#literally my favourite game ever made with no exaggeration

[21stcenturyschizoidfag]

hypnospace outlaw 60% on steam BUY IT NOW

[sturnsdarling]

'Chris likes girls who don't like him back'

Late night streaming with your best friends turns to a conversation about the boys' type, and Chris gets called out

vibe check: flirty fluffy fun, 3/4 of my favourite f words

1.4k words

A/N: i had this idea literally straight away after what Matt said about Chris' type.........the idea of being Chris' best friend that he openly fancies but you're 'not interested' makes MY TOES CURL BRO LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING anyway I hope you love this. PART TWO IS INCOMING…

love and cigs, merc

"Matt he's right there what the fuck are you doing?!" you scream down the mic, nearly throwing your controller across the room as you jolt back in your chair.

You watch as Matt gets sniped in the head from the back, laughing as he wails on this desk, making the whole stream glitch and nearly crash. Chris is laughing along with you, trying not to make it obvious that he's watching you, and not Matt.

"Matt, bro you need to fuckin' up your game, y/n/n is actually carrying us right now." Chris says as Matt picks his chair up off the floor and sits back down in a huff.

"I always carry when I come on with you boys" you smirk, looking at the tiny square of Chris on your screen.

"yeah because you're a little sweat" Matt chuckles.

The boys had been streaming everyday for over a week now and, after some convincing, they managed to get you to join in on one of their games. At first you were apprehensive, obviously, but they explained that they were trying to diversify their platform and find a more mature audience so, actually interacting with girls on the internet was their first step.

You and the boys had been friends for forever, you met them through Nick in elementary school and had basically all been inseparable ever since, you'd been in some earlier videos but the fans back then made it very difficult to just exist around them so, you took it upon yourself to only exist in their real life, not their online one.

Cut to right now, you're nearly two hours deep in fortnite trios with the boys on stream, everyone was super excited to see you when they announced that they'd be joining and, other than a couple comments that you all ignored, it was going really well.

"Matt, someone asked what our types are" Chris laughed, reading the chat.

"I'm not answering that" Matt dead panned, screwing his face up at the camera

"I can answer it for you both, for sure" you chuckle, "chat do you want me to answer it?"

"yes, yes, yes, yes, omg yes" Chris was reeling off the answers in chat, "everyone wants y/n/n to answer, Matt should we let her?" Chris asked.

Matt rolled his eyes with a smile, "g'head, y/n/n, expose us" He chuckled.

"okay, so" you said, in your best girly gossip voice, "Matt likes nerdy, reader, soft girls" you begin to explain, your train of thought is interrupted by Chris erupting into laughter.

"dude she's so right! you love a girl that looks like she's always buried in a book" Chris wails.

"what are you guys even saying?" Matt complains, the smile etched across his face giving his tone a lot less power.

"you definitely want a girl who will go on a hike with you or some shit, Matt" You say, enjoying this whole interaction a bit too much.

Chris was keeled over in laughter, loving finally being able to talk about this kind of stuff on the internet without everyone going insane.

"I dunno why you're laughing so much, Chris, you're next" Matt states, Chris shrugs in reply.

"i don't give a fuck, call me out y/n/n, gimme the best you got" Chris sits back in his chair, arms folded over his chest.

"hmmmm" you say, exaggerating your thinking, "what is the famous Christopher Sturniolos type" you rub your chin, pretending to be thinking deeply.

A knowing smirk is spread wide across Chris' face as he stares at your face on his screen, tongue prodding the side of his cheek.

"I know Chris' type" Matt adds, a menacing smile on his face.

"g'head matt, you take this one" you gesture to the boy on your screen.

"Chris likes girls who don't like him back" Matts brows raise in accusation towards Chris.

You try and hide the smile forming on your face, attempting to look as focused on the game as possible as your tongue prods at your teeth. Neither of the boys say anything, both of them cheesing, Matt in a teasing and knowing kind of way and Chris more so in a 'I cant say what I wanna say' kind of way.

"damn, Matt, you just called me the fuck out" Chris shakes his head, looking to the tiny version of you on his screen.

You're still quiet, trying to fight the smile on your face and look as focused as possible, you catch Chris looking as if he's looking at you on his screen and shake your head with a chuckle.

"what you grinnin' at, kid?" Chris smirks.

You raise your brows, shaking your head with a downwards smile, "no, nothin', nothin" you say, returning your focus back to the game.

All of the viewers watched the interaction and were blowing up the chat with comments about how Chris definitely likes you, saying things like 'did you guys see that?!', and 'think they're slick look at how they're both smiling!!!!!'. Chris was reading the comments and trying to hide the red blush crawling its way onto his cheeks, Matt was relishing in the fact that Chris was so obviously nervous, and you were just trying not to react.

"Chris, dude, you better wipe that smile off your face, chat's onto you" Matt pokes the bear.

"chat ain't onto shit, Matt, shut the fuck up" Chris says, trying to be serious but unable to push his smile down.

"you know i'm right though, you do like girls who don't want you" Matt pushed on with his joke.

"Matt, shut your fuckin' mouth, dude" Chris rolled his eyes and shook his head, his smile still prevalent.

You couldn't help but laugh, still pretending to not care about the situation unfolding. In hindsight, it probably made it all the more obvious that you knew exactly what Matt was referring to.

"you're awful quiet, y/n/n, you got nothing to say on Chris' type?" Matt extends his joke over to you and your attention is immediately on him.

"nah, you hit the nail on the head, I think" you shrug, stretching back in your chair and adjusting your headset.

"oh really?" Chris replies, brows raised in accusation.

"mhm" you nod, faux innocently.

Chris kisses his teeth, nodding and trying to hide the smile on his face once again.

"yeah, chat, Matts right, I like pretty girls, who don't like me back" Chris says, subtly turning his attention to you and then back to chat.

You roll your eyes with a smile, leaning forward once more to lock into the game.

"you're ridiculous, Chris" Matt chuckles into the mic, watching you shift in your seat, trying not to blush.

The rest of the game went off without a hitch, you guys went on to win multiple times and all the viewers eventually stopped trying to get the conversation back to Chris' obvious crush on you. You played until the early hours of the morning, joking and laughing with the boys' just like old times and relishing in the fact that you were finally able to be a part of their online presence again. When it hit around three a.m you told them you had to sign off, explaining that you had to be up early for college that morning.

"guys, I gotta go, but I'll text you when I wake up" you said, pulling off your headset, and brushing your hair back with your hand.

"alright, y/n/n, thanks for helping us bury kids, its always a treat" Matt grinned at you, shooting you his token boyish smile.

"you know I live to humble kids on fort, Matt" You shrugged, putting on your best boyish persona, earning a laugh from Matt

"okay seriously, I gotta go, bye chat!" you smile, "bye boys" you go to switch off your computer but you're stopped by Chris booming voice.

"bye, beautiful" he says, a cheesy grin on his face.

your eyes roll to the back of your head as an uncontrollable smile finds your lips, "bye, Chris" you reply, switching off your computer.

The whole chat erupts with people losing their minds over Chris calling you beautiful, the boys say nothing, Matt just shakes his head, laughing at the chat as he watches Chris, grinning with pride and completely unashamed of his very obvious crush on you.

taglist: @sturniozalt@mattslolita@shaquilles-0atmeal@blahbel668@sleepysturniolo@le4hsblog @sarosfilms @joemamaaa42069 @2muchofaslvt @seluky10

[friendbreakfast]

PERSONA 5 SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. DONT READ IT IF YOU DONT WANNA BE SPOILED. — SPECIALLY YOU, THAT ONE FRIEND OF MINE I PLAY PERSONA 5 ROYAL WITH WHO HAS A TUMBLR

i love both Ryuji and Morgana and think theyre great characters but i absolutely fucking HATE the way anything wrong that Morgana does is exaggerated to hell and back in order to paint him in a bad light, while anything wrong Ryuji does is very conveniently forgotten by the fanbase in order to still keep him as the pure himbo awesome friend in their eyes.

like, Morgana is hated on for telling you to go to sleep, something that isnt even his fault - like, if he wasnt in the game, Joker would still think to himself about going to sleep and you would have exactly the same restrictions. its a gameplay thing, not a morgana thing.

Morgana is hated on for taking time away from Haru's arc, when whats happening is actually that Morgana is an existential crisis WHILE HAVING NO MEMORIES OF HIS PAST and feeling like hes becoming useless to the team, that is made worse by the entire team disregarding him for like a month or more, SPECIALLY RYUJI. AND THEN RYUJI DIRECTLY REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE WHEN THE ENTIRE TEAM LITERALLY WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO GO APOLOGIZE TO HIM.

but even then, its not Morgana's fault the writers wrote him into having an existential crisis around the time Haru would have her arc. its a writing flaw, not Morgana's flaw.

also i know Morgana and Ryuji bickered during the entire game so its not like Morgana is entirely blameless, but it was never about things they were directly sensitive to!! but during that arc, Ryuji's insistence on Morgana being useless which became more and more common really got to him, and Ryuji kept saying it even when everybody noticed that Morgana was depressed about it, and as i said, he then went on to never, ever apologize.

in fact im VERY sure if Atlus ever decided to write a scene of Ryuji apologizing to Morgana, everybody would call that bad writing cuz "Ryuji did nothing wrong, its all Morgana's fault"

as i said i really really like both characters to bits, i dont dislike any of the Phantom Thieves, and Ryuji is one of my favourites even within that group, but im so tired of people praising Ryuji to hell and back while on the next paragraph putting down Morgana the same amount, refusing to acknowledge the biggest thing they hate Morgana for, was caused in good part by Ryuji and not even entertaining the idea they might both be flawed characters.

"when a flaw is Morgana's, Morgana sucks. when a flaw is Ryuji's, i close my eyes" basically

[ewingstan]

top 5 favourite characters in any piece of media ever?

Oh Christ*. I doubt I could do real justice to this, but lets see if I can at least list in no particular order some of the characters I most like that have at least an orthogonal connection to this blog.

Rachel Lindt: Look, getting through the early parts of Worm were rough for me. Everything seemed a bit too exaggerated and ham-fisted, WB hadn't really learned how to do prose, and the only thing keeping me going was remembering that my cousin recommended it a while back and that that some out-of-context posts I'd seen from blastweave made it sound like it had some interesting ideas. But one of the early inexplicable hooks the story got into me was introducing this character who'd seem from a distance like another stock bully character, and almost immediately making me think "wait, I wanna see what he does with her. There's something there." And then there was! There's just something so satisfying about all her interactions with Taylor throughout the whole story; to the extent that I basically divide the story by the different periods of their relationship. She's everything.

Also, my posting about her was some of my first interactions with wormblr. Which is also the first fandom I think I could say I'm actually a part of? Like, there's plenty of things I'm a pretty huge fan of, I even have another fandom sideblog I started before this, but Worm got me actually posting instead of just passively reblogging for pretty much the first time. And Rachel got me there! So I have her to thank for answering this question at all in the first place.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus: The first character I liked in a blorbo kind of way, if that makes sense. Like, there's plenty of characters who I love, or who make the stories I love shine, or who I always had a fun time thinking about. But Harrow as a character just cracks open my brain in a way nothing else does. The Necromancy. The goth space Catholicism. The theatricality. The general horribleness. The specific combination of overwhelming presence and sad shitsack vibes. The specific combination of genius and ingenuity coupled with the crushing stubbornness and lack of creativity. Its not even like a key sliding into the lock in my heart, its like a lockpick that's clicking through all the tumblers in my heart-lock and revealing it for the flimsily-built masterlock-ass shit it is. I never used to get people who talked about how a character inspired them to pick up a hobby or take up an interest in something. But I ended up reading Lolita because of how much I loved Harrow! I started getting into Nabokov as a whole and finding one of my favorite writers because of Harrow! Nothing else does that to me! Which itself leads to...

Rose Lalonde: Did Harrow have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Harrow at all had Muir not loved, one summer, a certain initial witch-teen. In a comic by Hussie. Oh when? About as many years before GtN was written as my my age was that year. You can always count on my favorite characters for a fancy prose style.

No but Rose's verbose prose style really did cement her as one of my favorite characters. Like Bitch, she's a character that got me into an overly-long work I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle. I had attempted to start Homestuck a few times before I actually got into it, and the early computer-game jokes and user-submitted prompts weren't really engaging me. I did not see myself enjoying reading about John futzing around in his room for a few thousand pages. But man oh man, when the narrative switched focus to the literally purple-prosed kid obsessed with Lovecraft, I was ready for whatever the story wanted to do. I related to her and idolized her instantly. When I reread Homestuck much later, I related to her for much less complementary reasons. I have a particular (read: grating as hell) speaking style that's a result of being a kid who both thought of himself as smarter than everyone and was completely unsocial to the point of barely being able to have a conversation. I sound like an analytic philosophy paper written by an undergrad who's not invested in the topic or the course but who really wants to sound like he knows what he's talking about. The unique and specific character voices in Homestuck are the best part of the work for me, and when I first read Rose, I was basically reading who I wanted to be. And reading her later and realizing all the ways she's just a dumb kid makes me think of all the ways I was just a dumb kid, and how I'm trying to get to a place where I can converse with someone and feel comfortable without being condescending.

Look, there's a reason that despite Dave and Karkat having all my favorite moments in the work, I ended up owning two pairs of Rose t-shirts. And its the same reason I have a Ninth House outfit.

Kaladin Stormblessed: What if there was a story about trauma giving you superpowers fueled by bonding to an alien intelligence, but instead of the bonded spirit driving you towards self-destructive behavior it tried to make you into the best version of yourself? I've already talked a bit about how the Stormlight Archives has a surprising number of similarities to Worm, and reading it when I was a young teen probably contributed to developing the sensibilities that made Worm click for me. Plus, the cosmere was my first real multi-property media I got into, so it probably preempted me getting into comics as well (which this blog is also theoretically about). Speaking of—

Roberto da Costa: Feel weird about this, because I'm not even very familiar with the original Claremont stories he originated from. But the Al Ewing stories I read with him were some of the first Marvel comics I read at all (USAvengers was a weird-place to start that journey, tell ya hwat), and he set the tone for what modern big-two comics could do well perfectly. There's a lot of obvious problems with the eccentric billionaire hero archetype, but he's the best of that type of character. And while Ewing has written much better comics than the New Avengers/USAvengers runs he first used Roberto in, those stories were the ones that got me interested in Ewing in the first place. And I initially made this blog as a comics subblog devoted to his work! So again, this blog wouldn't really exist without Sunspot.

Special mention to: The March Hare+Doormouse. Putting them together because my parents met while playing them in their college theater program. Owing my existence to these characters means they probably deserve at least a mention. Also Jessie Pinkman and Sylvester Lambsbridge and Clint Barton and Saint Perpetua and Celestina the Witch and Smurov from Nabokov's "The Eye" and Quentin Brooks from Eidolon Playtest and the fictionalized version of Al Swearengen from Deadwood and Sister Carpenter from "The Silt Verses" and—

*No, I'm not putting him on the list.

[cloudcountry]

AAAAAAAA I’M HAPPY YOU LIKED IT SO MUCH!! :DD THANK YOOOUUUUU

HDBFGJD YES WE SHALL BEAT UP BEETHOVEN’S DAD TOGETHER 👊💥 And phew, I’m glad I was kinda right about there being kids mncvbmfg-

And yes, Beethoven and MC as friends!! 👏 He would absolutely dedicate a piece to them- He’d probably title it something like “The Beginnings of Friendship: Bagatelle”

I was cackling reading your commentary- I love your enthusiasm!!

Ngl, I was supposed to stop there at the dialogue pieces for Beethoven, but then I accidentally stumbled upon character cards for Ikevamp characters… And you know what I had to do 🧍 Yeah, I made a whole mock character card for him- (Only in text though- I don’t have any editing programs-)

~~~

Ludwig van Beethoven

The Fiery Maestro

Intense and emotional, the prodigy began playing in public at seven years old. He usually spends his days in the mansion’s garden or music room, thinking of new melodies. Despite his hot temper and sharp tongue, there’s a sense of loneliness hidden in him.

Birthday: December 16 [Fun fact: We actually don’t know the real Beethoven’s birthday,, he was baptised on December 17, so it’s generally assumed he was born the day before.]

Height: 162 cm

Occupation: Composer, freelance musician 

Hobbies: Hiking through nature, billiards, card games

Dislikes: Dishonesty, lying

Specialty: Musical improvisation

Weaknesses: Cooking, math

Favourite food: Macaroni and Cheese

Hated food: N/A (Food is little more than sustenance to him. He doesn’t really care for it; if something’s meant to be edible, he’ll eat it. Though, he does prefer more simple dishes)

Vampiric Type: Lesser Vampire [I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what’s the deal with vampiric types, so I’m kind of going off of what I’ve read and pure vibes-]

“To tremble in my music is your honour.” 

~~~

Ikevamp Beethoven 🤝 This Clavis Ikepri fellow

-Makes the most horrendous soup known to mankind

Jhbdfg But yeah!! Beethoven is straight up a horrible cook,, I actually made a mini scenario based off of this; One time, he was assigned to make dinner for everyone, and uh… The results were less than optimal- Beethoven spent almost two hours in the kitchen, huddled in front of a stove wearing a blue apron, and dinner was served. He made soup, which Doyle later could only describe was “more suited for charitable scraps given to dogs outside taverns.” The beef he did was half done, better suited for an animal. Vegetables floated in the ’soup,’ which was a mixture of water and grease, and the roasted meat looked like it was done in the chimney. 

Of course, no one could say anything about it, because if they did, Beethoven would literally, viciously, mercilessly tear them apart, mostly verbally. (The last time he got really angry, he stormed off to the music room, banged on the piano for like thirty minutes [creating the loudest half hour of everyone’s life], and six piano strings were broken as a result.) So they just kept their heads low and tried to eat. They couldn’t do it. It was barely possible to even choke down a few bites, so they just stuck to the bread and fruit he provided.

He was never assigned to cook dinner ever again.

Vincent, about Beethoven: Whenever I hear such a man march behind me, I can’t help but get nervous. He’s a force to be reckoned with, for sure!

Doyle, about Beethoven: I like his music, no doubt about that. But, it seems like he conducts his music better than his own temper.

Oh, and one more thing about Beethoven!! You know how Beethoven’s speciality in musical improvisation? That’s not an exaggeration- Both the Ikevamp Beethoven and the real figure are actually really good at it-

[Note: Yes, this is based off an actual event]

Beethoven: Daniel Steibelt? …Hah! I haven’t heard that name in a long time. Yes, I remember him quite well. He once challenged me to a piano duel, where we both had to improvise. 

MC: An piano duel?

Beethoven: Yes, though, to be more accurate, they were improvisation contests. These contests were a popular form of entertainment in Vienna’s aristocracy. One nobleman would support one virtuoso pianist, another nobleman would support the other. In the salon of one of the nobles, the two pianists would compete with each other, each setting the other a tune to improvise on, and the playing would go back and forth until a victor was decided.

Beethoven: But I digress. It was agreed that Prince Lobkowitz would sponsor Steibelt and Prince Lichnowsky would sponsor me. The improvisation contest would take place in Lobkowitz's palace.

Beethoven: Steibelt played first. He went to the piano, tossed a piece of his own music on the side and played. Steibelt was renowned for conjuring up a ‘storm’ on the piano, and I must admit, he did this to great effect. He received great applause, and it was my turn to play.

Beethoven: I picked up the music piece Steibelt tossed aside, his own work, and then I turned the paper upside down. I played that piece, sight-reading it backwards and I improvised, imitating and picking apart Steibelt’s so-called ‘storm.’ I played for more than an hour, and I didn’t notice that Steibelt left after only thirty minutes of my playing. 

MC: He left before you finished?

Beethoven: Indeed. After he left, Prince Lobkowitz, the man sponsoring Steibelt, then said to me that he was so humiliated that he would never set foot in Vienna again as long as I lived there. What a foolish thing to promise. 

[And ngl, it was kinda foolish! Beethoven lived in Vienna for the rest of his life, and true to his word, Steibelt never returned. Oh, but Beethoven actually played the first four notes of Steibelt’s piece before varying them… Those four notes would then become the impetus that drove Beethoven’s Third Symphony. That feels like rubbing salt in the wound at that point,,]

Jackdaw Anon 🐦

HAHSGFDH OFC I DID YOU PUT SO MUCH WORK INTO EVERYTHING YOU DO ITS SO ADMIRABLE :(( I WISH I COULD EXPRESS HOW EXCITED I FEEL EVERY TIME I READ THROUGH YOUR STUFF HSAGDFHASGD

beethoven's dad is gonna catch my fist in his mputh RAHHHHH

“The Beginnings of Friendship: Bagatelle” SSOUNDS SO FANCY :((( TAHTS SO KIDN OF HIM HELLO!!!!!

HE LIKES HIKING!!! HES SO REAL FOR THAT OMG and his weaknesses being math is so real.

PLS THAT SLITERALYY HIM EXCEPT CLAVIS DOES IT ON PURPOSE. EVERY BAD INGREIDENT IS INTENTIONAL ITS SO BAD. poor residents though :((( LIKE SORRY BEETHOVEN BUT ISAAC DESERVES GOOD FOOD GHSDFAHSDFAS

BEETHOVEN KICKED HIS ASS DAMN,..,., MUSICAL DUELS ARE ALSO SO FUNNY TO ME BECAUSE IT SEEMS SO DRAMATIC AND FUN LIKE??? two guys absolutely smashing the keys of a piano to figth each other is hialrious i want to wathc it so bad GAFSDHGASD

why are musicians so petty HEKPLP

[blue-is-a-sapphic-color]

For the dreblr ask game 5, 20, 23, 24?

Hellooo thank you for the ask <3

5. What do you think is the most character-defining c!Dream scene?

I'm going to be more general than a single scene, mostly because my analyst days are long behind me. I'd say c!Dream throughout the daedalus arc.

A little late in the timeline and there are probably way better and obvious choices (maybe the revival book montage) but I'll stick with this one.

I think these scenes are the closest we ever were to a c!Dream pov. My mental recollection of these scenes sometimes has Dream looking at Sam in Minecraft instead of the other way around. They are very private moments between c!Dream and c!Sam without the extreme power imbalance that other scenes with them had.

We got the reveal that c!Dream wanted to sleep in the prison cell even after he escaped. We got c!Dream free but freshly out of hell, hiding things from c!Sam, keeping The Plan and c!Punz safe but letting some things slip, revealing some things because it felt good to make c!Sam see how wrong he was about him.

We saw c!Dream kill c!Sam but ultimately, let him go. We saw c!Dream let c!Sam leave.

20. What are some of your favourite pieces of c!Dream analysis?

Oh my, so many. From the OG analyses from @ruby-whistler, to the amazing meta from @simplepotatofarmer. And of course, some of the awesome posts from the loreheads™.

But I'll link two posts that I think never really got the love/discussion about them/their content that they deserved:

c!punz's motivators by @merrinpippy

how c!dream lies by @rutadales

23. To what extent are you a c!Dream apologist?

If we are talking Seriously™, all the things he did to c!Tommy and others are unforgivable, and the stunt he pulled with the boomers is straight out of a horror movie. Any good intentions he has will always be stained black by his completely fucked up morality.

If we're not talking Seriously™, then he suffered a thousand times more than Jesus. He quite literally never did anything without a logical or justifiable reason, and all the crimes he's accused of are greatly exaggerated for the purpose of dehumanizing him and using him as a scapegoat for everything wrong with the server and all its other members.

I think he should be loved like he deserves by like half of the server At Least, starting with c!Sam in this essay I will-

No because I'm serious, c!Sam is just a mentally ill puppycat (he has ocd) who placed his loyalty on the server when he shouldn't have, and just has to learn he can let himself love c!Dream like he's fighting tooth and nail not to!!!

As you can see canon and arguing about morality doesn't serve me At All and I couldn't care less if my meow meow tortures people and is Extremely Weird About, first of all why do you think they're my meow meow in the first place, second of all it's literally all in Minecraft my meow meows aren't hurting anyone irl Calm Down Everyone Let Me Have My Fun!

24. When/how did you become a c!Dream apologist?

Early 2021. The first big dream smp stream I watched was Doomsday from Techno's pov so I was not that invested in clingy duo's fate during the disk finale, I just wanted to Take It All In and enjoy the spectacle aka Dream's performance. Then, the very first prison visit got me Interested, and the subsequent c!Ranboo lore streams got me Hooked. I was big into endersmile then, but I slowly transitioned to being more focused on the prison arc as a whole as well as the prison trio.

This animation was definitely a turning point to my interest in the character. Made my brain invested in c!Dream's mental state and well-being, which means I would never again be a c!Dream casual and would from that point on be a c!Dream apologist <3

[huggingtentacles]

I found their spreadsheet with every game and review this person made, so it's easier to search your favourite game.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1AVTZPJij5PQmlWAkYdDahBrxDiwqWMGsWEcEnpdKTa4/htmlview#gid=0

Some of my favourites:

Hades 2:

Contains overtly pro-LGBTQ+ and overtly pro-DEI messaging. Several Greek gods have been race-swapped including Hestia, who has vitiligo. Multiple npcs appear androgynous contradicting Greek myth.

Elden Ring:

Contains overtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. Uses body type in place of biological sex during character creation.

Dark Souls:

Contains subtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. The boss character Gwyndolin was born a male but raised as a female and given clothes and a magic ring to help him act like a female.

Dark Souls 2:

Contains subtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. There is a gender swap coffin in Things Betwixt that allows the player character to change back and forth between male and female.

Dark Souls 3:

Contains subtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. The reversal ring allows the player character to perform the animations associated with the opposite biological sex.

Helldivers 2: (is tagged as informational, not actually woke)

Contains subtly pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. Contains subtly pro-DEI messaging. No clear distinction between male or female aside from voice options. The intro notably features a mixed race family.

^ The more I'm reading these the more I'm losing my mind. What does the world look like to this guy. This is crazy. This guy needs a doctor.

Bioshock Infinite:

Contains overtly anti-western society and overtly pro-DEI messaging. Colombia's residents are hyper-exaggerated, racist caricatures of 19th century Americans. Heavy social commentary on racism.

^ Hey at least he has reading comprehension?

This list can genuinely be used as a game recommendation tool? Like I literally wanna play Nier: Automata even more now that I read the review.

This is legit one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. I'm floored, this is so funny

[tinawriting]

Drunken confessions (G.W)

Requested: Yes/No

Pairing: George Weasley x fem!reader

Navigation

Summary: After a stressful week of exams, Y/n and her group of friends decide to throw a party. What she didn't know was that this would change her friendship with George.

Warnings: Alcohol. Swearing. Just fluffy friends to lovers

Word count: 1.7k

Y/n was stressed. No, scratch that. She was panicking, absolutely terrified. She looked around the classroom and focused on her classmates' expressions of distress.

This was the last exam of the year. The last one and probably the most difficult. Even though Transfiguration was one of her favourite subjects and McGonagall was an excellent teacher, her exams were pretty fucking difficult.

She made eye contact with George Weasley and he winked at her, she rolled her eyes at him which made him smile. She felt her stomach do something funny. Probably because she was nervous, yes, just that.

Y/n focused herself on the piece of parchment on her desk once again and sighed.

"So?"

"So?" She parroted looking expectantly at his brown eyes.

"How did you do?" Said Fred.

"Oh," she said waking by his side. "I think I did pretty well actually. How about you?"

Fred groaned exaggeratedly. "It was terrible!" He cried. "Someone threw a dungbomb in the middle of the Herbology exam and we all had to evacuate!" He tried to keep his neutral expression, he really did, but a smirk was slowly finding its way into his face.

Y/n put on an expression of fake worry. "Oh no!" She gasped. "I wonder who could do something like that!"

Fred sighed, shook his head and looked at the ground. "I guess we'll never know." He then proceeded to let out a chuckle at his own dramatics and even if Y/n though he was a stupid idiot she laughed along too.

"You know what?" He said reaching the Gryffindor common room.

"What?" She said trailing behind him.

"After all these exams and stress and-"

"Don't you have like, three O.W.L.s?"

"Shh. Stress and everything we deserve some fun."

Y/n sat down and looked wryly at Fred when he sat next to her. "I'm listening."

She saw Fred open his mouth but she didn't get to listen what he was about to say when a voice called out "Oi!" She turned around to look at George Weasley and Lee Jordan making their way over to them. "You're not stealing my best friend, are you?" George said sitting down between them and putting an arm around Y/n's shoulders. Y/n felt a pang in her chest that was not at all related to George calling her a friend.

Y/n smirked and looked up at him. "I thought Lee was your best friend." Her smirk grew when she felt George tense up beside her before relaxing again.

"Of course!" He said looking frantically between Y/n and Lee's smug faces. "He's my best guy friend and you are my best girl friend. Different titles but equally important."

He looked really proud of his statement, but Lee was not letting go. "Alright," he said leaning forward on his seat. "But what if we were both hanging from a volcano that was just about to erupt and you could save just one of us?"

Y/n though that that was quite an exaggeration and something that would never happen, but to be honest, she was interested in the answer.

"Yeah, George," she said squinting at him. "Who would you save?"

"Well," said George. "I would just sacrifice myself for the sake of keeping you both alive."

"That's not how that works" Said Y/n.

"That's not fair!" Cried Lee at the same time.

"Alright!" Said Fred. "Even though I enjoy picturing you three in a volcano I wanted to say something!" He then actually pouted and Lee rolled his eyes.

"Oh alright, you cry baby," said Lee. "Just tell us."

Fred grinned. "So, I was telling Y/n how after all these exams and stress and everything-"

"You have literally three subjects." Lee said, deadpan.

Fred groaned and covered his face with his hands. "I need new friends." He said with a muffled voice. "Anyways," he said now looking pointedly at the other three, daring them to interrupt him again. "We need to have some fun, so I was thinking of hosting a party here at the common room, after quidditch practice of course, tonight."

George sat up straighter and nodded smiling at his twin. "I'm in!"

"I knew I could count on you my brother!" Cried Fred launching himself on top of him, and given that George kept Y/n tucked by his side, on top of her too.

"Ugh, get off me!" She squirmed her way out of his arms. "I'm in too."

"Me too." Grinned Lee.

The music was filling Y/n's ears pleasantly. She felt as if all the stress of that last week was falling slowly out of her shoulders. She startled when a pair of hands landed on her ribs, she turned around to face George, who was grinning stupidly at her.

"Hello." He slurred.

She laughed heartedly. "Hello you, you're a little bit drunk, aren't you?

He shook his head sternly but wouldn't stop grinning. "You want some?" He didn't wait for an answer and grabbed her hand to drag her across the room, he looked around and spotted a bottle of firewhiskey on the table.

"Here." He said handing it to her. Y/n smiled and took a sip.

"Thanks."

"You're so pretty. Drink." He said pushing the bottle towards her lips again.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him but she felt her cheeks burn and felt very grateful that George was in such a drunken state that we wouldn't notice. "Thank you George, you are pretty too." Y/n said drinking some more, she could already feel the alcohol getting to her.

George was looking right at her without saying anything and Y/n tried not to squirm under his gaze so she drank some more.

"Oi! You two!" They both looked in the direction of was undoubtedly Lee's voice. He waved at them. "Come play with us!"

Y/n, feeling grateful for the distraction, jogged her way to Lee's side. It was a less loud corner where they could talk without screaming at each other.

"What are we playing." Said George standing next to Y/n and putting a hand on her lower back. She felt her heart speed up.

"Never have I ever." Said Angelina Johnson with a dopey smile. Y/n chuckled at her friend's state of drunkenness .

"Alright! I'll go first," said Alicia Spinnet. "Never have I ever ran away from the police."

"What's the police." George whispered in Y/n's ear with a low voice, and it made goosebumps appear on the back of her neck.

"It's like muggle aurors." She whispered back trying to keep her voice steady.

After that, the game went on, Y/n didn't remember a time when she felt happier. She was surrounded by her friends, laughing and knowing more about them. She supposed the firewhiskey was helping with her good mood.

Just when she was about to quit the game, George spoke up and she genuinely wondered if he could read minds. "Well," he slurred. "I think I'm going to dance a bit," he now looked directly at Y/n. "Wanna join me?"

She nodded mutely and grabbed the hand he was offering to her. He then dragged her to the center of the room and pulled her close. Y/n felt how his hands were settled on her waist and put her own on his shoulders. She knew they were moving but couldn't exactly say they were dancing, but she wasn't about to complain being this close to George.

His hands wandered to her back and pulled her closer, they chests pressed together. Y/n had the sudden thought that maybe he could feel her heart beating wildly against her chest. He nuzzled sweetly at her neck and started whispering.

"You smell so good, you're so, so beautiful." He breathed out before leaving a featherlight kiss on her pulse point.

"George..." She said containing a moan, the alcohol blocking any coherent thought. "You're drunk."

"So are you," he said pulling away and looking directly into her eyes. "Do you want me to stop?"

She really didn't. "...No."

He smiled at her and leaned in. Their foreheads touching. She looked at his brown eyes, so like his twin's but so different at the same time. When she looked at Fred's eyes she felt the warmth of friendship, of loyalty and caring. But when she gazed at George's eyes... She felt butterflys in her stomach, she felt excited and nervous and in love. She knew what she felt for George wasn't just friendship, deep down she knew. But was she ready to voice this to him?

"I really want to kiss you right now." Said George squeezing her waist affectionately like he did so many times, but right now it was different.

"I really want you to kiss me."

When his lips brushed hers, like a question, she captured his lips with a confidence she wasn't feeling. He sighed against her in relief and brushed his tongue against her bottom lip, she gladly granted him access opening her mouth.

His hands travelled from her back to the sides of her neck, his thumbs caressing lovingly at her jaw, she felt herself melting against him as he hold her tight. Her owns hands were traveling from his muscular arms (Thanks quidditch!) to his hair.

When they pulled apart, Y/n looked at George. His pupils were blown wide, his cheeks were tinted pink and his lips red and swollen from the kiss. I did this to him, she thought.

"I know we're really drunk," he said looking at her steadily. "But I want you to know that I really fancy you. This isn't just a snog for me."

And it was like fireworks had blown up in Y/n's mind. He likes me! He likes me! He likes me!

But the first thing that came out of her mouth was: "But how do I know that tomorrow you'll say the same?"

"You don't," he said. "You just have to trust me. But I swear, I really do like you."

Maybe tomorrow they won't remember anything about this. But she'll take it. She'll take anything if this could mean that George will look at her like this again, kiss her like this again.

"Alright," she said. "I trust you." And he kissed her again.

[p1xel-1mp]

Well I suppose if you gonna force me...

The ones I’ve had for the longest, in order of how old they are:

• Art; what can I say? It’s my main personality trait and has been as far back as I can remember.

• Cartoons; as a kid, we had a decent sized collection of dvds that we kept in one of those massive dvd holder things. So while most kids my age grew up on disney channel or nickelodeon, which I did too, I was mainly raised on the classics. Bugs bunny, daffy duck, tweety bird and pretty much all the looney tunes characters, chip and dale, ducktales (that one kind of scared me when i was young? Idk why) old school disney (I remeber we had bambi on bluray), but most of all, tom and jerry. A strong love of cartoons and animation in general has kind of been there my whole life.

• Folklore & mythology; ever since I was little, I loved fairytales and all the stories my mum and her family and friends would tell about brazillian folklore like the Curupira or the Mapinguari. As I got older and learnt that other cultures and places all had their own folktales and mythologies, my childhood fasination grew to include them too.

• Comics; my grandma would always send me and my sister comics, the main two ones were Turma da Monica and Luluzinha, in order for us to practice reading Portuguese. Not kidding or exaggerating or anything, we read them so much that most of them literally ended up distergrating. Eventually it was just a pile of loose pages and covers, half of which were ripped.

• Dragons; All the different kinds from the traditional beast with four legs two wings and fire breathing, to their depiction in most asian countries as spirits with longer, more snake-like bodies and mesoamerican gods described as “feathered serpants“ and all the others I haven’t yet mentioned. How To Train Your Dragon unlocked something in 8 yr old me. I would love to elaborate more but I very much will derail this whole thing.

First ones:

• Pretty much all the ones I’ve said

• I was OBSSESED with Diego and Dora the explorer from infant until like, seven i think? I thinkba part of it was the fact she was also South American.

• Yes I was a horse girl until I was like 12 or 13, yes I made my obssession with horses a decent chunk of my personality, no you do not get to make fun. My dad’s family lived in a rural area and had horses when he grew up, my uncle and his partner still own some. Plus I watched Spirit. I was a kid and I thought it was pretty cool and I will not apologise for that.

• I really liked fairies and mermaids and unicorns (magic horses), they were the subject of most of my picture books and made up games and stories. I’d ask my parents to tell me a “made up“ bedtime story (as opposed to one from a book) except I was in charge of pretty much every decision and would tell them exactly who was in it and what was gonna happen. They always included faries, mermaids and unicorns. Always.

Current

• I’ve gotten pretty into fashion the last year or so, especially alt fashion. Idk I think the culture and history around it is super interesting and I love the values that come with it. Its really good for self expression which I had trouble figuring out before. It’s really helped me come into my own.

• In that same vein, alt subcultures in general, especially punk.

• As for fandoms I kind of drift in and out of them, but dc, especially batman and friendstm (the batgang?), has been a consistant staple since what? 2021?

• Oh and I’ve gotten One Piece recently which is fun

• History; Especially ancient history because modern history is more about political figures whereas I like learning about all the different cultures of the past, some of my favourites that we’ve learnt abt is the rock and roll (which was the first ever subculture btw) phenomenon of the teenagers in the 1950s and the danes (the ’vikings’).

Which ones shaped me the most:

Idk, I think they all kind of contributed to who I turned out to be.

I’ve been thinking lately abt hyperfixations and how they come and go, how they change with you as you grow and discover yourself. So to all my ✨darling mutuals✨ and anyone who sees this and wants to share:

What is your oldest/longest lasting hyperfixation/s?

What are your first ones (that you remember ofc) vs your current ones?

And even if you don’t engage with it as much anymore, which one/s helped shape you the most to who you’ve become?

No pressure or anything tho, this is just for fun and my love of listening to people gush abt things that they find interesting or make them happy. Make it as wordy or short as you want <3

@s0lace-1n-s0l1tude @bananaede @avogadrostoast6022 @maggot-sperm

[letterful]

professional vibe diagnosis: madi @dearorpheus 🖤

KEY TERMS: gothic heroines, final girls, bluebeard narratives, death & the maiden, monster theory, dangerous appetites, antiquarianism, sawbones & their history, perfumery, poison bottles, cursed jewels, blood vials, soft & warm light, morbidness & coziness intertwined, with more than a dash of elegance & sophisticated taste 🖤

media recommendations under the cut!

(a sidenote: i did not include a lot of obvious choices, such as angela carter or helene cixous or anne carson or any gothic 101 authors, since i know for a fact you’re already familiar with them. to be perfectly honest, you’re one of the most well-read people i’ve ever met, so i wouldn’t be surprised if you were already familiar with most of these, but i did my best!)

Severance: Stories, Robert Olen Butler—talking heads! literally!

Fairy Tales for the Disillusioned: Enchanted Stories from the French Decadent Tradition,

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa (for some truly exquisite prose),

Imaginary Lives by Marcel Schwob (oh, Schwob is criminally underrated; also,  these tales remind me of early Borges)

Kieślowski films! La Double Vie de Véronique (1991), especially—this scene is... somewhat spoiler-y, but goodness. it is beautiful, in a grandiose way. also, can we talk about the lyrics of the featured piece? 

speaking of Polish movies: Cold War (2018) & Ida (2013) are also a must!

Arthur Machen’s short stories, and especially The Inmost Light,

M. R. James’ short stories, of course, but especially Count Magnus,

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson; the entire collection serves as one of my favourite retellings of the Daemon Lover ballad, although it’s not a very straightforward one—The Man in the Blue Suit (slash James Harris) is at most a peripheral figure, and his status as a supernatural entity is up in the air, since most of the stories are uncanny instead of explicitly supernatural (and yet, whenever he enters the stage, something shifts in the atmosphere & things go... very wrong, very quickly). I especially recommend The Tooth!

speaking of daemon lovers, here’s an academic analysis of this motif: Demon-Lovers and Their Victims in British Fiction (an extended excerpt is available on Google Books)

still speaking of daemon lovers: The Book of Tobit! and, specifically, the story of Asmodeus and Sarah of Media, who might or might have not inspired the line about the woman wailing for her demon-lover in Coleridge’s Kubla Khan. also! this... retelling of sorts: (x)

The Song of the Sun: Collected Writings by Leah Bodine Drake (her poems of fantasy are quite wonderful; here’s an example!),

speaking of fantasy-themed poems... these anthologies are very good indeed (& beautifully published!): Monster Verse / Dead & Undead / Killer Verse / Bewitched & Haunted,

Het Lied van Heer Halewijn (a proto-Bluebeard story, and the Dutch equivalent of Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight)

speaking of... these are some of my favourite transformative works dealing with this ballad: (x) (x) (x) (once again, it’s fanfiction, but it’s quality fanfiction, cross my heart & hope to die)

german-language musicals! goodness, they’re some full-throated, pulpy, gothic extravaganza. here’s my favourite scene from Tanz der Vampire, and here’s the english lyrics, and here’s the english-language demo (it is... not as good as the original, alas). i also recommend Elisabeth & Rebecca! speaking of pulpy musicals: can we talk about the riddle from the scarlet pimpernel? because it has no business being this catchy. 

alright, i’ve covered some lowbrow musicals, so let’s talk highbrow now: The Great Comet is based on a tiny excerpt from War & Peace, but good god. it /feels/ monumental in scope. this song is... yeah. yeah. it’s also sung-through (like Les Mis, or Evita), so you’re not missing out on anything, even if you only listen to the cast recording!

speaking of songs with great Madi energy... Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen (based on a poem by Lorca!) definitely reminds me of you!

also. Memorial by Susanne Sundfør. it’s the drama! and Kate Bush, obviously, especially Hammer Horror (even more obviously) <3 and this rendition of Memory! 

i don’t know whether you own ps4, or even consider yourself someone keen on video games as a medium, but madi. madi. madi. bloodborne is practically tailor-made for you, and i’m not even exaggerating. dubious medicine! secret cults! victorian architecture! blood, blood everywhere! eldritch abominations beyond human comprehension! i’m going to fly you to poland just so you can play it. 

on a related note... netflix’s castlevania is. well, i genuinely cannot say whether it’s good, but it’s fun, and its aesthetic is basically gothic on steroids. very explicit, that is to say: sex and murder usually take place simultaneously.

some academic books of interest that were not already included in my previous masterpost:

The Ring of Truth: And Other Myths of Sex and Jewelry,

the Devil’s Advocates series,

The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains,

Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures,

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus,

Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found,

The Science of Monsters + Science of the Magical.

[wolfiestars]

 back on my bullshit (as if i ever got off) but the way thieves in time treated its’ female characters made me feel unseen as fuck as a girl who grew up playing sly cooper. the originals were never exactly an amazing example of feminist writing - let’s be real, carmelita was always furry bait - but she did have agency and character outside of being the sexy love interest. she was also a driven career woman with a strong (if black-and-white) sense of justice, and is canonically a fucking powerhouse who plays a key role in a lot of the boss takedowns (including ALL of the final battles). she helps shoot down clockwerk/clock-la in the first and second game. it’s her that finally destroys the hate chip. she saves sly from dr m’s monster when the rest of sly’s gang has assumed the worst. she helps him escape from the collapsing vault. it’s quite poetic storytelling - literally leading him out from the collapsing culmination of his family’s legacy.

  on the four occasions (off the top of my head) where she is saved by the gang, one results in sly becoming trapped himself (and after bentley frees them both, she then protects sly while he retrieves his cane), one is a time where they simply free her and she does the rest herself (causing sly and bentley to both remark at her violence), and one is an instance where she doesn’t even realise she’s in danger (expressing boredom at this fact). none of them are standard played-straight damsel-in-distress scenarios.

 in thieves in time she is relegated to being the angry ex/sex appeal/damsel-in-distress and pretty much nothing else. she has no role in the final battle other than being kidnapped while in the belly-dancing getup she is forced into (i’m not even exaggerating when i say ‘forced’, she does not agree to the plan at all and sly and bentley making her do it was totally out of character for our established ‘gentleman thief’ and his friend who frequently expresses concern for her safety in sly 2 and 3, despite often finding her presence troublesome).

 penelope is also treated badly. i don’t think making the only female protagonist into a money-hungry villain was ever gonna be a good move, but her being evil could’ve at least been executed well - she could’ve been a stronger main villain than le paradox (though tbh the bar is set SO LOW there). sadly, they just ended up butchering her character in what i think was supposed to be a half-assed parallel to neyla. suddenly she is motivated by “making millions” rather than her previous motive, which was to practise her hobby and be taken seriously - and, to nitpick, surely she had already made millions as the black baron? she lived in a fucking castle. being totally fair, i think sly 3 missed a lot of potential with penelope as well, and she was treated as a damsel-in-distress-type character on multiple occasions, but i always LOVED the part where she subverts that and ends up sword-fighting lefwee to save bentley. it’s probably one of my favourite bits in sly 3. she also saves murray twice (once single-handedly, once with panda king’s help), perhaps three times if you count her protecting the hangar in holland.

 like carmelita, penelope’s design is more sexualised in thieves in time, too: my feminist brain says this is Bad, but my sapphic brain says “hhhh cute mouse lady got thicc thighs now” and that, my dudes, is the only positive thing i have to say about her in thieves in time

[sapphia]

It’s only really just occurred to me that a lot of the people who say, “Harry Potter wasn’t even that big a deal, they were bad books that just got a bit of hype.” actually don’t really understand the effect that Harry Potter had because they’re too young. They’re born after 2000 and, to them, Harry Potter has just been another fandom like the Avengers or Twilight, that got a bit of a fanbase before publishers and production companies did what they always do and made a slate of movies for.

And I really need to emphasise that that’s NOT the case at all. Harry Potter was massive before things really got massive. Children’s books like Percy Jackson getting movies didn’t really happen before Harry Potter did it first (and the ones that did were often old classic books, or straight to DVD or got cheap BBC miniseries instead. Google Five Children and It trailer. That was the bar for children’s book adaption. Old, and cheap).

Hell, movie series weren’t even a thing back then. This isn’t entirely due to Harry Potter - Lord of the Rings also had a part in this. In the early 2000s, Peter Jackson had to fight tooth and nail in order to get the Lord of the Rings trilogy, three bricks of a book series, made into three whole movies instead of one. The studios were dead set on only having a single movie, thinking that a whole trilogy (THREE movies!) would be too long and commercially unviable. You would never get that these days - even when Jackson came back and made the hobbit, one much smaller book than a single volume of LotR, they split that into three because of how successful series like LotR and HP had been.

Harry Potter must have been one of the earliest books to get a series film deal while the series was still being written, and this is entirely because the books were so popular the producers knew they could get an audience for all seven. And that was so wildly successful that now all you see are series.

If Twilight created the modern day push for YA literature as its own genre, Harry Potter started the renaissance that allowed children’s literature to thrive so much it COULD be split into children and teen audiences. Before Harry Potter, children’s stories were simpler, more child focussed, and appealed only really to children - Harry Potter is one of the only books in recent years that has managed to appeal to both children and adult audiences. (His Dark Materials also does it to an extent but that’s more to do with its mature themes and the nature of fantasy). And that’s a large part of its success - Harry Potter wasn’t considered just a children’s book, it was considered a book. Adults were as invested in Harry Potter as kids. When I bought my preorder copy from a bookstore, after I read it I’d give it to my parents so they could read it too. My childless aunts and uncles had their copies, because it was a story that appealed to them.

This was unprecedented - not since the Hobbit. And that had had a full, adult-orientated series behind it to drive adult interest. Plus it was written 50 years ago when frankly the literature marketed was less genre-fied, and less competitive. The Chronicles of Narnia sort of managed to be considered literature despite being a children’s book, but you’ll notice that that is still classed heavily in the children’s category and not widely read by adults - and this only really happened with one of its books, not all seven.

Harry Potter is credited with getting an entire generation to read. And that’s not entirely an exaggeration - interest was high. I’ve still never seen the preorder hype for ANY book anywhere near that of each of the later Harry Potter books.

It also showed children - and publishers - that they could read and be interested in longer books. Again, twilight wouldn’t exist purely for length purposes had Harry Potter not published longer and longer books, showing there was a market for that even in children’s fiction.

One of my favourite authors is Tamora Pierce, who writes YA. When she took her original manuscript to a publisher, they made her cut it into four parts and basically rewrite the entire story because they didn’t think a lengthy fantasy book would be able to sell. Now, I love Alanna, but you can tell that originally it wasn’t meant as a quartet, even more so than her later books (also published in fours) which are a bit more cohesive. It would be almost fifteen years before she finally got a chance to publish a work as a single, full volume - and she only got to do that because Harry Potter showed publishers that long works can sell.

For a lot of “trends” in publishing, there’s an element of “right place, right time”. For example, witches are popular right now in fantasy, so if you’ve written a witch book, you’ve gotten lucky. It’s very hard to write to trend as books take years to get written and published, by which time the world has likely moved on.

Sometimes people and books create trends - the Hunger Games created YA dystopia, for example. This was a little bit “right place right time”, despite being a very good series, because YA was booming and people were searching for the “next twilight” (hence the focus on love triangles from pop culture - it was the one similarity it had to twilight). Twilight itself was another trend - the first series to do what Harry Potter had done ten years before. But again, it did this because it filled a niche that Harry Potter had left for it- people were looking for “the next Harry Potter” (and twilight appeals to the Harry Potter generation, who’d grown up into teens by this point- not a coincidence). It’s fantasy, it appeals to parents and children alike (even if that’s mostly female), and it has a raw appeal. It’s a story that can be enjoyed by adults despite being simply written enough to be understood by children, or in this case teenagers, it’s primary audience.

So Harry Potter created the niche that twilight filled. But you have to understand, nothing created Harry Potter’s niche. Sure, the tropes and concepts it pulled from had existed and been popular - it followed a long tradition of fantasy stories and was a “natural next step” to a genre that had gone from the Hobbit to Earthsea to Diana Wynne Jones.

But in terms of the publishing niche? Harry Potter created that all for itself. It was a revolution. It literally created a phenomenon in a way we’d never seen before, in such a massive industry and cultural shakeup that I don’t think we’ll see again, at least not on that scale, and not in the near future. It created a millionaire author in just four books. It created an author celebrity. Steven King has spent his entire career working to get a sliver the fame that JKR achieved basically overnight. Harry Potter remains the most successful series ever by a ridiculously large margin, and it didn’t get there by being bad. It didn’t get there by being average. It didn’t get there by being the right book at the right time to fill an existing niche, because that niche didn’t exist. Hell, the idea of niches didn’t really exist, not like they do now.

So that’s some context for you. When people say that Harry Potter revolutionised the book industry and had a huge cultural impact, they don’t mean that they personally read and liked the book. They mean exactly what they say. Harry Potter was a tossed rock into a lake, and all the media you’re consuming today, from 30-movie long comic adaptation universes to the new YA trend, are ripples created by just how enormously huge Harry Potter’s splash was.

[yeoldontknow]

დ content tag game დ

tagged by the loveliest angel @augustbutwinter to do this fun tag. thank you so much my love! 

1. what fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?  - harry potter, muse, merlin, supernatural, doctor who, sherlock

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for? - kpop only

3. how long have you been writing? on this blog?  - my first actual fanfic would have been when i was about 8? it was for sailor moon but it was literally only in a journal i had. i presume that counts. so that would put us at 24 years lmao - on this blog specifically, since april 2017

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?  - here and AO3

5. what is your favourite genre to write? - aaaaangst lmao and horror/suspense. i love really dark things, and have always had a fascination in writing things that disturb me? i think its from an analytical or psychological perspective, exploring the limits of humanity and processing for myself why these things make me uncomfortable/where i feel them on my body/what is fear vs disgust idk. also very much enjoy fantasy/supernatural. 

6. are you a pantser or a planner? - almost always i have a plan, however there are some fics that come out of nowhere and i just have to write them. examples of this are enough and love; always

7. one shot or multi-chapter? - i usually try very hard to keep things as a one shot, and reserve series for things that actually have substance enough to extend past 3 chapters. lately, all my ideas have been very plot heavy or come from worlds i am very interested in exploring and/or have aspects of emotion i want to work through. if i cant keep it to a one shot (like...under 30k) i will make it a series and ill be angry at myself lmao

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?  - anywhere from 5-9k is a solid, average chapter length for me. some chapters, in hero for example, need to be more than this because theyre the heavy plot chapters. i have been trying not to focus on lengths anymore, just want to write until the story is told

9. what is your longest published story? is it complete?  - the longest story ive ever written is 154k in a different fandom and yes its complete. at the moment, hero is breaching 98k and i imagine it will be my longest when its completed

10. which story did you enjoy working on the most?  - when it comes to series, hero and time runner will, and always will be, the most special things ive ever done. i feel at home and myself when im writing them. im in love with writing them. the ideas are so strong, and the characters are so loud and clearly defined it just is the best time making art ive ever had. - for one shots, light sakura was truly catharsis. i needed to write that. its the most personal, vulnerable thing ive ever written and will probably never produce something like that again unless theres another major event in my life. also absolutely adored writing molotov cocktail and empty vessels. those are both the easiest 30k ive ever produced

11. favourite request you’ve have written and why (if any?)  - brooklyn is burning was technically a request and im extremely partial to it

12. are there reoccurring themes in your stories?  - oh yeah. usually my female characters are working through bad relationships or finding their voices, seeking identity and power in worlds that dont necessarily provide that. i write what i feel and what ive lived, the worlds around the characters are just exaggerations of reality and my imagination. theres always a little piece of me in my stories, and usually that piece comes down to them learning to trust which is something i struggle with

13. current number of wips?  - please i cannot share this number, not when im ashamed of the amount lmao

14. three things you have noticed about your own writing? 1. smut is insanely hard for me 2. fluff is almost impossible, and could be considered my weakness. happiness is an external feeling, an outward experience. im a very bodied writer and finding joy or finding small bits of romance is difficult (largely because i live alone) so i will over explain aspects of the idol character or highlight small actions in the effort of holding onto them 3. i am still learning to trust the process

15. a quote you like from a published story.

‘Don’t confuse loyalty with strength,’ you say, as he releases you. You remain still, forehead pressing against the bars to get as close to him as possible. ‘I have no allegiance to you. My silence is not owed to you.’

‘Really?’ he says with disdain. ‘It was given so freely the last two days.’

‘Your ignorance proves you have never truly known a woman,’ you taunt. ‘We are always at war, even if we are silent.’

- from: hero - chapter 3

16. a quote from an unpublished story.

Would it have been easier for you both to survive if you could be a needy, fragile little thing - not ready to die, not ready to leave him on his own?

The night before, Chanyeol held you close, kissed you until your throat felt raw, and made you realize he didn’t want it, didn’t need it. He loved the war in you, handled you like a blade between his fingers, skin unmarred by your sharp edges. He didn’t want it, but you wanted it, at least a little. You wanted him to know there were still traces inside you of the girl you lost.

from: time runner - chapter 7

17. space for you to say something to your readers.

hello beautiful loves. every moment you even click on one of my works an angel gets its wings <3

tagging: @yehet-me-up @kyungseokie @jenmyeons @j-pping @jamaisjoons @yoonia @kithtaehyung @inkedtae @kookdiaries @kookingtae @xiaokoo @sunshinekims @biaswreckingfics @ditzymax @sugaurora @bangtanhome @yeojaa @sahmfanficbts @xjoonchildx @writtenwhalien @jinpanman @cutechim and anyone else who would like to do this <3 as always please only do so if comfy! 

[aceofspadegrass]

Roller disco night in the club at the beach

Can you imagine the absolute ✨flair✨ hatter would use to announce and participate in this soon to be beloved event?

Would participation be mandatory?

Would militants still be scary on roller skates?

You’re the only one with the answers we’re all desperate to know

Roller Disco

Characters: Aguni Morizono, Hatter, Chishiya Shuntaro, Niragi Suguru, Arisu Ryohei, Usagi Yuzuha, Kuina Hikari (Not named, but she's there briefly)

Genre: Fluff. Roller Disco, baby!

1.6k words

I have done it! I have made the rollerskating thing a thing! I tried my best to make it as fun as possible, and even if legally you can't build a whole rink in a few days or so, this is fiction and time is a construct! I am a Time Snipper! Hehe! >:3c!

Anyways I do hope you have fun reading this. :D

Being the higher ranking members to the Beach, the sole place that had a constant source of food, water, drugs, and electricity, they got the special privilege of having to deal with Hatter a whole lot more than anyone else in the Beach.

Sometimes that meant they were dragged into his silly schemes that Hatter would concoct on a sheer whim, out of boredom and the rule that stated they were allowed to do whatever they want whenever they want. It’s led to strange ideas and occurrences, but usually they were harmless.

Today was similar, Hatter rounding up the executives and militants to the meeting room, as well as Arisu and Usagi. The latter weren’t high ranking at all, left around the 40s in the ranks, but Hatter seemed to enjoy them nonetheless.

Everyone takes their usual seat around the table, save for Last Boss continuing to stand despite the perfectly normal seat, which was taken by Arisu instead. Usagi stood nearby him, everyones attention on the leader to this entire organization. Hatter grins at them, visually brimming with excitement and a new idea that he just had to get out to his inner circle, standing up and scanning everyones expression. It ranged from faces of neutrality, boredom, and slight interest from a few, nobody matching the sheer excitement that Hatter was holding in.

After a few moments of silence, Aguni speaks up, hands folded in his lap and eyes staring straight through Hatter’s favourite sunglasses. “ Mind telling us what this is about?” His voice was tired but inquisitive, Hatter grinning and straightening to his full height, holding his arms out like he was the next coming of a flying squirrel.

“ Yes, yes! Well, I have decided that we, as Beach members, should be allowed to have access to even more fun than ever before, and I hear one of the rooms here is perfectly empty and ready to be used as something that not every place has ever seen before! People here are allowed to do whatever, yes? But there is only so much you can do here without getting bored from the usual sights, so I thought of a brilliant idea!”

“ And that is….?” Aguni’s eyebrow raises up a little, overall not knowing where he was getting at. Hatter just continues to imitate a lowercase T while emitting his usual cheerful chaotic energy.

“ We’re gonna open up roller disco!”

There was several minutes of stunned silence, everyone looking straight at the still eager tomato waterfall, Chishiya’s lip quirking in a half-amused half-mocking smile. Niragi just squints at Hatter, a look of confusion clea on his face. The others were mostly just stunned to the point where their expressions didn’t really change much, give or take minute amounts of confusion.

“ Roller….. disco.” Aguni echoes, flabbergasted. “ You want roller disco." “ Yes! Yes! It’ll be a blast for the Beach! It’ll give them some extra steam to burn off, and it’ll be fun for everyone! Who doesn’t love a good disco?” “ Who likes dancing to disco nowadays? That’s fucking boring.” Niragi pipes up, his lips curled into a mocking sneer. He scoffs, leaning back in his seat. “ And think about it, not everyone would know how to roller-skate and not look like a fucking fool. Hell, I bet the cracked egg over there doesn’t know.” He snorts, glancing at Chishiya, who ignores his glare and keeps his attention on anything else of interest to him. “ Bet you’ll just eat shit and knock yourself out on the rink.” He imitates a person with a hand, crashing it into the table with an exaggerated noise from his mouth, ending it with his tongue sticking out and a bark of a laugh.

Chishiya glances at him, eyes flicking from his face down and back up again in a smooth manner, and his lips curl again, Niragi glaring at him. “ Perhaps it’ll be your fate too~” He chimes, Niragi narrowing his eyes at the smug vanilla eclair. Aguni has to wave him down before Niragi had the chance to leap over the table to strangle Chishiya, or even pick up his gun off the table and threaten Chishiya any more.

Hatter hums at the rebuttal anyways, taking it into consideration. “ Well, then they’ll just have to suck it up and learn if they want to roll with us! The more the merrier that loves roller disco the better! Say, who thinks this is a great idea!” He raises his hand in favour, and the others quickly discuss among themselves, Hatter still vibrating with sheer joy and the thought of going rollerskating with everyone and seeing how many people make a fool of themselves so he can talk about it later in his chambers.

Eventually, a few of them raise their hands in favour, taking the majority of the total group, Hatter’s lips stretching even wider as they agreed with him.

It takes a few days before the rink was ready, a few of them having to go around and look for people with any skill in architecture and craftsmanship to eventually renovate some old rooms into a large, functional rollerskating rink. It took a little bit, but eventually the rink was approved to be skated on. Hatter even took the time to make sure the aesthetics were perfect, setting up a real disco ball in the center and painting parts of the room with fluorescent paint and arming black lights everywhere.

Then came the announcement. It was during his usual game announcements, Hatter standing over the hundreds of Beach members with a proud grin. “ Hello everyone! I know we are all excited to go out and collect cards so that we may soon get out of the Borderlands as quickly as we can, but we have a very special announcement to make before I send you all on your ways to do your best in returning the cards!” Hatter throws his hands out to the crowd, a handful of confetti flying out of his hands, soon accompanied by Kuzuryuu and Aguni setting off the confetti cannons they had in their hands at the same time, raining confetti throughout the awed crowd.

“ Now, as people may have rumoured throughout our beloved Beach, there has been a special surprise coming to everyone for a while, down in the east wing! It’s been many days, many hours of long hard work done by a group of our hardworking people, but we have finally done it! As a gift to all of us, in celebration of still fighting onwards, I, Hatter, am proud to announce that we have built a rollerskating rink for everyone to enjoy at all hours of your time! And what’s more, it’s not just regular rollerskating, but the most greatest version of all: Roller Disco!” Hatter raises his arms out with a grin, people by instinct cheering him on and applauding, many getting excited off of one another and from the thought of a new place to hang out and play. Hatter looks down among his people, giddy from being able to reveal his newest thought baby, and starts his usual encouragement to the Beach about the games and collecting their cards, sending them into a positive uproar of pride and joy before everyone filed out the doors to their possible deaths.

By the time Hatter was back, having gone to a game with his good pal Aguni, people were already flooding the room for the new rink, people skating around in circles and having a good time. It settled a warm spot in Hatter’s heart, the man running off to snatch a pair for himself to try it. In the frenzy he lost Aguni for a bit, but when he comes back out in bright white skates with orange tips and black laces, he sees Aguni already on the rink slowly making his way around by himself. Hatter doesn’t hesitate to get inside and catch up to him, grinning at his long time friend. “ Having fun?” Hatter chirps through the disco music blasting through the speakers, Aguni slowly nodding as he gets comfortable and speed up, people trying their best to skate out of the way from Aguni skating past them with a rather concentrated expression. It only made Hatter laugh, watching Aguni scare off the more frightened skaters by sheer appearance. Hatter knew Aguni never means to, he just was a more serious guy and wanted to concentrate on not eating ass in the rink.

Hatter pauses, laughing to himself. He supposes there’s nothing wrong with that~

A bit later he spots a few of his cherished other high ranked members make their way onto the scene, a few missing from either him missing them entirely or not wanting to skate at all.

Among them was Niragi and Chishiya, of course, Hatter unable to hear the taller charred rock through the music, but still getting the feeling it was one of challenge. The smaller rock of the two apparently accepted as they speed off, trying to out-skate the other. From what Hatter got to see, Niragi was quite literally pushing everyone aside in his race around the rink in order to get past, Chishiya preferring the route of dodging and even disappearing straight form Hatter’s higher vantage point before reappearing meters away from where he was last seen. It was actually impressive.

That woman that Chishiya was always with was there as well, helping a very confused Beach member on the rink as they stumbled like a wee fawn with their proud and stable mother. Something like that, at least. Hatter chuckles, still cruising along as disco pounded in his ears and people laughed around him, some tumbling and others gliding as if one air. Hell, he might’ve even seen someone with bright pink Hello Kitty skates reading a book while they skated, which was fucking magnificent.

Yeah, he wasn’t regretting this idea at all.

Even when he sees poor Arisu immediately skate straight into a wall at hyperspeeds and flip over the wall while Usagi skates after him.

Yep, no regrets.

[darrowsrising]

For "Send Me a Character" I gotta ask for Darrow and Virginia!

My faves!🤗

Darrow of Lykos:

First impression: Darrow: 'I would have lived in peace, but my enemies brought me war.' Me: I love you so much, I declare you my favourite.

Honest to Reaper, I loved him from the first sentence. I have felt lust at first sight, but love at first sentence (not romantic love, just...idk, you like a character so much you just...love them, if that makes sense)? Idk, it's one of those experiences that make life worth living.

Impression now: I would die for Darrow of Lykos, I would kill for Darrow of Lykos and most importantly, I would live (am currently living?) for Darrow of Lykos. Ok, I may exaggerate, but honestly, Darrow really inspires me and if anything, he made me realize that life is worth living...even when it sucks. And I am not saying that lightly, I just can't evoke properly what Darrow means to me. I read books hyped to 7 dimensions, but none of them actually inspired me like this. And I truly needed it, especially at the time I read Red Rising.

That being said, I can put my bias aside for analysis, but will I stop reminding you that I love him? Nope! Think of me as a brighter version of Sevro, I thrive on your annoyance.

Favourite moment: Every moment, let's not do this, it's a losing game.

Idea for a story: I find it the hardest to write fanfiction from his perspective in first person, although his thought process is a lot like mine. But I would love to dig into a quiet, peaceful day with his family. Or maybe the his and Virginia's first date. If Pierce ever adresses that date again, I will literally hang over every word.

Unpopular opinion: People who say Darrow is overrated are the same who're saying Beyoncé is overrated.

Ok, now a more serious one, this narrative that Darrow is bad...worse take ever! Different reading experiences and interpretations and any other things don't work in this case at all. Idk, the fact that people are unwilling to accept that the majority, and yes, even Sevro, can be very wrong, is kinda scary to me, even though it's fiction.

Favourite relationship: My personal favourites are his relationships with Virginia and Sevro. But every Darrow relationship is great. LET DARROW BE DAD, BLOODYDAMMIT! Even that with his soldiers. You know what my God did even after a heart attack? Went to speak with his soldiers, acrually talk with them, not adress the masses. His bodyguards rotate every hour and they can't keep up with him. I am not saying everyone should love Darrow, but...how can one not?

Favourite headcanon: HE SLEEPS SHIRTLESS. At the very least. Idk, if anyone deserves to wake up to the best slive of man cake of a husband shirtless every morning, it's Virginia au Augustus.

Virginia au Augustus:

First impression: Hot damn, girl, you must be really special if Darrow can't even muster a retort, let alone stop staring at you in the sunset.

I adored their little meet cutes, but I honestly loved her the most at the Institute, maybe because she was the most consistant and I loved to see and piece together who she really is, while knowing certain things about her for facts. I loved her because she wasn't like the other Golds, there was something about her that wanted more but didn't know how to implement it, although she tried. I think that Mustang was the first introduction of a Gold that actually seemed to care, you know. It mattered to me when she actually got that Red analogy.

Impressions now: I love her so much, she my favourite female character, she's just everything I wish I could be, but I also relate to her on a certain level (I am no genius, I wish lol). I love how Pierce writes his main cast, because it never gets boring. They don't just stop at a certain point, they evolve and they feel so real because of that. Virginia is no exception - I have actually taken to calling her Virginia, not Mustang, because I think it now suits her more.

I genuinely love Virginia for everything Kavax said to her in Dark Age. I think of her exactly the same things and...I can't help but love her for that.

Favourite moment: I love all of her moments, but I must say that the Iron Circle and Imperium scenes made my brain tingle the most.

Idea for a story: WE. NEED. HER. POV. HER EVERY OPINION! GIVE US VIRGINIA'S POV SERIES, PIERCE!

Unpopular opinion: I think she is very underestimated. Just because she is peaceful and/or tries to walk the stiletto so that her successors don't destroy the Republic because she slipped once with a certain issue and they exploited it to hell, doesn't make her harmless. To be peaceful is to be capable of great harm and choose not to inflict it. Otherwise you're just harmless.

Favourite relationship: I obviously love her romance with Darrow, but her bromance with Sevro is the very best. I also like how the twins bond was explored, but also how it's dealt with now. Her relationship with Pax? 🥺🥺🥺 I also can't wait for more friendship with Victra, because I think their opposite personalities are the most intriguing thing. Pierce does like that in his characters, there are plenty of characters built like that.

Favourite headcanon: When she was pregnant and missed Darrow terribly, she allowed herself to be miserable only when she was alone, so she tried to keep busy and often forgot to eat, which wasn't really a problem, because she couldn't keep down much. On one particular hard day - Darrow's (fake) execution - she did not come out of her room at all. She woke up, dizzy and sick and it smelled of garlic and okra blossoms and tomatoes. A highRed help was making pitViper egg soup for the mantainance staff. She talked to her over a bowl of soup and it was a bit awkward at first, but she was a midWife, so it ended up being a heartfelt and helpful discussion. They made a deal - the mantainence staff gets to eat whatever they want, as long as Virginia gets served this soup at every dinner. Her baby seemed to like it a lot.

Thank you for the ask! Howl on!🐺💖

[timextoxhajima]

Playlist Feels

*SHORT SERIES

Part 1: Church (smut)

Member: pilot juyeon without the strikeout :D

Genre: holy water smut idk pls send help

“I'll make you feel like never before”

“so what did happen after you got back to your place with your secret admirer?” sunwoo side-eyed you, trying his best not to completely turn his attention from the road to you. 

hyunjun was leaning forwards and sticking his head between you and sunwoo, arms resting on the top of the seats. 

“uh,” you fumble through your bag, pretending to make sure all the necessary items you needed were in it. “nothing... much.”

there was absolutely no way you could’ve told sunwoo or hyunjun what you were like when you were drunk and in the mood to play games with a stranger. 

it didn’t matter if you’ve been friends for so long; you knew they wouldn’t shut up about it once they knew. 

“‘nothing much’?” hyunjun scoffs, noticing the flush that was appearing on your cheeks. “what, did you two sit around and watch a movie while you retched? because i’m pretty sure you had a truckload of vodka.”

sunwoo snorted and pressed his foot against the accelerator when the green light appeared. 

“we just... hooked up, that’s all.”

hyunjun raises a skeptical brow at you, squinting his eyes as you struggle not to look at him. “hooked up or hooked up and smashed?”

“why does it even matte-- shouldn’t you be strapped to your seat?” you turn around and start whacking him on his head. “sunwoo literally just learnt how to drive. how are you so calm with sitting in his car without a seat belt?”

sunwoo opened his mouth in exaggerated shock, quickly glancing at you while you were shoving hyun jun back into the back seat by his head. “hey! i could’ve declined your request to drive you to the airport!”

“my request? you were the one who said you’d drive me without even giving me an option,” you turn back to face the front, glaring at him while you said it. 

“‘you were the one who said you’d drive m--’ ow!” he winced when you punch him in the arm. 

the scent of the airport wafts through your nose the way waffles would smell to anybody else. travelling has always been something you enjoyed, and now that you were finally going overseas for a job opportunity, it made the wait and the effort all the more worthwhile. 

hyunjun helps pull your luggage and sunwoo becomes your mobile clothes hanger while he carries your coat and you triple check to make sure you’ve got everything you need for the next year in new york. 

you reach the departure hall, and the familiar sight of the immigration officers at the gantry checking the passports of other passengers was so comforting. but you turn around, only to see hyunjun giving you a little pout and sunwoo looking away, trying not to become emotional. 

“i’ll be back in a flash,” you whisper, pulling hyunjun into a tight hug. the ankle boots you were wearing boosts you up about two inches, so you were able to wrap your arms around his neck without much effort. 

“call us when you touchdown, okay? no matter the time,” he instructs, pulling you away from him and ruffling your hair. you nod and give him a bro-fist, turning to sunwoo, the man who has an ego the size of a horse. 

“aw, come on~ don’t cry...” you tease loudly, grabbing his arm and shaking it like you were trying to wake him up.

“ah, ah, okay, okay, stop it,” he waves his hand infront of you before raising his arm. you shove yourself into his chest and tighten your wrap around his torso. “don’t come back with a baby, please.”

“i’m there for work, not to fuck around,” you snort and remove yourself from his warmth. he hands you your coat and you wrap your fingers around the hard plastic handle of your big, bulky luggage. passport in hand and constantly looking your shoulder back at them, you let the immigration officer check your identification in your passport and he lets you through. 

“bye!” you mouth to the two of them once you were in the hall, aggressively waving while they try to wave you off. you give them one last smile and turn, dragging your heavy luggage behind you while you walked to the designated gated. 

you look out the glass windows on the other side of the departure hall and the lights from all the planes outside looked like stars hanging too low from the night sky. the airport was one of your favourite places to be because there was never a moment this place was asleep. there was always a flight somewhere, and there were always people waiting around. 

just knowing that mankind had come so far to let ourselves travel the world to the most magnificent views of the world was just so endearing to believe. 

it was a little difficult to believe you were going to new york yourself, to be part of a production company that you’ve been working so hard and long for. 

you were about to shove your earpieces into your ear canals when your train of self-reflection broke off due to a conversation you overheard.

but it wasn’t the content of what they were talking about. 

it was someone’s voice. 

you look up, only to see a group of air stewards and stewardesses dragging their small luggage behind them, all fit in their uniforms. 

then you eyes catch sight of the lone pilot amongst them. 

you would’ve tripped over something if you didn’t abruptly stop in your tracks. 

“ah, he’s here already?” 

“yeah, he said he was sending off a family member here anyway.”

you could feel your throat drying up like the sahara desert as they walk past you, a safe distance away. 

it was him.

the stranger who...

you deemed a worthy opponent...

in bed. 

he’s a pilot?!

you suck in a deep breath and proceed to stick your earpiece into your ears, trying to mount your attention to your phone and your music of choice while you awkwardly trail behind the group of them. 

but you couldn’t handle walking behind them like this, not when you just had a one-night stand with the pilot. what were the odds of even running into him for the second time in less than 24 hours?

you break away from your path and head for the nearest cafe, grabbing yourself a cup of coffee to keep you awake on first few hours of the flight.

that was what sunwoo told you to do anyway, to help you adjust to the time difference and prevent jet-lag. 

you find yourself seated in the lounge meant for the business class ticket holders, and there weren’t many passengers around. most of them were in suits and blazers, not to mention caucasian. it made you feel a little out of place, your white turtle neck and jeans with the coat draped over your forearm made you look like you were going on a holiday. 

the coffee finishes in your stomach, and the book you were reading becomes a little boring when the idea of going to new york was becoming nothing short of reality. you tilt your chin to the ceiling and let your neck ache from the constant looking down, and your attention naturally gravitates to the movement in the lounge. 

a stewardess had just come out from one of the lounge rooms to talk to the officer manning the gate for the business class, and you realise she was one of the stewardesses in the group you saw before. 

you frown to yourself, shaking the ignorant, unrealistic thoughts out of your head as you try to continue your book. 

but the coffee rushes through your digestive system a little too quickly and you pull out the earpiece, grabbing all your belongings and searching for an empty private room where you could leave your things before running off to look for a bathroom. 

the hallways look a little like hotel rooms and the smell of diffused aromas were slowly getting to you. you turn around the corner, eyes digging into the words of your book with your hands full. 

you step on someone’s shoe, and your left shoulder rams into someone’s arm, the impact causing you to drop the book on the floor. 

“oh, sorry! my apologies, miss.” 

you took a step back, feeling a little sorry about being so engrossed in your book. “oh, crap-- no, i wasn’t--”

your entire body turns to stone as you immediately register the face in front of you. the book was held out to you, your hands balled into tight fists and you could feel all the blood rush from all over your body to your face. 

it takes him a second to realise who he’s bumped into, and a look of pleasant surprise pulls a smile across his lips. 

what the hell is he doing in here?

“are... you here for a flight?” the book was still held out for you, and he raises a brow in curiosity. you swallow in attempt to dampen your dry, hoarse throat at the sight of him. he was in the pilot’s uniform: navy blue blazer, tie and white dress shirt. all he was missing was the cap.

“are you alright?” 

his small laughter pulls you away from your thoughts, and you realise you had been scanning him from head to toe. he traps the book between the side of his chest and elbow, eyes never leaving yours. he reaches out to your passport that was messily stuck in the pocket of your coat, careful not to fold or tear any of the small documents stuck in its pages. 

he flips it open and his eyes widen ever so slightly when he checks your boarding pass, and he looks up through his lashes at you with a look of satisfaction plastered on his face.

oh, no.

“nice to know that i’ll be your captain for the next 16 hours or so,” he neatly stacks your ticket and boarding pass back into your passport, gently placing it back into the pocket where he took it from. “well, the flight’s about 14 and a half hours so, give and take.”

it was so difficult to believe that the man who completely ruined you last night, and beat you at your own game, was standing right in front of you. nicely fitted into a professional uniform, and you were going to be on the same flight as him for the next 16 hours?!

he removes the book from under his arm and waves it next to his head, already used to you standing there like a statue for the last few minutes or so. 

“do you still want this book? or am i going to need to keep it until you’re done being an iceberg?”

your mind yanks you back to the previous night, when he asked you different questions in the exact same tone. 

“can i have their permission to bring you elsewhere? or are they responsible for sending you home safely?”

“you don’t happen to still be thinking about last night, are you?” your vision comes back into focus and the smaller gap between the two of you was now apparent. your pupils flit around him, noticing that there was nobody down the hall, because everybody was in the waiting area, too busy working on their laptops and ipads to even think of coming to the private rooms.

the hell does he mean ‘still’? how does one forget such a night so easily?

“judging by the lack of vocabulary you have right now, i guess you are.”

you blink in embarrassment, gulping and looking away in hopes that the dimmer lighting the hallway had to offer was going to mask your reddening, burning face. 

he straightens himself, hand still holding onto your book. 

this could not get any worse.

“well,” your urge to pee has long gone, and you were already turning on your heels to back away from him. “i’m gonna go and--”

“whoa, whoa, wait,” he grabs you by the arm, and he gently tugs you back towards him. “so, are you?”

his face was so disgustingly innocent, you wish you had your book to whack him across his face.

but that wasn’t you, that was you when you’re drunk. 

it was difficult to come to terms with how different you were with a little alcohol confidence, but you’ve learnt to live with it once you realised you were your own champion.

that is, until this guy came along.

“you’re awfully quiet right now, don’t you think?” he looks up above you where a digital clock was hung. watching only his eyes shift but his entire body doesn’t sends a dangerous signal to your head. “especially with whatever you were saying last night.”

your heart was about to rip itself out of its cage and you purse your lips, trying to writhe out of his grip. but his hold reminds you of him yanking you to the edge of your bed by the ankles, and you mentally berate yourself for even thinking about it in this moment. 

he holds the book with only his thumb and index finger, the rest of his hands looking for the handle of the nearest private room and pushing it open. 

your eyes widen when the realisation hits you in the gut, and before you knew it, the door swings shut behind your luggage. he locks the door and pries your fingers off the luggage handle. pushing it into the corner of the room by the sofa, he places the book down on the cushion with caution. 

“if it makes you feel any better,” 

his large strides make it easy for him to reach your feet in just a few steps. you grit your teeth and feel your rear hit the small dressing table in the room. the lights lining the mirror were the only source of illumination, and since it was coming from behind you, it did nothing but highlight all his features. he cages you with both his hands gripping onto the edge of the table, and your constant shifting back into the furniture pushes it further into the wall as if it wasn’t already placed against it. 

“i can’t stop thinking about it either.”

his leans forward and presses his lips into yours, the taste of him dangerously intoxicating. your eyes flutter shut, the kiss sends chills down your spine and into your fingertips.

the previous night, you could taste the alcohol he had been drinking, not to mention the vodka that you were mercilessly pouring down your own throat.

but now all you were tasting was the fresh mint of what smelled like toothpaste. 

his hands travel up to your waist and he hoists you upwards, high enough for him to place you on the table. he pushes your legs open by your knees before resting his palms on your thighs. 

the surface of the table wasn’t very wide, so it was easy for you to feel the material of his blazer brushing across your inner thighs. your hands were gripping onto his forearms, his warm hands pressing on the material of your pants while you enjoy the taste of mint lingering on his tongue. 

he breaks the kiss and huffs, licking his lips and offering you a laugh through a smirk. “you really took me by surprise when you didn’t say anything outside,” he grabs your hands and rest them on his belt, the bold move struggles to anchor itself into your logic. “for a moment, i thought you were a twin sister or something.”

he dips his nose into your neck and to your ‘unfortunate’ dismay, he remembers your sweet spot. your eyes seal shut and a gasp gets sucked down your throat, but the sound was so sharp and apparent, even you felt awkward.

his palm flies up to your face and covers your mouth, turning your head so you were looking at him dead in the eye.

“there are no cameras but this room isn’t soundproof.”

his voice was so lustfully low, you hated how needy you were getting, even in the fucking airport.

“so do me a favour and try not to make a sound.”

his hand slowly leaves your lips and your blood starts to rush south when he starts fiddling with the button on your pants. 

burying his lips between yours again, your fingers instinctively start to undo his belt, the cold metal sending little shocks through your hands. 

he aggressively pulls your pants off from under you, and he pulls it over your boots so that they were now on the floor in a crumpled mess.

the amber lighting of the room paired with the diffused scent of wormwood was only alleviating every sense in you. goosebumps erupt all over your legs upon the contact with the cool air. 

you undo the button on his pants and the zipper slips down easily with the growing bulge under his boxers. he pulls away and snakes his left arm around your waist in attempt you pull you nearer to him, and your hands push down the material of his underwear to free his length. you attach your eyes to his as your hands now pressed flat against the back of his neck, begging him to kiss you again. 

he complies, tasting the remnants of the coffee you previously drank. you feel his fingers push your underwear aside and your wetness gets exposed to the cold air, sending shivers up through your gut. 

he breaks the kiss for a moment to wrap your legs around his waist and over his long blazer. lining himself with your entrance, he lets you swallow him inch by inch. 

a strained moan slips out through your lips, and he decides to tame it by wrapping his fingers around your throat. he doesn’t apply much pressure, but you know it’s a reminder for what he told you before. 

his lips find your sweet spot on your neck again as he picks up the pace. every thrust was so well controlled that the table doesn’t ram itself against the wall. the only sounds that were audible were the soft grunts in the back of his throat and the light mewls that were spilling out your mouth. 

your hands grip onto the edge of the table, and you feel them start to whiten with the strength you were investing. his pelvic bone begins hitting your sensitive nub, and you harshly bite on your bottom lip to prevent any lewd sounds from spewing out. 

the wrap on your neck starts to tighten against your skin, and for a moment you felt as high as you did last night. 

this man was making you feel drunk even when you were not.

the heavy breaths that were escaping through his lips were landing on your neck where his fingers didn’t cover, and he starts hitting you in places inside your core that you didn’t feel before. 

you could tell he was worried he was choking you, for his grip loosened and the palm of his free hand flattens itself against the curvature of your hip. 

continuous thrusts and bucks of his hips against yours was producing a heat that was beginning to fog up the mirror behind you. you could feel your fingertips getting numb from holding onto the edge of the table so violently, and the tingling sensation in your heat comes back in less than 24 hours. 

“oh, shit--” the words were hoarse and comes out almost like a whisper, your eyes rolling so far back into your head your vision flashed white. 

he provides you a few more thrusts to let you reach your high, his lips finding yours just before you could let your orgasm expose itself through your lips. 

without breaking the kiss, you feel him empty your entrance and he shoots his load onto your legs like the previous night. 

the kisses were sloppy and slightly exhausted, your chests were heaving up and down with ecstacy and satisfaction, but it doesn’t last very long when he pulls away and your eyes begin to focus on the blazer he still had on.

the uniform he had on while he was fucking you in a private room of a business lounge in the airport. 

he gulps, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down under his skin on his throat, and you lean your head back towards the mirror. he pulls out a drawer next to your legs (that were now dangling limply) at the edge by the table, and he finds an elegant, silver box with little napkins in them. 

the airport logo was printed on it, and you couldn’t help but marvel at yourself and how huge of a whore he’s made you. 

without a word, he cleans you before he cleaned himself, and within minutes that you felt like seconds, he was already patting down the creases of his pants and blazer. looking at the mirror behind you, he fixes his hair and straightens his tie, eyes travelling to you, who you know looked utterly ruined, even without seeing yourself in the mirror. 

a smirk appears on his lips, but it suddenly -- abruptly -- turns into a service smile. 

his ability to switch back and forth was nothing less than demonic.

“later when you reach the gate, tell her you know the captain.”

you scoff, wearily rolling your head against the mirror and shaking it against the ceiling.

“and how the hell will she know i’m not just messing with her?” you eye him with tired eyes, watching him gently tug on his collar around his neck. 

“because i know yours now, y/n.”

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

Part 3: No Mercy

A/N: DRINKING MORE HOLY WATER