In a deeper relationship, Sukuna is a hard pressed tsundere, saying things quite harshly. Saying things like, “Here brat, I don’t need you breaking just yet.” “Dumbass, that curse was stronger than you.” “I took care of them because you’re weak.”

Trust between Sukuna and you is a game of high stakes chess, one wrong move and you’re nothing but trash to him. However, succeed in earning his trust and you’ll be rewarded with a loyal man. Though Sukuna hates showing vulnerability, so he’ll treat you the same in public places that he would treat anyone else. Alone, he’s alright with whatever as long as it doesn’t annoy him.

Surprisingly protective. He’ll kill curses he deems are a problem to you or rip a person limb from limb if he found a hair missing from your head. Doesn’t understand why you don’t let him handle it, he’s way stronger than you.

Is almost never soft with you unless he’s extremely tired or just waking up. Holding you as close as he can and telling you not to go. Don’t bring it up either, he’ll end you if you tell anyone.

Will never tell you, but likes touching you, you’re very soft compared to him. He’s the type of guy to have callous from years of fight and doesn’t really care about his skin to much because he’s a God in his eyes.

Would rather surrender himself to a church than admit he gets slightly giddy when you remember small details about him. Like this man has a lot of history, so when you know a tiny random detail about him, his non-existent heart shutters a little.

Nsfw

This man is extremely kinky during sex. I pray for your well being because honestly I don’t know if you’re going to live through sex with him. A dom top period, that last person to even insinuate they could top him was added to his innate domain permanently.

He’s into completely dominating you and make sure you know he owns you. B I G into impact play, slapping you a lot until you’re a beautiful red. Degrading and humiliating you, honestly would let people watch so they know that you’re his property.

Actually really likes his partner to be a brat, man loves breaking you and turning you into a submissive bunny just for him. Honestly he just likes pushing people beyond their limits, like really into emotional play, he wants to see your expressions when he does something. Ooo objectification, will use you like a foot stool and sit on you. Man in general will work you hard.

In saying all that, immaculate aftercare because he knows your mind is too far gone to remember him being this caring and soft for you. Literally bathes you and gets you into bed curled up on him. Also makes sure your body didn’t sustain a lot of damage during sex.

Do. Not. Taunt. Sukuna. It will not end well. “Huuuh? You think you can handle more little boy?” Eyes narrowed and smile too tight. You’ve awoken the beast and he’s not going to leave anything unbroken.

Conclusion

Sukuna’s love is... well a bike ride through hell? To be honest you’ll never know if he loves you. Everything about him is highly unpredictable and dangerous, you could end up as worm food in seconds.

Breaking up with Sukuna... you’re joking right? You don’t have the balls to tell a man who could split you into a million pieces with a flick of the wrist, you’re breaking up with him , right?

Seriously he’ll kill you, no hesitation. It’s either realize you’re stuck with him or die. I think most people would assume he never cared at first, but he did care and now you want to leave him? Absolutely not. He set everything down for you and he’ll be damned if he lets you live without him.

T. Aoi

(First and foremost- why is it so hard to find Toudou headers.)

Okay, I’m sorry but Toudou to me is a straight guy, so I can’t really see him with a male. But, if it were to happen, I think it would go like this:

Being childhood friends with Toudou, you were used to his eccentric personality and sometimes extreme antics.

This man is EXTREMELY comfortable with you. You guys grew up together, so some of the things you guys do together would definitely be seen as way too much for friends. I’m talking sharing the same bed, bathing together, using each other’s things without permission. To you guys, you’ve been doing this since you were little, so neither of you think twice.

I think there would be a trigger that would make Toudou realize he’s more into you than being friends. Like maybe someone flirting with you, he’d at first think he’s being replaced as a friend, but it’s much deeper than that. Definitely debates in his head about what he’s feeling toward you. After going back and forth with his type of girl in his head, he’ll come to terms with it.

This is when he’ll start noticing things he’s never payed that much attention to before. Things like how small you’re compared to him, the way clothes fitted to your body, how pretty you actually were and most important difference- how he’s never noticed you have the fattest ass he’s ever seen.

Seriously this man’s sexuality went from women to women + you.

Toudou isn’t the type to wait either, as soon as he knows how he feels, he confesses. He’s the type of guy to say “take it or leave it, that is how I feel.”

You kinda just stand there. Like, huh? Toudou are you feeling okay? Have- have you been cursed? There’s no way, Toudou middle name pussy pounder Aoi just said he was into you romantically... right?

After the shock, you reciprocated his feelings and began dating.

Now, this man- S U P E R affectionate and devoted. Always wanting to hold hands or link arms. He loves cuddling and playing with your hair while you sleep on him. Puddy in your hands if you give him a massage.

Toudou is immensely dedicated. He knows your favorite foods down to the amount of salt you use on your fries, knows what sizes you prefer for hoodies, shirts, button ups and so on, and this man knows your favorite movies by heart.

He’s the type to buy you something simply because you said it was starting to give you problems.

Lovvvvessss dates. I mean he’s a hopeless romantic, he wants to take you on really cheesy dates that you’d see honeymoon couples go on.

The type to want to match clothing or jewelry.

If you’re a sorcerer, he’s wanting to train everyday, he likes seeing you in action. Double points if you can match him in strength too. He respects your strength enough to not worry about you, he’s confident in his S/o’s abilities.

NSFW

Top. Enough said. Ok but seriously, he wants to clap you cheeks so bad.

Toudou has the biggest size kink too, I’m talking like he’s the type to point right at your navel and say “I’m right here baby~ can you feel me filling you?”

His definitely into railing. His favorite position is the mating press, allows him to hit deeply and as hard as he wants.

Lovesss when you whine and beg. He wants to see how much you can take before your begging him to let you cum.

The type of guy to leave your ass a nice reddish purple color. Just two big ass hand prints on you ass and hips.

✨i m m a c u l a t e✨ aftercare. It’s almost like he’s worshipping you when he’s cleaning you up and making sure you’re taken care of.

Conclusion

Being with Toudou is like being with an Aries, he’s high energy and can get easily bored. He enjoys someone who excites him both mentally and physically. Loves a challenge. Toudou’s love is like a concentrated ball of sunlight, it’s hot and bright. He’s overly devoted to you and tells you how much you mean to him all the time.

If you break up with him, he’s the type to hold his head high until he’s alone and then he breaks down, crying into his hands. Thinking, “Was I too much?” “Maybe I wasn’t enough?” He’s confident, but he’s still a person with insecurities.

[shinaus]

DOMESTICITY: BNHA

haikyuu version: here | jujutsu kaisen: here

a/n: considering the time we've all been through this past year, i thought it would be nice to bring about some small comforts that come with staying at home. it's also partly a brain dump after discussing keigo's portion with my angel @keigobaby, so shoutout to andi too <3

themes: fluff, established relationships, living together

characters: midoriya, todoroki, bakugo, kirishima, denki, sero, shinso, mirio, tamaki, aizawa hawks & dabi

MIDORIYA ➷: he enjoys writing as an adult, especially in your company. due to the fact he was so engrossed with hero knowledge at a young age, he lives with a lot on his mind - so writing or journaling helps him to unwind. there's a whole new level of happiness within him whenever you ask what topic he's chosen, so expect to be sat in his knee as he tells you all about it.

TODOROKI ➷ : quality time with you is something that is incredibly important to him, which he comes to find when he seeks you out even when completing the smallest of tasks. if you have any chores that need finished, he's right there with you to help. his favourite is helping you organise laundry, especially when he catches a few of his shirts in your pile. whenever he does it alone, he's always sure to include a hoodie for you to wear too.

BAKUGO ➷: contrary to popular belief of his old classmates, he actually enjoys the odd late night. if he's come home from a hard day all he'll ask of you is that you can watch a movie together, though it comes with a condition you've come to accept. if you want him to pay attention to whatever you have playing, you have to be lying on top of him on the couch. he finds it the most comforting, able to run his hand over your back or into your hair mindlessly. the result of which, typically ends in him carrying you to bed.

KIRISHIMA ➷: a man of self care, truly. though one thing he finds to sometimes be a nuisance is keeping his hair it's signature deep red colour. so he finds himself in the bathroom with you fairly frequently, eyes closed as you help bring the colour back into his deep roots. you make it that much more enjoyable, especially when you indulge him in trying out one of the many hair masks he had bought for you both to try together.

DENKI ➷: with a sense of humour like his, it's easy to spend hours goofing around with you. which is exactly what you end up doing on free nights, in the form of watching old cheesy game shows together. both of you take it relatively seriously, shouting out the answers or having fake buzzers to amp up the competition. sometimes he even shouts out the wrong answer on purpose, since there's no rush that could compare to the one that your laugh gives him.

SERO ➷: everything about him brings a sense of comfort to you, whether that be in the way he stands with open arms when you return home or cracks a joke to lift your spirits. on nights like those, you both find solace in watching reruns of shows you both enjoy - although not in the conventional way one might think, rather one where the volume has long been on mute. the two of you cracking up over the new storylines and dialogue you create for the same characters you're well aware of.

SHINSO ➷: with a voice like his, he knows what times to use it best. some nights the both of you love to talk, but can't find much to say. it's times like these where he grabs the book he leaves at his bedside table, bringing your head to rest in his lap while he reads a few chapters to you. the room fills with the sound of him, finding yourself unable to stop the smile you give him whenever he checks on you every few pages.

MIRIO ➷: shared interests is something he appreciates greatly in being with you, being able to talk freely for hours about what the two of you enjoy keeping up with. if he were to pick a favourite, it would be your love of manga or physical copies of books. the feeling of pages between his fingers is well loved, which is why some days he'll come home after a visit to a local bookstore. though he always lets you read it first, before insisting that you cuddle together and commentate while he does not long after.

TAMAKI ➷: as someone who finds words hard to come by, filling the silence is often something that brings him solace. whether or not you're both working on something together or apart - he had found he quite enjoyed podcasts filling the space of your apartment. it made him feel lighter, the pressure of conversation lifted in place of someone else making it for him. as long as he could have you in his arms at any point while he listened, he was happy. even moreso content.

AIZAWA ➷: after having long days apart thanks to work, some he ends off with a trip to the grocery store before he gets home to you. something you find he comes home with much more frequently, is hair or body products for you both - seemingly coincidentally all with similar scents. you enjoy them nonetheless, never bringing up how much more frequently you notice him nuzzling into your hair when you fall asleep together after he's been gone so long.

HAWKS ➷: being a man not often granted free time, he takes full advantage whenever he knows he has a day off with you. one thing he loves is video games, likely from the lack of which he had as a child. he could spend the whole day on the couch with you sat between his legs, blankets tightly wrapped around you both as you show him one of the newest games you've purchased. there's no level of relaxation quite like you taking him around your little island or farm, the content expression he carries every time evidence of that.

DABI ➷: at first he'll refuse to admit it, but he enjoys watching you do your skincare routine before you go to bed at night. while you're stood at the sink, he'll wrap his arms around you from behind and just watch intently - chin on your shoulder. after some coaxing for a good while on your end you get him in on it, starting off with some small amounts of toner or moisturizer since you know how little he cares about it. there's a certain softness in his expression in particular when you put any new treatments or creams on his scars, allowing himself to be vulnerable with you since he trusts you and be treated with so much care.

[wittyrosebush]

Dream SMP Reacting to a Witch!Hybrid

Pronouns: they/them

Includes: Dream, Quackity, Wilbur, qnd Tommy (PLATONIC)

Warnings: Meantion of drugs, swearing

A/N: This is based off of the canon characters and is set in the time of the Pogtopia/Manburg war!!! I might write a second part if this goes well. Also, this is the first thing I have written for this fandom, so I hope I get the character personalities correct. This is not beta read, so please don't attack me on my poor grammar skills. 😅

I hope you all enjoy!!! 💙

Dream

He was mining when he first met you

Dream heard a malicious cackle on the dark side of the cave and slowly drew his sword

He decided to charge towards the strange noise and was quickly met with an invisible body under him

He furrowed his brows and felt the body shuffle out from under him

"BEGONE STRANGE MAN"

"... excuse me?"

After a moment, Y/N's potion has worn off

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck-"

Dream chuckled and put away his sword, deciding the person in front of him wasn't a threat

After Y/n calmed down, the two had a talk, explaining the situation

Turns out, you had thought of a joke while mining for redstone (hence the laughter)

"So where is your hat and huge nose? You are really attractive for a witch."

"Luckily, I got my attributes from my father. What was that last part?."

"Wait, what about your hat?"

"I haven't done laundry in a few days.... hold up did you just say I was attractive?"

Ever since then Dream has had you by his side partly because he is a little clingy creating potions for him and the rest of the dream team

"How do you feel about cursing children?"

"I'm not that kind of witch, Dream."

"But what if he was being a little blonde bitch?"

"DREAMWASTAKEN I SWEAR TO GOD-"

Loves bringing you stuff to use for your projects

Need blaze rods for a new brewing stand? Done.

Need lapis lazuli so you have a chance for better communication? Done.

Anything you want? Done.

He will literally go to the nether for a few hours and come back with his arms full of whatever you need

And if you don't need anything or just need to take a break, he'll spend the day taking you anywhere that he think you would be happiest

He has you make him a lot of potions, bragging to everyone on the server how much better at creating potions you are

"Y/n's potions last longer, are more effective, prettier-"

"Are you sure? I think-"

"Tell me what you think, I fuckin dare you >:( ."

Overall, he is your #1 supporter

Quackity

The day had been long, dealing with Schlatt definitely tires a guy out after 5 minutes

On his walk on the outskirts of the Manburg wall, he spotted a suspicious row of blaze powder leading to the woods

Dawning his armor and a sword, he followed the trail to a small hut

He could see the outline of someone in the hut nervously pacing around

Deciding what he thought was the best possible option, he knocked on the door of the hut

There was immediately the sound of glass bottles falling on the floor and muffled words

Soon, the door swung open to reveal a disheveled being with a nervous grin

And Quackity went from tough to awkward

"C-Can I help you with something?"

"Uh, do you waNT SOME DRUGS?"

"ExCuSe Me?!"

Everything was going to shit

After a moment of awkward staring, a glass bottle tumbled off the brewing stand

Upon focusing on what was going on behind the two people trying and failing to act normal, they both saw that every brewing stand was on fire

"ARE YOU ACTUALLY MAKING DRUGS?!"

"NO I'M JUST REALLY BAD AT THIS POTION."

Finally putting the fire out together, the two looked at their now soot stained clothes

The witch hybrid ran a hand through their hair and sighed

"Well this is completely ruined."

Quackity frowned a little hesitant to offer his help

"If you need to you could borrow some brewing stands-"

"Really? *-* "

On the walk back to Manburg, you explained who you were

Quackity was still a little confused

"Wait but what potion were you even brewing?"

"Fire resistance."

He immediately burst out laughing, which ended up with you slapping his arm repeatedly

Eventually, you two became the definition of the "friends to lovers" trope

You often helped him de-stress after stressful days in office with Schlatt

He'd try whatever you recommended

"I'd suggest putting quartz on your nightstand."

"Cool!"

Later that night, you forgot something at his house

Once you walked into his house, you could see stacks of quartz next to his bed.

He really trusted any advice you could give him

And on days where people would criticize you for being part witch?

Big Q will attack anyone

Even if he knows he will lose

And at random parts of the day he'll just tell you oddly inspirational thoughts

"You are a bad bitch, dare I say a bad witch. Own that shit."

"That is oddly motivational, thank you. :) "

Wilbur

The former president was strolling along the side of a river, trying to form a coherent plan of action

Upon noticing a person trudging out of the water fumbling with glass bottles, Wilbur jogged over to them and put a careful hand on their shoulder

"Are you okay?"

The person moved the soggy hat out of their face and smiled

"Yeah, I just fell in the water while trying to fill up some of the bottles, but thanks for checking on me!"

He hummed in response, wondering why he was already so interested in the being before him

"Well I should probably get going, but thank you!"

"Wait! What's you name?"

"It's Y/n, and you are..?"

"Wilbur Soot, it was an honor meeting you, Y/n."

This man spent the rest of the night thinking about you and who the hell you were

He didn't know much about the mysterious person, but he did know that they were one of the most alluring people he had met in a long time

It was weeks since he saw you, Wilbur nearly gave up searching

That was until you walked into him on a rainy day

The brunette immediately went in defensive position and pulled the stranger to his chest, despite the dampened clothes

"Um, Mr. Soot?"

He looked down to see you and his face lit up

"Y/n! It's a pleasure to see you again."

He took a small step back and kissed your hand

No one can convince me that Wilbur "Gentleman" Soot does not flirt by giving hand kisses

The two went into Pogtopia and Wilbur almost immediately wrapped his coat around you

"What were you doing out there? The rain is coming down so hard you must not have been able to see well."

"I was going to ask if I could borrow a few golden carrots for a potion I'm making."

Wilbur nodded and walked towards the stared and whisper shouted down

"TOMMY BRING ME SOME GOLDEN CARROTS!"

"BUT WILBUR, I-"

"PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME LOOK BAD IN FRONT OF THE STUNNING WITCH!"

The boy at the bottom of the stairs grumbled and the tall man sat next to you once more

After a few minutes of Wilbur fawning over everything you did, a blonde male walked up the steps and glared at Wilbur as he handed you the carrots

"Simp..."

Wilbur dramatically gasped as you chuckled next to him

You eventually started coming over to Pogtopia practically every day

Most of the time it was to see Wilbur, but the rest of your time was spent creating potions for the war

As the nation grew, you were brought out of your shell more with Wilbur introducing you to everyone

He didn't want you to feel uncomfortable in a new place

You often walked along the same riverbank where you met

You have definitely pushed each other off a few times

He keeps small things that you enjoy on him at all times

He keeps a tiny bottle of sand from the river you met at, a piece of your old robe, and so much more in his pockets

Whenever he feels like he's in a dark place or justneeds to ground himself he takes out one of the items and just holds it close.

Mans is so in love

Tommy

He met you in the nether while you were farming netherwart

The blonde was thrilled to find a new fortress and decided to raid it before reinforcements came

Seeing a sleeping figure next to a bed of sould sand, he took a few congident steps forward

Once close enough, he poked you with the stick

"You good?"

"I was good when I was asleep."

"AYE I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD SO-"

After arguing for what felt like hours, you both stormed off to find both exits being blocked by wither skeletons

Tommy had gotten beaten up pretty bad after the fight so you took him back to your hut to get all patched up

"I didn't even need your help. I'm tougher than I look."

"You legitimately passed out twice on the way here."

"HOW DARE YOU, I WAS RESTING MY EYES!"

After a few hours of healing and a ton of laighter, you two became the most chaotic duo in the smp

This british raccoon child would often steal small potions to pull pranks

But unless they were really important and you needed them back, you'd always join in on the pranks

He tried to get you to make a potion using the 'Tubbo Bath Water' one time

It did not end well

At the point in your friendship where you revealed you were a hybrid, Tommy was so confused

"That makes no sense, witches are still humans, right?"

"Yeah..?"

"So how does that make you a hybrid?"

👁👄👁

"Listen here you little shit-"

He likes to show you off to anyone that can listen

"You think you're special? HA! I have a best friend that is part witch and they will kick your ass. >:)"

He is really interested in everything you do but will never ask

But if you tell him about what you're doing unprovoked?

Tommy would get so happy

He is so excited to learn what you have to teach and would be one of the best friends ever

[glitch-zero]

Brahms Heelshire Nsfw Alphabet

A: Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)

Oh, he’ll let you clean up, usually. But keep in mind that sex always will end in cuddles. No doubt about it. Even if you get up to shower, Brahms willl go and follow you in eventually, demanding as usual.

B: Bodypart (Their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Brahms loves his chest. His broad shoulders too. Makes him look all mighty and strong, which isn’t a lie.

Brahms also really likes it when you lay on said chest and shoulders.

His partner?... he can’t decide. Whatever he can hold and/or fondle is fair game in his eyes.

…

Though he does like a nice rack. And love handles.

C: Cum (anything to do with cum)

Even if he’s caught up in the heat of the moment, Brahms still somewhat of a gentleman and will warn you when he’s about to bust one so you can avoid it; or direct it away from your face.

Though if given permission, this man will nut in you every chance he gets. He much prefers to fill you.

D: Dirty Secret (Pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Oh. Oh, this man is into watching you do everything. He’ll jerk off into your underwear while watching you shower. He’s a stinky man that can get away with jerking off behind a wall.

E: Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

Not experienced at all, but all that lack of sex in his earlier years makes it seem like he’s real good.

All that awkwardness dissolves once you get him going. If he’s on top, he can take the reigns.

F: Favorite Position (This goes without saying)

If you asked Brahms, (with the knowledge that he’ll freeze up and blush so hard his mask turns all hot), he would say he wouldn’t know. Whatever gets the job done.

But he does enjoy holding his partner’s hands. He’s adamant about that.

G: Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

Brahms takes it pretty seriously. And even if he’s making a silly face during, it’s not going to stop him from drilling into you till you scream bloody murder.

H: Hair (How well-groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Have you seen this man. Do you think this man, having an ungroomed head of hair, a thick ass beard, chest hair so thick it makes him sweat, has perfectly hairless junk.

He’s swamped down there.

I: Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Very intimate. Brahms loves proving how much he adores you. How much he wants to make sweet love to you. Now, he isn’t as poetic as that, but he loves to make sure you’re appreciated every second you’re screwing.

This man cannot fuck. He makes love that just happens to also include fucking your brains out.

J: Jack/Jill Off (Masturbation headcanon)

This man has the whole inner walls of the house to himself. He can drop trou and crank one out whenever he wishes, moaning as loud as he wants.

Then again, if you’re in the same room (expanded on letter K), he’ll pipe down and won’t be as vigorous.

K: Kink (One or more of their kinks)

MAJOR VOYEUR. As I’ve said, this man can watch anyone and anything at all times behind the walls. He loves to watch you masturbate, hear you moan, hear you at your most private. Double points if you moan his name. (He actually might barrel out of the wall and spice things up, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

As much hype Brahms gives watching others, he doesn’t like to be watched. He likes to be in control, and he just doesn’t want to be spectated. Give this poor man some head.

Brahms’s other kinks include mild choking and clothing fetishism. He does like biting, but you’re going to have to fish that kink out of him. He’ll kill a man but there’s no way he’ll bite his beloved without consent.

L: Location (Favorite places to do the do)

You’re alone in this giant mansion. You’re getting that Brahms cock everywhere.

But his favorite place? His room. He loves it, makes him feel good. Surrounded by his territory. You both are safe here, no one’s getting caught, even if it were possible.

M: Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

He’s so easy to turn on. Brahms is so touched starved it’s not even funny at this point. Just tell him he looks ‘kinda hot’ and you’ve earned yourself a clingy, horny Brahms for the rest of the day.

N: NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

Please don’t degrade him, oh my god he’s going to cry. He needs to be praised, he needs to be reinforced, tell what he’s doing is good. It’s more rewarding anyway for both parties.

Don’t light candles/use candle wax either, that should be a given. You can probably get away with incense, but even still.

O: Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

Brahms enjoys head as much as the next guy, but the moment you show him some new trick or maneuver he’ll enjoy it a whole lot more. He’s a very dramatic receiver and will not stop looking at you. Hope you like eyes being burned into the crown of your head.

Don’t underestimate his giving skills though. He’s not well versed in oral, but the moment he hits your sweet spot he’s going to absolutely pounce on it. He can feign skill pretty well.

P: Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

It all depends on how he’s feeling; Brahms doesn’t choose one over the other. His sweet innocent voice makes it seem like the latter, but don’t be surprised when you get the pounding of your life. It’s just how he is, be ready for both (unless you explicitly ask)!

Q: Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

He doesn’t mind a quickie! He’ll bend you over the dining table or pin you to the laundry room wall. Brahms is a big pushover though, and if you want to take it to the bedroom, he’ll carry you right over!

Brahms also enjoys quickies for the sake of how many positions can he get you in! All depends on the room.

R: Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

Not much to risk, unfortunately. Living in a big empty house, far away from the big city. He could fuck you on that tiny balcony as much as he wants, but there’s no risk of you both getting caught (plus it’s England and cold, don’t do it outside hello).

If there was a chance, even, he’s game. He’s been jerking off in the walls for years now without so much as a peep, he knows he can shush.

S: Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

He’s always satisfied with a single round, but you better be in for the long haul if you want to wear him out for good. He loves your enthusiasm! But don’t be surprised if on round four you’re exhausted. Your determination is funny to Brahms, but he’s a horny man!

T: Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Brahms totally would have a fleshlight, wouldn’t he. He’d be a creep and fix your underwear on it. But I don’t think he’d own one; he prefers to not leave the house and his parents would never buy such a crude item.

I think vibrators would be too overwhelming. He’d be happy to try, though. He’ll always humor you!

U: Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Fuck yes, Brahms loves to tease. He’ll grab your waist, tickle your neck with his beard. He won’t take his mask off, but you can feel his hot breath emanating from inside.

He haaates being teased though. He gets all huffy, he immediately thinks that you want sex now, but when you step away to make lunch is the moment he gets cranky. How can you leave him like this!!! You know how easily worked up he gets!!!

V: Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make)

Very. Sure, you’d think Brahms prefers to be quiet during his life in the walls, but he’s just a ball of loud moans, ranging in severity. His voice gets all loud and squeaky, begging and whining, you’d wonder if he’s crying at this point.

W: Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice)

Hugs are the only thing that doesn’t rile him up. He recognizes that hold as something sweet, something to treasure, something he’s never felt in so long. Brahms loves to be doted on.

Unless you buck on his hips. Oho, don’t get him started.

X: X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants)

Bushy man. Decently thick. Perfectly rounded tip that has a slight curve. Cut. Seven inches when hard. Sports a noticeable thick vein trailing on the side.

Y: Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)

Everything gets him hard. It’s not difficult to turn him on, just looking at his junk can make a night different.

Z: ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

Most of the time, he’ll park himself on the nearest nappable surface and pass out with you.

[petriquors]

— five love languages (ft. sugawara koushi)

❤ boys !! timeskip!sugawara

❤ genre !! character study

❤ author notes !! is this self indulgent? yes.

❤ physical touch !! 

sugawara isn’t actually the touchiest person on the planet. pda starts and ends for him with holding hands, maybe slinging an arm around your shoulders or resting it on the back of your chair. at home, he’s happy to cuddle, to snuggle up next to you with a movie on, or maybe he’ll grab your hands and start playing with your fingers, but he’s absolutely not a handsy person unless he has a purpose (like keeping you close, encouraging you, etc.). and once again, suga’s kisses are either perfectly sweet or incredibly spicy; he has no in-between, but you can always tell exactly what he wants based on how he kisses and touches you!

❤ quality time !!

this is sugawara’s primary love language! even before you started dating, he realized that he had feelings for you because of how much he wants to spend his time with you: walking or driving you home, (if you’re coworkers) always sitting beside you in meetings, looking for excuses to come to you with questions or tell you about this funny thing that happened to him. after you start dating, it gets grander and more deliberate: if you ask sugawara what the best thing he could do with a day off is, he’d say that he wants to travel somewhere new and quiet with you so he can have you all to himself. at home, he makes time for you with an unwavering consistency: you cook dinner together whenever you can, you watch an episode or two of a show together before bed, he even sits in the same room as you when he’s grading just so he can be around you, breathing the same air and enjoying each other’s presence.

❤ acts of service !! 

and here’s sugawara’s secondary love language, which ties into his primary; in order to have the most possible time to spend talking with you or relaxing with you, he goes out of his way to get chores done extra fast – including your chores. was it your job to do the laundry this week? nope, he threw a load in before taking his shower. you needed some groceries for dinner? he stopped by the store near his school so you can cook together on time. he’s also perfectly happy to drive you places, even to the point of getting a little offended if you suggest taking the train home from a night out or taking the taxi to the airport. he can drive you! he’s happy to! just let him have this, so he can make sure you’re safe while stealing a few extra minutes of your time.

❤ words of affirmation !! 

he’s not great at this, to be honest. love is a feeling he struggles to put words to, so he isn’t a person who says “i love you” frequently. but, what he does do to encourage or affirm you is give amazing advice. if you’re struggling with something at work, he very much wants to sit and listen to you, no distractions, and try to either give you ideas to make it better or gently point out all the wonderful things about you that mean you can handle this yourself. he’s also one to send cute texts on hard days; if you have an important meeting at work, and you told him about it, he’ll send you a “you’re going to do great!” text with a funny sticker or even a selfie. his encouragement gives off dad vibes, but he’s trying, and that’s what matters most.

❤ gift-giving !! 

gift-giving is neither sugawara’s strong suit, nor something he considers doing reflexively. he actually struggles with birthday and holiday presents to the point where he keeps a note in his phone with a list of all of his friends and things that they’ve passively mentioned wanting throughout the year just so he can get something people will actually like. with gifts, he’s a little hopeless, so don’t expect random little presents, flowers, or anything of the sort. gifts from sugawara might be bringing you coffee in bed or booking a couples’ trip because he has a hard time finding “that one perfect thing” to symbolize your relationship when the time comes, so he’s focused instead on giving you things that make your life easier or things that can become new memories you make together.

[an-aura-about-you]

fuck it, I'm gonna bitch about the book.

possible spoilers for the first half of Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King but honestly this is gonna be pretty spoiler lite. Also to clarify: a friend loaned me her physical copy of the book, but I was struggling with actually reading it, so I borrowed an audio copy from my library. I refer to both in my rant.

So here's what we've got for the story: the action's set in a small Appalachian town during a strange global sleeping pandemic. (This came out in 2017.) But the thing about the pandemic is it only affects women. We're just gonna put a pin in that for the moment. Anyway, the people who fall asleep begin generating this webbing around them like cocoons. If someone cuts or tears the webbing away, the sleeping people wake up in a violent rage and mindlessly attacks whoever is there before going back to sleep. There are a ton of characters in this thing, but most of the action is taking place in a local women's prison and most of the characters are prisoners, police, or people related to the police or otherwise working in the women's prison.

Before I get to some of the big gripes, I'm going to actually talk about issues I have with the story itself. The first thing I noticed is that it's extremely repetitive. We've got four pages of characters when they're all listed out. (I know this because the book has four pages dedicated to listing them out.) And every single bleeding character has to have an encounter with the sickness they end up calling Aurora. Now that idea by itself is a good thing: I want to see the characters reacting to this. But I don't need the book acting like I don't know what the sleeping and the cocoons are every single time we do this. I understand that there are characters that don't know, but just because they have to go through the step by step of "What The Hell Is That?" doesn't mean I need to go through it again. Surely we can cut some of this down.

I know there was a post recently about giving critique and trying to make the story into one you would tell instead of the story the author's trying to tell. And I hope I'm not veering into that. But if I could suggest an idea here, I think this idea would have worked better as little vignettes. Hell, with the way the chapters are structured in different segments, it kind of seems like that's what Stephen and Owen were going for? But I'd probably prefer it if it were more focused like, "This chapter is all about X group of characters on Y day of the pandemic," and that's all we get of those characters until the end or unless they show up in someone else's story. Then the next chapter could do the same thing with some other characters at a later time.

But all of that feels like a moot point because I hate these characters! Seriously, the only character I liked at all is Evie, and apparently she's the villain! A lot of the characters I think we're supposed to like are cops and the story is trying to sell us on them being good people, but the story still includes the problems with the institution by making a character we're supposed to hate a cop, too. You can't tell me the cops are good if it takes them more than 10 chapters to fire a cop that's a known sex offender.

And since I'm starting to get into these issues, might as well keep going. Y'all know me, I enjoy my media, and sometimes I will engage with works that are Problematic. I'm not gonna go through my whole laundry list nor am I gonna attempt to justify anything as far as "why this and not that" arguments because really it's on a piece by piece basis. But this book infuriated me with its issues.

In addition to the stuff I've mentioned about the cops, I'm really uncomfortable with the fact that the one explicitly mentioned black character in the book, Frank, is a violent man. By that I mean he resorts to manhandling his daughter and using intimidation tactics to get her to listen to him, he trashes another person's car, the book repeatedly brings up an incident in which he punched a wall, and he once beat a man half to death. Though honestly I think that last one gets a pass because the asshole Frank beats half to death is a violent antisemite goosestepping son of a bitch. Because yeah, that's the dose of reality I needed right now! But holy shit, the book frames that whole reveal in a weird way because Frank's estranged wife brings up that incident and is like, "After you did that he beat his pregnant wife and she lost her baby. He wouldn't have done that if you hadn't kicked his ass." And I'm like, "??? Frank didn't tell that man to beat his wife! That part of the matter is in no way Frank's fault! Why are you throwing that man's responsibility dodging bullshit on Frank??"

And now it's time to get to the real sticking point: the bullshit gender essentialism. Available in misogyny, misandry, and transphobia! For how much they could have done with the premise, the people we see affected by Aurora are "everybody with a set of XX chromosomes." Every person who is depicted falling asleep and being cocooned in the story as far as I've listened is depicted as a cisgender perisex woman or girl. And nothing about the story that's been given to me indicates that it's thought any further than that. There's no talk about who might be affected among trans, nonbinary, or intersex people. The narration mentions XX chromosomes, but it's never in the context of anyone actually checking the chromosome makeup of anybody falling to Aurora. It's just given as another way to say, "women." There hasn't been any mention if it has to do with actual body parts, so I have no idea if, say, a woman who's had a hysterectomy would be affected. And I wouldn't even be thinking so much about the biology of this obviously supernatural illness IF THE BOOK HADN'T BEEN THE ONE TO BRING IT UP! And to top it all off, there's also a charming moment when the character Clint wonders if Evie might not be a woman since she is able to sleep without being cocooned, but he dismisses it since he knows she was seen naked when she was arrested and thus the cops would know if she's trans or intersex. And this isn't even going into the shit like multiple male characters thinking women are an impossible to understand hivemind, female characters that have managed to stay awake complaining about men suddenly being forced to take care of their own children and having no idea how, women lashing out at men to the tune of "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS LIKE BECAUSE YOU HAVE A PENIS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT!"

It was just so fucking exhausting, and I have no idea how I got as far as I did before I stopped.