#lowercase stylistic

[skuzzinfish]

guys, can we all put aside the comics for a second to agree that the canon time passage between seasons of the umbrella academy is not, in fact, a plot thing but just decided based off of how young they can conceivably pretend aiden gallagher is

[eliotquillon]

desperately want to go on a mass orphaning spree (before anyone panics i’m only talking about stuff i wrote before 2019) but i’m 5 fics away from the big 150. is it vain of me to wait just to see the fun number go up .

[hungryyheart]

@choicescreen for harry 👬

i take oaths every day against that sorta crap.

i take oaths every day against that sorta crap.

i take oaths every day against that sorta crap.

it echoes in his head, the score to accompany the endless replays of his discovery, as he crosses the backstage floor with diminished swagger. not that what he was doing up on that stage moments ago could really be considered authentically confident... that's not conrad's style. that's not why millions tune in to watch him (and thousands kind-of-almost like what they see and stick around), and it's not why the producers of this year's emmys had him in their sights.

but certainly, now that he's no longer being widely televised, there is less pep in his step. everything that is shy and worrisome in his nature has been magnified so that even the most unobservant could detect it, particularly when the bearer of such traits tends to tower over everyone else within a twenty mile radius.

except harry. here, he quite literally meets his match.

if it wasn't bad enough that the man had to witness him slobbering over mounds of mystery meat in a dark cellar the evening before, his invitation to the award's show came with the bonus of having to sit through a musical act that made milli vanilli look like sinatra. as if he doesn't have enough nightmare fodder to last a lifetime.

he slows as he nears, and upon setting sights on harry's characteristically cheerful countenance, a smile instinctively desires to bloom. even with the retainer protecting him and the rest of the world, he suppresses it -- resulting in an unusually formal greeting. only his eyes could convey his gratitude, but they're too clouded with guilt.

"i wasn't sure you'd be here."

[valtsv]

i don't use all lowercase and minimal punctuation because i'm lazy it's a stylistic choice. it's called "stream of consciousness" and it's actually a recognised and respected literary technique. you should feel privileged to bear witness to the development of my autobiographical epic in its raw unedited form.

[binisainz]

loved you then , love you now ⸻ oscar piastri x reader

feat.   childhood  friends  to  lovers,  tooth  rotting  fluff,  birdy's  own  assumptions  about  an  australian  summer,  undisclosed  favorite  ice  cream  flavors,  all  lowercase  as  a  stylistic  choice  😭 word  count.   0.9k author's  note.     number  #62  on  the  prompts  list  !!  had  so  much  fun  writing  this,  so  thank  you  so  much,  anon  !!  i  love-a  da  yearning  i  fear.  also  title  is  from  tongue  tied  by  group  love  (though  i  was  listening  to  the  glee  cast  version  while  writing  this  😭)

requests  are  still  open  !!

summer in melbourne always makes you feel like you’re wilting.

the heat clings to your skin, relentless, heavy in a way that no fan or open window can fix. it’s worse now, lying on the floor of your living room, the cheap standing fan oscillating lazily, doing nothing to stop the sweat forming at the base of your neck. oscar is beside you, legs sprawled, one arm thrown over his forehead as if the sheer act of moving is too much effort.

a ball passes between you two, red and semi-chewed up because it’s technically your dog’s ball. but you you’d wanted to test his reflexes, see if all those years of racing had actually done something, but he’d caught it so effortlessly every single time that the novelty had disappeared quickly.

now, you pass it back and forth without much thought, fingers grazing over each other’s hands in a way that doesn’t mean anything, shouldn’t mean anything, but you’re hyper-aware of it all the same. you always are, when it comes to him.

“you’re slow,” you say, just to get a reaction out of him.

he lets the ball land on his stomach instead of catching it. “you’re slow,” he repeats, lazily.

the heat makes you both sluggish, stretching time like molasses. the room smells like summer, sunscreen and something citrusy from the candle your mother left burning on the counter. the tv hums in the background, some holiday movie no one is watching. you glance at oscar, at the way he’s looking at the ceiling like there’s something interesting there. you think about how easy this is, how it always is with him.

“everyone up north is probably having a white christmas right now,” you say, watching the ceiling fan spin uselessly above you. you should probably get that fixed before the worst of the summer heatwaves decides to grace brighton. “like, sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate, all that. meanwhile, we’re dying.”

oscar hums, his voice soft, almost lazy. “sounds miserable.”

you glance at him, expectant. “miserable?”

he lifts his head, eyes flickering toward you before dropping back against the floor. “mm, not one for the cold.”

“oh, i know,” you say, grinning at the memory of him shivering the last time you were in europe together, visiting him for one of his first ever races in the big leagues, bundled up in way too many layers. “but i wouldn’t mind snow just once.”

he hums again, noncommittal, and for a while, there’s nothing but the distant hum of cicadas outside, the occasional creak of the apartment settling. you shift slightly, feeling the floor stick to the bare skin of your legs, and suddenly, you remember— ice cream.

you sit up abruptly. “wait. i have ice cream.”

oscar groans. “don’t make me move.”

“your suffering is noted, but i'm getting some.” you push yourself up, stretching slightly before making your way to the kitchen. you don’t have to look back to know oscar is following you; he always does.

“what kind?”

you don’t tell him you bought his favorite flavor on the off chance that he’d come over. you just grin, already padding towards the fridge, throwing open the freezer door to retrieve the tub.

oscar follows, leaning against the counter beside you as you both dig into it, the cold a welcome contrast to the warmth pressing against your skin. the counter is cool beneath your thighs as you perch on it, legs swinging slightly. oscar hops up next to you without hesitation, his knee knocking against yours, thighs pressing against each other. neither of you move away.

it’s always been like this. the closeness, the casual touches, the stolen glances that linger for a beat too long. neither of you ever acknowledge it. you don’t know why. maybe it’s because oscar is always leaving. because the world demands so much of him, because he’s always moving, flying, racing. but he always finds his way back to you.

“you totally bought this for me,” oscar says, taking a bite, his voice light, teasing.

you roll your eyes, feigning nonchalance. “you’re delusional.”

he doesn’t argue, just smiles around his spoon, and something about it makes your chest feel too full, makes you want to look anywhere but at him.

the conversation flows the way it always does— easy, familiar, slipping into something comfortable. you talk about the past season, about the upcoming one, about things that don’t really matter but feel important in the moment. it’s always been like this with him. you’ve known him forever, and yet it never feels like you run out of things to say.

“you know,” he says at one point, between bites, “if i wasn’t racing, i’d probably still be here, doing this with you.”

something about the way he says it makes you pause, makes you glance at him. “that came out wrong,” he adds quickly, shifting slightly as if trying to find the right words.

you tilt your head, watching him. “how did you mean it?”

he exhales, rubbing the back of his neck, and you think—

oh. he’s nervous. oscar looks cute when he’s nervous. you’ve known him long enough to know the tells, eyes flickering to his spoon, then to you, pink creeping into his cheeks. cute, cute, cute.

“just—” he hesitates, eyes flickering to yours. “this feels like home, that’s all.”

it’s the easiest thing in the world to kiss him. it’s barely anything, fleeting and innocent and everything you hadn’t realized you’d been waiting for. when you pull back, he’s looking at you like he’s trying to memorize you, like he can’t quite believe this is real.

you smile, just a little. “so, not miserable, then?”

he laughs, soft, shaking his head. “not miserable at all.”

and with that, with the last scoop of ice cream melting in the tub between you, with the fan still whirring uselessly in the background, with your knees still knocking together on the kitchen counter— he kisses you again.

[forgettable-au]

In a Deltarune au of THIS au, would the "little brother" in the house trousling bones be Papyrus or Wingdings?

Okay this is an old ask and I was gonna answer with some drawings but ...

I DON'T HAVE A DESIGN FOR WINGDINGS THERE!!!! SO!!! I CAN'T...

Still, I'll try to answer :D

YES, PRECISELY

I DO HAVE A DELTARUNE AU OF THIS AU

And in this AU of my AU, the reason why we don't see Papyrus or hear his name is because it's actually still Wingdings lmao

Turns out he didn't shatter across time and space here

I need to make a design so I can draw some of these ideas but, uh, I'll explain the basics quickly!

So! Wingdings and Sans are still twins, Sans just likes to be annoying and call 'Dings his younger brother (which is something that actually does happen in the main forgettable-au lmao)

They're a bit older (I just generally hc everyone in deltarune is a bit older than their undertale counterparts) and they just moved to hometown from the city! That's were they used to work! Before Wingdings got fired for unnamed reasons! Also, Wingdings is using a fake name "Roman" !

And yeah!

Wingdings and Sans are currently in the middle of a fight? They're not on the best terms, Wingdings didn't want to move to hometown and refuses to get out of the house

Wingdings is not doing great! He has no job, no friends, he just moved out of the city he didn't want to leave, and there's other stuff too!!

Sans isn't doing that great either but he's trying to do okay! He sees hometown as a new opportunity and a he's already making friends with the locals! He's trying to get Wingdings to do that as well, it's not working!

Why would Sans ask Kris to hang out with his brother, a grown man? I DON'T KNOW, BUT LIKE, THAT'S WEIRD EVEN WITH REGULAR PAPYRUS! (I know a lot of people think Paps will be a teenager in deltarune, but idk, that feels weird?? Why would Toby make so many characters older and then Papyrus younger??? It's still a possibility tho... and it would be interesting to see)

You know how in forgettable-au they both still use proper grammar before the incident? That doesn't work here (because Sans in deltarune is clearly using lowercase and I can't just change that), sooooo... they both use constant lowercase!

Or I could just ignore that one theory of uppercase and lowercase and accept it's probably just a stylistic choice....but I won't do that............

And yeah that's basically it! :D

Imagining this au of my au as a thing to happen in game is very funny, because if something like that actually happened I don't think the fandom would ever recover.... just imagine the chaos...

For anyone that might ask this:

Why would the voice at the start of the game react to us naming our character Papyrus if Papyrus isn't in the game?

My explanation for that is: Well, if theories are correct and that voice IS Gaster, he probably knows that we know Papyrus from playing undertale! He's acknowledging that... not the fact that Papyrus is in deltarune...but there might be someone similar we can meet, he knows who we expect

Okay that's it! That's the AU of my AU! I really want to make art for it

But I seriously have no idea how Wingdings would look...

I'm just...very bad at designing regular clothes.....

[kkuramyeons]

✮ let it happen - huh yunjin x reader

summary: on your group’s second to last day in new york- and your first time back home in three years, yunjin suggests you two go out to commemorate being back home after so long, little did you know there was more than met the eye when it came to yunjin. 

pairing: idol!yunjin x idol!reader 

themes: fluff, date night, drinking, slight obliviousness, dancing around feelings, slightly suggestive at the end, making out… etc.

wc: 3.3k

a/n: lowercase is intended, hope you enjoy! i had so much fun writing this, i love new york so much, and yunjin has been on my mind SO much lately, so… enjoy part of my yunjin brainrot. I promise to post more frequently, classes are killing me sigh…

✮ ✮ ✮

“all this running along, i can’t fight it much longer…”

after a long day of interviews and shooting content for various media outlets, all you wanted was to arrive back to your hotel room and catch up on some much-needed rest, but it seemed a certain redhead had other plans. 

“you brought your id with you, right?” whispered yunjin in your ear as she leaned closer to you in the backseat of the black caravan. 

you looked at her confused as to why she was whispering since it was only the two of you in the car, eunchae, kazuha and sakura riding in the car in front of you as you all made your way back to the hotel. 

“you literally packed it in my suitcase before we left for new york, yunjin,” you replied, eyes glued on your phone. 

“i’m just making sure, don’t want our plans to fall through” answered the redhead. 

“and what would those be?” you asked, raising a brow at the older girl. 

“going to the bars, of course!” yunjin replied, with a smile adorning her face, showing you her phone which had a list of bars around the city. 

“what?” you laughed, not taking the older girl seriously at first, but seeing as yunjin just stared blankly at you, you widened your eyes in disbelief.

“there’s no way manager-nim is letting us go clubbing in new york. we’re idols, in case you forgot,” you said as a million thoughts ran through your head." there’s literally a billboard in times square with our faces on it,” you added. 

you could already see the anonymous tips on deuxmoi’s instagram, the blind items and probably dispatch turning your night out into a possible dating scandal. 

knowing that your head was probably running wild with a million negative scenarios, yunjin put her hand on your thigh, which instantly got your attention, turning your head to face her, with a slight blush on your cheeks. 

“not tonight we’re not! tonight i’m jennifer huh and you’re y/n l/n, two normal girls from nyc just looking for a good time,” she replied with an easy smile, explaining how she managed to sneak a few accessories from the stylists so you could change your appearance a bit. 

skeptically, you nodded your head in understanding, muttering about the redhead’s insistence in bringing your new york id in addition to your other travel documents. 

“so that’s why you wanted my new york id…” you trailed off. 

“what did you think it was for?” asked yunjin, as she stared at you curiously, head slightly tilted. 

“student discount at the MET? I don’t know…” you shrugged her off. 

“you were literally a nyu student for a semester almost four years ago… i’m pretty sure those are only for current students,” the redhead replied, scrunching her nose at you, knowing you dropped out the second you got the call to possibly join the group.

“that’s a semester more than you in college!” you replied, sticking your tongue out at the redhead. 

after bickering about past college decisions, yunjin turned to you, asking if you were on board with her plans for the both of you. you nodded, excited for spending time with the girl in the city you loved the most. 

✮⋆˙

once you arrived at your room, yunjin quickly got to work, dropping kazuha off at sakura’s and eunchae’s room, ignoring the younger girl’s whines to join the both of you. 

the youngest of the two pleaded, trying to convince the redhead to join your night out. 

“yunjin-ah, it’s like i’m not even there! seriously i’ll just smile and take pictures that’s all!” kazuha looked up at yunjin with the best puppy eyes she could muster on the spot. 

“yeah! which is why you’re not coming with us. I mean zuha, you won’t even be able to go into the bars, you’re not 21 yet!” answered yunjin, knocking on sakura’s door to drop off kazuha. 

seeing as kazuha deflated at her reply, the redhead reminded her of their plans to get chipotle tomorrow, and how she would go out to eat and explore the city with sakura and eunchae tonight. 

suddenly reminded of all the exciting plans she had, kazuha grinned at yunjin, any disappointment from not joining your plans quickly dissipating. 

opening the room’s door, sakura was met with yunjin and kazuha grinning from ear to ear, which was a sign that something was definitely up. 

“what now?” asked sakura with a hand on her hip, the other holding some yarn. 

“nothing, just dropping off zuha for the night,” yunjin replied with an easy smile, kazuha nodding her head. 

“and where are you off to?” sakura stared at yunjin, brows raised skeptically.

“she’s got a date with y/n!” came an excited reply from a grinning eunchae, who now stood behind sakura. 

knowing she needed more details regarding the american’s whereabouts for the night, the oldest le sserafim member led yunjin inside her room to know what the redheads’ plans were for the night. 

“a date?” asked sakura as she made her way towards the bed. 

yunjin’s eyes widened at the question, quickly stammering excuses. 

“no, it’s not a date! unless you consider two people who care about each other and are back home for the first time in years that are going out together a date, then it’s a date,” 

“if not, which it’s not, then it’s not a date” explained the redhead, suddenly hot at the sudden attention on her. 

“that’s totally a date, unnie” giggled eunchae from beside sakura, sitting on the bed while the oldest continued to crochet what would soon be a beanie. 

“what would you know about dates eunchae?” quipped the oldest, brows raised. 

yunjin grinned as eunchae stammered a response, relieved to not have anyone questioning her plans for the time being. 

watching as sakura now scolded eunchae for knowing how dates worked and kazuha was watching them argue with a grin, the redhead saw this as an opportunity to make her way out of the room.

backing away from the scene slowly, tiptoeing backwards through the corridor, yunjin made eye contact with kazuha, motioning the younger idol to stay quiet, silently pleading. 

“kkura-unnie, yunjin’s escaping!” kazuha exclaimed, holding eye contact with yunjin, grinning when the redhead cursed under her breath at being caught. 

“so, your plan for your date is to go out? in new york?” “and do what, exactly?” questioned the oldest member. 

“i thought we could go to y/n’s favorite dive bar and have a drink?” answered yunjin with a nervous smile. 

sakura pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh, knowing there was no talking yunjin out of her plans.  

“something’s tryin’ to get out….”

✮⋆˙

“well, I finally convinced sakura that we wouldn’t get recognized or photographed since the bar makes people cover their cameras, and we’ll be escorted by security, so, we should be ready to leave in 15 minutes,” yunjin made her way towards the bathroom of your shared room, explaining the plan for the night. 

removing her extensions, placing a couple of fake piercings, putting on some fake bangs and some sunglasses, yunjin patted herself on the back for making herself look like a look alike version of herself, perfect for your date night out. 

seeing as you weren’t in the bedroom, yunjin searched around for you, letting out a sigh of relief once she saw you leaning against the balcony outside. 

✮⋆˙

with another drag of your cigarette, you took in the view in front of you. the city’s buzzing atmosphere made you feel right at home, something you hadn’t completely felt in a long time. 

taking a picture of the view of the city’s skyline and your cigarette, posting it to your private instagram story with the caption “when in rome, or well, new york”, you locked your phone, knowing chaewon was going to scold you for such reckless behavior. 

as soon as you put out the cigarette, arms wrapped around your waist, the person nuzzling their head in your shoulder.

“i didn’t know you smoked,” questioned yunjin, watching you put your lighter back in the pocket of your leather jacket. 

“only chaewon and my manager know,” you replied, turning around to face the redhead.  

“it’s not always though, i just need a break sometimes,” came your explanation, taking in the reaction from the girl in front of you. 

“it’s just, there’s many what ifs here, you know?” “i was just taking it all in, I promise I won’t touch them again for the rest of our trip” you pleaded, taking yunjin’s hands in your own. 

nodding in understanding, yunjin pulled you in for a hug. 

“let’s get ready to go?” yunjin’s breath fanned your ear, making your body heat up in response. 

“sounds good, let me touch up my makeup and we’ll leave,” you assured the redhead, making your way back inside the room. 

putting on a fake nose ring, messily styling your wolfcut and making sure some of your “hidden” tattoos were showing, you took a picture and posted it to your private instagram, the story’s  caption matching yunjin’s cryptic one that hinted at a date night around the city. 

“ready to go?” you turned to yunjin, who took in your appearance with a slight blush on her cheeks, eyes trailing up and down your body. 

“yeah!” “yup! all ready, let me text security we’re ready to leave,” yunjin said as she led you both out of the room. 

✮⋆˙

arriving to the upper east side, you noticed yunjin had chosen one of your favorite dive bars in the city, notoriously known for its animosity towards celebrities, good music, and cheap cocktail menu.

“how’d you know about this place?” you asked as you made your way inside the bar, flashing your ids to the bouncer who let you in without a second glance, not even questioning the bulky security guys following the both of you in from a safe distance. 

“i have my ways,” yunjin grinned as she led you towards a table. 

ordering your drinks, both of you settled into a comfortable conversation, pausing every so often to take in everything around you. 

after your conversation died down, and another round of drinks was finished, you led yunjin to the dance floor, pulling her close to you, sawing to the beat of the song playing. 

a couple of songs passed before the both of you made your way back to the table, ordering your final round of drinks for the night- you did have a semi early schedule tomorrow, after all. 

“did you come here often in college?” asked yunjin with a tilt of her head, picturing a younger version of yourself, (one who didn’t carry the burden of fame yet) having some drinks with your friends. 

“i did, actually; it’s one of my favorite bars in the city,” you answered, memories of your short-lived freshman year coming back. 

“do you think we would’ve met each other regardless?” before yunjin’s question could be answered, the dj started playing an all too familiar song. 

dread made its way down your spine, hands gripping your drink harder as the melody for perfect night started playing in the bar. 

you looked over at yunjin, who was eyeing everyone around her, eyes frantically darting back and forth between you and the space behind you, trying her best to not freak out at the possibility of being singled out by the someone near your table. 

glancing at the security guards in the corner, they too eyed the crowd, ready to make a quick exit if needed. 

thankfully, no one seemed to pay attention to the fact that your song was playing, people making their way to the dance floor as a club remix of your song played. 

deciding to take a chance, yunjin stood up and held her hand out for you to take, leading you to the dance floor once again. 

“and it’s never been closer…”

✮⋆˙

dancing to your song, focusing trying to not break out the full choreo- fuck muscle memory, you thought, as you swayed goofily to the beat of the song, yunjin mimicking your actions. 

once the song changed, so did the mood.

the dj moved away from club remixes, focusing on getting the people on the dance floor as close as possible to each other. 

taking the hint, yunjin pulled you by the waist, swaying your hips with her hands, drawing you closer to her. 

surprised at her shamelessness, you looked over her shoulder just in case someone watched the two of you closely in recognition. 

“y/n, there’s no one watching us except our security from the corner,” she reassured you. 

“i know, i'm just- i don’t want any more rumors,” you replied, trying to shake your anxiety, wanting to focus on the redhead. 

“and there’s going to be none, tell me, don’t we fit right in?” yunjin pulled you closer to her, her lips near your neck, hands on your lower back. 

deciding not to focus on yunjin’s closeness, you looked around and saw how you two blended in the sea of people; from the outside eye, you two looked like an average couple on a night out. 

lost in the music, it seemed as if the world around you faded to nothing, leaving the two of you at the center of its core. 

looking up at yunjin, you noticed how pretty her moles looked up closely, and how beautiful she looked enjoying herself with you, laughing as she danced. 

yunjin stared at you, feeling your gaze on her as you two continued to dance, moving impossibly closer towards each other, noses grazing and her breath fanning your lips. 

yunjin had always thought you were bold, a bold person, and even bolder for an idol. you were never afraid to speak your mind, reject ideas or defending yourself when needed. 

and if yunjin had thought you couldn’t get any bolder- (writing love songs with female pronouns, getting tattoos, defending your members, and sometimes breaking the rules to get what you wanted), you would never be as bold as you were in that moment, leaning in and closing the gap between you two in the middle of the crowded dance floor. 

not giving her mind time to react properly, yunjin wrapped her arms around your neck, pulling your closer as she returned the kiss, letting your bodies say what was unspoken between you two. 

pulling away, you grinned, catching your breath, suddenly breathless as you took in the red ahead in front of you, blushing with an equally stupid grin on her face. 

from behind yunjin, you could see the security guard pretending to not see the scene that just unfolded, watching as he looked away from the two of you for a moment, giving the two of you some privacy. 

“wanna get out of here?” yunjin asked, holding your hand, pulling you closer to her. 

“thought you’d never ask,” came your reply, letting the redhead lead the way out of the dance floor and near the exit, guards closely following the both of you. 

“baby, now i’m ready, now i’m moving on...”

✮⋆˙

after a quick exit from the back of the bar and settled in the backseat of a tinted car, yunjin pulled you closer to her, hands roaming your body, as her lips trailed the side of your neck. 

soft sighs escaped your lips at the feeling of yunjin’s mouth on your neck, not even caring if she left any marks. 

making her way up from your neck and back to your lips, yunjin kissed you, taking the time to savor the feeling of your lips against hers. 

lost in each other for what felt like hours, a sudden knock on the window pulled you away from each other. 

the guard giving you a few minutes to fix your appearances, just in case someone was to be outside of your hotel. 

hair slightly disheveled and messy lipstick stains adorning your neck, yunjin led you back to the room, eager to continue what she started in the car. 

“oh, but maybe i was ready all along…”

✮⋆˙

when the morning came and you two woke up next to each other, clothes scattered and makeup smeared across the sheets, you two grabbed your phones to check that no headlines with your names made the news.

the same couldn’t be said first the group chat, however. 

a flurry of texts lit up your phone screen, mostly from sakura making sure you two were awake and ready in an hour for your schedule, and the rest were from chaewon trying to pry information on your whereabouts from the other members. 

reassuring the rest of the girls you two were wake and getting ready, you put your phone on the nightstand, wanting to see where yunjin’s head was at after last night. 

before you two could have the conversation, it seemed chaewon had other plans. 

yunjin handed you her phone, where chaewon had sent a grainy picture of you two arriving at the bar last night, followed by a series of questions and confused texts. 

opening the chat, you scrolled through the texts, the girls making fun of your appearances.

kkurakkura: yunjin, you told me you wouldn’t get caught. 

kkurakkura: never trusting you again wtf. 

manchae: told you it was a date, unnie 

chaechae: you two are literally missing the point. 

zuzu: it kinda looks like them, but at the same time it doesn’t … 

kkurakkura: wait i kinda see it… 

manchae: if anything, it looks like their doppelgängers lol. 

y/nnie: that’s literally not me in the picture lol 

chaechae: you’re telling me that’s not you and yunjin in the picture? 

y/nnie: nope! 

jenjen: at least there’s no headlines ! 

chaechae: we’re having a serious conversation once we’re in california.  

y/nnie: but that’s literally not me … 

deciding to ignore chaewon’s texts, you turned to yunjin, watching as she agreed with your leader’s wishes to talk once you got to los angeles. 

“guess the cat’s out of the bag, huh…” yunjin bit her lip, staring at you expectantly. 

“jen, the cat’s never been in the bag when it comes to us,” came your reply with a smile, nudging the girl’s shoulder. 

“that’s true…” 

“maybe it's time we let it roam free then," you suggested with a grin, yunjin playfully rolling her eyes, biting her lip in anticipation. 

“it’s gonna take a little bit more than that, though…” yunjin inched closer to you. 

“oh really?” you replied, hands on the back of her neck, pulling her closer.

“best to let it happen, then,” she whispered, closing the gap between you, manicured nails caressing your face. 

a knock on the door interrupted the moment, yunjin pecking your lips one last time for good measure before fully pulling away to get ready for your upcoming schedule. 

 “oh, i'm ready for the moment and the sound…”

[stayinlimbo]

the world is ending (but i'm happy you're here with me)

pairing: lee minho x f!reader genre: established relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort warnings: one (1) swear, mc is mentioned to have longer hair at one point, slightly unedited, lowercase intended word count: 1.07k note: i had a lot of fun writing this, so i hope you enjoy it too ♡

there comes a time in every girl’s life where the overwhelming urge to change her physical appearance eclipses all sensible and rational thought. as it turns out, you’re no exception. 

“you’re going to laugh.”

“no i’m not.” 

“you already are,” you deadpan, frowning at minho’s pitiful attempts to repress the growing smile quirking at his lips. your boyfriend has the audacity to chuckle at your words, pushing himself off the couch and gliding towards your stiff figure standing at the entrance of the living room. 

“you can’t blame me, you look so cute and adorable right now,” he defends. an arm snakes around your shoulders and you relax slightly at his touch, wrapping your arms around his middle. “besides, it can’t be that bad—at least, not enough for you to have to hide from me.” 

minho pulls you further into the warmth of his chest, the tender embrace sending a small shiver down your spine. his lips meet the side of your hooded head in a firm kiss, the extra pressure ensuring you would feel the loving gesture. the usual trail of kisses towards your forehead and cheeks is blocked, currently concealed by your (his) hoodie’s drawstrings working overtime to reveal only a small oval of skin. 

the hood’s bunched fabric frames the top of your eyes and lips. you can barely see in front of you until one of minho’s fingers slips into the opening to try and take a peek at what’s covered inside. 

minho is being nice; you look ridiculous.

and it’s your fault really. you should have known you couldn't escape your misfortunes that easily. 

work for the past month has been hell: the road-closure of the usual route you’d take, tacking on an additional fifteen minutes to your commute. the early mornings you have to endure to clock-in on time. the “important” group project your boss delegated around the office. the unpaid overtime for said project. the same petty, passive-aggressive coworkers breathing down your neck and critiquing your every move because you made a mistake once—all casting insurmountable pressure on your already exhausted state. 

you finally snapped when someone callously stole the lunch minho had prepared for you from the breakroom’s fridge. 

you suppose now it was your brain’s attempt to regain some sort of control over the strenuous situation, but the impulse to cut your hair, try a new style, start fresh with your appearance bombarded every thought on the journey home. call it an impulsive thought, an intrusive thought, whatever—you needed to do something.

too bad the hair stylist couldn’t follow directions for shit. 

“minho, i’m serious,” you whine, burying your face further into his chest. suffocating in the arms of the man you love doesn’t sound like such a bad idea right now. “she ruined my hair. how am i supposed to go out in public like this?”

“i can’t tell you if you haven’t even shown me yet. i’m sure it’s not as bad as you think,” he muses, chuckling at the vibrations tickling his torso from the muffled groan you release. 

minho starts to sway the two of you back and forth at your silence. the rhythmic movement cradles you in a comforting hold, temporarily soothing your spiraling thoughts. he’s right; you’re going to have to show him at some point. might as well just get it over with now. 

a defeated sigh escapes you. well, here goes nothing.

you step out of minho’s arms and pry the hood off to reveal your botched hair in all its glory. 

uneven bangs, a completely different color than from when you left for work this morning, fall into your face and cover the top of your eyes. you can’t see yourself but judging from minho’s small hiss and surprised, contorted face, it’s not pretty. 

and it’s not like you asked for anything outlandish: a standard cut and a new style of bangs was your definition of revamping your appearance. so when the stylist cut off a majority of your hair, it took everything within you to not immediately burst into tears as the salon’s floor and your lap splayed the once lengthy remains. 

you don’t even know where she got the idea of bleaching your hair. now your wallet and soul are emptier than ever and there is nothing you can do except hope minho doesn’t ask you to turn around because the layers are downright atrocious. 

“so? what do you think?” a wobbly smile makes its way onto your face. “not what you were expecting, right?”

you can’t help the tears welling into your eyes at his silence. he’s just…staring. certainly this can’t be the dealbreaker, right?

 …right?

you’re saved from your inner turmoil when minho moves forward to carefully bring you back into his arms. the tears finally spill down your cheeks and onto his shirt, the comforting scent of minho flooding your senses once again. if you could hide here forever, you would. 

“it’ll grow back.” 

“i know.”

“you still look sexy.” he pinches your side, coaxing a watery laugh from you. his smile is infectious, and you can’t help but tearfully look up at him with one of your own. 

you playfully guide one of his hands towards the back of your damaged hair, leaving it there. “so you’re not breaking up with me over this?” you tease, resting your head back against his chest. you don’t notice the subtle shift in your boyfriend’s gaze until he softly calls your name.   

“i would love you even if you were bald,” he confesses quietly, squeezing you tighter to him.

you can’t help but snort into his chest. “yeah?” 

“yeah. i will love you now until it’s long again. i will love you with any hair cut, color, style, anything. even if you hate it or one day regret it, my love for you won’t change,” minho assures, his sincerity echoing in his words.

“so if i dyed my hair pink tomorrow, you’d be okay with it?”

“do what you want, whenever you want.” 

because it doesn’t matter to him what you do with your hair. you’re still you, his beautiful and resilient (and sexy) girlfriend. even as his hands run through the chopped, disproportionate strands on the back of your head, he finds you more and more enchanting with each passing day.

“i will be here for you. always.” 

✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺

(“i still have to go to work.” 

“just wear a hat.”)

────────────────────────────────────────────

liked this work? want to let me know how i did? please like, comment, and/or reblog; they are greatly appreciated my asks are always open ♡

[selkiemoonssss]

Reasons why I delude myself into thinking sans, and papyrus are going to important characters in deltarune * Bonetrousle of all songs was used in the trailer to the game (could be a reference to how it was originally composed to be a games main theme but who cares) * Everytime tobys let us send questions, its always been for papyrus * How odd the skeleton brothers are??? (short cuts, flying, breaking the 4th wall, pranks across time and space) * Sans' lab (Don't forget) * The fact sans is obviously not from around 'ere (The photos in the lab, the dinner in MTT resort, his fight, etc) * Undertale being capitalized and deltarune being lowercased (could be stylistic choice but i choose to believe its important) * The absence of papyrus having any sort of backstory * The obvious connections to gaster (and also the fact that gaster is gonna be much more of a dr character than a ut one) definitely missing stuff so feel free to add onto my list

[zerobaselove]

like a phantom | shen ricky

pairing: ricky x reader

genre: suggestive MINORS DNI

word count: 1111

warnings: no actual smut it just gets suggestive ! lowercase intended, not proofread.

notes: for my fave ricky stan ! also can yall tell i am also a wayv ult LMAO anyways this was a huge war in my mind between ricky and hao but here we are,,, maybe i will write smth similar for hao too idk

being the partner of a world famous idol definitely had it's struggles, but that's not to say it didn't have it's perks too. like how you found yourself sitting backstage to one of the most anticipated concerts of the year, the first stop of the zerobaseone tour.

though the behind the scenes of a big event like this was hectic, you and ricky still managed to find a few moments to spend in each others presence, even if it was just helping him with the finishing details of his outfit. with nine members, the few stylists on hand were thankful for your helping hand, it was one less person they had to worry too much about. not to mention, you enjoyed the few minutes together before he had to go on stage, and ricky swore it made him perform better. did he ever perform badly though? you smiled to yourself, thinking of how proud you were to call him yours.

"y/n" his voice was barely audible over the shuffling clothes around you, "can you tighten this up for me?" he pointed to the garment around his waist, and your eyes nearly popped out of your head. a black satin corset hung loosely on his waist, the strings hanging off the back, waiting for you to tug them tight.

curse your mind and the places it could go, you thought to yourself as your jaw hung slack in front of your boyfriend. you couldn't even begin to process the rest of his outfit or the makeup that complimented his features so perfectly before he was turned around in front of you, awaiting your helping hands.

"you okay?" ricky's voice pulled you from your thoughts, shaking your head slightly before giving a curt reply, bringing your hands to tightly grip the ribbons attached to the corset.

you twisted the ribbon around each of your hands, tugging them in opposite directions. which, to your dismay, pushed a whiny gasp out of the boy's mouth from the sudden movement. you were going to pass out.

"sorry rik," you hummed, gently tightening the strings until the boning perfectly contoured to his waist before tying it all into a pretty bow at the small of his back.

you didn't realize the way you had been staring until ricky cleared his throat, looking up to find him now turned to face you with a smirk on his face. "i would say wish me luck, but it looks like you might need it more than me right now." he chuckled lowly, causing you to swallow the breathe you had been holding, hoping to push down the wandering thoughts with it.

your conversation was cut short by the call to get to the stage, so with a small kiss on your temple, ricky was off to the stage.

as you watched from the sidelines, you realized you didn't actually know what they were about to perform. you racked your brain to think of any zb1 songs that would require an outfit like that, but before you could settle on a song, a familiar tune started playing. phantom by wayv.

suddenly the outfits made sense as you thought back to what you could remember from the music video that you had seen once or twice.

to say the song choice was perfect for ricky would be a severe understatement in your humble opinion. the concept felt right up his alley, and was one you had rarely gotten to see on him. the closest had been over me, and even that seemed to pale in comparison to the performance before your eyes.

the rest of the concert continued on, stealing a few minutes for yourselves between outfit changes and vcr clips. but your mind kept coming back to your boyfriend in that black corset, like a moth drawn to a flame.

you found yourself counting down the minutes until you would have the boy to yourself for more than a few moments, and it was driving you crazy. but soon enough the boys were home at their dorm, and you had joined them for the night to celebrate.

you spent an hour or so with everyone, laughing and joking with all of them together before ricky leaned down until his lips nearly grazed your ear, "come back to bed with me?" he whispered, his hot breath on your skin causing a shiver to run down your spine before quickly nodding.

"i think we are gonna head to bed," ricky smiled innocently, grabbing your hand, "it's getting late." you let out a yawn to only further convince them of his excuse, saying your goodnight's and heading back to ricky's room.

alone at last.

you plopped your body onto your boyfriend's bed, not realizing how much you missed it. despite only being gone for the day. you closed your eyes for a moment, taking in the scent of his cologne that encapsulated the room until you felt the mattress dip beside you.

"so you're just gonna pretend that we both don't know you've been waiting to get your hands on me since phantom?" he chuckled, his hand resting on your thigh as he looked at you expectantly.

"listen," you mumbled, sitting up to look at the boy, taking a moment to notice the slightly faded lipstick adorning his lips and the way the small lamp on his desk perfectly illuminated his skin with a certain warmth that the stage lights could never replicate. "how am i supposed to stay sane when you looked like that," your voice trailed off, a mere whisper now, "or like this." your eyes flickered between his lips and his eyes, trying to commit every detail to memory.

he only smiled as he inched closed to you, leaning back in towards your ear just as he had done a few minutes ago, "well you have me now, what's stopping you?"

any words you had thought of speaking aloud had gotten trapped in your throat, being quickly replaced by your rather obnoxiously loud heartbeat.

"or do you need me to help you now?" he smirked, letting his lips graze your ear, finding the sweet spot on your neck and placing delicate kisses on the sensitive skin as he awaited your response. you could only manage an eager hum, not quite trusting your voice in this position.

his lips ventured from your neck to your collarbone, eventually finding their way back to your own lips before pulling away slightly, his hand lightly pushing on your shoulder until you hit the pillows behind you.

"don't worry baby," he positioned himself above you, caging you between his arms, "i'd be happy to help."

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Literary & Character Tropes

The word trope comes from the Greek word tropos, meaning a turn or change of direction.

Tropes

Figures involving substitutions of predictable words with terms that deliver nuanced meanings serving an argument.

Now used in cultural studies in a much broader sense as a recurring cultural signifier.

Traditionally the four ‘master tropes’ are regarded as being: metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and irony.

Modern Definition: Themes, motifs, plot devices, plot points, and storylines that have become familiar genre conventions.

PURPOSE: All writers manipulate language to create certain effects. At the level of individual phrases and sentences, the skillful use of tropes is key to creating writing that’s fresh, memorable, and persuasive. Poets might spend hours trying to find just the right metaphor (i.e., a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them, as in "drowning in money") to capture a mood or sensation, while marketers might use antanaclasis (i.e., the repetition of a word within a phrase or sentence in which the second occurrence utilizes a different and sometimes contrary meaning from the first; often found in slogans) to create a punchy catchphrase for a new product.

5 Examples of Literary/Character Tropes

1. all lowercase letters - a stylistic choice in which all text is in lowercase letters. it can be thought of as the opposite of writing in all caps when emphasizing a point, in which case it can be used to give a melancholic feel to whatever you're writing. it is not generally thought of as orthographically correct, giving it (if only in the eyes of advertisers) a casual, hip feel, as if to say you can't be bothered to use the shift key. also used in a visual narrative sense to indicate childishness or, in some cases, idiocy. on a darker note, however, this trope also has a tendency to show up in many an apocalyptic log where it usually is used to denote the point where the unfortunate author has gone insane or otherwise given up all hope.

2. Anti-hero - A character who lacks a handful of the traditional attributes of a hero but is ultimately heroic. They may be bewildered, ineffectual, deluded, or merely apathetic. More often an anti-hero is just an amoral misfit. While heroes are typically conventional, anti-heroes, depending on the circumstances, may be preconventional (in a "good" society), postconventional (if the government is "evil") or even unconventional. Tony Soprano, Walter White, Don Draper, and the grittier versions of Batman are all prime examples of modern antiheroes.

3. Byronic Hero - A character notable for being sullen, withdrawn, hard to like and hard to know, but usually possessing a rich inner life and a softer side accessible only to a special few.

4. Chekhov's Gun - Anton Chekhov, master of the short story, gave this advice: If it's not essential, don't include it in the story. The term has come to mean an insignificant object that later turns out to be important.

5. Unreliable Narrator - In most narratives, there's an element of trust that the person telling you the story is telling the truth, at least as far as they know it. This trope occurs when that convention is discarded. The narrator's facts contradict each other. If you ask them to go back a bit and retell it, the events come out a little differently. Example: Franz Kafka. Due to his famous style, he's able to directly contradict himself within the same sentence, AND make it so subtle that a casual or superficial reader will scarcely notice. The Metamorphosis and The Judgment stand out in this respect.

Sources: 1 2 3 4

If these writing notes helped with your poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

More: Literary & Character Tropes

[skuzzinfish]

guys I can’t believe s4 only had one episode? at least it was pretty good, solid 7/10 i’m so glad it ended before it got ruined!

[awrkive]

hey dee!!! what are your personal reader icks?

sorry for the late reply kwbdksj

disclaimer: MY PERSONAL OPINION like dont kill me if u find smth u like that i dont 😭😭

i can only tolerate lowercase fics if i Really Want To Read it otherwise i kind of dont bother checking it out. its prob a stylistic choice on the writers part but idk i just dont really like it when proper punctuations are left out

too much description, almost no dialogue. im personally not a fan of purple prose :') i feel like it works for Very specific fics but other than that, no

kinda same above but bland dialogues... i personally love fun banters or exchanges that feel real

first persons pov.. like. just no.

huge age gaps (maybe like 10 years above is too much for me??) there are exemptions to this ofc but i always cannot overlook the significant mentality difference

too much dirty talking in smut scenes😭😭 honestly its not even a dealbreaker for me its just that it makes me laugh sometimes

"dark" fics. 😐

[badasmuse]

“Partition”

Bada Lee x Reader

Warnings: 18+ (MDNI), oral sex, lowercase intended, bottom!bada, language, mommy kink?

Summary: the tension between you and Bada becomes too much for you to handle.

Based off “Partition” by Beyoncé

y/n has been my stylist for about three years now. whenever i have an event, a performance, or a dinner, i call her hoping she’s available to do my hair, makeup, and help me pick an outfit. today is just the same. i have a performance and i need her there with me.

“what do you want ms. bada?” she says sweetly when she answers the facetime call.

i groan, “i hate when you call me that.”

“i know that’s why i do it. what’s up baby?” i watch her move around a bit in her bed. i hate that i’m interrupting her day off.

no i don’t.

“i have a performance at seven i need my girl with me.” i say giving her my bada lee 1000 watt smile.

“just because you smile all sweet doesn’t mean i’ll give in. but because rent is due in three days i’ll come. i’ll be there around five. go wash your hair you still have glitter in it and i hate glitter.” she says before she hangs up. how rude.

two hours go by and the doorbell rings. i run to the door excitedly.

“y/n!!” i exclaim pulling her in.

“hey easy, i’m clumsy.”

“sounds like a you problem. okay so they’re sending a car to come get us in thirty minutes. i couldn’t get all the glitter out but i tried.” i say holding onto her as she takes her shoes off.

“that’s what you get for cheating on your hairstylist. i should shave your head bald.” she mumbles going to the kitchen and opening the fridge. “ugh how do you live with no food?”

“there’s oreos in the cupboard.”

“i love you.”

i smile and collect my things waiting for the car to pull up. “where’s your bag?” i ask.

“in my trunk. i didn’t feel like getting it out. i figured my bestie boo bada would get it out for me.” she smiles at me and my heart skips a beat.

“of course.” i look at the window and see the car pull up. “the car is here. you ready?”

she grabs a couple oreos and puts them in a napkin in her pocket and nods.

we load everything in the car and climb in the backseat. “i’m charging you extra for making me come out. i was comfortable in bed.”

“i’ll pay you whatever you want.” i say not even looking at her, scrolling on my phone.

“excuse me miss?” the driver says and i look up.

“yes?”

“we hit traffic, it’s going to be at least thirty minutes i’m so sorry.” he says.

“oh it’s not your fault. i’ll just let them know. what time will we make it by?”

“six thirty is what it says.”

“shit that gives me thirty minutes.”

“i’ll do your makeup in here. saves us time.” y/n says. she reaches behind our seats, being in a van it’s real easy to access the trunk, and grabs her makeup bag.

she grabs out the primer and everything else she needs. “okay.. yeah imma have to sit on your lap this ain’t gon work.” she climbs on my legs and hangs her ring light from the ceiling before she grabs me gently. i let it happen, it’s not the first time she’s been in my lap doing my makeup.

“you need to start doing your skincare routine morning and night bada. not just at night.” she mumbled rubbing primer onto my face.

i sit still as she does her job, staring at her as she concentrates and closing my eyes when needed. the light strokes of her fingers on my face sends chills down my spine as it does every single time.

then i feel her move to my lips, i part them slightly and she applies what i assume is liquid lipstick to them. she uses her thumb to clean it up and i hear her breathe in sharply. causing me to look up.

“you have pretty lips..” she mumbles.

there’s always been slight sexual tension between us since the third month of her being my stylist. there’s always tiny touches, or she’ll let her hand linger sometimes after doing my makeup or hair. i’ve seen video edits of me and her together hugged up and you can see how uncomfortably tense we are despite being extremely comfortable with each other.

i look in her eyes and hers flicker from mine to my lips. “fuck..” she whispers before pressing her lips to mine.

i grab her shirt moaning quietly into the kiss, parting my lips so she can move her tongue inside my mouth. her hands go to my hair and she pulls it slightly making me groan. “y/n we… what are we doing?”

“let me take care of you.” she whispers in my ear, “excuse me driver? can you roll up the partition please.”

his eyes flicker in the rear view mirror before he rolls up the partition and turns the music up slightly.

y/n kneels down in front of me and pulls my jogging pants off. i made it easy for her by not wearing anything under them. that was sarcasm by the way.

i suck in a breath as she runs her fingers up and down my folds spreading my juices all over me.

“y/n..” i whine quietly and she looks at me.

“do you trust me bada?” she asks, voice barely above a whisper.

i nod my head before she even finishes her sentence, “more than anything.”

she doesn’t respond, mouth going right to my clit making me moan. she flicks her tongue skillfully and i arch my back off the seats.

she pulls me closer by my thighs, licking from my hole to my clit before she shoves a finger in me. i let out another moan bracing myself against the seat. it’s been so long since i’ve had anyone touch me this way i feel like cumming now.

“y/n..” i say rolling my eyes back as she adds another finger, “fuck i’m so close mommy.” i start to pull away from her, the feeling of her tongue is too good i can’t take it much longer.

“don’t pull away from me.” she rasps slapping my clit which had me jerking in the seat. fuck she’s so rough.

“i’m sorry i’m sorry.” i repeat the two words a couple more times incoherently. “please.. please right there.” i whine as she curls her fingers against my spot. i’m seeing stars.

“cum for me bada.” she whispers flicking her tongue once again and boy i lost it.

i let out a loud whine as i came on her fingers, body shaking, back arching, hands gripping the seat of the car. i fall back and work to catch my breath.

y/n grabs a baby wipe from the trunk and gently cleans me up before helping me pull my pants back up.

i whine quietly and she pulls me to her seat and climbs on my lap before leaning my head on her chest, stroking my hair.

“you did so good for me baby.” she whispers, kissing my forehead. i hide my face in her chest still whining. i’m extremely sensitive and exhausted.

“i’m sleepy..” i mumble.

she looks out the window, “take a quick nap, we’re still stuck in traffic.” she whispers. i lay my head on her shoulder and just as i was about to shift into dream land..

“did you call me mommy?”

uh oh.

[starlightsreigns]

same ol' mistakes | j. uso

summary ⇢ ginger loves her man. her friends... want her to get over her man, but sometimes mistakes need to be made a couple of times. tags ⇢ none. word counts ⇢ 1.6k

author's note ⇢ welcome to part three of the anti one shots! find part one and two here! not really sure how I feel about this one, but here we are. might rewrite in the future. i have a couple ones left! pls ignore the lowercase and errors.. ofc x

"feel like a brand new person (but you make the same ol mistakes)”

“ginger is now a ginger!” nia whistles. 

my hair flows down my back as she touches a piece. i can’t contain a laugh as cathy whistles alongside nia, gawking at the new look i picked up over the weekend. the higher ups agreed it was time for a new look to match my new persona. so, when it was time to sit in my stylists chair, my jet black hair was replaced with something a little more edgy. 

“you guys like it, honest, i wasn’t sure how it’d look with my skin tone.” i shrug, taking a seat beside bianca. 

bianca rolls her eyes, “you kidding? c’mon black women can rock any hair color they want.” 

it was the truth, i guess, so we sit in our group and watch the start of smackdown. in a rare occasion, the bloodline weren’t the ones to start the show. from the corner of my eye, i can see jimmy staring at me. he looks shocked at the hair change, and it takes everything in me not to react at him - not when bianca and nia were right beside me. 

“look who watchin” nia murmurs. 

caught. I feign confusion in her direction, but she can see through me. she’s always been good at calling my bullshit; that’s why she’s my accountability partner in figuring my relationship out with jimmy. 

nia leans in, “don’t do it, ginny.” 

of course, all i can do is nod. yet, it’s hard to ignore him. for two years, we were attached at the hip - correction: for two years we’ve been on-again-off-again boyfriend and girlfriend. my friends were tired of hearing the shitty things and consoling me every time we were off again. i don’t know what it is, but we just can’t seem to figure it out and we can’t seem to let each other go. love is a mysterious and trifling thing. 

“well, i don’t care, im in love” 

the match left my shoulders burning in pain. bianca walks ahead of me out of the guerilla. i’m nearly in stride with her until a hand touches my shoulder. jimmy smiles sweetly - that dumbass, goofy smile that i love so much. 

“you looked good out there with yo’ hair, gin.” he compliments with his sweet voice. 

“thanks jim, i appreciate that.” my voice soft, unsure what to say. 

jimmy opens his mouth to say something else, but bianca clears her throat. she sends me a death glare but gives jimmy a sweet grin. she comes back to take my hand, shooting a comment at jimmy before she pulls me away from him. 

“ginger, don’t piss me off, it’s been two weeks.” 

i sigh heavily, “he was just complimenting the match, B.” 

bianca whips her head towards me, “I don’t care if he was sayin’ a prayer, be serious.” 

how do i explain to my friends that this isn’t what i want anymore - the hovering, the pestering and questioning and disappointment. the disappointed looks when i even mention his name is killing me slowly. this wasn’t what i wanted anymore and when i glance back at jimmy, i knew it. 

“i can just hear them now, how could you let us down?”

happy hour came and went, but i couldn’t move from my seat at the bar for several hours. the uber ride home felt miserable and the text messages from the girls didn’t help the vomit that was threatening to spew from my lips. i barely made it through the door before i could rush to the bathroom. 

“fuck!” the scream came out of my mouth. 

this shouldn’t be my life. why am i scared to talk to the one person i want more than anything else in the world. fuck it. the ringing lasted a second before his voice came through the speaker. 

“ginny?” he was asleep. “you good?” 

my nerves set in for a moment - this was dumb but i couldn’t back out of this now. 

“i don’t want to do this anymore. i don’t want to not talk to you because the girls are telling me not to. i don’t want us to not try and figure it out when i know in my heart that we’re meant to be together and we just need to stop fucking around and make it work.” my words spill out before i can stop them. “i don’t care if it’s the same fucking mistakes, i want to make them until we figure it out.” 

he’s silent for a moment, but i can hear his breath on the other end before he clears his throat. “i love you, ginger, ain’t nobody gone change that or ever make me stop.” 

“not thinking in black and white.. thinking it’s worth the fight”

there’s a nervousness that’s settled in my chest. I wonder if they’ll know the second that they see me every time - will they know that me and jimmy are on again? that nervousness has overtaken every moment when im with them now. It’s been a month and I can’t sit and pretend like this isn’t happening. my mind is just a mess. 

“ginny, you okay, you have this weird smile on your face.” nia pokes my cheek. 

it’s become difficult to focus on anything else, while i was happy to be back with jimmy it’s been stressful to keep such a big secret from the women i trust more than anyone else in the world. 

“nah, im good, just lost in my own world.” i mumble back a quick reply. 

thankfully, the women turn back to their conversation. in the brief moment, i glance over at jimmy whose sitting with his cousin and of course he’s already watching me. he sends me a goofy smile that i can’t help but to smile back at before quickly glancing away. i just want to be near him. 

and as the night ticked on, my restlessness only increased. 

bianca kept an eye on me like i was a child who’d run the second they got their chance. it was suffocating. we sat in one of the makeshift viewing areas backstage, escaping the clutter of the women’s locker room, for a moment. jimmy sat not too far, sneaking glances at me. 

subtlety wasn’t his thing, because bianca threw random comments at me about needing to stay strong. 

“nia, please remind ginny.” bianca sighs when the older woman sits beside me. “she’s sharing looks with him.” her voice drops to a whisper as she leans across to me. 

my hands draw circles on my thigh as nia starts her pointless, and slightly demeaning lecture. 

“you’re better than this ginger…” she starts like a scolding mother. 

the tears sting the brim of my eyelids. i sneak a glance at jimmy who has a scowl on his face. he can see it written on my face. 

“we only want what’s best for you,” bianca chimes in. 

i couldn’t get a word edgewise as they continue. it's like a game of tennis and I'm the net in the middle, being jabbed by either player.

“your happiness is all that matters to us,” nia rests an arm on my shoulder. 

they continue, not sensing how over this whole situation i am, and finally i can’t help but let the tears fall. i’m not quick to wipe the tears, just stuck in my position trying not to go into a full blown anxiety attack in that moment. my eyes finds jimmy as he’s getting up and walking towards us. 

bianca looks up at him, “jimmy, this isn’t-”

“nah, Bianca,” he stops her immediately. “you know i got love for you and nia, but ease up on Ginger. She grown and don’t need y’all talkin’ to her like she a kid. I don’t appreciate you makin’ her cry over something like this.” 

the women stop, they look at me and finally see the result of their words. i can see the regret on their face. bianca wipes some of the tears off my cheek, whispering how sorry she was.

“y’all her friends, I get that, but she should be able to tell y’all anything. But y’all got her feelin’ like she gotta keep secret because you do shit like this. We got back together and we workin’ on us but she can’t do it because she worried about y’all.” 

jimmy grabs my hand, helping me up from between the women. all i can do is stare at him too afraid to look at them or the disapproval on their faces. we walk away as i try to wipe the tears that are streaming down my face. we’re halfway down the hallway before we stop, hearing nia’s voice. 

“ginny,” her and bianca wait until i turn to continue. “i’m sorry, love, we just wanted to protect you but we never want you to feel like you can’t talk to us.”

bianca nods, “we’re sorry gin, you know we’ll support you.” she looks at jimmy. “the both of you. we overstepped and we won’t do that again.” 

i stare at them for a moment before breaking out a grin and pulling them into a hug, “I love you guys,” i laugh before moving away. “I know you want to protect me, but i gotta figure my own shit out and i swear, i love this man and you don't have to hear the bullshit anymore.”

“girl, if you don’t tell us how are we supposed to beat his ass?” nia jokes, smacking jimmy’s arm. “you can talk to us.” 

jimmy takes me hand into his and twirls me into his arm. “so, we can kiss in public again, gin?” 

the girls groan playfully as I roll my eyes with a nod.

should i start a tag list?? would people want to join it? x

[salixianlegume]

Just Me Ranting About My Fic (1/3)

Since I finished up my fic last week, I want to ramble about it. A lot.

General Worldbuilding (here); Characters; Stylistic Choices and Concepts

1. Sticks sort things into “accessories” and “clothes” not by what the garment actually is, but whether or not they’re actually part of the stick’s design/code. So like, Green’s influencer shades are an accessory, but Agent’s sunglasses, which get taken with him to Newgrounds, are clothes.

Sticks can feel when their clothes get damaged, though not acutely. Damaged clothes mend themselves.

2. There’s a vague distinction between “sticks” and “figures”; (“figure” is probably best replaced by “animation,” as I’ve seen done in other fics). All sticks are figures, but not vice-versa, and all figures are sentient animations. Mitsi and the villagers sort of straddle the line between “stick” and generically “figure” due to their more complex designs.

3. Sticks from the Outernet have their own swears! You may have noticed that Agent swears by Newgrounds and Flash, and also uses things like “bug” and “glitch” as pejoratives. Chosen uses a mix of English swears that he picked up from Alan and Outernet swears that he’s learned from living there. The CG are innocent kids, they would never swear, nosiree! (They use English swears and sometimes swear on Alan as a joke.)

Also in language, capital and lowercase letters are similar-but-distinct sounding to sticks!

4. Sticks are “spawned” they/them, and then pick up a gender or lack thereof from those around them. Chosen and the CG all initially picked up “he\him” from Alan (vic and Dark didn’t have enough “downtime” with Alan to pick up on his gender), but after hanging around Alan for so long, the CG have decided, “Actually, screw having Alan’s gender by default” and have chosen a larger variety of pronouns and identities. Dark chose not to take upon a gender as a capital-S-Statement, and victim never really vibed with gendered pronouns.

5. Not all sticks have a childhood, as we have seen in canon, but I have taken a leaf out of IDW Transformers (2019)! Newly spawned adult/independent sticks have a mentor that helps set them up in life and make sure they know the basics of living in the Outernet. In the cities, sticks often have one mentor, but in more rural areas, they tend to do it in a “it takes a village” kinda way. The villagers are Mitsi and victim’s mentors; Agent had a mentor but they weren’t close; Alan would be considered Chosen and the CG’s parent and mentor (any halfway-decent parent is also a mentor), but Chosen would be considered Dark’s mentor, not that either know. Mentorship is mentioned very briefly in Ch. 3, but chosen doesn't pay it any mind.

Chosen, Alan, and the CG don’t really know about this aspect of Outernet life, but rest assured— Chosen would have a huge guilt complex if he realized what he was socially expected to teach Dark!

6. Alan has had at 3 computers in this series (and in canon, from what I can tell)— the laptop seen in AVA 11 that victim was created on, and that Chosen was too (due to the fast creation turnaround). For this AU, this computer's screen was opaque. Next is the desktop that Chosen and Dark wreck in AVA 3; this screen was more transparent. The computer that Alan has now has the clearest screen yet (generally, the newer the computer, the clearer it is for the sticks). Yes this means that Chosen showed up in AVA 5 and was like "Oh god, Alan's even uglier than I remember."

(This serves, in a meta manner, to explain why victim is searching for a cursor in AVA S3, rather than Alan himself— they don't actually know what Alan looks like.)