#this post is really badly written but i hope you all get what i mean - that i miss minecraft

[ganondoodle]

(OC Lore and design time!)

(it got longer again ... sorry ... idk how to make things short, i just need to talk, but i guess if you can read the written stuff in the pic thats the barest bare bones of what i wrote here)

i was asked what new lore story stuff i had thought about that made me sad which i mentioned a bit ago, and while that is too hard to explain given all the missing context i thought i could at least talk about lore having to do with it :D

so, (Lord) Eadrya is one of my fav OCs (big blue lad, here a rough sketch in humanoid form) they are both one of if not THE most powerful demon alive and the most battle trained;

at the mid point of the story the demon world gets invaded by the celestials (the angel inspired things i talked about in the previous lore post with Xaror) and Shargon, as the king, should be their first and only frontline, but at this point his life is only being sustained by maschinery after being mortally wounded, he cannot fight (he realizes what is going on, rips himself off the maschinery to get at least his youngest child to safety, barely managing it before dying- the guardian, the demons god, takes over his body to attempt to fight against the celestials but cant keep itself alive long enough since its host is already dead) Eadrya takes the role of the frontline fighter (despite being very full of themselves and aggressive they care about their 'job' of protecting their own, also giving them the chance to show off just how strong they are); the fight was going well for them all things considered, but when the guardian activates it drains the power of all elemental lords (which Eadrya is one of, and since they have the most strength it also takes the most from them), so much so that they lose the fight and suffer deadly wounds (the worst being a spear through the chest made of a material that grows hard, root-like formations when in contact with demonic blood like a fungus but worse, also stopping any self healing processes) after the guardian falls apart it creates a huge shockwave of energy that stuns every living thing within a certain distance and possibly more-

Eadrya (in true demon form, so like a blue whale in size at least) was likely taken through an active gateway to the human world in a large tidal wave also created by the guardians fall; they wash up in the harbor of a small secluded village, the head of which is 'lady 13'; although never having seen a demon before and everyone being afraid (largely thinking its a strange hurt animal, only she suspected otherwise), they still gather all villagers to pull out the celestial spear, which is diffcult and brutal given that its already taken root, but the village lacked both knowledge and means to help any other way- doing so damaged their heart which is how they were able to collect samples of all three demonic blood types ('normal' -red like humans-, energy -essentially purely magic- and heartblood -highly concentrated energy only found within the heart of a demon and the only one to contain genetic material) (this is the start of Eadryas character arc, having to deal with the fact that their world is likely destroyed, them failing what they didnt think they could fail, having lost a battle so badly (even if not really their fault) for the first time and not knowing if literally anyone else has survived .. also being now stuck in the human world, which they dont like)

Lady 13 (placeholder name? stands for experiment 13) is a human that was tricked by demon hunters to enroll into a series of experiments trying to create hybrids of demons and humans, which they hoped would be powerful and easily controllable tools for their endeavours, though the two are inherently not compatible, they tried grafting body parts of demons on humans to make them compatible- all experiments failed except for her, more or less, though she never got to see the hybrid she carried and was then told it had died too, they threw her out believing she wouldnt survive much longer either and all such experiments were cancelled due to the high cost of human life, research material (demons are still rare) and upkeep with no successful results Lady 13 survived though (perhaps even via the pirates picking her up?) and she ended up living in said small village far away, hiding her half demonic body, though most know there soemthing 'wrong' with her (her being this tall when it doesnt fit the rest for one), only few know the full extent; she enjoys the life she has now, perhaps on the more poor side but safer and more loved than ever before; she largely lead the efforts to try and help Eadrya when they ended up in the harbor, though there wasnt that much anyone could do it was still enough- they leave immediately after waking up, but return after really having nowhere to go and struggling to deal with everything that has happened; over time (probably years) they start to open up towards the people there (though not .. very much) enough to get rather close with Lady 13 too- she actually falls madly in love but after Eadrya (extremely aro/ace) rejects all her attempts quite clearly she respects their boundaries

However, after hearing news of potential demon sightings Eadrya decides to leave in hopes of not being the last demon left after all; Lady 13 then decides to reveal her secret to them (though hearing and seeing what lengths hunters would go to for their experiments makes them absolutely seething with rage- she insists on not being out for revenge) and asks if they would be willing to donate a small amount of heartblood; shes always wanted to be a mother but is now incompatible with humans too- through things she picked up back at the experiments facillity, hers and her doctors research she is sure that is all that is needed, she dares to ask since she does not know when, if ever, she will meet another demon, much less one she could actually trust enough for this though Eadrya hesitates (why would she want to go through the same thing again that didnt work and threatened her life, if it does work, do they want to be involved with any of this? what if hunters find out it worked after all?) but after her ensuring that they would have no part in it other than giving up a little blood and would not be considered a parent in any way, nor made responsible for anything that might happen to her, but considering it all in the end they agree to it

only for her to reveal shes had a small bottle of it already, along with multiple samples of the other types, which she collected when Eadrya was bleeding out into the harbor not knowing if they will survive, though not wanting to make use of it without their consent either way (they are actuallly rather touched by this)

alot later the main group returns here and it turns out to have worked (though she is unable to walk/bedridden for a long while bc it did alot of damage to her body, which can heal since its demons parts, but only really slowly bc she does not have a full functioning system and no demonic blood of her own -she uses the other samples for the healing process-) though its a little awkward to explain, especially considering that 13.1 took alot after Eadrya xD (their theory as to why it worked so "well" that time is that even though the sample was already taken, them giving their consent for it still made it less likely to be rejected; demons dont need partners to have offspring, and all can do it, they just have to decide to- so them agreeing to it, even though its long been outside their body, still had an effect on the blood sample)

[yeoldenews]

I don't know how much you think about it, but you wrote a post back in Mar 2020:

"A sincere request from someone who has spent her entire adult life wishing people had kept better records…In the coming weeks and months… RECORD WHAT IS HAPPENING."

That post got me to start properly journaling properly, after trying and failing when I was younger. A majority of it is 'just' day-to-day progress updates on my fiction writing, but there's a bit of stuff about my life, and some briefer stuff about the world beyond. Not a lot, but some. Four (and change) years, and my journal is just short of 186K words.

I remembered your post, seeing today's SCOTUS decisions. I remembered your post, and I remembered a line you'd written: "Are you scared to death? Write it down."

I just...I don't know. I just wanted you to know your post made an impact, and I don't know what the fuck is coming over the next week and month and year and decade, but...I'm writing shit down. I'm writing shit down, and it's all because of your post.

You have no idea how much this means to me, and how badly I needed to hear it this week - so thank you. Truly. I am genuinely moved, and so proud of you for your 186k words.

History is made up of the stories people decided to save - and the first step to making sure a story gets saved is writing it down.

I really, really hate writing. Like more than just about anything. I'm a chronic perfectionist, and it can take me a whole afternoon to finish a single paragraph I'm satisfied with. (I spent three days writing this response, and you don't even want to know how long I spend on some of the things I post.) So keeping a journal is not a task I'd ever felt the need to afflict myself with before the pandemic. When I made the post you referenced, my journaling habit was all of ten days old but, against all the odds, here I am over four years later having never (to my recollection) missed a single day.

My daily records of what my cats are doing, and your day-to-day writing progress may not be extensively poured over by future scholars, but for only a few minutes of effort a day we now have recorded hundreds of stories.

And who knows what the people of the future might find fascinating. I'm sure the teenage girl in Philadelphia who smudged the letter she was writing in 1897 because a bee scared her would be absolutely baffled that thousands of people were still laughing about the incident 125 years later.

So much of history, and life in general, doesn't become clear until long after the fact. Historical records are full of people overreacting about events that ended up having very little significance in hindsight, and under-reacting about events they no had no idea were about to change the world. But being able to go back and see what people wrote in the moment, preserving their honest thoughts and hopes and fears, is about as close as you can get to time travel.

Maybe what we fear will come true and we're recording history, maybe we'll look back on what we wrote today and go "phew! that was a close one!", or maybe nothing will come of it at all - I pray it will be the last one, but, whatever the outcome, it's worth writing down.

(Also voting. Please, please vote.)

[tomomiisasleep]

notes on Harryanthe which I am crazy about, in HtN

this dumb little interaction just stuck with me. I mean they're almost always high-strung in the detailed plot, like in almost every one of the Ianthe-centered scenes one of them is in some kind of pain

but I know they have chill moments. mundane moments. petty arguments, like the one in the post scrips of the letter. And I so badly want to read those!!

anyways. I'm gonna start collecting scraps here.

you might have given Ianthe Tridentarius the pleasure of opening the note labelled Upon the death of Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Your only hope for that note was that it contained a single sentence along the lines of, Get what joy you can from my corpse, you devious bitch, but it was written by a previous self and you could not risk a guess.

Harrow: what if I didnt hate her and that makes me wanna have a lobotomy yeah that makes sense

Once, vilely, from Ianthe; she had ensconced you in fat and rolled you down the hallway out of danger, and still laughed whenever she thought about it.

ok this is just Ianthe being a little pest, but it also means that she talks about this and laughs in Harrow's face, which makes her a little bitch, but also like it means they often chat and Ianthe would be like: Yeah today I tried the theorem on apples again, but I tweaked it by directing the flow of thalergy from- hey Harry do u remember the time I saved your life hahahahahaha

The mockery you endured for needing her proximity was exquisitely painful, but humiliation was steadily becoming your existence whole and entire.

I want to know what exactly this mockery entails

It had been very nicely matched to the original until she had ceased using it altogether, and the difference was more pronounced each day. Unconscious of your critical eye, she scratched fretfully at the line until red hives appeared.

Ianthe squirming under Harrow's gaze for once

She was in a filthy mood, if she was wearing that thing, with her arm exposed.

Harrow has been keeping tabs on the state of her arm problem ever since she first woke up on the Erobos. Same as how Ianthe has been keeping tabs on the results of her lobotomy.

she said, blue eyed, those oily little freckles glittering almost pinkly above the dress. They reflected the red rims of her eyelids. You thought that she had been crying.

yeah stare at her eyelids Harrow, and sniff her discreetly all the time, sweat musk vetiver am I right (also have I expressed how crazy it drives me that she wears masculine perfume??????????? no well IT'S SO *faints*

You got better autopsies of her encounters with Beasts than you did from your own, as Augustine was wont to explain significantly more to her than either he or Mercy did to you.

Ugh why why why in this whole book I have not seen them talk shop with each other even once??? Except Harrow showing off after making the arm. Harrow has discussions with Pal all the time in GtN. clearly she trades notes on necromancy with Ianthe frequently. but no, gloss over Ianthe's intellect and just write her freak(fond) moments

You had once been fool enough to recommend that Ianthe take them down, at which point she had rustled up another from the bathroom and hung it in pride of place above an overpainted dresser.

love her

“Oh, heaps,” said Ianthe, who appeared not to have taken offence at your rejection. It was so impossible to tell, with Ianthe. “I made it. It’s vile.”

Maybe she really doesn't care about the rejection or even likes it, but "so impossible to tell" kinda hints that, well she might be hurt,maybe, there just isn't any proof

It was not a connection formed of any mutual admiration; if anything, the more you saw of Ianthe the less likely you were to mistake her for likeable. She made herself like an overdecorated cake: covered so thickly in icing and fondants and gums that it would take serious excavation to find any bread. As a necromancer she was a genius, though you thought she relied too much on shortcuts and circumventions. She had an exceptionally fine mind. She was not afraid of rigour.

If Harrow doesn't have the hots for her at least I do.

Honestly on my first read I took stuff like "not likeable" and "“Tell me to stop breathing,” she said. (“I have, on multiple occasions,” you said.)" at face value and actually thought Harrow genuinely hates her and is forced to interact with her because there's no one else. Which is true. But she's also very attracted to her and I kinda overlooked it at because I thought those feelings were mutually exclusive. And they're not. which I'm obsessed with.

Or she won't think Ianthe's beautiful and note details about how she dresses all the time.

Seriously Harrow's special fixation on "how Ianthe's clothes make her look" is hard to ignore.

for example:

The mother-of-pearl made Ianthe’s hair a lurid yellow and threw up all the mustard tints of her skin; her face was blotchy, and her eyes were sleepless pits. She looked like shit.

The skirts and waists were all beautifully cut for someone of a different height and body type than Ianthe possessed. They were tight where they should have been loose and loose where they should have been tight. They looked like her burial clothes, and she looked as though she had emerged fifty years after that burial.

she answered after a long, scuffling minute, with sleep in her eyes and her hair in dilute whey tangles over her neck and shoulders, wearing a bewildering short garment of violet chiffon.

The back was open, and you could see the fine dents of her spine—her bleached skin bluer and sweeter against the pallid gossamer—and the twin blades of her shoulder blades looked strangely nude and vulnerable to you.

Ianthe was training in her nightgown—a grisly floor-length concoction of pale golden lace that made her long, limber body look like a green-veined mummy

a lone wax figure in pale purple chiffon, tall and colourless—except in the greasy metal of her bone arm, which the lights rendered all the colours of the rainbow.

Ianthe rose soundlessly to her feet, and the long skirts of her nightgown—a brilliant ruffled canary-yellow silk that made her look like a formal lemon—rustled restively around her calves.

Note that Harrow focuses on Ianthe's clothes for how they shape Ianthe's appearance. in contrast:

she ignored your sister, whose pallid eyebrows had shot up so fast and so far that they were in danger of breaking the atmosphere. Mercymorn wore a long slip of peach-coloured silk, and her white Canaanite robe was tucked over her forearms and had slipped entirely off her slender, aggrieved shoulders. She had scraped her hair into a merciless and shining coil at the back of her head, and she had no eyes for either of you.

Obviously Mercy is SUPER HOT here, if Ianthe's reaction means anything. But Harrow only describes her clothing and not how she looks. Same with Augustine's party outfit.

With Ianthe, it's always: she's wearing ..., which makes her look gross. And I did not understand at first but now I know and feel stongly that Harrow is totally into her gross-hotness. well at least I am. the grosser she's described the hotter she is.

[3rachaslut]

i saw the virgin partner post and i just want to say that we need a VIRGIN SKZ version of it!, like what they think about it and how it feels and how excited they're about it it'd be also really nice it was written with dots like a headcanon that fits their personality and what are they most likely to do!

i hope I'm not asking too much and please ignore this ask if you're uncomfortable no pressure at all! 💖

okay so i may have gotten slightly carried away with this one but the thought of of virgin!SKZ x fem experienced reader is adorable ahh

warning; smut obvs but mainly fluff MINORS DNI !!

(not proof read, please forgive any mistakes)

HYUNG LINE; virgin!skz x fem!reader

chan

he would be so nervous on how to approach the topic that he’s ready to have sex with you. like, you two would be watching a film and he’s tickling you and down your thigh whilst PANICKING.

“y/n, i think i’m ready?” “ready for what baby?” “you know…” and your eyes would light up at his words. you would bring him in to the longest, most loving kiss ever and he feels like a weight has come off his shoulder now he’s actually SAID it!

he would definitely be giving you oral for so long just to try and psych himself up for what’s to come. he’s so so excited but so nervous. he wants to impress you so bad but all you want is for him to enjoy himself.

once the time finally comes he is hesitant but mainly because he feels so much pressure to make you feel good. “relax baby, enjoy it. i know i will” you would say as you bring him in to a kiss whilst rubbing his cheeks to calm him down and when he pushes into you, he ASCENDS. i’m talking, eyes rolling back and the WHIMPERS he’s letting out- oh my god.

“you can go faster baby, ah ‘feel so big inside me oh fuck-“. he’s so careful not to hurt you though because when i tell you chan has a BIG dick i mean that shit with my entire chest. he may have never had sex before but my god he knows what to do with his cock. you’d be a moaning mess and so would he. the whines he would let out whilst telling you he’s “cl- close..close” and the way you would grip him whilst clenching around him would tip him over the edge.

he’s trying his best to still buck into you as his orgasm hits him like a tonne of bricks and he’s moaning SO. LOUD. he would collapse into you after coming down from his climax and cover your flushed face full of kisses and tell you how fucking amazing you felt and how he can’t wait to make love to you again and again and again….

lee know

you’d be straddling him on the couch, yet again lost in the filthiest make out session. you’d be grinding on his thigh so desperately when he says “-wanna fuck you babe”. your eyes widen so big and you have to check you heard correctly. “what?” you say, “i said, i wanna fuck you” and he’d instantly be taking your clothes off. you don’t stop to question where his sudden confidence has come from because you’re too damn thrilled about the situation. he’d be so hungry for you, like he’d be running his hands up and down all of you whilst he takes your nipple in his mouth and lapping at it like a starved man.

unlike channie, lee knows nerves wouldn’t be so obvious but i swear this man is petrified inside, he just won’t let on that he is AT ALL. his dirty talk is the same as usual though, saying the filthiest things in your ear as you become more and more horny, wanting, no, needing him more than ever.

he’d lay you down on your bed and undress the rest of you whilst trailing kisses everywhere your clothes leave your skin. “so beautiful baby, you’re so beautiful” he’d say and you’d blush, remember what this foreplay would end in. he’s so eager to fuck you omg. he’d be telling you how badly he wants you whilst he preps you and his words truly get you going. you’re getting wetter and wetter at the thought.

before he enters you he’d say “you ready babe?” and omg you are more than ready. the moment he enters you, he lets out the loudest moan you’ve ever heard and you whine at his size. you knew he was big but having him inside you was another story. he’d speed up slightly and every time he’d hit your sweet spot, you’d make the most beautiful noises that turn him on so much. he definitely wouldn’t last long but it’s his first time so you can’t blame him at all.

“think.. ah- think i’m gonna cum baby fuck-“ he says whilst frantically bucking into you, his thrusts getting sloppier as he gets closer to his release. you’d clench around him tighter and he MOANS so loud. cusses and ah-s leave him mouth with every breathe as he cums inside you and he would lay on top of you afterwards stroking your hair and kissing all over your face until you both fall asleep….

changbin

he’d be on top of you, kissing your neck and caressing your face, whispering in you ear how beautiful you are. “baby..” he would say, sounding really nervous and you can’t help but think how cute he is. what you weren’t expecting was him to tell you how he is ‘ready’. “what?” you’d say, sure you must have misheard. “i’m ready.. to have sex with you” he would say and the blush on his face is crimson. “okay” you nod your head, smiling at his shyness.

the closer and closer he gets to your pussy as he’s trailing kissing all down your body, the more his nerves become apparent. he would be eating you out for AGESS, forcing his body to buck up the courage to just fuck you. your fingers are in his hair, tugging slightly and he’s whimpering at that, sending shock waves to your pussy with each moan and at this point you’re DESPERATE for him but don’t wanna add more pressure on him by saying “please binnie, i want you so much.”

once he’s ready, he would be caressing your legs and thighs and say “can i.. put it in now?” with uncertainty and shy eyes and you melt at his cuteness. “please!” you beg, absolutely dying for him to. when he enters you, he would let out the longest sigh ever, stilling inside you once he bottoms out and just taking in the feeling of you clenching around him. his eyes would be roll back and his mouth agape.

at first he be hesitant to start thrusting in case it felt too good and was scared he wouldn’t last long. “oh my god baby, you feel amazing ah-“ he’d mewl, his face contorting ever so slightly at your pussy taking all of him in so good. your head would be thrown back in bliss but you’re aching for him to go faster. “please binnie, faster. want you” you’d practically beg and he’d oblige, speeding up slightly and you’d start to moan louder. the feeling of your cunt around him mixed with your moans brings him closer to his orgasm. you knew he was gonna come fairly quick since it was his first time so you didn’t mind, if anything, you thought it was super cute.

“sorry baby, but- ah- i’m so- close” he’d gasp through whimpers, his voice slightly higher than usual. he would be thrusting into you as best as his hips would let him, faltering at the overwhelming pleasure around his cock. “s’okay baby, so good. you wanna cum, then cum babe” you’d say, staring into his eyes and he crumbles. seeing you underneath him looking into his eyes as he fucks you send waves of pleasure to his cock and he he’s quick to cum inside you, eyes scrunched closed and high pitched gasps leaving his mouth every second.

he would collapse on top of you after he comes down from his high and you’d praise him for doing “so good”. he would be so shy, he’d press his face into your neck and you’d let out an affectionate giggle at him. “i love you” he’d say as you kiss his temple and stroke up and down his biceps. “i love you too baby”….

hyunjin

hyune would be stroking up and down your leg, yet again not even making in through the first ten minutes of the movie you and him agreed to watch. you’d look at him and cheekily say “what are you doing hyunjinnie?” already knowing where this is going. “just feeling my princess” he’d lean in towards you and kiss you slowly but so deeply. your make out sessions always felt so full of love and this time was no different. his hands would come to cup your cheeks and he’d pull away, look into your eyes. “y/n..” “yes hyune?” you’d say, gazing into his beautiful eyes, waiting for him to speak. “i wanna make love to you, like, properly”. at first, you wouldn’t know what to say but once he gives you a smile.

you’d pounce onto him pulling him into kiss you. straddling him, you’re both smiling into the kisses you’re sharing and he’s gently unbuttoning your pj top. his kisses would be trailing down from your lips to your jaw, your neck to your chest. he would take your nipple into his mouth and you’d throw your head back in pleasure, grinding onto his thigh in desperation to feel something on your sore clit. you’d moan down his ear at the way he flicks your nipple around in his mouth with his tongue and gently bites down sending more waves of pleasure straight to your pussy. “hyune…” you’d whine, the knowledge of knowing what’s to come making you more and more horny. “what is it my love?” “need you” you’d say breathlessly, your thrusts on his thighs speeding up and he chuckles at how cute you are. he’d lay you down on the sofa, making you comfortable as he takes hus clothes off, the sight of his naked body never failing to take your breath away.

the gentle rubs he would give your clit have your toes curling and he’s desperate to feel you around him. “please jinnie..” you’d beg, needing him inside you so bad. he’d smile fondly at you beneath him as he lines his cock up to your entrance, gasping slightly at the amazingly foreign feeling. you’d close your eyes but he’d say “look at me baby girl, want to look at my princess” and he’d push in slowly, his mouth falling open and you reciprocate. the new feeling having you both overwhelmed with pleasure. you’d wrap your legs around him, bring in him in closer and he’d moan so loud as he bottoms out inside you. he’d lean down to be face to face with you, kissing you longingly as he begins to thrust into you, his cock dragging along your walls making you feel dizzy. “fuck- you feel so good darling” he’d say as his trails kisses town your neck, sucking gently at the skin and leaving love bites as a temporary reminder of this moment with you.

“so beautiful, my princess” he’d whisper in your ear and you’d fall in love with him all over again. his thrusts would begin to speed up slightly, hitting your sweet spot over and over again, the pleasure in your stomach threatening to tip you over the edge. “fuck hyune- you feel so fucking good in me ah-“ you’d say and he’d whimper in response, a string of ah’s leaving his mouth tell you he’s close. “so beautiful angel, i’m gonna- ah-“ he’d mewl, words shaky and his thrusts into you becoming messier and his legs tremble as he reaches his climax. “jinnie please!” you’d beg, unsure of what for but he cums at your pleas, whimpering and moaning curses into your ear. he would plant kisses all over your flushed face and tell you again how pretty you are, his “pretty girl”….

[koolades-world]

Sorry if it's too dark, but can you do headcanons of the elder brothers+Satan with an MC who struggles badly with self h@rm, like how they found out about it, their reaction and how they help...I sincerely apologise for requesting such a sensitive topic and I completely understand if you feel uncomfortable doing it! It's just the brothers, especially Satan is a huge comfort character to me, and things haven't been great lately..so yea haha. Take your time, don't pressure yourself and take care alright!♡♡♡

hi! of course :)

i really hope you're feeling even a little better now. going through this is never easy. i hope these headcanons give you some serotonins <3

just because of the nature of the content, all headcanons will be under the cut today. this post will also be tagged accordingly with warnings so it can be filtered out/blocked if you can't read something like this right now. if you'd like something else to read that's more fluffy, i recommend headed over to my drabble tag or masterlist :) if you're struggling, just know you're not alone and while i know you've probably heard this all before, everyone around you is here to support and love you <3 including me :)

Mc who struggles with self harm

Lucifer

since he's always up late, he catches you in the act during his nightly checks

you've never seen him so upset looking

he holds you and makes the promise to help you get through things one day at a time

he makes sure you don't feel alone and help you get help, whatever that might be

now, every night the two of you sit together

sometimes, you talk, sometimes you don't. no matter what though, being together is comforting for the both of you <3

Mammon

since the two of you are so close, he could tell you were hiding something from him

when he asks you so sincerely what's wrong, and how he can help, you tell him

the first thing he does is apologize for not noticing sooner, and apologize that you're going through this right now

he promises to be by your side no matter what

he'll do whatever it takes to see you through to the other side of your hard times

he couldn't be happier every time the two of you hit a milestone of being clean! he always makes it a point to celebrate <3

Levi

somehow, it comes up in conversation so casually, and he has to asks you to backtrack

in a way, he understands what you're going through

he wants to help you no matter what, but he knows he's not the best with words, so he always prepares littles gifts for you, and spends lots of time with you

he makes sure you know he is your number one supporter and your listening ear

he always puts emphasis on all of the little moments you share together

one night, everything he's been struggling to share with you he finally gets the courage to, and he tells you just how much you've changed his life, and how much you mean to him <3

Satan

he suspects something is wrong, but he'd intended to go about asking you in a better way than he did

he let it slip that he had a feeling something was wrong by accident

so, later that day, you decided to let him in on what's been plaguing you

he devotes himself to helping you, because he cares about you too much not to

since he knows things will be easier with him by your side, everything you do to get better, he does with you

one thing you do is journal at the same time. you decorate the covers together, and write in them at the same time. never does he ask to see what you've written, but as long as you've tried, that's all that matters <3

[poopingonthefloor]

Davesport is Toxic NOT abusive

(((WARNING: PRETTY LONG POST UNDER THE CUT.))) I've seen some people making the claims that Davesport is comship/proship (ok well i've more seen people bitching about it) and im tired of the Davesport slander so this will be an analysis of their relationship. My motive isn't to force anyone to ship it or anything- i really dont care what you do with your life, my frustration is just when people try to make up REASONS why they don't like the ship, even though its literally canon (and not badly written). My main point is -- You can hate what you want. You don't need a reason, and it doesn't need to be bad just because you don't like it. But I will not take any slander on their ship nor any slander of people who like davesport. Davesport is absolutely toxic-- No DSAF fan would disagree. They are literally child murderers with little to no souls and literally are physically disfigured to the point they don't have the capacity to feel proper humanity anymore. You cant expect 2 men who live their lives willingly murdering and then partying in vegas to celebrate on repeat to be gentle and kind to themselves or anyone else.

However, its NOT abusive. I've seen multiple people (mostly from twitter screenshots) claim that Davesport is abusive or the way people portray it is in a fetishy or romanticizing way of abuse, when that's just not the case. I don't blame a lot of people, since a lot of it comes from reading context and intent of the artist, which not everyone is good at-- BUT I'm here to assure you that MOST people don't intend to do that much and just like to portray how their dynamic is canonically like or portray Daves obsession with Jack. Another argument I've seen (by a twitter screenshot...) is that people are comshipping Davesport because people draw Jack annoyed a lot at Dave when...thats not true? That's just Jack's personality, first off:

(From the Dave x Reader fanfic by Directdoggo)

"Jack is a bastardman not very touchy-feely. We can see this in many scenes, where Dave more or less says “I love you” and Jack responds with deflecting humour, or outright scorn. When Dave says it for the final time, this time, Jack tries to say it back, but can’t outright, only getting out: “Why is this so hard?” and “I hope you can find peace with what you’ve done.” Which Dave understood the meaning of. (Hey, better than Henry (LEGACY Jack) hearing “I love you” and proceeding to tear Dave limb from limb, huh?"

(Directdoggo describing Jack's personality)

I know it can be a little confusing to some people, but as someone who struggles with similar issues, just because he struggles to express intimately doesn't mean he can't love anything. Sometimes people are just different and communicating like that doesn't come as easily, even to the people you're closest to. To make it as easy as possible to comprehend-- He's quite literally a tsundere. (Minus the exaggerated ridiculousness in anime) He loves Dave, he just cant bring himself to say or act like it. The dismissiveness or rudeness in response to Dave's affection is not abuse, it's just a defensive response since he doesn't know how to say it back. (His way of being "shy") -- Also note its important that Dave UNDERSTANDS this about him by that point.

However Jack isn't the only thing I've seen regarding the claims that their ship is abusive-- and to debunk all of those I'm going to explain the three points that keep Davesport from being abusive, and I'll use Henry x Dave (which is what I'll call it to prevent it getting confused for FNAF willry) as an example alongside it since its super obvious why that one is messed up. Firstly, They are both bad people. By this point, Dave and Jack are murderers. It's just not surprising that they will be willing to kill each other at at least some point, considering they are willing to kill 5 year olds without remorse- and they'll both deserve it. It's only their own faults that they teamed up with the other, and it's meant to be the ultimate irony when Jack becomes even worse than Dave by "An ending". My point is- they're bad people. It's not like they're owed perfect company or would choose wholesome people to hang out with when they're literally both child murderers. Dave wasn't evil and didn't want to kill by the time he teamed up with Henry (and even after it was Henry's fault), so by that point his suffering was absolutely undeserved.

Secondly, They're lacking any specific power dynamic. Unlike Henry and Dave- whom have several levels of "Age, Father figure, and Employer", the most important one is that Henry is Dave's abuser. He manipulated him and purposefully harmed him both mentally and physically, whereas Dave never had any intention of doing either because Dave loved him and didn't want to lose him (because he had nobody else) This obviously much different with Dave and Jack, whom other than being taller and several years older than (which you can argue their 6 year age gap is weird but they didnt get to know each other till they were both older than 30 so by that point age difference doesnt rlly matter and (also theyre "mentally" like 24 and 22 canonically anyways (as much as I usually hate that argument)) Other then that they are only co-workers. This is a bit more arguable during DSAF 1, where Dave comes across more threatening and comes across like he's manipulating Jack, but I don't exactly count that because I wouldn't say theyre "shippable" or in their "situationship*" by that point (but also because them even being a ship was barely considered by the creator at that point obviously)-- whereas Dave is certainly more easily recognized as sincere to Jack in DSAF 2. Jack also is not someone who is afraid to defend himself against Dave, as shown by the fact he's willing to call out Dave's ridiculous behaviors (which is reasonable of him to do).

(Also from the Dave x reader fanfic) (I just think this specific screenshot debunks any sort of "power dynamic" claim)

My Third and Final point: There is a CHOICE involved I haven't really done much Dave defense in this post, but his defense is very simple: He is literally physically unable to comprehend guilt or conscience. Dave didn't want to murder anyone in the first place, but it was Henry who fucked with his (literal) head so much to the point he stopped being able to feel guilt. He doesn't care about murder and doing wrong because he CAN'T care. You can't really let that reflect Dave as a character when he's really not in control of himself in the first place. Now with that, that doesn't change the fact he could certainly affect and hurt people, and it's fully up to Jack as to whether or not he wants to deal with this purple man's freakish life choices and hobbies or not. And that's honestly super dependent on the ending you decide to base Jack on. Most people see the 'canon' endings to be: Gnarly ending (DSAF 1) -> An ending (DSAF 2) -> Good ending (DSAF 3) Where in all of these, Jack DOES choose to deal with Dave and basically is completely cool with murder. You don't have to follow those endings if you don't want to, but that's just typically what the modern "Davesport" is known for, but its what I'm using for my defense (considering this is a defense of both fandom and canon Davesport.) Though as opposed with Henry and Dave- Dave had no choice. Henry only ever manipulated him into thinking he did, and Henry made sure to feed this whole 'we will be a family' ideal into Dave (who never had one) so that Dave would be terrified to lose him. Jack never manipulates Dave (when teamed up with him), and Dave never manipulates Jack (tho arguable in DSAF 1 as well). They stay with each other despite all of their issues, and I believe its due to some co-dependency (imo I think Jack is also obsessed with Dave just in a different way before DSAF 3) Which isn't healthy, but not...inherently abusive.

I believe my main three points kind of cover the most of why I dont consider Davesport to be inherently a bad ship, but like I said- if you don't like it, none of that matters anyways. You dont NEED a reason to like something, and I wont try to convince you why you should ship something because I like it. Just don't hate it just because of what someone else says-- 90% of the dsaf fandom aren't comshippers, and Davesport isn't gross or "toxic /neg" just because it's not healthy. I think "Don't fetishize/romanticize literal abuse like its normal or sexy" and "We should explore more complicated and unhealthy dynamics" can and SHOULD coincide with each other!!!! I think Davesport is great because of how bittersweet it is that these two people finally found solace and acceptance in each other but couldn't get past the self-sabotaging nature of what Henry turned them both into, ultimately making it impossible to work out forever. I think embracing the Davesport makes the (kind of aged) trilogy a lot more enjoyable of an experience and I DO encourage any davesport skeptics to keep an open mind. [Pretend I wrapped this up super nicely I can never do that--- Also this is open for conversation and/or debate, and also yada yada my bad if i said something randomly terrible I have extremely poor social skills lol let me know so I dont do it again yada yada] *Also if anyone doesnt know a situationship is (at least in the context im using it in ive heard other definitions for it but its not a real word so i actually dont care) when 2(or more) people basically treat eachother like lovers but they never communicate this outright and dont technically officially date but like they treat and commit to eachother like a partner would) (So its kind of what all those people who playfully flirt and call each other their spouses as a commited running joke are in)

[yunacoeur]

confessions

a/n: gunwook is p05 and war is over 🫶 also zb1 is a wack name and jay was robbed but anyway!! in order of rank but i might change it to order of age. send me requests if u want lol

content: zb1 x reader, tooth-rotting fluff, technically food is mentioned in yujin’s, literally that’s all this is so cute pls 🥹🫶

zhang hao

he confesses to you. it’s not some big dramatic moment, not the climax of the movie, but somewhere in your guys’ storyline, he says his ‘i love you’ means more than what you’d say to a friend. he tells you how fond he is of you and how he hopes to stay by your side forever.

“you know, i don’t think this is how friends are supposed to act. i think i might like you more than that.”

sung hanbin

he confesses to you. unlike hao’s, his is the big dramatic moment, the climax of the movie. it’s full of suspense and tension, he thinks you feel the same but he’s not really sure of anything these days and his stomach is doing cartwheels. he gives you this big, overdrawn speech about how perfect you are in his eyes and how happy it makes him to be in your life and how he would never take this opportunity for granted- and you use the then the only method you know to shut him up.

“stop playing dirty! that was unfair… okay fine! kiss me again!!”

seok matthew

you confess to him. he’s a love bug, but he’s shy. if you wrote him a hand-written letter confessing feelings for him or told him after getting him a small gift, he will never be able to get over you. he’ll keep that letter or whatever you give him forever. only then will he admit that he feels the same, and maybe leave a post-it note inside your phone case for you to find someday.

“it’s really true? you love me? me?! well.. i guess i have something to confess, too.”

ricky

he confesses to you, in all his shy cat glory. he tries to make this whole elaborate scene, filled with charm to completely blow you away, leave you starstruck. unfortunately, it doesn’t go how he plans, and he’s left to tell you, simply, that he has feelings for you. even in all his embarrassment at his plan not working, he’s the cutest when he’s bashful.

“ah, i.. i meant for that to happen… you know what, forget it- i have feelings for you. there, i said it.”

park gunwook

you confess to him. he wants to confess so badly but every time he tries he just freezes up! he just gets so flustered around you. if you catch him when he’s trying to, just being direct and honest about your feelings will help him to do the same. he’s easily flustered too, but given the opportunity, he will seize it. maybe not in a super ‘cool’ way, but hey, he’s charming at least.

“you like me too??… ah, i already gave myself away, didn’t i? yes, i have feelings for you too.”

kim taerae

you confess to him. he’s a romantic, and he can’t help but want to be romanced, so unfortunately that means you have to go first. the upside is he’ll look at you the whole time with those lovestruck eyes he gives everyone, but this time they’ll be real, have real passion and desire behind them, and you’ll notice. even if he never said a word, you’ll see all of taerae’s feelings plainly laid out on his face.

“you… you have feelings for me?? i- yes, i accept your confession! i want to be with you!”

kim gyuvin

he confesses to you. he’s a fun guy, probably wants to take you out on a date first and show himself off as ‘boyfriend material’ before he confesses to having feelings. he wasn’t even nervous until the last second before he confessed, and then once he did, all those feelings spilled out of his chest.

“i just really like you, okay! you’re so perfect to me and every moment i spend with you is amazing and i don’t ever wanna live without you!… was that too soon?”

kim jiwoong

he confesses to you. doesn’t make a big deal out of it, just tells you and gives you an out of you don’t feel the same. reassures you that nothing will change if you don’t feel the same. but, of course you do, and that silly little smile of his just lights up.

“i think i’m starting to develop feelings for you… let me know if you need time or don’t feel the same, but if you do, i wanna give us a try!”

han yujin

he confesses to you. something small and cute and stereotypical, like leaving a letter in your locker or giving you chocolates. he’ll get flustered and it’ll take him a couple tries, but he will tell you all the little things he loves about you. things you don’t even notice.

“so yeah… i know it’s sudden, but … i think i like you…”

[mahs-dumpster]

"Happy 100th anniversary"

a/n: this is soooo self indulgent please. It's a vignette (written only in dialogue) for Daisy's (my Yuu) birthday jacket card that I just made! I'll be linking it here once I edit this post!

cw: oc x canon (Ruggie x Daisy; they're established to be in a relationship and Daisy has already made her decision to stay in twisted wonderland); dialogue heavy; poor attemps at making this look like a fake translation from a vignette bc I'm delulu

The template for the frames of the paintings can be found here.

Words: around 1k

Happy birthday, Daisy!!

Daisy: To think I'm able to visit a museum like this! I wonder what sort of paintings I'm going to see…

Daisy: I'm expecting to maybe recognize a few from the stories mom used to read to me… let's see if I actually can recognize them!

Daisy: I wonder… is she someone I'm aware of? A lady who constantly cleans her house…

???: That's the princess who inspired the glass slippers you always wear.

Daisy: Huh? Oh, Ruggie! I thought you were all the way on the other side of the museum! 

Ruggie: I was, but then I met Trey and we kinda ended up wandering around until I got here. 

Ruggie: What a coincidence that I found you looking at the painting of the lady who inspired your favorite shoes, shishishi~

Daisy: I guess it is a fun coincidence. Oh, right! Would you mind explaining more about her to me?

Ruggie: Fine! But don't go walking around telling people I've gone soft…

Daisy: No need to worry, I wouldn't even dream of it. 

Ruggie: *sigh* anyway… This lady is the princess that inspired your shoes, do you know the story behind it?

Daisy: Sam only explained to me that the princess who wore them danced with them until midnight… so I guess I don't know much more than that.

Ruggie: Right. Legend says she was an orphan who was forced by her stepmother to become basically a servant.

Ruggie: She cleaned the house all day everyday, was forced to hear awful things by her step family and when she wanted to go to a ball her stepsisters tore down her dress. 

Ruggie: A Fairy Godmother – well, her Fairy Godmother – decided to help her get to a ball, she gave her a gown, a carriage and everything! 

Ruggie: the Prince fell in love with her almost immediately and when she ran away and left her glass slipper fall, he tried it on every lady in the kingdom to find out who his beloved was. Then they got married and she never saw her family again.

Daisy: That’s basically the story of Cendrillon. 

Ruggie: What? Oh– one of the fairytales from your world?

Daisy: Yes. I’ve always admired her story, I reread it a lot growing up because I related to her. 

Ruggie: Ah… you did say your stepmother treated you horribly.

Daisy: She… treated me as best as she could.

Ruggie: Which wasn't anywhere near good enough. 

Daisy: Haha… I guess you're right. 

Daisy: What I mean is just… she treated me badly, but I don't hold grudges. 

Daisy: Whatever she's doing, I forgive her. And now that I'm somewhere better and living a happier life… I hope that her and her children manage to grow as people.

Daisy: That's what my mother taught me. 

Ruggie: …sometimes I really do wonder how I fell for such a goody-goody.

Daisy: W-what’s that supposed to mean?

Ruggie: I’m just saying, you're way too naive and nice to forgive someone like that.

Ruggie: if it were me, I’d never forgive them. No way someone's gonna step all over me and I'll forgive them.

Daisy: because that's exactly what you did to Leona-senpai, huh?

Ruggie: besides the point. 

Daisy: Ruggie, isn't this painting depicting that story you told me about? The ones about the dogs sharing spaghetti?

Ruggie: Oh, that one, yeah! I didn't know they actually painted the scene, who would've thought.

Daisy: They're so adorable, I see now how romantic this is.

Ruggie: I guess? It's still just spaghetti…not only that but it's outside in the middle of the night. I guess for dogs it would be cool but for people? I’d honestly just be excited because it's free food.

Daisy: Oh, come on now! This is super romantic! It's a candlelight dinner under the night sky! 

Daisy: If someone did that for me, I know I’d be pretty happy and satisfied.

Ruggie: You’re just trying to convince me to ask you on a date, aren't you?

Daisy: …

Ruggie: Should’ve figured, shishishi!

Daisy: You can't blame a girl for trying, I’ve been pretty lonely these past few weeks since you’ve been working more than usual.

Daisy: But jokes aside, this right here is already enough. I’m already way less lonely just by walking around this museum with you, it's practically a date!

Ruggie: I don't think a date would consist of everyone from our school coming with us…

Daisy: You get what I mean…

Ruggie: Tell you what, once we get back I’m cooking us both some spaghetti and lighting some candles if that's what you’d like.

Ruggie: If my flower is feeling lonely then I better give her a proper date so she can feel loved, right?

Daisy: You really don't have to… but thanks. I would love to. 

Ruggie: Ah, this one's actually a very famous painting, I’ve seen pictures of it around quite often.

Daisy: R-Really…?

Ruggie: What? You don't believe me?

Ruggie: It ties with Sunset Savannah’s history and with The King of Beasts’s story! 

Daisy: Well, forgive me for not understanding the historical significance of a monkey holding a lion cub…

Ruggie: *sigh* Alright. Lemme explain.

Ruggie: This is a ceremony often done by members of royalty when a new child from the royal family is born. 

Ruggie: It goes so far back even the lions from The King of Beasts’s story did that. They basically present the baby to everyone else in the kingdom… it's kinda hard to explain.

Daisy: Oh, I get it now!

Daisy: I see why it's so famous, seeing how it portrays an aspect of the royalty of Sunset Savannah. 

Ruggie: Eh… I never went to one, as you can imagine.

Daisy: Never? Is it not open to the common folk?

Ruggie: Well yeah, but back when there was one for who I now know is Leona-san's nephew, I was trying to survive.

Ruggie: I didn't have the time to go to a ceremony just to watch a new baby I didn't care about being presented to the whole kingdom.

Ruggie: I’d learn about him regardless, so I just didn't care much.

Daisy: I guess that makes sense.

Daisy: Still, it must be super interesting to see it happening. How cute would it be to see a baby cub being shown to the entire world just like that, hahah! 

Ruggie: Ah– sorry, before I got here I told Leona-san I’d go fetch something for him at the cafeteria in a few minutes… if I don't go now he’s gonna be pissed.

Daisy: Why didn't you tell me sooner?!

Ruggie: Well, ya know– it's impossible to resist spending time with you~

Daisy: Alright there, Romeo, enough! Go before he gets upset. I'll be looking around this area for a while more if you want to come back.

Ruggie: *sigh* ‘kay, I'll be off then! 

Daisy: Hm? Ah, this is another painting of Cendrillon.

Daisy: She looks so much free... I'm happy she got her happy ending.

[olympeline]

Carrying on from this ask and post, let’s talk about omegaverse Arthur’s often lamentable love life. 😳 I’ll start with FrUK and maybe do USUK and some others later if people are interested. The OTP must always be first

I go back and forth on whether I like Francis as a beta or an alpha. In the ScotFrUK variant, I make him a beta so the OT3 can have a nice a/b/o mix. Since I’ve already written about beta Francis there, here I’ll make him alpha for some variety. He’d be a non-traditional one the same way Arthur is a non-traditional omega. Less open aggression and bared teeth, more refinement and poise. Still deadly, though. France was always a naked steel epee under perfumed silk. A sleek hunting dog to other alphas’ snarling wolves.

Francis and Arthur grew up together just like they do in canon. Francis was older and presented first, neatly ticking the alpha box his people hoped and prayed for. Arthur was in childish awe and obviously jelly, something a smug Francis was very aware of. When Arthur presented beta (cough) after loudly insisting he would also be an alpha when his time came, Francis went beyond smug to full blown schadenfreude ecstasy. Here was yet more proof that he was the superior nation. Suck it, little beta Angleterre! You will never be an alpha. Hon hon hon.

Anyhoo, afterwards the two carried on in their normal merry, cross-channel rivalry way. Until the time came for their first truly epic clash: the Hundred Years War. Our scene is set just as the French have found their second wind (here “second wind” means “guns”) and started pushing the English back. Francis meets Arthur on the battlefield and they have their usual duel. Except, even with his newly found advantage, Francis can’t help but notice Arthur is seriously off his game. In fact he fights so badly that Francis not only wins but actually manages to take him prisoner(!) when the English retreat. Something that’s possible but unusual for their kind. As if things weren’t going crap enough for Team Anglo. Now they’ve lost more land and their national personification has been captured. Bloody hell, mate. Bit harsh, all in all.

As much as he’s loving all this, Francis is itching with curiosity as to how it happened. Arthur has proven himself a ferocious opponent over the years but in their last battle he was a joke. Flushed and unsteady, Arthur spent their bout stumbling around like a newborn foal and swinging his sword like a concussed drunk. Francis ran rings around him and it barely took any effort to knock his rival down and pin him. Truly a pitiful display. Francis knows Arthur is many things but a bad fighter isn’t one of them. So he goes to Arthur’s cell to see what’s up. And hopefully get a little more gloating in while he’s at it. Hon hon hon.

Once there, he finds Arthur in a terrible state: collapsed on the floor, delirious, and burning with fever. Francis sends word to his boss, who orders their prisoner transferred to a proper room and treated. If it seems weird he would do this, remember that if Arthur died he’d “regenerate” back in England and the French would lose a very valuable hostage. Arthur ends up in Francis’s bed so Francis can both nurse and keep an eye on him. If Arthur suddenly rallied, no way ordinary French guards could stop him escaping by themselves. Nation-people are strong, yo. Not that Arthur was very strong at that particular moment in time. It’s very odd he’s this sick when - as far as Francis knows - nothing is happening in England to cause it. No plagues, economic disasters, or the like. Arthur’s illness is a real mystery. That is, until Francis gets close enough to scent him. It happens when he climbs into bed for a cuddle. You know our FrUK pair: no matter how spiteful their rivalry, when one of them is really badly off they’ll always band together for support. Arthur is suffering with this fever and so Francis, moved but unable to help in any other way, does the only thing he can and holds him like when they were young.

That’s when he notices the unmistakable scent of pre-heat of a late bloomer. Yeeep, we all saw this coming a mile away, lol. Arthur’s long delayed second sex presentation happened in the worst place possible: the battlefield of an enemy country. Because he’s Arthur Bloody Kirkland and no matter what the universe, he’ll always have the luck of someone who ran over a gypsy every day for the last ten years. He’s still out of it so the classic “You’re an omega!/No, I’m a beta!” convo is even less coherent than you’d expect. The pre-heat moves on to full blown and Francis has to deal with his burning, slicking, still delirious rival trying to kiss his face off and begging to be fucked. His still delirious rival who suddenly has a scent like pure, uncut sex which tests Francis’s self-control like nothing ever has. Fortunately Francis is someone who not only believes that real love only comes with full, sexy consent, but also has a soft spot for omegas and Arthur. It’s tough and every kiss makes his dick feel like it’s going to tear right off his loins, but Francis still refuses to give into his worse urges and take advantage of Arthur when he’s defenceless. It’s a truly ass time for them both (no pun intended) but eventually the heat ebbs and they’re left to deal with the aftermath. Arthur is still weak and disoriented but now he can also add “mortified” and “devastated” to the list. A beta presentation was disappointing, omega is a disaster. Not only that but the frog knows! The frog, who he’s currently losing a war to. The frog, whose bed he’s nesting in. The frog, who Arthur just spent days and nights begging to fuck him. Just kill him now. There’s no coming back from this. Just throw the whole of the British Isles away.

Arthur expects Francis to rake him across the coals for some truly epic blackmail. Only to be shocked when Francis instead is…kind? Kind and…actually reassuring? Promising he won’t tell anyone else if Arthur doesn’t want him to. Arthur can’t believe it. Tries (and fails) to sit up and intimidate Francis into revealing what he’s really up to. But Francis only soothes him again. His soft spot for omegas and the hard life they lead is genuine. He assures Arthur that, rivals though they may be, Francis would never use Arthur’s second sex against him. Such a detestable thing would be below him as the country of love and beauty. Not only is Arthur’s secret safe with Francis, but Francis swears he can always come to him for help if need be. Whatever help he likes, no strings attached. Then Francis presses a soft kiss to Arthur’s forehead and oh dear, oh dear, is some of his heat still clinging on? It must be since Arthur is suddenly hot and dizzy again. Francis is very close and very handsome. Git. Stupid git. Stupid sexy frog git…

Arthur gets back on his feet thanks to Francis’s care and manages to slip away and escape. Yeah, Francis didn’t try very hard to stop him. But, you know, shit’s been tough. Let Arthur have this. A nation-person can’t disobey their boss and Arthur has to come clean when his king asks where the hell he’s been. Resulting in much fury, disgust, and “so that’s why we’re losing this damn war!” leaps of logic from the English rulers. Not much fun for poor Arthur. Ever the disappointment to a royal family who don’t even bother to hide their contempt for what fate has given them. They swear their national personification to secrecy and Arthur starts his long period of faking the second sex they thought he had before. Life goes back to normal, Anglo-French rivalry included, with one notable exception: Arthur takes Francis up on his offer of “help” with his new heats. They’re still Arthur and Francis - still enemies and rivals trying to one-up each other all over the world - but Francis is true to his word. When Arthur needs relief from a bad heat, they meet and Francis takes care of him. They’re nations so no risk of accidental pregnancy. Just good sex and then sprawling, sweaty and sated, in a nest for cuddles and afterglow. Arthur always slips away before Francis wakes up. They never discuss it in their day-to-day rivalry (“The first rule of heat club…”) but the odd truce holds strong for centuries. Only to finally unravel when Francis supports Alfred against Arthur in 1776. The resulting bitterness he feels is so great that Arthur would rather suffer through his heats alone than find relief in Francis’s arms. Things only get worse between them when the Napoleonic Wars roll around. When Arthur brings Francis’s dreams of superpower crashing down, Francis - raging and bitter in turn - lets his thirst for revenge get the better of him. He breaks his word and spitefully reveals Arthur’s secret to the rest of the European powers. The absolute nadir of the FrUK enemies-to-lovers journey? Right here. They never hated each other as much as they did in that moment.

Arthur is mortified, betrayed, and even more driven to prove himself and regain respect on the world stage. Francis’s fury takes a long time to cool and it’s only afterwards that guilt begins to gnaw at him. Vengeful as he was, that blow was still beneath him. He tries to apologise but Arthur brusquely rebuffs every attempt at contact. Things are strained between them even when they become allies during the Crimean War. They work together out of necessity but it takes years, and the rights and standing of omegas starting to improve at last, before the break begins to heal. In the late nineteenth century, Francis happens to be in London when Arthur’s heat comes calling. It’s a bad one made worse by the abuse of newly invented hard suppressants. Arthur had been popping pills like candy because it’s the Victorian Age and medical regulations are still “gentle suggestions” at best. They sold cocaine for headaches bro, lol. Francis sees Arthur once again in a bad state and pounces on his estranged lover/rival. He drags Arthur home and makes him stop taking the suppressants so his body can heal. Arthur feels bad enough in heat and coming down that he agrees to let Francis help him again like he used to. Afterwards, nesting together for the first time in nearly a century, they actually talk. Yes, really. Finally, they talk. About their relationship, their history, their falling out, complicated feelings, and where they go from there. It’s a slow start but a start nonetheless. They make enough progress that Francis goes back to helping Arthur with his heats again. Years pass, things continue to get better, old wounds close and fade, then comes Entente Cordiale, then two world wars, and everything after. Omegas finally win the equality they’ve always been denied. Francis by his side, Arthur makes peace with his second sex at last. At some point, even though it’s Summer, Arthur starts wearing one of his hand knitted scarves. Still his tsundere, embarrassed, self, he wants to hide the mating bite Francis gave him until it heals to a “respectable” scar. Francis wants him to show it off but you know Arthur. Stubborn till the end. Francis loves him anyway. Happily, the feeling is mutual. ❤️

There you have it! My thoughts on how FrUK could work out in Hetalia omegaverse. Hope you enjoyed reading ^^ I wrote so much aaahhhhh I’m embarrassed. This OTP makes me so silly

[danganronpadedication]

DAY 3: DANGANTOBER

Day 3: Favorite THH Character Makoto Naegi is a cutie patootie. End post.

No, but in all seriousness, I love Makoto. I know I spent the majority of last post ranting about how much I love Hajime, but that doesn't mean I love Makoto any less.

I'll be real, I love the THH cast, so it was very difficult to pick a favorite from that group. I was between Celestia, Junko, Byakuya, and Makoto, but Makoto's who I went with. Like with Hajime, I was worried that Makoto would just be an self-insert character, and in-game, he kind of is? But people also misremember him in game. People characterize him all the time as non-confrontational, and just a hopeful, positive person, but he's a lot more nuanced than that.

Let's not forget that Makoto tried to throw hands with Monokuma more than once, that's pretty confrontational to me. While he puts up a front of a positive, hopeful person, he also has his moments of being affected by everything that's happened to him. Seriously, replay the game, he's got a lot more bite to him.

He's the kind of person I'd want to be friends with, he's a very sweet person, who's not afraid to throw down for the people he cares about.

I also really like his sibling relationship with Komaru. If you skipped UDG, I don't blame you, but aside from the obviously weird things happening in that game, there's also a lot of world building and substance. Maybe watch a playthrough, cringe with whoever's playing it, and get that good lore.

You can see it in the anime too, he just lights up when he sees Komaru's transmission go through, because it's confirmation that he still has her around. Up until that point, he wasn't sure if his family was still around, and now he knows he still has his sister. It's very sweet, and the way he has so much faith in her, and knows she's capable to do whatever it is she needs to do.

But it's The End of Hope's Peak anime that really does it in for me, and cements him as one of my favorite characters. I get it, I'm basic. But one of the bigger points I see get brought up about Makoto, is that they don't really explore the trauma that would go along with being in a game like that. Which is false, but it's definitely something the game doesn't really focus on for the sake of plot.

But in the anime, you can really see how much that affects him. Makoto Naegi suffers from survivor's guilt, and it's so incredibly potent. That moment made me so sad, I had to close my computer and actually GO TO SLEEP? That can't be right. Granted, I watched that episode at like, 2AM, but rewatching it in the morning hit just as hard.

Like with Nagito, Bryce Papenbrook really gives his all for Makoto, including in the anime. You hear it all the time, whether he's just giving someone a pep talk, or reacting to the newest death in the game. He's smarter than people give him credit for, like in the fight with Munakata, he figures out his forbidden action and traps him in a situation where he needs to sit down and talk with him, all on his own. I'd say he's more emotionally intelligent, but he's definitely got brains in his little noggin.

Please, I want his Nendoroid so badly. I own a plushie of him in Future Arc, I bought it at a local fair, and he's my prized possession.

On the topic of emotional intelligence, he's very forgiving and compassionate too. One thing you should know about me, is that I love the SDR2 cast, including when they're the Remnants of Despair. They're cool, their designs are cool, and they're CRIMINALLY underused. Makoto is the one who was able to see past the people they had become, and see the hurt people underneath. Most of the world had written them off as despair-laden monsters, but Makoto actually went against the wants of the Future Foundation in order to rehabilitate them.

Even if it causes him issues, Makoto is very caring and will do what's right. His sense of morality is one that is evidently difficult to skew.

And finally, he's a cutie patootie. The rest of this post will be GIFs of him looking adorable.

Lord, let me pinch his cheeks.

-Mod Tsumugi

[lovebirdgames]

Progress Update - October, 2024

It is time…the first Quarterly Progress Update for our next game starts now! And we're kicking it off with a title drop!!! Drum roll, please! Tom, if you will help me out...

That's right! Heartbreaker joins the fray!

For the record that’s not the real logo, just a temporary one that I slapped together.

Before we get into it I would actually like to glance back at the past and detail what our development timeline looked like for Band Camp Boyfriend. It's possible this one might look somewhat similar.

2015-2017 - Writing 2017 - Commissioned art, created social media presence 2018 - Demo released on Itch.io in August Programming hell 2022 - Demo released on Steam 2023 - Full game released

The good news is this isn’t our first rodeo and I’m hopeful there won’t be so many growing pains this time.  We're also doing 4 routes and a shorter common route so that means less suffering for us. The bad news is I worked part-time 2015-2017 so I blazed through writing and now I work full-time…and I’m old…and my memory is failing me…but it’s okay, I’ve forgotten all the pain.

This time around we want to be sure we get all the writing down before we start commissioning art.  We had the tendency to keep going back and asking for more because the game kept getting bigger (saving up money was also a factor). We’re gonna make sure we know exactly what we want this time. We’d also like to save casting voice actors for much later in the process so they aren’t waiting around for years on end. So the demo for this game will not have voice acting. I believe I wrote about this a little before in our post-mortem. We’re learning from our mistakes, woohoo!

That said, this is what we’re hopefully visualizing for Heartbreaker.

2024-2025 - Writing 2026 - Big art commissioning year, a more exciting project reveal, hopefully demo release later in the year! 2027 and on - Programming hell! Casting! Soundtrack fun!

…If this was to line up with BCB that would mean 2031 release. Oh God. No, I wanna release it in this decade, thanks. This is very tentative and we’re determined to not take 7 years this time.

Enough about that! Here is what we’ve worked on this year!

Concept art: Lite was absolutely awesome (as always) and let us have sessions with her in which we worked on concept art of the main cast together. It was super helpful in bringing our visualizations to life and it will definitely aid in writing the story. I can't go on enough about how wonderful Lite is to work with, and it was amazing to watch her go. She would whip up a number of poses, face types, or hairstyles for us to choose from. It was really fun and we're very grateful for the time she spent with us.

The demo: That's right, the demo is written! Woohoo! Unlike Band Camp Boyfriend with its twisting, long-winded common route, Heartbreaker’s common route is a single day! Alex can sigh in relief because that’s one less nightmare in programming for her.

The demo will contain the one-day common route and the first two chapters of two different love interests’ routes (the other two are locked at the start of the game so you’ll just have to admire them from a distance). 

Brainstorming: Ahh my favorite part…talking long walks or going for coffee and coming up with ideas. Brainstorming is ongoing and includes character profiles, world-building, and route outlines. This game has a lot more lore and world-building than BCB, so it’s more of a challenge, but we’re here for it. I've already done a badly-drawn map of the setting. Just need to finish up some profiles for minor characters and do some of my own badly-drawn concept art. Then we move on to fleshing out the route outlines.

The first route: One goal I have is to try and finish writing the first draft of the first route by the end of the year! Which is insane because October is super busy for me, but I'm sure I can buckle down when it gets colder. It's a bit ambitious, but aim high, right?

That's all I got for now! Hope you're all feeling hyped and uh, patient, because we won't be able to show you any cool art for a while. ;v; Thank you so much for sticking by us and we appreciate every single comment that has mentioned looking forward to our next game! Enjoy the rest of 2024!!!

P.S. Today is my mom's birthday and yesterday was my sister's birthday, and also my best friend's birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAYYYY to these very important people. <3

[stardresstaurus]

Recovery Time - A NaLu OneShot

Summary: after a rough battle and the absence of Wendy, Lucy finds it difficult to recover on her own. (also posted on my Wattpad)

This is the first NaLu fic I’ve written since pre-pandemic!

There's a haze among the guild. It's hot, it feels like it's never been warmer. To Lucy, the world has a bit of a shake to it, like the heat is causing the floor and air to boil. She knows that's not the case, however it doesn't keep her from groaning and resting her forehead on the warm, rough surface of the wooden table. She looks down at her thighs and counts the colorful bruises one at a time, the team had returned from a mission the other day but Wendy had been called on to help a group of Magnolia citizens after an attack on the harbor, meaning the group was left to defend for themselves when it came to healing.

She felt some weight place itself next to her at the table. "You okay Lucy," Erza asked her. Erza had managed to be dressed down that day, wearing a t shirt and shorts as she mended her armor.

"Hmm? Yeah, I think so."

"You seem really out of it," Erza stated. She watched Lucy's shoulders slowly rise and fall as her fingers traced a scab on her knee. "I think maybe you should see Porlyusica, something might be wrong." The attention Erza was giving her had been noticed by both Gray and Natsu, who had halted their bickering in order to see what the issue was. When questioned, she simply stated that Lucy was in a daze.

"She's probably just hot," Gray stated, "it is kinda warm out today." Natsu chuckled, hearing Cana make a quip about how the ice boy could actually feel heat, then turning to Juvia saying, "maybe he'll notice the heat you have for him too." Erza placed a hand onto Lucy's shoulder and it was not until the moment when Lucy's body wavered and she had to prop herself up with one of her arms that the rest of the team took the situation seriously.

Natsu took her arm and wrapped it up behind his shoulders, he lifted her as she got to her feet. "C'mon Luce," he said simply. He took her by the arm and helped pull her up onto his back. Lucy didn't have the energy to argue just nodded and said her good-byes to the guild, everyone wishing her well. Happy flew up beside her, concern painted lightly across his face.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"But you're not acting like yourself. Are you hurt that badly?"

"I don't think so," Lucy replied. She thought about it though, maybe she was. But she was so used to getting hurt that the pain was never as bad as it used to be, and she was so used to being healed after a battle that she rarely had to go through a recovery process anymore. Maybe that was the issue, her body wasn't able to recover quickly on its own anymore. "Where are we going?" She asked. Her question had Natsu stop in his tracks.

"I have no idea."

"What do you mean you have no idea?"

"I kinda just assumed we'd end up somewhere."

Lucy groaned, "let's just go to my apartment." The walk there Happy hovered above, continuously asking Lucy questions about how she was doing. She responded as best as she could, but a part of her wanted him to just be quiet, even for a few minutes. She hoped Natsu would say something, but if he said anything it was a question that followed up Happy's. He did fall silent, however, along the river. Lucy rested her cheek against his back and watch the rays of sunlight flicker off the miniature waves of water. Magnolia was quiet this afternoon. Over the sounds of the water flowing against the stone boundaries, she listened to the wooden wheels of carts creek to and from the market. The peacefulness of it all, had Lucy yearning for sleep, despite Natsu's grip on her, keeping her from falling off. On his back, his hands were clenched onto her thighs. If she hadn't been as tired as she was in that moment, she may have tried to shout at him to move his hands. But in this moment, she was happy for the moment of intimacy. It was always easier to be close to him when no one was around.

Not necessarily sexual, no. Really just the feeling of having someone so close, that you cared so much for and who cared so much for you, being able to show that care in more than just words. Words can be faked, but there was some truth in the physical acts. She turned her head so her face was directly on his back. With her eyes closed, she could smell him. He smelled burnt, but not like faded campfire or grilled barbecue like he normally did. It reminded her of a cologne her dad used to wear when her mother was still alive, like sage and bergamot. But there was a spice to him, because of course there was, it was Natsu.

Without much thought she turned her face from the river view into his hair, which felt soft against her skin. She took in a deep breath, cinnamon. With her eyes closed, she nuzzled against him. An act that, if she were in better shape, she would have been embarrassed to do. Normally, she was  determined to hide her affections. Today however was different. Let me have this, she thought. "Lucy?" 

"Hm?" She perked up, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Can I have your key?"

As she dug her key out of her pocket she tried to get off his back, but Natsu tightened his grip. It was a silent disagreement. He carried her up to her apartment, not letting her down until they were inside. Once her feet were on the ground, she trudged to her bathroom, forcing down any feeling of anxiety or embarrassment she had. A bath would help, she told herself.

The boy and the cat had settled themselves on her living room floor, Happy sighed gratefully as he plugged in the fan and it was brought to a monotonous life. She could hear the two mumble at each other like a pair of birds on a railing as she turned on her faucet. The somewhat warm water invigorated the soap and bubbles began to build across the surface. Taking off the clothes that stuck to her skin like glue from the sweat, she slowly let herself slip into the tub, the calm of the water enveloped her like a blanket fresh out of the dryer. Resting on her side, she hummed a soft tune to herself, purely out of comfort, and watched her bathroom door. 

As she tried to focus on anything else, her anxieties came back tenfold. He's your friend, a teammate, you can't have these kinds of feelings. Of course, she had no idea that Natsu was sitting outside, thinking about how it felt to have his partner's lips pressed against him through the collar of his jacket. Of course, neither of them were on the same page. Lucy tried to focus again on the door as she tried to remember the lyrics to a song. You're holding me and holding back, I don't really care for that, just you. She had noticed for the first time the paint around the frame was beginning to chip. Her eyes began to hood themselves as she soaked, all the comfort in that moment could only bring her so much energy.

When she opened her eyes again, however, she was shivering. Her immediate thought was to get out of the bath but as she took in her surroundings, she realized she was already in her bed. In one of her spare nightgowns her duvet was sprawled across her, with an extra blanket on top. As her body continued to shake she pulled the blanket up to her chin and curled her legs up to her chest.

"You fell asleep in the tub," a voice from the kitchen said. Natsu leaned out so she could see him.

The events began to process in Lucy's mind. "You saw me naked? You dressed me?"

"You ask that like it's never happened before." He had gone back into the kitchen, she could hear water boiling in her kettle. Why did he have to be so nonchalant about it, every time. 

"Don't blow up my kitchen!"

"I know how to make tea!" He said, replicating the energy she had in her concern. He reappeared with two mugs of tea, holding both by the rim rather than the handle. He handed one to Lucy who took it with many thanks. She sat up, resting against her headboard and pillow as Natsu sat at the edge of the bed. With her mug brought up to her lips, she kept her gaze on him, watching his movements. He seemed focused on something. Not really staring at anything in particular, his gaze was steady as his eyes glazed over. 

"Where'd Happy go?" Lucy asked after taking a long sip of her tea. He seemed to be brought back to reality at the sound of her voice. 

"Huh? Oh, He went to see Wendy and Carla. He wanted to see if she could help you." Lucy couldn't tell, but Natsu had been especially worried. Ever since Tartaros, he had become aware of sensitive he was to Lucy's well being. She was strong, a terrific fighter and a great friend. But once he realized it was possible to loose her forever, every battle and every hit felt almost like a step closer to an end. He took the time to try to be closer and more attentive to her well being. 

To be perfectly honest, he was even happy just being in her apartment. When he first started barging in, it was purely because he wanted to be with his friend and her apartment was always a clean, welcoming space. Now it felt like a seclusion, a comfort in a world that willing to erase anything and everything. It was a space that had become synonymous with safety to him. He almost indulged the soft, sweet, floral scent of the apartment and the golden light that fell through the bare wooden framed windows. 

He felt a tug on the blanket he was sitting on and turning his gaze towards Lucy he noticed her moving closer to the edge of her bed and lifting up the corner of her duvet, she was making room for him. He moved up the bed and sat next to her as she flipped the corner over his lap. 

"Thank you for taking care of me today," she said, "I know it's probably not how you wanted to spend your afternoon." 

"Don't worry about it, it's probably for the best anyway." He said, taking a sip from his mug. Immediately embarrassed, and gradually becoming annoyed, Lucy looked into the depths of her mug. 

"You're welcome to leave, if Happy shows up here again I'll let him know you left." She expected him to say, in a minute, or to take the opportunity to go back to the guild. Anything but what he did. He slid his right arm under and around her left, the rough canvas of the bandages rubbed against her soft skin. He leaned his head to the side, resting it against her. In that moment, they were simply two tired teammates allowing themselves to rest against each other. 

Natsu wondered how small she was. Not that she was tiny, but compared to him she was like a china doll. Porcelain limbs and shinning glass eyes, a woman who should have been kept on a pedestal rather than thrown into a battlefield. But, then again, Lucy had personally jumped from that pedestal. Personally thrown herself in the most dangerous situations, often for the people she cared so deeply for. And after everything, the cracks in the glass would heal and the eyes would widen again. She would always be the stronger than he ever knew, and he knew she could do anything. 

He would never admit it, but he was worried this time. When all was said and done after the job, he couldn't find Lucy at the end. In recent months she would always be there at the end, offering him a hand or support. She wasn't this time. He had found her in the woods, propped up against a hollowing tree, gazing at him and smiled. The words, you're okay, I'm so glad! came out as a whisper, he hardly heard her. She had fallen asleep against him as he carried her back to meet with the rest of the team. The whole trip home, she only said a few words to him. He hoped she would've been better today. But she was still only a faded version of her usual self. 

Lucy moved her hand towards his, running her thumb back and forth across his palm. Things can go back to normal later. For now she was at peace enjoying his company, and he was at peace knowing she was there. 

[hexenmond]

dividers in fanfiction: experimenting with screen readers

So I wrote up this tutorial on pretty AND accessible dividers for fanfiction (focusing on AO3, but this goes for every piece of text on the internet that has a divider somewhere). I confidently proclaimed that using an hr element instead of some random characters is the better way to do it, to accommodate screen reader users – but I had never actually tried it for myself.

I wanted to remedy that and took some time to experiment with a screen reader (Orca, because that was easiest for me to get my hands on). Setting that up was actually a bit of a hassle, so I captured the audio output to post it here, and you can hear for yourself what I'm talking about without having to bother with technology and then you can make up your mind about how you want to handle dividers in your own works.

I picked three pieces of fanfiction on AO3 that I knew off the top of my head had characters as dividers in them (because I love them! so much!!), selected a bit of text with the divider in the middle, and had Orca read it out to me. Here are the results:

Example #1: simple dreams of comfort by softestpunk

I tried this one first, and it confirmed my guess: the screen reader simply reads out the characters as it can't tell what they're supposed to mean.

Example #2: Pretending! Unless… by Aria_Lerendeair

This was up next, same thing in principle. Here I also found out that empty paragraphs are a little bit unwieldy if I wanted Orca to read the selected text. And also I was starting to get used to the voice by now.

Example #3: Tower and Rose by Moorishflower

Same thing, Orca reads "plusplusplus". As a bonus I discovered what happens when there is a full stop missing (did you catch it?). And this was also when I realised that I really could get used to that objectively awful reading voice. Like, if my other options were more tiring, or I had none? I'd probably try different readers, and I'd spend a lot of time tweaking the settings (there are SO MANY SETTINGS), and then I'd enjoy my favourite fics anyway.

And how does an actual hr divider get read?

Orca by default reads it as "separator". Which is not all that great either in my opinion, BUT I could teach it to just read it as a three second pause. Or make it say "skip" or whatever I like. That would be fairly easy to do, but teaching it how to read every random string of characters – not so much.

So, bottom line? It's less problematic than I thought. Sure, "asteriskasteriskasterisk" in the middle of a story doesn't sound nice. But I could get used to that meaning "separator". Brains are flexible like that. It does increase cognitive load a little, but not that badly I think. (Cognitive load is useful a concept, I'll write more about that soon.)

If you have published on AO3 and you'd like to convert to hr elements in your works (those can also be styled to look very nice!), I wrote a step by step tutorial on how to safely and easily replace the random characters with hr elements. If you use it, let me know how it worked for you! Constructive criticism very welcome 🙃

Oh and: I actually made a cool tool that lets you push sliders around instead of fiddling with code! Go ahead and design some lovely dividers for yourself. No CSS skills required, just copypaste the resulting code into your work skin!

@softest-punk, @aria-lerendeair, @moorishflower:

I hope this does not make you feel put on the spot (not at all my intention), but maybe rather a little flattered as I really did know those three fics sufficiently well to remember they had different strings of text as dividers. It's not quite the same as someone making fanart but… right now I'm just loads better at coding than at drawing. So, do with this possibly newfound knowledge as you will! And also whenever you will, I imagine you've all JUST come out the other end of Dreamling Week, phew… I am writing this with much love for you and your fics 🥰🥰🥰

[the-s1lly-corner]

Give me the GOODS

Angst

What would happen if eyeless jack didn't eat for a REAAALL long time, like he put it off and that back fired.

Bc his s/o happened to come around at the wrong time, and got attacked by him (accidentally)

If they live or die, that's up to you. But what do you think?

Aftermath of Eyeless Jack accidentally harming the reader during a frenzy

two things; idk how to title this andddddd i already wrote something like this a few months ago but i think im going to add more to it! beware linked post is very badly written because ! uhuh! anyways errrrm jack being an involuntary vessel for some funky demon shit my beloved hc anyways obvious cw for mentions of. well jack harming the reader on accident; in this post and the one linked above first post of the new year and its angst

assuming this is right after the events of the linked post, or within the days following that i think he would bar you from entering his cabin not long after he gets his... "meal"

emotions are definitely running high in this one, even if he tries not to show it. i mean you were the one he decided to bite a chunk out of, he doesnt care that he immediately spit it out. he didnt care that he scraped his tongue clean that night. in his eyes (or rather, his empty sockets) what he did was truly unforgiveable and he always feared something like this would happen

all of the reassurances you gave him now meant nothing now

honestly i think this might be grounds for him to break up with you; you did nothing wrong. hes putting all the blame on himself

torn between him having the balls to break up with you to your face or if hes going to pussy out and tell you through the door when you try to ask him to let you in

hell if it comes down to it he might even migrate to a new area if you keep trying to come to him and try to talk things out

heres the thing i talk a lot about how jack hates himself and how he was tricked into this whole botched human sacrifice thing that made him the way he is now. but i dont talk much about just how much he hates himself and how much of a toll that takes on his mental health

i mean think about it, overtime his humanity is literally slipping from him and theres nothing he can do. his 'blood frenzies' as i like to call him are eventually going to get worse and more frequent. not to mention hes going to keep losing more of his human features as time goes on. can you imagine what that does to someone? one day hes going to forget who you are and its going to end in disaster; assuming youre still alive and well when that happens... be it because he simply outlives you thanks to his new pseudo-immortality or worse

im kind of getting off topic but the point is hes going to sit in those thoughts and feelings for a LONG time, really for as long as hes still capable to form a coherent thoughts that isnt about his next meal

like the last post had at least a little bit of hope that maybe you guys will be able to move forward, but the more that i think about it i dont think you guys can bounce back from it. at least jack cant. doesnt matter how much you try to tell him its okay, or how many times you reassure him. if you dont scar its not going to help at all

but if the wound does scar? oh boy thats just going to make him sink deeper into his thoughts, probably making him lean more of cutting himself out of your life

no happy endings for you guys the moment this man slips up around you

[so-bitya]

As someone who likes the character of Elizabeth and well to some extent Cielizzy. I think something people should take into account is that they both don't know each other deeply and only have an idea of ​​what the other is.

I think what happened from Lizzy's "betrayal" to Ciel is important. Because first he makes Ciel deal with the consequences of lying to everyone he knows. Yes he have good reasons to lie but that doesn't mean people will be any less upset with Ciel because He openly LIED to their faces and even more so considering that he used the identity of his "dead" brother.

Lizzy makes sense in feeling hurt and betrayed because first they lied to her face and played with her feelings. But it is necessary because she must finally question why she "loves" Ciel. And what meaning does her indentity and life have next to Ciel (who she really doesn't know at all) I hope Lizzy can finally decide what she wants for herself and not what she expects from her and decides to return to Ciel (or Sirius?) and maybe finally THEY CAN SPEAK THINGS WITH THE TRUTH And well, maybe Lizzy will finally decide BY OWN DECISION to love Ciel/Sirius.🩷 And as for Ciel, I'm not sure how things will be on his side, but maybe he'll finally know and understand Elizabeth, and well, who knows, maybe he'll appreciate Lizzy more. 💙

Although knowing Yana I have the feeling that this could end very badly and painfully 💔But well just my thoughts I love your content of Elizabeth and Ciel 💕hasta aquí mi reporte Joaquín 👍

YES! this is everything I find interesting about them. that Ciel and Lizzy only know an idea of each other. they both hide behind masks and rely on each other for their identity as "Ciel" and "Lizzy". they've both been using each other to play their roles, but that's what makes their bond so strong to me? because that constant devotion, even when it comes to sacrificing themselves, is their sense of love.

And the betrayal!! that's what i don't understand fandom, the betrayal was incredibly well-written! fans just place the burden of the relationship on Lizzy constantly "oh she should've just asked first, how could she not trust him?" um... why would he answer her. why would she ask him?? her not trusting him is what kicked off this arc! how could they ever be honest with each other when this whole time they've been playing pretend!

and that's what im trying to get to here, that Lizzy's just like Ciel. she placed all her pride on being a fiancee, made an identity out of it. "how could Lizzy lie? how could she not trust him?" well just like how Ciel lied! like how Ciel didn't trust her, she's mirroring him! she repaid him for how he lied to her for all 4 years in one fell swoop! people cry about her not communicating, but this was the best way for her to communicate. how it felt for all those years not to matter, the humiliation of being lied to, the betrayal.

and im looking forward to them meeting again and speaking honestly for once. i like how you pointed out, it wont be just Lizzy coming to understand Ciel (the burden still falling on her) but Ciel coming to understand her too! how tragic it'll end up, i cant say for sure, I feel like Kuro kinda lost it's edge (i know, snake and agni, but an even more prominent character needs to die before i change my mind) ...and yana does have a soft spot for Ciel and Lizzy. however it turns out, as long as the characters are giving justice im happy.

anyway thanks for enjoying my writing lol, its kinda all over the place lol, but im planning more bigger posts in the future. i hope you'll enjoy them 🤞🏽💕

[additiva]

Y'all. Having a (different) interesting comment exchange on the last chap of Frechheit. Much more pleasant this time, the most respect and kindness to this lovely commenter.

Would be interested to hear other people's perspectives on this -- on your experience of reading these themes in the fic.

Of course what I try to write and what you guys read are not always the same thing.

Feel free to scroll past, but alternatively, lemme know what you think/what your experience was/is this makes sense. Can comment or DM or anonymously ask, or comment anon on the thread on AO3 if you prefer.

I've put it below the cut.

Here's the lovely comment from OP:

I appreciate your willingness to hear me out on this! I can’t speak for all readers of course, but this is where I am coming from:

When SA was first introduced in the fic, I didn’t think anything of it beyond, “I see how this trope fits this vibe”. As you said here, we have a young pretty desirable Charles who’s made himself such a hot commodity and doesn’t want to rock the boat. It makes perfect sense to me narratively as a fic trope, and lends itself to various hurt/comfort scenarios. I thought it was successful as a plot point.

What I found really jarring was the jump from that to the plotline being used as a jump-off point for a broader conversation about systemic abuse in F1. As you said in that same post, F1 does have issues with abuse of power, but I struggle to see it as a solid parallel because… drivers aren’t the victims. (I think there are criticisms to be made about the commodification of athletes’ bodies in sports, but sexual assault is not a systemic issues from which male F1 drivers suffer). Being blunt, they’re more likely to be the entitled rich men making people around them uncomfortable rather than the other way around. (This isn’t about Charles or Max specifically; I mean it in a systemic way) Obviously RPF fic is all about picking and choosing which part of the sport we want to engage with, but I found the bait-and-switch from what was essentially a whumpy trope (which lives firmly in the ‘fictional’ real of my mind) to “Okay let’s get more #real about this” really jarring. I remember I had to walk it off, and it wasn’t because the fic included SA. It was because the story framework shifted, and a fictional SA plot point suddenly became in dialogue with real life sexual assault. It jolted me out of the story, and I didn’t comment on that chapter because I didn’t know what to say; even after the chapter settled with me, I felt (and still do) not wholly at ease that real-life systemic abuse that is so rooted in misogyny (regardless of sexual orientation, patriarchy means that the people overwhelmingly most likely to suffer when abuse of power turns sexual are women) was used to reinforce what’s essentially a fictional plot point. I hope it’s not overstepping of me to say this in particular, because I understand that plot point is a way you as the author chose to work through your feelings wrt that particular situation. I think I would have been less affected by a fic that had framed itself from the start as less nuanced and a ‘breezier’ read, but so many things in Frec are very well-reasoned and ask the reader to engage with the story on a deeper level, and to immerse themselves in the world of the fic. So my experience was like… I started reading the fic and I gladly suspended my disbelief going down the plotline where shady F1 sponsors systematically preying on pretty drivers is an actual societal issue; this is fiction and it’s extremely well written, why not. And then I felt like I was suddenly bait-and-switched with “real life misogynistic abuse is being introduced as a way to reinforce this plot point from which a RL straight man who’s being fictionalized as queer now suffers”, and it shattered the barrier between RPF and RL, badly. It made me expect much different things from the story and its characters. It’s suddenly turning the RPF version of a prominent fic character into his real-life abusive counterpart, and it’s making the character I was previously rooting for inherently complicit. And it’s making the kind of demographic who, irl, are more likely to be the guys holding up the structures of systemic abuse into the victims. After that, the Horner side of the plotline was kinda dropped until the very end, which makes total sense from a storytelling point of view, but it means that readers never actually get closure from the role that fic!Max now plays in it.

I really hope this doesn’t feel like a takedown of your story, because I enjoyed the fic a lot before that, and I can enjoy some parts of it after. But since I brought up this whole thing to begin with because you’ve said that some chapters got a weaker response, I will say: as a reader, I wouldn’t balk at a darkfic about poor Charles being victimized by evil sponsors and burning Ferrari to the ground after, if it introduced itself as a darker, whumpy fic from the start, and was straightforward about the nature of the work. There IS an audience for those fics and I don’t think you should worry about lack of response. It’s just that I (speaking for myself but I doubt I’m the only one) would struggle to connect with a story if it started drawing explicit parallels between a dark plot point and anything IRL, because it would yank me back to the real world hard, and shift my mind back into a mode where I am far more critical about the way said abuse is framed and discussed.

(If relevant, I also DO enjoy fics that are upfront in addressing the inherent dark nature of F1 more realistically, but once again I prefer it when they are upfront about it from the start, and skirt closer to what’s more plausible. For example: a fic reckoning with abuse of powers in F1 where the drivers are shown more explicitly to be part of the problem — this one comes to mind; or a Rule 63 fic where the Charles going through years of brushes with SA was a woman. I understand if you personally don’t want to go there, most fics choose not to, but I think if a fictionalized story chooses to engage with those specific RL issues, that can only be done effectively by being upfront about the reality that those issues exist within the context of a patriarchal society.)

This is probably a mess of a comment and if it feels unnecessarily harsh please feel free to delete and never address it if you’d rather. I hope this won’t demotivate you as a writer and that the thousands of (deserved) praise comments on this fic can keep your spirit high. But I hope these thoughts can have some value for you as a writer going forward and that’s why I am sharing them

And this is what I've replied:

(ignore the formatting tags sorry)

<p>Ooh okay this is interesting. I want to try to phrase this right. It'll be a 2 parter. Tell me what you think after reading. </p>

<p>So yes. You're right. I'm a she/her, so I'm very well aware of the horrors of misogyny. Patriarchy is a huge part of this issue in real life, and it's tied deeply into misogyny. And that's true of the real life Christian Horner Situation too.</p>

<p>In my writing, things have obviously come across to you as using the real life situation to reinforce a fictional plot point, and although it does function that way, that wasn't my intention.</p>

<p>Frechheit is fiction. That's absolutely true. But it's based in an extrapolation of truth, at all stages, even if it's not obvious at every stage. It was never about putting the names of random people onto a completely unrelated situation. It's an abstracted exploration of real life themes in F1 and in the real drivers' public lives. I don't pretend to know them or know their private lives, but it's a reflection of the versions of themselves they present, and an exploration of that in a variety of ways.</p>

<p>I can understand why it would be jarring and frustrating to feel like misogyny as an issue is being ignored just to further a plot point, torture a character, and create shock value.<br />

Obviously there is an element of shock value, but to me, it's actually the reverse. Charles in this is a proxy-female character. In the absence of a prominent female character (sorry, Frech does not pass the Bechdel test, I know. I'm ashamed), Charles serves as a proxy. He's afflicted by many of the key features that I consider as underpinning patriarchal oppression.<br />

He's someone for whom beauty and appearance hold a lot of weight. He's someone whose career and success depend on being likeable, so much so that his talent is consistently underestimated. His successes are often attributed to luck, rather than skill. He suffers the victim narrative, and the press constantly overlook his intelligence and agency. That's why no one can fathom him as a manipulative figure, except Max.</p>

<p>He encounters benevolent sexism, in that he suffers with others trying to protect him, rather than respecting his decisions and agency.</p>

<p>Sexually, he's also positioned in a more feminine-coded role, which causes Max to also struggle to conceptualise Charles as the full, complex human being he is. Max has to learn to stop infantilising him, even when he's already deeply emotionally attached. He already loves him, but he has to learn to respect him.</p>

<p>Charles obviously weaponises his feminine traits, but he's been forced to do so, to succeed.</p>

<p>One purpose of having Charles in this role is that, throughout the story, he's gradually positioned to represent the vulnerable people Max has previously disregarded - in this case, the woman at Red Bull.</p>

<p>Max is never going to experience misogyny. Charles is also never going to have the full experience of it, but he experiences some elements in this fic.<br />

But in this case, because he's male, I simplified the language of it to: abuses of power, which is a wider societal issue that, to me, encompass misogyny and other forms of bigotry (e.g. homophobia, which they also face briefly).<br />

One purpose of having Charles experience this is to bring it closer to Max, who has no opportunity to be directly affected by it, as a (gay) man with wealth and power.<br />

It's actually to demonstrate to Max that he, and the people he cares about are all vulnerable to harm from the systemic problems in the sport, that he specifically has ignored opportunities to improve. Even when he's thinking about how Charles is talented enough to have made it without all this, then thinks about his dad's influence, he's realising that he would also have been vulnerable to these things, if he'd not had the advantages his dad's history brought. Talent isn't enough.</p>

<p>Previously, to this Max, and to the rest of them, it was a far removed issue. He wasn't personally or emotionally affected by it. It was, as Charles says, a distraction from the important thing - the driving. He didn't have any concept of the scale of the harm to the individual people involved, because he had to cultural access to the experiences of women in that position.</p>

<p>The purpose of having Charles experience this, was to bring it closer to Max, and force him to question his own past perspectives and behaviour.<br />

As Charles says: what's the difference this time? Would it be fine if he was a woman? Or if he wasn't a driver? Or if he wasn't with Max?</p>

<p>And because Max cares so deeply for Charles, his answer to those questions is no. There's no circumstances under which Charles, or anyone, should ever have to be faced with any of these issues. There's no world in which these issues should be allowed to continue to exist, and be facilitated by the system.<br />

And that forces him to reconsider his previous perspective as a bystander.</p>

<p>The whole fic, Max is wrestling with realising that the world is a lot more complicated than he realised. And for all of his faults, Charles knows that much better than he does. But Max is trying to learn - at first to defeat Charles, and then to help him, and THEN because it's the right thing to do.</p>

<p>It's intentional that Christian is a positive character the rest of the time. In THAT chapter, he hugs Max and reinforces his unconditional support for him. It's intentional, because Max is our narrator, and these things aren't black and white. No one is all good or all bad. That's true in real life too.<br />

So suddenly Max is forced to recognise that just because someone is good to him, doesn't mean they're without faults. It forces him to recognise that his comfort, and the comfort of people he loves, are contributing to the harm other people are suffering under the system they live in. And the only reason he can have that realisation is because his emotional attachment to Charles is strong enough to force him to do that work. Only his love for Charles is enough to force him to scrutinized himself and his own loved ones.</p>

<p>He recognises that if he'd taken steps to protect others in the past, he'd have protected Charles, too. But he didn't, because he didn't feel its proximity to him.</p>

<p>And I think that's a major issue for many people. Any issue is easy to ignore, when you're not immediately affected by it.</p>

<p>So in this case, Max comes to understand how he failed that woman at Red Bull, BECAUSE Charles uses himself as a symbol of vulnerable people.<br />

The point is that it's always been a problem, but it had to come so close to Max for him to see it and recognise it as such.<br />

He wasn't a bad person, he was just ignorant. Like a lot of people.</p>

<p>And actually, Charles is also sort of complicit in the system, even as a victim. He accepts the harm he's experiencing as an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice to reach his ultimate goal, and in doing so, he also sacrifices a potential opportunity to help those even more marginalised than him. Again, it's only when he recognises obvious evidence that it's affecting other people he loves, that he accepts that he needs to be a part of changing the system, rather than trying to thrive within it.</p>

<p>The Horner plot point is then dropped, because Max has to spend time reconciling it in his head.<br />

And yes, it's narratively convenient to say that Charles wants to focus on the championship, as he always wanted to, and so that's what they do. And also I wanted to story to end on a relatively lighter note and have them return to their old dynamic in some way, stronger for having come through these difficulties together.</p>

<p>I know it's an unpleasant shock, to suddenly have negative things unveiled about characters you'd been liking or rooting for, but that was also intentional. Because again, no one is all good or all bad. Frech does, for the most part, present a rosy view of most characters, to soften the blow of a lot of the themes.</p>

<p>But throughout the fic, Max is having his worldview broken down. He's recognising that nothing is simple. None of his relationships are simple, the world he lives in is not simple, and he himself is also not simple. He's also not a pure protagonist. He has to wrestle with his own failures. He has to wrestle with the depth of Charles' manipulations, whilst still loving him.</p>

<p>And you're right that the drivers etc irl are more likely to be part of the problem. Max represents that in this story. Again, as someone we've come to love, but who needs to recognise his failures and do better.</p>

<p>It's not impossible to me that young drivers could genuinely suffer these harms - I DO think they'd hide it. It's obviously more common with female athletes, but it's not limited to female athletes. It's exacerbated by misogyny, but to me, the overarching issue is abuse of power, not limited by gender. When a system allows people to take advantage, they will.</p>

<p>The aim isn't to minimise the role of misogyny, and the oppression feminine-presenting people experience. The purpose was so introduce it in a slightly subtler way and position this very familiar, much loved character (who were already attached to) as a representative of all victims of the system. THEN to reveal him as a representative of that, when Max (and we) are already so invested that the emotional labour of empathizing with that woman and other potential victims, is unavoidable.</p>

<p>One other thing of importance is that I didn't want to belabour the Christian Horner Situation too much, because we don't know the full, nuanced truth of it and I don't want to sensationalize it or misrepresent it. So the description of it remains vague, in that it's a situation Charles identifies with, regardless of the details.</p>

<p>I wasn't really trying to use SA as just a whumpy plot point in this fic, which is why Charles doesn't go through worse, although obviously it also serves that purpose. No disrespect to that, people can explore themes however they want. But I was trying to explore it in a broader, more nuanced, considered way that's more about the system that facilitates it.</p>

I think fanfic is valuable to look at the real world in a slightly more oblique way. Yes I could've written an exploration of sexual harrassment with a rule-63, but in some ways that would be overly stereotyped, to me. In some ways, that would reinforce it as a female issue. And yes, it disproportionately affects women. But it's not an issue with women. It's an issue with men. It's an issue with predators.

The purpose of it in this fic is to broaden the relevance and impact of it, and make characters face the irl issues in different ways.

It's just one of the elements of the fic, so it's not going to be a perfect, complete exploration of it. It's not even REALLY the main theme, to me. It's just part of Charles' story that I tried to treat in a deliberate way.

I know a lot of people like fic to signpost exactly what's inside, and broadcast it from the start.

That's never going to be me.

I'm presenting a reality as a character is experiencing it, which is why I write in the way I do. It's intentional. There's foreshadowing, but the characters don't know what's coming, and neither do the readers. It's meant to feel more immediate. It's meant to be immersive and intense.

And maybe I suceed, maybe I don't.

I fully understand why you'd have felt uncomfortable, when these themes have come across to you in that way. That's very reasonable.

Ultimately though, I did write it in an intentional way, which I hope I've explained here. Maybe it didn't come across in that way, the first thing I've ever written was Straight-ish, less than 12 months ago, so I'm still learning.

Maybe it will come across that way on a re-read once the details come together, or maybe it won't.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else had any thoughts on this. Whether my intentions came across, or whether lots of people also had the experience of reading it that you had.