#let me gossip I actually have interesting info for once

[the-curators-bullshit]

How you feeling today ?

better if I could share why my breakup came about but alas

[fluffydancer618]

Told'ya I have Mafia AU idea

Fyi I drew sketch of this like back in august but finished it only last week. Yeah.

A lot of rumbles + no background version undercut

Firstly,

@snake-bastard get au'd nerd

+ @jasperakalucy You. You wanted to see me rumble about that, so it's time for you to regret your desires /j /lh

Secondly, it’s 'Fluffy’s trying to have a comprehendible thought' time

So. The setting.

In the 1970s, once respected and feared by everyone, Lucifer's gang starts to suffer losses as a new crime family is gaining momentum in the city. That Rtcler’s mob was here just for a few months, but already  well-known to every rat on a street and being compared to Lucifer’s. Some brave ones dared to even say between these two families, Rtcler’s the superior one. 

Though, those claims weren’t unjustified. Rtcler, - despite being cruel and a bit unhinged in his ways sometimes, - was a tactful, careful and strict person, always getting a job done and expecting nothing less from his people.

And his gangsters knew that and tried to conform to their boss' expectation, to not even give him a reason to question their loyalty. 

Well.

Most of them.

In one day an interesting incident occurred, that started a chain of events and almost led to a downfall of the powerful mafia!It included smaller mobsters that combined forces to strike when it was least expected, yellow journalism and… a hat. That’s right, according to stories, the reason why Rtcler’s mob had to lie low was one bad apple of the family deciding to steal black hat with a green ribbon worn by all known mobster.  

What was the madman even thinking? What was the goal? Money? Fame? Personal reasons? Where’s the hat now anyway? Who’s to say. Those are not the only questions the one can ask about this story.

However, not many details about it are available to regular people, so it’s only natural for this story to be grown with rumors and interpreted a bit differently by anyone you talk about it. 

But that's how the “the base” everyone seem to agree on goes: Muttonhead somehow successfully stole boss’ hat, but was robbed and threatened by another gang and in panic gave such important information as the main headquarter’s location to save their own ass, but after all that mess was caught and shot by Rtcler himself.

Sure, has it flaws, but much more realistic than those fairytales you can hear in local pubs about the theft not being the one who gave up the info and actually survived confrontation with “the hat’s owner”, because he’s just kicked them out of the family on streets commanding to never show up again if they want to live, in rage refusing to hear the theft out. Bullshit, honestly. Like, someone like Rtcler would have a reason for such an act of mercy.

But enough about gossip, let’s return to facts.

After that event, the mob completely disappeared from the public eye, but you could still feel its presence and influence. It was still somewhere there, pulling strings from the shadows.

Lucifer gets sick of the lost status of his family and whispers in crowds telling “Invisible hand that rules everything wears a green glove” deciding the opponent is on the lowest point of their existence than they ever were or will be. Meaning, it’s the time to finish that “lucky upstart” once and for all. 

Which is obviously easier to say than do, since no one knows where the enemy is hiding. So, Lucifer orders his right hand man Adam - who always does everything to please the boss, no matter what it takes, - to find out where the opponent’s new headquarter is. And now Adam’s doomed to collect little pieces of known information about the mysterious crime family hoping some of them would be a clue where to look for it.

Maybe, the mission would be at least a little bit trouble-free if Lucifer’s mob had a few allies-mafias that you could just ask some questions, but - Thanks to Mr. Morningstar incredible leadership, - he and his gang are not quite welcome on properties of every gang in the city. So, 90% of the time, the only way to receive necessary information Adam has is through violence.

A lot of violence. Sometimes included killing everyone in the building.

As it was when they met a pretty strange guy, who apparently was doing the same thing.

They’re pointing weapons at each other's faces, - Adam with a pretty elite gun and the guy with one knife in their hand, - both pretty surprised to see someone else killing their targets here and not being sure what to do in this situation. 

Their collective dilemma being interrupted by a realization there are still a bunch of enemies around them, so they decide to delay the introduction - or their fight - for a little bit later and deal with the bigger threat first. Together.

Adam is clearly a professional in this kind of things: They know where and how to shoot to make the bigger damage but lose the minimum ammo. They aren’t cowarding behind the cover, but also don't jump under the opponent's bullets like an idiot.

That strange guy knows what they’re doing too. There’s clearly something’s going on in their head as they throw those knives of theirs, but feels like most of that something is “harm as much as possible as fast as possible”.  If they’re out of knives they’re straight up starting to fistfight. If they can’t fistfight anymore they’re- Oh my god, did they just try to bite someone’s face off-

Everyone is dead. Hooray, proper introduction time.  

Strange guy’s name is Fluffy. They’re a hitman that does not belong to any family making money by purely taking any contracts for very cheap prices, trying to survive. Fluffy explains their reason for visiting this place is it’s being their current contract and they’re quite curious what member of Lucifer’s family - which they recognize Adam as such - is forgotten here.

Adam is not sure how good the idea of telling a weird stranger you just met about their mission is, but on the other hand Fluffy still didn’t kill him and, in fact, helped with dealing with foes. Plus if something goes wrong Adam always can kill them anyway. 

So, he informs Fluffy that he’s in a search of any knowledge about Rtcler’s mob, especially the one that could help figure out where it is, - as well as Rtcler himself - now.

Fluffy’s eyes seem to light up - well, more than usual - at the very moment Adam said that. They look… conflicted all of a sudden. As if they really want to say so many things at once, but don’t think they should.  

Despite calling that idea stupid and hopeless at first, - betting that even if Adam succeeds, as soon as they take one step into the headquarter their gang existence is over - Fluffy starts to drop hints they wouldn't mind to participate in it. 

Chuckling, Adam rejects the help offer asking why would they want that and most importantly how some kind of poor vermin could be useful for him

Fluffy says they have a lot of law problems and are starting to get tired from jailbreaks every few months. And if they'd help local mobster deal with his enemy thereby helping him become the greatest mafia of all time, maybe his mob could help them deal with cops as a modest reward. And they definitely don't have any other personal reasons to meet with Rtcler's gang face to face. Plus they claim to have some connections that could help in searches and to be better in combat and “if it wasn’t for me your scaly ass would’ve died today so you’re actually own me”. 

Which triggers the “- Excuse you, I am better than you -  No, I’M better than you” argument between both of them that ends up with Adam getting fed up with it and irritably saying “FINE, if you want it that much I ask Lucifer. As if he’ll allow it and not order to kill you in an instant for knowing too much, rat.”

Unfortunately for Adam, his boss really doesn't care how Adam will fulfill the order. If that Fluffy-guy wants to participate and technically doesn’t demand anything in return, - “I mean, who’d stop us from just killing them as soon as we're done instead of dealing with cops for this fool, right?” -  there’s no reason to not accept their help offer. 

Although Lucifer agrees that Fluffy is a stranger, it’s impossible to know what to expect from them and stupid to believe they’re 100% not a spy or won’t betray them at any given moment using all knowledge they receive against Lucifer’s mob in general. So, he orders Adam to keep an eye on Fluffy 24/7 to make sure "they won’t even have a chance to think about betraying” as if the guy didn’t have enough problems to deal with already.

Fluffy is not happy about the fact they would have to be constantly watched over as some kind of child either.

But oh well. 

Maybe, it would be worth it.

The end.

Okay,  comprehendible thought time is over now I will just say stuff:

Hatcler is definitely has something to do with The Hat Incident

The fact that by all logic Aamit would be a retired gangster that become a therapist or gangster AND a therapist is so funny to me

Twinstars should hold fights-without-rules for money, methinks. I don’t know why but it feels right

Copper would be just a regular citizen that happened to accidentally befriend a hitman. Also Fluffy would not hide what their job is but would try to hide the fact they smoke. Maybe not even allowing Adam to smoke near Copper as a bonus. Slapping cigarette out of his mouth as soon as they notice Copper nearby

"Does Adam has demon powers in this AU? Does magic even exist in this AU?" *shrugs* Bro, wish I know

[insertsomthinawesome]

I love your Genshin lore takes, any interesting hcs/AUs/lore bits you'd like to share? Also, amazing art!

AA!!!!

That makes me so happy to hear actually??? THank you???? I love getting to ramble about genshin or stuff I'm into i'm just often too shy asldfkaslfalsgsdgdsdgsg so thank you!!!!! ;;v;; AND THANKS I'M GLAD YOU LIKE MY ART TOO!!!!!! ;;v;; <3 <3 <3 OOOoooh HMMM, I've been more into TWST and Trigun Recently so let me dig up my braincells to think about it dfLSJFLSDJGLSDGD Throwing stuff below the cut cause this could get LONG

Well on the subject of Itto, I headcanon him being 6'6 ft tall... Why??? Because it makes his voiceline about everybody shorter than him being a child really funny. 🤣 Also because he beeg and you can't convince me otherwise SDLFJSDLJGSLDGSD OOOOH Okay this one is very much a headcanon i have for pure self indulgence: So my two genshin blorbos of main focus are Zhongli and Diluc right? I like to headcanon that, at some point after Diluc was nearly killed by the harbingers, he collapsed somewhere near Liyue harbor (His injuries probably weren't directly related to the Harbinger ones, tho it depends on the amount of time it's taken between That incident and him being in Liyue, I think I came up with this idea LONG before i really understood a lot of what Diluc actually did away from home xD) he's found and carried to Liyue, where he's tended to, probably by Baizhu cause I love Baizhu, and recovers. Its here he's visited by Zhongli. Zhongli knew Crepus. Not super well! They weren't besties or nothin, but Crepus would be in Liyue, and Zhongli would be in Liyue, both of them having some level of prestige, Zhongli through his job and Crepus through his Titles, ended up meeting. They would talk and of course that means Zhongli heard about Diluc. Beyond that even, Zhongli was probably vaguely aware of Diluc's existence just from the fact that Crepus is a Ragnvindr, which means gossip/news on his family spreads potentially across the globe. (And maybe Zhongli checked in once in a while out of honor to a dear friend he hadn't seen in five hundred years...) ANYWAYS. Zhongli introduces himself and mentions he knew Crepus. A grieving Diluc probably asks for more information without really knowing if he wants more info or not. Its through this that Zhongli learns of Crepus's passing, and Diluc being less well put together from his injuries, ends up confessing to having hurt Kaeya. He despairs of ever being able to make up for it, to which Zhongli is surprisingly quiet and attentive before finally speaking up: "...Life is short, like the flower, it blooms for a season, blossoms in all its color and beauty, and then it shrivels away on the winds, nothing left of it but the Sweetness of memory." He pauses. "If you care about your brother, than return to him, confess your wrong doings, and don't let the burden of you mistakes carry until such a time as the ability to do something about them is force-ably taken away from your hands." The mans smile is soft, but sad. Not in a pitying way, and not in a way that is even directed at Diluc, if anything, he seems thousands of miles away. "There are fewer burdens, and fewer regrets, that can weigh heavier." This of course creates a fun dynamic to play around with if Lumine or other events drag Diluc to Liyue later >:D As for AU's I can give you two I've dwelled on!: Number one is an Inazuma rewrite, but I bring in a party of my chosing. I started this one before I played the game, so I didn't exaclty understand what went down in the INazuma plot, but Man I was having fun so xD THe party of choice in this case was Zhongli, Diluc, Thoma, and of course Lumine. I had fun with this idea because it allowed Zhongli and Diluc to function in the plot, and Thoma would be WAAAAY more involved as well. I didn't iron out Loads of details, but I wanted there to be a big confrontation between Lumine and Zhongli based off the fact that Azhdaha's quest happened before Inazuma, and before that was uh. THe reveal of Khaenri'ah. Needless to say Lumine's not exactly feeling the greatest about Zhongli. But she considers him a friend, or at least wants too. Zhongli is dealing with the sting of a pre-inazuma plot confrontation from Lumine, where she confessed that she'd have a hard time trusting him if he kept keeping secrets and he couldn't explain himself.

The two of them were planned to get into a huge fight that ALMOST gets physical. But Diluc stops them (Something something he knows making the mistake of attacking someone you love out of fear and broken trust 🙃) This ends up splitting the party for a while, Diluc going off with Zhongli, and Thoma staying with Lumine. Ultimately I wanted this to end with Zhongli getting to have a bit Showdown with Raiden Shogun, essentially kinda getting to brute force his way into her grief. I always loved the idea of the woman who can't move on from grief talking with the man who has suffered so much grief but still lives, this would kinda allow that, it would also allow for Zhongli to be a little bit of a father figure to Ei in her frustrations and grief. Also it would be hilarious if Inazuma kinda knew Rex Lapis was alive... but he kinda saved all their butts, so nobody's going to out him xD This would essentially spiral into a lot of canon divergence plots and development for the cast of characters that's just, not in canon? But man I still think it'd be so fun :D Also Diluc and Ei eventually become friends through this adsflJSFLSJDLGJSLDGJSDGSDG. I think they could help each other :) The SECOND AU is one where, Diluc, on his journey, ends up getting stuck in Inazuma before he can get home. So diluc is visionless, Has the Delusion, and is not in good health. Itto ends up finding him passed out on a beach, drags him back to Granny Oni's, and his gang nurse him back to health all while assuming Diluc was a victim of the Vision hunt decree (i think the vision hunt decree is pretty recent in canon?? This would be an AU where the timeline got bumped up, probably Raiden starts off a lot slower with the vision hunts, only taking a few of them once in a great while to further "eternity" Until she spirals bad enough to start taking them all.... IDK its rough but workable maybe xD) THis AU is mostly for letting Itto bully Diluc into loving himself among other things xD and the angst of it taking even longer for Diluc and Kaeya to reunite...... WHich i would defo make them reunite when Lumine comes over to finally end the Vision hunt decree soooooooooo >:3 Diluc ends up getting adopted by the Arataki gang, by EVERY member, and he's not happy about it (He is, he's just a freaking tsundere)

[mrscorcoran]

One more secret won't hurt / Bunny x reader

Part 1 Part 2

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Chapter 3: Gossip sessions can be very productive

I reach my dorm and walk directly to my room, trying to avoid anyone in the hallways. Once inside, I close the door and drop all my stuff on the desk. I reach into my minifridge and grab a leftover sandwich, then drop onto my bed to eat it, staring quietly at the ceiling. I am usually much more productive than this. None of my assignments have ever been turned in late. How could I let something so lame as a group of dorks derail my Saturday like this?

'Not the group of dorks, just the one guy' says a tiny voice in my brain. I shake my head, as if to make the voice physically go away.

Is it right, though? The guy did seem interesting and all, but enough to make my brain this useless? If I wasn't so self-conscious, maybe I would've walked over to the group and talked to them, take the mystery away, then I might be able to focus on my homework. Maybe a nap will help clear my head. Yes, a nap. Good idea.

To make the image of the dorks go away.

And the guy, of course.

 The loud guy.

I finish my sandwich, throw the wrapper at the garbage can next to my bedside table, and miss epically. I close my eyes and try to think of anything else, hoping I will fall asleep soon. It's quite early, though, and I'm not very sleepy. I've always had a tough time sleeping during the day. I toss and turn, get under the covers, and quickly climb back out. I swear I can still hear the words in the strange language floating around in my head.

I wish I knew what they mean.

Or how to spell them so I could look in a dictionary for them.

Or even just know what language it is.

There is something so intriguing about how it sounds. Is that it? Or is it intriguing because it came out of his mouth? I wonder what his name is. If I wasn't such a coward, I could've asked him.

I'm wrestling with my thoughts when a loud knock on my door gets me out of my trance. I’m grateful for this merciful distraction from that spiral I was slowly falling into. “Coming!” I yell. I walk to the door, trying to smooth my hair down with my fingers after tossing in bed for half an hour. I open the door and I’m greeted by Judy’s bright smile. “Hey, girlie!” she says, quickly stepping into my room and throwing herself into my bed with a sigh. “Ugh, I’m exhausted!” Exhausted came out more like a grunt than an actual word. “Do you have any idea how many costumes I sewed today? Way too fucking many. Is it too early to bring out the wine?” she looks up at me from the bed.

-“Nah, it’s 5 p.m. somewhere!” I say, opening the minifridge, and reaching for one of the bottles. I take a seat on my desk chair and roll it closer to the bed.

- “Girl, you okay? Cuz, you look like you really need that wine.” She sits up and reaches for the glass I’m holding out to her.

- “Ugh, don’t even get me started. I was supposed to do a bunch of work today and did exactly zero percent of it.” I take a sip of my cheap wine. “I was actually hoping I could ask you about something I saw today?”

- “Of course! Shoot.” She leans forward, as if indicating I have her full attention, and looks at me expectantly while taking a big swig of wine.

- “Aight, so. I was in the library, and there was this group, I’ve seen them around before, but never so up close. They’re kind of weird, dressed kind of old fashioned, speaking in a weird language… ring any bells?”

- “Ah. I see you met the Greek class” she says, rolling her eyes dramatically. What else can you expect from a theater major…

Greek. I knew it had to be that or Latin. I nod at her, urging her to go on, provide more info.

- “Yeah, they’re very particular. They’re Classics majors, so they only take classes with one professor, I don’t think you’ve ever seen him cuz he’s just as weird as them, a complete hermit. His name is Julian, I think.” She squints her eyes, and bites hard on her bottom lip in that particular way, like she’s digging around in her brain for the correct info. “Anyways,” she shakes her head, coming back to reality, “what about ‘em? Did they say anything to you?” Her voice turning an octave lower at the end, the international Judy signal for ‘spill the tea!’

- “Oh, no, nothing like that. They were a few tables away from me, working on something in what I now know was Greek. They were just so mysterious, and I just can’t stop thinking about one of them.” I realize my mistake a second too late and see the smirk already forming on Judy’s lips.

- “Oooooooooooo someone has her very first Hampden cruuuush,” she says in that annoying sing-song voice she uses to tease me. It’s like I can physically see the goblin energy flowing through her body. “And on one of the Greek weirdos, damn Y/N, that’s bold. But honestly, you’re kind of weird too, so that makes sense,” she says, matter-of-factly. I should be used to her teasing by now, but I still feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and I groan.

- “C’mon, Judes! It’s not like that. I’ve just never heard Greek before. It caught me off guard, I guess.” I finished my wine in one big gulp and poured myself another glass.

- “Right, right,” she says, rolling her eyes again, “quit being a wet rag and go back to the boy. Was he hot?” her eyes grow huge as she waits for my answer.

- “I mean, yeah, I guess?” I close my eyes, trying to picture his face again. Yeah, I would consider him good looking. I give Judy a nod.

- “Well, don’t get any ideas. As far as I know, Francis is very gay. Like. Gay as fuck,” the last bit comes out barely above a whisper. I’m not sure why this information disappoints me, it’s not like Judy was right about the crush. “I get you, though. His hair is to die for! I wish I were a natural redhead too. My mom always said that-”

- “Wait, redhead?” I interrupt her rant. “No, I did not mean the redhead.”

- “Oh, shit. Sorry! I mean, he’s the hottest one so I assumed you meant him. My bad. I’m guessing you mean Henry then, and he is kind of handsome I guess, but dude, he is so weird. Not just weird, he’s mean. It’s like, I don’t know, like he thinks he’s better than everyone else? That one really needs to pull his head out of his own ass, and out of that weirdo professor’s ass.” She’s ranting so passionately about this Henry that I can only assume she’s had a really bad experience with him in the past.

- “Judes, slow down. Which one is Henry?” I ask, already suspecting she’s got the wrong one in mind. What she’s describing definitely does not match the vibes I got from the guy. The wine bottle is half empty already, but I still pour us both another glass.

- “Tall one, dark hair, looks like he has a stick up his ass,” her hands are moving a bit more clumsily than usual, she’s tipsy already. For someone who drinks so constantly, she’s such a lightweight.

- “Yeah, no. Again, that’s not the one I meant. I was talking about the blond one, with the-” my words are drowned out by Judy’s screech as she jumps up,  her hands holding onto my shoulders as she lightly shook me.

- “Oh! Oh! Charles! You mean Charles! Dude, you have terrible taste, like, honestly. I mean, they’re all pretty weird already, but add the freaky twin thing into it... And don’t get me started on the girl twin, that bitch is legit crazy. Camilla. She came close to clawing my eyes out at a party one time. Swear to god. I was just minding my own business, spilled a little bit of beer on her by accident. I can be very clumsy, you know.” I swear she is doing it on purpose. I let her continue her rant, sipping my wine patiently. “That huge weirdo, Henry, was standing between us in a second. He looked ready to beat me up. Now she gives me the stink eye every time she sees me. And so does her twin. They are freakishly close, those two. Did you notice they dress the same? I swear she just wears his clothes half the time. I tell you; you don’t want to get involved in that twin mess. No sir.”

- “You done, babes?” I ask her, raising an eyebrow. Once she nods, I continue. “As I was saying, I meant the blond guy with glasses. Not Charles.” Her face contorts in a weird way, like what I said makes absolutely no sense. Realization creeps into her features, slowly at first and then all at once. She looks at me like I just grew a second head.

- “You can’t possibly mean Bunny? Let’s see, was he being the loudest thing in a 10-mile radius?” I nod. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but he was kind of loud for a library. “Yup, that’s Bunny.”

- “Bunny…” I whisper, the name feels funny on my lips. “What kind of name is that?” I ask, eyeing her suspiciously, thinking she might just be pulling my leg.

- “His name’s actually Edmund Corcoran, but everyone calls him Bunny for some reason. No idea why. But dude, he’s like, I don’t know. He’s the most down to earth one out of the bunch, but he’s also the most annoying one. I mean, you saw him.” She chuckles and spills a bit of wine on my bed. I don’t think she even noticed. “I’ve seen him around at some parties. He’s nice, but again, quite annoying. Plus, he hangs out with the other ones, so, my advice is: stay the fuck away, girl.”

- “Yeah, well, I was just curious. It’s not like I was planning on speaking to any of em. You know I’m shy with strangers.” She squints her eyes at me, clearly not believing any of my bullshit.

- “Well, I’m just glad you were not talking about Richard, cuz that one’s mine,” she throws her head back and laughs. “Fellow Californian, he switched his major to classics recently, he’s pretty cool. Hope they don’t turn him into a pretentious ass before I can fuck him.” I love Judy, she knows what she wants and doesn’t fuck around. I wish I could be more like her in that sense. “But really, this Bunny guy…”

 I quickly try to change the subject, hoping she’s kind enough to just drop it. “So, what play are all of those costumes for?” She rolls her eyes, but immediately yields, and starts telling me all about their latest production of some Oscar Wilde play.

I pay as much attention as I can, asking a few questions, laughing at her little jokes, trying to follow her stories about disastrous stage mishaps, but part of my mind is somewhere else, wondering how hard it could be to learn Greek. Imagining the delicious feeling of those sounds, rolling off my tongue. And Bunny. Mysterious Bunny. His thunderous laugh disturbing the quietest corners of my psyche.

[p-and-p-admin]

“Show, don’t tell” is probably the most common advice in writing (along with “write for yourself”) but there are places where telling is the better choice. What do we mean when we say “show don’t tell”? We mean use description of the scene, the characters in it, and their actions and reactions, to illustrate the emotional state or thoughts of the characters rather than just telling your audience what they think or how they feel. It is the difference between: “Simon felt bad for upsetting his sister.”

And

"Simon flushed a deep crimson, the hot shame scalding his cheeks as he watched his sister sob into her pillow." Telling is an efficient means to impart lots of information to an audience in the fewest words. It works for writing transitions or other places where you need to move the timeline ahead, or where showing mundane details would bore readers.

But before I tell you why you should, let me tell you why you shouldn’t.

Telling robs your plot of its momentum. Every sentence spent telling your readers about something is time not spent moving the plot along.

Telling creates a separation between audience and character. When readers are simply told important parts of the character’s story it is like hearing gossip second or third-hand about someone you haven’t got to know. There is a distance created between the reader and the character. Your readers want to share the experience of the character and showing rather than telling helps to achieve that.

No one likes being lectured. Being “told” what happens all the time instead of seeing your character experience it is just plain boring.

Before you can decide if showing or telling is more appropriate at any moment in your story it is important to consider whether or not you actually need your readers to have that information. Unnecessary information generally falls into one of two categories, backstory or research.

Backstory is crucial in developing your character but not every detail of their backstory is important to your reader.

Often people fall in love with particular details or quirks they have given to their characters in backstory and sprinkle them through their writing. However, if those details aren’t relevant information to the plot at that moment then they are more than likely simply going to confuse your reader. Ask yourself why are these details here? Who wants or needs to know these details?

Just as with backstory, research is vital but you should not then allow yourself to get carried away and info dump on the unsuspecting reader. Most often you should use your character’s natural vocabulary and cultural norms to provide context clues for your reader to understand what is happening. If that is not possible then yes, you may need to drop in a brief explanation. Sometimes a single sentence of explanation saves the reader pages of showing.

So, when should you use telling?

Readers must want to know the information. This is subjective, but you can use the following questions to help you determine the answer. - Does the reader have a strong connection to the character? For example, this is why we don’t info dump or use telling at the outset of a story. Readers have yet to connect to your character. So no big sob stories on page one. - Does the information affect the character in a meaningful way? In other words, keep it relevant. If a character has an arrow sticking out of his chest, that affects the character in a meaningful way. Knowing that the arrow is made of ash wood and eagle feathers really does not.

The reader cannot understand what is happening without it. Either the reader must need to know the information for the plot to continue (set-up), or because they would not understand the significance of a current event in the scene (backstory).

Once you have established the information is interesting and relevant we need to decide if telling is the right choice. You can do this by asking

Will showing slow down the pacing? Showing always takes longer than telling so if you are trying to tighten up a scene you might decide to condense some description.

Will showing create problems with the narrative focus? Narrative focus is the story’s ability to stay on topic. If you go too far into detail (like providing every detail of backstory) it will create tangents and plotting cul-de-sacs your POV character might wander into and get stuck in.

Do I need to quickly establish a setting or jump forward in the timeline? Telling is a valid technique for accomplishing these.

SOME TECHNIQUES FOR GOOD TELLING (TAKEN FROM TMS)

1. Back Story (Sneaky telling)

Unless you are willing to resort to a flashback, (which may or may not work) you may have to cheat and sneak it in.

Have your characters argue. This will move the focus away from the telling and toward the tension between the characters. Something is still happening in the scene, and you get to throw information bombs at your reader.

“Do you have any idea what you are walking into?” That sounded a lot smarter in his head.

She rolled her eyes. “What? It’s a house. One that I’ve been invited to, I might add. And what are you doing here?”

That was a great question. One he wasn’t sure how to explain. “Look, I know what’s in that house, and it’s a little out of a Ghostbuster’s league.”

“Ghostbuster?” She poked a finger into his chest. “Listen, I don’t care what you think of me, but I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’m perfectly capable of handling myself, and how would you even know why I was here?”

Her head tilted to the side. It wouldn’t take her long to figure it out. “And don’t lie to me, that was you in the shop. Were you spying on me?”

The shop was a little occult bookstore that she ran. Mostly useless trinkets and New Age nonsense, but a few things had surprised him.

“Look, this has nothing to do with you. I’m asking you to walk away,” he said.

She clicked her tongue. “Why should I do anything for you? You left. I don’t owe you anything. Not now, not ever.”

Through the argument we learn that she’s a paranormal investigator, the pair had a previous relationship, and he left her, all without resorting to an info dump.

Bombshell Another strategy is to drop a one-line bombshell. In the following example, the author spent an entire chapter showing how much the MC hates “outlanders,” and then she closes the chapter with a bombshell.

A shimmery glow that only I could see surrounded the woman. It was blazing red, meaning she was a fire elemental, an Outlander traveler from the realm of Muspelheim.

I skirted around her like the flames I saw could actually burn me. Judging by the frown she gave me, she thought I was a weirdo. I didn’t really care. I just needed to get out of there before I choked on my own hypocrisy.

I feared and distrusted Outlanders. I also was one.

2. Setting/Description

Showing every detail of a setting will drown your readers in description. There is nothing wrong with a few quick sentences at the beginning of a scene to ground your reader in the setting. This will allow the action to start right away without making your readers feel like the character are floating in space.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.-Kafka

In this sentence we learn several critical pieces of information:

Gregor Samsa just woke up.

He’s in his bed.

He is a giant roach.

He was not a giant roach yesterday.

He does not know why.

I challenge you to rewrite this as showing. I doubt you could do it in less than three pages without confusing the reader and without boring them. Showing is not always the right choice.

3. Transition

While important experiences should be shown to the reader, there are times when you will need to skip meaningless moments in a character’s life. An uneventful car ride is a good example of all those small actions that don’t impact the story. We know the character has to get dressed in the morning, but we don’t need to see the details. Use a transition.

Fifteen minutes later I was standing outside the principal’s office ready to meet my fate.

This transition lets the reader know how much time has passed and where the character is. Having the character read the time on the clock and then describe the door and the name on the door plate and the secretary typing away at her desk, and blah… would not provide any more meaning to the experience. The short snappy sentence has more impact.

There are plenty of writing advice columns claiming showing is always better than telling, but telling has a place in your story. By learning when to use telling you can strip useless details from your story and put the reader’s experience, not adherence to “rules” as your story’s goal. So how do you feel about showing versus telling in your own work? Is it something you are mindful of as you write? I'm hoping now you have read all that it would be obvious why I chose this specific scene to use a picture from as it is a fine example of the filmmakers choosing to show us the truth of a character's motivation without telling the audience.

[bcofl0ve]

I have a question that I need to preface that if this weren’t coming from a stranger online and we were talking IRL, the tone would be calm and friendly and the intent is to genuinely have a dialogue.

I don’t care much if Austin and Kaia are PR or not. So I’m not angling in either direction. But I get creeped out why both sides are SO obsessed about their living situation. Where someone lives and who they live with is so personal and that’s only amplified for public figures. If they wanted us to know that business, they would confirm it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Being a little less close to it, I see circumstantial evidence from gossip sites and small clues that could mean something or be red Herron’s to throw ppl off the scent. It seems like they aren’t interested in confirming too much about what goes on behind closed doors, so even if you think you’re doing them a favor and defending them against the “dark other side of the fandom” it’s just magnifying an issue they seem to want to keep private. How is this debate not intrusive and stalkerish and why can’t their privacy be respected until they confirm? Like, why don’t fans on either side respect their privacy while going on and on about how Austin has anxiety and his privacy should be respected. It feels kind of hypocritical- sorry I’m not trying to be mean but I am genuinely confused on this point.

I know that last part sounds snarky. I don’t mean it that way; I just didn’t have a better wording without being too allusive. I’m genuinely asking from a place of peace and curiosity because I’m confused by the disconnect of respecting their privacy but not. What am I missing in what feels like a disconnect?

hi! no worries at all about your tone, you don’t come off as aggressive or anything. and like i said in my short answer before i had to run to class, talking about house related anything *is* a very thin line to walk. that’s not to say that i say the right thing (or keep quiet on the right thing) 100% of the time. but i do try, and i think an important part of that is sticking to what is made public. like the little house related things on his cake- and the all the ‘julian stuff’.

austin allowed julian the photographer to photograph him in his home and post those photos. he (or kate on his behalf or kaia) didn’t have julian remove the mention of kaia from his thank you caption, and i was honestly thinking at the time that he/they might. that to say i think austin is comfortable with people knowing a bare minimum of his like- home decor style choices, and the fact that kaia and milo (imo) live with him.

and of course that’s all pre move to wherever they live now stuff. but another good example here is maybe the whole someone on tiktok showing up at “austin’s house” debacle? that isn’t his house as of current day, it was a house he once lived in with vanessa. something people figured out because there is a publicly posted photo of a landscaper posing with them outside of it. and i wanted to share that to comfort people with the knowledge that at least no one was showing up where austin currently lives. but at the same time, i felt a little creepy being like “well ACTUALLY guys he doesn’t live there now that’s one of his old houses here’s proof!”. even though the photo of him and v was public i just felt…very much the way you seem to feel on the topic. while at the same time feeling an obligation to let people know that austin was safe/not being physically stalked at least by that girl.

i occasionally receive anons with house related info (important: this is not something i have ever asked for, nor do i know how people find it) that i wouldn’t ever post over my dead body because said information is crossing the line of reasonable celebrity privacy. and admittedly, i could do better with letting my hotheadedness get the best of me when it comes to people trying to argue with me over if they do or don’t live together. because like you said, when you strip it down we really are just arguing about where someone lives. which is really not the best use of anyone's time!

thank you for giving me/us something to think about here. and i hope my take on all this makes sense.

[spotlightstudios]

Okay so, Neon got me back into Obey Me:Nightbringer, so here's another redesign of N. (This time w/ Gargoyle features!)

She's an insert, not a mc, so I like to think she'd be a side-character like Mephisto.

Her whole thing is that she's the keeper of knowledge in the Devildom, and therefore she's really handy to have nearby when solving problems. Fire in the kitchen? Here's 15 ways to put it out. Ancient curse? Here's the century it originated from and also the way to reverse it. Protection spells to bypass? Yep here's a way to slip past. She's like a walking Google.

Having said that, it's exactly why N chose to retreat into solitude after Diavolo rose to power. (Aka she missed that the brothers fell and also the founding of RAD.) Satan is the one to stumble upon her archives after getting the recommendation from Diavolo, and she finds him interesting and inquisitive so she humors him.

When Satan let's news slip of RAD and the human/angel exchange students, N immediately decides to get back in contact with Diavolo and registers for RAD (though she's blocked from her infinite well of knowledge while in the building, because he doesn't want her cheating). She becomes a student and subsequently takes up residence with Diavolo again (which is awkward at first because she *did* ditch him but like... Barbatos held more of a grudge than Dia did) and goes back to work as a Lord of the Devildom.

This let's her connect w/ the brothers more easily, and the mc by proxy.

N is very reclusive, as well as sharp. She's pretty chill, but she *will* find a way to be downright mean if she thinks Dia won't find out about it. (Basically think the Solomon situation w/ Barbatos, but Barbatos and N eventually drop the grudge.)

And speaking of Solomon, he actually *does* have a pact with her. They met back before Solomon met Asmo or Barbatos, and he promised to be her "eyes" around the world if he could access her knowledge. So, every once in a while Solomon is allowed into N's library to collect more books and info, while N can simply look through Solomon's eyes whenever she likes. (She doesn't use it often anymore. After the 5th time he set his kitchen on fire while she was watching, she kinda gave up. But she does now know *so* many ways to set kitchen appliances ablaze.)

Around the brothers she's mostly chill. Satan was the first she befriended, and she loves hanging out around him and is rarely away from him when she's off school grounds. Asmo's the next one she befriends, if only through circumstantial encounters (she's being nosey and gossiping to Satan and Asmo overhears). Belphie isn't far behind, since he and Satan usually work against Lucifer, and a friend of Satan is a friend of hers. (She also likes Napping near him. She's not a person who sleeps a lot, and Belphie leaning on her arm immediately makes her eepy.) Beel and N meet through Belphie, but they bond fr when she reveals her hidden knowledge of recipes and spend like 20 hours in the kitchen cooking/eating. Mammon and N are decently familiar with eachother, but N isn't one for Mammon's antics (She once tried to explain probability in gambling to him and he immediately fled) and he isn't too sure about her either. N and Levi on the other hand have a decent relationship. N knows everything about Levi's media by proxy, so when they talk they're able to evaluate and theorize on new ideas and delve into deeper meaning. Also her Kane instinct is strong w/ Levi and they regularly start joking arguments just to fight eachother. And lastly Lucifer. N thinks of Lucifer as a servant of Diavolo, and therefore she assumes she's higher rank than him. He's a fallen angel, and he's strong, but surely he's bound to the word of the Demon King sooooooo, whatever. (She has respect for what he did and likes having him around since he brought his brothers but like, her selfish attitude is smth Luci doesn't appreciate so she stays uninvolved from him.)

Physically, N is built like a gargoyle. She was created kinda like that myth of a statue coming to life. She was literally sculpted with the intention of being a steadfast advisor to the next Demon King, and that's kinda what she is. Because she was created from stone, she's heavy af. Her wings are rough and have a stony texture. She hardly flies, and when she does it's usually not far, because her wings function better as shields than actual wings.

She's just heavy and built different. (Beel and Diavolo are the only ones who can really lift her for extended periods of time.)

[claiborneart]

Interview with The Most Famous Face in The World

Todd Smalls is a reporter for the Daily Times; specialising in celebrity news, gossip, and marketing. Article originally posted on 6/16/96; last updated on 6/24/96

When Mr. Arno Dun opened his door to let me into his tiny downtown flat, up on the twelve story and with that last-century 'one-bedroom' antique layout, even I was starstruck.

I've done interviews with everyone from CEOs to world leaders to the faces of A-list actor-musicians, but this was The. Arno. Dun. I, like most of our readers, grew up seeing his face on every box of cereal, snack bar, every ad both at home and on the street.

The face of the The Most Likeable Man, whose likeness had been leased by a a tenth of all companies in existence, lived in an apartment that was not worth the price of one minute of his own face.

The first thing he said to me, he confessed, was that he couldn't afford his own likeness either.

"I kick myself every day for letting that clause stay in the contract," he told me. "I didn't realize at the time, or I thought, or hoped, that they weren't serious about not letting me use my own face for personal use."

The room we were sitting in was nice enough, well-lit, and with family photos on a nearby desktop. While the grown children in the group photos shared close resemblance with Dun, his face was, of course, notably absent.

"I spent half my royalty money buying an old cottage out in the middle of nowhere," Dun said. "but that just made everything worse. People looked at my face, and wouldn't leave me alone. Here, at least," he gestured out the window at the city around us, "there's more people to blend in with, so I don't stand out as much. plus, most people are using ARG or some other, so I can go shopping in peace, most days."

"And," he added, smiling wryly, "at least no one asks for a photo."

Q: what made you decide to sell your likeness?

A: it seemed like a lot of money for very little effort at the time, so of course I said yes immediately.

A: Wish I had a lawyer read the the contract before signing, now, but a part of me thinks if I had asked to change anything they would have just moved on to someone dumb to sign it at that first meeting. Hah! I guess I was that dumb*** (swears have been auto-omitted, courtesy of cleanAirBroadcasting™)

There had been thousands of people who had signed similar contracts, nearly every single one for far less money than he, but it didn't seem the right time to remind him of such info.

Q: but was it a good payout, once you add in royalties?

A: Royalties…..well, some years it was enough that I didn't need to work, or only needed to work part-time, but they expired at the 50-year mark….hah! When I was young I thought 50 years was impossibly far in the future, and that getting old was for other people. Now look at me.

I did.

It was interesting, after seeing over 50 years of pre-aging for various brand and demographic-nicheing needs, how the most famous face in the world had actually ended up looking. More frown lines, and a saggier neck.

Still, a face rated most appealling to Broad Demographic Marketing aged more gracefully than most could ever hope for.

Q: so you've worked other jobs then?

A: oh for sure, sure-- whatever I found, here and there. I used to like working with people, but with my limitations, it's made that rather difficult. Nowadays I work for ******* (company name has been auto-omitted, courtesy of cleanMarketRelavance™), which is hard work, for someone of my age, but what can you do?

Q: How do you feel about the alternate-face clause, over half a century into the contract?

A: I don't mind it most of the time, to be honest. It means I don't show up in the background of stranger's videos as myself, so at least I never go viral that way. But…

at this he paused.

A: I don't like it when I want to be in a photo. with my friends. with my family. I don't like seeing a stranger's face in the middle of them, instead of me.

[The banner image, which under usual contract compliance included an ai-generated random stand-in face, was edited to a pixelated mirage on 6/24/96, at the request of Mr. Dun.]

[normal-paldean-student]

📰

[An excerpt from campeonesinteresantes.pl, a gossip site about the various trainers who've made Champion Rank in Paldea. Translated into Galarian for your convenience, with a few small edits made so you don't have to see Rene being misgendered by a site runner who doesn't know she's trans.]

Hey everyone! Guess what? We've finally got a new Champion Class trainer to geek out about! I did my best to get as much info as I could, but as always I might have missed something, so if you see anything that's wrong or missing reach out to me through the email on my contact page. Let's go!

Rene Akasaki—silent and strategic

Probably the first thing you find from a casual look into [her] is [her] performance in battle and how [she]'s apparently never even lost once. Can you imagine having that level of skill? And at just 16 years old, too! Let's take a look at [her] team and see if we can take anything home from it for our own battles!

First, Meowscarada. I think this one's a good lesson in how Pokémon can power up moves of their own type, because her Protean ability lets her take advantage of that to hit hard with all sorts of moves! Her Tera Type is Grass, which lets Flower Trick hit even harder.

Then we have Annihilape. Let's give a cheer for a Pokémon first documented in Paldea, even if its pre-evolutions were already in the National Pokédex! The more hits she takes, the more powerful her Rage Fist becomes, and you can't even lower her stats without her getting even stronger thanks to her Defiant ability! The Fairy Tera Type is interesting... maybe it's to avoid damage from Dragon moves?

Next is Clodsire! Rene seems to use a pretty defensive fighting style with her, using Stealth Rock and Toxic so [her] opponent's Pokémon takes damage no matter what they do while Clodsire restores its own health with Recover. And a Water Tera Type lets Clodsire turn her weakness to Water moves into a resistance!

Then it's Espathra! In contrast to Clodsire, this one's all about the offense. Calm Mind comes first, and then it's bam bam bam with Stored Power and a Fighting type Tera Blast, with her getting faster the whole time! I train an Espathra myself, so you can probably expect a bigger focus on this one later on.

Palafin! You might think it's unassuming when it first comes into the battle, but then Rene calls it back right away, and the next time you see it it's in a new Forme! Rene uses a Choice Band strategy with this one, pulling it in and out of the battle to deal massive damage whenever it appears! And it uses a Water Tera Type to hit even harder with moves of its own type!

Finally, [she] uses a Dragapult! You might expect a fully offensive strategy here, but instead Rene pulls out both Reflect and Light Screen to make all her Pokémon take less damage from everything, and pairs that with a Steel Tera Type to go extra defensive!

But honestly, just describing [her] Pokémon isn't enough to cover the battle strategy [she] uses. Check out this video of her Championship battle to see [her] in action!

By the way, you might have noticed this one's all about the Pokémon and not really Rene's background, but that's because beyond [her] attending Uva Academy it's actually really hard to find information on [her]? It's almost like [she] didn't even exist before [she] enrolled in school, and everything [she]'s done since then, like taking down Team Star or battling the Titan Pokémon, already got covered by more organized news outlets.

[adrianasunderworld]

I'd like to add on to all the telenovella drama, what if Lilith and the late Mrs. Schoenheit were close friends? Could you imagine her reaction to what Erik's done, especially if you throw in the papa crewel au?? She's not against him finding love again, in fact she's certain Mrs. Schoenheit would want her husband to find love again, but pursuing a woman who he knows has hurt both of their respective children and Lilith's darling grandchild? Now that won't fly, and she is making it known how disgusted she is, Lilith is going to drag that man through HELL for his decision.

I can see her stirring the pot a bit as well. After all, the Crewels and the Rosehearts are infamous in the Rose Kingdom, and with Lilith being a high class socialite whose child and now grandchild work at/attend NRC respectively, why wouldn't she know about what's happening? She has inside sources after all.

I just really wanna see grandma Lilith go off in this au, it's deserved.

Believe it not I've actually been thinking about this the past few days while my ask box was closed. Because Lilith knows of Vil, there's no way she doesn't. One day, maybe before the events of the au take place, Lilith visits and sees Vil and has some friendly conversation. "My look how big you've gotten! Your mother would be so proud."

"You knew my mother ma'am?"

"Oh I knew her for years and we worked together very often. She was so talented, witty, and it goes without saying beautiful. There a was a bright light that went out before her time... But let's not dwell on that, dear. How have you been?"

When Divus attended NRC, there was not a piece of school gossip or news she did not know about. Students would tell their moms,aunts,grandmas, etc what was going on and it would all circle back to Lilith. Now that Divus worked in the school and she has a grandchild there now? Bet your ass she's at it again. Then all of a sudden communication ceases. Not just for her, but for everyone she knows who has a son at NRC. Suddenly Lilith Crewel doesn't know, and she does not like that one bit. She's ringing Divus phone off the hook trying to get info of what's going on only to get the news his new boss has a ton of strict rules and regulations that is making it very difficult. And if this is the version where Crewel gets fired? Now she has dead silence from Yuu, and Lilith is livid.

At some point, something bad is going to happen involving Yuu and Lilith is going to go down to the Isles of Sages herself and rip someone's head off. Because as we've establish, Lilith takes everything over when something goes. She want's things done right, and thus she will do it herself. "Divus you take care of Yuu. I will take of this."

"Mother for once can you-"

"What did I just say?" He knows there's no talking her down at this point.

She's going to see Erik in Felicitys office with the trio, Riddle, Vil, and Yuu. Suddenly it all clicks.

"Well. It seems the rumors were true."

"Spare me any of your judgmental notions," Felicity replied. "I have no intrest."

"Oh I know you have no interest, and far be it for me to talk about marital affairs. But you," She pointed a finger at Erik, her red eyes burning a hole in him. "I expected better of you, Erik."

"What's that supposed to mean, Madame Crewel?" Though he had an idea. Remembering her friendship with Vils mother.

"You have turned a blind eye to not only your son, but to hundred of other peoples sons. Is your son just an ATM is that it? Is that why you won't intervene when he's suffering?"

"How dare-"

"I can dare all I want." She didn't allow him to finish. "If that's not the case then tell me. And don't give me some hearted 'because love' answer, because then you're just wasting my time. The fact of the matter is: You are a selfish selfish man, Erik Venue. And your wife would be so ashamed of you."

[storiesofsvu]

Fortuitous Reunion Ch 9

Rita Calhoun x reader Warnings: language, kidnapping, physical assault, very angry/overprotective Rita, hurt/comfort, angst, self defense. things get heavy.

While you were excited for the change of scenery, you were honestly much more excited about seeing your best friend again. It had been a few months by now, both of you busy with work and more that you hadn’t seen each other since Sophie’s last day at Mercy, only communicating through a small handful of texts. You practically bounded into the patient room, missing the cop posted outside the door, launching into a hug with her once you noticed the patient was unconscious.

“Oh my god! You’re finally here!” She greeted enthusiastically, “it was getting boring around here without you!”

“It’s good to see you too.” You laughed, reaching for the chart, “what’s this guy in for?”

“Multiple rapes and murders, I think I heard he kidnapped a cop?”

“I meant medically….but thanks for the heads up, I will not uncuff him when he tries to bribe me later.” You flipped through his chart as Sophie laughed.

“So….any new wedding plans I should know about? What’s the hot gossip?”

“Nothing wedding related,” you laughed, “but I do have some big news.” Sophie gasped dramatically,

“Oh my God! Did you guys change your mind on the kid front? Are you pregnant?!”

“No.” Your face scrunched, “do you think Rita would let me anywhere near a prison ward if I was pregnant?”

“Good point.” She nodded.

“I..found my birth Mom.”

“Oh?! What’s she like?”

“You actually already know her.”

“I do?”

“Olivia…”

“Captain Benson?” You nodded, “talk about a small world.”

“I know!” You moved from the foot of the bed as you checked the man’s vitals, beginning to draw some blood, “we’ve been hanging out on a pretty regular basis the past couple of months. She’s honestly incredible, so sweet, but also a major bad ass at the same time.”

“Safe to say you’re getting along then?”

“Enough that she’s giving me away at the wedding, yeah.”

“Y/n that’s incredible.”

“It’s like..everything’s kinda come full circle and fallen into place perfectly.” You smiled, “I couldn’t be happier.”

“I’m glad.”

“Okay.” You popped the top on the vial, “his vitals are fine. I’ll page cardio but I know they’re backed up right now so it might be a while.”

“It’s fine.” Sophie waved it off, “he’s not 911. I’ll keep an eye on things.”

“I’ll drop this off at the lab and do a round before I come back. Lunch on me?”

“Sounds perfect.” Sophie shot you a grin as you left the room. You were so thankful to have your best friend back in your daily life, as much as everything was falling into place in your personal life, your professional life always enjoyed a little bit of a shake up. You supposed that’s why you got into nursing, as much as it was a lot of paperwork or idly waiting for tradgedy to strike, there was a certain thrill element that gave you a rush, helped retain your interest to keep going to work every day.

It didn’t take long for you to find the lab, you managed to run into a cardiologist on the way and after running over the info they agreed it wasn’t a top priority, but to keep checking in just in case something went awry.

*

“Cap!” Carisi swung into Olivia’s office, a fire burning in his gut, the stiffness evident in his voice as he glanced up, realizing that Rita was sitting across from Olivia’s desk. “Sorry for interruptin’ but we have a problem.”

“What’s going on?”

“Lewis is gone.”

“What? How?”

“I dunno. He assaulted Sophie, left her tied up in the bathroom.” His voice was nearly a low growl as he admitted it, “they’re trying to track down Y/N right now.”

“What do you mean track her down?!” Rita turned in the chair, fully paying attention to the conversation, her heart already picking up in her chest, you weren’t one to just ditch the job.

“She was the last one in the room with the two of ‘em. Soph said she went to drop off labs and find someone from cardio. She also said…and I hate ta pry like this but they had a conversation about you bein’ Y/N’s birth mother in the room. They thought he was unconscious, but there’s a chance Lewis knows she’s your daughter.”

“Have you tried calling her?” Rita shot back, “page her! It’s a goddamn hospital!” Sonny nearly shrunk at the woman’s tone, it was already shifting into her courtroom voice, and despite his own raging emotions he wasn’t about to battle with hers. Thankfully they were saved by Liv’s phone going off,

“It’s her.” She stated before picking up, “sweetheart we’re on our way now. Stay with Sophie we’ll be there in twenty.” The dark chuckle on the other end of the phone made her blood run cold.

“Captain Benson…I had no idea you had such a pretty young thing for a daughter.” Lewis’ voice drawled through the line.

“You do not lay a hand on her!”

Rita’s head snapped toward the other woman, a warning glare already in her eyes as her jaw clenched, how the hell did this happen? Olivia heard a muffled cry from the other side of the phone before Lewis spoke again, this time his voice a little distant as he directed his comment to you.

“I thought I told you to be quiet.” Oliva jumped at the sound of something colliding with your head and then Lewis was back on the line with her, “I couldn’t get you, guess I’ll have to settle for the next best thing. I wonder if she’s as fiesty as you were. What do you think? Will she put up as much of a fight?”

“Lewis!”- the line went dead.

“Find them now.” Rita practically growled toward Benson, who held up a warning hand.

“Rita..”

“No. Three years…three fucking years I have kept her out of this kind of world, and completely safe! She was fine! She was totally out of harms way for three years! Three months knowing that you’re her Mom and she gets abducted?!”

“She’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that. Goddammit Olivia! This is William Lewis we’re talking about! He managed to kidnap, torture and nearly rape and kill you! You’re a cop! You’re trained with guns, how to de-escalate high stress situations, how to fight! She doesn’t know any of that! Whatever the fuck happens to her is on you, I hope you realize that.”

“Counsellor…” Carisi warned gently. The shouting match in the office had brought attention of the rest of the squad, awkwardly hovering in the open doorway behind Carisi.

“No. She is my world. And I refuse to lose her. So you are going to walk out that door and you are going to do your fucking jobs and find her before he can lay a finger on her. Do I make myself clear?”

Olivia dropped her head into her hands, trying to hold it together while also trying to clear her head enough to make a game plan. Rita was right, Lewis was a force to be reckoned with. Her mind flashed back to the memories she’d tried so hard to keep buried down, the horrible emotional and physical pain brought on by those three days that she still had to live with every day. She wouldn’t wish it on anyone, especially her daughter, you’d done nothing to deserve this, simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong (hypothetical) last name. Taking a deep breath she wiped the stray tear, turning to her team.

“Carisi, go with Rollins to Bellevue. Get Sophie’s statement, get a bolo out on her car. Put a squad car on her and get one on Lucy and Noah. Rollins can follow the bolo, but you’re there as a boyfriend, not a cop. Understood?” He gave a tight nod, turning to his partner, “Fin, Amaro, track Y/N’s phone, even if he’s tossed it it’ll give us an idea of what direction they’re heading in. Start checking traffic cams and toll booths for any hint of Lewis. We have a slight advantage here, we know how he works.”

“We also know he probably wants to be found.” Rollins cut in, all eyes shot to her and she shrugged towards the Captain, “he wants you. He wants your attention, he just happens to have the best leverage he can get.”

“And what!?” Rita shot, “Y/n just becomes collateral damage?”

“It won’t come to that.” Olivia replied, “Rollins is right. Let’s get eyes on that beach house from last time. Go!” With that last urgency, the squad scattered, and fast. Liv turned back to the one woman left in her office, “Rita…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wish I could promise you that she won’t be hurt but…”

“Just get her back to me. Please.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Tears flooded into Rita’s eyes, her previous anger burnt off, replaced with absolute terror of what this monster was capable of. If he could do as much damage to Benson as she’d seen, she didn’t even want to think about how you were going to come out of this…if you were going to at all.

*

A sudden burning against your abdomen wrenched you out of your unconscious state, a scream muffled by the duct tape over your lips.

“There she is.” The man chuckled, tossing the car’s cigarette lighter back to the front seat, “I thought I mighta’ hit you too hard princess.” You squirmed away as he traced down the side of your face with a stolen scalpel, “I’m gonna take this tape off now. If you so much as think about making a noise you’re dead you hear me?” He cocked an eye brow and you nodded, “good girl.” He stashed the scalpel into the front pocket of your scrub top, “we’ll save that for later.”

You gasped for air the second the tape was off, your head still throbbing from the earlier hit you’d taken. Lewis tugged you out of the back seat of the car, you stumbled on your feet, having been shoved into such an uncomfortable angle for so long. You appeared to be at an off the beaten track gas station, he’d parked around back, a curve of trees hiding you from view from the highway. There was a second car parked nearby, you didn’t miss the trail of blood leading from it to the trunk of Sophie’s, trembling at the thought. Lewis chuckled as he quickly led you to the backseat of the stolen one.

“You’re much more compliant than Captain Benson was. It’s a shame she didn’t tell me she had a daughter…you’re much more my type.”

“Wh-“ you were cut off suddenly by another piece of tape sealing your lips shut. What did Liv have to do with this? Your brain scrambled as he roughly shoved you into the backseat, it suddenly became very clear when you remembered Sophie’s words to you earlier that afternoon. Multiple rapes and murders….a kidnapped cop. That cop had to be Olivia. You felt your eyes burn with tears, a shaky breath trying to escape you as you did your best not to think of what this man had in store for you. You half watched him pop the trunk, not liking the sound of the low whistle and laughter coming from that direction as he viewed its contents. You jolted when he reappeared in the doorway,

“These are gonna be much more fun, don’t ya think princess?” In his hand was a small collection of what looked like hunting or fishing knives. You specifically cringed at the serrated blade of one of them, not wanting to have any idea of what it felt like. He tossed all but one into the passanger seat, “shall we try this one out first?”

You instinctively jerked when his bony hand enclosed around your ankle, you were tempted to try and kick his face but you knew that wouldn’t do much good considering your position, your hands were bound, and he had a weapon in his hands, you wouldn’t make it far. The knife slipped under the leg of your pants, his hand swiftly moving upwards as it sliced through the fabric, he twisted it at the end, slicing into your thigh. The tears burning in your eyes began to slip through the cracks, streaking your face as the blood slowly leaked onto the torn fabric of your pants.

“Yeah…these’ll work much better.” Lewis laughed,  slamming the back door shut before he moved to the drivers seat. “You’re such a good playmate princess.” Even just his gaze made you squirm, there had been no doubt in your mind that this man was a fucking monster earlier, but you were praying that somewhere down the road, he would fuck up, preferably sooner rather than later.

*

Back at the precinct Rita’s hands were shaking in her lap. In hindsight maybe that fourth cup of coffee wasn’t a good idea after all. It’s not like she was having trouble staying alert right now, her brain was shooting all of the horrible thoughts it could at her about what was potentially happening to you right now. She remembered hearing about his last case, the damage he’d done to so many people, Olivia included. While the other woman had never opened up about it to her, she knew her injuries had been bad, and she knew that Lewis enjoyed torturing his victims. For the sake of your sanity, there was a part of her that wished he would accidentally fuck up, killing you instantly. At least then she would know you hadn’t suffered too much.

They’d found your phone on the side of the road where Lewis had ditched it after calling Liv, it wasn’t far from the hospital, but gave them a general idea that he might be heading South, though that didn’t make much sense. It was close enough to the Williamsburg Bridge that he could have potentially trapped himself on the peninsula and they began flooding the zone with uni’s.

Sophie’s car turned up at an isolated gas station fourty five minutes later. There was blood and hair in the backseat, and worst of all, a dead body in the trunk. They managed to thankfully ID him, and put a bolo out on all and any vehicles he owned the squad knew time was of the essence and they were slowly running out as the sun sank over the city.

Olivia glanced across the squad room, through the door to her office, as worried as she was about you, she knew Rita was absolutely terrified, and she couldn’t blame her. While Rita may not have been privy to exactly how dirty Lewis liked to play, that was still the love of her life being held captive with some psychopath. The one she’d waited so long to find, the one who made her incredibly soft, loving, the complete opposite of the woman she was on the outside. Now as Olivia watched her wipe away a fresh set of tears, hunched over on the couch, she saw a completely different woman. One that was utterly broken, scared, one who probably cared more about you than she did about herself. She was merely a shell of her other powerful, and warm woman that she used to be. Olivia couldn’t let that be the woman that Rita became, she had to get you back, not for herself, but for your true love. She would go to the ends of the earth to make sure that you walked down that damn aisle, even if she had to sacrifice herself to make it happen. It was what you and Rita deserved.

Rita’s head tilted slightly as her phone buzzed, she’d been screening her calls, obviously more involved with finding you, even if all she was doing was sitting in Liv’s office crying over the thought of never seeing you again. This notification piqued her interest, grabbing the phone, practically stumbling to the doorway.

“Liv!” Olivia’s head swiveled back to Rita, brows furrowed as she jogged over to Rita.

“What?”

“They’re in the Hamptons.”

“What? How do you know?” Rita flipped the phone, an image of Lewis practically dragging you in the back door of a beach house.

“Security notifications come straight to my phone, you need to call the local p.d now! Call them off, if he hears sirens, I’m worried….” She took a shaky breath, “I’m worried what he’ll do.”

Rita quickly rattled off the address as Liv got everyone caught up, her hand already dialing the local police to not engage, that they had this handled and were on their way. Rita knew there was no way this was just an off chance, sure, Lewis liked the idea of the abandoned beach town, no one would be around since the weather had started to chill. But there was no way in hell he randomly picked her Hamptons house. There was some part of you that was still semi conscious enough to get him to agree to going there. She was now more thankful than ever that she’d had the cameras set up last year, she wasn’t even sure if you knew about them, maybe you’d just been trying to get somewhere familiar, somewhere you could pretend what was happening wasn’t as bad as it was.

*

When you came to for the third time that day, you groaned, your entire fucking body ached, littered with little cuts and burns. Somewhere along the way you remembered that you’d read somewhere that the more you fight back, the more likely they were to just give up and let you go without finishing the job.

As it turned out, that was not the case that applied here.

You’d taken quite the beating once inside the house, you were certain a couple of ribs were broken, and you could feel even more bruising beginning to form underneath your skin. You’d be feeling these injuries for a while, if you made it out of here. Basically the only thing keeping you going at this point was Rita, you had to hold on for her, you couldn’t possibly leave her alone in this horrible version of the world.

You tried to move your body, remembering when you did that he had your wrists individually duct taped to the spires in the headboard. You’d been cautiously wriggling against them since he bound you, thankful that the heat was for some reason turned on in the house, even the slightest bit of sweat could help melt some of the glue on your skin.

“Awe…you’re awake princess.” He sneered as he re-entered the room, “ready for round two?”

“Please…no…” your voice was hoarse, tears budding in the corners of your eyes. The gash on your leg had steadily been leaking for hours, you felt completely exhausted, you weren’t sure how much more fight you had left in you. He chuckled darkly again, you shrieked as he tore what was left of your pants off right before he wrenched at your body, flipping you onto your stomach. The yelp started out from the pain of your shoulders moving in ways they probably shouldn’t, but grew louder at the sudden stabbing in your chest.

“You can scream all you want out here…no one’s gonna hear you.”

You practically sobbed into the pillow, feeling the bed dip with his weight, the clinking of his belt buckle. He traced one of the hunting knives up the inside of your leg, too distracted with playing with his prey that he didn’t notice you wriggling against the duct tape. You realized what was stabbing you in the chest. He’d swiped your ID badge back at the hospital, but your brain thankfully remembered the scalpel he had stashed in your pocket, clearly forgetting about it once he discovered the bigger knives. You knew that the tape on your left wrist was loosened, with enough force, you’d probably be able to get out, even if it meant breaking your wrist in the process. The cold blade of the knife was suddenly at your lower back, pressing in slightly right as it dipped into the waistband of your underwear, a muffled cry escaped your lips.

A car door slammed outside, pulling Lewis’ attention and while it may only be brief, and he may have the larger knife, you had a much better knowledge of human anatomy. Using all of your lasting energy, you ripped your hand from the loose tape (a scream ripping from your lips at the pain), grabbing the scalpel as you did your best to roll over under his weight. One deep swipe to his carotid and you ducked under your free arm, doing the best you could to keep his now dead weight, and gushing blood off your face.

You jumped when you heard a loud crash from the direction of the front door, your heart rate slightly coming back to earth when you heard Olivia’s voice shouting through the house.

“Get the fuck off her!” She didn’t realize he was already dead, a sob escaping your lips bringing her attention back to you as she shoved his body off you. “Honey…it’s okay…it’s okay. I’m gonna need you to put that down, okay?” Your eyes moved to your trembling hand, not even realizing you were still holding a weapon, you dropped it instantly as if it was burning into your skin.

“Rita?” You choked out.

“She’s here, she’s outside sweetheart.” You could hear other members of the squad sweeping the rest of the house as Liv did her best to calm you down. She swiftly used the knife to free you of your other bond, your un-injured hand cradling your broken one. “There’s EMT’s outside, we need to get you checked out.” Your gaze dropped to your body, littered in marks, your scrub top soaked with Lewis’ blood, your shredded pants lay next to the bed.

“Bottom drawer.” You murmured. Olivia suddenly remembered that this was Rita’s house, you were bound to know where things were.

Swiftly moving through the room she had you in a fresh pair of pyjama pants quickly, taking a moment to hold you to her. Breathing out a sigh of relief that they’d gotten to you before Lewis had hit his limit, and that you’d done a pretty decent job protecting yourself. You did have some of that Benson blood in you after all.

Once you were down the porch steps your eyes were searching for Rita, finding her near the ambulance. She let out a strangled cry at the sight of you, part of it relieved that you were still alive, the other half of her absolutely disintegrating at how much blood you were covered in. She pushed past the barrier of cops as you half jogged toward her, ignoring the pain of your leg.

The instant you were in her arms you broke, buried against her coat while the sobs heaved through your body, the pain in your ribs making you cry even harder. You’d done your best to stay strong for far too long, you’d put it all into fighting back, into saving as much of your dignity that you could. Now, wrapped in Rita’s embrace you were finally able to let it all come crashing out. You could feel her own tears dropping against your skin, her body shaking with breaths as she held you.

“Lewis?” She asked over the top of your head to Liv.

“Dead.”

“I didn’t hear a shot.”

“She slit his throat.” Liv gestured toward you, Rita pulled the slightest bit away, glancing down at your face.

“Am..am I in trouble?” You asked through your cries.

“No honey, absolutely not.” Even with Olivia’s response, Rita’s grip on you tightened as the other woman stepped forward, as if she was going to attempt to cuff you then and there. You winced at the pain, a grunt coming from your throat.

“Come on darling, they need to look at you.” She softly kissed the top of your head, her voice quiet enough for only you to hear, a prominent shake it in as she directed you towards the ambulance. “Did he rape you?” You took a shaky breath, your words nearly lost against her body.

“Just…just his hand..” you shuddered, thankful you’d been so out of it by that point from blood loss and a very likely concussion that you barely acknowledged or remembered it. Rita’s grip tightened around you again, she was happy he hadn’t managed to complete his task but god only knew if you hadn’t killed him she would be walking right back into that house and doing it herself.

She guided you to the paramedics as Liv came jogging back out with a tshirt from the house, letting you rid yourself of the blood soaked one. It relieved Rita to see that so much of the blood wasn’t yours, but her eyes dragged over the other small marks littering your body. There was no way in hell she was leaving your side for a very long time.

An I.V was promptly hooked up to give you some pain killers and fluids while the paramedic started asking you a few questions, you were half in an out at this point, exhaustion wearing on you more than you could’ve imagined. You knew you mentioned your leg, that it needed to be stitched, and you were aware of Rita’s hand curled in yours, the other softly brushing hair from your face. You knew you were finally safe, that your love was back by your side, your subconscious finally encouraging you to rest for a bit.

[twisted-writing]

A Different Side To You

Synopsis: When a new visitor comes to the castle, Bellatrix sees a new side to her usual apathetic husband.

POV: Third person

Characters: Bellatrix Draconia, Malleus Draconia, female!witch!reader, Lilia Vanrouge (brief appearance)

Additional info: Bellatrix/Malleus (romantic), Malleus & female!witch!reader (platonic)

Tagging: @tri3tri who is letting me write something for her characters! If you guys haven’t checked out her works, you totally should! They're filled with such good angst!

Note: the interactions between Malleus and Y/N can be interpreted as romantic.

Word Count: 1,126

When the news of a new visitor arriving at the castle had begun to float around, at first Bellatrix had thought nothing of it. They received new visitors often. Another wouldn’t make a difference. It wouldn’t disrupt the normal flow of things.

That was until she heard Malleus’ reaction as to exactly who would be visiting. Bellatrix hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on his conversation with Lilia, it had sort of just..happened.

She couldn’t get the conversation out of her head, it played on a constant loop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, our guest will be arriving soon.” Bellatrix’s hand was poised to knock on the door of Malleus’ study, but stopped when she had heard Lilia’s voice, even though it was muffled. “Are you excited to see them again?”

“We receive guests often, Lilia. Far too many on a good day.” Malleus’ tone, from what she could hear, was its usual apathetic tone. “However, I do miss hearing about their travels personally. They always have such interesting stories.”

“They most certainly do.” Bellatrix could practically hear the smile in Lilia’s voice. “How is their room coming along? I’ve heard you’re overseeing the decoration of it, yourself?”

She waits to hear a scoff of disbelief from her husband. Waits to hear that as king, he has no time to waste on such trivial issues such as decorations for a guest bedroom. That is something he will have a servant do.

But that isn’t what happens.

Instead what she hears is, “It is coming out just as I envisioned it would. It will be like a second home for them.”

He didn’t deny it.

Not once.

Why? What made this guest so special that Malleus would actively go out of his way to personally see to it that their room was to his liking? What connection did they have to him?

Bellatrix desperately wanted to storm in and demand answers to the questions that were swirling around in her head. She wanted to know! But…then she would have to admit to secretly listening to his conversation with Lilia.

Malleus would not take kindly to realizing that she had been listening to them for this long, like some sort of gossip.

Neither would Lilia.

She should walk away. Pretend that she never heard this conversation in the first place.

Yes, that is what she should be doing.

But her feet won’t move. It’s like they’re rooted there, in front of Malleus’ study.

There’s the sound of shuffling and Bellatrix begs her to body move. Come on, move! But her body doesn’t listen. She waits with held breath, for the door to open, and for her to be caught.

To her immense relief, the door doesn’t open.

“Well, I should go and see how the preparations are going.”

But it will be soon.

And when the door is finally open, Bellatrix is thankfully gone, with her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of almost getting caught.

She was glad that she hadn’t stormed in, no matter how much she wanted to.

She wouldn’t let this guest get to her.

Malleus would be polite to them for a few minutes, before letting the servants deal with them. Just like many of the other guests.

That would be that.

And everything would be normal again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Except everything was not normal.

Malleus was not his usual apathetic self, which shocked and surprised many in the castle, apart from Lilia, Sebek, and Silver.

He was joking! And laughing! And actually being playful!

But it was not Bellatrix, who brought out this side of him, no matter how hard she tried to gain his affection.

It was Y/N. The human girl Malleus had attended school with.

The same human girl who was not so entirely defenseless. She had magic flowing through her veins. Everyone in the castle could sense it. It was difficult not to. She was a witch.

Witches carried a certain..aura about themselves.

It was very hard to miss.

What was also hard to miss was the way the king of the Valley of Thorns acted around her. He escorted her everywhere. Showing the library, the vast castle garden, and so much more. All the while listening to Y/N’s travels that took her around the world, and he listened with rapt attention.

Bellatrix was not jealous. She wasn’t! And she wasn’t envious either! Malleus was just…he was just being polite! Making conversation with a guest was just one of his many duties as a king.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a laugh coming from the garden. She hadn’t even noticed that her feet had led her to the usual pathway.

That laugh.

It was loud, but not too loud that it would disturb everyone else, it was warm and inviting, and beckoned anyone who heard it, to find the source, just to hear it again. And Bellatrix absolutely wanted to hear it again. So she followed the sound and saw Malleus, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

It occurred to Bellatrix that she had never heard him laugh.

His chuckles, even those were a rarity, was something that she had become accustomed to hearing.

Not laughter like this.

“Tsunotarou! It’s not funny! It took me weeks to make that particular smell go away!”

That got another burst of laughter from Malleus. “Apologies, Y/N.” Though, he didn’t sound sorry at all, in fact he sounded amused. “Allow me to make it up to you.”

“Oh? How will you do that?”

Bellatrix’s shock at the fact that the girl was not threatened for calling the king of the Valley of Thorns that kind of name was still very much present. If anyone else had dared…

She shivered and tried not to think about what would have happened.

“Do you remember that book you told me that you were looking for? But couldn’t find?”

“You have it?! Can I see it?! Please?!”

“That depends. Am I forgiven?” His tone was teasing, not its usual seriousness.

“Yes!”

“After dinner, I’ll bring it to you.”

“You’re the best, Tsunotarou!” And then she hugged him.

“I know.” And he returned the hug with a soft smile, that Bellatrix had always longed to see.

Malleus was truly different around her.

[fruit-salad-ship]

Kind-of-villain Plum AU wont let me work in peace until I dump it here.

Ranger academy is the last place Peach sees her, the story is as we know it, peach goes off to be a professor, plum completes the ranger course and graduates to go onto work in her industry, she's good at what she does!

Except this time she meets a lovely guy, tall, strong, confident. They date a while before getting engaged, Plum is happy, from what she can remember, all things about this guy are good, nothing to worry over, no red flags.

She's introduced into the family, they all seem approving of her, and she fills a space that seems to be evidently empty within the household. They seem to do a lot of unusual dealings but their notoriety is highly regarded as good, plenty of community work, even Plum's family know them and have done deals with them, over what, she's not entirely sure.

She is offered the job at the Island, and takes it, stays there in the week, goes home for weekends mostly. Her husband keeps asking her to find things out, loves to listen to all her gossip about the goings on, digs for info a lot. She believes he does this to engage with her work and show interest, appreciates it.

She finds Peach to be abrasive as ever but warms to her, same with Grey, they get along, she enjoys their company enough to consider them friends, hell, if it wasn't for her being happily married, she'd consider getting involved with them, they clearly have an open thing going on.

She doesn't think anything of her husband throwing a party, seeing if Plum wanted to invite her island friends. He knew to pick a date that Grey was busy (thanks to Plums unknowing intel), and so she manages to drag Peach along. She turns up, left Val behind, it's a party, why would she need any pokemon? Besides, Val would only be grouchy the entire time, better to let her have the weekend off too.

Peach does not recognise him at first, but he knows her. Watches as she finds a quiet moment to peel away from the event, chill out in the garden of a home she's not familiar with, it does not smell like a place she's been to before, no photos up on walls.

Plum had no idea when her and Peach had their romantic Ranger run in, Robbie was aware. The eldest cousin, hellbent on outdoing the heir of the family, entranced Plum after the academy, wooed her, bagged an insider informant. She has no recollection, but he's been putting memories in her head, and removing others, so she was compliant in the downfall of the island, and Peach.

She goes into the house, confronted with the two cousins brawling all out, and Rob cannot be beaten by ordinary means. Peach goes down hard, and Plum is terrified. But it's ok, Robbie can just delete that memory once they get her back to the family home. The betrayal hits Peach pretty hard, but she sees the little ranger afraid, totally unable to recall anything negative. The professor knows what they've done to her, knows they've removed the bad, and reinforced the good with Beheeyem mind altering processes.

Both parties are guilt riddled, Grey has no clue anythings wrong, back at the island handling daily tasks, it's not until neither Plum or Peach return by monday that he starts to ask questions.

Meanwhile back at the actual family home, Peach is stuck in the basement, Plums been "reset" back to her compliant self, goes down to visit her husband, totally disconnected from the work he's doing, wearing Peach down to nothing before the next step in the family plan happens. He's quietly hoping she dies from the process. Makes sure to let Plum go in and talk with her, bloodied and tired, like she doesn't know who peach is anymore.

Some small dumb thing brings back some memories, perhaps an inside joke they shared, maybe a nickname, whatever it was, Plum manages to grab back some of the past. She considers helping her escape but knows without pokemon, they're stuck in the home without a chance in hell of getting free.

She sits up at night, knowing Robs in the basement continuing his work, just crying over how stupid she'd been not seeing how nasty he really was. If the professor was there, she'd tell her it's ok, the family's devious, Robs the worst of all the cousins, twisted, she knows he did this to get to her, he literally told her that to her face. He chose plum because she would be able to work her way back into Peach's life easily one day, where'd you think the job opportunity for her came from? The family paid off an insider Ranger to give her the position.

Can you even imagine the horrible snide comments the cousins share over the situation? It'd be low blow after low blow, just claws out, bitchy behaviour between them both.

Does she get free? Does Plum help? or is she just caught up in this mess?

I dunno but theres a lot of opportunity there for heartache. Especially when Peach gets wiped, but Plum knows it's because of her being bait, pretends like she's not regained her memories to see if an opportunity to fix this arises. secretly contacts Grey to bring in help, maybe she gets caught? Or he comes in and tries to help.

Technically without Val, Peach can't do the job her family demand of her, so they'd have to steal her away too, sneak onto the island and lure her away from security or other staff.

its a devious AU, horrible, awful, no good. excellent.

[theggning]

Hey! I'm new to writing Fallout Fanfiction, and I was wondering, do you have any tips on writing Piper? She's a bit tough for me, which sucks because she's meant to be my OC's love interest! Thanks!

Oh, what a flattering ask. I'll give it a shot!

One thing I would seriously recommend, particularly for Fallout fic writers, is checking out their dialogue on the wiki. We are blessed in that some kind soul has uploaded the game script to each character page, so you can get a list of absolutely every line every character says and how they react to various things. Here's Piper's.

By looking through this, you get a lot of situational lines that are difficult to trigger in normal gameplay. And here, you can get a TON of extra canon info about them, and use those details to inform how you write them. How does Piper feel about small, dark spaces? What does she order to drink at the bar? How does she treat bartenders, shop owners, and NPCs from various in-game groups? What is her outlook on the various quests in the game? What does she approve of and disapprove of and why? All of this can be found in Piper's lines, and it's helpful to. You know. Actually have a good sense of who she is (or any other character you write.)

Tips for Piper more specifically... you can always tell when a person hasn't actually interacted with her beyond her brief appearance in the main quest. There's a tendency to overblow certain traits, in particular her recklessness and her eagerness to find scoops. Though Piper *is* a reckless person and she *is* always looking out for news, she's also an empathetic person and has a sense of decorum. She's not a heartless gossipmonger. She doesn't publish stories that are guaranteed to hurt people (see: her immediate resignation that she can't write about the Railroad.) In spite of her reputation and the way people treat her, there is absolutely no evidence that she's ever published personal gossip or slander about anyone (though she is not beyond threatening to do so, in some cases.) Even her infamous "McDonough is a synth" story is not *actually* saying that, people just don't read the actual articles and go off of the in-game propaganda against her.

If Piper is romancing your OC, what about her does your OC admire? And more importantly, what does Piper admire about your OC? Game mechanics let us kind of cheat with affinity and swap out companions to avoid losing approval based on your actions, but that's not going to be believable in a story. Is your OC kind? Do they treat other people well? Do they believe in the same things as Piper does, and find the same things important? Do they support Piper's passion for journalism and the truth? All of those are gonna be pretty important factors in having a relationship with Piper.

Meanwhile, if your OC is a murderous Overboss raider-type who steals and cheats and kills puppies for fun, it's going to be EXTREMELY difficult for Piper to be in love with them without being incredibly out of character.

I hope some of this has been helpful! These are approaches that I take to writing not just Piper, but all sorts of characters in my Fallout and other fics. Once you know who the character is, you can get a sense for how they fit in with your story, and how they should remain recognizably the characters that fans know and love.

[viscountessevie]

A funny bit, but I was on youtube watching one of those list videos, and one about famous romcoms, talked about My best friend's wedding and one producer said they had to come back and film a different end, because in the original, Julia's character got the guy and the focus group was pissed because everyone felt bad for Cameron's, their idea didn't work on screen, so they saw the mistake and changed the end, they could go on like Bridgerton, not even acknowledge the mistake but then again there are creators interested in making things people will enjoy and bring more $ others are way to worry about their own ego with the check already on their bank

Related to this post

Thanks for this ask anon! Super cool info on an old movie I like and I'm always here for dragging the Bridgerton Production 😂😂

Okay firstly: let's talk about the Best Friend's Wedding of it all because holy shit what!!! I may be in the minority but I would have lovedd that ending. I was always rooting for Julia Roberts to be happy even though I thought Dermot's character was a shithead for leading her on (however cluelessly) and they didn't really seemed to have chemistry which is why it was so surprising when Julia and Dermot had INSANE chemistry in interviews. Like I once watched one of their interviews in recent years and had to check if they were actually married to one another. Their friendship is what soulmates are made of tbh.

Honestly, I thought both girls could do better than Dermot's character 💀💀 Rupert Everett was the only valid man in that movie.

My dragging of My Best Friend's Wedding aside, I like that they did take into account of the test audiences' response to some extent (cos it doesn't always work tbh and you just gotta stick to your vision) and realised they could do better and did just that.

As for Bridgerton, D R A G them anon. They refused to listen to us about how problematic the SA scene was and instead CVD doubled down on it saying it was a monent of empowerment for Daphne 🤢. Of course this season, they COMPLETELY butchered one of the most beloved book of the series (don't get me started on butchering my culture but that's for another post) and made Penalty girlboss some more and ruin her so-called best friend's life. Like I love drama but this isn't Big Brother or Gossip Girl, it's a romance show I don't know why they moved away from that. It's fucking annoying. If I wanted drama, I'd tune into my reality shows.

I will give them *some* props for certain changes - the new Bee scene, new accident scene (though I hated the motivation of it for the Sharmas - like you're going to finally notice and forgive her after she almost dies???) and Kathony choosing each other before marriage (though fuck buddies married Kathony sex montage I'll always miss your potential for the show 😭😭)

Other than that, it was ALL Jimone carrying this season because aside from their scenes and storyline, the whole season was a fucking mess. It was not cohesive at all and because of the Featherflops, it felt like I was watching two different shows. Literally who approved this season to drop in the state it was in?? Did no one on the Executive Producing Team and Higher Ups at Netflix take a SINGLE writing/storytelling class???

But yeah this season's writing and CVD acting like he is God's gift to humanity for writing, just proved this show isn't really worth my time. So they can take other people's time and money next season and keep putting out the shit they're putting out. Some people will clearly eat it up. I'll be here watching Lockwood & Co. supporting Ruby instead (may pirate S3 but I'm undecided).

[kusagrasskusa]

Yandere! Itachi X Reader Headcannons

The reader is precieved as a normal civilization rather than a ninja.

ALSO I learned how to do the "read more" thing on my phone and now I'm happy uvu- and to any friends that read this, I'm so sorry but I've never been so dedicated to a fandom in a long time lol. I might make a oneshot later for this, too, and I do, you should see a link under this paragraph somewhere.

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🖤 Itachi is a mature and collected person, so I'd think it'd be unlikely for him to just grow obsessed at once. Itachi would have to come across Y/N many times before releasing he's in love.

🖤 The way he'd meet Y/N would be when he'd be scouting an area for a particular enemy. He'd happen to come across her, who interacted with him a little but nothing interesting happened. Overtime, the two would see each other here and there, until eventually everyday.

🖤 When his enemy he was looking for had been eliminated, he said his goodbyes to Y/N before leaving. He expected to move on, but his mind would wonder back to her no matter how hard he tried.

🖤 Eventually, Itachi would see Y/N whenever he had free time. He'd make room in his day to spend hours together; they'd go out to eat, participate in festivals, talk, and more.

🖤 On Y/N's side, it didn't take long before she started to feel romantic interest. Afterall, Itachi was calm, collected, smart, strong, fun to be around, and seemed genuinely interested in her. She was definitely in love before he was.

🖤 Around the time Itachi would visit the Leaf Village to find Naruto, he strangely started to worry a lot about Y/N learning about who he was and fear him. He couldn't help but want to shield her from the truth, and if the people around them learned that the man Y/N was with was wanted, it would end bad for them.

🖤 Itachi was inevitably worrying a little too much about the possibility of her finding out. He went to see her and did his best to distract her from any gossip or drama whatsoever to ensure she'd never hear about the Akatsuki. His time spent with her increased from a few hours to half the day.

🖤 Itachi wouldn't ever want to kidnap or drag people into his life. He hates killing, he hates being "evil", he hates everything about his dark lifestyle. The decision to either abandon someone he began to care for or to take her away was a very hard one.

🖤 Itachi realized something in the process of thinking of a solution. He loved Y/N; he loved her to the point where the thought of her hating or fearing him scared him so badly. Even with Sasuke, the thought of him having him was terrifying but something he could live with.

🖤 It was releasing to learn about his own true feelings. He was desperately in love with Y/N, to the point where she was like air, or food, or water. Like in order to live, she had to be around.

🖤 As word spread about two strange people walking around Konoha and that Orochimaru took the last Uchiha, it was inevitable that Y/N would learn about the info. The next time she saw Itachi, she brought it up to him and expressed her discomfort in the fact that she could be among evil people.

🖤 He was scared. So scared that she would hate him for his lifestyle after finding out about who he really is. So that was it; his mind was made. He took Y/N away that night.

🖤 When word about the Akatsuki in Konoha, he received a lot more looks when he was in public than normal. He'd usually have a normal kimono on and have his hair in a different, though similar, style in order to appear normal. But he knew deep down in his heart that people are bound to start suspecting him of being an Akatsuki. And overhearing someone talk about an S class Uchiha member is what did it.

🖤 "You've been asking about where I live for a whole now. Would you like see my home?" Itachi asked. Y/N happily agreed to go, and sorta expected his home to be outside of her village. But the further she traveled, she grew a bit nervous and wanted to return home (as you would if you were led outside of your village into deep woods)

🖤 Itachi wasn't escorting Y/N alone. Of course, the Akatsuki is bound to learn about that girl Itachi insisted on bringing up in most of his little amounts of conversations. It was obvious he was obsessed with her, as much as he would try to hid it, but he just couldn't get her off his mind. So the night where he choose to bring her home, Kisame was watching the two frkm afar in case something happened.

🖤 Before that day, Itachi had mentioned that he wanted to protect Y/N. Over the three months Itachi spent with Y/N, he had plenty of time to talk about her enough to where the other members basically knew her.

🖤 Itachi actually got a few of the members (ex. Kisame, Deidara) were interested in Y/N as well. How could someone as "heartless" as Itachi Uchiha fall in love, and in such a dramatic way at that? They were sorta curious to see what was so special about her.

🖤 Anyway, you can imagine how Itachi convinced Y/N to go far enough into the woods to go to a small little cottage. Was it part of the Akatsuki hideout? No. Itachi would never trust the Akatsuki members with Y/N alone, and she needs her freedom to walk around a house.

🖤 The inside was sorta minimalistic, but not completely empty. To the far right was a kitchen was a small dining table with two chairs, and on the opposite side was two rooms. In one room was a single bed with a closet in it, and in the other room was a bathroom. Between the kitchen and two rooms was a small living room with a couch, coffee table, and more. There were bored games in a little dresser in the living room, along with a full bookshelf with books of all genres.

🖤 "Care for dinner?" Itachi had asked. He wanted to tell Y/N why she's there over a dinner he made and had prepared in advance. It turns out he was amazing at cooking.

🖤 It wasn't very easy, but Itachi managed to explain his feelings towards Y/N. Of course, Y/N happily excepted and was quick to hug and express her feelings towards him. He returned the hug and spoke about how he loved her very much, however he had so much more to say to her.

🖤 Justifyingly so, Y/N was frozen in shock when Itachi told his story. He killed everyone in his clan aside from his brother, the well-known Uchiha. How he fled his clan after committing the murders and joined an infamous group; The Akatsuki.

🖤 While displaying himself as calm, he was so overwhelmed and scared within his mind. He knew he'd have to tell her why she's staying at the house and why, from now one, she'll never leave. But he was smart enough to know she wouldn't simply except living here out of love. He would have to be a bit manipulative to keep Y/N.

🖤 Y/N was mortified and didn't notice the tears pouring out of her eyes. She fell desperately in love with a murderer. She felt so sick, so scared. She stood up, begging to go home so desperately, trembling over her own words. She was so scared for her life now, and what Itachi's intentions were. Truly, Itachi's heart broke at this.

🖤 "Y/N, darling," Itachi spoke, his words laced with love as she softly grabbed Y/N wrists and leaned close. "I had to take you away. I couldn't let them take you from me."

🖤 He was very delicate with Y/N as he calmed her down, as if she was glass. His heart ached at her pain, but he truly believed it was for the best. In a way it really was; people saw Y/N with the tall raven boy many times in public, and her parents and friends had met him too. Once they find out that boy is the Itachi, Y/N could be killed if they think she was aiding him.

🖤 Itachi did his best to show her around and make her feel comfortable. But no matter what he did, Y/N felt so broken, so empty, so confused. There's no way that sweet Itachi she loves is a killer. He has to be lying.

🖤 Over the course of a few days, Y/N learned to except the fact she's held at that small home. She tried to think on the good side; she could decorate it how she wants, has more freetime, can focus on her hobbies and learn to cook new things, and more! Even if she's never allowed to leave the house, Itachi let's her do basically anything around the home.

🖤 Y/N still loves him. As months go by of being alone for a few days without Itachi, some days with him for a little bit, and some full days with him, she still couldn't help but appreciate him just as much as before. No, she appreciates him more even. She just can't help but love him, and he loves her too.

🖤 Itachi felt much more relaxed around Y/N and tried to spend every second he could with her. He was so shameful of keeping her from her home, but it was for the best wasn't it?

🖤 Most of Itachi's emotions about keeping her was all because he lived her and never wanted to see her with anyone else. But he had always found an excuse as to why it's for the best that she's never with anyone else.

🖤 Kisame had met Y/N a few times. She was never comfortable with him however and was typically holding onto Itachi's sleeve, or leaning on him when he's around. However Kisame would be around when Itachi wasn't sometimes to keep watch.

🖤 As long as Itachi or Kisame was present, Y/N is allowed to go outside and visit close villages other than the one Y/N is from. She would be allowed to buy anything she wanted and could afford from these places, but she had to go home eventually.

🖤 At the end of the day, Y/N had quite a lot of freedom and eventually, she was happy. She was happy to be living with Itachi and was perfectly happy calling him her husband.

🖤 Itachi never wanted a marriage though. He was going blind and he planned to be murdered by his brother and he never dared to make her a young widow. When Izumi had died, he felt so distraught and he knew Y/N is bound to feel the same, but even worse if they got married.

🖤 When Itachi died, as said, Y/N was distraught. No, she was mortified. Absolutely mortified. Even if she was free, she had lost the last person she had a connection with. And she carried that sorrow to her grave.