#this letter absolutely possessed my brain

[holybibly]

Unholy thoughts of the day: Mafia king Seonghwa fucks you with his leather covered fingers and eats your pussy in his luxury limo.

"You're already so wet for me, my precious little pet." Seonghwa purrs, plunging two long fingers deep into your pretty little cunt, stretching your tender, quivering walls roughly and insistently. Your hips unconsciously arch to meet his touch, and a loud, shuddering moan escapes your throat as Hwa bends his fingers inside you, pressing the rough, cool pads of his fingers right against your sweet spot. 

He begins to lazily caress the sensitive nerve cluster with light, jerky strokes, and that sensation is so strong that your brain loses touch with reality for a moment. You struggle to breathe, shaking from the intensity of the experience, and wriggle on your seat, your long, sharp fingernails desperately scratching the expensive leather upholstery of the limousine in a futile attempt to ground yourself as he continues his sweet torture, relentlessly stimulating your G-spot with his leather-gloved fingers. 

It seems like an eternity before Seonghwa's caresses slow down and he begins to painfully, slowly pull his fingers out of you, all soaked in the sticky, sweet slime. He brings them closer to his gorgeous face, watching as your excitement drips down the luxurious black Iberian leather of his glove. Hwa lets out a dark, velvety chuckle, and the deep, sexy sound of it sends shivers of excitement up and down your body. With your eyes heavy with lust, you watch as his sensual, plump lips open and he sticks out his tongue to lick your slime from his fingers. The long, skilful appendage glides so obscenely over the soft, black leather that your pussy is clenching on nothing with desire to be filled. 

God, sometimes it scares you to see how much power Seonghwa has over you, and how just one look from him is enough to turn you into a whimpering, drooling mess. But can you talk about that now, when you had the full knowledge of what you were up against when you seduced the king of Seoul's underworld himself? 

"Your cunt is so sweet, and it's all mine, isn't it, pretty one?" Your excitement grows with every word he says. Seonghwa's deep, husky voice sounds like pure porn in the semi-darkness of the luxury limo, and you want nothing more than to dissolve into him and let him do whatever he wants to you. 

"Yes, it is all yours." You nod mindlessly in agreement, giving absolutely no thought to what he's telling you. The only thing occupying your clouded mind right now is the burning excitement between your legs.

The grin he gives you is truly devilish, but you don't have time to worry about that as Seonghwa leans down to your pussy and languidly runs his long, deft tongue over your cunt, from the tiny, slime-bleeding hole to your swollen clit. Your hips jerk forward, and Seonghwa's face literally burrows into your sweet cunt, the sharp tip of his nose touching your throbbing bud, sending shivers down your spine and more slime pouring out of your hole. But Hwa doesn't seem to mind burying his godlike face completely in your lovely cunt as he presses his nose harder into your clit and pushes his tongue between your plump labia. 

"Your cunt is intoxicating, doll; I don't think I could ever get enough of you." Seonghwa growls, his plump, soft lips touching your pussy with every letter uttered, his hot breath pooling around the sensitive folds, stimulating you even more. "Warm, sweet, and sticky cunt of my little sugar slut." He gives your pussy another long lick that makes your legs shake before he starts to eat you for real, the way he always does—greedy, rough, and possessive. 

Seonghwa digs his fingers painfully into your juicy thighs, lewdly French kissing your pussy again and again, rubbing and licking your folds. His tongue moves in a deep kiss, reckless and slutty, lightly pressing against your tender hole and pushing in, just giving you a little hint of how well he can fuck your needy cunt with his tongue. When Seonghwa's gorgeous lips encircle your throbbing clit and he starts sucking hard on that supersensitive nerve lump, you have to bite your knuckles to keep a loud scream from escaping your throat. 

One of Seonghwa's hands flies up, and he grabs your wrist roughly, pulling your hand away from your mouth. He growls in irritation and doubles his efforts, thrusting two long fingers into you again. The gloves have made his fingers less elegant and thicker, and they are filling your tight cunt so that you can barely breathe. Your breathing has become short and intermittent, soft, sobbing moans coming out of you in quick bursts. Your fingers tangle in his hair, digging your nails into his scalp and pulling roughly at the long black strands, trying to release the energy building up inside you.

"Baby...' Hwa purrs. "I know you're close. I can feel it, beautiful, the way you're clenching your needy cunt around my fingers."

Seonghwa looks no better than you, strands of his hair dishevelled and falling over his godlike face, his siren eyes beguiling and seductive, magnetic and as heavy as your own. He looks fucked, so unlike the ice prince you met once upon a time. Seonghwa's grip remains unyielding, holding you in place as his fingers move mercilessly inside you, as if to gain a foothold in the very core of your being.

'Come on, baby, cum for me.' He says, his voice steely before dropping to an airy, seductive whisper. "I want to see you collapse."

Something inside you explodes at the velvety, dark tone of his voice; the dam bursts, and you fall, coming apart at the seams, writhing in searing pleasure. Hwa moans loudly, the sound coming from deep inside his chest. He releases your clit and sucks on your quivering hole instead, drinking every last drop of your juices and prolonging your orgasm. You feel intoxicated and make a deep, desperate sound as he pushes his tongue into your hole again.

As your orgasm fades, you feel Seonghwa chuckle into your pussy before he pulls away from you. Lifting his head, he gives you the most magnificent siren's gaze, full of the most vicious and lecherous intentions, as he brings his hand to his mouth. Hwa bites down on the glove with his teeth and slowly starts to pull it off his hand. He does the same with the second glove, and when the expensive accessory lands on the floor of the limousine, Seonghwa licks his thumb and gives you a dirty grin. 

"Are you ready for another orgasm, my sweet?"

[burningcheese-merchant]

I know that it is highly unlikely that it is the case, but come and give it a thougjt with me (Yandere Spice with a twist).

What if: Burning Spice, despite being completely obsessive and being the sadomasochist he is, routinely cuts off the heads of animals and cookies and brings them to her the first time with a love letter (he used to be the Herald of Change, so I'd imagine he's got- and retained- some brains, enough to at least write a psychotic obsessive love letter).

Now, Golden Cheese is obviously gonna freak the f out and gape as he shoves the head into her arms (probably throw it into the air and back up in panic) while Burning Spice- though displeased at first, just grins manically at her reaction soon enough (maybe even laughing), before he grabs it and shoves the letter and head onto her hands again and leaving.

Golden Cheese, having noticed his reaction to her throwing it, becomes concerned with what he might do if she doesn't accept the 'gifts', decides to keep it (She flies hella fast and enters through her window and hides it in a secret compartment in her room, before creating a hidden room the other gifts in the future).

Now, here's the twist:

Despite the shock and horror she displayed to Burning Spice's gift, she knew that deep down... She fucking loved it. She silently revels in it, even. At having so much of the Beast- A cookiebeing you could practically almost consider primordial and all-powerful-'s attention and taking up so much of their headspace. To be obsessed over adored by someone like that, so much so that they would go out of their way to behead someone and something and write a love letter daily, just to give it to her as a gift-

In short, she absolutely loves the attention she will never say it and will keep that to her grave and Burning Spice and everyone else is none the wiser of it. Of how she'd kept every letter and laminated every single one with the care and cautiousness and love one would use when holding thin glass, of how she intentionally goes out alone every day for a few minutes just so Burning Spice would 'see an opening' and give his gift, where Golden Cheese would then act terribly disgusted and horrified, and then keep the gifts. Ignorant of how she has a room full of the 'gifts' he's given her- which she'd taken the time to personally taxiderm each and every one, before hanging it on the wall like a reward or trophy. Of how she'd come to the room every night to just adore it just the sight makes her want to coo and purr in delight for a few minutes to an hour, before going to bed and resting.

Sorry for the rambling and the long paragraphs 😅😅

This is such a horrifying (in a good way) concept that I MUST acknowledge it and give my take!!! Gonna put it under a cut because this is particularly dark

Yandere Spice basically acting like a cat is so fucking funny to me lol I love it

I'm so glad you think Spice is a smart guy due to having been the Herald of Change/History, because I think that too! He simply HAS to be intelligent, even wise to a degree. It would be ridiculous if he wasn't; being buff doesn't automatically mean you're dumb. And I LOVE the letter thing, I've always headcanoned Spice (the "normal" one, not the yandere one) as writing Golden romantic poetry (and her liking it lol. It helps win her over).

Now, with the murder gifts: of course Golden is horrified. Not only has Spice ended innocent lives, but he did it for her. In a way, it's her fault, and she feels horrible. Animal, person/cookie, doesn't matter, Spice has killed again and he gives the fruits of his sinful labor to her as a declaration of "love". It's sick. No matter how deranged she finds him, he finds a way to sink lower. (But... one thing: he never hurts birds. He has never once brought her a dead bird, because even he knows that's a step too far and she REALLY won't like it. It's the one little drop of care and tact that he possesses.)

But that twist: somewhere beneath all those layers of shock, disgust and righteous anger is... flattery. Sick, twisted flattery. There's nothing Golden loves more than being praised, than being worshiped, than being showered with attention and gifts... and Spice is doing that. He's feeding her ego, albeit in the worst way possible. And so great and terrible is her ego, no matter what she does to temper or suppress it, that somewhere deep down inside, she enjoys what he's doing. That he'll gladly kill for her. That he'll show off his hard work in search of her praise and admiration. She is a goddess and he knows it. He is giving her the adulation she rightfully deserves.

Now, of course, this contradicts her normally altruistic nature, and she has a massive crisis of conscience. She keeps everything Spice gives her, she keeps the heads and the letters and stores them all properly, because... Well, she tells herself that it's better this way. If she refused them, he would retaliate, if not against her then against another innocent. If she preserves the heads, she can later discover who they belonged to and hopefully return them to the person's family (and it was the least she could do; clean them up, give them back even a fraction of their grace and dignity...). If she reads the letters, she'll have better insight into his mind and how he thinks, and thus be able to formulate a better response to him and his behaviors. These excuses are what she mutters under her breath over and over as she sneaks the heads into her room, through the window so no one sees her. As she tidies and laminates the letters, and stores them in a secure folder that she tucks into a box under the bed (which eventually becomes boxes, the more and more letters she gets). As she expertly taxidermies the heads and places them on nice shelves in a hidden closet in her room. It's better this way. She has to do this.

...and these are all true, they really are. But at the same time... Existing alongside this pain and terror and crushing guilt, is the sick joy in knowing that she has someone wrapped around her finger this completely. And a Beast, too. The Beast of Destruction, no less. Burning Spice himself, heads over heels in love with her, willing to do anything to have her. It shouldn't please her to have a monster practically at her beck and call, but... it does. It really, truly does. And no matter how much she hates herself for it... It's never enough to make it stop.

Sometimes, she'll hint at a specific person she doesn't like - usually a known enemy of her kingdom - just to see if he'll do what she thinks he will. Sure enough, the next time they meet, he has that person's head ready for her, all but puffing his chest out in pride and grinning that hideous, face-splitting, cruel grin of his. She acts upset, but she's actually pleased to know that she was right: he WILL do what she tells him to, just to please her.

Sometimes she'll stand there admiring her ever-expanding taxidermy collection, congratulating herself on her hard work; she does a better and better job every time. (And when the guilt comes bubbling to the surface, asking her why they're still here and not with their loved ones so they can have a proper funeral, she tells it that Spice will lose it if he catches her giving them away. Or she'll be made out to be the one responsible, since she's the one who has them. Or they're dead, their souls have departed to the afterlife, what happens to their mortal vessels matters not anymore...)

Sometimes, when she's in bed at night, she'll pull out the letters and read them. Sometimes she'll read one, sometimes a few, sometimes all of them. Some are surprisingly sweet and romantic, full of oddly gentle and doting words; she can feel the warmth and affection soaked into the page. Others are downright vulgar; she feels her own face catch fire as she reads through what are obviously his fantasies, the list of ways in which he wants to pleasure her so long and graphic that she suspects he wrote them one-handed, if you know what I mean. The rest are just flat-out deranged: feverish rants about his ownership of her, how he hated and wanted to get rid of those around her, how she took everything from him (his power, his sanity, his heart, his soul) and he was willing to pardon it if she gave him everything of hers in turn. How he will never stop hunting her. How he will slaughter thousands to get to her. How he will bring the world to ruins just to have her to himself. Madness. All-consuming delusion that she fears is incurable.

But the worst part is... she doesn't know if she wants it to be anymore.

All she can do now is... hope he never finds out. Hope he never knows she feels this way. That she relishes his kills, his gifts. That she has a godforsaken trophy room now. That now she's as starved for his attention as he is for hers. (And he will. The idea is simply too tantalizing. He WILL find out eventually, someway, somehow - and when he does... Oh boy.)

TL;DR: Golden is so greedy that her greed has warped her into being as bad as Spice, at least in her own way. They probably deserve each other at this point. Pure, incorrigible arrogance and psychopathy all the way down. God/Witches have mercy on us all

[merakiui]

i’ve yet to see anyone talk about how much looking glass riddle really loved lady rosehearts. he protected them from moroz for YEARS all for nothing. and our poor baby never even got to send or read any of the letters that were sent back and forth. he dedicated his life to the lady of the house and not a single thank you came his way.

brb gonna go put on my mourning dress

Yes!!! He loved his lady so very much and he gave everything for you: his estate, his possessions, even his life. ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡ ohhh, he’s so tragic… I think his feelings are deeply authentic if he was willing to argue with his mother on multiple occasions just to be able to marry you (and he did and he succeeded because Riddle is nothing if not stubborn)!!! Arranged marriage or not, he was absolutely besotted with you.

Thanklessly protecting you for all that time, even more fiercely as he grew sickly….. AAAAA MY HEART!!!! And all of his lady’s qualities that he admired and fell in love with are displayed in the story. Your determination, your strength, your intelligence and wit, your bravery. He loved you for everything that you are, but most of all he loved your brain. <3 Riddle knew well before his death that if anyone was going to be able to take on Moros it would be his lady. He always believed in this. Even Moros recognized that Riddle’s love for you is sincere.

There’s so much tragedy that shrouds poor Riddle in this story, but then there’s also so much love. >w< if not for that rotten Moros, perhaps he could’ve had a true happily ever after with you. :<

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

I'm on a roll with AU these days, so. Cowboy AU ! Outlaw Dewdrop x Sheriff Swiss...with a twist.

It's been a long fucking day. Very fucking long. Swiss' back aches as he leans back into his seat, blinking when the lines of barely legible handwritting still swim in front of his eyes, even now that he's looked up from all the paperwork.

Yawning, he looks around his office, lazily blinking. A light breeze brushes his face, making him frown and glance at the half opened window. Hadn't he closed it ? Swiss tries to recall, hours blending together in his memory. Maybe he didn't, maybe he forgot.

Once he's locked it, Swiss snatches his hat, delibarating between popping to the saloon or just staying home.

"Be the sheriff, they said, it'll be fun, they said," he grumbles, making his way downstairs, "they just forgot to mention the fucking paperwork."

It's all fake complaints, though. No matter how much paperwork makes him want to hang himself sometimes, Swiss loves this town, loves taking care of it, protecting it, acting for the people that make it such a bright and homely place.

Plus, he rocks the hat he was gifted when he became sheriff. That thing is probably his most prized possession.

Once in the kitchen, Swiss makes a beeline for the nearest bottle, in dire need of a little something to clear the fog in his brain from answering letters, approving or denying demands and signing what needed to be signed for hours.

The bottle leaves the shelf too easily, snatched with too much strenght for its weight. Swiss frowns, looking down at the bottle. It's three quarters empty, which doesn't sit right with him. He's sure, absolutely certain he left it more full than this.

All at once, Swiss becomes keenly aware of his surroundings, his senses sharpening in an instant. Noticing things he hasn't prior.

The rim of the bottle is still wet, a stray drop clinging to the neck, not having had time to reach the bottom. A glass is missing on the shelf. The memory of the window he thought he had closed flashes back in Swiss' mind.

His hand flies to his holster just as the distinct sound of someone cocking their gun breaks the silent, followed by a voice.

"Touch that gun and i'll have to scrub your brains off the floor," it says.

Swiss freezes, slowly raising his hands on either sides of his head. He hears steps, then a hand relieves him of both the guns he carries, as well as the knife hidden in his boot - quite the predictable place to keep it, Swiss will admit.

"Turn around," the voice orders then.

Swiss does, half smiling.

"Very rude way of starting a conversation, don't you think ?"

"Who says I want to talk ?"

Swiss groans as he takes in the man facing him. Long hair, mismatched eyes, sharp features, a scar tugging the right corner of his mouth up in a perpetual smirk ; a familiar face, one plastered on every available wall of every town.

Dewdrop, wanted for a baffling amount of crimes Swiss can't be bothered to remember, dead or alive. Reward : Swiss can't remember that either, with how often it changes.

The outlaw amongst the outlaws.

Swiss raises an eyebrow.

"Well, you see, people love chatting with me, so I just assumed you were as dying to hear my voice as the others."

Dewdrop scoffs, though he's smiling, a thin, sharp thing that reminds him of a blade. The fucker is holding a glass of Swiss' liquor in the hand not gripping the gun.

"Sorry to disapoint, sheriff, but if i had the time to sew your mouth shut, I would."

Swiss tilts his head.

"Rude. Almost as much as drinking my stash away."

Dewdrop downs his glass, maintaining eye contact the whole time, carelessly setting it on the nerby table with a satisfied smack of lips.

"You have enough liquor to drown in it, I'm sure my share won't be missed."

Swiss almost doesn't catch the quick way Dewdrop's eyes rake over him, up and down and up again, pausing momentarily at the silver of belly exposed by his raised arms. Almost.

"What I do miss are my guns," Swiss huffs, eyeing where they've been unceremoniously shoved under Dewdrop's belt. The outlaw takes one out, examinating it with an approving hum : they're very nice guns, well-cared for. Then he puts it back, still at his own belt.

"You'll miss a lot more once i'm done."

Swiss' eyebrows climb up his forehead ; there is a vague innuendo to be made, he thinks, but between the tiredness still weighting on his shoulders and the way his eyes keep stubbornly falling on Dewdrop's lips, he can't find a way to phrase it. Instead, he props his hip against the end of the table opposite to the one Dewdrop stands at.

"So you, a famous outlaw, master of escapism, came to this...tiny town and decided to ransack the sheriff's house ? You won't find nearly as much as you're used to."

The look Dewdrop gives him then, feels like being flayed open, exposed raw to prying, piercing eyes. It takes all of Swiss' carefully crafted self-control not to flinch away from it. When Dewdrop takes a step toward him, he can't help but tense, smile less easy, more strained.

"Oh but you see, sheriff, i pride myself in being nosy. Some might say it's a flaw, I say it's a very useful thing. I have keen ears, you see. I hear a lot, and I love rumors."

The barel of Dewdrop's gun presses against Swiss' chest. The outlaw is fully grinning now.

"And, you see, people say the Multi-Faced Thief - you know the Multi-Faced Thief, don't you sheriff ?- didn't die in that trainwreck years ago. Some say he's still alive, mascarading as a simple civilian, maybe even a figure of authority, hoarding the goods he stole, or aquired thanks to his thievery. "

Swiss swallows, his smile widening. Dewdrop is clever, ruthless, ambitious. He can't help liking it. There's no point in bullshitting him, but Swiss decides he can't give in without fucking with him a bit.

"And why are you telling me that ?"

All the air leaves the room when Dewdrop leans forward, so close his nose almost brushes Swiss'. It's crooked, Swiss notices, the bridge a bit wonky, probably broken once or twice. His fingers twitch above his head with the sudden and irrational need to touch it.

Swiss can barely breath, waiting, Dewdrop's eyes flickering over his face, searching. Pausing on his plush lips for half a second too long.

"I think you know why. You've gone soft, Multi. It was easy sneaking in. Disarming you."

A chuckle escapes Swiss as he drops the act, entertained by this guy's audacity. His confidence. Instead of shying away from the gun, he weights against it, sure to leave a dent in his skin. His eyes darken in the dim light ; oxygen can barely find both their lungs in what tiny sliver of space there's left between their faces.

"I'll admit, I dropped my guard. Didn't expect a pretty thing like you to stumble into my house. Try to steal from me. If we'd met a few years ago, I would either have put a bullet between your eyes or taken you for a ride."

Up close, Swiss is at the front row to see Dewdrop's pupils expand, his chest rising and falling quickly. Despite that, he doesn't lose sight of his objective, something Swiss admires quietly as he's shoved a few inches back by the push of the gun.

"Yeah, well. Here you are today, distracted and gunless."

Swiss nochalently raises his, mirroring Dewdrop's position, barrel against his narrow ribcage.

"You were saying ? Looks like I'm not the only one who's losing focus, mmh ?"

He watches in amusement Dewdrop's cheeks clolouring with both anger and embarrassement, his mismatched eyes flicking down to his belt, where only one of Swiss' guns is left.

"So, we're in a bit of a dead end, but i'll make you a deal, yeah ? You leave, and you leave fast, without doing this town any damages. In exchange, i'll let you have this," Swiss drawls, slipping a hand under his collar to tug on a richly ornemented pendant, one that always stays concealed under layers.

Dewdrop's jaw falls open at the sight of the Multi-Faced Thief's most famous prize, the hold-up of the century. Swiss waits for his answer, grinning, watching rubies reflecting in wide eyes.

"Why...would you offer that ?" Dewdrop manages to choke out, stunned.

Swiss laughs lightly, slipping the jewlery off his neck and onto Dewdrop's, still not letting go of it, precious metal digging in his palm.

"I'm tired of carrying this old thing around, and i'm already plenty rich. Do we have a deal ?"

Greed is always a bad influence, Swiss would know. It's currently shining in Dewdrop's eyes, surely thrumming in his veins. But he's not stupid, either.

"Right. And the real reason....?"

Huffing, Swiss yanks on the pendant, grinning from ear to ear.

"The real reason, is that i'll have a good excuse to hunt you down. I'll get this back. I'll catch you. I've missed the thrill of the chase."

It's not much of deal, more like a threat, or maybe a promise, but it's clear by the look on Dewdrop's face that he's game. Incapable of resisting the challenge.

"If you think you're up to it, it'll be my pleasure to prove you wrong, sheriff. It's a deal."

Swiss let go. They're still holding each other at gunpoint.

"My weapons, or you're not walking through the door," he warns.

"Windows would do," Dewdrop snarks back, though he does toss Swiss' second gun and knife on the table. His eyes flick up to Swiss' hat, hand twitching.

"Unless you intend to take me up on the ridding offer, I suggest you don't take that. You know the rule," Swiss smirks, earning an eye roll.

"Not tonight," Dewdrop breathes, slowly backing up toward the window, still aiming at Swiss' chest.

He's halfway through it when Swiss calls back.

"I'll see you soon, Dew."

The outlaw throws him a daring look, scarred cheek pulling with how wide he smiles, and it's the last thing Swiss sees before he jumps off.

Alone in his kitchen, Swiss laughs.

This will be fun.

[rachalixie]

a/n: happy birthday to my beautiful jade @tasteleeknow my heart my soul my shared brain cell i love you dearly i hope you have the absolute best day <3

you wake up to the sun for the first time in a while, no alarm there to jolt you from whatever rest your body catches onto for the night. your senses come to you one by one, the warmth of the sunlight peeking through the blinds, the softness of your duvet, the sound of pans and pattering feet eching softly from outside, creating a disjointed melody you would never get tired of hearing. it’s a song you’re used to in the mornings, but somehow it feels more special, more personal, today.

you take your time stretching yourself awake, brushing your teeth, taming your wild bed-mussed hair into something presentable before exiting your room. you’re immediately attacked with a wall of delicious scent, and you find yourself gaping before you even take a glance at the magnificent (and somewhat unnecessary, given that there’s only two of you) spread of food he’s presented on the table. and him, wearing a pair of joggers and a sweatshirt whose sleeves are too long for his arms and he has to keep pushing them back to have his hands free.

his eyes find yours almost immediately as he turns around, leaving behind the plate he was adjusting for the fifth time, like he can sense your presence in the room even though you’ve made no sound. there’s tiny galaxies swimming in his irises as he takes you in, the fondness clear as day through his wide smile.

“happy birthday, mine,” he croons, bouncing over to wrap strong arms around your entire body, trapping your arms against you as he practically lifts you up in his death squeeze. you blame that on the way your breath is taken away, but you know deep down that getting to see him in the morning does it to you every day, whether it’s waking up to him sleeping next to you or seeing him drowsy and squinty eyed as he makes coffee for both of you.

and the name he calls you, mine. a blatant display of his possessiveness for you, proof that he feels just as strongly for you as you do him, four letters that never fail to make your heart sing.

“you didn’t have to do all this for me,” you mumble when he lets you go, flattered and a bit embarrassed but so, so happy. there’s tall stacks of pancakes dotted with berries, fluffy eggs and crispy bacon, seared tomatoes and cut up fruit and steaming mugs with beautiful latte art decorated with care. it’s too much, just enough, all at once and your heart squeezes again in your chest.

“you didn’t have to do all this for me,” you mumble when he lets you go, flattered and a bit embarrassed but so, so happy. there’s tall stacks of pancakes dotted with berries, fluffy eggs and crispy bacon, seared tomatoes and cut up fruit and steaming mugs with beautiful latte art decorated with care. it’s too much, just enough, all at once and your heart squeezes again in your chest.

“of course i did,” he says, voice strong and adamant with a twist of shyness. “it’s for you. even this is not enough.”

and that’s it, isn’t it? his gentle love language, the way he pours his love into the things he does for you, in the ways he can’t explain with his words because he doesn’t know how. the way he presents you with things and massages and hugs, almost expecting rejection and lighting up when you do anything but that. hiding his pleased expression with sarcastic quips that you can see right through. you want to tell him that he could have presented you with a soggy piece of bread and you would still feel this way, special and important and loved.

you raise your hands to cup his cheeks instead, your language for him, and caress his cheekbones with your thumbs. his big eyes shine at you as if he’s looking at the sun, straight on and unblinking like he knows he might go blind but he doesn’t care one bit. he turns his head in your hands to press a kiss to one palm reverently, then the other, the only gift you want or need from him given so early in the day (although, you’ve seen the wrapped box he poorly hid in your shared closet days ago and chose to ignore it for his sake).

he leads you to the table, helping you sit before taking the seat next to you and serving you a heaping plate. you reach for your fork, but he stops you, taking his own and holding a bite out for you instead. you raise a brow at him as if to say really? but he just holds your gaze and tips the fork closer to your mouth. you let him feed you with a roll of the eyes and hold back a moan of appreciation when the pancake almost melts in your mouth, the tang of a blueberry complimenting the syrup he generously drizzled on top.

he’s smiling at you knowingly and you know you’re blushing, but you ignore him in favor of opening your mouth up for another bite, letting him take care of you.

it is your birthday, after all.

—

soft hours

[gobvo]

A Little Brain-rotting Theory on The King of Puppet's design...

A couple of nights ago I had a realization, something about the KOP's second phase body always looked off to me and I couldn't identify what. It's not his entire body but his pelvic area in particular. For a while i didn't give it too much thought, kept on drawing him mostly as human anyways so I wasn't observing his model as well as i should have.

Then one evening as I was scouring the web for refs for a piece unrelated to Lop it finally clicked. Now bear with me! This is going to get weird but trust me it'll perhaps make sense to you too. To be clear I am not saying that my mad theory is canon subtext nor is intentional or has any legitimacy. This could very much be a case of the devs taking aesthetic inspiration and nothing more. What I'm trying to get at is that there's probably no meaning/symbolism behind it at all.

Okay so, why does the KOP's crotch area interests me so much? That part of his body always remind me of something I'd seen but couldn't remember what. Now I do...

Romeo’s whole pelvis area bears quite the resemblance with Chastity belts.

I know, I know, I know! Absolute brain rot but hear me out! I already brought this up on Discord and had a wonderful back and forth with two lovely people who get the logic behind this theory. They both brought up some very interesting ideas and facts that had slipped my mind and made this headcannon even juicier. So let’s just entertain the idea that this design choice is intentional for a few seconds. Just a few seconds….

For starters we need to focus on who designed this, that bitter bastard Geppetto. We all know Geppetto planned most if not the entire chaos that happened in Krat. The confrontation between P and Romeo as well, note that out of all the bosses outside of the Nameless Puppet and arguably Murphy(but he’s there before we go into the boss battle so..). Geppepe only shows up personally to greet P after baby boi kills Romeo. It’s the only time he does so. Almost like he was both scared that something would go wrong and also in trepidation of what was to come. There’s a palpable glee in his voice post KoP fight.

In the dialogue Geppetto even acknowledges he shouldn’t be there, it’s risky.

First of all, what was his lard ass going to do to help P win this fight?! Bind P with his shiny puppet strings and force him to finish what he'd started? A question for another day...

The point being that this fight could potentially make or break all the hard work Gep put into his scheme. So he HAD to be there, to keep an eye on everything. On his “precious” son lest he step out of line and join the KOP or worse…

I'm also bringing this dialogue up because Gep said a line one of the people i was discussing with reminded me of and that i always found absolutely bizarre.

WTF is that supposed to mean?!! What do you mean Geppetto?! Why are we talking about Romeo's inability to reproduce?!!

The answer is simple. It's cause Geppepe is taking pleasure in all of this. In my mind this implies Gep probably hated Romeo. For a couple of reasons that are in the realm of hc but make sense if you think about it.

Romeo was up until Carlo's death, the closest male figure he constantly had around him. Living together in a boarding school would only help to strengthen their bond. Carlo would certainly seek him out first for comfort or advice before ever considering going talk to his old man.

Gep is a controlling father and possibly very possessive. With his neglect only widening the distance between him and Carlo. I could totally imagine a preteen/teenage Carlo ditching his dad to go hang out, write letters or talk on the phone for hours with his friend instead of spending "quality" time staring at the whites of Geppepe's eyes (or his back) during holidays. This defiant nonchalance could only anger Geppepe further.

Geppetto doesn't strike me as the type of person who's capable of introspection. He'd notice "terrifying" changes in his son's attitude and instead of questioning his life choices, he'd probably blame that street kid Carlo can't keep out of his mouth nor out of earshot.

We all know the reputation boarding schools had back in the 1800s, specially same sex boarding schools. So I'm going to point you to this banger of a post https://www.tumblr.com/ideas-on-paper/754559262628462592/on-carlo-and-romeos-relationship-homosexuality?source=share by @ideas-on-paper. They go a lot more in dept than i ever could. The summary is young boys and girls in same sex boarding schools got their freak on.

We see Gep's neglect truly peak in Carlo's early childhood, we don't know what went on in his late teens nor his early adulthood. This of course requires you to share a common hc that both Carlo and Romeo died around the ages of 16-19 at most. Perhaps during those later years Gep began to pay close attention to Carlo and his entourage. Worse yet. maybe he even began to intrude in his son's intimacy.

Putting those ideas together paints a very vivid picture of this trio's potential dynamics. Gep ignores Carlo, Carlo begins to resent Gep, Romeo and Carlo grow closer as they live and age together then Carlo ignores in turn his dad in favor of enjoying the company of the only male figure in his life that truly loved him and showcased it. Thus, hatred for Romeo takes root deep within that old bastard.

What does that have anything to do with Romeo's crotch being built to resemble a chastity belt you might ask. Well imma have to give you some historical context through screenshots of the most relevant bits of the articles on this obscure subject. I'll post their links at the end of the post(It's surprisingly hard to find more info on this subject and I'm not an essayist okay!!), in case anyone wants to read them.

For starters most articles corroborate the same story. The chastity belt legend meant to keep women from cheating on their husbands is a myth. An urban legend that gained fame during the 18th and 19th centuries. Before this period, they were mostly referred in satirical texts and works such as…

Most historians agree that the chastity belt myth became widespread due to 18th/19th centuries forgeries and the general modern populace (This includes Victorians, Belle Epoque era folks and us) unwillingness to believe our ancestors had a sense of humor. Apparently Victorians were fascinated with this type of nonsense and believing them to be true, gave them a weird sense of “superiority”.

So we now know that those belts were probably machinations from Victorian con men or tricksters. This brings us back to Krat and its Victorian/Belle Epoque ways.

Bet your ass, Krat had fuckery just like these irl examples. Crowds of rich folks ready to pay hefty prices to ogle at shocking spectacles and the likes. But we're going off the rails here...

Coming back to our main triangle here, I think the design of Romeo's pelvic region is no coincidence. Me thinks Geppetto is taking the piss out of Romeo. On top of turning his childhood best friend reincarnation/successor/physical clone or whatever you wanna call P, against Romeo. Gep had to add insult to injury, he felt a need to rub salt on an open wound.

Why? My first hypothesis is that Gep believed Romeo and Carlo were an item. And whether his disapproval for this relationship was motivated by homophobia or sick possessiveness is something i'm gonna let you mull over. Is there any evidence to support his suspicions? Once again I'll let you decide. Both versions of the story are equally as juicy to me. Gep growing jealous because he starts to notice healing hickeys on his son's throat despite a lack of girlfriend, is chef's kiss.

DISCLAIMER: THIS ISN'T A GEPPETTO/CARLO POST. My idea for his emotional turmoil resembles more that of a parent seeing their child not as a person and more as a possession. Think boymoms or girldaddies who hover over their child helicopter fashion but in a very toxic way. This isn't about incest but you can view it that way if that floats your boat.

In contrast, Geppepe's suspicions could be pure paranoia. Doubt he wouldn't have heard of the rumors about boarding schools, if he hasn't been to one himself as a young boy. Couple that with the strong bond Carlo and Romeo share and you get a lunatic psycho like Geppetto foaming at the mouth. There probably wasn't anything going on but just the thought that there might be, could push that man to do unspeakable things like trying to end a whole man’s ability to ejaculate/reproduce and emasculating him in the process.

Let’s assume for a minute that hypothesis number 1 is true. Carlo and Romeo are an item behind closed doors but being horny teens, they conceal it very badly. One could argue that Gep figured out or discovered through whatever means that Carlo and Romeo took each others’ virginity and boom! We have one possible motive for this suspicious design.

It’d be his way of saying “oh yeah?! You think you can sully my son like that you filthy gutter rat?!! Well think again! I’m ending your ability to nut and I’ll make it obvious to the whole world! No descendants for you asshole!” Hence the weird little line about no heir. Not that Carlo could get pregnant anyway but Yknow it’s said like a sadistic little reminder “oh I cut your dick off.”

Unless Carlo was trans…but that’s another story for another day.

Hypothesis number 2

Doesn’t change much from the first besides the fact that there is no romantic relationship. Romeo and Carlo are simply two lads who share a very close bond and love each other platonically. They’re there for each other when need be since both lack stable parental figures for differing reasons but manage to find common ground and comfort in this friendship.

Their closeness still bothers Gep, who blames Carlo’s “mischievous” attitude entirely on Romeo instead of reflecting on his own faults. This spurs Geppetto when presented with the opportunity to turn Meo into a puppet to “rectify”, take revenge or whatever awful sentiment might motivate him. In my opinion, even if they brushed the subject and Romeo denied it, Geppepe would refuse to believe him.

Either way Romeo’s gonna suffer.

Hypothesis number 3

Romeo was a compulsive masturbator and Geppetto thought it wise to put a stop to it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Frankly idk where I’m going with this…

I think I’ve said everything I wanted to say. Big thanks to the two folks on discord who helped me flesh this whole hc out.

That was long as hell and it’s almost 5am for me, so I’m gonna call it a night and thank u for reading this nonsense. I’ll probably edit this at a later date and add a few things i probably forgot.

[thegoatsongs]

The Harkers' marriage has much in common with what New Woman authors and their male allies were positing as an ideal union, one founded on "love and trust and friendship." (29) Friendship is a recurring theme in New Woman discussions of marriage. In an 1884 letter to Olive Schreiner, Havelock Ellis muses, "the best kind of union between a man and a woman is a sort of camaraderie ... between two people who care about the same things, who are going the same way, & can walk arm and arm, & kiss & encourage each other on the way." (30) Though most New Woman authors shared Caird's view that such a companionate union was "well-nigh impossible" in the present day, Stoker is more optimistic. Possessing the "love, respect, intellectual likeness, and command of the necessities of life" required for an "ideal" marriage, the Harkers could "look clear through one another's eyes into one another's hearts." (31)

In treating Mina as his peer, Jonathan Harker is most unlike John Seward, whose dealings with Lucy demonstrate an inclination to perceive a woman's beauty rather than her brains. Yet Seward, though not a New Man, has the potential to become one.

When Mina telegraphs to announce her arrival, John is far from pleased: she is a distraction from the important work of reading the papers Van Helsing has given him. "I must get her interested in something else," he determines, and "I must be careful not to frighten her" (195). Mina's appearance--"a sweet-faced, dainty-looking girl" (194)--fits his stereotype of a woman needing protection. When Mrs. Harker asks to see his account of Lucy's final days, Dr. Seward declares, "Not for the wide world!" (195). "Why not?" she asks, and, realizing (with the same acuity Lucy possessed) that he is "trying to invent an excuse" for demurring, is charmed to see him, "with the naivete of a child" and "unconscious simplicity," blurt out an excuse whose truth he realizes only as he speaks it: he cannot let her listen to his account of Lucy's death because he has dictated it into his phonograph and does not know how to locate it in the cylinders (196).

His grimaces and exclamations of "That's quite true, upon my honor" and "Honest Indian!" underscore his boyishness. Bemused, Mina replies that, in that case, he must let her type out all his notes. The doctor cannot argue. Begging her pardon and admitting that she is "quite right," he makes "the only atonement in [his] power" by entrusting her with the cylinders (196). We need have no secrets amongst us," she tells him; "working together and with absolute trust, we can surely be stronger than if some of us were in the dark" (197).

Impressed by her "courage and trust," he embraces her modus operandi. By the end of the evening, he has accepted on equal footing the woman he at first dismissed as an annoying distraction whom he must "be careful not to frighten," telling her, "We must keep one another strong for what is before us; we have a cruel and dreadful task" (198). [...] In this scene, we glimpse the future Caird envisions, "when men and women shall be comrades and fellow-workers as well as lovers and husbands and wives." (32)

Winstead, K., Mrs. Harker and Dr. Van Helsing: Dracula, Fin-de-Siecle Feminisms, and the New Wo/Man

[mudhamster]

WBWNS: 4. December - Mint

Asking Izuku for three days in a row for a word that started with a certain letter would get boring too quickly. Besides, he had to avoid patterns as long as possible, otherwise Izuku would figure out too soon that he had a mission: to make him go out with him.

“Got any plans for the evening?”

“Me?”

They left the hero agency together and instantly the cold night took their breath away in white clouds from their lips. It hadn't snowed yet, but from the way the air smelled and the cold took possession of the streets, it wouldn't be long. A breeze carried the scent of roasted almonds to them and he heard Izuku openly sniffing the air.

Katsuki, barely averting an eye roll, pushed his hands into his pockets and frowned.

“No, Deku, your mom.”

“My m-mom-?”

“‘Course not, idiot. You didn't eat lunch, so … wanna grab somethin’ to eat?”

He looked down at the few centimetres between them, saw how Izuku's mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ as he tried to remember. Did he eat so rarely that he-?

“Oh, actually I did! I had some soba with Shouto after break. He came in late,”Izuku explained, rubbing his hands a little uncertainly, “But anyway, I still don't have any other plans now. We could go downtown, to the Christmas market? And get some snacks?”

It was such an unexpectedly brilliant idea that Katsuki was momentarily overwhelmed by the possibilities of how he would react to it, because his letter was M today and, by God, it had only caused him trouble all day.

“For some mulled wine?” he finally asked, patting himself smugly on both shoulders and taking the first step towards the city centre, in the opposite direction to their apartment.

Izuku giggled, glancing at his empty arm for less than a split second, then he caught up with him, “Or hot chocolate?”

“With marshmallows?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes suspiciously, scanning his face for a clue as to why he was offering all this, because “you hate sweet things like mulled wine or marshmallows.”

Which, of course, the nerd was absolutely right about. However, he hadn't found an elegant solution for today's letter yet, being too uncreative to meaningfully combine ‘magic’ or ‘music’ (not to mention his final boss: mistletoe - way too early, way too much) without doing something stupid, atypical or cheesy like... like dragging Deku to the theatre – he paused on the pavement.

“Kacchan?”

He stared at the guy next to him, heard himself ask “do you like going to the theatre”, and read unabashed irritation and amazement on his face again before the nerd dared to start giggling.

“What's wrong with you? Did you get an undercover team-building assignment? Do you have a bet? If so, just tell me so we can split the stake.”

Katsuki still stared at him.

“Would you or wouldn't you go to a damn theatre with me?”

Izuku's laughter got a bit more strained and then disappeared after an awkward cough. He rubbed the tip of his nose and mumbled, “I would”.

Katsuki bit his lip internally, took out his phone and yes, for heaven's sake, opened his notes app because he was (unfortunately) no superhuman and the information trickling between them on the floor were too fucking precious for later, so he wrote it down, and –

”What are you doing?“

“Did you upload an extra package of Wh-questions to your brain at the beginning of the month?” He tapped his index finger on Deku’s forehead, and he gasped in offended surprise, ”if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up for a second – oy!”

Izuku had tiptoed to a unseen spot and was peeking at his phone.

“You're not ordering any tickets.”

“So!? I asked you if you would, not if you want to –“

“You also asked if I had plans today!”

Katsuki let the phone drop, perplexed by the direction their conversation was taking. Deku would have gone to the theatre with him, as spontaneously as only the two of them would set something like this up. But it’s not supposed to work that way.

“Do you expect me to buy something immediately after you say yes to it?”

“That's precisely why we have an air fryer, a multifunctional vacuum cleaner and 10 yoga mats of different thicknesses at home, darling.”

The pet name derailed his brain. He still vaguely saw the plan to just drink a crappy mulled wine with Deku and then go home – but the plan was dangerously close to the edge of impossibility. Because Deku was standing in front of him, his gloved fists on his hips, looking at him like the smartass he was. He bared his teeth provocatively.

Katsuki did the same, his neck twitching from the feeling of being caught and his gums pounding because he wanted to sink his teeth into Izuku's knowing grin.

Damn it.

He took a deep breath, looked over his shoulder as if he were considering something, then licked his gums.

“Not today, okay?”

Izuku's body tension seemed to deflate like a balloon that had been rolled too close to the fireplace.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

“Shut it. I didn't tell you to shove the idea in your deepest, most sinful—"

“Oh my god, Kacchan! What are you even trying to-?”

“Deku, god damn it,” he grabbed him by the upper arms and leaned down as close to him as he could, “shut. your. mouth. Please.”

His gaze seemed so intense that Izuku turned his head away, mumbling something under his breath, cheeks aflame, revealing his blushing neck in the process too. Katsuki let go of him, tightened the patheticly frayed scarf around his neck to protect his freckles from freezing, and shuddered. God. Too much tension for a goddamn stroll in the open.

“So,” he grumbled, “Rewind, and repeat: mulled wine?”

“Hot chocolate?”

Katsuki wanted to object outright, but then he remembered the course of their conversation, “Marshmallows?”

“Mint or hazelnut?”

“For your chocolate?”

Izuku stuck out his chin and explained, “Yep. Now we've come to the point where I've been asking you how long you've liked sweet things, so I figured-”

“Okay, okay, let's skip that,” Katsuki interrupted him, and (obviously) decided on M for, “mint.”

“The letter is M.”

Katsuki stopped in confusion for the umpteenth time tonight and Izuku's grin couldn't have been wider as he looked up at him, “I really don't know why you're doing this, or how you came up with that, but...” the cold had nibbled at his round cheeks, making them the colour of freshly cut cherries. Katsuki wanted to bite into them, too.

“But?”

“I like it.”

[valhalla-calls]

Relativity Falls AU headcanons - My Version

So, I've been seeing this AU everywhere and I absolutely love role swap aus because, of how creative they are! So, I thought I'd give my headcanons on this!

I know you guys love to headcanon Dipper trans for this AU, but I kind of want to be different. I really hope that's okay? I really like the idea that, no matter who goes through the portal, the other lies about why they're there and where the other is. And as time goes on, the lies about where the other is just get more outrageous that by the time they get back. Mabel was across Europe fighting for a mermaid's hand in marriage against an abusive Fire King or if Dipper was the one, Dipper was in the center of the Earth, solving a top secret illuminati type of mystery.

I also prefer when Dipper is the one to go into the portal and Mabel be in Stan's place. It just computes with my brain better. That being said, I don't think Dipper and Mabel would fight or hold grudges as bad as Stan and Ford. Not saying they wouldn't fight at all, but even with the whole science fair thing, I don't think Dipper would just let his sister get kicked out and not talk to her ever again. So, I propose that Dipper and Mabel secretly keep in touch through letters. Which was great until they started to lie about their struggles. Mabel would lie about the struggles of homelessness and Dipper about the portal and demonic possession.

They do have a similar fight, but it's more about them finding out all the horrible shit both of them went through and why they didn't tell each other. It escalates and then bam, Dipper goes through the portal.

Bill is in Pacifica's place, BUT! He's still a demon. His parents couldn't have a baby so, they made a deal. Thus, Bill. Bill doesn't know until the whole episode that's supposed to be Pacifica's with her manor when Ford helps him.

Stan and Gideon still have their rivalry. Only it's even more extra because, kid Stanley is probably more of a menace than when he's old. It migrates from "I don't like this guy." to "My Graunty doesn't like you! Get over it!"

My favorite trope is Dipper finding out how horrible Filbrick is to Stan and shuts that down completely. I feel like that's very in character.

[o-sachi]

─── A Letter for @marushato ✦

If you have received this, it means you signed up for Sachi's Selfship Event !

TWINNNN. We only recently became moots but I alr love you. Thank you for hyping me up and feeding our delusions together. You seriously make my brain melt. I hope to see you annotate my future works as well meehehhheheh.

✉️ Attachment: ABCs with Narumi Gen

[A] Affection He likes to play it cool and pretend to be the nonchalant boyfriend in front of everyone. But who is he fooling? Absolutely no one. Everyone in the first division knows how clingy he is. Yes, that's pretty much 90% of his show of affection—just Narumi wanting to be around you 24/7. He also likes to share his stuff with you (he never shares ANYTHING, so you know you're special). Whether it's food, a game, or something he bought off of Yamazon—best believe that if you asked for it, he'd probably let you have it.

He's a sore loser too. But he'd gladly let you win when you play games together because he likes seeing you smile so widely.

[C] Comfort Narumi's a bit awkward when it comes to comforting you, especially since you're quite good at concealing your feelings. Like he knows you're not okay, but he's not sure what to do (like the vibes are off). At first, he might try to comfort you with his words. But he soon realizes he's not that good at it. So he tries to do things for you instead—like getting you your favorite food or giving you a massage. He gives you absolute princess treatment basically (he'd want to be treated like that if he were sad, so yeah!)

He also suddenly becomes nicer? LIKE who are you and what did you do to Narumi?

[D] Dates Most of your dates are spent indoors, either at your places or in your rooms at the base. You love playing games with each other. Even if all you do is play while talking to each other—y'all are pretty happy with that. But on the rare occasion that you both have a day off that coincides with each other's, you drag him out of his cave. You get breakfast/brunch/lunch together (dinners are too much of a hassle, y'all would rather be in bed by then). But there have been many instances wherein he practically begged you to join him at a convention. You guys buy figures together sometimes!

[J] Jealousy Like I said, he tries to act nonchalant about your relationship, but he's the biggest fake idgafer ever. He gets annoyed for two reasons: 1.) he's a naturally possessive guy, what's his is his; and 2.) the audacity of that person to actually try and take something from THE Narumi Gen? His ego could never. But he'll whine and moan about it before confronting that person. He'll ask you shit like, "Do you really love me or what?" You know it's bothering him when he transforms into the biggest drama queen. However... you don't really have to worry much about him. He naturally repels other "potential suitors" and he's waaaay too loyal to you.

[K] Kisses He almost fell to his knees the first time you kissed. You both remember it well because you two were arguing about something silly at the time before the major event happened. Narumi always gets butterflies in his tummy no matter what kind of kiss you give him. You'll also notice that he likes just about any kiss on the face—cheeks, lips, forehead, nose. Sometimes you still catch him blushing, but he'll start calling you crazy and gaslighting you for imagining things lol. (He was a terrible kisser at first, but you taught him well).

[O] Other People Everyone's a bit confused how the two opposites that used to butt heads all the time are suddenly together now. But through time, people are just glad that there's someone that can handle Narumi. Due to your relationship, he has become a bit more responsible. He attends meetings more than he usually would. Hasegawa is personally thankful that you do his work now (babysitting Narumi lol). But beyond that, they find you two to be the cutest couple ever. Both of you try to be the nonchalant one in the relationship, but you both know that y'all crazy for each other.

[X] XOXO His little act of love is that whenever he orders something from Yamazon (which is pretty much all the fucking time), he always makes sure to get a little something for you. He's confident he makes enough money to splurge on the both of you. Plus, he loves the bright smile on your face as you unbox his packages together. He ordered you matching figurines once (figurines from the same series/game) and he was sooooo proud of himself.

Thank you for participating. I hope you like it :3

Want to participate? Give this a read.

o-sachi © 2024 pls do not translate/copy/reupload my work on other platforms.

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  fragilecapric0rn! @fragilecapric0rnn has written 22 fics in the Stranger Things fandom and 21 of them are in the Steddie tag!

@cheatghost recommends the following works by @fragilecapric0rnn:

It Might Be Worth It For Once

clown music at the disco

you can take the heart from your chest to use as a compass when you are lost

Catch Me (I'm Falling)

Anyway, It's About Old Friends

"Sen's body of work is like a truly love letter to the characters. No matter the universe, Steve and Eddie always feel authentic to themselves. Sen's love for classic rom-coms influences a lot of her writing and makes for really romantic, touching stories. It's an absolute delight to dive into a world crafted by this author!" -- @cheatghost

Below the cut, @fragilecapric0rnn answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

I think in May of 2022 I was bit by the same bug as everyone else. Before I started writing Steddie, I was on a 4-year fic writing hiatus, and it was like seeing those two interact on screen zapped my brain awake. The chemistry, the potential, the fact that one half of the ship got ripped away from us too soon. All of those components really did something to my brain and I decided I had to write them and I haven’t looked back since!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I love a idiots to lovers! These two really have the potential to fit that trope so well!

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Second-chance at romance! If you’ve seen any of my fics, you know that I love and will take any chance to write 90s older steddie, haven’t spoken or seen each other in years, who re-meet and fall in love. It is so them, it is my favorite version of them. It’s the version of them that lives in my head!

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

There are so many good ones to choose from, but I think I have to go with Show Me the Place Where He Inserted the Blade by the incomparable, the magnificently talented and outstanding Cheatghost. Lou, who I am very proud to call a friend, is one of the most talented people I know and I feel very lucky to have had them brought into my life via the Steddie brainrot.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Is it lame if I say no? LOL. Honestly, I have written almost everything I have felt the need to explore with this pairing. A lot of my ideas moving forward are expansions/continuations of ideas that I already started or have posted before. 

What is your writing process like?

Right now it’s at its most unstructured because I am rawdogging life without my ADHD meds for the first time in 7 years, which has been a whirlwind but I am managing. However, it usually depends on the fic I’m writing! For a lot of my longfic, I have a physical notebook that has an outline and major plot points I want to hit at certain times in my stories. Other times, for the shorter fics/one-shots, I just write them all in one go. It starts with a (usually silly) idea, and then I get possessed by the writing demons, and suddenly, I haven’t moved from my chair in 2 hours and I have four thousand words on my screen. I contain multitudes!

Do you have any writing quirks?

I am a victim of the: One word. One phrase. Lin breaks for emphasis. And I will be doing it until someone who is being paid real money to publish one of my original works tells me to knock it off!

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Again, asking if it’s bad if I say neither? When I first started posting fic again, I was very much writing it all and then posting it over the course of a few days. But now, I tend to write sporadically and post even more sporadically. And I prefer the latter! Fanfiction, and fandom in general, is a collaborative experience in its heart and soul. One of my favorite things about longfic is posting a chapter and seeing what people take away from it, because 9/10 it’ll be different then what the writer thinks they’re going to take away! And the chance to change and rework and let yourself be influenced by other fans of the ship is taken away when you write it all at once and post it all at once.

Which fic are you most proud of?

Anyway, It’s About Old Friends. Even in its unfinished form, it is my magnum opus. My white whale. I have done some of my best writing in it (chapter 2 MY BELOVED) and the fact that its so close to the end is both exciting and terrifying. It is a fic I wrote and continue to write for me, and the fact that other people are reading and enjoying it is a win!

How did you get the idea for It Might Be Worth It For Once?

HA! So, I was chatting with my friend Emily (JudasofSuburbia) about a potential Pornstar!Steve AU offhandedly back in the fall. Then, I got paired with them for a little fic exchange between friends, and it felt natural to take that one off little conversation and turn it into a fic for her. It was one of those fics that started out as a silly idea and then suddenly it’s been six hours and I wrote the whole thing in one go! After some polishing and editing, it became a Pornstar!AU with not as much smut as I expected. It was so fun to write, made even more fun as it was for a dear friend.

When writing Anyway, It's About Old Friends, what was something you didn’t expect?

I didn’t expect it to change and mold and morph in the way that it did. There is a version of this fic where they do hook-up earlier, there’s a version where they re-meet at gay club and not a wedding, there’s a version where Steve marries a Evie and Eddie is Raul. But, this version feels the most right. It’s a story about heartbreak, about finding love (in all it forms) in unexpected places, and it’s about found family most of all. All of that was stumbled on accidentally! My only intention was to write a Steddie-fied When Harry Met Sally fic, and accidentally flashed my heart and soul. Whoops!

What inspired clown music at the disco?

I used to be an opener at a coffee shop and there is something so disorienting and mind altering about having disco music blasting on the speakers at 4am. But, it was in one of those moments, where I was so tired I was nauseous, that the fic idea came to me! I had already been thinking of writing as my first fic, Steve and Eddie accidentally have a Devil’s Sacrament moment at the gay bar, but the line “But it’s Disco Night”, came to me at the ungodly hour of 4 in the morning. What a time!

What was your favorite part to write from you can take the heart from your chest to use as a compass when you are lost?

The Never Have I Ever Scene! It was the first time I wrote the entire party in one scene and it’s chaotic and a little messy but it was one of my favorite parts of the fic. It also made me realize how much I love writing ensemble scenes! Just everyone trying to talk over each other, chaos in its best form.

How do/did you feel writing Catch Me (I'm Falling)?

I wrote this fic in the span of like almost 3 weeks? I was sick and burnt out for most of the time I was writing it, but it was almost a compulsion. I had the idea and I just HAD to write it. No outline, just vibes and Steve Harrington in a cheerleading uniform! I took it down for a while because I was turning it into something else, but then had a change of heart and put it back up. And part of me is glad that I took it down for a moment because people love to be weird about the feminizing Steve’s character, and even though I was writing him as a cheerleader, I tried really hard to keep him earnestly himself, and in character.

What was the most difficult part of writing Anyway, It's About Old Friends?

Writing about San Francisco while being the most homesick I have ever been in my life. Also writing Eddie in those first few chapters as an asshole but not unlikable. I didn’t want him to be “fine” (because no one is fine in this universe, especially not in the beginning) but I also didn’t want him to do or say anything too bad. I think I got a handle on it pretty well.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

In Faces Freedom With A Little Fear, the first scene in the hospital with Steve’s sister. She storms in, threatens federal agents, all for her brother. JJ Harrington you will always be famous!

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

Just my current WIPs! Anyway It’s About Old Friends; the When Harry Met Sally AU of my dreams. Hand on My Stupid Heart; the modern AU, where the UD exists but everyone has iPhones and Steve deals with his bisexuality!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Shout out to my boys! Kkpwnall, judasofsuburbia, figthefruitfaeth, gideoncharov, cheatghost, fastcardotmp3, snowangeldotmp3 you guys rule and they’re all so talented!!!! Thank you to whoever nominated me! I feel the love and give it back to you tenfold!!!!!!

Thank you to our author, @fragilecapric0rnn, and our nominator, @cheatghost! See more of fragilecapric0rn's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[spaghettinoodlesworld]

The English Love Deception

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Jude Bellingham X Reader ft Trent Alexander Arnold

synopsis: Y/n's crush Trent sends her a wedding invitation to his wedding with the person y/n hates the most. Y/n is in a major need for a plus one and a job. Will the rich rude arrogant boy next door be of help?wc: 1988 words

warnings in this part: swearing

a/n: This is my first time writing an enemies to lovers fanfic so do tell me what do you think and if i should work on a part 2. If you have any requests do let me know.

You wake up in your dark bedroom with the only source of light being the eerie-looking full moon. Mind you your room is cute af, but now the room was greenish-dark with extremely weird vibes.

The glass door, which doubles as a window and a door to your backyard, is naked with no curtains viewing your backyard, which now seems to be some sort of a graveyard with graves of random people you don't know.

Despite the uncanny silence, all was fine until a shadow of a man limping in your backyard approaching the door/window whatever it is.

Because of your unlimited intelligence and your possession of a one-of-a-kind brain, you elegantly slid the door to your backyard because stupid you wants to see the danger.

Well, no shit you’re the character that dies first in a horror movie. The one that goes, "oh let's go check out that very creepy-looking, dusty, filled with cobwebs, desolate house with the ripped curtains cause why not it looks absolutely safe haha."

So you slid the door open and some cool vapour gushed into the room. Do you stop? hell no. You look at the dead-looking limping man who now appears to be wearing some sort of football jersey. Yup, it's a zombie what do we do ummm maybe run? you just stays there waiting for him as he moves his rotten hand towards you and says, "you know what's ridiculously tasty?"

You definitely need to stop watching these Neymar edits on TikTok 'cause now this man is not only haunting your fyp he is haunting your nightmares too.

You wake up from the dream looking at the clock to find it saying 7 pm. You have slept the whole day and the reason behind that is your man, the love of your life, the only boy you have crushed on who happened to be your best friend too has sent you an invitation to his wedding.

Trent Alexander Arnold, the Liverpool football player, was getting engaged to the person you hate the most in the entire world, Hannah Atkins.

Trent and you were neighbours and very close friends before he moved when he signed with Liverpool. You used to rant to him day and night about that ugly ass bitch Hannah whose main job in this world is to make your life a living hell by spreading rumours in our friend group and whatnot. He used to comfort you and tell you how to deal with her.

However, due to distance, the communication decreased, but your connection was still there.

That was until pretty Hannah, who somehow got her hands on a love letter you wrote to Trent that you never meant to send to him anyway.

You thought you writing a letter will help you move on from him but little did you know was it ruined everything. She sent him the letter and it ended up with him politely rejecting you and I quote, "you were like a little sister of mine whom I'll continue to support forever."

"Well I don't think you're supporting me Trent when you send me a wedding invitation letter with your name and Hannah's name together," you mumble to yourself.

He's getting married to Hannah next week. You know it's been a year since the Trent incident but you still can't help but feel betrayed by him and you can't fight the urge to slap the shit out of that Hannah.

You got up and remembered that your girls bunny and MJ are coming over and the house has close to nothing to feed the girls.

You lazily put on a random hoodie of yours and throw your hair in a messy bun because you’re not like other girls *wink*. You’re going to the grocery store across the street you down need to go all out so you won't bother to wear your contacts your glasses will suffice for now. Nothing is gonna happen anyway, right?

You leave the house and walk by your neighbours' fancy house You always can't help but stare in awe at it every time you pass by only to be interrupted by their dog who happens to hate your guts. You wonder if you happen to meet the owners of the house will they hate you too

The dog has some serious issues with you cause whenever you pass it starts going crazy and barking loudly this doesn't usually happen with other pedestrians.

You get to the store and start making your way to the snacks aisle choosing them good good chips and as you make your way back to the cart you bump into something that sends your glasses flying away.

"I'm so sorry ma'am," you hurry to say to what you assumed is a female as you without your glasses equal useless.

"ma'am? and I thought my day couldn't get any worse. Even you a monkey-looking desk think I'm a girl now," he, who turns out not to be a she, replies.

You sense that you’re getting humiliated and despite seeing nothing but a blurry tall figure you won't stop and watch your dignity getting spat at.

"what's the attitude bro? You bumped into me, my glasses fell and I apologised when it was actually your fault. If you please hand me my glasses so that I can take a clear look at the person with enough confidence to call me a monkey-looking desk"

"Listen dumbo I don't have time for this BS I got more important matters to solve like dealing with this cheater of a bitch. I have seriously had enough of the female population today," he says as he types something on his phone aggressively.

"I can see why she- I mean I can't see but I can sense the reason behind her cheating I actually pray for her mental health after dating such a man with a lack of self-respect as yourself."

"You're talking big when you don't know who you're talking to," he says with a lower tone in an obvious attempt to intimidate me.

"I don't give a damn who you are I see disrespect I say disrespect. Apparently, your girlfriend saved herself from an ugly crazy dude now it's my turn to do the same."

You tried to move away from him, but you could tell he was getting closer when you instinctively backed away until you found your back pressed to a refrigerator.

"I admire your courage," he puts your glasses on your face and said, " now do tell you do you still think I'm undeserving of the confidence I emit as you said now that Dora the explorer got her vision back?"

You look up to look him in the eyes to find him deeply staring into yours. The distance between you can be measured by a ruler literally. You were at a loss of words your eyes were busy eating him up that your brain wasn't comprehending what was happening.

You were so angry that this man who was indeed taking your breath away. If there is one thing you are not, you are not delusional. You can tell an attractive man when you see one and you admit it to yourself. You should not cower down but something about the way he was looking at you captivated you and it seems he noticed it too as a little smirk grows on his face.

"Cat got your tongue? Now that your vision is back you can't speak? Should i take off those glasses off of you for a sneaky reply?"

"All I have to do is scream and you won't like what will happen to that pretty valuable face of yours," you should try to get away safely and peacefully but the boiling blood in your veins thinks otherwise.

After he uttered those words he doesn't budge but continues to stare you down and study your features as if by doing so he will carve your picture in his brain and curse you forever. You didn't even notice that he left until someone asked if the shopping cart belongs to you.

You return back home to find your friends Bunny and MJ already inside waiting for you. They know your passcode and you trust them with your life.

"Girl, where have you been? We've been waiting for a while now," Bunny says.

"I'm so sorry guys I went to get us something to eat," you said while setting the plastic bags, "I don't think today is my day."

"I don't think any day is gonna be your day if you keep yourself locked in his place," MJ says taking the bags and opening them.

"MJ don't say it like that!" Bunny cries trying to sugarcoat MJ's usual bluntness. They complete each other and you are so thankful for having them in you life.

"so the both of you think I'm a loner with zero life and now that we received those wedding invites my life is ruined," you say as you noticed them taking out their invitation letters form their bags simultaneously.

"umm pretty much," MJ responds. "No of course not," said bunny pushing MJ as she walks to you. You know she thinks so but Bunny would never admit that to your face.

"oh god"

"More importantly, are you going or not? cause you definitely should" MJ said drawing your attention to the fact that you forgot that now you got an invitation you should respond.

"As much as I hate to but I must but there are two things stopping me now" you tell them sitting on the cough crossing your legs while open a bag of hot chips.

"which are?"

"i need a plus one," you responded. No, the invitation didn't say so but you said so.

"Do you need a plus one or do you want a plus one?" Bunny questioned reading your mind and actually knowing the answer to her question.

"I need a plus one. I can't show up to the wedding alone. My pride would never plus it'd would be a sign to Trent that I've moved on and I don't need him or his so-called support."

"What's the other problem?" MJ asked taking the bag of chips from your hand.

"I need money to buy a new dress. I hardly got some pounds to sustain day to day expenses and I won't ask my grandparents for more money they already do much."

"y/n, i told you not to quit the job. We could've went and taught that girl Hannah and her ugly friend of hers a lesson," MJ argued.

"What's done is done now help me think of ideas of a job that'll get me quick money before next week," you say as you get your notebook to write the ideas.

However, the moment you finished your sentence MJ's phone lit up.

"Trent just sent a text," she says, "It says 'Hey MJ. The boys from the English team are throwing a house reunion party at Bellingham's house in an hour. If you and the girls are free join us.'"

Both MJ and Bunny go crazy but you can't hear what they're saying. The fact that Trent didn't send the message directly to you hurt you, and as much as the thought of meeting Trent again angers you. It also warms your heart that you would actually see him sooner and not in tux with his wife next to him. Mixed feelings all over the place.

"I'm cool I don't mind," you finally tell them.

"omg omg omg we are actually doing this? Like putting the Trent scenario aside, we're meeting the English team like the actual team that played in world cup. I need to fix my make up," Bunny said walking to your vanity.

"okayyy but y/n why is the location pointing to the house next to yours? Do you live next to Bellingham as in Jude Bellingham???" MJ suddenly stood up.

"And who must that be?" you said confused. You did watch the world cup but if you're being honest you haven't watched all matches.

'OH MY GOD YOU LIVE NEXT TO WHOM?" Bunny stood too.

"I KNOW???"MJ turned to look at her.

"As much as i like the sudden uplift of the mood and i sincerely hate to be the one to ask but who is this Jude Belli-"

Before you finished your sentence, Bunny shoved her phone to your face.

"Oh hell no" hell no indeed. isn't that.?

"What? know him now?" Bunny asks.

"Um guys no but yes."

"We don't do witchcraft nor do we read minds so please do tell us," MJ replied.

How do you tell them that you made a scene with this boy, apparently an English player who now plays for Borussia Dortmund. Well, it doesn't change the fact that he is a short-tempered piece of shit an attractive one but still shit.

"This is going to be a wild night," you say as you head to your closet to find something to wear. You try to calm your nerves. you don't know what's stressing you out more meeting Trent and his soon-to- be wife if she's there or meeting the self-centered boy from the supermarket.

"Spill the tea about Jude now," MJ demanded.

You tell them the story and wait for their reactions as they were still in awe about the whole encounter thingie.

"I refuse to believe such a thing about Jude. He's an absolute gentleman. Are you sure you met the same person?" Bunny argued visibly annoyed by the scenario.

"I'll get my popcorn this is going to be fun," MJ smirked as she too started to freshen up herself.

[intertexts]

hi. one quastion. muse. and ashe. and the transition from ashe to muse. idk if yall talked about it before but ik the trickster was pretending to be ashe’s friend for a while (CRAZY. DID NORMAL THINGS TO MY BRAIN) and then Yoinked him afrer overlord and ashe reappeared again a few weeks later as muse fancy evil puppet strings and spooky letter and all. i wondered last night what happened in those weeks and im just. Haunted. What Happened. how does the trickster take control over people and does he need to be in close proximity to them is that why he had to wait so long to get ashe and when did ashe realize it was going wrong. how long did the trickster keep pretending to be his friend. did ashe ever cry into the trickster’s shoulder about the overlord bullshit. did he ever realize that shit was going down and he needed to leave but never could. was it like his breaker state where he never fully had a Realization he just kept fading away and then theres nothing to realize its just his life to be that freak’s doll. <- many questions but pretend its the one. ashe pov of ashe to muse pipeline. would he even remember it and does it also feature in nightmares

- @suckinitup

AHAHA. AWESOME QUESTION. I AM GOING TO DIRECT MOST OF THIS TO @stuck-in-the-ghost-zone because this specific time frame is their beautiful little evil fucking bowl of seeds. they will be able to answer this so awesomely for you. sniles sneetly.

the part that i will answer is saying Yes ashe remembers.... not all of it. he remembers the beginning, and he knows when the memories started getting too smeared and blurry and vague before eventually stopping entirely. oh you know it features in nightmares babey!!!!! you know he knows he got stalked for upwards of Months probably by the trickster who knew where he was almost every second of that time!! it takes. a very long time before the constant absolutely paralyzing terror that the trickster is Still Watching Him eases up in the safety of his own home & the wards house. it takes even longer than that for the paranoia at being outside and around people any of whom could be!!! Him!!!!! is manageable enough for him to u know. go out for longer than like 10 minutes without panicking messily. also i think the sensory memory of that first possession (u will see what i mean. 🧍) is seared into him & he has nightmares about it often & wakes up still feeling it and unable to shake the feeling even after he wakes up. ^__^

[eirinstiva]

Eye of the tigress

What ho! Bertie Wooster sent a letter and now we know that Heloise Pringle, the woman who looks a lot like Honoria Glossop is her cousin. HER COUSIN!

Even at the moment, something about that look had struck me as oddly familiar, and now I suddenly saw why. It had been the identical look which I had observed in the eye of Honoria Glossop in the days immediately preceding our engagement⁠—the look of a tigress that has marked down its prey.

Another smart and strong woman choose Bertie Sippy has her prey. Why are this kind of women so attracted to this kind of man?

“I mean to say, I know perfectly well that I’ve got, roughly speaking, half the amount of brain a normal bloke ought to possess. And when a girl comes along who has about twice the regular allowance she too often makes a beeline for me with the love-light in her eyes. I don’t know how to account for it, but it is so.” “It may be Nature’s provision for maintaining the balance of the species, sir.”

It took some time to Bertie to recognise the signals of attraction from the tigress Heloise, but something he learnt from his engagement to Honoria and now he's ready to save his and Sippy's arses. Time to ask for Jeeves' help!

“Do you know Bertie Wooster?” And then I saw that my name was scrawled right across the titlepage, and my heart did three back somersaults. “Oh⁠—er⁠—well⁠—that is to say⁠—well, slightly.” “He must be a perfect horror. I’m surprised that you can make a friend of him. Apart from anything else, the man is practically an imbecile. He was engaged to my cousin Honoria at one time, and it was broken off because he was next door to insane. You should hear my Uncle Roderick talk about him.”

Would his fame help him? I'm sure not. And having Sir Roderick as the one who discovered the true behing Bertie is the cherry on top of this story. Thanks, Jeeves for the suggestion of running away. The truth will set you free!

“Well, he seemed depressed, don’t you know, and rightly or wrongly I thought it might cheer him up if he stepped across the street and collared a policeman’s helmet. He thought it a good idea, too, so he started doing it, and the man made a fuss, and Oliver sloshed him.” “Sloshed him?” “Biffed him⁠—smote him a blow⁠—in the stomach.” “My nephew Oliver hit a policeman in the stomach?” “Absolutely in the stomach. And next morning the beak sent him to the Bastille for thirty days without the option.”

Mr. Wooster, I really admire the strength you had to say this.

“You aren’t annoyed?” I said. “Annoyed?” She chuckled happily. “I’ve never heard such a splendid thing in my life.”

So this aunt is slightly acab and Jeeves used this information on Bertie and Sippy's favour... That's an amazing idea!

Poor Bertie, he was almost captured (and kissed!) by Heloise Pringle, he has another encounter with Sir Roderick and had to run away. At least Miss Sipperley enjoyed the adventure of his nephew Oliver and Bertie had quality time with a cat.

[dc-polls]

"That Really Happened?!" DC Comics Tournament Entry #14

Domestic Abuse Ghost Possession

[ID: Two page comic spread of a giant Sinestro head smiling with tongue wrapped around Green Lantern John Stewart's leg. Figures below pose in anguish and dark buildings appear in the background. John yells, "You're dead, Sinestro!" To which Sinestro replies, "Not any more!" /END ID]

What Happened?

Jesus. Okay. SO green lantern: mosaic is already a really weird comic. The creator (who we don't talk abt and also was in prison until a couple of years ago) literally said (paraphrase) "Mosaic is the book I write when I get confused writing my other books". Like bro. Anyways it follows John Stewart (Green Lantern) as he tries to establish a peaceful society between a bunch of species (humans included) taken from their homeworlds and forced to coexist on this plant. Standard comic plot. NORMAL, even. Or so you'd think.

It's revealed that John is being possessed a times (blacking out) by the ghost of Old Timer, an evil Guardian (so like a smurf looking alien) who brought all the people to the mosaic in the first place. Plot-wise this still makes sense, GL: Mosaic is a spin off and this whole plot was kind of established in the main comic. It makes sense.

AND THEN YOU GET ISSUE NO. 3. John is inexplicably in a relationship with this woman Rose. This happens completely off panel and without explanation (although they did have some chemistry in the main GL title, it was a very complicated dynamic and there was even a joke about them NOT being in a relationship) [the joke was that rose's town was super scandalized bc they thought she was dating John (because aaaaghhhhh interracial relationship or whatever [this is like 1992] and shes from rural West Virgina and was all like no guys its not LIKE that (but like it actually wasnt)) so idk that was a thing that happened

But ANYWAYS in Mosaic #3 John and Rose are dating for some reason???? And then he picks her up and flies up and then drops her and laughs as she screams and falls. He also kicks her around and like beats her up in front of her son while she pleads with him to stop. So VERY much domestic abuse 👍love some absolutely insane fucking mischaracterization what the actual hell. Also he keeps using weird nicknames like calling her Rosie and himself Johhny or Daddy while possessed(?) SO I don't fucking know what that was the fuck

Anyways it's then revealed that this behavior was because of the GHOST! who could have thunk? However instead of the ghost CANONICALLY inside his head that was literally possessing him THE ISSUE BEFORE, turns out it was SINESTRO'S GHOST! how the fuck did he get in johns head you may ask? I could not tell you! He's just there! At this point I'm wondering what the actual fuck is going on and also how many ghosts are possessing John Stewart. Like HONESTLY. I've either entirely lost the plot by now or am just in shock over what is happening. Likely both.

Anyways John goes in his brain to fight the Sinestro ghost (who like ties him up with his tongue and calls him boy (and Sinestro daddy this time) and all sorts of insanely weird awful stuff) And then his girlfriend (who he ISNT DATING) forgives him because "it was the ghost". Absolutely incomprehensible arc. This happened in ONE ISSUE of this comic. The first ghost is not mentioned at all during this story

Also the worst thing abt this whole ordeal is that this is a spin off of an arc in the main GL title which was actually REALLY FUCKING GOOD. like it was great, I loved it. And yet somehow the author (may he die gruesomely) managed to forget what HE HIMSELF WROTE and all knowledge of characterization and turn his hero into a horribly mischaracterized domestic abuser in a plot thay makes no sense.also there was def some racist wack ass shit going on with this fr. The whole comic is honestly an ego trip for the writer it makes no fucking sense and every letter page is just two pages of him talking directly to the readers and telling them how smart he is. This is issue 3 and is as far as i got. Listen to me and do not read this comic

--

Tournament polls will be posted after all entries are up. As always you can find all posts related to the tournament using #dc-polls-trh

[donnerpartyofone]

I'm on your Tumblr because we used to be mutuals, but I'm more of a lurker these days and I've remade several times under different handles and understand exasperation/hesitation at refollowing. I'm sincerely not trying to bait anything here, it's just that I've been depressed for the majority of 2024, and I think a really bad habit I've fallen into is not expressing gratitude to those who have a genuine impact on me. I'm sorry if this is uncanny and too parasocial. I have always admired how incredibly self-possessed and well-spoken/read/watched/cultured you are. I get an older sibling vibe from you that I never had growing up. You are one of the smarter people in the room for me. Sorry I'm sending this on anon, you don't have to publish it, in fact I hope you don't! I think you're one of the best blogs on this site and many things you have posted/blogged about have caused me to dig deeper within myself. In recent times, I appreciate that you force a situationally depressed individual (me) to challenge themselves for the better, if that makes sense. I'm sorry if this is disturbing!

[posted with permission] Man I have not been able to wake up all day for some reason and I owe some writing tomorrow, so this is actually a really helpful warmup exercise to try to get myself moving/thinking. I really appreciate this. I think your idea about expressing gratitude is really important and it's something I've been trying to do also, though maybe in a broader sense, like if I see a really inspiring movie (or whatever) I try to follow the impulse to write to the filmmaker and tell them. In my mind there's this invisible wall between creators and "fans" and that's usually fake; it's very likely that the people who made some of your favorite media are not rich, their futures are not secure, and they don't even necessarily know how their work has affected people. Worst case scenario they don't write you back, but only a snob would be actually bothered, and sometimes you even make a friend. I think the same principle can be applied to, you know, bloggers or whoever. Certainly I run this blog for myself first and foremost and I don't think I would or could stop even if absolutely no one was paying attention--it's a real compulsion and I think it's reasonably healthy to find ways to be in conversation with yourself--but it's valuable to know when you've been understood by anyone at all.

Not to make it weird but in Hebrews I think there's that verse, "If today you hear the voice of God, harden not your heart." That's really powerful outside the bounds of religion. To me it means, when you get that shred of energy or inspiration that says "I could do the dishes right now," do them immediately before you can talk yourself out of it! When you get that little spark that is so easily snuffed out by overthinking and taking that dangerous minute to round up excuses, that spark that you might be able to do the laundry, send the letter, watch the tough movie you're "never in the mood" for, pick up the book instead of watching TV, take a fucking walk, whatever it is: if you practice surrendering to these impulses immediately, almost without deciding, your life can really start to expand. Actually I believe it literally keeps your brain alive, to keep making it process new information, even if it seems trivial or you don't fully feel like it. But anyway a lot of us don't follow the impulse to say to someone "Hey, I think you're doing a good job" because it's so easy to imagine lots of different reasons they won't like it. But honestly that's unlikely (as long as you're not demanding something in return), and if someone responds poorly to that then chances are they're kind of an asshole.

(I mean sometimes I fail to respond to a message or an obvious social cue but it's usually because I just get overwhelmed by other parts of life and/or I'm not extremely skilled in forming and maintaining connections in any normal way. But it's rare that somebody has tried to reach out to me and I was like secretly hating them for it.)

Depression is really hard to talk about--I mean it's easy to VENT about, but it can be hard to converse about. There's that (American?) thing where you feel like no one should say anything that isn't *CEO voice* solution-oriented, and that's when people either avoid the topic entirely or react with all kinds of unwelcome and/or irrational advice. I have the illusion of being all full of wisdom on this because I've been severely depressed since I was really little and obviously there's something wrong with my whole operating system, but one of my best friends--who is not naturally depressive--is in such a bad way and it's not her fault and possibly there is no way out for real, and of course I have the urge to pump her up and keep her afloat, but if I'm too positive it will be totally dishonest. I have to split the difference between cheering her up and like, not lying to her. I'd be a total hypocrite if I denied her the understanding and acknowledgement of darkness that I myself always want and rarely get. It's hard, but on the individual basis it's useful to try to map the nature of your own depression and notice how it operates; just observe and take notes even if you can't see a way to control it right now. It sounds like you're doing some of that, there is a lot of dignity in that activity.

These are my thoughts off the cuff, with any luck they provoke something useful. Now I feel like I'm finally ready to shower and have ill-advised beverages and do my stupid homework assignment. Thank you for your thoughts, and the helpful prompt, and I hope you have a good day and/or night, for real.