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#you’re here on tumblr you get it i don’t need to explain myself further
fiveredlights · 3 months
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neil-gaiman · 5 months
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Hi Neil.
I know you are flooded with asks and this somehow became extremely long. Too long. “Why am I suddenly telling this poor man my life story?” too long. “I think I’d rather he work on the GO3 script than read this wild beast” too long. “He’s going to think you’re criminally dangerously insane” too long. If you never get to it, I’m good with never seeing a response from you. Maybe it’s better that way? Maybe an anon would have been nice here. But, it’s 2024, so I say “we ball.” It’s a privilege to be able to send this to you at all. You get a lot to this effect and I hope they give you good feels, so maybe what’s the harm, yeah? Because this is not an ask. This is a thank you letter.
First, thanks for reblogging my therapist post, I hope it amused you. I nearly sent you “How am i supposed to explain this to my therapist?!” But refrained. At that time.
So, therapy. What is therapy really? Well…
Things have been really rotten for as long as I can remember. Bad health, bad doctors, bad relationships, bad coping mechanisms, bad all kinds of things. (Yeah, bad is a weak and unhelpful word, my therapist reminds me, but we’re doing this.)
Well, things got even more really really rotten and BAD these last few years. Health declined further, coping mechanisms declined further and more intensely, packed up my life, applied for disability, moved back in with my parents across the country.
Then 4 years ago last week I watched my fiance die of a sudden heart attack. I was 29. Two years later my best friend died. Then last summer I sauntered vaguely into a cancer scare. Not long before an operation my cat who has been my companion through so much garbage died as well. I’m not entirely in the clear on the cancer scare front. All my attempts at going back to work, volunteering, going to grad school - they collapsed on me because I couldn’t get through this STUFF.
(Sometimes when I talk about this, when I tell people, I think “they are going to think you are a raging pathological liar.” Because I’m not sure I would believe someone if they told me all of this happened to them. In such a short time period. All before they were 35. And hell if that hasn’t been isolating. You know how it sounds? Lonely. And it is.)
I did the hypervigilant and sensation/experience chasing stage of PTSD. It got me in a lot of trouble in all kinds of ways. I had to do a lot of medical and psych advocating because things kept getting worse. That was exhausting. Then that peaked. I went into the thick of the “I feel absolutely nothing” stage for a long time. I didn’t feel fatigue or hunger or thirst. Not people, feelings, a reason. Not hope.
But of course, like seems be for a lot of us, I somehow found Good Omens at just the right time. I was a very “I’m so cool and intellectual I mostly consume non-fiction media” person for too long. Like, what? How is that even a real thing? And it wasn’t real. It was just part of this curated autism mask that I don’t think anyone really bought anyway.
I think I got to a point where I’d just had too much reality. I needed fantasy. I didn’t realize I always needed it. But I denied myself for too many odd and painful reasons. Maybe I thought it was an escape I didn’t deserve.
But as it turns out, it wasn’t an escape. I watched both seasons last fall, and then this light came on. I watched it again and again.
I came to tumblr because I needed more. I found this fandom. I stepped into this beautiful world of fanart and fanfiction and brain flexing meta writing and a sense of community and wonder that you and Terry created - that everyone involved in the show inflated - exploded in the right way - like fireworks if fireworks were some kind of autocatalytic reaction - a self perpetuating force.
It’s not a “saved my life” feeling. Not a “getting my life back” feeling. It’s been a “maybe it’s time for you to have the life you’ve always been denied - that you’ve denied yourself” feeling.
I’m creating. I’m not “great” yet. Not terribly “good” at all. Maybe “behind” as far as the “proper” timeline for starting. I know there isn’t one, not really, but boy does that society machine make ya feel like there is. And sure, I started and stopped a lot in the past. But the second it got hard I always gave up. I felt like if I didn’t get it “right” to begin with, then I just didn’t have it in me at all. But for once I’m really in it. I’m writing and trying to draw things that look less like fever dream five year old drawings. (Not that there’s anything wrong with those, is there? 🙃) I’m eating better. I’m sleeping better. I reach out to old friends more. I’ve made new friends who share this love of Good Omens.
My therapist has been floored by the change in me. After that first funny mini flop, he has been so encouraging about it. I saw him this week and I said “Maybe this is helping me get prepared to start living again. Maybe it’s a springboard.” And he honest to god said “But You ARE living. This is YOU LIVING. Why does it have to be a springboard? Why do you have to turn this into ‘work?’ Just let yourself have this for once in your life.”
But there were two more added elements that made it all work. And I can’t help but think this whole brainrot thing wouldn’t have happened without them. So many things just happened all at just the right time - a proper coincidence.
In all of the madness of the last few years I finally got the memo that I'm autistic. i figured I was for a while. But it finally sunk in for me and my docs and my people. So I’d been working on unpacking that. Grieving the life that could have been entirely different, shedding the mask. I let myself hyperfixate openly instead of hiding it and hating myself for “spiralling” or “obsessing” like others -!like ‘I’ always punished myself for before we knew that it was a trait and not a personality flaw.
Then over the last few months my therapist and I started trying this new exercise. One session he stopped me and said “in the last 20 minutes you have responded to what I’ve said with 9 ‘I knows.’” My response to that? “Ugh, I know.” So we started this “I know” swear jar type situation. Really, I’ve been afraid of not knowing. I couldn’t let myself “not know.” Because it meant I was “dumb.” I was just drowning for so long in guilt and self loathing for the “I knew better and screwed up anyway.” Or “I should’ve known better - I should know that by now.”
As it turns out, there’s a lot of things I don’t know. That I didn’t know. Things I will never know. And refusing to admit all of that kept me from learning a damn thing. Kept me from asking questions. Kept me from trying new things because it was scary to do something new - something unknown - and I "knew" how it would all turn out anyway. Kept me from connecting with people because it was painful or embarrassing when they knew things I didn’t and it seemed like I already should have. Kept me from getting better at making art, music, writing. Kept me from forgiving myself. Kept me from growing. And kept me from moving forward. Maybe not on. I don’t know if we ever “move on” from things. But we can move forward as we carry them. And as we do, the weight gets less. We’re able to carry it better. But only if we can admit that we don’t know how. Only if we don’t treat ourselves like this is something we do know or should know and we’re just failing because we’re less than. Not good enough. Not strong enough. Not deserving. We have to be able to say “I don’t know how to do this.” And then we can start looking for the answers. We can ask. We can learn.
I thought about the apple. Being able to tell the difference between good and evil. Aziraphale’s years and years of watching what he “knows” to be true be proven wrong. Crowley’s need to ask questions…
The simple and enormous gift of “Knowledge.” The “Knowledge” of the difference between Good and Evil. The “Knowledge” that can only be gained by realizing, accepting, admitting that there are things we don’t know. Asking the questions. Sometimes we get answers we don’t like. Sometimes the consequences of asking hurt us. And unless you want to stay in that painful place that painful knowledge got you, well, you’ve got to let yourself learn how to get out.
So all of this good? I never expected this. I never thought I deserved it. Joy and belonging and this sense that “Yeah, maybe things can get better. Maybe things can be good.” Because I said those things, not truly believing them, to the people I thought needed to hear it. But it couldn’t save them. It was hollow. The proof for us wasn’t really in our orbit or on our radar at the time. And now they’re gone.
People always say “it’s never too late.”
One of the people I lost said “it’s later than you think.”
I jokingly would respond “it’s already too late.”
It was for him in the end. For them. For some people I guess it really is. But maybe a lot of the “too late” people are there because they think “they know” that things will never be good for them. So they stop looking, they stop asking, stop finding. And eventually they just stop.
Then there came Crowley’s “It’s always too late.” The first time I heard it I thought “For sure, Crowley-cakes, I KNOW.”
But then…I just needed to rewatch the whole thing. And lines like that…familiar things…familiar themes…I was suddenly identifying with these characters. I suddenly saw myself. And the realization hit - I connected with something! Something new. And I FELT THAT. And that tiny little crack that made in the wall was just enough to start breaking it down. Yeah, when you start letting yourself feel after not feeling for so long, opening up to the good feelings means opening up to feelings and then the bad ones come out too. But when there IS good … it helps you balance. You can deal with the bad a little better because you’ve got the good thing to lean against when it gets too much. And now you’ve got feelings. You’ve got good and bad. You’ve got sticky foggy grey. You’ve got life.
Whew.
So, TLDR, thank you. From the bottom of my slowly healing heart, thank you.
And to sign off with some shits and giggles… I couldn’t find this in existence as a sticker so I had to custom order. Perhaps this will spread misery and panic among the humans of my city - or at least a malignant and creepy sense of unease.
Or maybe they’ll say “wtf” and go home and google it and they’ll fall into the Good Omens hole they never knew they needed too.
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Thank you for this. I never quite know what to say to messages like this apart from I am really glad that it helps. (It becomes the weird extra piece that I worry about when writing season 3 -- hoping that it will be that thing again. Not just a story, but something that helps people feel and helps with healing and helps with love.)
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For the First Time In Forever, WIP Wednesday!!
I am being brave and starting it myself today 😟. I know I haven’t contributed in a long time, but I think I’m now at a moment where life has calmed down enough for me to want to write again. Until auditions, but that’s another whole can of worms. Tagging @skyrim-forever @trickstarbrave @throughtrialbyfire @friend-of-giants and anyone who sees this and wants to join!
No TES stuff rn but I do have some Baldur’s Gate writing! I actually finally got myself to write again because I had this whole scene out in my mind and told myself to just write it down before I forgot it. Being able to share the work in progress here was actually a big motivator too!
So, without further ado, here’s a scene that hasn’t happened yet in my playthrough, but oh well. Narrator is my Tav, Tilia- helpful information is that she’s a tiefling draconic soul sorcerer. Also there’s italics on her inner thoughts but those don’t copy-paste between notes app and tumblr properly.
I pushed open the door, stepped in, and stood waiting, silently, for the aging halfling shopkeeper to notice me.
After a few seconds, he looked up, his lightless eyes not making contact with mine, but drawing upwards to my horns. After a short sigh, he explained, “We don’t serve tieflings here,” in the cadence of a line he had said more times than he had the right to.
That’s to be expected. I responded with a smile. “Even me?”
Confusion and annoyance crossed his brow. “I don’t know who you are, girl, but I don’t need to. Devil-spawn aren’t-“
“Aren’t welcome? The number of times I’ve heard that. Tragically,” I said, realizing too late that he wouldn’t get the joke, “it’s exactly what I expected to hear from my own grandfather.”
There was a long, empty silence in the room after that. I eventually disrupted it by hopping up onto a table and curling my tail onto my knees, turning to watch the recognition dawning on his face.
He moved away from the counter to stand closer, still leaving me a wide berth, then brought his eyes up to mine. “You’re leaving. Now. GUARDS!” The two people, both armed and armored, who had been watching anxiously by the door, began to move towards me. It’s a good thing I’d thought of this- coming here alone was risky, so I’d remembered to keep a few spells on hand.
I pressed my fingertips together, pointing my hands in the direction of the two people but not releasing them. All three sets of eyes were trained on the tendrils of poisonous Weave held in my palms. Cloudkill was a bit strong of a choice, but for the sake of my pride, my mother’s heart, and my father’s nerves, I needed this to go correctly.
“It’s not very nice to attack your granddaughter. Now, can I continue my story, please?”Taking his [empty/fearful/annoyed? gaze] as a yes, I continued on, in my best impression of a bard.
“Yes! The little Zariel tiefling baby belonging to you, my good sir, miraculously managed to survive its abandonment. In fact, she- yes, your child is a she, even though you never knew her long enough to find out, lived long enough in Reithwin to meet a man. A tiefling man, no less, coming from a long line of people proud to be tieflings. She swept him off of his feet and they left for Elturel together.” I took a strategic breath, giving him time to recall the fate of that city- my best bet is that the high classes of Baldur’s Gate don’t think about what happened to us all that often. “Before everything went down with Avernus- she survived, no worries- they had a daughter.” Another pause- this time to let my green, scaly wings materialize and unfold. I slid my eyes away from the rest of the room and directly to his own. “A daughter born with the dragonblood that, as far as I know, comes from your side of the family! Isn’t that unbelievable?”
He’d been glued to my words since I brought out the wings, so I slid down from the table, landing face-to-face with him, and let the magic from the Cloudkill flow back into me. Up close, I could notice more details about him- he was definitely the right age to be my grandfather. More notably, there was a resemblance between us- the curly hair, and the nose shape that betrayed me as a descendant of halflings.
“What do you want, little girl?” His tone was exhausted, intentionally- he was deflecting. Nobody wants to hear about the child they abandoned, I suppose.
“I’m [23?]. And I want everything you know about the dragonblood. Then you never have to see me or my family again.”
“Fine. One of the sorcerers in the family wrote a book about it, I think. I’ll look for it.” He turned away, taking a few steps in the direction of the stairs.
“And I want a letter of apology to my mom, written and signed in your hand.”
His head snapped back in my direction, indignation on his face. “No.”
“Yes,” I said, with my best threatening smile. Last resort- Thamaturgy. I let lighting gently crackle across my horns and arms.
“My daughter doesn’t want to hear from me,” he responded.
“You haven’t seen your daughter since she was a day old and you left her in Reithwin. Don’t tell me what she’d want.” I knew this part was going to be hard, but I care about my mother.
[shit happens idk]
“Mhm. I’ll take those books. And I’ll be back tomorrow morning for the letter.” I turned
“Wait a second, girl.”
I turned. Come on. This was going exactly like I wanted it to. With a hint of anxiety in my voice, I asked, “What?”
“Who do I address the letter to?”
“[mom’s name that is some sort of positive quality or whatnot].”
“And you are?”
“Tilia of Tragedy.”
[she leaves]
Now I have to figure out how to get a letter to Waterdeep.
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menalez · 6 months
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to the idiot anon that keeps hassling me about things i said as a traumatised teenager on tumblr: i already talked in detail, several times, and explained every single thing you keep harassing me about. you refuse to actually listen because you don’t care about the reason, you just want an excuse to harass a rape & SA victim without guilt.
“why did you do these things!!!!” because i felt i couldn’t say no, as is typical for a child whose only sexual experience was rape. because the times i said no were not respected and i thought saying no meant risking getting raped again. i didn’t want to face rape again.
“why did you brag about it!!!!” because i wanted to look cool online, because i wanted to convince myself i was totally ok with it & happy with my situation, because i didn’t want to be victimised again, because adults were praising me for it and giving me attention for it, because i thought if i convince myself that i’m ok with it maybe eventually i’ll be into it. because kids, which is what i was, also exaggerate things and try to seem more mature & experienced online. why would i say it was traumatising to me as soon as i was free, long before i knew rape apologists like u existed?
“these things aren’t acceptable to do outside of marriage in a conservative religious country!!!” neither is being raped. i was already ostracised for being raped. i was already being called a whore & bullied for being raped. i already lost basically every person i considered a friend, for being raped by a friend. i already was considered worthless. also many of u are intentionally forgetting the part where i was suicidal and constantly trying to end my life. i wasn’t exactly trying to live in a place where i already was worthless for being raped.
i’ve talked about this in detail over and over and over and over. but clearly sadists on here have a thing for me & enjoy forcing me to relive my trauma.
some of u will never understand the experience of being a child rape victim in a muslim middle eastern country, u will never understand losing every friend over being raped & the whole school gossiping about ur rape & sending u hate messages saying they’re laughing at u for being such a whore that got raped. u will never understand the only “friend” u have being a guy who knows ur boundaries have been destroyed that all he needs to do is destroy them further and insist you’re in a relationship whether you consent to it or not. which is fine. don’t understand my experience. but have the basic decency of not understanding it away from me.
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many-but-one · 2 years
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TW suicide and self harm mention
Hi! Could you as someone with DID help me better undestand my situation?
I am a singlet but I hear constantly voices in my head that are not my own and I have had hard time trying to understand them. I've been doing so much research of DID to figure out if I could have it but I don't have one childhood trauma but C PTSD from childhood neglect.
I have been able to recognise that one of the voices belong to a young girl who sits alone in a dark room. She only ever says "I want to die. Let me die. Go away. Leave me alone".
Two other voices are just voices without any looks. One of them is a strict and mean caretaker-like person who tells me to mask in public (I have autism) and shouts and screams if I do something wrong / mess up.
The last voice tells me to self harm, cut my limbs off and kill myself.
I don't have an inner world but I can sometimes imagine very vividly the little girl in the dark room and when I was younger I had this place I used to imagine where I am stuck inside a huge cardboard box filled with dust. It was just something that used to reoccur inside my head.
Other than that, I have amnesia only if I'm very tired or stressed out and even then I miss only like 1 hour or less at a time.
Sometimes I dissociate, it used to be regular when I studied (derealization and depersonalization). Now it's like once a week or when I see something triggering from my childhood.
And I only have had the little girl speaking through my mouth. It's like having tics where I can't control myself and she always says "Let me die" or something like that.
Does this sound like a DID to you? Because I don't know how to explain this. I have no idea why I keep hearing those voices. I am seeing a psychiatrist but atm we are trying to get me autism diagnosis.
Heavy sigh.
Okay, anon. I’m sorry it has to be this post that makes me snap, but I’m gonna have to do it to ya. This goes to every anon that does this to OSDDID accounts. I see this absolutely everywhere on a lot of OSDDID folks’ pages, especially the folks who are more “well known” in the tumblr community. (Not saying I’m one of them but I do get these messages very VERY often, and I see them everywhere.)
Anons who are having a mental health issue, please fucking STOP sending anon messages to OSDDID accounts asking “does me doing x, y, z mean that I have DID?” Or “I show all these signs of DID do I have it?” Like. I understand that you’re confused. I understand you need help. But if you are hearing voices telling you to fucking kill yourself, you NEED to see a mental health professional, not ask a rando on tumblr if you have an EXTREMELY COMPLEX DISORDER that can literally takes YEARS to diagnose in someone. Like…I am fully okay with self dx with adequate research. If you think that’s what you have, fucking great. Work on coping skills. If you find out later you don’t have it? Great. Now you can move on and try and figure out what’s going on. I am fully aware not everyone has access to good mental health care. I am aware that mental health specialists are often absolutely fucking shitty.
HOWEVER!
STOP. MESSAGING. RANDOM. TUMBLR. CREATORS. ASKING. IF. YOU. HAVE. A. COMPLEX. DISSOCIATIVE. DISORDER.
Do I make myself clear, anons? This goes to every single one of you. I generally don’t answer and delete a solid 3/4ths of you because half the time your rambling makes absolutely no sense and I’m very sorry but I really don’t care. I don’t know who the hell you are. My brain is split into shards and I’m working on trying to survive the fucking day here. I’m working on how to live without numbing myself to the world. I do not have time to try and join the circle-jerk of validation that y’all want from me.
If you wanna DM me and let me get to know you more, we can discuss things further. With more nuance. We can have an actual discussion. I would absolutely LOVE that. Because maybe I can point you into a direction of good coping skills, good resources, and places to find a sense of community that isn’t tumblr dot com. I’d love to get to know you and help you. But if you come at me in my inbox with anon as your name asking me to validate your experiences with barely a paragraph worth of information, that’s not gonna fucking happen.
What answer are you looking for, anon? Do you want me to say “Yep! Sounds like DID to me!” Because I am not a professional and if I were to be so quick to hand out validation cards because you would feel better if a random tumblr account agreed with you, I doubt that would actually help you in ANY way. Yes, validation feels good and it feels good to be seen and heard but I don’t fucking know you and you’ve given me what sounds like suicidal voices in your head and some possibly inner world activity. I hate to break it to you, but CDDs are a LOT more than just alters and voices and an inner world. It’s basically C-PTSD on steroids and if you don’t show any signs of C-PTSD then you might be looking in the wrong direction. But of course how am I to know that because I don’t know you and you can’t possibly explain your entire life story in a fucking tumblr ask. It sounds like you already know what you’re experiencing, you just explained it very plainly to me. If you have done adequate research and you think you have a CDD, then for the love of god find a professional to work with you and start learning coping skills related to trauma and dissociation.
I am not your therapist. I am not going to give you the validation you seek. If you want a dx, find a therapist that works in trauma and dissociation.
I know this is coming off very aggressive but MAN this is so common and it really needs to fucking stop. ESPECIALLY sending triggering info to a random tumblr user. The “TW suicide and self harm” ain’t gonna do shit. (re: the part where you are talking about voices telling you to cut off your limbs and kill yourself.) I can handle those conversations just fine but not all creators can and it’s fucked that you and all the gazillion anons trauma dumping to random OSDDID tumblr users think that this is just okay?? The AUDACITY my dudes. I understand you’re probably having a rough ass time right now but you have absolutely no idea how my day has been, how my week has been, how my life has been. You get a tiny snapshot of what I choose to share here. Which trust me, is a tiny TINY little snapshot of the reality of my condition. How would you feel if your trauma dump triggered out one of my suicidal parts and killed me? Or severely harmed me? Y’all (all anons, not just you) desperately need to fucking understand that OSDDID systems are traumatized as FUCK and things like that can literally get us killed. It’s not a game. I know some plural folks online make it seem fun, but anon as you seem to understand, it’s very scary having parts inside that want you dead. These parts can take control of my body and do just that. They’ve tried before.
All anons out there, please have some fucking decency and respect for OSDDID creators out there. We are not your therapist, we’re just trying to live our fucking lives and sometimes make content on the side.
Rant over. I hate doing shit like this but I am so over it and y’all need to fucking know.
-Blurry
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krewekreep · 1 year
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Introduction of Sorts + Interests
This page will really be for me to get back into writing, develop my writing and indulge myself. I’m open to requests though but ask people to definitely contextualize your Bias (person you’re requesting for—yes I’m gonna use K-pop lingo oh well) and/or the scenario cause otherwise I’d simply write for myself. Which is why I also am making this page because I’ve been on tumblr for 10 years (my main account turned ten this year) and I’m worn out of the smut fest no prose or story fics. Definitely has its place in the community but the older I get the more I need actual full blown delusion. I need scene, setting, set up, climax, denouement…and so I’ll fulfill the order myself. 🫡
My interests:
(Im a 2010s coded Tumblr user so uh, I mean I suppose Dr Who and Supernatural aren’t 😂😂😂😂lmao ew anyway (I was into supernatural I’m ewwing at you and myself) .
Too I usually am not following everything that’s mainstream (I know im so cool) so also if something isn’t listed I most likely know of it—but went no further. I also like older anime and media so if you have something super specific that feels out of place no worries. Im gonna end up writing Greek smut about Dionysus so…🤷🏾‍♀️
Anime: (I’ve seen actually too much anime to name so here’s the ones I have a bias or have an affinity for the characters)
JJK,
Chainsaw Man
Bleach
Naruto
Demon Slayer
Attack on Titan
Fate Series
Etc
Manga:
JJK
Chainsaw Man
Bleach
Attack on Titan
Spy x Family
DanDanDan
Berserk
Etc
Fave genres are horror/seinen, shoujo, and slice of life.
KPOP: (1st-mid 3rd Gen main but still aware of 4th gen pretty deeply)
I dont really want to do requests for idols but I don’t mind overall, explained further below
My fave boy groups (somewhat in order): Big Bang, Shinee, BAP, BTS (ex-army, long story**, don’t come to my page with that bullshit 💕) B1A4, IKON, EXO, 2PM, GOT7…I could go on. (I’m not gonna list them in an order but my heart can’t not include MBLAQ, Teen Top, U-Kiss, etc ugh those were the days😭)
Girl Groups (in definitive order): 2NE1, Brown Eyed Girls, F(x), Girls Generation, TWICE, 4Minute/Hyuna, Wonder Girls, Secret, After School, Global Icon (short lived), Tiny G ( VERY short lived), EXID, Ladies Code, etc.
Now 4th Gen…is cute…they got CUTE people that’s for sure. This list will be co-ed simply because I’m not feral for boy groups like I was younger. Really the boy groups don’t do it for me (4th gen overall criticism tbh) cause it’s really looks and kinda arrogant personalities I find obnoxious given y’all can’t even publicly date or be seen smoking…tone down the elitist vibe lol. But shade aside I do jam some things and have a playlist for my fave 4th gen songs so for sure no hate just a BOMBASTIC side eye sometimes. Anyway…
Stray Kids
Aespa
Lessaraffim (I’m gonna leave it like my mind spells it, enjoy)
NCT 127 (specifically them ((in reference to the units)) cause I enjoy R&B coded K-pop, they do too much Niggaboo shit (looking at Mark and Taeyong DIRECTLY in the eyes 👁️👄👁️)((BUT it’s a Soo Man thing cause him, YG, and JYP competing over who wish they were a born a Black man the most…Soo Man and JYP ✨fist fighting✨over the top spot IYKYK)
New jeans (they’re minors and if they all aren’t their def much younger than me so no requests for minors please this is for taste assessment only)
BIBI and other female soloists (Hyuna, Sunmi, Ga-in, Lee Hyori, etc)
IVE (they really got some bops tbh, this is another TWICE case of let these young women talk and sing how they naturally would…music and live performances will thank them for it)
Nobody really else I guess honorable mentions are Ateez, Fifty-fifty,
———————————————————————
*im gonna add that for Anime/Manga the double dipping means some combination of me knowing the material in both forms of media. Like Jujutsu Kaizen is an amazing example currently as of course the anime is ongoing but the manga is far ahead by a large portion of plot. So if your anime only, manga only, or something be sure to let me know so I’m not spoiling by accident. Don’t want the smut to spoil a character death or something….right? 😅
**the long story short and overall caveat of why I’ve fallen out of love for groups and K-pop are the fact that yeah as a Black person I genuinely started getting pissed off with colorism, n-word usage, appropriation, and mockery. The shit gets old and as a poor old super fan I’m happy I didn’t spend the money people do for folks who would literally refuse my hand…🫤 be fr. Likewise, the deaths of idols who were literally my biases really (of course) bothered me and took a toll on my enjoyment of the genre too. The more you love it the more you learn and that’s usually where the fun ends and now it’s numbers charts and placements. Lame 😭. I let the time I was fan be that but otherwise ? Eh I’m good I’ll bop from time to time and catch the tea but my bread in my pocket (besides my B1A4 What’s Happening and Twice Scientist albums😂)((and the other old albums I’ll get before they disappear forever or get destroyed🫠))
But yeah that’s that on that. I’ll be posting whatever ends up decent enough to be read by others. Otherwise wherever this ends up hope you drop a message🥸!
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thatofabeavers · 1 year
Text
Hmm. Should I Post My Fanfic To Tumblr? Why, I’m Not So Sure.
Yes. I Will. It’s All Readerfic. I Shall Put My QPR Fic On This Site Out Of Spite. Here’s The Link To The AO3 Version.
Without Further Ado, Here’s The Fic!
Wally sat on his doorstep, waiting for his mail. He waited like this everyday, even though there wasn’t much point to sending mail. He looked at his best friend's house. Letters were a nice game, he thought. He didn’t have to wait long, as Eddie Dear hurried over to him with a bright blue letter in hand.
“Heya, Wally,” he panted. “I’ve got your mail.”
Wally chuckled and gently took the letter from his grasp. “Thank you,” he replied. “How’s your day going?”
Eddie lit up. “Oh, you know, I-“ he chuckled nervously. “I’ve got a date.”
“A date?” Wally cocked his head, unblinking. “What’s that mean?”
The mailman blushed furiously and started to stutter, before breathing in deeply. “A date is, oh, it’s when you hang out with the person you love most.”
And what was love, Wally wanted to ask, because he never really understood it. Frank could describe it with one of his butterflies, or Sally could act it out on stage, but Wally never felt like that.
He loved his neighbors, but he couldn’t understand what kind of love they were talking about. He stared at the letter in his hand, bringing it inside.
Perhaps he could ask Barnaby.
He opened his letter, revealing a messy drawing of him and his best friend. He chuckled. Barnaby had been sending him these letters for months. He put it on his wall, with all of the other drawings. When Julie saw it for the first time, she got all giggly and wouldn’t stop pestering him about it. Wally shook his head. Maybe he should move the wall.
Moments later, Wally walked to Barnaby’s house. He grinned when he saw his friend playing with one of the chew toys he got him for his birthday.
“Barnaby!” He exclaimed, running over to sit on the porch. “You’re getting better at drawing.”
Barnaby immediately forgot his toy and bounded over to him. He set himself slightly below Wally’s lap, where the shorter buried himself into his fur.
Barnaby chuckled. “Sooner or later, pal, I’ll be a better artist than you!”
Wally huffed through his fur, slowly raising his head and making eye contact. They stayed like that until Barnaby blinked. Smugly, Wally laid his head back down.
“You’ll be a better painter than me when you can win one of our staring contests.” He declared.
“Guess I’m gettin’ myself a new pair of eyes.”
For a few moments, they sat in silence, simply enjoying each others’ presence. Then Wally remembered his exchange with Eddie.
“Hey, Barnaby? Do you know what love is?”
Barnaby sat up. “Why do you wanna know?”
Wally tilted his head. “Eddie explained to me what a date was. I don’t get it.”
His best friend laughed. “Givin’ Eddie a hard time? Let’s see,” Barnaby searched the neighborhood, before shrugging.
This made Wally ponder for a moment, before asking, “Have you ever been in love, Barnaby?”
This made Barnaby flush. “Once,” He admitted. “But that was years ago. ‘Sides, why do I need love when I have you?”
Wally’s smile widened. In a rare display of excitement, he threw himself against Barnaby and buried himself against him. Barnaby started to pet him, before pausing.
“Maybe we should continue this inside?” He suggested, already picking the smaller up and carrying him into his house.
“Mmpf,” Wally mumbled. Barnaby just shook his head and cuddled with him for the rest of the day, and before long, the two drifted to sleep.
The next day, they went out to the orchard to pick apples. Wally stared at a particularly red one, checked to see if anyone was looking, and ate it. As soon as he took a bite, Barnaby whipped around to stare at him. He stared back unflinchingly.
“Wally,” Barnaby warned. He crept closer. “You’re not supposed to eat the apples-“
Wally suddenly threw the now finished apple at him and scurried up the tree. He glared at him. “Who says I can’t eat the apples?”
Barnaby threw his hands up in exasperation. “You’ll get sick if you eat with your mouth-!”
“Sssh! Not in public!” He shushed him, eyes wandering around the orchard. Barnaby sighed and held up his hands, which Wally jumped into.
“I still don’t know why you insist on hiding it, I mean, we all have our quirks.” Barnaby plopped himself under the apple tree, Wally still attached to his arm. Wally beamed.
“Can I eat the apples if I promise to eat them properly?” He asked, effectively dodging the question. Barnaby was about to answer, when Poppy suddenly arrived and interrupted him.
“O-oh! Hello, Wally, Hello, Barnaby! I just wanted to congratulate you.” She bounced in place, holding an armful of bandaids. She didn’t seem to notice they were falling out of her arms.
Wally tilted his head. “What for?”
She smiled. “For finally getting together, of course!”
This confused the two greatly. “As in datin’?” Barnaby asked. When Poppy nodded, he huffed in amusement. “We’re not “together”, as you do kindly put it. We’re just friends.”
Wally nodded slowly. “He’s right, neighbor. Where’d you get that idea?”
Poppy blushed fiercely and started explaining herself. “I- So sorry! It’s just, I just- you act a lot like Frank and Eddie, so-“ She cut herself off. “I’ll see you later.”
They watched her run off, before turning to each other. “Are we dating?” Wally asked.
Barnaby thought for a moment, looking lost. “I don’t think we are? We’re best friends.” He looked pleadingly at Wally. “We do best friend things, right?”
Wally shrugged. “We’re certainly a bit closer than Frank and Julie, I don’t see why dating would be any different.”
“So we are dating?”
Wally shook his head. “No. We’re best friends and I love you- but I still don’t know what that kind of love feels like.”
Barnaby chuckled, calming down. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry I got so worked up, pal.”
Wally detached himself from his arm and settled into his lap. “No worries, Barnaby. I’d be scared too, if I wasn’t so sure we weren’t dating.”
“What will we tell the others? We can’t have one half thinkin’ we’re friends, and the other half thinkin’ we’re dating.” Barnaby pointed out. Wally stared at him with a mischievous grin.
“We don’t have to tell them anything.”
Constructive Criticism Is Appreciated! <3
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staygolddindjarin · 3 years
Text
Grief
Chapter One: History
Din Djarin x Reader x a bunch of other star wars characters
Series Summary: Raised on Mandalore, born into a bloodline of warriors, no one ever expected for the daughter of a Clan leader to go rogue. Leaving the life of security and making the journey to fight in the war against the empire meant many things... giving up the way of the Mandalore, and giving up a solid future. A future that involves an arranged marriage to a foundling from another clan.
Chapter Warnings: Oof this ones kinda angsty right off the bat- ⚠️ attempted suicide?? Kinda?? Age gap (reader is underage, but don't worry it's just for the sake of backstory and also there's no spicy, so...) mentions of death and afterlife, fluff if you like squint really hard
A/n: hello there... I'm sorry to inflict tumblr with this atrocity, but wattpad had to deal with it so tumblr can too. I wrote a different version of this on my wp with an OC name, but I know that not everyone cares for that so this won't include that. Also this series will be such a slow burn... prepare yourself ahead of time because it's going to be agonizing
Words: 6.3k+
SERIES MASTERLIST UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Part 1/?
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"Pehea gar mar'eyir ni...."
How did you find me....
He came and sat beside me, the sound of metal scraping agaisnt the ground when he knelt first.
"Gar cuyir te shi solus tion'ad comes olar jii.  Ni kar'taylir gar jate'shya gar mirdir Ni vaabir," He responded.
You are the only one who comes here now. I know you better than you think I do.
I heaved a deep breath before letting it out in an exhausted sigh. Speaking in my native tongue was something I always appreciated, but now sitting here it felt nearly uncomfortable, but there was a reason for that.
"I wanted to be alone," The words from my mouth were no longer in my language, and he shifted beside me, trying to convey his confusion without a word.
"Care to elaborate?" He suggested, his asking tone was harsh... but then so was everything else about him.
I didn't really feel like explaning my feelings at the moment. I didn't want to focus on the very thing he was asking about. Even though he wasn't absolutely sure of what he was asking.
"You wouldn't understand if I told you," I trailed off.
"Try me." His voice wasn't any softer, but the sincerity he rarely showed had seeped into his tone.
"I really don't think it's a good idea. You really won't understand, and for all I know you could make things worse off for me than they already are," I didn't like it when he let his guard down around me. I didn't like getting closer to him, even though I was supposed to.
"I can't force you. Whatever it is, I wouldn't get myself too worked up," He sounded hurt, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it was by my words. He was too strong to be wounded by such trivial things.
He moved in his seat, beginning to stand, and for some reason the thought of being alone like I had originally intended seemed like a horrible idea.
I reached out to grip his arm. I kept my gaze forward, knowing that even if I looked at him I could not see his eyes.
"Stay."
He didn't hesitate. He sat down again, and I no longer felt guilt for the hurt in his voice a moment prior.
We sat for a moment in silence, just looking over the cliffside, into the deep canyons that wove in between settlements and encampments of our tribes and clans.
"I don't want this life," I whispered. I had only half hoped he would be paying enough attention to hear me. My voice was soft enough that he might not have.
"What do you mean?"
I squeezed my eyes shut, regretting the choice to even say what I did. I felt a shiver go down my arms, and I felt the wind come into the old open cavern, making the air around me chill. My arms were exposed, for I didn't expect the cold tonight. I didn't expect to be here this long.
"I'll turn sixteen in four days. I will either take the creed, or deny everything I've ever been taught. I'd leave if I do that," I finally gave a glance in his direction. He looked back at me, or at least the beskar did. I could never tell where his eyes were.
"You want to leave?" That pained tone of his voice had returned. The one I felt guilty for without actually believing I had done anything to cause it.
I did. I wanted to get off this planet. Away from the responsibility of becoming what everyone expected of me.
"I have to. It's the only way I will ever be at peace, but I'm not sure if I truly have the strength to stand in front of my family and deny the creed."
I could run away. I had some friends who were planning to jump a transport and join the rebellion against the empire.
They had offered me to be apart of this, but I had refused, believing that I would follow in my ancestors footsteps and take the creed. My father had already provided the beskar for my helmet to be made. It was already in the armourer's possession. All that was left was for me to come of age.
"Where did you go, just now?" He noticed my lack of attentiveness to my current reality, and brought me back to where I was. On the drafty cliffside, with my legs hanging over the end.
"Nowhere. I was just thinking about the future," I had admitted. Though I felt the need to stay emotionally distant from him, and not let myself develop a closeness, I knew I could trust him with my life, which is why I even revealed these things to him in the first place.
"What do you think your future will look like?" The tone that brought me guilt had again left his voice, but was replaced by something else... was it fear? I could not even think of theorizing that he could ever be scared. He was one of the bravest in his clan. Never had he shown an ounce of fear to anyone or anything. How stupid of me to even wonder.
"Merc and his crew are gonna stow away on a crate transport tomorrow. He has contact with the rebellion. He said that I could go with them if I was up for it," I looked down, almost embarrassed at admitting a plan of escape to someone so loyal to this place. Even though he wasn't born on this planet, and even though he wasn't a blood member of any tribe, the foundling was more of a mandalorian than I could ever be.
"You've agreed?"
"No. Not yet," I shook my head. I didn't feel like my reasons were valid. Having him sit beside me, and ask me these things made me realize that I needed to explain myself further.
"Din, I want to be free. I don't want to spend the rest of my life under a code that is so restricting to me, binding my every decision. Everything I'd do would have to be following after the creed."
He didn't respond, and even though his features were shrouded under the reflective surface of his beskar, I could tell he was thinking of something.
"I'm not yet sixteen, but when I am... I don't want to be locked down under a piece of metal. I don't want to have to be bound to this planet or a clan. I want to go some place far away and be something that is different than what everyone expects of me. I want to fight battles against the empire, I want to make my own rules. I want to be free to marry who I love, and not be betrothed to whoever my father chooses for me," I finished off my speech about freedom, but realized the last sentence too late. I should have chosen a better set of words.
Din's head hung down, looking at the wrist guards he wore. He shook his head back and forth and before I could interject, he began speaking.
"So that's why...." he trailed off. I was honestly too scared to say anything now. Why must I speak so bluntly and hurtfully honest to people? Perhaps it is because I had never gotten close to him that now I had no fear in what I said to his face.
"If the reason you plan to leave your family is because of me, then-"
"No," I said harshly, catching him off guard. I was usually snippy with others, but I had never before shown a tendency to be angry or intense with my speech. "Believe me, this has nothing to do with you."
"You have always shown enthusiasm towards coming of age. It's only now, when we are arranged, that you show any difference," He brought on certainty in his voice that I nearly couldn't deny, but the truth was... it really wasn't about him. "I can converse with your father, the rest of the clan... I will find a way to break it off if it will make you stay."
"Din, I don't want you to do that. If you don't believe me when I tell you that you are not the cause of this, then so be it, but I will not have you ruining your good name in my favor, when it won't even stop me," The heat of the moment provided actual, physical warmth for me in the time I was running my mouth off, but now that I had finished, and begun to calm down, I felt the freezing air on my arms again, wrapping them around myself and drawing my legs closer to generate more body heat.
"Are you cold?" He changed the subject, needing something- anything else to say.
"Its not exactly warm up here," My voice was low and sarcastic, but at hearing my words, Din stood up and stepped behind me. Before I even had a chance to ask him what he was doing, I felt his thick woolen cape being draped around my shoulders.
I smiled softly, not even a real, full smile. More of just a small tug from the side of my lips. My real smile was saved for later.
"Thank you."
He nodded as he sat back down, letting his legs fall over the cliffside.
"So you're gonna leave with them, aren't you?" His head turned to face me, but I couldn't dare try and stare at the beskar while thinking of what I would do. This choice was the beginning of the rest of my life.
"I think so," I didn't think. Thinking was what I had been doing too much of. Now I was certain. This was my choice. I was going to start new, and become something different. I may have been born on mandalore, but I was definitely not a mandalorian.
I had a rush of confidence come through me until I remembered what this meant. It all hit me like a dropship coming out of hyperspace. What was I thinking?
"No," I whispered. Din didn't understand my sudden discouragement, but he would soon.
"Merc and his friends already denied the creed. He's a foundling. They all are," I started to tear up as I realized what would happen to my family. The loss of a child in a clan is bad enough, but my family hadn't done anything to dessrve this. They were caring. They had shown me love. They had given me the best life I could ask for on a planet with such a religion.
"Second thoughts?" He asked genuinely, scooting closer beside me as to maybe get more information from my body language, or even my breathing.
"I can't do this. My family would be ruined. If I ran away, they would be punished for it," I felt tears coming up in my eyes. My clan was good to me. The people were kind, and I found solace there. Even if I had always dreamt about something bigger, I couldn't bear to let ruin come upon my family name. It wasn't fair to let that happen, especially when the only thing in the way was my own selfishness. "I can't leave my family."
I let the tears stream down my face, not even bothering to wipe them away. The contrast of the cold wind on my hot, tear streaked face had helped to calm me down a little.
"If you plan on staying, you understand that I am apart of your future here, don't you?"
"Din, I already told you before... you are not the reason I want to leave," I tried my best to keep myself together, but with my wet cheeks and red, puffy eyes, I didn't see how that could be an option.
What if there was another way to freedom?
I sat, trying to think of some stories that the other clan members would talk about.
"Din?"
He hummed in response, keeping his gaze on me.
"Has anyone in your clan ever mentioned afterlife?" I maybe should have taken a different approach to this. He seemed to be rendered speechless by my topic of conversation, but I had to ask.
"You mean after death?" He asked me and I nodded.
"I've heard some stories."
I thought about how it had been described to me. A paradise, with never-ending happiness, and unlimted freedom. Freedom.
"After you die, you appear in the world as another life. You can do whatever you want and no one has consequences for any of it. It's like a world without chaos. Everything is perfect," I remember every word as it comes out of my mouth. The words that were spoken to me, more like taught to me when I was a bit younger by the elders who had retired from their days of battle.
"It sounds too easy." He said, ripping me out of my fantasy.
"That's the point. You don't have to worry about anything or anyone, because you can do as you please, and everything will still be the same. All you have to do is die...."
"Like being reborn into a different world."
"Exactly."
I hesitated to take my safety blaster from it's holster under my hip, and when I did, I looked at it before pointing it out in the distance and testing the trigger. It shot a blast of lazer energy out into the air, landing somewhere beneath us in the canyon.
I decided that this was not an act to pursue at the moment, for Din was sitting right beside me, and the sight of watching a young girl pull the trigger against her own head might be an unpleasant one. Even for him, though he has seen worse.
I put the blaster back in it's holster and stand up from the rocky ground. Din follows suit, looking down at me with quiet concern. I wouldn't have known it until now, but I wondered if he had come to care for me at all during these last few weeks we had been betrothed.
I'd known him the majority of my life anyways, so I knew he must have felt some sort of attachment to me, but in what form, I hadn't ever cared to ask.
He kept breathing heavily as he looked down at me for a few moments, and it almost sounded like he wanted to ask me something. The question was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't bring himself to utter the words.
"Here's your cape back," I slid the material off my shoulders, trying to hand it back to him, but he pushed it back towards me.
"You should keep it for now. The sun is nearly down, it will only grow colder."
He reached his gloved hand up to my face, and I could swear I felt the warmth of his hand beneath the coarse leather.
I only nodded, and leaned forward, trying to lean my head into him, but he carefully stopped me, his hands on my shoulders. Instead he rested his helmet against my forhead, and the cold beskar wasn't such a bad feeling as it rested there.
"I won't let you down. I promise." He said, clueless of my plans for later tonight, after the tribes were asleep, and no one would be at the cliffside.
"I know you won't. You're a good man, Din Djarin." I paused, trying to gather better words. "A true Mandalorian if there ever was one."
The moment didn't last any longer because of how frigid the air was becoming. It was warmer back with the tribes, they always had a fire burning.
Without another word, we both left the old artillery cavern and hiked down the side of the canyon to get back to our own clan territory.
Once I was at the edge of mine, I turned around to utter a simple goodbye, and found that he was very close behind me. His hand came up and rested on my shoulder, lightly squeezing it.
Maybe this was the last time we would see each other. Tonight I would envoke my plan to freedom, to rebirth. Perhaps we would meet in another life. Perhaps I would have just enough memory of this life to try and find him in the next one. One where I will have freedom.
Tonight I had gotten closer to the metal clad Mandalorian than I ever had before. I didn't regret it. He listened to what I had to say, and there were few who ever did.
His hand fell from it's place on my shoulder, but I didn't let him walk away yet. I pulled him into an embrace, feeling him tense up for a moment before reciprocating. It took him a few seconds to let out the breath he was holding in, but when he did, he found himself relaxing into the comfort.
"Goodbye, Din," My voice wasn't sad, or overly sensitive in any way. I figured it actually sounded quite optimistic.
"You know I'll see you tomorrow." He said, reminding me of the clan meetings. Once a month the clans would gather and each tribe would go over the agenda for whatever was to happen soon. Battles were normally discussed, but tomorrow, me and a few of the others in the other clans would be talked about. Our ceremonial coming of age where we would take the creed.
"Yeah... right. Don't come looking for me, I don't plan on showing up," I said quietly, careful in anyone was to hear me.
He pulled me back at arms length and looked at me, but his black blast shield hid his features and I could not tell if he thought I was crazy or not.
"How come?" His voice was also quiet, as we noticed some of my clan passing by to get to the fire.
"Don't worry about it. You'll still see me tomorrow," I lied. Or did I? Everyone within the five neighboring tribes would probably see me tomorrow.
He nodded, pulling us all the way apart and stepping back.
"Good."
He didn't look like he was gonna walk away until I had gone into the hub of my clan's small village. I turned around and walked towards the large fire, seeing my mother. Her helmet was unmistakable. The pattern of the strill engraved into the side of the beskar. It was her signet. A worthy kill of her days in battle. I would never have one. I walked towards her when she noticed me.
Her modulated voice let out a small chuckle, before I stepped beside her.
"It is well to see you spending time with Din Djarin. Me and your father were afraid you may not have been fond of him," She kept her gaze on the fire, speaking only loud enough for me to hear her, given that the other mandalorians of our village were also gathering around the fire, conversing with each other the same way we were.
"I am fond of him, why would I not be?" I was unsure of what she meant. Sure, I had been keeping a distance between us since my father had arranged our marriage, but I never had shown that I wasn't fond of him. I was polite, and gave him attention when it was asked of me.
"Whenever I or your father bring up the discussion of your eighteenth birthday, you always seem to act like it's the plague," She was smirking under her helmet, and I could tell. I could always tell what face she made underneath her metal covering.
"Maybe it's the fact that I dread getting married at all. I'm not opposed to Din, though," I convinced her. I wouldn't have to try and do that again after tonight.
"Whatever it is, your father will be pleased to know you and him were in each other's company. Although I will stray from telling him you two were alone... you were alone, weren't you?" She turned her metal covered head, trying to figure out from the look on my face.
"Yes," I answered truthfully, knowing there was no point in lying. No damage could be done at this point, except for maybe towards Din.
"And what were you both doing?" She tilted her head, and I let mine drop. I would tell her the truth, because nothing bad could come from it. Or could it.
"We were just talking... about the future," I answered.
"Your marriage..." She suggested, and I nodded, knowing that it did come up in the conversation.
"Yes."
"I shudder to ask if consummating was apart of this conversation," She looked back at the fire, knowing how red my cheeks would turn and how embarrassed I would be.
"No, nothing like that. I can promise you," I shivered at the thought. Din was a good man, but I didn't necessarily need to be letting thoughts like that intrude my mind.
Everyone else around the fire seemed to be distracted by the glowing flames, and my mother was soon the same, so I suggested my absense.
"I'm going to go in for the night, get some rest. Big meeting tomorrow..." I said before reaching out and squeezing her hand tightly.
She nodded to me, and I took my leave, walking towards our living quarters on the opposite side of camp.
I wasn't looking where I was going, and brushed my shoulder against Merc, who was with Gander and Shyloh.
"Sorry, didn't see you coming," I told him, but he shook his head, optiing ti ask me a question instead.
"Don't worry about it, I was looking for you anyway... Did you think about the offer? We leave at sunrise on the north delivery tarmac," He informed me, but I didn't have an answer. I wasn't staying here, but I wasn't leaving either.
"You'll know if I show up," I gave him a smirk, partially just because I was glad to see someone's actual face tonight, and not just a metal facade.
"We can't wait up for you, just know that."
I nodded, letting them get by. Maybe I could go with them. Live this life freely without starting another one.
No.
My family will not be able to handle that. It's better off if I'm dead. At least they won't go on to believe that I betrayed them, turning my back on all loyalty they had ever taught me. They would nevwr wonder if I ever loved them or planned on keeping their wishes.
I could start fresh. They wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. And I wouldn't have to worry anymore either. Rebirth.
I went straight to bed, clutching the woolen blanket beside me close to my chest.
For some reason I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. Something that made the sting of salty tears swell in my eyes. I knew that what I was doing was best, but yet I started having a hard time justifying something so drastic. They would get on fine without me, wouldn't they? They would go on living by the creed. This is the way. They will find a way to go on without me, like they did before I was born. Din will be arranged with another girl as soon as I'm gone. Everything will be alright.
The wetness that spilled over my eyes and down my face lasted hours, even though my mind kept telling itself that it was at peace.
It was in the dead of night, when I gathered a few of my belongings into a knapsack, throwing it over my shoulder before leaving out the tattered window of my private space.
I ventured to the canyon, with the moons lighting my way. The planet was never truly dark, due to the brightness and the number of shinning moons, all the color silver.
I set my knapsack down on the edge beside me. By the end of this, I would be at the bottom, waiting to be found the next day. I just hoped it wouldn't be anyone I knew. Of course, the number of people who ever came out here was only two. Me, and Din Djarin.
I hoped he wouldn't find me. I hoped it would be someone from another tribe that was flying over, and happened to spot something at the base of the cliffside.
I pulled my flask to my mouth, taking a large drink. A bit spilled onto my chin, and I wiped it off, feeling the breeze on my face. It was much colder now than earlier tonight. I wasn't sure if I should pull the blanket from my belongings and wrap it around myself, or skip the process of making myself comfortable and just get this over with.
I leaned over, looking straight at the ground, hundreds of feet below me. My heart started racing, and I got scared. Why shouldn't I be? I have every right to be absolutely terrified. I closed my eyes, trying to scoot myself over the edge inch by inch, seeing if I would just drop.
I nearly panicked when my bottom hit a crack in the ground and I thought I was going over. My breath hitched in my throat and I instantly pulled myself back.
"This isn't as easy as I thought it would be," I murmered, beginning to feel the emotional side of everything rise to the surface again. It didn't help that with the absolute silence that circled around me, I couldn't have any single thing to distract me.
I stood to my feet, wrapping my arms around myself to ease the goosebumps rising on my skin from the frigid air.
I stood right on the edge, lifting a foot over and leaning forward, but before I could fall, I again caught myself, the adrenaline working overtime in my system and beginning to heat me up.
That wasn't going to work either. If I could, I would put a blaster to my temple and pull the trigger, but then it wouldn't look like an accident.
I paced around back and forth a few times, trying to calm myself down, to stop the whimpering and to make my tears cease. It wasn't working. I just needed to get this over and done with. A new life, with endless possibilities was waiting for me on the other side. Freedom was on the other side.
I wiped my face, even though it didn't stop me from crying, but it helped me to see clearer. I backed up, into the cavern, all the way inside until my back hit the wall of the ex artillery carvern. This was it. A new beginning. Rebirth. New life. Freedom.
I ran as fast as I could toward the edge, my eyes closed. I could feel the wind blowing against me even harder with my speed, and I could tell the edge was drawing near. Every step I took, I felt as though it was my last one.
I finally felt my foot hit the edge, but then I never fell. Instead, I was tackled to the ground. Whoever landed on top of me was heavy enough to hold me down, because half of me was hanging off the edge of the cliff.
I didn't dare even open my eyes. This was a sign. Someone stopped me.
I clinged onto whoever it was, and knew almost instantly who was laid over me when I heard him groan.
I cried even harder, my head buried in his armor clad chest, and my arms around his neck and his torso.
He was holding me tightly, one hand cradled my head into his neck, and the other firmly gripped my waist. He rolled us both over and I swear I felt him shaking.
"What were you thinking?" He stressed, his grip on me tightening as if he was scared to let go. I was scared too. I didn't want him to let go.
"You have to talk to me..."
I heaved a deep breath, deep enough to steady my voice so my whimpering didn't interfere with my words.
"I want out. I need to get out," I cracked in the middle of saying so few words, but they conveyed the message I was trying to get through.
"I can get you out, I promise.... But please don't ever try that again," His voice was full of worry, and as I suspected, he was trembling in fear.
"I'm sorry..." I cried some more, realizing that what I had done was now the biggest mistake I ever made, even if I was saved.
"It's okay. You're okay. I've got you," He spoke to me, my voice quieting down as my sobbing came to a slow halt.
I lifted my face from where I had burrowed it into his neck, looking up at him. I didn't know what his expression was, but something told me it was fearful, and worrysome.
"I have to get out of here," I repeated again. The last day or so it became my mantra, and would leave my lips often, even just to myself. Mostly just to myself.
"You're going to. You're going with Merc... when are they leaving?" He asked, his arms still around me like mine were for him.
"At sunrise. They're gonna jump a delivery ship on the north tarmac," I explained, my voice was now hoarse and thick, due to not only all the crying I had done, but also the cold night air that had entered my lungs.
"Sunrise isn't for a few hours..." he let me know, and I nodded, knowing we shouldn't probably leave yet, for the walk to the north tarmac wasn't very long from here.
"Din, if I leave, my family is going to get the fire for my decision. I can't let that happen," I told him, my voice had become more firm, and I needed to convey the importance of how much this meant to me.
"I give you my word, that as long as I live, nothing will happen to your family," He swore, and I could just feel his eyes staring into mine. So much so that for the first time since he put that helmet on, I knew where his eyes were.
"I trust you. And I know that you'll always keep your word," I nodded, a small smile finally forming on my face.
Since it got fairly quiet, and we were still entangled together,  I scooted off of Din and opted instead to take the seat beside him.
"I should tell you some things before I go. I just don't want to leave anything unresolved," I admitted, and he stayed silent, waiting for me to continue.
"I know this might sound horrible, but I hated the idea of getting too close to you. It was like if I had formed an emotional bond with you, I wouldn't be able to leave anymore. And the last thing on my mind had been to stay. I've wanted freedom for a while now, I was just always too scared to say anything. And when my father told me that you and him had come to an agreement for arranging a marriage.... it's like it all became more real to me. My freedom would be taken in just days. The creed of mandalore is sacred, and it's truly an amazing thing... but it isn't for everyone."
He sat and took everything in. All the words that just spewed from my mouth like I had been holding them in for ages went against everything I had ever learned. Everything that had ever been put into my mind was the opposite of what I wanted.
"You're young. You want more than what the creed can offer you. I think you'll be able to find what you want wherever you're going," He said, I knew there was more, for he didn't even mention anything that I had said about not wanting to be close to him, but when he stayed silent, I knew he was finished, and that I still had more to say.
"Din, I wanted to tell you that if I had to be married, I wouldn't have minded it being you," I admitted. I would leave no stone unturned before I was to just pick up and leave forever... maybe not forever, maybe someday I would return to my family, to Din.
"I can't say I don't feel the same," He seemed to become stiff next to me, but I soon found the reason when he suddenly reached for my hand with his gloved one.
I took it proudly, intertwining our finhers together.
"You know, I was only an eight year old kid when you took the creed. I have so many memories of you yourself, but whenever I recall them... I can't see your face. I've completely forgotten what you look like," I laughed a bit, though it was quite a sad thing actually. I could not remember him in a way that wasn't covered in metal. I remembered that he was a boy once, and that he would play with all the younger children in the clan set next to his. He played with me and the kids I lived next to. He was a lively, energetic boy. Always doing something... sometimes causing mischievous acts. He was so different now. But the change wasn't bad. Since he'd taken the creed he has been the most noble, fearsome, and trustworthy member of his clan. Completely honorable in every sense of the word.
"I don't look like I used to. It wouldn't do you any good to remember anyways," He chuckled under his helmet, and it brought a smile to hear the melodic sound.
"Well, if I'd stayed long enough to marry you I would find out for myself," I leaned my head on his shoulder, feeling comfort by his presence. If I had made the absolute decision to leave this planet earlier, I could have let myself grow a relationship with him. Romantic or not, he was easy to talk to, and I trusted him. He was a friend to me, and I never imagined more, but now his presence was just something that put me at such ease.
"Do you think you'll ever come back?" He pondered, seeing as just the tiniest moonrays shown down into the canyon ahead.
"Someday. I'll comeback and repay you."
"For what?"
"Saving my life," I replied. My attempt to throw my own life away had been pushed away but I had to bring it up. I owed him my life.
"Anyone would have done the same if they had seen," He insisted, and I shook my head.
"How did you even know I was out here?" My curiosity got the better of me, and I asked for an explanation.
"I couldn't sleep, I took a walk through Ronion until I found myself here. I saw you across from the mesa on the south side... I saw you lift your foot over the edge, I knew what you were trying to do," He said, his grip on my hand got tighter almost instantly.
"Thank you. If you hadn't been there, I would be at the bottm of this canyon." I let so much seriousness onto my voice, and it didn't sound like me.
"Don't thank me yet... not until I get you on the tarmac,"
We sat in silence after that, just looking out over the horizon. When the slightest bit of light hit the edge of the planet, we stood to our feet, gathering my knapsack and begining the journey to the north delivery tarmac.
We were there in no time, and before I could even look for them, Merc and his crew were in sight. They were all sitting with their backs against some cargo imports, waiting for the transport to arrive.
"Well, well, well... look at what the shriek hawk dragged in," Shyloh said, gesturing to me and Din.
"Djarin, I didn't expect to see you here," Merc raised an eyebrow at the sight.
"I'm just here to make sure she gets onto the transport safely," He assured them. I looked out of the corner of my eye, and in the brighter horizon I was able to see a cargo ship coming into the landing area.
"Our rides here," I said, and they all jumped up. Since the ships were automatically run, and don't even require droids, it was often very easy to hop aboard and be carried to another destination. Of course, there were only a few who ever wanted to leave.
I myself hadn't ever left Mandalore, neither had I traveled much even on the planet. Only a few trips to visit the the markets with my father. I never even went into the city, for it was told that in the city lived Mandalorians who did not keep the creed. The tribes were convinced that they hadn't actually ever taken the oath, and just wore the armor for the sake of doing it.
The ship's doors opened, pulling me out of my thoughts, and a conveyer belt folded down to let the cargo units be carried out onto the tarmac for later pickup.
"Alright, it's time to head out," Gander said, slinging his knapsack over his shoulder and boarding the transport.
The rest followed after him, but I still had one thing left to do. 
Din looked at me, waiting for me to join the others, but I came close to him one last time.
"You promise my family will be taken care of?" I asked, to which he simply answered with a firm nod. However the look on my face gave him reason to believe that his answer wasn't good enough, so he spoke instead.
"I give you my word. If they are not taken care of, I will let you strike me dead where I stand."
That was good enough for me. He truly meant it. He was a man of his word.
I pulled his head toward mine, resting ny forehead against his in a traditional mandalorian kiss. I pulled back when I heard my name being called from the transport.
"Goodbye, Din Djarin," I told him.
He didn't respond, he just let me go, watching intently as I boarded the ship before the doors closed.
The cargo transports were always on schedule, so as soon as the doors closed, it began lifting into the air. I looked out through the transparent view finder on the side, watching him stand as we began moving out of sight.
"You gonna miss him?" Shyloh asked, his brows furrowing as if he were sorry for me.
"Yes, I suppose I will."
I lost sight of Din, and realized we were leaving the atmosphere most likely preparing for a jump to hyperspace.
"But I'll see him again."
.
.
Tags are open ig...
A/n: please don't get too caught up in the age gap y'all it's just for backstory purposes because this story is eventually going to follow canon events.... (also i know that this doesn't really portray Mandalore correctly, but let's pretend it does because i had this idea)
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gale-gentlepenguin · 3 years
Text
ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 38
Sorry for the delay. Real life gets out of hand. But here it is! The antepenultimate chapter.
Shout out to @asongeverlasting for beta reading for me and making sure I actually got this out.
Check her writing out on AO3 as Ramblingwren
(Master post)
(Read the fic in a more condensed on Ao3)
(The latest chapter will be up on there once this reaches over 500 notes on tumblr)
Hope you all enjoy
_____________________________________________________________
“I shouldn’t have let her go out there.”
Fu watched the school nurse, Angela, fret as she paced back and forth.
“I understand your concern, but I believe that it will all be alright. Ladybug and Chat Noir haven’t failed in handling an akuma yet,” he explained. “The girl will be okay.”
The nurse stopped pacing.
“I appreciate your optimism but… I am really not used to this,” She said as she gestured to the air.
Fu blinked at the statement.
“Oh?”
“This! This whole thing! Super villains that appear whenever someone gets sad, teenagers with superpowers! This is all new to me! I just moved to Paris a month ago from the countryside. All I wanted was to further my education and get work in the medical field. It… It boggles my mind that everyone in this city is so okay with all of this! Even my new boyfriend Curtis is able to shrug off an akuma attack like a sudden drizzle. This isn’t normal!”
The guardian could tell the young woman was distressed, and he couldn’t blame her. In a way, he envied her. This was all foreign for her, but to him, this was his entire life.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up like that. I've had a lot to deal with, and this whole situation is just so…”
Fu moved to her and helped her sit down.
“It’s alright, this is by no means a good situation. Your concerns are very understandable. I can tell that deep down that your frustration and fear come from compassion and empathy. You will make a wonderful doctor one day.”
She took a deep breath.
“Thank you. You have no idea how much I really needed to hear that today.”
“How about I teach you a medication technique that will help you calm down?”
“Meditation? I'm not really one for that kind of stuff.”
“If one wants to be a doctor, being able to calm down and handle an emergency situation is a must.”
The school nurse agreed that he had a good point, and that this may help get her mind off of things.
“Okay, I guess I'll give it a shot.”
Fu smiled.
“Good. Let us start simple. Close your eyes and put your hands together.”
Angela felt the action was a bit odd but complied.
“Now, take a deep breath. Count to 5 in your head and then breathe out.”
She took her breath and followed the order.
“Whenever you feel a thought come to your head, simply picture yourself putting it out of your mind and into a bucket.”
She tried her best to comply.
As she did this, Fu moved behind her and quickly pinched a nerve on her neck, causing the young woman to seize up for a moment before losing consciousness.
“That will help her relax.”
He carefully moved her to the cot and laid a sheet over her like a blanket.
Once it was clear that she was asleep, a turtle kwami flew out of hiding.
“So, what do we do now, Master?”
Fu took a moment to consider.
His plan was already in motion. Ladybug and Chat Noir had plenty of allies to help fight the akuma. All that needed to be done was to sit down and wait.
But as he thought about it more, he couldn’t help but think that he should go in personally. It was what he'd initially planned to do with akuma, after all. Listening to this young woman’s fears made him really see how his inaction has led to such fear and uncertainty.
For once, it was time for him to go on the offensive.
“Now we head out and find this akuma.”
“Master, you already sent out three miraculous. Let the other heroes handle this,” Wayzz insisted.
“The people of Paris should not have to become used to this. I have been far too lax with this situation. Right now, Ladybug and Chat Noir are facing their most dangerous akuma yet. For decades I have always remained passive in order to avoid making another mistake, but I have already made so many with my inaction. It's time I stop letting my actions be dictated by fear.”
“But Master, you can’t transform! Your body is too old to handle it!”
“Fear not, Wayzz. I have been exercising and restoring my vitality with the techniques of the guardians. By my estimation, I should be able to maintain the transformation without too much issue for 10 minutes,” Fu assured.
“That is not a lot of time, Master!” Wayzz pointed out.
“True, but it is better than nothing. We will head out and wait for the moment we need it. Be ready, Wayzz.”
The old guardian started heading to the door.
“But Master, what if you get captured? What if the akuma does succeed and you are unable to step in?”
Fu paused at the door.
“I know you are concerned for me. I appreciate your care. But I need to go out there. I have lived a long life, Wayzz, far longer than most humans. One day I may not be here to be the guardian.”
Wayzz felt a pang of sorrow hearing his Master talk about how he would no longer be around.
“But that’s okay. I know that when that time comes… I have two young heroes that will be ready to stand up and fight. The best thing an old man like me can do is pave the road for them.” The guardian said with certainty. He went to open the door.
“Fu…”
The old man stopped. Turning around, he saw the turtle kwami he had known for most of his life smile at him.
“I know you think of yourself as a failure of a guardian… but Su Han and the others were wrong. You are a great one. You are the most caring guardian that has ever held the title. And I will be by your side to the end.”
The old man felt his eyes well up at the sweet comment.
“Then let’s go, Partner.”
___________________________________________________________________________
The dragon heroine grabbed the confused snake hero and moved him to the closest room before closing the door.
“Okay we should be safe here,” she said as she looked over to her comrade. It was clear that Viperion was still very confused. It did not help that both his and her miraculous were beeping. They didn't have much time.
“Thanks… ummm,” Viperion started as he tried to rack his brain for a name. Part of him felt like he should know her. But his mind is blank.
“Ryuuko. You can call me Ryuuko. And you are Viperion.”
“Okay… weird name for me, but I guess it works.”
Ryuuko realized that the bubble Viperion had been put in wasn’t just to keep him frozen in place. One of the side effects must have been leaving him without any memory of who he was. Had her partner been aware of that risk when he took the bubble for her? She couldn’t know for sure. But right now, she needed to focus on the task at hand. Shehad to take charge since her partner was out of sorts.
“Okay, 'll try to explain this as quickly as possible.”
“Your real name is Luka. But when you are in your hero form, you go by Viperion.”
“Hero form...”
He looked down.
“Well, that does explain the costumes. I thought it was some sort of weird costume party.”
Ryuuko decided to ignore that.
“Okay, so I'm a hero. And you're one too?”
“Yes. We are both heroes picked by Ladybug to help her fight villains. Right now, we're fighting a bunch of them, and you got your memory wiped by one of their attacks. That’s why you are confused. Any questions?”
The boy took a moment to look himself over and then look at her. This was a lot of information to take in. Ryuuko was half expecting him to call her crazy. Which, given how bizarre the circumstances were, she wouldn’t blame him.
“Okay, I think if it was anyone else telling me this, I would have called it a load of bull. But… I don’t know why but I feel like I can trust you. You sound sincere,” Viperion responded.
“Okay great, now let's…”
“I still have a few questions.”
Ryuuko sighs.
“Look, we really don’t have much time. We need to hurry and get out there to help…”
And just before she finished the statement, both of their transformations wore off. Revealing their civilian forms.
“Oh no.” Kagami muttered in horror.
“What happened? Where am I… What am I?” The snake kwami questioned as he looked at himself.
“It appears that Sass was also impacted by the amnesia.” The dragon kwami that popped out of her necklace commented.
Luka stared wide eyed at the creature.
“Are you a snake?”
“A snake? I suppose?”
“A snake with limbs? That is very rock and roll.”
The two fistbumped. Thankfully they seemed to get along.
Longg looked at them.
“This is quite a predicament.”
“We need to hurry back in. Longg! Bring the….”
“Hold on a moment. Both Sass and I will not be able to do that yet.”
Kagami stopped.
“How come?”
“We need to refuel. The energy of transforming AND using our unique powers drains a lot out of us. We need some food to continue.”
“Food… Okay.”
The snake Kwami grabbed his stomach.
“I find myself rather famished,” he commented.
Luka looked at him.
“Let me see if I can help you out.”
The teen took off the backpack he was wearing to go through it. Thankfully there was a bag lunch in there. For some reason he felt that was important. But decided that if it could help the little guy out, he was sure it wouldn’t be a big deal.
He opened the bag lunch and pulled out a bag of apple slices. Opening it to grab a piece.
“I know snakes usually are carnivores, but how about some fruit?”
“Ooo! It smells divine!”
Luka handed the floating kwami a piece of the apple.
He takes a bite.
“Oh! It's delicious! Juicy and sweet!”
The snake quickly devours the apple piece.
As that happens, Kagami looked through her bag.
“I don’t have fruit but I do have some onigiri. It was my afternoon snack… but since this is a dire situation.”
“Rice? Yes please!” Longg exclaimed as he dive bombed right into the delicious rice ball.
“It’s Umeboshi, it’s not to everyone’s taste but It is one of my favorites.”
“It’s the most delicious thing I have ever eaten. The sour plum really brings a new dimension of flavor.”
Kagami smiled a bit at her kwami companion, happy that she could help.
The two Kwami finished their food and were ready for action.
“Okay, Sass. You need to help Luka transform.”
“Sass? Is that my name?” the snake inquired.
“So, he helps me transform into Viperman?”
“Viperion, and yes,” Kagami responded.
“All you need to do is say. Sass, Scales Slither. And to activate your special power just pull your bracelet back and say second chance. Then pull it back when you want to use it. But be sure not to use it right away,” Longg instructed.
“Okay seems easy enough. Are you okay with this?” Luka asked as he turned his attention to his snake pal.
“The floating horn snake seems fine with it so I say let’s give it a try”
Longg decided for the sake of his friendship with Sass to ignore the comment.
“Alright! Let's do this!” Kagami exclaimed as she prepared to transform.
“One last question.”
Kagami was starting to get antsy. She wanted to be back out there fighting. But she held back her annoyance, considering how he sacrificed his memories for her.
“Make it quick, we need to hurry.”
Luka scratches the back of his head.
“Are we a couple?”
If Kagami was drinking water she would have done a massive spit take. Her cheeks turned red.
“What?!”
“You know… together? You seem to know a lot about me, and I just feel this connection... like I can trust you even though I don’t remember anything. I don’t know how or why, but I feel like you matter to me.”
Kagami’s eyes went wide at the comment. It felt surprisingly bold of the musician to say. She had to admit that the statement made her heart skip a beat.
“No, we had just recently become friends.” Kagami responded.
“Oh…” Luka was saddened by the response.
“But, I have thought about the possibility it could be more than that one day," Kagami continued. "But that is something to discuss when you have your memory back. Maybe.”
The fencer felt her mind scream at her.
‘WHY DID YOU SAY THAT! Well, at least he won't remember.’
Luka smiled at that.
“Well, that must mean I must be a good guy, if I could have such a great friend like you.”
The teen prepared himself.
“Alright then! Sass! Scales Slither.”
The musician shifted into his hero form.
“Let’s go save the day.”
Kagami looked at her hero partner and smiled.
“Longg, Bring the storm.
______________________________________________________________________
“Well, that might be a problem.”
Chat Noir and Ladybug looked to see a stone giant guarding the front door of the classroom. The two had hidden just out of the goliath’s view.
“Any ideas on how to take down Mount Akuma?” Chat Noir questioned.
Ladybug looked at the giant from their hiding spot and began formulating a plan.
“Stoneheart grows bigger when he gets mad. These akuma aren’t really able to express their emotions. That means we don’t need to worry about him getting bigger. We just need to find a way to incapacitate him.”
“We could ask Mayura,” Chat Noir pointed out.
“We could ask… wait WHA…”
Chat Noir covered his partner’s mouth and ducked down.
“Shhhh! She’s right there,” Chat Noir hushed.
Ladybug removed the cat’s hand from her mouth and looked from the spot to see that her partner was right. Mayura was in the building!
“She actually showed up?” Oh, this is a lot more serious than we thought. Hawkmoth is really playing it serious with this one.”
“To the butterfly man’s credit, he really has been throwing out some tough ones.”
“I will not give our worst villain credit for anything except this headache,” Ladybug retorted with annoyance.
“So, what do we do? Mayura is in the building and she is talking with the giant.”
Ladybug felt like the situation couldn’t get worse.
“Not so fast, Feather Freak!”
Ladybug recognized that voice.
“Chloé?”
Chat Noir and Ladybug glanced to see a familiar blonde strutting down the hallway. But their expressions of shock shifted to bewilderment when they noticed what she was wearing.
“So are you and that purple fashion blunder here? Or is it just you? I am guessing it's just you. Your boss doesn’t really like to show his face unless he thinks he is sure to win. No wonder Ladybug always kicks his…” The bee themed heroine confidently quipped.
“Queen Bee. Now that is a surprise. I thought Ladybug was done giving you a miraculous.” The peacock villainess commented. She had no interest in dealing with the bee heroine at this time.
“Well, you would be surprised by a lot of things. So how about we settle this. My fist really misses your face.”
Mayura rolled her eyes.
“Fortunately for you, I don’t have the time to deal with you. Stoneheart, I am sure Masquerade would love for you to take care of this pesky bee.”
“Oh don’t think you can walk away! You and that purple cockroach are the same. Both cowards that can’t even face children.” She jeered as she walked forward.
The stone giant moved forward, allowing Mayura to walk to the door and enter.
“Too scared to face me! Typical. I'll beat your pet rock as a warm up and then your butt will meet my foot!” Queen Bee exclaimed with confidence. “Because I am a real heroine!”
Queen Bee got into a stance and prepared to trade blows with the colossus of rock.
Chat Noir looked to Ladybug.
“Did you give her a miraculous?” He whispered in surprise.
“I don’t have any additional miraculous. I thought she had been captured with the rest of the class.”
“Wait… if it wasn’t you… you don’t think…”
“Either Master Fu is in the building and saw how dire the situation was or Chloé snuck away and had a Queen Bee costume stowed away in her locker.”
The two look at each other and immediately come to the same conclusion.
“We need to save her before she gets crushed!”
______________________________________________________________________
Mayura walked into the classroom.
She managed to keep a straight face, but internally she had a lot going through her mind.
What was once a standard classroom now looked like an elaborate throne room. The amazing curtains, the high ceilings. The steps leading up to an elaborate throne. The portraits of Masquerade really brought together the utter decadence and vanity of the akuma persona. It reminds Mayura of Gabriel’s obsession with Emilie in the worst way possible.
Despite finding the décor off-putting, she had to admit it was impressive how Masquerade had been able to change the room into something completely unrecognizable. A testament to her vanity.
She took a moment to see what akuma servants she still had in the room. The Gamer, Reflekta with around 12 copies, Princess Fragrance, Robostus, Zombizou and Horificator. While the white masks obscured their expressions, it was clear that all of them were watching her. It greatly unnerved her.
She kept these thoughts to herself as the masked akuma that was running the school took notice of her.
“Mayura. I've been expecting you.”
Mayura looked up to see Masquerade sitting on the throne.
“Please, come in.”
She approached confidently. Though in the back of her mind something seemed off.
Masquerade stood up from the throne and walked down the steps, a smile of certainty on her face.
“Masquerade. Your Sentimonster gave me the basics of your plan. Securing the school as your base of operations was a good first step. Your plan of creating a video to lower the spirits of those in Paris was also a nice touch,” Mayura praised.
“But of course! My plan is flawless,” Masquerade boasted. “Not even Ladybug and Chat Noir will be able to stop me.”
“Getting ahead of yourself aren’t you?” Mayura cut her ego trip.
Masquerade’s mood soured as her smile faltered.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You have yet to face the two heroes. Not to mention there's a pesky bee flying around.”
“A bee?” Masquerade was very confused by the comment.
“Yes, Chloé Bourgeois, or Queen Bee, to be precise. Seems that Ladybug and Chat Noir went and got back up."
“It doesn’t matter if they have one additional hero or three. This plan won't fail.”
‘Something isn’t right here. I need to leave now!’ Mayura’s mind screamed.
She wasn’t sure why, but something felt incredibly off.
“Speaking of heroes, your plan never really specified how you will deal with them. Care to elaborate?”
Masquerade’s smile grew more sinister.
“I am glad you asked. After Simularé relayed to me that you were here. I finally figured out the perfect way of dealing with those arrogant heroes,” the masked woman stated with certainty, moving forward.
She now stood only a few feet from the peacock villainess.
“Wait a moment, something is wrong here,” Mayura commented as she tried to focus. She couldn’t ignore the warnings in her head.
“What do you mean?” The mask akuma looked with confusion at the blue villainess.
Mayura looked around. Frantically trying to find something but it was fruitless. This distress caused Masquerade to smile.
“I can't sense it,” Mayura spoke with slight worry.
“Sense what?” Masquerade inquired further.
“Where is your amok? It should be on your person but I can't sense it.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Yes. If you don’t have the amok in your possession then that sentimonster will go out of control!” Mayura explained.
“Can’t you just rip the amok out?”
“If it's nearby and I sense it, yes. But I can’t do that if it’s out of my range.”
“So you’re saying you have no power over me right now.” A devilish grin appeared on Masquerade’s face.
“No, I am saying I don’t have any power over the senti…”
Mayura felt a chill as she realized that the masquerade in front of her was not an akumatized Lila.
“Horrificator, block the door,” the Faux Masquerade commanded.
The pink and purple monster quickly moved to block the door with her large form.
The controlled akuma started circling around her as Simularé undid the illusion and morphed into its true specter form, Simularé.
“You ungrateful little monster. You think your master will be okay with you attacking one of the ones that gave her power?”
“My master doesn’t care about you or Hawkmoth. You are a means to an end. And she gave me special permission to take your miraculous from you.”
“Well if your master isn’t here, then no one is jamming the signal. I can contact Hawkmoth and put this little coup to an end.”
Simularé shifted into Lady Wifi.
“I have access to every power my master does. You are trapped with no options.” The sentimonster mocked.
Mayura looked around as she was circled by the controlled akuma. She needed to get out of there.
She felt a pain rush to her head.
‘F*** not now’ She mentally cursed.
The odds were indeed not in her favor.
______________________________________________________________________________
Stoneheart began charging at the bee themed heroine, and just as Queen Bee was about to move, a yo-yo wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the monster.
The stone giant had expected his charge to make contact but forced himself to stop when he noticed the bee was gone.
“Sorry tiny, but I’m your playmate now,” called a cat-themed hero.
The mindless akuma didn’t visibly react to the change in foe and simply charged at the cat hero.
Queen Bee found herself near Ladybug.
“Chloé! What are you doing?!”
“Uh… Saving the day? I got the jewelry box that you sent out because you needed my help.”
“Jewelry box… wait a minute that means. You are wearing a miraculous.”
“Yep! Don’t worry LB, I will show you that I am worthy of being Queen Bee. And not to boast, but I totally saved someone. But right now, we gotta go beat that ugly pile of rubble.”
Ladybug looked at Chloé for a moment. With the situation as hectic as it was, Queen Bee has shown some competence when there is real danger. Ladybug knew that right now, all hands that could help would be appreciated, and Queen Bee’s appearance could mean that Fu may be closer than she expected. So maybe there were more reinforcements. So if this was the case. She would trust Fu’s judgement.
“Alright, just be ready to return the bee after all of this is over.”
“Right, right, but just know I will probably change your mind about that after this is over!” the bee exclaimed confidently as she jumped back into the fray.
Ladybug shook her head. Whether she was Queen Bee or Chloé, she was still a handful.
“Are you finished gossiping? Because I could REALLY use a hand!” Chat Noir shouted as he held his staff up to hold back the rock monster’s boulder of a fist.
Queen Bee and Ladybug jumped into view and noticed the situation.
“Don’t worry you stray cat, The Queen Bee will put that rock in his place. Ve…”
Ladybug covered Queen Bee’s mouth before she could.
“Hold it. We might need your power for later.”
“I think it would be useful now!” Chat Noir shouted as he struggled to hold the weight of the giant’s rocky hand.
“Okay if my powers are a no no right now, what is the plan?”
Ladybug looked around. She found her attention drawn to a fire extinguisher, Queen Bee, a rubber band, and a discarded backpack.
“Okay, I have a plan.”
______________________________________________________________________
Gabriel had made a decision.
He hurried out of the lair in his civilian form. He was going to head to the school. Now he would just need to get his chauffeur and go…
Gabriel’s eyes went wide as he saw his son’s bodyguard and chauffeur fall to the floor at the steps of the main entrance, a white mask adorning his face that he was desperately trying to get off.
“What is the meaning of this?” Gabriel asked aloud in shock and anger.
He looked to see the mask akuma he created standing at the door.
“Well, if it isn’t Gabriel Agreste. Fashion mogul, and master manipulator.”
Gabriel’s visible anger faded as he stared at the akuma.
“Lila, is that you?”
“Oh quite astute! An amazing deduction. Was it that observational skill that made you the fashion success you are now?” the akumatized Lila inquired. “Though I go by Masquerade now.”
Gabriel knew very well the girl’s powers. He was the one that gave it to her. She was trying to antagonize him, get him angry. But that would not work.
“Well Masquerade, what brings you to my home at this time?” Gabriel asked calmly. Doing his best to keep his tone and mannerisms calm.
“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, finding more people to join my little army and I notice my charm glowing as I was getting near.”
Gabriel’s eyes went wide as he realized something. The charm bracelet was configured to locate anyone that has ever been akumatized. That included him. His ploy to ward suspicion off of himself was now biting him in the butt. And of course, Lila was likely holding a grudge with how he pushed her with his words about his son and his classmate.
“My bodyguard was akumatized. What of it?”
The silent action figure enthusiast stopped resisting and his body began growing. Gabriel noticed the man was transforming into the gorilla akuma. Gorizilla! And he rushed up the steps as the akuma moved and pounded his chest.
“Gorizilla, go gather up anyone who has been akumatized that you know of. I will handle Mr. Agreste myself.”
The giant akuma nodded at its master and headed off, leaving the agreste mansion with a giant hole that was once the front of the mansion.
“Handle me? And what do you plan to do?”
Masquerade’s necklace began to glow.
“Oh! Well that is very interesting,” Masquerade mused aloud as she learned from the glowing charm.
“What do you mean, interesting?” Gabriel asked. He knew that the charm had the bonus effect of pointing out the emotional weak points of those that had been akumatized. But he had PRETENDED to be angry and wasn’t actually emotional when the akuma took over. Did the charm still impact him the same way it did everyone else?
Masquerade started walking up the steps.
“You blame yourself for your wife’s passing.”
The statement was a blade pointed right at his throat. But Gabriel refused to react. He would not let himself be taken advantage of by his own akuma. He has been on the receiving end one too many times and he would be damned if he let that psychopath have control of him.
Masquerade saw that Gabriel was not reacting to the statement.
“I have never seen a man more miserable and pathetic,” Masquerade said. Her words sounded genuine and cutting.
Gabriel tried to turn around and walk away. But Masquerade jumped high with her superhuman agility and landed right in front of him, continuing her tearing down of his emotional state.
“All of this wealth and yet you are obsessed with what you don’t have. You are so blinded by the grief of losing your wife that everything else in your life may as well not exist. You locked yourself away, desperately trying to find something, anything that would bring her back. But now you are finding that color is starting to return in your life. You feel guilt over hiding the truth from your son, you loathe the attraction that you have been developing for another woman. You hate that you can’t dedicate every second to your lost wife and any speck of joy you feel without her here feels like treason since she is not here with you. You are a man so blind with his obsession that you fail to see the world doesn’t revolve around you. It's disgusting.”
“You know nothing of my life,” Gabriel dismissed.
But Masquerade knew he would say that. She only smiled. The truth was right in front of her. And she was ready to bring it home.
“You are actually terrified of facing her again.”
That shook Gabriel.
“What?”
“You are afraid of seeing her again. Whether it’s a year or 10 years, you feel that even if you could bring her back, she would be here and realize how much of a shell you had become without her. You are afraid that your obsession with her will be the very thing that drives her away once you see her again.”
“That isn’t true.”
“Then why haven’t you brought her back yet? Don’t you love her?”
Gabriel felt like his heart was being repeatedly punched.
“How dare you question my love for my wife!”
“Then why isn’t she here? If you loved her she wouldn’t have been taken from you and Adrien. But you were far too pathetic to do it. You failed her, and you are still failing her. You will never be with her again, and deep down. You know it to be true,” Masquerade answered coldly.
Those words were enough to get him down. That is what finally did him in.
Gabriel fell to his knees.
“No…”
Gabriel had broken. Masquerade knew she had him.
He was emotionally devastated, to the point where couldn’t even react to the mask coming his way.
____________________________________________________________
Well now things are now hitting their highest points of drama!
Will Ladybug and other heroes be able to stand up to Masquerade?
Will Mayura fall to Simularé's double cross?
Will I EVER update in time?
Tell me your thoughts on the chapter. Your support keeps it alive
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An Angel and A Demon ~ Pyramid Head x Reader
Update 2: My laptop restarted when I was in the middle of writing this, and trust me when I say it, I am positively pissed off, and I want to end my days, that's how bad of a day this was.
And I didn't leave the house.
That says a lot about today...
Update 1: But, without further ado, I was half-way writing this story, and I received this ask, and let me tell you...
helloooo, i absolutely adored the fanfics you wrote about kazan and danny🥺 could i request one where pyramid head is just really whipped for and in love with the survivor! reader but he doesnt know how to announce it to them so he brings her random ,,gifts" in and outside the trials and protecting her bc well, im pretty sure he cant speak so he doesnt really have any other options on how to express his feelings??
I live for it.
Bless you for sending me this, it's the reason I'm still sane right now.
I love you, baby-cakes.
Update 3: I want to kill myself so bad. Just smash my head on a wall until it explodes or sth. I was so happy with how this imagine turned out, only fuck fucking tumblr to just fucking delete EVERYTHING just as I was about to put the last gif and hit POST NOW.
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For the 5th time writing this :
FUCKMEDADDY - but this time - FUCKMYBRAINSOUTPLEASEIWANNADIE
Thanks.
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Hell - What was that place, anyway?
Some would describe it as an infinite ocean of flames and lava, where it's eternally melting-hot, and a bunch of hooved, horned, tailed red demons torture you with acid, with their red pitch forks, or boil you alive in their cauldron for soup. Or maybe you just get tortured by Stalin, who knows?
But never would have anyone thought that 'Hell' could look so...Normal. Well, normal in a very demolished, desolate, ravished way, but still...Normal, by human standards. Albeit, the never-ending loop of madness, anguish, agony and desperation of getting killed in different gruesome ways or fleeing for their lives and feeling a myriad of emotions pumping adrenaline through their veins so badly that their anxiety-meter skyrocketed to abnormal levels.
All this darkness, this hatred, this...Everything...It changed all the survivors. They became selfish, stubborn, rude, some even went as far as to sacrifice their fellow survivors in trials, just so they could survive. It was a complete mayhem that defied all kinds of reason, normality, morality or even ethics. Everyone became devoid of any laws that used to bind them to their humane sides, and now, you weren't sure if the killers were saner than the survivors or not.
But even in this abyss where you couldn't even see your hand in front of your very eyes, there was a little star - A beautiful angel radiating brightness and warmth, someone who was somehow able to guide everyone's straying souls with her benevolence.
In reality, she was merely a survivor, not the little lantern from an angler fish's head, but she treated everyone with such an untainted kindness...It was beautiful, and yet, unrequited for most parts. Everyone was still putting their own lives above all - And who could condemn them? - Perhaps their cowardice, for the girl preferred to save her fellow survivors as much as possible, even if that oftentimes assured her place on the hook, to be a sacrificial lamb for the Entity.
On the other hand, she rarely ended up on the hook - Most killers prefer to kill her themselves, instead of letting her become pray for the horrible Entity who tortured so many of them for refusing to cooperate - The Trapper, Evan MacMillan - He knew the best, with those hooks digging into his flesh, impossible to extract. He was the first to protect this girl. It wasn't much, but if he had to, he'd rather give her a swift, painless death, than seeing her without that serene, angelic smile on her face, as the Entity feeds on the last bits of her soul's beauty, the last parts of her humanity.
The other Killers were confused at the Trapper's actions, but little by little, they began to understand why this girl was so precious and special - And this domino effect hit Rin Yamaoka next, with Y/N stopping in the middle of a chase and taking off her jacket, just as Rin was about to butcher her with her katana, and she smiled, extending it to her. 'You must be cold' she said, realising that the Spirit was merely wearing a few bandages, not even her school uniform, or her kimono.
The ghost girl was shaken up by this, and told the others at the killer camp, but they just shrugged it off - Rin was a little girl who faced close to no kindness, they weren't surprised she was so taken aback by such a feat. That is, until Adiris, in a particularly terrible day, when everyone at the camp was staying away from her, as her profane censer wasn't able to cover the stench of rotting flesh - Y/N came over, taking out a small yet elegant glass bottle with pink liquid on it, spraying some on her - And now, The Plague smelled of roses and vanilla - 'You can come to me for perfume whenever you want, I always carry some with me!' she grinned at the Babylonian High Priestess, before leaving back to the survivor's camp site, leaving the ancient God symbol to stare with her mouth agape at the girl.
These words began to spread, and it was no surprise when the killers saw Susie clinging and begging her Legion friends to spare Y/N, for she was there to hug away her worries more than once, to tell her sweet words, to play with her hair and play the guitar whatever songs she wanted to hear, to get reminded of her home - She was so home sick that she freaked out, but now she was better, thanks to Y/N - 'I know you miss home, but sometimes, home is where your best friends are, and all three of them are here!' she tried to encourage the cute pink-haired girl who could only squeal and hug her new friend.
Even Ghostface wasn't exempt from falling to her charms, and they would often take silly selfies and mess around, making fun of the old horror movie tropes and doing lots of puns and pranks - So much that she even got his trust to be told about the Danny/Jed thing, and how he began his killer profession - 'You're a very talented photographer, Danny! You deserved all that recognition you got, both as a journalist, and as a killer!'
And very soon, Y/N found herself in the crushing arms of an overprotective Anna, humming her mother's lullaby together with walking through the forest, Y/N making flower crows for all the female killers at the camp site, and little by little, she somehow managed to worm her way under everyone's skins.
Y/N was the survivor with the highest survivability percentage, and maybe the Entity sometimes got pissed off, but at least she still got killed sometimes, so who cares? Well, that was soon to change as soon as a new Killer was added to this sick game - Pyramid Head, the terror of Silent Hill, as Cheryl, the new Survivor, called him - or The Executioner, as he was known now. He was ruthless, merciless, grotesque - He had his own criteria of killing, his own moral compass, ethics, conscience and understanding of the concept of life and death. Nothing that could compare to the visions of humans, clearly - Everything was gravitating around Divine Retribution and Justice, but the from the outside, he was nothing but a killing machine.
He would kill everyone and anyone that crosses his path, without fail.
Y/N felt like her fortune ended completely the second she found herself in the new, overly cramped map, with Pyramid Head as the killer - She couldn't help but run around like a spazzic meerkat, trying to find and fix as many generators as possible, without having to get face to face with the walking hazard...
Only to run past a stuck Pyramid Head.
Slowly backtracing her steps, she saw the mountain of a man with his metal pyramid stuck in the frames a low window which he tried to walk over. He was trashing like a raged bull trying to attack a matador, but it was clear he was getting nowhere with this.
"H-Hey, u-uhm...Need some help?" she asked in a soft, careful voice, almost like a meek cat trying to test the waters, but in return, he started groaning even louder from the wrath he wanted to unleash upon the whole world. "Okay, uhm...I think I saw a can of vaseline in one of the chests around. I'll go fetch it and I'll come back for you. Don't move." she said, only to then realise how horrible that sounded, considering the situation, and it only seemed to anger the killer. "...I'm sorry, ignore me, I'm an idiot." she slapped herself pretty harshly before bolting out of there trying to find the chest.
However, Y/N cursed herself for not having perfectly memorised the whole map by heart already, since she found the vaseline can after the 3rd chest, and then, it took quite a while to find the bloody window that got the killer stuck - And by the time she got there, she was dead tired. "Okay, I'm here, I found the vaseline! Let's try to get you out of here." Y/N muttered as she put her feet on the low window pane to get to his level. "If it's not too much trouble, could you please hold onto me? I can't balance myself with both hands occupied, and I'd rather not fall." she explained as she opened the vaseline can, only to shiver as she felt two big, strong hands getting a firm grip on her hips. It was almost...Endearing, were she not too busy trying to get the killer unstuck. She kept massaging the metal edge, trying to push and pull, also praying to whatever deity that existed in her human world that she had her tetanus shot done on time - Until finally, she was able to get hear a loud screech, like a pop, and the killer got unstuck, and in the process, he stumbled backwards, while Y/N fell down on her butt.
"Ouchie..." she muttered, rubbing her back and sides to take away the pain surging through her body. "Are you okay?" she asked, almost intuitively, without realising it at first, until she heart a low grunt that brought her back to reality. "O-Oh...! You have glass shards stuck in your side! And you're bleeding too! Hold up, let me help." she hurried to his side, while the killer merely stiffened, feeling her delicate, slender fingers tracing his body, while he heaved and slouched his shoulders from the repressed wrath. "It may sting a bit, and I'm really sorry, but I promise it will be better soon." her voice was so motherly and warm, which also resonated in her actions, as she gingerly took a water bottle and imbued some tissues with it, to wipe away the blood smearing down his skin as she extracted the glass shards, and then..."This is grandma's marigold ointment. It's really good, and it smells nice." she explained as she carefully smeared a thick layer of the yellow ointment on the biggest wounds, while the little ones were covered by smiley-flower patterned plasters. They were cute, and colourful, and they never failed to make her smile. "Okay, there we go, all better! I hope you'll feel better very soon!" her voice got a tiny bit more cheerful and upbeat.
It made the Killer think about a trillion things, as he stepped in front of her, towering over her like the Empire states building next to a smiling pomeranian. What was with this girl? Why did she help a killer? And why did he feel so...Warm inside? He could sense a foreign kind of luminosity, a naivite and innocence that he only witnessed in children and animals. This woman in front of him was untainted by the darkness and evil of the world.
It didn't matter how many hardships she's been through, or how much sadness she had to endure - Her soul remained as pure as any snowdrop, as the first snow of winter, as the fleece of a baby lamb who let out its first 'meeeeh' to its mamma sheep.
He couldn't allow this human to be maimed in any way - Not by the world, not by the Entity, and certainly not by him. - Screw the Entity, Pyramind Head kills by his own rules, and now, he was blessed to be faced with a human who bore no real hatred for her peers, or for the world, despite the horrible situation she was thrown into.
He didn't understand, obviously, especially as he remembered the myriad of abominations that lurked through Silent Hill, all of them created by the torment of humans - The very torment that distorted their own reality, which resulted in him needing to solve the purpose as The Executioner - Eradicating the world of all evil.
"Th-This sword is so heavy...H-How can you carry this around like that...?! Your muscles must be so strained and sore...Y-You really need a massage, I'm sure." she stuttered as she tried to lift the much taller and heavier sword from the ground, only for the brute to simply bend and pick it up with extreme ease, putting the girl to shame with her complete lack of strength. "Hehe...You're really strong. I'm embarrassed now." she chuckled softly, scratching the back of her neck.
Before she could leave or do anything else, Pyramid Head picked her up by the throat, careful not to hurt her or restrict her air intake - I mean, how else was he supposed to carry her so he wouldn't hurt her with his metal head or sword? - and it was pretty clear she didn't feel any malevolence from him, as she clinged on his forearm, trying to keep herself up, only to be dumped on top of the hatch, as the killer pointed towards it, so she would leave.
"O-Oh...! Thank you so much! You're really kind! I really appreciate this...I-I know it probably doesn't matter much to you, since you'll be doing this over and over again with all the survivors...But I really appreciate you for your kind gesture, and I appreciate you for being so nice with me. Thank you. Take care!" her dazzling smile lit the whole place up, but he couldn't talk, nor could he tell her how he should be the one thanking her for showing him that, despite the hundreds and thousands of years he had to roam the 'Earth' and execute the injust, miracles still existed.
As soon as she reached the survivor's camp, everyone cheered for her, asking how in the world could she have escaped the wrath of the butcher. "Oh, but he wasn't that bad. In fact, he's much more humane than I anticipated! I think he has a beautiful, blooming heart!" okay, she's lost it - the other survivors thought - but even so, she's always been a bit...Out of it, so who cares?
It took quite a while for the other three survivors to reach the camp, all bloody, in fact, like the new killer, who dragged himself with the same menace to the Killers' camp. "How the hell did you manage to survive?!" they yelled at her in utter shock, seeing that she got out of there unscratched. "Oh, you see...I found the hatch." she shrugged simply, not wanting to give away that the person who massacred those three was a soft one and he basically threw her down the hatch to her safety.
As she took a twig to roast a marshmallows, she noticed how Pyramid Head was standing much farther away from the rest of the killers - She knew that silent killers were bound to stay away from the more obnoxious one, remembering how Michael Myers almost killed Ghostface and The Legion at least a dozen times - But this time...He seemed kinda...Lonely? So Y/N took the matters into her own hands, roasted another marshmallow in another twig, and when it was done, she went to the killer's camp, calling out the lonely one's name - She has no idea why, but he actually followed her, pushing her further deep into the forest, until he was sure nobody was going to hear, see or interrupt them...
"Hey. You seemed pretty lonely out there...I thought you could use a friend. Thank you again for what you did at the trial...Here, this is a marshmallow. I don't think you've had many before...Cheryl told me of that horrible place you had to live in...So I hope this will make your day a bit better!" Y/N extended one of her hands towards him, so he could take the marshmallow - And a long, black tongue erupted from underneath the pyramid, snatching away the fluffy marshmallow and gulping it in one go.
What the hell was he turning into?
A towering man built of pure muscle, wrath and divine justice, with a pyramid representing the evil of humanity burdening his body, and a sword taller and heavier than the average human being constantly dragged in one of his hand...He now was a slave to a cute, innocent girl who was putting flower plasters on his minuscule wounds that would heal in a heartbeat regardless - He saved this girl who was now offering his these soft, squishy things that tasted overly sugarly, just like her upbeat and cheerful personality - If he could eat her, he was sure she would taste even sweeter than this - A sickish kind of sweet, that is.
She was indeed a beautiful angel in this tragic hell. But he didn't wait to snatch the second marshmallow either.
"Ah...! You liked it, didn't you? Well...Next time, I promise I'll give you more!" she grinned at him the same way a princess would to her chivalrous knight who saved her. The since he couldn't talk, silence took over them - It wasn't an uncomfortable one, per se, but it made it feel as if the conversation was over. "W-Well...I'll guess I'll see you around! Take care and I hope to see you again soon!" she waved cutely, trying to turn around back to her camp, only to feel a rough hand on her shoulder, turning her around and urging her to stop and wait for him and he went deep into the forest, leaving her alone and undefended by the potential malevolent forces of the forest.
When he returned, however, he stepped right in front of her, creating the perfect shade as he towered over her - Then he kneeled in front of her, so he would reach her eye sight, then he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and put a beautiful pink flower - As pink as the blush that started creeping on her face - He wanted to see her luminous face better, to highlight her dazzling smile and her glimmering eyes as the warm, silver light of the mother moon caressed her face.
Y/N felt her heart picking up the pace - It was beating so much faster than ever before - But this time, it wasn't out of fear or anything negative...It was something good. Something she never felt in her life, especially with her human acquaintances from back home. None was as chivalrous and gentle with her as this butcher of tormented souls - The bringer of justice, the merciless Executioner who was supposed to end the life of every living being that would cross his path.
It was insane how every Yin finds its Yang, even if that comes in the form of a little lamb of a small, frail girl, and a huge abomination of a brute man who knows nothing but death, bloodshed and carnage. It was truly crazy how opposites attract, and here she was, holding the killers large hands and gingerly putting them on her face, leaning into his touch - She felt safer now than ever in her life - Now, in the arms of an ancient killer.
An Angel and A Demon brought together in a perfect union.
As she leaned down, she touched the metal of the pyramid where she anticipated his forehead would be with her own forehead, and closing her eyes, she finally felt herself calming down. There was no need for words, actions spoke louder than anything, and she appreciated it...She appreciated him.
"Thank you." she whispered to him, knowing that yes, even though nobody else would hear it anyway, it was much more intimate than anything she ever experienced.
She was hooked.
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Hope you liked my completely shameless pun, I couldn't stop it, especially after the pain I went through trying to write this...3 freaking times.
Yay.
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urdearestmom · 2 years
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3:15
forgot to post this to tumblr when I posted on ao3, so here it is now! just a lil something :)
It’s dark outside. Like, really dark. His watch reads 2:15 California time, which makes it probably 3:15 in the morning where they are (which he’s not sure of, actually. Somewhere between Wyoming and Nebraska), but there aren’t any stars out. It’s the ominous kind of darkness that comes before a storm. 
Argyle is inside the gas station they’d stopped at ten minutes ago, Jonathan is passed out in the passenger seat, and Will is out cold on the floor. El is staring silently out the window from the other end of the backseat, as she has been virtually since they picked her up. She had only said enough to explain that they need to get to Hawkins as quickly as possible because their friends are in danger. There’s a tension thick between the two of them as long as they’re both awake, but he’s not sure what to do about it. El doesn’t exactly seem like she wants to talk to him. 
He regrets leaving things the way they did before El got arrested, only at the same time can’t think of how it could have turned out any differently. He still can’t bring himself to say the words she wants to hear, even at this moment. It feels like his throat is stuffed with cotton if he even tries to imagine saying it. Still, Mike feels like he should say something. He knows things have happened to her in the few days since he last saw her; she’s wearing the same clothes but her head is shaved again and she has her powers back. It’s just like the night they met, except it isn’t at all. 
“El,” he starts, entirely on impulse. He hasn’t given a single thought to what he might say. 
“I’m tired, Mike,” she replies, turning further toward the window and tucking her legs underneath her. 
Mike almost swallows his tongue. “Okay. Sorry.” He crosses his arms to keep his hands from fidgeting nervously, turning to look out his own window.  
They stew in silence, Mike thinking over what he wants to say to El, until Argyle returns and drives the van to some empty space behind the gas station. 
“Just gonna rest here for a few hours and then keep going, alright man?” He tells them, settling in to sleep in his seat just like Jonathan. 
Mike responds with a barely audible, “Yeah,” while El remains fixated on the darkness outside. After about ten minutes, Argyle starts to snore lightly. Mike looks over at El again, sighing because he can tell she’s not asleep. Everyone else is though, so at least they’re afforded a little bit of privacy. They won’t have much of that when they reach whatever’s waiting for them back home. 
“El,” he tries again, quietly. “Can I talk to you?” 
She doesn’t answer.
Mike’s eyebrows furrow. “I know you’re awake.”
Nothing changes, until El slowly turns around and fixes him with a stare. He can barely see her, but he feels its intensity.
“What do you want?” 
He shifts in his seat, tucking his hands under his thighs. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry. For how I acted at the rink and for not saying-” 
“I don’t want your apology,” El says stonily, jerking her head back to the window. 
“Fine, then, I’ll stop apologizing,” Mike replies, and pauses. This isn’t starting how he hoped it might. “But will you listen to me? Please?”
She doesn’t say anything for a moment. Then: “Yes.” 
He slides closer. “About our fight,” he begins. “I didn’t explain myself properly, and then the cops showed up and shit hit the fan and we didn’t finish that conversation.”
El stays silent, still facing away, and he continues. 
“You know that I have feelings for you. I don’t think that was ever much of a secret,” he says, and almost laughs a little. It really wasn’t; Lucas had mocked Mike proposing to El like two days after they met her. “I told you last year that it’s… it’s crazy, and I’ve never felt like this about someone before. Being away from you- is so hard.” 
He has to pause again to gather his thoughts, and El turns her head back toward him. Her face is expressionless, but she seems receptive. 
Mike swallows. “I didn’t know that those words were so important to you, okay? I never meant to hurt you. I just have a hard time saying it, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel it.” 
He reaches out for her shoulder, looking into her eyes. “It doesn’t mean I don’t feel it, El,” he repeats. “I care about you so much it’s insane, and I don’t know why I can’t say it! I don’t know if it’s because my family never says it and it’s weird in my head, or if I’m just awkward or something. Sometimes I think that word isn’t even enough to describe what I feel.” 
El is starting to look sad and Mike is starting to feel desperate. “Maybe it’s because if I say it, it’ll be real,” he continues. “And it’ll be so much worse if you get taken away from me again. I’m scared because- I can’t deal with that anymore.” 
“You won’t lose me,” El says quietly.
“We don’t know that,” Mike answers. “Spring Break was just supposed to be fun and look what happened.” 
El shrinks back and Mike almost smacks himself. He doesn’t even know the half of what happened yet, but it was obviously bad.
“I got my powers back,” she whispers. “I can be a superhero again.” 
He sighs. “Look, I don’t know what happened with Owens or what you had to do, but it doesn’t matter. I told you the other day, El, you are the most incredible person in the world to me. Whether you have powers or not, it doesn’t change how I feel about you, okay? I want you to remember that.” 
“Okay.”
“I just…” He trails off. “I try to say it in other ways. I gave you that ring,” he says, reaching for her hand where she’s still wearing it. That’s something at least. “I told you what it means. I picked you flowers from Hawkins because I knew you missed them and you’d like them. I write you so many letters because I’m always thinking about you and wishing you were with me. I guess… I thought that was enough. I’m sorry it wasn’t.” 
El squeezes his hand. “I’m sorry I didn’t understand.” 
Mike quickly shakes his head. “No, that’s not your fault. I’m bad at talking about things. I should have explained myself better.” 
The two of them have slid closer to each other the longer the conversation has gone on, now sitting pressed together. 
“I love you,” El says suddenly, holding his hand tightly and leaning in to lay her head on his shoulder. 
He lays his head against hers. “I know. And I do too, so much. Just… be patient with me?” 
He feels El nod against him. “I will.” 
A few minutes of silence later, Mike thinks El has fallen asleep. He will soon. 
But then she speaks again. “Am I still pretty?” 
Mike sits up. “What? Why?” 
El faces him, her voice meek. “My hair is gone.” 
“El,” he sighs, almost exasperated. “Of course you’re still pretty. Whether you have hair or not doesn’t change the fact that you’re beautiful. Don’t tell me you forgot that you looked exactly like this the first time I kissed you.” 
She doesn’t say anything to that, just lays her head back down, so Mike continues to try to lighten up the mood. 
“Man, I embarrassed myself with that one,” he tells her. “I still cringe a little if I think about it for too long. Did you even know what I was doing?” 
“No,” El replies. He can hear the smile in her voice. “But I liked it.” 
Mike smiles in return, though El can’t see it. “Me too.” 
She squeezes his hand again. “Night, Mike.” 
He squeezes back. “Night, El.”
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diamond-coral · 3 years
Text
Bargaining Chip
Hello! This is my first time posting on Tumblr ever:) I pulled this one-shot from a fic I posted on AO3 a few months ago but the plot is irrelavent and I changed it from first person to second as well as some details so it can be read as a stand alone. There’s some plot from the actual story but you really don’t need to know it at all.
There might be a few errors, especially because I changed the entire point of view and converted it to present tense from past tense so sorry:) 
Loki manages to get his hands on you and exchanges you and your body for his ticket to independence from the Avengers. Bucky gets to go first.
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Dark!Bucky Barnes x Reader
Characters included: Loki, and a little bit of Tony, Steve, and Thor
WARNINGS: 18+ ONLY!!! SMUT (NON-CON TOUCHING, FORCED ORAL SEX (m receiving), KNIFE THREATS, DARK! AVENGERS, BUCKY’S AN ASSHOLE IN THIS, DEGRADATION, BASICALLY FORCED PROSTITUTION) READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
You awake in the passenger seat of your own car with only foggy memories of you and your partner before everything had gone dark. Your mission from the CIA...breaking and entering the motherfucking Avenger’s facility and managing to escape...you were so close. If it weren’t for him. In your haze, you look to see who could possibly have the audacity to be driving your car, and there sits Loki, the God of Mischief, who you had only scene on the news, driving one hand and inspecting something in his other.
“Good evening my lady. Sleep well?” he mocks without taking his eyes off the item in his hand which upon further inspection from you looks to be... a red leash?
What the hell?
“I do hope you like your outfit,” he continues. “I think I assembled quite the get up for you.”
Looking down, you let out a muffled scream that was cut off by a strip of duct tape. Your hands are bound in your lap, but that isn’t what horrifies you. It’s what’s underneath them. You take into account your bare legs, fully on display, with a black dress leaving little to the imagination. The top half is just as horrifying with it’s plunging neckline. Your legs end with a pair of strappy gold heels that ensures any chances of running away to be futile while your upper arms are adorned in golden bracelets accented with emeralds. Whether the emeralds were real or fake, you could care less. You have bigger problems to worry about.
“What the fuck?!”
Is what you try to say, but the gag only makes it come out as a mangled ball of muffled murmurs. Though the chuckle Loki lets out implies he understands your enraged speaking attempt.
“You, my dear, are going to be a bargaining chip. I heard about your little escapade at the Avenger’s facility last night. Impressive, I must say, but my brother and his little hero posse had been looking for you relentlessly after that. They are practically obsessed with catching the women that managed to break into their high security building.”
Loki takes a sharp turn into a parking garage, narrowly missing the wall. You squeal as your precious car runs over the curb.
“I forgot how much I hate mortal transportation devices. But Stark had to build this tower in the middle of New York to feed his ever-growing ego and now I’m the one that has to rely on a car to get me there,” he grumbles while pulling into a parking space. He takes a deep breath once the car is parked. “Now, I’m going to remove that gag out of your mouth, and if you scream, I will peel your skin off of your body in the slowest, most painful way imaginable. Understood?”
You nod frantically and he rips the tape off, extracting a whimper from your now stinging mouth. You open your mouth for him to take the wad of cloth out that was under the duct tape. As he extracts it, you snap your mouth shut in an attempt to bite him, but he’s quick to evade and grabs your jaw harshly.
“What did I say before?” he seethes. 
“You said not to scream. I didn’t scream. Now let go of my face.”
Loki roughly throughs your face to the side, letting go, and looks around the surroundings of the car, probably checking for any unwanted onlookers.
“Out of the car. Now,” he orders and you hastily oblige using your bound hands to open the door.
As you shut the door, you catch a glimpse of your own reflection and grimace. You look like a hooker. Aside from the skimpy outfit, your hair was pinned up and intertwined with gold strands. Your makeup is done as well. Sultry eye shadow and dark red lipstick.
“I didn’t know the God of Mischief was a makeup guru,” you jab.
He ignores you and harshly pushes you forward. “Walk.”
“Where’s my partner?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Loki replies. “She has other uses than the one I currently need you for.”
“And what use am I needed for?”
“I already told you. By the gods, you mortals are stupid. You are to be a bargaining chip, (Y/N).”
Your blood runs cold. “How do you know my name?” you ask.
“I know everything about you. Including your peculiar abilities.”
You stop dead in your tracks.
“Now, don’t worry,” he adds. “As amusing to me as it would be, I have no interest in enlightening the Avengers to your secret identity. As far as they will know, I am simply giving them the criminal that broke into their compound.”
“And what’s in it for you?” you ask as he guidesyou into an elevator.
After pushing a button, he goes to fix his dark green tie. “Clever girl now aren’t you?”
“Answer the question.”
“How about-no?” he muses and a soft ding resonates through the elevator.
The doors opened and, for a moment, you forget the predicament your in. Inside was the most beautiful penthouse you had ever seen. The opposite wall was made entirely out of glass allowing a view of the New York City night skyline. Everything little piece of furniture each looks as expensive as your car, but your focus becomes drawn to the minibar. The Avengers were all sitting there, laughing, and most were obviously drunk.
“Here James, try some of this,” Thor booms.
Bucky makes a face. “Why would I drink something from another planet meant for Gods?”
“Jeez Buck it’s the only thing that can get you and I drunk,” Steve slurs and claps Bucky on the shoulder. “It’s your birthday. Live it up a little.”
Bucky hesitates before grabbing the flask Thor offers him and throwing his head back, downing the flask in one go.
Loki seems to have enough of the party scene as he clears his throat to interrupt them.
“Gentlemen-”
Before Loki uttered another word all the Avengers clambered from their seats to grab their weapons, but their intoxicated state just makes it a comical sight. Captain America falls over in an attempt to reach for his shield below the table. Tony Stark’s iron man mask smacks him over the head as he fails to turn in time to catch it on his face. Sam Wilson chokes on his drink and falls backwards off his barstool in shock.
“I come bearing no ill tidings.” Loki spread his arms.
“Then why bother coming at all?” Thor growls, shifting his hammer to his right hand.
“I’ve come to make an offer.”
With that, Loki snatches your wrist and throws you towards him and the other men. You stumbled in you stilettos and let out a yelp as you land on the floor looking up at the 5 present Avengers: Thor, the Winter Soldier, Captain America, Iron Man, and the Falcon. They all look down on you with perplexed looks etched onto their faces.
“You guys have been so caught up and stressed about finding your security breaches that I was generous enough to do some finding myself,” Loki explains.
“And how do we know you didn’t just pluck some prostitute off the street?” Caps eyes rake up and down your body.
Loki scoffs. “Always the skeptic captain. Does this answer your question?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a flash-drive.
Tony snatches it from his hands. “Jarvis, what’s on this drive?” he asks, holding the drive up to a scanner in the glasses he’s wearing.
“It appears to be the files you have been collecting the 2 vigilantes you have been tracking and-.”
“Okay thanks J!” Tony interrupts quickly before Jarvis could spill any more information. He proceeds to storm up to your cowering and kneeling form that hadn’t dared move and harshly grabs your jaw.
Jesus, what was with these men and your poor, bruised jaw?
“Why would you possibly need this information?” he asks calmly, but his eyes are feral. He studies you and his brows furrow. Did he manage to piece it all together that you were the alleged vigilante they had been hunting? He lets go of your jaw and throws you back on the floor. “What business do you have looking for them?”
Looking for them? You let out a sigh of relief.
“None of your business,” you spit.
“Anyways,” Loki continues, and the drive suddenly disintegrated in Tony’s hand while reappearing in Loki’s. “I will happily hand over this seemingly important information along with the girl for you to do with her as you please, but…” He pauses. “Only if you stop tracking my current whereabouts.”
“And why would we do that, Loki? You’re dangerous,” Steve notes.
“I was dangerous,” Loki interjects. “I have been a good boy haven’t I? I would like to lead a normal life without you imbeciles tailing my every move. If I slip, Thor here will know within the second if I’m involved with anyone wrong doings, won’t you brother dear?”
Thor grunts at that statement.
“Besides, Stark’s satellite can track any magical energy if I use it. Which I won’t.”
“Fine. Now hand over the drive,” Tony snaps and holds his hand out.
After Loki drops the small gadget into Tony’s hand, he hauls you up and spins you around to face him.
His voice is quiet and low. “Be glad I didn’t tell them about my plans for you friend. It would be a shame if they found out about her abilities...and yours.”
He spins you back around to face the 5 men whose eyes were now raking up and down your body. “Easy on the eyes isn’t she?” Loki mentions, hands falling on your waist making you squirm. “You know, I almost considered keeping her for myself. Her exotic beauty is that of a pleasure maiden on Asgard.” Your struggles are invigorated at his implications. “Enjoy your whore.” And with that, he gives you one final shove before vanishing.
It’s silent for half a minute before one of the men speak up.
“Alright who wants to take her for a spin?” Tony asks, clapping his hands together. “I vote the birthday boy gets first dibs. Huh, Buckaroo?”
You blanch at the idea. Were they really going to go through with what Loki wanted? What happened to the valiant heroes you saw on your screen?
“Wait Tony, you can’t be seriously considering Loki’s suggestion?” Sam Wilson sounds surprised.
Tony shrugs. “Why not, Birdie? It’s either this or high security prison and I don’t think she wants to rot in a cell.”
“She is standing right here and would rather rot in hell than do what Loki had in mind,” you hiss.
“Well it’s a good thing we weren’t asking for her opinion,” Tony says.
“Tony’s right, Sam,” Steve adds slowly. “We bust our asses out there. We deserve something nice.”
“Day after day we save this pathetic world, and no thanks are given. Just everyone saying what we did wrong. We should’ve left the world to fend for itself after they tried shoving those ridiculous accords down our throats,” Thor murmurs
Sam raises both of his hands up in defense. “Fine. Do what you want with her. I’m gonna head out.” And with that he leaves. Your heart sinks, watching the only glimmer of hope, your knight in shining armor, walk out the door. Your self-pity party is cut short by an arm snaking around your waist.
Bucky Barnes, trained assassin, mass murderer, and now current Avenger, puts his face in the crook of your neck and inhales deeply, sending shivers down your spine while you stand frozen like a deer in headlights. “What do you say, doll? Wanna finish what we started the other night?” His hand on your waist slowly drifts down to your ass.
You stomp your heel down on his foot eliciting a groan of pain. “Last time I checked, you were in the dirt, and I was driving away that night after a successful robbery. There’s nothing to finish.”
He moves quickly as he rips your hair out of what’s securing it up, using the opportunity to tangle his hand into the roots and drag you away to a separate room. He wrenches open and throws you in, leaving you to stumble and trip. A searing pain on your forehead signaled that you hit your head.
“How about we use that snarky mouth of yours for something better hmm?” His voice is ice cold with malice as he grips your hair and yanks you up.
You cry out in pain, tears pooling in your eyes.
“Not so tough now, are you?” he sneers down at you. Hearing the sound of a belt unbuckling and pants unzipping, you shut your eyes.
A tear escapes, cascading down your face, but his thumb gently wipes it away.
“Open your eyes, doll,” he coos.
You shake your head and screw them shut even tighter.
“I said...OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!” he roars and your eyes fly open only to see his member sticking out of his slacks right in front of your face. He’s almost fully hard as precum dribbles out of the tip. “Good girl,” he praises. “Now, since you can’t seem to keep your snarky mouth shut, let’s put it to better use. How bout that?”
You don’t move, and he sighed as you look down to the floor. You hear some shuffling, a small click, and suddenly something cold and sharp is pressing under your chin, tilting your gaze to his steel blue eyes.
“Let’s try this again.” He pushes the knife harder, digging it a little deeper, but not enough to draw blood. A knife. This dirty bastard has a knife. “Suck. My. Cock.”
Pushing all your pride aside, you direct your gaze to the task in front of you. Bucky lets out an approving hum and the knife is removed from your throat. You swallow before opening your mouth and dragging your tongue from his base to the tip before wrapping your lips around him and sucking lightly.
Bucky was no slacker down there, you had to give him that. You ease your mouth down his shaft and his head tilts back.
“Oh fuck that’s it,” he moans. “Take my dick down your throat.” He grunts. His metal hand fists your hair to push your head down, sliding a few more inches into your throat. “Oh-that’s a good whore,” he breathes.
A gag is torn from you and you slap your hands against his thighs to imply you couldn’t take much more. Bucky’s only response is another grunt as he jams the rest of his length down your throat leaving your only intake of oxygen to come from your nose which was now mashed right above the base of his thick cock. As quickly as he pushed you down before, he pulls you back off by your hair, letting you go to wretch, gasping for air and freedom. A strand of saliva still connects from his tip to my lips.
“I’m not done with you yet.” He snags your hair again. “Open wide, slut.”
You do just that and he begins to fuck your throat at his own pace, sliding his entire length down every time. Tears brim at your eyes, not just from the lack of oxygen, but the humiliation of the moment as well. The time passes much too slowly for your liking, minutes dragging on for eternity, before he begins to reach his climax.
“Fuck, I’m gonna cum.” His cock twitches in your mouth.He holds your head with both hands as he releases straight into your mouth, warm thick strands of his release coating the back of your throat. He pulls out  with a pop and smirks down at you. “Good little sluts swallow” he orders.
You glare up at him, making a show of not doing anything.
“Well?” he demands and raises a dark brow.
You spit his own climax onto his expensive shoes.
“Why you-!” He raises his hand, getting ready to send a smack to your face.
“Barnes!” A female voice comes from the doorway as the door flies open. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
There stood none other than the Black Widow.
592 notes · View notes
kadi-sann · 3 years
Text
Ranmaru analysis - why he’s messed up and needs help in both routes
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Turned out my first analysis on Ranmaru was eaten by tumblr like many of my posts recently shvhshc so I'm posting it again so that more people can see it.
You know, it's really heartwrenching to see how many fans are abusing each other and arguing over if Ranmaru should be called yandere or not. I think the problem lies in fact that many people don't actually know what yandere term truly means. So please let me explain before you start to argue.
Yandere is someone who appears to be generally friendly at first glance but can get violent when it comes to their love interest. There are many type of yanderes though and it doesn't nececerilly mean that all of them have to be all over the top: covered in blood 24/7, running like a psycho with a knife around while not seeing where they go. They don’t have to kill everyone left and right while laughing maniacally or glaring at you crazily every time you'd look at them without any specific reason. No.
Word “yandere” is not an insult as many seem to think: it’s a term describing unnatural (even if slightly), possesive behavior and great attachment to someone and that behavior can turn violent if we’re not careful.
There are also yanderes who's possesivness and violent behavior is occasional and can be caused by constant, deeper hidden, silent suffering and screaming for help. And that's exactly the case with Ranmaru too. He needs help not hate because in reality he's not a bad person. It's the Death Game that brough the worst out of him to the surface just like from everybody else in this game. So if you’d allow me I will dwell on it further and explain it all in detail below.
As wicked and twisted is what he has done, nothing he did was without a specific reason. I absolutely don't justify his behavior in any way, I just want you to understand where his messed up personality is coming from and to accept it as a part of his personality. Please, don't deny part of him just because it makes you unconfrontable or you simply don't want to see it. If you say things like "Ranmaru is out of character in Logic Route" or treat him as a completly different person in two different routes then you just probably simply don't get his character in detail.
So let’s start with explaining.
In his victim video we saw we learn that he had boring life and he didn’t particulary cared about his future. Which means it's heavily implied that Ranmaru suffers from depression.
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Now let’s be clear: depression is complex and is different for everybody. In Ranmaru's case it appears to be constant numbness and having a hard time to find things that would make him truly happy for longer time. As a person being diagnosed with depression myself I can fully confirm that feeling long-term emptiness literally sucks life out of you. It's like not caring about anything that should matter: like going trough life while not knowing - or caring for that matter - where you're going and where you'll end. You're just going trough life like a living zombie.
Keeping that in mind - as many mentioned before me - it’s no wonder Ranmaru focused on something he finally, truly liked and gave him an opportunity to feel something different than constant emptines, boredoom and numbness: will to live, reason to smile - Sara.
As we already know he was ready to give up his own consciousness for her by uploading Joe’s AI into himself which even big freak like Midori found laughable and surprising and he has done even more wild crap in his life than him. That’s because Ranmaru is supposed to be the opposite of Hiyori: somebody who’s not a sociopath like him who does weird stuff on daily basis but normal, kidnapped and scared teenage boy trying to survive.
Ranmaru wanted to upload Joe's AI into himself because he was sure he won't be enough for Sara just the way he is. So here comes another side effect of depression: very-low self esteem and in his case: negative self-talk which we have an unpleasant occasion to see.
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Ranmaru wants to feel needed by Sara, be her support and is ready to give up his sanity and personality just for her sake even though they don’t know each other that much. Just look how happy he is when Sara confirms he was useful.
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Let start explaining the issue further outside of the Death Game, shall we? Nankidai’s sketches are great for that. While it’s true those sketches aren’t canon in any way they’re giving us the players brilliant insight on characters and their bahaviors outside of the Death Game and should be considered when analyzing the characters. Like for example Midori’s possesivness over Shin, Shin’s fear toward Hiyori, Kurumada’s impulsivness, Sara’s popularity in school or Joe’s friendliness in general. In this case we’ll talk about Ranmaru’s possesivnes over Sara.
In Nankidai’s High School AU, Ranmaru goes crazy just because Shin talked with Sara for like 5 seconds. Keep in mind that it’s an AU where Sara’s whole infamous manipulation speech didn’t even happen. Ranmaru has the same face he’s making in Logic Route when he goes bonkers so we can guess whatever he was going for with Shin might’ve been dangerous for him. All translations from sketches below belong to @yttd_wiki on Twitter.
Sketch 1:
Shin: “Phew… All I want is to quietly live past by my school days…” Ranmaru: “Ah… What a coincidence, senpai. What’re you doing? On the rooftop.”
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Sketch 2:
Ranmaru: “Senpai… are you Chidouin’s acquaintance?” Shin:  "Chidouin…? Umm… ah, you mean Sara.“
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Sketch 3:
Shin: "I wouldn’t say we’re ‘acquaintances…’ ” Ranmaru: “Huh… So, that mean you’re more than that?”
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He’s jealous of her. And he gets more and more angry as his delusions leads him to misunderstand the whole situation where Sara just wanted to help Shin after small accident and take him to the hospital to make sure he’s alright.
In the game he’s also jealous of Keiji, many, many times. He even accuses him of being part of Asnuaro just so he can get something on him and prove to himself that he’s a traitor among the group no matter which route we take.
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Depending on which route we’re on he answers Keiji differently. In Emotion Route he’s more humble: saying he himself doesn’t matter in any of this and he just wants to help Sara.
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While in Logic Route he’s much more agressive: seeing himself as Sara’s savior already even before locking Keiji up or killing somebody.
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Keep in mind that Ranmaru does something in Logic Route what he didn’t do in Emotion Route and surprisingly I’m not talking about killing... at least not yet.
As I said seconds ago, in Logic Route, Ranmaru sees himself as Sara’s savior already before he does something tragic, THE ONLY ONE at that and to make sure it will stay that way he does one certain thing.
He takes Joe’s painting off the wall so Sara wouldn't be able to remember Joe again as he knows he was the one to bring her comfort until now. In Ranmaru’s mind he probably thinks that from now on he’s gonna take that role for him. There’s literally no other reason that I can think of why he would be doing this otherwise.
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Being depressed is terrible and not finding joy in anything particular for longer time literally horryfing. That’s why it’s no wonder Ranmaru can get so possesive of her: he just doesn’t want this feeling - of wanting and having something to live for - to get away from him and clings to it as desperetly as he can. And Sara is right on one regard: He has given up on one point until she showed up before him.
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He’s not a bad person, he’s just someone who needs help and circumstances in the Death Game take his mental problems and the whole - already bad enough - mental condiction on whole new level and that ends up in a tragedy which Sara can or can’t stop before it’s too late depending on the route we take. And that’s exactly where the problem begins.
Because see… She doesn’t have to stop Ranmaru from killing everybody. She CAN because she cares, wants to help everybody as much as she’s able and that’s simply who she is but she ISN’T obligated to stop him. It’s not her task, it’s her CHOICE and WILL. Because it’s not HER who came up with the whole killing everybody idea: it was HIM and HIM alone from the very beginning.
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HE was also the one who considered killing everybody seriously. Not to mention while it’s true Sara tried to manipulate him into this even MORE, it’s also true that original idea came from HIM not from HER. Their talk with Maple was the whole seed for the winning idea thingy to born NOT Sara’s influence. In both routes no less.
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It was RANMARU who was thinking about it long before the whole talk with Sara and even before she catched up that she has a chance to use him.
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When it comes to Sara and whole manipulation thing, YES, she indeed tried, and YES she feels quilty because everybody in her place would probably feel some guilt to some degree BUT she quickly snapped out of it and even told him to FORGET about it completly.
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HE is the one who went with that idea anyway and it’s not even Shin’s idea’s fault about activating malicious Joe’s AI in 2-2. While it’s true Sara wasn’t in proper mental condiction to stop Ranmaru because of lost of support in a form of memories about Joe even if she wanted to it’s also true that she isn’t responsible for all the choices others makes all the damn time. Original idea came from RANMARU. And I mean both: coming with the idea and going along with the killing anyway despite her words.
Sara can be the leader of the group and YES she messed up big time by trying to take advantage of him which I’m sure made matter worse for him but she doesn’t have to think for everybody in every circumstances like they have no brains on their own.
It’s HIM who should see the problem with what he is proposing and it’s HIM who should stop on his own no matter what he’s been told about it later. Just like Anzu said if someone influenced him to do bad things it’s fully on him. Death Game circumstances are rough but everyone is responsible for themselves just like in everyday lives and he should hold himself back just like Sara did despite huge want to do the opposite. But he didn’t.
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Healthy human can tell what’s right and what’s wrong on their own and Ranmaru should be no different. The case is Ranmaru is not healthy, doesn’t care anymore about morals in Logic Route and needs help. By the time he was out of the Maple’s room with Sara, he stood before three choices if he wanted to get out:
A) Killing everybody along with Sara - his new found reason to live - and escape on his own which he couldn’t do.
B) Losing his sanity and save Sara for sure by killing everybody and escaping with her (Logic Route).
C) Leave everybody alive and let the chance of Sara’s living in the future still be unclear (Emotion Route).
And ultimetly he made a choice on his own in EACH of those routes. HE is the one who is most responsible for all of them: the one where he kills and the one where he doesn’t. Sara may influenced him in some way with her words but the original idea was HIS and last choice in that regard in both routes was also HIS.
It’s not like in Logic Route Sara was threating his life with a knife under his throat untill he’ll do as she says: he had many, MANY chances to give up on killing until the last minute. Even when Sara snapped out of her selfish thoughts and said to him to forget about everything in Logic Route. And he simply didn’t take it. And the worst part? He doesn’t seem to regret it either.
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He is so fixed on his idea to save her by the time he mind up his mind that Sara’s words has no meaning to him anymore. It gets to the point where in Ranmaru’s mind Sara is going to be saved by him despite if she likes it or not.
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So people who argue that Ranmaru isn’t yandere clearly don’t get his character. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post: yandere is someone who is friendly at first but can get violent when it comes to their love interest. That’s exactly how Ranmaru acts with Sara: you can even see it on the sketches above. He’s ready to KILL / HURT for her and he DID kill for her in Logic Route.
Not only that but he was ready to kill Midori too (in both routes!) when he was teasing Sara and got out of the line with poking at how selfish she was in AI tests which even Hiyori himself is surprised about.
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His outburst of that anger lasts till Midori calms him down with collar.
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Saying Ranmaru is not a yandere is like saying Keiji wasn’t a policeman in his life ever just because he isn’t one at the moment. It doesn’t have to be visible  and be obvious all the time but that doesn’t mean his yandere behavior is not here. As I said before Ranmaru doesn’t have to kill people all the time, being covered in blood 24/7 or looking at you funny every time he appears on the screen. Just because sun doesn’t shine during night, it doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.
His yandere behavior is not something he wants, and it’s not something he takes pride in. It’s caused by constant feeling of numbness and not feeling true happiness over anything in his life for longer time until he meets Sara who has given him hope and will to finally live. In conclusion his occasional agression was caused by constant, silent suffering.
What I truly want to say is that it’s something that should be taken as part of his character and not as something people believe not to exist because they simply don’t like it or are disturbed by it. Also blaming Sara for everything he has done and treating Ranmaru as someone who isn’t able to think on his own is also lack of respect to his character.
In conclusion: Ranmaru is complex character and I love him no matter which route he’s in. Both his sides in both routes are true to his character just like Sara’s selfishness in Logic Route is true to her character too. She wouldn’t have the highest win rate out of everybody if that wasn’t the case.
85 notes · View notes
blueprint-han · 4 years
Text
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[Image ID: A black picture with the title “HOW TO SUPPORT FANFICTION AUTHORS” written in bold caps lock, colored with a winter forest picture. End ID.]
Well, this post has been made countless times, but I’m making one too because I’ve seen a lot of people say they’re new to tumblr and don’t know the whole “reblogging is better than liking” rule and other stuff. So without any further ado, here are ways YOU can support the fanfiction authors. Now keep in mind this applies to almost every author out there, not just the stayblr fandom, so if you’re a silent reader (or even if you aren’t), I advise you go through this post. Warning, this is a fairly long post going into detail, so yeah. I still expect you, the readers to read this, and if you’re a writer, feel free to lmk if i’ve written smth wrong or if you want me to add something! ^^
In this post I’ll go into thorough analysis of the pros and cons of each of the methods listed here and how YOU as a reader can show the authors whose fics you read more love and motivate them to produce content.
WARNING; LONG POST! GOES INTO A DECENT AMOUNT OF DETAIL. NOT EDITED, EXCUSE ANY TYPOS.
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#1 : LIKING !
I think this is basic common knowledge, and a lot of people tend to do this. When you like the post, the author sees it, you see it, and if the author has their liked posts accessible (which majority of the time they don’t), and if someone deliberately goes to check it, then they see it. See why so many authors say just liking does nothing? Only liking says “Hey, I’m gonna tell you your story is not that good by simply liking it and not sharing it with other people. :D”
♯ PROS:
You’re telling the author that you've read their fic, and either you’ve enjoyed it to a certain extent, or you’re just saving it to read for later.
Likes are seen by you, the author and anyone who has access to your likes (which, most people don’t).
♯ CONS:
If you ONLY like, you’re not really helping the author’s work reach a wide audience because this site isn’t Instagram. Reblogging is the only way people can SEE our works. I’ll cover more on that in the next section.
In a nutshell, liking is good! But you should most likely use it in a combination with the other stuff I’ve listed below, because just the like itself doesn’t really do much in giving the author any feedback or interaction on their fics.
To clear shit up; I’m not talking about those people who don’t read the story or appreciate it in the first place. I’m talking about those who appreciate the fic, like it, but don’t leave any sort of feedback to show that.
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#2 : REBLOGGING !
This is SO, SO important. I cannot stress on this enough. Let me explain WHY so many writers stress on reblogging content: 
Tumblr’s tag system is inherently fucked up, and has grown more so over the year. I’m not kidding, at first, the fic either used to show up in the tags or it didn’t, but now, sometimes your fic can be REMOVED from the tags because of,,, idk tumblr tag shit. Anyways, as you can see, it’s very demotivating for authors at that point, because the major way for people to find their content and expand their blogs has been blocked.  
Due to this reason, tumblr authors need to RELY on you, their followers to help spread their works to a wider audience. Now again, before you get me wrong, I’m not saying you ae forced to rb our works regardless of whether you like them or not. BUT, that being said, if you DO infact like the story, there’s no harm in reblogging, right? By doing this you’re indirectly telling the author — “hey! :D I liked your fic! Which is why I am gonna share it to my followers so they can read it too :D” Trust me, you’re doing nothing but helping the people who produce content for you to read. Seems like a worthy cause to hit the reblog button, right? It’s only a one, or maximum two step procedure.
Leave tags in your reblogs! Trust me, as an author myself and as much as I know from all my author friends, we oft check the tags of your reblogs to see if you found any part amazing or even if you have anything to say about the writing we put so much hard work into. Even a key smash or a “This was so [insert adjective] 🥺” is enough to leave a smile on your authors face. 
♯ PROS :
You’re !! Sharing !! Your authors !! Works !! This leads to them getting more recognition, so for the content they’re so graciously providing for free, you’re promoting their blog and helping them expand it.
If the tags are being a shit, which majority of the time they are, then you’re literally making an author’s day by reblogging! You’re showing them that you, a follower and appreciator of their works are willingly sharing their content because it deserves to be seen by more people. Again before any dumb people decide to attack me, i am talking about people who like the fic but don't bother reblogging and are silent/ghost readers. I am not forcing anyone to read anybody’s work.
YOU’RE MAKING YOUR AUTHOR SO HAPPY WHAT MORE REASONS COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT !! 🥺
♯ CONS :
Literally none, because as far as I remember no author is against reblogging of their works. It’s quite literally the way this platform functions. Reblogging is IMPORTANT.
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#3 : COMMENTING/SENDING FEEDBACK !
This kind of overlaps with the previous section, but THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT STEP !! When you leave feedback, you are directly giving the author something so much more valuable to them than high follower/note counts or money. Your feedback is literally our serotonin. I kid you not the number of times I’ve received a positive comment and smiled and it has made my day. There’s a reason youtubers (though not the best example, bear with me here because it was the only one I could think of) ask people to subscribe, like and COMMENT. The subscription is like a follow, the like is ofc like a heart, and the comment is equivalent to an rb with comments in the tags. 
You might argue and tell me that a comment is basically like an ask so the reblogging step isn’t necessary, but I’m sure 99% of you use YouTube and you know that more comments leads to people’s videos boosted in the stream/trending charts. This is what reblogging does. Reblogging shares the piece with other people like minded, which leads to a boost in reads. You are literally helping your author grow.
It’s quite literally the same thing as youtubers. Youtubers NEED validation to keep their content creation going, so do writers, so do other ccs on this site. This post is however, focused on WRITERS, so keep that in mind.
♯ PROS :
By doing this, you’re giving author valuable feedback! It’s similar to what you do in rbing with tags. Interactivity with their fics boosts their note counts and helps expand their audience, so srsly, now think of it: your one comment is playing such a massive role to help ccs create more content.
Imagine how much of a difference the note counts will be in when every person who simply likes after reading the fic, reblogs, leaves a comment and sends an ask. the note counts would be high on each and every fic, which is validation in itself, but your comments would inspire the writer so much more! Please, don’t skip the commenting part. Even a simple one like: “this is so cute!” is wonderful. 
♯ CONS :
Remember, if you’re gonna give constructive criticism (which I’m sure you all are smart enough to know if different from hate), make sure the author is okay with it. Authors need to be in a specific mindset and must be ready to accept criticism, so if you’re gonna give constructive criticism to them when they’re at a low point, it may demotivate them.
Just commenting, instead of reblogging and commenting in the tags/ reblogging and then leaving an ask in their inbox, while it gives validation in plenty, will not lead to the author’s work being spread. Therefore I suggest either reblogging and commenting in the tags or reblog and then leave an ask, or comment under the fic!
!! reminder; I am not saying that if you don’t rb and just leave feedback, your feedback has no value. We authors truly appreciate every bit of feedback, but this post is aimed to help you learn how to interact with and support authors, and make them feel more motivated, because the current scenario of liking and scrolling is taking a toll on their creative abilities. Take it from a person who’s been writing for a year.
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#4 : COMMSIONING VIA THEIR KO-FI/OTHER APPS !
Before any of you attack me, let me tell you that this is not a step that is 100% necessary to do. ONLY donate if you can and if you genuinely want to, and if anyone is forcing you to pay for something against your will, you need to get yourself out of there.
Regardless, if an author has a kofi and you’re able to and you want to donate, you definitely should! It’s also a valid form of support.
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#5 : ADDING THEM ON REC LISTS/ RECOMMENDING THEM TO REC BLOGS
This is such an underrated option, to be honest. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen my fic was recommended onto some rec list and it’s made me smile so hard. If you like some fics, create a rec list! They’re oft very popular amongst the fans too. Making rec posts is such a great way to share your favorite stories with others. 
Rec blogs! I’ve seen a couple going around, and needless to say they are a great way to get someone else to read your favorite author’s work whilst also giving them your own feedback. These blogs oft accept recs via a form or ask box, and they leave your feedback along with their own, or else they’ll oft tag the author in the feedback post, so look! You’re basically helping your author share their fic to many more people, because you’ve given them feedback and a reblog.
♯ PROS :
Validation! Feedback! Reblogs! More exposure! Helping a blog grow! Spreading love! basically a run down of the stuff I’ve said before!
♯ CONS :
Literally no con of this. Unless, a one in a million case, this author says they don’t like receiving feedback/being tagged, and I’m sure NO person has said this before, at least none that I’ve heard of.
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#6 : FINAL COMMENTS; MISC !
When an author points out about how the interactivity is drastically reducing, don’t just give them blind apologies. Yes, you feel sorry for not interacting as much, we understand, but rather show that you’ll become a better content consumer through your actions. We need to see that we’re not just throwing words into a void and that people are actually trying to be better content consumers. 
Understand the fact that authors don’t get paid for this, and 99% of the time, these authors don’t take commissions either. They’re giving you novel worthy writings for free. Take Percy Jackson: You think the author would have felt motivated to write the subsequent parts, let alone two whole series based off of it if literally no one showed that they were interested? Rick Riordan has sales, he is being paid, there are millions of people and big agencies who provide him feedback. Now take that huge amount and simmer it down to an audience of maybe 10000 people This is what fanfic authors want. They don’t want your money, nor are they telling you to risk your lives for them. All they want is, a reblog, some tags, some feedback, some INTERACTIVITY.  A sign that they aren’t throwing fics into the void and that people actually like them, some motivation to continue. Seems fairly easy to throw an rb with some tags, right?
Don’t bother to tell me that we do this for ourselves and we shouldn’t ask for likes and reblogs and feedback, because 1) you are consuming the content that we “write for ourselves” and 2) writers post their content here for interactivity and feedback. We could just not post and write and save our fics in our dungeon drafts for years. But we choose to post to entertain the readers, the consumers. And we aren’t even asking that much in return.
Don’t give me the whole “I’m scared that authors feel that comments are annoying” excuse either because seriously this has been DEBUNKED SO MANY TIMES. Istg, in the nicest way possible, if you still think writers are annoyed by interaction and feedback, after so many posts, long rants have been posted as to how we’re not, then you must truly be living under a rock. There, I said it. Please stop thinking this way, I’ll say it again, AUTHORS ARE NOT ANNOYED OF FEEDBACK, COMMENTS, TAGS, REBLOGS. WE LOVE IT. Saying this is like saying that the audience in a theatre play shouldn’t clap when the play ends because the actors would find it noisy. 🤡
I’ve seen some people saying they have anxiety issues and such, so pls note that I’m not invalidating your condition. If you’re trying to be more interactive, I really appreciate it! If you can’t, that’s fine too. You’re trying.
But for the people who have no reason other than feeling lazy to rb and comment, your lack of interactiveness is not excused. Please. Tumblr is a reblogging site. If you’re gonna consume content like authors are some sort of machines, I encourage you to go get some more perspective.
This site is not Instagram or the satan bird app. Your likes are appreciated but frankly speaking, they do nothing to the author except tell them “Hey i read ur fic but i'm not gonna support u :D” and honestly, that is detrimental to their creative capabilities and mental health. 
DON’T FOLLOW AN ACC JUST TO MINDLESS RB THEIR SIGNAL BOOST POSTS AND THEIR REBLOGS OF GIFS AND NOT INTERACT WITH THEIR WRITING AT ALL ! Trust me, authors prefer a lower amount of interactive followers than a high count that doesn’t even give them any feedback. Again your follows are appreciated, but when you’re following, you know the type of content the author creates, so the author expects that the more followers, the more interactivity. These days, this is just becoming the opposite. So don’t do it! If you’re gonna follow to read, interact with their works. I promise, this will make both you and the author happy. A win-win situation.
In conclusion: SUPPORT YOUR FUCKING AUTHORS! THEY ARE NOT MACHINES THAT HAVE NO FEELINGS TO PRODUCE CONTENT FOR YOU! FICS TAKE DAYS AND DAYS OF PLANNING, PLOTTING, OUTLINING, WRITING, EDITING, MAKING TEASERS. SO JUST SHOW THEM YOU APPRECIATE THEM WITH AN RB. IT’S THE L E A S T YOU CAN DO.
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I will be liking this post here written by the lovely @chaninfused​ and @scriptura-delirus​ . Please take time to read it because if you weren’t convinced by my arguments, you will see how much frustration we as writers face on a daily basis. Please, just show support. Here is the post by @stayndays​ about how to get more people to read your work, because it also has a note on reblogging. Please educate yourself, and put an end to this mindless consuming culutre and bring up some interactivity.
If you’ve read this far, I want you to go to two of your favorite authors and leave some feedback in their inbox, and tag me in it (either tag me yourself or ask the author to do so, they won’t mind). Show your writers that our words are taking effect and you are becoming better consumers. I mean it. I’m serious. I want every single one who reads this post to do this. besides valid reasons, if you’re lazy to do this, you’re a part of the problem. PLEASE get more perspective.
Also, feel free to add to this post! I’d love to read your thoughts too, remember to be kind though. And, if I think your rb is somehow contradicting my points and is bringing down the reason I made this post, I will politely ask you to delete your comment, because this post is about being truthful about the harsh reality of tumblr consumers and how we can change it. I’m sure none of you will let it get to that point, though. <3 love you guys. 💓
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And, just a reminder, don’t just blindly like this too. Do what I said before, and while I am not forcing you, I’d appreciate your reblog, because seriously, it took me 3 whole days to write this, plus, I’m sure this will help more of your followers understand the fault in consumer culture. haha, that’s it! This post was way too long uff.
also, this is ur cue to not be stupid in my inbox. You have something to say? Think I worded smth wrongly? I’m sure it wasn’t my intention to do so, point it out with manners. 
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697 notes · View notes
itsallyscorner · 3 years
Text
For Tom x
Pairing: Tom Holland x singer!reader
Summary: You have a surprise for Tom:)
Warnings: none, just pure teeth rotting Fluff:)
A/n: Hello my loves! This is literally a rewrite because I accidentally deleted the original version of this story on Tumblr RIGHT before I was gonna post it😭 Anyway here it is, I hope you all like it! Ally x
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
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look at my sunshine🥺
꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎
Your giggles filled the hallway as you lead Tom into your makeshift studio. Since you were quarantining with him and his mates in their shared home in London, you were miles away from your crew and studio. Which, yes, made it difficult to record an entire album on your own—but it did give you the creative freedom to do whatever you pleased for the album.
The boys had their own creative outlets; for example putting together a puzzle or having a movie marathon. While you found those activities enjoyable, the inner singer in you couldn’t stop thinking of beats or coming up with lyrics in your head. You needed the studio—you needed to bring those beats and lyrics to life before you could forget them. So with the help of the houses’ tech lord himself, Harry made it possible for you to have your own little studio in the spare guest room of the house. There, you spent endless days writing and recording things like harmonies and building melodies. Little did you know that this would lead to the creation of your sixth album. Now a couple months later, your latest album is currently in its final stages and would soon be released to the world.
Tom adoringly watched your figure, which was drowned in one of his oversized jumpers, excitedly skip towards the guest room. As soon as you were both inside, you rushed to close the door and eagerly pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed.
“What have you been up to, lovey?” He teasingly asks you. He knew you were up to something, he just didn’t know if it were bad or good.
Your figure was bent over the desk where your laptop was located. Turning over your shoulder you tell him, “It’s nothing bad, I promise!” You’re met with an amused grin on his blush pink lips.
Gathering your laptop into your arms, you move to sit beside Tom on the bed. He curiously leans forward, trying to get a glance at what’s on your screen.
“Nuh uh, it’s a surprise, Thomas.” You playfully scold him and gently push his face away from your laptop. He responds with a pout against your palm before pressing a kiss onto your skin. You continue to click around on your laptop, looking through your documents for the specific file.
Meanwhile, Tom shuffles further up the bed, getting comfortable. He notices the new distance between you and him and decides that he’s unsatisfied with the additional inches. He choses to snake his arms around your waist and lifts you up, happily placing you on the empty and lonely space on his lap. Laying down on his back, he takes a moment to admire the way you look in his jumper. It was a few sizes bigger than you and stopped right above your knees. The jumper may have looked good on him, but it looked absolutely perfect on you.
“You look so cute in my jumper.” He hums, hands lazily rubbing up and down your thighs. Your nose scrunches up as you lightly slap his chest; your silent way of saying “shut up” whenever Tom would say something that made you blush.
You finally find the file you were looking for and place your laptop on your lap. You nervously glance at your screen, biting down on your lip out of habit.
“Ok, so I did something.” You started. Tom squints his eyes at you, “That sounds like the beginning of a really bad something.”
You huff, “I just told you it wasn’t anything bad! Do you want your surprise or not?”
Tom chuckles and grasps onto your thighs, “Yes—yes, sorry, keep going.”
“So you know how I’ve already finished my album?” You question him. Tom nods, staring up at you while you sit on his thighs.
“Well, I wrote a few more songs that were supposed to be on the album. But I don’t know, I felt a bit greedy and decided to keep them for myself.” You explain. Tom raises a brow at you, “Baby, you don’t have to feel guilty about keeping songs to yourself. If you don’t want to share them, you don’t have to.”
“No, it’s just that, they’re about you.” You pause, staring down at your fingers that fiddled together. “Like I wrote them specifically for you to listen to. I wanted to include them on the album, but it just didn’t feel right to share something that was meant only for you.”
You place your laptop on the bed and turn it so the screen is facing Tom.
“So...as a solution, I made you your own album.” You were too busy avoiding his stare, that you missed the twinkle in Tom’s coffee colored orbs. He carefully sits up, his arms around you getting tighter, as he pulls you closer into his chest. Tom ducks his head down to yours, nudging your nose with his to get you to look at him. When your eyes finally meet, the lopsided grin on his features grows wider.
“You made me my own album?”
“Yeah.” You shyly answer. Tom softly coos at you, cupping your face and pressing a chaste kiss onto both of your cheeks.
“You are the most precious thing in the world, sunshine, I swear.” He squishes your cheeks together and began to cover your face with butterfly like kisses. Sweet laughs erupt from you, the sounds making Tom’s heart swell.
You stuff your face in the space between his neck and shoulder, using it as a place to hide from his lips. Instead, Tom opts to lay his kisses along the side of your face, your neck, and your shoulder.
“Lemme kiss you!” He whines. You chuckle at him, finally moving away from his neck. His attention darts towards your lips more than once, prompting you to lean forward and connect them with his. Tom’s lips were soft against yours, like clouds or cushiony pillows. The kiss was short and sweet; though it didn’t prevent you from feeling the adoration and passion he felt for you in that moment. In fact, he felt it all the time, but right now, his love for you was coursing through his veins.
He finally pulls away, leaving the taste of him linger in your mouth. “Can I have a listen?” He motions his head towards your laptop beside him.
“Go ahead.” Tom’s arms unravel from your waist, the area they once occupied left cold and yearning for his warmth. He uses one of his elbows to hold himself up and the other to control the touchpad. His eyes scan the file.
For Tom x
someone like u
test drive
worst behavior
main thing
He glances at you, “I start with ‘someone like u’, right?” You reply with a quiet “mhm”.
Tom clicks on the link. The opening notes of ‘someone like u’ begin to play followed by your angelic voice. You hear him release a content sigh, making a small smile to form on your lips. His arms make their way around you again, this time holding you closer against him. He rests his head on your chest and sneakily presses a kiss onto your neck. You fondly run a hand through his curly hair and rest your chin on the top of his head, listening to the songs you’ve made for him.
The two of you listen through the album in one go with no stops. You found joy in Tom’s reactions towards every song. Sometimes he would make little comments or sounds of shock whenever he heard you hit a certain note. He nodded along to the beats of ‘test drive’ and ‘worst behavior’, dancing around in his seat and making you join him. This time, you didn’t miss the twinkle in his eyes when he listened closely to the lyrics. ‘Main thing’ got him the most, leaving him with a goofy-lovesick grin plastered onto his face.
When ‘main thing’ came to a close, the room became silent, leaving Tom enough time to process the four songs you wrote about him and the meanings behind them.
You were the first to speak, “So did you like it?” You scan his face looking for any signs of dislike.
Tom’s eyes widen, “Are you kidding me? That was bloody fantastic—that was the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard! I’m obsessed with it, oh my god!” He expressed, arms moving around as he spoke.
His face was radiating with happiness, “You are the most talented and loving woman in the world. And I honestly don’t know what I did to deserve you or your love—but I just love you so fucking much.”
“I love you so fucking much too, you dork.” You laugh, pecking his lips.
“No, but seriously, thank you so much. I know you’re used to writing songs, but the fact that you actually took the time to write songs about me means a lot. They’re just a bunch of songs, but they mean the world to me and I cherish each and every one of them.” He admits, taking one of your hands and placing it onto his heart. Your palm feels the faint rhythm of his heart beating against his chest.
You tilt your head at him, mirroring the smile on his face, “I’ll always write songs about you. You somehow manage to inspire them anyway.”
Tom smirks, “Well I am Tom Holland.” You snort and roll your eyes at his humble brag.
“You’re still a dork, Tommy.” You comment.
Tom shrugs, “I’m a special dork because I’m your dork. Therefore making me superior to the other existing dorks—there’s a difference, darling.”
“And where did you come up with this hypothesis, Mr. Holland?” You question him, playing along with his antics.
“It’s Tom’s Theory.” He answers with feign seriousness. You burst out laughing, “Oh is it?”
Tom leans down to your laptop and restarts his album. “Yes, and now Tom’s Theory, believes that we should listen to the album again until I learn all the lyrics to every single song.” He proclaims.
“Babe, you don’t have to—” Tom stops you, “I’m dead serious.”
It was going to be a long night.
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
Tags ↴
*@/username = Tumblr won’t let me tag you :( *
Tom Holland + characters Taglist
↪︎ @lovableparker @aprettyfleur @sunwardsss @dummiesshort @thotforcriminalminds @cuddlykoala101 @itstaskeen @whoslili @white-wolf1940 @tomsirishgirlx @roseke @kaylans-imagines @spideyspeaches @slutforsebstan
General Taglist
↪︎ @quxxnxfhxll @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @thegirlwiththediary @agustdowney @bi-lmg @rqmanoff @sesamepancakes @stardustofreading
690 notes · View notes
lululawrence · 3 years
Note
Can u please be nicer on ao3? Maybe you should try answering people's comments
when i read the first line i was honestly flabbergasted and wracking my brain trying to figure out when in the world i wasn't nice on ao3 ever. because i honestly truly try to be nice to everyone always, even when i'm angry or frustrated or people are going after those i love and want to protect. if there was a time i WASN'T nice on ao3, i wondered if it was maybe because my comment had been misunderstood or someone saw me razzing an author i'm good friends with and they didn't get that we are close and i said what i did with so much love and appreciation, you know? like what??? did i do???
but then i read your second line. and please forgive me if i come off as rude in my response to this, because honestly i'm in a pretty bad spot mentally and emotionally in general right now, but PARTICULARLY today, and this ask triggered an anxiety response in me. so. i'm trying really hard to word this in a way to educate without being condescending or mean, but i might not succeed.
firstly, thank you for your comments i'm assuming you've left. i'm also assuming they were nice comments, in which case extra thanks. i'm sure i'll send you effusive responses on ao3 when the time comes.
secondly, please understand that sending an ask like this, on anonymous no less, is incredibly entitled. writing is not my profession, i receive no compensation for my works that i post for free online, and as a part of that it is not required of me to respond. i do my very best to reply to every comment i receive, but it is not always in a timely manner, because i have other priorities in my life. all of which leads us to my third point, which is:
writers do not owe you a reply to your comments. end of. there are no other qualifications or quantifying modifiers to be added to the statement. is it nice to be acknowledged and know your comment was seen? sure. but do they OWE you one? hell no.
in fact, i'd like to offer you a suggestion. a way of tweaking your thinking about the comments you leave on fics. instead of looking at comments you leave as being something that deserves a reply from the author, think of your comments as your way of paying the author for the gift of their time and talents that they have shared with you by posting their fic. that's how i think of the comments i leave for authors. i'm giving them my thanks for the words they've shared! i want to help THEM feel as amazing as they have made ME feel when i read their fic. in fact, my hope isn't necessarily a response from them, but instead my hope is THE GIFT OF THEM SHARING MORE FIC WITH ME. i'm a selfish bitch in that way and i always want all the fic to read. i never want that well to go dry. one way i can ensure that doesn't happen is by supporting authors and being kind to them and spreading all the love and excitement i can about their writing in the hopes that my words will inspire them to share more.
because whether they reply or not, i GUARANTEE they are seeing your comments. i PROMISE they are. and for all you know, your comment might be the one that keeps them writing even when their words aren't coming easily or when they are tempted to give up.
but, again, please remember that no matter what, these authors (including me) don't actually owe you anything.
the rest of this is going under a cut, because honestly my reply is already far too long and i have a LOT more to say now that you've gotten me started.
now, all of this in mind, i'll explain to you why i'm not great with keeping up with comments made on my fics the last couple of years. i don't owe you this explanation any more than i owe you a response to your comments, and i'm honestly not sure you deserve this explanation either, but i'll still offer it anyway. it'll help me feel better knowing i at least put this out there, whether you care or not, mainly because if i don't do that it will cause me greater anxiety having you possibly think i am not responding to people because i feel all high and mighty or that i think i'm better than the comments or whatever the fuck kind of motivation you're attributing to me to see my lack of a response as something "not nice" towards the commenters.
i'm not sure if you've noticed, but i put out a lot of fic. like a lot. a lot of words and shit. i love writing, it's often my therapy and a way for me to help keep my anxiety and depression and ptsd at bay.
now, more personal shit for you, i've got three kids ages 9 and under. the oldest has adhd which we have yet to find a med for that helps to the extent she needs without side effects that aren't healthy for her to continue with, she also has anxiety, AND she's extremely gifted and starting a new program at a new school, all in the midst of a pandemic. and all of those situations exacerbate her anxiety! huzzah! she's also dealing with the beginning of her tween growing up shit, which is great fun because it means where she used to be pretty damn understanding of her younger brother, she is finding it much more difficult to. because the second oldest? he's autistic with some pretty significant gross motor, speech, and socialization delays that have only been exacerbated because of the previously mentioned pandemic. PLUS he transitioned from his special needs preschool to a fully integrated elementary school for kindergarten last year and then had to deal with all the ups and downs of the switch from e-learning to hybrid to all in schooling when everything in him screams for a normal schedule he can rely on to keep his own anxieties and fears and struggles at their minimum. and that youngest child? he was born in january of last year. he STILL barely leaves the house and has only met other children in close range a couple of times because, once again, pandemic!
add onto all of this my own mental health issues, the fact that my husband ALSO battles major clinical depression, adhd, and anxiety, AND we live with my parents who have their own health issues, both mental and physical. i run the home for our house of seven. i keep this place functioning, fed, clothed, clean, and everywhere we need to be for all of our five million appointments every. fucking. day. there is a REASON i've been borderline burnt out for the last fucking year and a half.
now, for fun, i have fandom shit. i love it here, even if it is a dumpster fire on the best of days, and getting to be a part of the writing community is so very lovely. i adore it. honestly, it's because of those friendships i've built with other writers that i have been able to keep writing and have found just how helpful it can be for my mental health. but i'm REALLY. INCREDIBLY. BUSY. i hardly have time to get on tumblr for just a quick swipe through my dash most days. i put off asks so long i forget i have them. i don't have the mental and emotional capacity to talk to people on here or interact fully a lot of the time. but i do my best to do so and be kind while i'm at it even when i don't want to be.
then, on top of that? i also run fic fests like @wordplayfics and help friends run their own. because not only am i a writer, i'm a reader. i LOVE fic. fic has saved me soooooo many times over the past seven years that i've been here. i want to do what i can to support other writers the best way i can, which is to provide a space for them to create their works that welcomes and helps promote them, but also by doing my monthly fic lists and pocast highlighting what i've been able to read, reblogging their fic posts, and then commenting and kudosing their fics too.
sometimes i get really fucking down on myself because i'm so behind on replying to comments, but my brain is very much a "if you start this, you have to finish it" kind of a brain, and i feel even WORSE sometimes if i reply to comments on some fics and not all of them. but i do my best and reply when i can. i was actually really fucking proud of myself because i had a couple days to myself in june, and i spent hours replying to comments on 20 of my fics. when you have almost 150 fics (i think? i don't even know how many fics i've posted by now), that is only scratching the surface. but i tried and i was so so happy i did that many fics at once. it's exhausting, though, and takes a lot of spoons for me to reply to them in mass like that plus time consuming. so i tried to be happy with those 20 fics and the comments i responded to there and told myself that when i ha a moment to breathe, i'd go and work on replying to some more.
but see, that again causes anxiety and guilt. because i haven't replied to all of them. and that anxiety and guilt can cause me to put it off further OR to put off important things like feeding my children or getting sleep in order to finish it, so i have to make myself put things into perspective and ensure i'm doing the important things, like taking care of myself and my family, first.
and then, i have a moment where i CAN go ahead and reply to comments... but i also have MANY fics that are on deadline and i actually have a schedule. a SCHEDULE. for when i'm going to focus on which fics. i can spell it out for you if you really want. i made it back in APRIL to make sure i didn't sign up for too many fic fests because there are so many going on right now that i want to participate in, but i know i can't do all of them so i had to pick and choose. and when you are SO overscheduled and busy that back in APRIL you had to figure out what fics you would focus on at what time to ensure you got everything written when you wanted to through THE END OF THE YEAR, more choices have to be made.
for example. my writing time and time for myself came down to only one evening a week for ALL fandom things i'm doing and a part of right now once the kids were out of school for the summer. it quickly became apparent that for my own self care i needed more time, so i worked with my husband to find two other days i could carve out at least 30-60 minutes to myself to write every week. and i did. but if i'm already only getting that much time and have committed to those fics and fests and things that you're running etc, you have to choose am i going to use this time to try to squeeze in some comment replies? or am i going to write? and i choose to write. simple as that.
so yeah. see it as selfish if you want. see it as mean. you can honestly see it as whatever the fuck you want, but for me? i know that as soon as i possibly can and i can breathe freely for once and not feel like i am constantly drowning in my day to day life and am doing pretty well when it comes to my fic deadlines and getting started on those christmas cards i'm once again going to be making by hand for everyone on tumblr who chooses to sign up for one this year out of the KINDNESS of my heart and the love i really do feel for so many of you, then i promise i'll be on ao3 catching up and commenting. my friends laugh and make fun of me for it sometimes, because they will sometimes get 10-12 replies to their comments in a single day. they know that's how i work. i WILL reply to every single comment i get, no matter how old it is. but for the love of all that is holy, do NOT add to the anxiety and guilt i already feel over it. the only place that will get you is the ask/comment getting deleted if it's a good day, a fucking long rant like this one if it's not, and a block if it's a REALLY bad day.
if you're asking me to be nice on ao3, then i ask in return that you also be nice by not demanding things of people that they are not in any way obligated to give.
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