#y’all don’t have to read the post I put this here as bait for a reason lmao 😭

[venticuliao]

the language of the heart

a speculative analysis of fontaine's possible foreshadowing

the story of madam ping and guizhong is inspired on a story about a culturally significant figure in china: Bo Ya, a musician whose compositions still hold importance to this day, who established a friendship (or so will say the historians) with a wood cutter called Zhong Ziqi based on their shared enjoyment of Bo Ya's music.

when Zhong Ziqi dies, Bo Ya plays a last song at his grave and destroys his instrument, as he considered there was no point in continuing to play if there was no one left to understand it.

the importance of the story relies on the following:

Bo Ya was a guqin player, this instrument is very important in ancient chinese society (and modern i suppose) and confucian philosophy, as it is considered a means to understand the self. the guqin player's audience is nobody but the player themselves, since it aims to be a reflection of their soul/mind. guqin players only compose to express their inner world and philosophy

therefore, the fact Zhong Ziqi (who didnt even have musical formation) was able to understand what the songs Bo Ya played were about meant he naturally understood Bo Ya's soul/mind, they shared a language that only their hearts knew

Bo Ya was inspired by the sounds of nature, so this connection felt all the more meaningful

authenticity, language, and the understanding of the self might be the next step in genshin's narrative that we will explore in fontaine

read post on hoyolab

[quillyfied]

Things I’m noticing on this rewatch, which I’m hoping to take slow and ponder on but we will see how it goes, PART FOUR (obviously major Good Omens season 2 spoilers throughout, specifically for S2E4)

- Lesi?

- Shax really does have creepy down pat.

- Aziraphale not sensing her, though. They really do play Calvinball with the rules of that, it seems.

- “You don’t seem his type at all” mirroring “I am so not your type” between Nina and Maggie last episode ;A; “you have no idea,” Maggie said. Aziraphale thinks. I weep.

- Sometime in the last 18, 19 years…would that have put them square in the “raising the Antichrist” years? Hang on. 4 years past the failed apocalypse…makes it 14…they were working on it for 11 years…no, that would put them before that, wouldn’t it? Wtf is that timing, Shax?

- “This Angel Gabriel, who I’ve never heard of” = “who’s Morales?”

- Shax really is the kind of infernally clever that’s perfect for tripping Aziraphale up when he’s already flustered and panicked. Love to see them interact.

- Opening theme detail today: one of the headstones reads Jane Austen. Wonder if the headstones change every episode too?

- “Here lies the former shell of Beelzebub” reads another, and “here lies Adam” with some text I can’t make out. Went back to the beginning of the graveyard bit now and “Peter Paintball”, and of course, “Every day.” If anyone gets good eyes on the Adam headstone, y’all gotta let me know.

- This episode’s theater feature: Nazi Zombie Flesheaters, with a still of the Nazis from s1 still alive. Nice.

- Seems odd to call the episode “The Hitchhiker” when it seems the literal hitchhiking is done by the time the opening credits roll. Time to refresh myself on why this episode might be called that.

- Did they reuse footage? Or reenact it?

- Yknow…none of the demons are wearing obvious animals this season. I think only Beelzebub, Hastur, and Ligur might have done it tbh.

- I love the details of Hell tbh. The fire cooler. The sheer number of Nazis. The way Shax moves so mechanically but so cool and collected.

- Does Shax actually have any higher demon ears? Or is she baiting Furfur? Hard to tell for her.

- Yknow the teeth aren’t helping in figuring out if Shax has an animal aspect.

- The besotted Aziraphale bit here. I cannot BELIEVE this all happens immediately post church bomb.

- Okay but the Nazis not disputing the fact that they belong in hell, just that they’re dead based on trickery. Nice.

- The tongue bit. Yuck.

- OKAY. Crowley has present day hair color for this adventure. That feels significant. Is this minisode a flashback?

- Okay the signage of Hell. Always a favorite. But the “heaven looks down on you” sign. Hmm. Bit odd.

- Ah. Because I couldn’t see the bottom half of it. “Because you’re…” something. Move it, Furfur XD

- Pathetic. “Heaven looks down on you because you’re pathetic.” …hmm. Still an interesting take, tbh.

- Happy to be in the probable minority that likes the zombies bit XD which is interesting bc I normally hate zombie fiction. They do it the way I like, though. They’re conscious and sentient in their zombieness.

- Also the brain repeating on him XD what a gloriously stupid and delightful detail

- And okay yeah the dead rising from the grave thing from Jimbriel’s prophecy and the Nazi zombies here feels like a big ole clue for s3. I’m Mormon so my upbringing around the Second Coming is probably weirder than other Christians but a big part of it for us is the emphasis on the resurrection of the dead, ALL the dead. Putting a properly macabre spin on it feels like a very Good Omens thing to do tbh.

- There’s the dirty donkey again! It DIDNT move, Crowley LITERALLY planned his heist ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE BOOKSHOP. I WORK IN SOHO I HEAR THINGS INDEED.

- David Tennant what is that voice XD

- Lots of emphasis on sleight of hand this…entire show :P it does make one suspicious of The Final Fifteen Minutes. But also I don’t want to rob them of their power? Because damn. DAMN.

- (The lip reading. It. I. I will wait for the end but GUH)

- He’s so pleased with himself for getting it right XD

- They are SO. IN. LOVE. KILL ME.

- Natural dexterity. Like the magic words, I’m waiting for that one to come true.

- The way Pat tries to have some integrity XD

- THE WAY AZIRAPHALE CASUALLY DROPS THAT HE HAS BOTH A FIREARMS LICENSE AND A DERRINGER. AZIRAPHALE ZIRAPHALE FELL, ARE YOU POSITIVE CROWLEY IS THE JAMES BOND ENTHUSIAST?

- More importantly, does he still have that???

- …does that mean Aziraphale’s fired a gun when Crowley hasn’t? What does this mean for the paintball gun bit? Does your derringer lend weight to a moral argument, Aziraphale??

- Hang on have to squeal for the way Aziraphale just grabs Crowley’s hand in both of his. So excited. So cute.

- HA, the wrong ring XD

- Sad to see Pat get eaten. But the framing of it is really cool actually.

- Fell the Marvelous. That poster. How in the heck.

- Aziraphale having stage fright tho.

- Jiggery pokery indeed XD

- EXPERIENCE USING FIREARMS. AZIRAPHALE THESE ARE SOLDIERS.

- Omg the miracle blocker is a punch card. The worldbuilding implications.

- I wonder at how hell would have taken Aziraphale handing Crowley a rifle tbh.

- “Aim for my mouth, shoot past my ear” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

- the way they’re both shaking and nervous. The camera itself shaking. CROWLEY shaking

- The feather boa. I WEEP. He’s so happy.

- I know the implication is that Crowley, like Jim, is missing his memories, but. Also. The idea that maybe Crowley is just terrible at remembering people who aren’t Aziraphale. Poor Furfur.

- The sleight of hand is very subtle. Which is the point. But also. Idk man people have said it better and apparently written 16k essays about it, I’m just proud of him for pulling it off.

- Okay but. But they’re zombies. Neil they’re zombies. Aziraphale and Crowley just let three Nazi zombies wander off Neil. NEIL. WHAT IS THE PLAN WITH THEM??

- Dagon is in top form this season tbh

- I CANNOT BELIEVE. THAT THE ONE NAZI REALLY CAN READ LIPS. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT. Peak comedy always.

- I got it right the time that mattered ;A;

- I knew you would come through for me. You always do.

- You said trust me.

- And you did.

- MURDER ME.

- ITS CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME I AM ALREADY TRYING SO HARD NOT TO QUOTE THIS SCENE WORD FOR HECKING WORD

- “If you were truly as evil as you like to paint yourself” the levels of deep seated misunderstanding and flawed foundational concepts I’m CRY

- Though it’s AZIRAPHALE who brings up shades of grey. A glimmer of hope.

- Can someone who knows accents tell me what is going on with Shax’s

- Beelzebub’s thanks and “good work” as a discordant note, but also their command for Shax to take an army to attack the bookshop knowing full well she isn’t going to get that kind of support…wut.

- THE BENTLEY FOLLOWING AZIRAPHALE AFTER HE PATS IT. CROWLEY FEELS WHAT IT FEELS.

- Peter Anderson’s screen effects are my favorite thing.

- Hate to see the way Nina is so broken down by Lindsey tbh.

- Yeeeah…Crowley seems to be purposely living in his car tbh. Retreating directly to it. I can’t tell if Aziraphale never thought to offer cohabitation or if Crowley turned him down but my money is on they’ve never discussed it despite both of them thinking about it very loudly.

- A night to remember! Never bodes well.

Okay. That’s it for tonight. An episode that seems out of place but has many good tasty morsels and I think more than a smidge of s3 foreshadowing. Why is the episode called The Hitchhiker? Maybe for Furfur trying to climb the greasy pole of bureaucracy? For the Nazis hanging onto life? Literally just for the one part at the beginning that sets the whole climax into motion? Who knows???

[xxoxobree]

Here’s Proof of me being baited and bullied and gaslit for days by your favs simply because I said I wasn’t an Anon😊 Enjoy.

Honestly I knew this was gonna happen because they were being shady in the discord for days I just didn’t say anything. They were attempting address me not being from “the hood” and trying to say my fics were bad but it wasn’t directed and I didn’t respond. Later this same tactic was used to attempt to “bait” me into responding to them. Here’s other screenshots of them trying to gaslight me in the discord cursing in Spanish after I tried to defend myself and I was told “I don’t want to go there with Talia.”

The night I was accused of being an anon in Honeys inbox I went and posted this. Not aimed at any of them I was meaning the hateful anons and the weirdos that read Miles smut. They said they never accused me of anything so I thought we were good. But of course they were accusing me and gaslit me into thinking I was crazy so they took offense to my post.

Miss Dalia who I do not know and do not follow liked this post because , they were scoping my page to find anything to have the green light to attack me to “bait” me into responding to them. When she liked it, it confirmed they wanted problems for whatever reason, because prior to them saying I was the anon we never had any issues and by we I mean me cause we’ll find out later they never liked me. After she liked I posted this because we never interacted before or anything so why now and I put 2&2 together that they wanted an issue but was too pussy to actually say anything, directly that is

This was her response

Again literally no reason to say this because nothing was said to me directly and I thought we were all good , y’all said nothing was directed toward me . This was bait. But I didn’t respond. So another 🤡 posted bait.

A friend of mine responded to it because I spoke to her and let her know how I was being gaslit and the whole situation. Also it was so obvious that they were meaning me because DAYS prior it was a discussion about “people using the hood for cosplay” . And they still tried to gaslight her. Here’s her still going on TO THIS DAY! about the Hood Princess bs! I’m not white passing at all 👀🤣🤣 and the natural blonde was a joke from tik tok but you’re tryna slander me anyway you could. I’ve never cosplayed anything “the hood” isn’t exclusive to the United Stated and I live in a black nation. People hate black people and black culture and demonize the hood culture when it’s just black people authentically being themselves and I find that so amazing and the “hood princess.” Was just me appreciating being black and the impact we have on the world and us being authentically black. Also I have a large black American following why would I not use aave ? It’s called communication 👀 they wouldn’t be able to understand my Bahamian dialect.

You were meaning “white people.” But if it’s off tumblr keep it off tumblr and you “don’t want anyone’s mental to be messed up”. Which one is it ? 🥴 Talia brags about this all the time btw how she doesn’t go after people because she doesn’t want anyone’s mental to be messed up, (she said this about you miss Mayearies but you’re her lap dog so you don’t care.) acknowledging the fact that she uses tumblr as some type of power dynamic, she knows people will follow her and do and say messed up things. They have a pattern of collecting data and whatever else they can use against you and attack you.

Now as a logical thinking person did I not have a right to defend myself? Especially when I did NOTHING TO YOU! Just said that I was not the anon and I didn’t appreciate being called the anon because I know that I would be attacked by everyone and my point was proven!

Here’s the confession of them conspiring against me. To get me to respond and everything else to prove I’m the villain they so desperately wanted me to be also the confession of never liking me even tho I thought we were cool.

Now they continued to tell me I have multiple personalities, call me Oscar the Grouch, I’m insecure and all the 3rd grade ass insults they could come up with about some damn weave 😂😂.

They also accused me of being anons in their inbox. I never ever got into anyone’s inbox cause that literally makes no sense. We’re already going back and forth why be on anon ? But here’s the countless threats and insults from them in my inbox. (The one that told me to off myself is ash btw after she tried to call me out about some death threats.)

They also tried to call me out about some damn fics and what I wrote in a fic. Calling me an alcoholic clearly you don’t know what that means.

But this same person literally made this fic 🤣

Btw this is the fic they had a problem with , what was me just stating baby names, I feel like that’s so normal being young and in love and writing your name with your bf last name type stuff nothing sexual or anything, but ofc they needed something to grab at.

As for being labeled “ableist” I’m not that at all and if my comments were offensive I APOLOGIZE WHOLEHEARTEDLY! With that being said I think that should be the same label given to anyone that said I was an alcoholic considering they were discriminating against “alcoholism.” Which is a disease

So in the end I was never liked and conspired against bullied and insulted because I dared! To stand up to Talia and the others and tried to clear my name of any wrong doing because i didn’t want to be attacked.

[marshvlovestv]

I finished recording my replay of Going Under for the Let’s Play channel! I loved it even more the second time, and more than ever I am bemoaning the fact that the fandom is so nonexistent. Because for the first time ever I am coming up with concepts for like. Fangames, bonus dungeons, stuff like that. AND I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH.

So I will just dump all my thoughts into a post here and y’all will just have to deal with it.

First of all, ideas for other dungeons. These aren’t very fleshed out, but so far I’ve thought of:

A social media startup, a wannabe TikTok or Twitter that promises its users fame and clout in exchange for generating outrage. It offers stardom, so the dungeon has an outer space aesthetic and the enemies are aliens and celestial bodies.

A phony self-help/mental health service, or even worse one of those skeevy “therapy” apps like Better Help, something that preys on vulnerable people who need help a startup can’t provide, while also burning out employees who went into the field wanting to help people but are now cynical. I’m not sure about the aesthetic, but I’m leaning towards maybe a schoolhouse with living toys for enemies? Something to reflect how they see their customers as stupid children.

But now this. This is the really juicy idea. I have so much to say about this that I’m going to have to put it under a read more. But I’ll try to hook you first:

FIZZLE AS A FULL-FLEDGED DUNGEON

This could be part of an AU/sequel where Jackie fails, Fizzle falls completely under the curse, and years later another intern for another company has to go through the same thing. To be honest, I mostly came up with those other two dungeon ideas to be the other two in this AU in addition to Fizzle, and this is the one I’m most excited about.

It’s underwater themed, obviously, and the most prevalent environmental hazards are explosive, Fizzle-mutated corals that emit various status effects when you get too close to them. Most of the enemies are generic fishmen who look a little like Swomp, although Swomp himself is actually the shopkeeper - appropriate, not only because he was the barista, but because as a human, he was open-minded and friendly with the monsters, and now the tables have turned. Like Jelly, Lilli, and Zans, he is a monster of elevated intelligence and awareness who is open-minded and friendly towards humans.

Other enemy types are inspired by Fern, Tappi, Kara, and Eclaire. The Fern-like pufferfish slowly expand and explode into Fizzle if you don’t kill them fast enough - which status effect they give you depends on their color. Tappi-like octopuses can grapple you and break the weapons in your pockets. The Kara-like anglerfish are mimics: they pretend to be apps, but when you try to pick them up, they attack. Their attacks are unavoidable if you fall for the bait, so you have to learn to not pick up apps until combat is over (the bait ones automatically brick at the end of combat). And finally, Eclaire-like eels can latch onto you and not only drain your health but slow you down as well. (A lot of these feel really unfair but I’m not a game designer by trade, go easy on me lol)

I haven’t put too much thought into how the Ray boss fight would look, because I think the boss needs to encapsulate the themes of the dungeon and that’s been the trickiest thing to figure out. The aspects of startup culture central to each canon dungeon are pretty clear: Joblin is about overworking and the grind, Winkydink is about workplace harassment, and Styxcoin is about the blind faith and hype surrounding crypto. But in the game, Fizzle as a company is more generic and representative of the tech space as a whole in all its aspects, so it’s  hard to narrow it down to a single theme. My best idea right now, given that Fizzle makes a food product, is for the dungeon to be centered around irresponsible use of science and progress for the sake of progress without considering whether that progress is actually healthy or safe. It’s made very clear throughout the game that Fizzle is not actually safe to consume, and I think there could be a fun implication that “Not only were we cursed, but when we went under they dumped all our leftover product in the water and it mutated us even further.” I do think this is a fun idea, but the unfortunate thing is that in this case, Fern would actually be more thematically relevant as a final boss than Ray. Maybe what Ray is guilty of here is lack of oversight? Just blindly trusting his scientists to know what’s best and not pushing for any kind of regulation? It’s kind of a departure from how Fizzle went under canonically, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

I’m very much rambling at this point but I had to get these ideas down dammit. If there’s a way to turn this into a fanfic you know I’ll definitely try and write it but this feels more like a visual art project that is way beyond the scope of my abilities.

[kyluxtrashpit]

So @artist-issues, my good friend kylosbreedingkink doesn’t like to argue about unimportant shit. I, however, do, and have been given full permission to do so despite this not being my post lmao. For the sake of my followers, though, I will 1) put this behind a cut and 2) will tag this with ‘#discourse’. If you don’t wanna see me arguing with a random person about sw movies, just go ahead and mute the tag or don’t click the read more, cause I couldn’t resist the tasty bait but I know a lot of y’all don’t care for this kind of stuff lmao

So - here we go (this is almost 3k words lmfao oh my god)

So I’ll start by responding to your points one by one and why I disagree (and when I do actually agree). I will then also mention some other flaws in tlj that I think need addressing. For the record, I don’t care if people like the movie or not - that’s fine, it’s a movie, who gives a fuck, taste is taste and everyone’s will vary. What I have beef with is the group of people who insist it’s one of greatest movies in history or it changed cinema forever and just that it’s “objectively” a great movie and if you don’t like it, it’s cause you’re stupid or bad at movies or whatever. That’s just some weird superiority complex and THAT is what I have a problem with and why I will get into these kinds of arguments sometimes. Because I’m not here for the ego-stroking and putting other people down because they “didn’t understand the vision” of some cishet white man’s movie

The criteria I am evaluating tlj on the level of is 1) as a sequel to tfa and how well it expands upon it, 2) as a prequel to a third movie with an unknown plot, because tros does not factor into this, and how far it brought the characters in terms of their arcs (2/3 of the way or not), and 3) its own internal consistency as a movie on its own. Given its role is as the second part of a trilogy, these are the 3 things it must do well in order to be “good”, in my opinion

In the Force Awakens, Rey goes from “believing she can only have a place on Jakku where her parents left her” to “believing she has a place in a larger fight.” The Last Jedi continues that development by going from: “believing she has a place in a larger fight” to “believing her place in that larger fight is not important; the fight itself is what’s important.”

I would not frame Rey’s arc quite this way, but this is probably the character I believe you have gotten the most correct. In TFA, she does indeed believe she can only have a place on Jakku. Not where her parents left her, necessarily, but rather with her parents when they inevitably (in her opinion) return, a place she can only have if she waits for them to do so. And by the end of TFA, she has finally realized that hey, maybe they aren’t coming back, and she is only then beginning to realize she could have a pace in the larger fight. At the start of TLJ, I would characterize her belief is that she can’t be the hero - she is just some person, her place is to pass the torch. So she goes to Luke, tries to convince him, and fails, then she goes to Kylo, tries to convince him, and fails. She believes only a Big Name can be a Big Hero. It does not occur to her until the very end that SHE could be the Big Hero

Now, where I think the flaw in tlj is is that her parental reveal should have been kept for the third movie (and remember, for the sake of this argument, tros does not exist, because we are ONLY talking about tfa to tlj), because Rey realizing that she can indeed be the hero of this story... leaves her with not much development left to happen when she’s only 2/3s of the way through the story. What would the last third of her arc be if she’s already stepped into the shoes of a hero and resolved the question of her parents? Where is the tension in her arc? What else is there left for her? Thus I think having the parental reveal in the third movie, whatever it ends up being, where it could be something that rocks her world either positively or negatively, would be stronger. The fact of the matter is her journey to being a hero was nearly done at the end of tlj and the big question of her past was resolved, leaving almost nothing for the third movie in terms of her development. Thus, tlj fails Rey in that it does not remember that there must be a third movie, failing point 2 of the criteria I set up at the start

In the Force Awakens, Finn goes from “running from fights against powerful evil because he doesn’t believe he can win” to “fighting to hurt a powerful evil when it threatens his friends even if he can’t win.” The Last Jedi continues that development by going from “fighting to hurt a powerful evil when it threatens his friends even if he can’t win” to “fighting to save what he loves from a powerful evil because hurting powerful evil isn’t the point of fighting.”

This is just blatantly false. Finn’s arc in TFA is indeed running from the fight because he doesn’t believe there’s hope to fighting even without it, but are you forgetting that the first thing he did in TLJ after waking from a coma (that the director so kindly joked about keeping him in for the entire movie) was try to run away again because there was no way the resistance was going to win this and so he had to get away from this doomed cause so they didn’t find Rey thanks to his beacon? He went from running away to standing to fight to running away again

(Also desertion is not generally a crime in volunteer movements, plus there was no indication he had ever formally signed up with the resistance at all as he had just been in a coma and was since the end of TFA, so why the fuck is Rose even tazing people for deserting and especially him? Characterization aside, what he did is not actually a crime, he had no actual commitment to the resistance that we know of)

Also his entire arc in Canto Bight was... teaching him about the First Order and those that fund it being bad? He knows better than anyone and was literally a brainwashed child soldier but sure, he’s the one who doesn’t understand the evil that this organization is doing. He’s the one who definitely needs to be educated on it. DJ exists solely to represent the devil on his shoulder telling him he should try to run for a third time, while Rose is the side of standing and fighting - A DECISION HE ALREADY RESOLVED IN TFA AND YET THEY ARE PLAYING IT OUT AGAIN JUST WITH EVEN LESS SUBTLETY

The ending, the shift from fighting to destroy vs fighting to protect is... it’s a good point, sure, but it’s dampened by all of the above to the point of pretty much being irrelevant because from the start it failed point 1 of my criteria

In the Force Awakens, Poe makes reckless choices like attacking a full battalion of the First Order with no hope of winning while he sends his droid into a barren desert—because he’s obsessed with the “victorious hero moment.” The Last Jedi continues that by having him face down a dreadnought and get the last of their forces killed, then endanger the entire escape plan for the sake of a “victorious hero moment’—and then he learns to stop thinking in the moment and start thinking about the big picture, like a leader.

So uh. Are you talking about the opening bit where he’s getting the map piece from Lor San Tekka as “reckless choices like attacking a full battalion of the First Order with no hope of winning while he sends his droid into a barren desert”? Because he wanted to bring his squadron. Leia told him not to. Because the FO weren't there and shouldn't have been, he was sent alone for the exact opposite reason of recklessness: caution and stealth

(Source: Poe Dameron 26)

So uh. Tell me again where the “victorious hero moment” obsessions shows up in TFA. Cause I don’t see it. Takodana, not a problem, he’s just a really good pilot, a whole bunch of them were there, he wasn’t behaving notably recklessly. Starkiller? Well it’s try or die, better to die trying than not. At no point was he reckless in TFA whatsoever, he was cocky, sure, but not reckless. TLJ just botched his characterization from the start, thus also failing point 1 of my criteria

In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is introduced as Han and Leia’s son who was “lost” to the Dark Side when they demonstrated lack of faith in him by sending him away. So now he’s insecure about how powerful he is (because his parents didn’t believe he was powerful enough to resist the Dark Side, so why not lean into it.) and will do anything to prove to himself that he’s powerful—like kill his own father. And it doesn’t work. In The Last Jedi, he could choose to learn from that failure (which is the point of the movie) but instead of learning and growing like the other hero characters do, he stays stagnant and chooses not to learn from his failures, and kills one leader and tries to kill Luke. But his obsession with “power,’ as if it’ll make up his insecurity, causes him to lose. Lose Rey, lose hope, lose everything.

So. Kylo. My boy. My precious disaster boy. Off the bat, I’ll say our interpretations of what drives Kylo are very different (I believe it to be that he believes he is beholden to destiny and if he can’t be a hero like his parents and uncle, then he thinks he has no choice but to follow his grandfather’s path) but we do mostly agree on his resulting desire for power and that he failed to learn from killing his father leaving him feeling even more empty, so I’ll save the rest of the diatribe because it’s honestly not relevant. And I’ll also say that of all the characters, Kylo was the one who was most in character throughout tlj. I don’t really have any issues with his characterization in the movie

What I do have issue with though is where he is at the end of the movie in the context of knowing there must be a third movie. Kylo has killed Snoke (in character) and taken the title of SL without realizing that it’ll just make him more miserable (also in character). But where does that leave him to go in a theoretical (because again, tros didn’t exist yet, tlj was made entirely independently of it) third movie? I think you and I can agree that the redemption arc was going to happen no matter. It was a guarantee. Whether someone likes it or not, it’s obvious from Kylo’s first appearance that it was going to happen due to his character archetype. So. We need to get Kylo from SL to deciding to do better, right?

Well how do we do that? Kylo’s not a leader, he doesn’t give a fuck about big picture stuff, he only cares about his own personal pursuits. So he’s not going to be a good SL. That’s actually good, cause a competent, calculated, committed leader is extremely hard to redeem (not impossible but. We’ve only got one movie here, it’s gotta happen pretty quickly and it’s guaranteed to feel rushed in this case). Mad king is a direction that would’ve worked, but it also makes a redemption arc pretty difficult to do structurally speaking, so it’s not worth pursuing either. So the absolute only option is to bring in a secondary villain, but bringing in a secondary villain, well, that’s not exactly climactic in a lot of cases. If it’s a new villain, someone we’ve never seen before, we’re not going to care about them compared to all the characters we’ve already had 2 movies with. So they won’t be compelling and the stakes can’t build properly

If it’s a returning villain, well let’s use our future vision to see how tros turned out - I know why they brought palpy back, Kylo couldn’t be the main villain and still fulfill the arc that was guaranteed for him to have, but it didn’t work and we all know it. Who else could we use? I’d argue it could’ve worked with Hux, have a civil war within the FO that results in Kylo at some point being on the edge of death, maybe seeing a vision of Anakin, and having a change of heart or something. Sure, it could’ve worked, and I’ll give you that. I would’ve been really into that tbh

But. What if Snoke had stayed alive? What if Kylo had doubts, maybe acted against him, but Snoke survived and Kylo felt his wrath? What if Kylo’s climax in the third movie was finally, finally getting to kill Snoke after an epic battle? After learning about himself, mastering himself, already starting the redemption arc? Hell, I’m not into reylo, but I bet you guys would’ve loved it if Kylo killed Snoke for Rey but this time they really are on the same side. If Kylo killing Snoke had’ve been the ultimate catharsis for his character after nearly 3 entire movies of Snoke becoming more and more sadistic towards him, god, wouldn’t that have been beautiful?

So ultimately I don’t think it’d be fair for me to say that Kylo’s arc fails in tlj. It doesn’t. His themes mostly follow. But it just could’ve been so much better, in my opinion, both in terms of in tlj itself and in this hypothetical third movie that didn’t exist at the time, if only Snoke had remained the main villain. It could’ve been fucking incredible

See? In The Force Awakens, the characters have motives and they learn Part 1 of a Lesson. In The Last Jedi, they have similar-but-slightly-altered motives (because of their previous adventure) and then get the logical Part 2 of that Lesson. And all those characters learn those lessons except for Kylo Ren, who is the villain, which is typical.

So I think I’ve provided my arguments for all of this fairly well. However, I want to talk about 2 more parts of tlj that drive me nuts and that fail part 3 of my initial criteria. These are the bits of tlj that were just incorrect from conception and made the story not work, imo, because they erased suspension of disbelief and internal consistency

So the first is the whole thing with the ship chase. There is no reason the Resistance should’ve survived. Why on earth didn’t the FO just release every TIE they had in all of those massive fucking ships and obliterate them rather than sending like, 3 or 4? If you know the term ‘zerg rush’, that is exactly what they should’ve done. Hux even has a whole monologue about it, about how they should’ve been able to win. There was NO reason he wouldn’t do that himself, considering Hux is the guy who sent a fucking airstrike to a “get the droid back unharmed” mission. Like it’s another example of a character not following their TFA behaviour and also makes the whole concept of the story fail because. Literally why didn’t they? Ego? I guess you could make that argument, but if so, what you have is a very incompetent and stupid group of villains and stupid, incompetent villains aren’t threatening, so there’s nothing impressive about bringing them down. Completely destroys the stakes of the whole thing

And the second part - okay, so Poe is all in on the plan for Rose and Finn’s plan right. At no point does he go ‘hey this seems like a bad idea’. And the plan works because they use a little tiny ship that the sensors aren’t looking for and won’t catch, right? So why the fuck does Poe then go fully mutiny mode when Holdo reveals literally the same plan for the rest of the Resistance to escape like??? It literally just worked, he supported it, why the hell would he suddenly decide it’s going to get everyone killed? It makes no goddamn sense and I’ve never been able to get over it because a movie breaking its own internal rules like that (without giving a good reason, showing why it’s different now, etc.) is, imo, the greatest sin

So since you wanted a debate, here you go. I will happily respond to any responses when I have the time for as long as you keep responding (and stay civil - I don’t argue with people who resort to childish insults and shit lmao). I look forward to seeing what you have to say in response

Idk how TLJ can be viewed as a continuation of TFA when it barely keeps the same themes, all the characters act differently, and it barely picks up on any of the story threads TFA left off

[kingkatsuki]

If it was art you wouldn’t be abusing the tags…

If it was art you wouldn’t be abusing the—

Are you THAT dense because I thought you were smarter than this. Majority of people don’t even fucking UNDERSTAND or CARE how to use the tags and you’re making them feel like garbage blocking them knowing you’re a popular ass blog hurting peoples feelings because you wanna be the tag police.

I don’t even follow ANY tags? Ffs. I don’t care.

Y’all fighting for validation when you need to stop running from the money and go put all this energy into putting out real fiction you can make money from instead of bickering over FANfiction lmfao. Like what.

Nah Im standing up for the people who are too chickenshit to say anything cause ur a super popular blog and ur “army” is gonna jump any opposition.

If you don’t use the main tags anymore because of “abuse” 🥴 then don’t use them? Stop trying to make other ppl feel bad. Yes it’s ART yes it’s CREATIVE and you don’t have a say in if tags make something art or not. It’s TUMBLR goddamn go back to Ao3 if ur so fucking bothered by people DOING WHAT THEY WANT ON THE INTERNET.

Damn DAMN I hate when people do this.

I’ve posted repeatedly about tag abuse, as well as reblogging other blogs who have also posted and spoke out on it.

All the people I’ve blocked today I have never seen in my notifs at all so I’m not sure how I could be “upsetting people”. I’m literally a chick on the internet, you don’t know me and I’m not here to be put on a pedestal or to be told I shouldn’t have an opinion on shit.

I’m fighting for validation for blogs who have 30k fanfiction pieces that have less notes than a “I wanna suck Bakugou’s sweaty fingers.” post. For the readers that want to find a Bakugou fic to enjoy before bed but are instead met with “I might write Deku, Bakugou or Todoroki tonight what do you think?”

There are multiple guides on how to tag shit on Tumblr. Don’t try and tell me that you can make your theme all pretty and aesthetic but you can’t understand basic tagging etiquette.

Also have no clue what you mean by “running from the money”? 😂 I don’t care about making money from fanfic or I’d be popping out commissions. Writing and reading fanfic make me happy and when I can’t even find fics in the tags anymore it just sucks.

I’m not trying to fight, I’m not baiting anyone out. Im simply saying people need to understand how they are ruining Tumblr.

If you wanna come into my dms and talk about it we can, if you’re one of the people I blocked today (or friends with them because clearly you are) you can. I won’t bait you out, won’t make a discourse post but unfortunately people have been posting about this issue for months.

And I’m sorry. “I want Bakugou to do my back out.” Isn’t art. It isn’t creativity. And it doesn’t belong in the x reader tags.

As I mentioned previously a better fit would be #bnha thirst #bnha thirsts #mha thirst #mha thirsts #*character* thirst

Oh! And just to make you aware, this is also a super big issue on ao3 too!! Just incase you try to cross post your “art” there also. 🥰

But I digress, as I mentioned my dms are open! But I assume I’ll be receiving another passive aggressive anon in a few minutes✌🏻

[crimsonheart01]

Sunday May 22, 2022

This weekend got away from me, so it’s a day late but here’s this weeks round up!! 

If you read any of the stories on this list, please make sure to show love to the authors by liking and reblogging their content!

A reminder to everyone that my blog houses 21+ content. This post isn’t any different. I’m not adding in the specific tags or warnings for each rec here but know that they can house adult content as well.

✨ If you are under 21, please DNI.✨

1.  Drunk Text by @kteague

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Fem!Reader

This was so lovely and so sweet and fluffy that I read it thrice. The adoration that Frankie has and the picture of him waking up the next morning? Ugh all of it was the best. Plus Santi out here baiting Frankie out but in the best way. 

2.  This Roommates Drabble by @forever-rogue

Pairing: Frankie “Catfish” Morales x Fem!Reader

Listen, having someone else put cream/sunscreen on you is a for sure way to secure kisses! I loved the bashful Benny and the light teasing he gave Frankie afterwards. The mutual pining and both hiding their attraction to each other, chef’s kiss! 

3.  Lavenders Blue by @writeforfandoms

Pairing: Javi G x Fem!Reader

HELLO! I DID NOT KNOW I NEEDED TO READ A CINDERLLA AU THIS WEEK. Also, Lucia, you sly dog, you. Setting everything up and then following through on keeping them together. Lucia was the perfect fairy godmother. Javi being exceptionally sweet and adoring. Using learned tactics to find his way to her then explaining to her how he would never actually do anything criminal was so adorable. Ugh, I loved it. 

4.  venus, planet of love by @peterthepark

Pairing: Steven Grant x Fem!Reader

Wow, just wow. This was perfect. The symbolism. This is a work of art on it’s own, nevermind how utterly perfect Steven and the reader are. Sneaking into a museum, the pining, Marc being pushy and Khonshu being his dry self. Ugh I loved this. Truly, I did.

5. Whiskey’s Sugar by @absurdthirst

Pairing: Agent Whiskey/Jack Daniels x Fem!Reader

JESUS THIS ONE GOT ME IN THE FUCKING FEELS. I KNEW HOW IT WOULD END BUT I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW, YOU KNOW? This was a rollercoaster of all emotions and even though I cried, I’m still happy I got to read it. Whiskey deserves the world, and so does his sugar. This was heartbreakingly beautiful. 

6. why don’t you by @queenofthefaceless

Pairing: Javier Peña x Fem!Reader

It’s sundress season y’all and this was a good way to christen the season. That little held tilt in the gif was all I kept picturing throughout this whole fic. It really set the tone and Javi being absolutely feral by the end? YES PLEASE!!!! Back alley car sex is now on my bucket list hahahaha

7. Sansana by @foxilayde​

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Fem!Reader

I don’t think I’ve ever needed anything more! This was amazing! The chemistry between Lex and Poe?!??? Please, it’s too good. TOO GOOD! The absolute denial that Lex is in? Even more perfect. I love how Poe is rolling with it without complaint but uses it to his advantage. He knows what the life is about and he isn’t trying to exploit anything. His little deal at the end though? And Lex’s conditions. Amazing!! Staying true to both their characters while also having fun, gawd this was amazing!!!

8. Stranger at My Gate by @leslie-lyman

Pairing: Pero Tovar x Fem!Reader

This was a classic! First and foremost, Aunt Moira, I need more of her. Always. What cheeky witch she was. The beautiful world building within this is amazing. You captured each of their gifts and explained them amazingly. Also those however many hours where they can’t understand each other????? THE PINING THE ATTRACTION THE SPARKS!!! When he catches her before she falls???? Babes, I could read this story 8000 times and never tire from it. Whew, this was amazing! 

9. An Impractical Time by @clydesducktape​​

Pairing: Pero Tovar x Fem!Reader

A HARRY POTTER AU???? Babes, you’re after my heart here with this one. Two of my favourite things put together??? Ahhhhhhhhh also ngl I literally howled with laughter at the reader noting how bad he smelled. I loved the realism in that, because of course he was grimy and sweaty and hadn’t bathed in however long it was. It was a sign of the times and I loved the way you put it in here. Also Pero being overly concerned with his reputation through the ages and your foreshadowing of why there isn’t much more written about him! I loved all of it! I love how she’s honest and upfront with him but friendly and approachable. OH AND THAT SCENE WHERE HE TRIES TO CAST A SPELL FOR HER AND SHE GUIDES HIS HAND THROUGH THE MOVEMENTS!!!!! Wheeeewwwww!!!!

[kithtaehyung]

hello! this might be an odd question, but i’m one of the people hopping on from twitter and you’re the only tumblr fic writer i follow so far that isn’t someone i followed on my twitter.

one of the reason’s i’ve been separating myself from twitter for the last few months is the backlash i’ve gotten for some fic i’ve written (in particular fic with trans characters, as i’m trans myself and it’s a big part of my world), and i’m sort of scared to start posting fic again. in your experience, does dogpiling happen on tumblr? if it does, is it common enough that it’s something i should be worried about?

Hey, love! Welcome to tumblr and this blog in general🫂 Happy to have you and this is totally a question you can ask. We’ll help you out if you need anything! I’ll answer this as best as I can.

98% of the time, you will be accepted and no one will give you grief. Honestly? I and many, many people here will support your writing. Just put any warnings/summaries before the Read More, and/or warnings in the tags so people know what they’re gonna read. (Violence, explicit content, etc.) If anyone ever comes for you because they were surprised by what content they read, you’ll always be covered because hey, you warned them.

2% of the time, writers do get flack for things they write (last big topic was mafia au’s from my limited understanding?) and sometimes the spread of misinformation about a person here can be jarring. I don’t know exactly why this happens, but it can and it comes and goes.

Couple things you can do if you get stuff like this:

1) if you ever get nasty anon messages, there is a feature you can use to turn Anonymous messaging off for however long.

2) if you get a message that looks like it’s provoking you/baiting you/taunting you to answer, just block via the three dots on the top corner (you can even block anons) and delete it. If you do want to address something, obv you can, but protect your peace.

3) Find the people that will love you for you. Whether it’s through your writing or hell, even literally just your personality, people here follow for multiple reasons! Just be yourself and you’ll find people here that will have your back.

4) Don’t let anyone on this site (or in general) control your happiness or what makes you you. You know you’re a good person and many others do, so anyone telling you otherwise can kick rocks.

That’s what I got for now! If I missed anything, please add on to this, y’all. Lastly, welcome again! This is a hellsite but it’s got good people. You’ll find them🫂

[wangxianficrecs]

Okay, y’all.  This is the kind of question I am the worst at, so help me out.  I’ve put down my first thoughts, but do you have suggestions?

~*~

1.  Do you have any mdzsxtgcf crossover fics? - @mystic-wolf-bait​

❤️ Demonic Cultivator’s Blessing, or: Curse of the Bunny Gods by FayJay (E, 25k, wangxian, hualian, post here )

00:00 by uraa (G, 3k, wangxian, hualian, my bookmark)

even across a thousand miles by merryofsoul (T, 11k, wangxian, hualian, my bookmark)

A Chance Encounter in YiLing by museaway (M, 10k, wangxian, hualian, my bookmark)

I can smile at the old days by zacechild (T, 30k, WIP, wangxian, hualian, my bookmark)

Atlas by etymologyplayground (E, 12k, wangxian, hualian, my post here)

For Whom the Bell Rings by DawnCloud (T, 23k, wangxian, ghost jiang yanli)

let this soul be your whisper by merthurlin (T, 29k, hualian, wangxian)

Somewhere Sits an Empty Throne by Siamesa (E, 20k, wangxian)

~*~

2.  Thank you for all your awesome work in running this blog! [You’re welcome!]  Do you know any time travel fics where the people traveling don't know all the plot twists before traveling/have incomplete/biased information? (the longer the better but even short stuff is fine). - @winterschild

Here’s my time travel tag, but I can’t think of anything as specific as what you’re asking.

~*~

3.  Any fics where Lan Zhan sings To Wei Wuxian? 

~*~

4.  Forbidden Love?

~*~

5.  Can you recommend fics where one of the juniors got hurt/cursed during night hunt and wangxian take care of him? [These 4 all have wangxian caring for hurt juniors at some point, but it’s not the primary focus.]

❤️anyway, here's wuji by kakikaeru (T, 18k, zhuiyi, wangxian, my post here)

Still in the Water by airgeer (T, 45k, wangxian, my post here)

Heavy as the setting sun by snoozingkitten (E, 24k, wangxian, my post here)

Only If For A Night by greyskais (M, 19k, zhuiling, wangxian, my post here)

~*~

6.  Hey! do you think there is a fic in which when WWX asked LWJ in cave if he liked mianmian and LWJ actually replied yes? @threeyearoldweiying​

~*~

7.  Do you know of fics similar to "A Bell That Tells Us to Rise and Fight" by DeerstalkerDeathFrisbee? I like the idea of wwx coming back to life to a happier world then when he left it.

~*~

8.  Hey there! you do some pretty good recs, [😳] i was wondering if you can recommend me fics where lan zhan has a yiling patriarch kink (for example "devil from heaven" by incendir). thank you!

~*~

9.  Hi!! I'm suddenly overcome with an urge to read a post canon fluff fic with loads of cuddles??? I was wondering if you've read anything like that?? Thanks again for all the work you do, I've been able to discover more fic writers thanks to you! - @tardisfireworks​

❤️hunters seeking solid ground by Attila (E, 24k, wangxian, my post here)

❤️Senseless by carolyncaves (T, 7k, wangxian, my post here)

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (G, 207k, wangxian, WIP... “has ALL the cuddles. separate beds who??????” says Nonny)

~*~

10.  Do you know of any fics that deal with Lan Zhan and Jiang Chang being petty as hell towards each other despite the fact Wangxian are either dating or married? I just need some fics with them being shitty in-laws and Wei Ying trying to mediate.

the only way out by cafecliche (T, 12k, wangxian, my post for the series here)

Where the Winds of Change Blow by merakily (G, 17k, wangxian)

some good mistakes by Lise (T, 18k, wangxian, @flamingwell  says:  Very Awkward Road Trip.   IT'S SO GOOD!! I've read it on my own multiple times, plus read it aloud to my household, twice. There's also a very excellent podfic version. Seriously, Lise (@veliseraptor) is just....top shelf Yunmeng bros feels author, and also loves the Super Awkward LWJ/JC in-law relationship and I Love It So Much.)

[cupcakemolotov]

Happiness Looks Like You

So I think I have been poking at this thing for two years now. Anyway, its done, I am kicking it out of my WIP files, and y’all get lots of fluff.

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Fluff and Humor; Drinking; Drinking & Talking; Drunken Flirting; (Only Somehwat Drunken);New Year's Eve;New Years; Caroline Forbes Travels the World;Ignoring TO;Ignoring Anything Canon I Don't Like;Happy Bonnie Bennett;Everyone deserves better

You can read it here on A03:

                                                    -    

Caroline felt a bit silly that it took her so long to realize what her nose was trying to tell her. She wasn’t even really that drunk, just kind of tipsy. It'd been a really long two days of moving, after all, even for a vampire, and she’d totally deserved those Bloody Mary’s. And that shot of whiskey. The bottle of gin. She’d turned down the vodka, hadn’t she?

It was New Year’s Eve, and she was maybe an itty bitty, tiny bit drunk.

The sage, potent and familiar, had helped to throw her off. Spells were common on this night, the need for private conversation and so she’d merely wrinkled her nose as she moved away from the exit she’d been pushing towards, wondering if another drink would suffice for the next half hour or so. Witch business on New Years was not something she wanted to be involved in.

Been there, done that, used Enzo as bait.

Really, it was an evening she just wasn’t up to repeating. Bonnie would have kittens, and the lectures had been bad enough the first time. Better to just find a safer spot even if it meant food options would be limited. She didn’t need blood, and the craving for something deep fried could wait. Turning on her heel, she just started to move when a different, old and recognizable scent teased her nose. It was familiar and intricate, something she’d never been able to fully name but knew well.

Hybrid.

With that single breath came a deluge of memories her alcohol induced haze couldn’t quite block, and she exhaled on a rush of air. Ignoring the jostling around her to rise up on her toes with her heart in her throat, she’d barely caught a glimpse of tousled curls she’d know anywhere, the arrogant set of a pair of broad shoulders moving deeper into the crowd she’d just left.

Klaus.

Caroline landed back on her heels with a thud. It’d been nearly a century since she’d walked away from Mystic Falls, and a series of noisy, converted warehouses in Amsterdam in the midst of a New Year’s Celebration was the last place she’d have thought to find him. Once or twice over the years when she’d allow herself to think of him, she sometimes wondered if it’d really be centuries before the next time they’d talk. Some nights, that seemed like a very long time.

But for all her occasionally morous musings, she knew Klaus wasn’t one to fade quietly into the background. In the back of her mind she’d known it had always just been a matter of time before they’d run into each other. The world had become much smaller and much bigger than she could ever have imagined back in Mystic Falls, and now her feet felt frozen to the floor.

Did she follow him?

Did she say hi?

Behind her, someone cursed and stumbled drunkenly into her, and it broke her out of her daze. Post-ball drop, the converted warehouse around her was a madhouse and for a moment she weighed the chance that he’d seen her and chose to avoid her, and immediately discarded it. It wasn’t Klaus’ style. If he’d seen her, she knew down to her bones he’d have taken the opportunity to say hello.

Her lips curled at the realization that for once, she’d have the chance to surprise him. It seemed fitting, in the early hours of the new year. Decided, she moved through the crowd in the direction he’d gone, hoping she could catch him. Reaching up smooth curls turned frizzy from hours dancing, Caroline was thankful she’d chosen to dress up.

She almost hadn’t.

The last two weeks had been a chaotic mix of boxes and paint samples, arguing with Enzo via VC as he complained about her ditching him and Bonnie in London. Her witchy best friend had mostly ignored their bickering, her fond exasperation clear in the commentary she ran from the background. She hadn’t managed to buy more than a few of the basics, it was seriously going to annoy her until she found the perfect headboard, but at least the mattress was off the floor and she’d found a pair of super cute side tables with pretty motifs that brought in the colors she wanted.

Decorating agreed with her.

So did living outside of the US.

Leaving had been hard, but it hadn’t been lonely, not with Enzo and Bonnie with her. They’d all changed, the way she’d been told she would, but they hadn’t lost themselves, the way had worried her. Bonnie might have learned to accept her friend’s choices, but she was still Bonnie. Dangerous, opinionated, and a lovelier friend you couldn’t find. She was also a witch madly in love with a vampire who was totally pro-murder. Enzo had no regrets about who and what he was, and he’d been so good for her friend who had packed enough hurt and troubles in her late teens and early twenties for ten lifetimes.

And once she had been surrounded by fewer judgements and no expectations, Caroline had finally found the balance between the vampire and girl that made her happy. It had taken time, she’d needed to outgrow the parts of humanity she’d held onto for all the reasons that had never been her own, but she’d never felt so steady in her own skin. She suddenly found she wanted to know if it was something Klaus would notice. She rather thought he would; he had always seen her better than anyone else, sometimes even better than she saw herself.

Amsterdam was her recognition of that, the first place she'd picked to be hers. Just hers. And hours before, when she’d sat in her first house, if not her first home studying two days worth of work, it had been done with a sense of pride. The urge to go out, to celebrate, had sunk into her bones and she’d dug a dress out of her closet, found her favorite heels and gone dancing.

She’d never really been able to turn down a New Year’s Celebration in a new city.

And now here was Klaus, brushing back up against her life just as she was opening for new opportunities, letting herself go after she wanted because she wanted it. Caroline wondered if she should take it as a sign and if Klaus put any stock into New Year’s traditions. She’d make a point to ask him, she decided.

Nerves fizzed along her skin as she realized when she caught up to him she was going to talk to him, and her steps almost faltered. She pushed aside that unease, refusing to balk now. She wasn’t a quitter. Talking with Klaus had never really been her problem, really, and even if the last time she had seen him his mouth had still been wet from her arousal as he’d murmured his last goodbye, that was a long time ago.

And that thought wasn’t going to help her play this cool, at all. Rising back up on her toes, she scanned the crowd with narrowed eyes. If he’d moved to the VIP floor she was likely going to be out of luck, but there was another bar on the back wall that held all the overpriced booze. He might’ve headed there. Impatience had her moving people out of her way with a little more force than was advisable, and the crowd finally parted in front of her and she caught her first real look at him.

He looked good.

Klaus wore a pair of dark slacks, but if he’d had a jacket, he’d already discarded it. The crisp white sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled nearly to his elbows, and the hint of leather cords at his throat were tantalizing. He was holding a tumbler of whiskey, and for a moment he left her breathless. The last of her buzz disappeared under a surprising rush of feelings she didn’t want to look at, and her teeth sank into her lower lip.

He stood parallel to the bar, expression mildly bored as a witch spoke to him with a nervous face, the flush of his cheeks young. Amusement bubbled as she realized she was watching someone hit on Klaus even as something like jealousy coiled low in her belly at the realization, good taste or no. The idea that she was interrupting something was surprisingly sharp in her throat. Caroline considered leaving, even as the sudden hesitation annoyed her.

She was saved from having to make a choice when his shoulders suddenly straightened, his head coming up sharply as he clearly caught her scent even in the mosh of people. A half a heart beat later, and his head turned, eyes finding hers unerringly in the dim light.

Really, his hybrid senses were just unfair.

Dark and intent, the flicker of surprise behind his gaze that she’d always privately delighted in melted quickly into something hotter. His mouth curved slow and tempting, and she inanely lifted a hand in a small wave. His smile widened, and clearly the witch didn’t matter, because Klaus sat aside his drink immediately and cleared the distance between them in mere strides.

“Caroline,” Klaus murmured, dimples peeking through the scruff of his beard. “This is a surprise, love. A delightful one.”

She arched a brow, unable to help her own answering smile, and finding that she really didn’t want to. “Hi, Klaus. I’m not interrupting, am I?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. Can I interest you in a drink?”

Around them, the music blasted at the whim of the DJ, the crowd surging, and Klaus threw a glare over her shoulder as someone bumped into her. Unbothered, she stepped closer to the heat of him, amused by the way his brows arched a little but he made no move to put distance between them. Assured that she was welcome, Caroline shrugged and moved by him. “Sure.”

He beat her to the bar by half a step, but she’d expected that. The witch had disappeared, and as Klaus moved to catch the bartender's eye, she took the opportunity to skim her gaze along the picture he made now that she was closer. She really liked that he’d forgone a tie, the open collar showing off the line of his collarbones beneath his usual tangle of necklaces. His eyes were amused when she glanced back at his face, but she was hardly embarrassed.

Particularly when he didn’t bother to mask the flicker of heat in his gaze as his eyes dipped along her body in a perusal that was anything but casual. The tip of his tongue flickered across his lower lip, eyes warm when they met hers again. “What brings you to Amsterdam, Caroline?”

Grinning, she lifted a shoulder and dropped it, knowing exactly what the motion would do for her boobs. Flirting with Klaus wasn’t new but having no rules against it was and, she realized, fun. “I live here.”

Interest sparked on his face. “Do you?”

Letting out a low hum, she bit the edge of her lip when a bottle of champagne and two glasses appeared. It would never cease to amaze her that the most deadly monster in any room he entered was such a giant cheeseball or how much she liked it. “What about you? Please tell me you're not stirring up trouble. I just finished renovations and would like to actually live in my house, Klaus.”

“Not this time,” he said easily as he poured the champagne and handed her the first glass. “I am here for a bit of business that has now been concluded, and I thought I’d visit an old friend or two. It’s been some time since I spent any time in this city.”

Caroline sipped her drink, letting it fizz on her tongue for a moment as she considered that. “Friends…” she said skeptically. “You have those?”

His eyes gleamed. “Of a sort. Though my current company is far more charming.” She scoffed, ignoring the way she could feel her cheeks heat. Klaus was undeterred by her skepticism. “Why Amsterdam, love?”

She considered his question, all the questions he hadn't asked. “I’ve been in Europe for a few decades now. When we left the states, well. Europe wasn’t our first stop, but Enzo kept insisting, and he’s amazingly persistent. And annoying. London is lovely, he might have been right about that, but I loved it here more.”

“Enzo?”

A hint of something dangerous flickered behind his eyes and she deliberately moved closer to nudge him with her hip. “Nope. Enzo is my friend and happily married to Bonnie. You break his neck and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

His lashes hid his gaze for a moment when she didn’t bother stepping back into her previous space, the heat of him pressed firmly against her side. His gaze held the tiniest flecks of gold at the edges of his eyes when his lashes parted and her pulse skipped. “And have you enjoyed making your home here, Caroline?”

“Yup. I have a few apartments I’ve bought, here and there. But I decided I wanted a house of my own, you know?” It had been an urge that she hadn’t satisfied with her tiny apartment in Cape Town or her flat in London. But Amsterdam was her first house. It’d felt bigger, more significant somehow. “And sometimes a girl just needs a bit of space from her friends, but not too far so, Amsterdam.”

Buying her home had been a touch of serendipity, mixed with careful planning and maybe some online stalking. When she had finally found the home she wanted, she might’ve shamelessly used a teeny tiny bit of compulsion to ensure her offer was accepted, but Real Estate was cut throat and she liked to win. Besides she'd done her research, and she knew exactly what the property was worth. But not even compulsion could make the buying process run completely smooth.

“I’m glad,” Klaus murmured, eyes warm.“I can see how this place would suit you.”

His words settled something in her chest and she took another sip of the excellent champagne to hide it. This monster who only wanted her to fly. Head tipping, Caroline studied his face curiously. “And you? What have you been up to? The PG-13 version, please.”

Pleasure and amusement flickered across his face at her question. “Less murder and mayhem than you’d imagine, sadly, as it does liven up the occasional bit of boredom. But there is always an idiot or two who has decided eternal life is just not the existence for them. I’m generally happy to oblige.”

Her lips pressed together to hold in a smile at his mock exasperation, and his eyes gleamed at her. “That can’t be all you do. Surely.”

Klaus reached up and tucked a loose curl behind her ear, fingertips lingering. “I’ve spent the past few years moving through parts of Europe, but not much to report that would surprise you. The occasional sibling idiocy to correct, a painting here or there.”

She was willing to bet there was a lot more to that statement but she didn’t push. She’d heard rumors of what had happened in New Orleans and had no desire to bring that up here and now. “And how long will you be in Amsterdam?” Caroline asked, making no move to step away from his touch. “Visiting your… friends.”

“I suppose that depends on my welcome,” he replied lightly, but his eyes were dark. His mouth tilted in a small smile before he took a drink of his champagne.

Caroline rolled her eyes at the hint of coaxing in his voice. “I am not inviting you to my house, Klaus. It’s mostly empty and boring and my grandmother would roll over in her grave.”

“Ah,” he agreed mock-seriously, the glimmer of amusement behind his eyes also lingering in the dimple in his cheek. “We can’t have that, can we?”

She pushed at his shoulder with no real force, trying not to laugh. “No, we cannot.”

Klaus didn’t budge, she hadn’t expected him too, if anything he leaned into her space with an amused little noise. “Invitation or no, I’d be delighted to hear of your plans. I have set up a home or two myself, and have a few contacts should you have trouble finding a piece you want. Dining room tables for instance, can be quite vexing.”

“Pretty sure I don’t have your budget, but I’ll probably take you up on that,” Caroline said. A lot could be said about Klaus’ home that she’d seen in Mystic Falls, but his taste, while a little stuffy, had been impeccable.

“Excellent,” he murmured. “You’ll also have to let me know what you consider an appropriate housewarming gift as well. Such things have changed over the years, and I haven’t had a reason to brush up on that particular etiquette.”

Something warm tugged at her chest and she shook her head to cover it. “And here you were just trying to tell me you had friends.”

Before he could reply, and the glitter of mischief on his face told her he had a response, the music skipped, jarring the crowd. All around them, the lights that had been dimmed started to turn on. Klaus scowled murderously, and she laughed once her ears stopped ringing.

And realized she wasn’t ready for this to be over.

Looping her arm through his, she tipped her head towards the exit, stomach a sudden tangle of butterflies. “I was actually on the hunt for food when I saw you and decided to say hi. We’ll probably have to fight the crowds now, but any interest in joining me?”

He had gone carefully motionless when her arm had taken his, but at her words, her admittance that she’d come back to see him, his smile left her breathless. It was such a delighted, boyish thing. Picking up the half full champagne bottle, he handed it to before stepping next to her. “I’d be delighted. I might even have a suggestion or two on a location that will be open this time of night and willing to find us a table.”

She took a long swig of the bottle, letting him start her through the crowd before offering it back. “Pancakes, Klaus. I want pancakes.”

Klaus ignored the bottle, his hand lifting so his thumb could trace her wet lower lip. Bringing it to his mouth, he licked the champagne from his thumb and her body immediately heated, her body becoming intensely aware of everywhere they touched. “Hmm, I’m sure we can find a place to meet those exacting standards.”

Taking a calming breath, she narrowed her eyes at him in warming and he seemed entirely unrepentant. “Uh huh. Pancakes or I won’t show you any of the pictures on my phone of my house.”

His laugh was soft and he started moving again. The crowd never quite pressed close, and people moved out of their way as soon as they got a look at his face. He looked human, the monster tucked away by the amusement and indulgence of him, but his presence was hardly affected by either of that.

“A tragedy, but one we can avoid.” He glanced at her, that dimple tugging at his smile. “Should I warn you that I might have a… suggestion or two?”

She snorted. “By suggestion, you mean opinion. And as long as those opinions are that my taste is flawless and I’m absolutely correct about everything, you may have as many as you want.”

Another laugh, this one deeper, and he led her through the crowd out into the darkness of pre-dawn. The air was cold, she hadn’t bothered with a jacket, but with Klaus next to her she didn’t feel it. Taking another long drink of the last of the champagne, she knew it wasn’t just the booze that fizzled in her veins.

She might not have kissed him at midnight, but she knew in her bones that this night was changing things. Klaus would take her to breakfast, would keep to whatever boundaries she set between them, boundaries she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted anymore, but she’d invited him back to her life. Klaus wasn’t the type to ignore that kind of opening.

Sliding her hand down his arm to link their fingers instead, she found herself smiling widely as his palm pressed tightly against hers.

Happy New Year indeed.

[megadoomingir]

Ok I just found your tumblr and I can't believe it! Like...I love both your fanfics so much and I'm waiting with baited breath for the next chapter. I remember staying up late to read stop me because it was just so good and I didn't want to put it down. You've inspired me to write my own Starscream redemption fic, and seeing the heights you've reached helped me keep going with my own absurdly long fanfic (It was only 40 chapters of a warframe fic, but still.) Keep being amazing! :)

Hello, hello! Hi! :)

Sorry I didn’t respond when you first sent me your ask; LIFE! Hectic, isn’t it? But I buckled down and decided to take some time to answer! Time to start being

R E S P O N S I B L E ~

... which means getting to these questions and/or comments from people that I’m willing to answer. Again, sorry it’s taken me a while. ^^;

I’m so humbled and flattered that my work was able to inspire you. I’ve heard this comment a handful of times now— I’m going to be honest, each time I hear it, it makes me so happy to know that someone was able to find their own creative spark/drive that motivated them to make something wonderful. Thank you so much.

And yes! Starscream deserves as many chances and opportunities for redemption as possible! I hope you’re still writing and creating and I hope your own spark of wonderful imagination inspires another creative person, too. :)

I’ve had a few asks come in asking the same question to a varying degree, so I’ll answer it here since you said you were ‘waiting with baited breath’: I. Am. Still. Writing. ‘Stop Me’ isn’t over until I say it’s over. All y’all who have been patient and kind and checking in and been reading over my work- YOU are all wonderful, glorious people. I am finding new methods to get my mojo under tighter control so that the next two episodes will be bagged, tagged and ready for all of your eyes to behold. And then there is the movie... So I’m not done yet! Don’t count me out! I’ve discovered a few things about myself over the last few months that have made the reason for my writer’s block make sense and have been working to overcome them.

This is as MUCH as I’ll say: 5 more chapters... and then the next episode will be posted.

Thanks again! :)

[chrolloctrl]

hello～! can i request for Adultrio who fell in love with fem crime hunter Reader? also have a nice day/evening💘

thank you for the request! i tried my best to make all of these different from each other, but i also tried to stay true to how the characters would sincerely react:) oh and sorry for the late post, school’s been tough :( but yknow it be like that

note(s)/warning(s): some mentions of blood and violence, but other than that nothing you wouldn’t see on hxh though

fandom(s)/character(s): hunter x hunter, adultrio, aka illumi, hisoka, and chrollo

for dialogue purposes, italics are you, and bold is the character :)

i l l u m i

since you’re a crime hunter and he is a literal trained assassin, the relationship is pretty much seemingly doomed for failure

however i imagine that you guys meet in an a very unexpected way

he’s on a mission to kill someone who had stolen from the zoldycks, and you’re on a mission to take out a thief

yeah it’s the same guy you got it

illumi gets there first and gets the job done

much to your dismay

you’re standing right behind him as he’s covered in blood over the body

all you say is “since when does the assassin do something morally correct?”

“when it benefits him.” he responds.

i think he recognizes you before you recognize him

“you’re y/n, right? crime hunter?”

“you could say that.”

“we aren’t so different you know..”

“we are incredibly different. i don’t kill for sport.”

���you still kill, though.”

you’re so pissed off because he kind of has a point

oh and that emotionless stupid little face of his pisses you off even more

it’s all love we know i love illumi

illumi’s bloodlust is out of control at this point, your interaction with him just increased that

“what are you going to do? kill me?”

“no. it doesn’t benefit me now does it?”

“what do you want from me illumi?”

“ a deal.”

somehow he ropes you into helping him on missions as long as it corresponds with your own morals

i think the moment he realizes he’s in love with you is when you explain morality to him

like obviously he has no idea wtf good morals are lmao

you act as his therapist in a way, comforting him about his past and telling him that his bad actions don’t make him a bad person, just a person who used to do bad things

sorry guys i love soft illumi, and i genuinely think he has the capability to be good

one day he breaks down after a mission, and he is so embarrassed that you’re the first person he shows his deep, buried emotions to

you just hold him and comfort him, telling him its not his fault

after that he doesn’t want to talk to you because he’s embarrassed

“i think emotions make you a better assassin.”

“how does that make sense?”

“makes you think twice.”

and now he knows why killua loves gon so much.

h i s o k a

we already know this bitch is obsessed with you

probably keeps tabs on you to see what you’re up to

every headline involving you “taking down another lowlife” catches his attention so fast

he wants a fight so bad

so he creates a plan

commit a crime so terribly that they HAVE to send you to take him out

just another amazing idea from hisoka!

so he figures out who you’re working for, and kills someone close to them, obviously leaving behind a trace so they have somewhat of an idea as to who he is, but still making it a hunt

he probably leaves a star and tear behind, something that only those who knew him would recognize

and so he watches you hunt him while he hunts you

you’re asking anyone and everyone if they recognize the star and tear, most people either having no clue, or recognizing it but keeping quiet about it in fear of what hisoka would do

eventually, someone says they know a person who draws a star and tear on their face — hisoka morrow

once hisoka hears that you know his name he is absolutely ecstatic, he probably reveals himself to you right after

“it has been so fun watching you search for me.”

“if you knew i was looking, why be a coward and hide?”

“there’s no fun if there’s no chase, darling.”

you guys battle it out, i imagine the fight is very close, but evidently you just can’t keep up with him

“you put up a beautiful fight…hmm, perhaps i’ll let you survive if you join me?”

out of breath and on the brink of death, he assumes you’re saying no

right as he goes for the finishing blow, you hold your hands up, and whisper through a mouth full of blood a small “i’ll do it.”

he has a huge grin on his face, so excited to have successfully “corrupted” you

sorry y’all added a little corruption kink in their my b

once he takes you to machi so she can heal you, you both go on ur little killing ppl missions together cos what else does hisoka do lol

he realizes he’s in love once you finish someone off, a crazed look in your eyes, smile on display, covered in blood.

“you’ve never looked as beautiful as you do now.”

you and hisoka’s love is weird. but it’s intense, and it is real. just not...normal.

you guys are crazy killers, but it works

he probably draws a star and tear on you just so u guys can match

after u.. murder people <3

yandere reader vibes sorry

c h r o l l o

for this, we are going to assume that you are the “weakest” link of the crime hunter agency

so they make you the bait

sorry i just want to cover all of our bases

you definitely have a lot of potential, you are just incredibly clumsy, and taking down the phantom troupe is something that requires plenty of people on the job

chrollo already knows you’re a crime hunter when he “runs into you” at a bar, as well as the fact that you aren’t working alone

but he entertains you, just because he’s bored lol

i can already picture you being caught off guard by how handsome chrollo is, because honestly im sorry who wouldn’t be

you kind of even forget you’re there on a job

but, when chrollo asks if you know about nen and what type of nen you use, you quickly remember why you’re there

you smile, “yes, i’m a specialist.”

he asks you to show him, but you decline

“i will lose it if i do.”

chrollo smirks, “smart girl.”

with that, you feel a sharp pain on the side closest to chrollo, and everything goes dark as you tumble into his arms

once you wake up, all the spiders surround you, chrollo in the center

“caught in the web.” you say, as chrollo’s eyes lighten up.

“precisely.”

“is there any way to escape a spider’s web?”

“prove to be worthy.”

there he went again, begging to see your nen so he could steal it

but just because you were thought to be the weakest link, didn’t mean it was true

“i mean, you’re looking at it right now.”

the troupe stares in confusion, and before chrollo can respond, one of the spiders falls to the ground, beheaded. (i can’t pick who so just pretend its ur least favorite <3)

the spiders stand there in shock

there were two of you.

the real you, free and unbounded, makes the clone disappear

“you said you were a specialist, but this seems to be a conjurer technique?”

“the speciality is that you can’t steal it. it isn’t exactly nen.”

this is the first time someone’s caught chrollo off guard, he has no idea what to do, i mean how did he know that this you wasn't a clone?

“now, i’ve heard once a leg is missing, there needs to be a replacement. what does the head think?”

you weren’t just a crime hunter, you were a double agent who wanted in on the phantom troupe

the moment chrollo realized your abilities weren’t nen, i think that’s when he fell in love

hear me out

he knows he’s going to be indebted to you forever

and we all know those books he reads...mf is a hopeless romantic who if in love, pretty much is absolutely obsessed

and boy is he obsessed already

of course, he is unable to steal it from you which is quite a drag

but, with you there, and your undiscovered abilities, the phantom troupe was basically unbeatable

something he wanted so badly

“welcome to the troupe number ___.” (once again i can’t decide who LOL you guys can pick)

you protect him and he protects you. 

if any of the troupe questions you and your decisions, he defends you so fast

eventually the troupe is referred to as “a spider with two heads”

kinda cute, kinda funky fresh name for thieves and murderers<3 at least u guys r passionately in love <3 

i hope this was good!! im kind of rusty so sorry :( im finishing up some other requests, and im thinking of crossposting a fic on here and on ao3, inspired by my dr strange/hxh hcs :) but requests are still open! guidelines right here  (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ thank you to everyone who shows love to my posts!

[missdawnandherdusk]

an americano

Remus X Reader (coffee shop AU) 

Summary: He always asked for the same coffee order, but one day, he finally asks for your name. 

A/n: So, I put up a post and the lovely @trappedgoose-in-a-writblr-room​ responded first with a request for a Remus drabble so here it is! Our soft nervous precious Remus. I limited myself to about 1k words, so it is truly a drabble, but I’m willing to do a part two if y’all are into it. It’s super cute, and yes, I may or may not be a barista at a coffee shop, but that’s beside the point. and I am seriously judging you if you like americanos

“So, you come here often?”

He had been coming here for weeks. Maybe a few months. And every time he followed the same routine. He’d walk from the small bookshop across the way and into my café just as my shift was coming to its midway point. Always in a jumper. Always with a beat-up satchel. He’d order an americano and sit in the corner booth and tap on his laptop and work through a book, frowning and typing again, until his coffee was gone, and he seemed satisfied with his progress.

Remus. The name he’d put for the order. The first time I wrote it on his cup was customary. By his third visit, I didn’t bother. I knew who he was. By his fifth, he just waved, and I smiled, already pulling the shot of espresso for his americano. After a while I’d write stupid things on his cup. The slower days when we were the only two in the café. The color of his jumper, a silly variation of his name, whatever the main character of his book was. 

“Seeing as I work here,” I baited with a smile. “Yes,”

“Right,” He stammered. “Um...”

“Do you want another coffee?” I prompted, as he looked down, blushing a bright pink. 

“I... uh.” He finally glanced up. “I don’t know your name,” He rushed out.

I looked at him a moment, taken by surprise. 

“And I would ask you to join me for coffee, when you’re off your shift of course... or maybe on your day off if you even want to not that you have to, but I realize that I can’t exactly do that if I don’t know your name, so...” His nervousness left me scrambling to keep up with his rushed words. 

“Y/n,” I gave a reassuring smile. “And I’ll join you for coffee as long as I don’t have to drink an americano,” 

Now it was his turn to look shocked. As if my acceptance of his offer wasn’t expected. 

“I’m sorry, what?” He stumbled. 

“Americanos,” I clarified. “I don’t know how you manage them, because they’re just awful,” 

Whatever he had been thinking was abandoned to defend his drink of choice. 

“They’re not that bad,” He refuted. “And I’m lactose intolerant, so I don’t really have much of a choice,” 

I pursed my lips and chuckled. “Go sit, I’ll be there in a minute,” I sat across from him, setting a cup of coffee in front of him that held a warm amber color. He studied me and the cup. 

“This has milk in it,” He accused. 

“Oat milk, completely lactose free,” I rose my own mug of coffee. “It’s the only way I take my coffee anymore. I haven’t put any sugar in it, I don’t know how sweet you like it and I didn’t want to overdose you,” 

“Oat milk,” Remus pondered, picking up a fair share of sugar packets. “I never would have thought of that,” 

“Here’s to good coffee, not watered-down espresso,” I raised my mug and we both took a sip together and I watched his eyes widen at the coffee in his cup. 

“This is brilliant,” His eyes lit up. 

“You’d think that after the few months you’ve been here constantly, you’d figure out we had non-dairy options,” I teased lightly, and he blushed slightly. 

“I... I was distracted. So, I ordered what I knew,” He stammered, staring at his coffee. 

“Distracted?” I pressed. “Lost in too many books then?” 

“Well, yes. But no,” He chuckled. “There’s this pretty barista who works here that keeps me off balance.” I hid behind my mug my cheeks warming. 

“That so?” I tried to play off, but he caught my flush and grinned. “Then why the hell did it take you three months to ask for my name?” I accused, chuckling. 

“Well, I don’t know!?” He laughed. “You just so... you!” 

“What is that even supposed to mean!?” I giggled. 

“I don’t know,” His face was red from the laughter and the unanswered questions. 

“I’m glad you did finally ask,” I admitted, fidgeting with a spare napkin. “Are you a student? You’re always here with a book,” 

“Grad student,” He clarified. “Working on my dissertation. I have an internship at the shop across the way,” 

“You’re there most days that I work,” I noted. “You always come for coffee,” 

“Yeah, well,” He ducked his head. “I may or may not have accidentally memorized your schedule, so that our hours are close to the same,” We both blushed again. 

“Little creepy,” I raised an eyebrow, “And kinda a shame. I’d love to come and bug you while you’re working,” 

“Oh... I—you like to read?” I raised an eyebrow at him, and he backtracked. “Not to say that you don’t! But it’s a shop filled with—” 

“Vintage books, classics, literature, mythology. I know,” I smiled. “I frequent there. Even before you came around,” 

“Really?” 

I nodded and nursed my coffee. “I might not seem like it, but I’m also a student. I work here for the extra cash,” 

“Right,” He fumbled. “I—read anything interesting lately?” He redirected the conversation, and I could tell that he was more comfortable with the topic. It wasn’t hard to pick up that he wasn’t one for small talk, but his eyes lit up at the mere mention of a book. 

“Some work by De Pizan, my professor is doing a seminar on her,” I gave. “It’s really interesting, I’m enjoying it a lot,” 

“De Pizan,” He mused. “Middle Ages? Rhetorist, right?” I nodded and smiled. “It’s been a while since I’ve read anything of hers for class, or fun or that matter. I remember liking her work though, she was a proto-feminist,” 

“Yes...” I was surprised by his base of knowledge.

“Sorry, I know I ramble,” He ducked his head.

“I think it’s cute,”

“Oh... well,” Remus was becoming a permanent shade of pink. 

“You don’t do this sort of thing often do you?” I prompted. 

“What gave it away?” 

“Well, I mean there is the whole name ordeal. Then of course, you’re a shy book nerd, that’s obvious, but honestly, you’re nervous for all the wrong reasons,” I supplied. 

He gaped at me as if he didn’t know what to address about what I said first. While he was deciding, I reached out and placed my hand over his. 

“As someone else with anxiety, let me tell you, you’re doing just fine.” 

“Yeah?” His eyes were hopeful. 

I nodded and glanced at the clock. “Well, my break is over, but you’re welcome to hang out.” I stood, gathering both of our empty mugs. “And thanks... for finally asking,”

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masterlist

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more like this: 

hufflepuff dating headcannons

stars above

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@coffee-addicti @msmcsmutt @ravn-87 @artemismohr18@whygz@crazywritingbug @bitemebro522 @zombiesnips-blog@savingdraco  @akari180 @slytherin-emerald @queenfeatherwings @fanficflaneuse​ @go-whovian-universe @spicyshenanigans @darling-im-not-okay-i-promise @katsukink​ @takemetothekingdom @strangerr-things​ @tmnt-queen@hxneybgb @belcvayelena @moviesbooksandfandoms​   @cocochanelthepupper @ninacotte @braelynn-johnston     @jiggllyy @darcypotter-blog  @thiccheerioss@lottie289 @beautiful-pegasus@tceedlmao @anonymous034 @bi-andready-tocry @dragonsandbread @the-queen-of-hell-things @alienmotel  @oh-itsnothing @sunflowerxsadnessw @fattycooter @fanficsigottaread​ @gweaslvy @strawberriesonsummer @gaysludge @ray-of-sunrise @artist-bby @shadowsingeraxolotl @quillsareforwriting @wollymalfoy @lilpieceoftoast @paper-cats @floweryjh @hufflautia @livize75 @annie-mcl @riathearora @live-like-luna @justathoughtfulangel @coconutdawn @skteaiy @naughtygranger @dragonsandbread @abundantxadorations​ @moony-artnstuff @and-then-a-girl-with-luv @1-800-luvsick @pandas-rice-field @in-slytherin-we-trust @emmaa-t​ @introvertedrae @infinity1o1 @echpr@dekulover @marshmallowtraver @cereuselle @lonely-skywalker @sleepysnapesnake​ @hoeforthefictional @coldlilheart @helen-paris @rosie-starlit-sky​ @vulture-withafile @hogstupefy @eveft @iraniq @groovyfluxie​ @cool-weirdo-wannabee-author @rosegold-thorns @criminaly-supernatural @ghostofdolans @mxl-foyrecs @ginger-haired-queen @bex4whovian @kellyrose193 @unlikelygalaxygiver @marvel-trash-was-taken @one-edgy-bitch@supersouthy @garbagejay@rejectedlonelyasianchild  @lucymxwell @coldlilheart @elia-the-bibliophile @biggalaxydreamland @fuckbuckyyy @hopem1218​ @youareinllve @tyrusparker @3rdofkingdomtrees​ @i-mmunity @zero-nightshade @graym01​ @fandomtrash88 @snakey-drakey @ceeellewrites​ @thatguppienamedbae @pinkleopardss @angel-blogging @xhoney-bee-x @jovialthings @samanthahaigwood @minigigglybabi @clumsy-writing-rdb @lahoete @yourenotafailureoverall @m-winchester-67 @shiningstar-byulxx@clumsy-writing-rdb @dracosathenaeum @dracofeltonmalfoy   @harryslouis​ @iilovemusic12us​ @itsbebeyyy @dumspirospero-1​ @kaye-lantern @anerroroccurrrrred @franbow29​ @big-galaxy-chaos @itsbebeyyy @gryffindors-weasley @ornella0910​ @ultrabuzzlightyear​ @phantomface1983 @emmalee12 @kuyrukludenizkizi @aubreylovesthegames @deafeninglandpersonempath @ackermanbitch @oingo233​ @drismultiverse-blog​ @majicbamana​ @harrypotter289​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @cupidpoison​ @brownwheatrice @introvertedrae @gryffindors-weasley​ @frecklesandfirecrackers​ @bitchinbadgers​ @mkstover​ @dracomalfoyreader​ @mortallythoughtfulgurl @sakumorubywy​ @smileycount​ @ceeellewrites​ @is-it-really-a-secret​ @blogforharrypotter​ @spencerreidisbootiful​ @lam-ila​ @justawilddreamerchild​ @heavenlyrainyparis​ @trappedgoose-in-a-writblr-room​ @dracomalfoyreader​ @spellbinding10​ @justawilddreamerchild​

[pendragaryen]

The things that stay with us...

This was supposed to be my last BFSN-post while the show is still airing - the last BFSN-entry right before the series finale. But now it’s just... a FSN-post? Call it a Big-Hug-post. A Hug-Gratitude-post. Or whatever you prefer. Though in my heart Bellarke will ALWAYS be canon (and nothing can ever change that): They didn’t give it to us in the actual show (a show, whose narrative clearly told us otherwise all this time, but well.. whatever...). It’s too much honour to grace such a disappointing last season with a BFSN, dearies. (Or... even more so now? ;P ) So, call it what you like i guess! ;). Honestly, i didn’t want it to end.. just like that... without any last words to you, the kindest, most tolerant and beautiful minded fandom i’ve ever been (proudly!) a part of since 2016. (The selfie lies. It’s not current. I’m sorry, i can’t show you my face these days.. This is from the day just before it all went inevitably down with this season: BB’s death. So... enjoy: That smile’s for you, fam! ;) 2nd pic: The tattoo i got almost two years ago now, on Sept. 22nd 2018, and that never fails to remind me of my emotional support person and the fact, that after every “down” in life there will come an “up” again <3<3<3 )

What makes the whole experience of this last ever season of The 1OO for me so incredibly sad is.... Well, please bear with me if you will... My english STILL isn’t the very best... But i’m trying to put my feelings into words:

Last year, when we got the news that S7 would be the final season, i DREADED this moment. I was AFRAID of this last day (and the hours) before the actual finale. And why so? Bc I am a person, who’s an incredible loser when it comes to let go of the things i love so dearly. Like The 1OO. I... in times i was OBSESSED with it, with the story, with the chacracters and the way they’ve been written, so credible, so tangible in their actions, nothing was just bad or good and even the villains actions had been understandable to some extend. It was amazing! I felt with almost every character! I LOVED it. (And to be very clear here: I’ll never STOP loving The 100′s 6 seasons, that are still existing for me!)

But what i wanted to say is: I dreaded the moment when l would have to let it go. THat inevitable moment, when this show with all its storylines and characters, that have been a part of my life for the last years and that i love so dearly, really ends. Forever. It would end and i wouldn’t be ready to let go, bc it means the world to me. Bc it changed me in more than just one way - no, even better, bc it made me want to change myself! “To do better...” *ugly crying...* THis show SAVED me in a way and in a time, where i was in a very dark place in life, in a very dark mind space (constant illnesses, termination of my job due to these illnesses, an ugly lawsuit etc. pp) , this show and its actors, especially one Robert Alfred Morley (yes), who helped me to look at myself and my mental insecurities and illness from a whole new point of view. I wasn’t ashamed of myself anymore. I felt... relieved. Understood. I even felt kind of loved for what i am, even with my anxieties. (There may or may not come a point or even a person in everyones life, that helps to develop this new kind of view on themselves. And for me this person was and always will be Bob Morley. And whatever happens, i’ll always love him for his open- and kindness and be thankful for his inspiration. I still call myself lucky to have talked with him a couple of times. I treasure these moments. Always.)

So, i was AFRAID of this day, when this all would come to an end. I KNEW it would wreck me, i would be devestated, i would be so incredibly sad, that i won’t be able to put it into words.

And here i am now. I AM sad. I AM devestated. But for so very different reasons that i could never imagine in my wildest nightmares... This last season... Season 7--- no i won’t start again. Not AGAIN. But... just that: What they’ve been creating for us here... it really overshadowed my joy of watching this show throughout this last season, yes even BEFORE that horrible murder of my all time fave and comfort character. I take back whatever i said about S6 or even S5. THIS... S7 was the season, that didn’t feel like the show i fell in love with anymore. Though changes CAN be refreshing and exciting... these changes haven’t been that for me.

Look. The thing is: Even WITH Bob’s request for time off and everything... There would’ve been PLENTY options for the writers to actually make it all make kind of sense! THEY COULD’VE DONE IT BETTER! If they’d really wanted to, that is... And here’s the point: I think they didn’t WANT it. For whatever reasons, whatever happened bts, they decided to do it like they did. And no-one’s able to understand their choices or the characters anymore - those characters we used to know so well, these characters i felt with over the course of so many seasons - who i could understand! EVEN THE VILLAINS! And now... look at the thanks we got. I can’t understand shit anymore when it comes to S7. Bc nothing makes sense. When i see even the GREATEST meta-writers among us surrender in their posts - than it’s really sad times for this fandom...

It’s not even just about Bellarke anymore. Sure, i AM disappointed that they’re not canon now. But then they shouldn’t have arranged the whole story around these two! “The backbone of the whole story”!!! I am laughing. In that case S7 was SPINELESS! Let me tell you. Everyone’s just... flailing around... great little side storylines, but somehow... disconnected from each other and all over the place. That’s how it felt for me to watch this season. And i’m feeling so exhausted by now... I never stopped hoping... I always thought, at some point it would make sense. I’ve read all your great metas AND I WANTED TO BELIEVE! It made perfect sense! (I seriously felt like Fox Mulder from time to time this season... and the lack of sense in the storyline as well as the complete absence of my personal faves (yes i include Clarke (Eliza) here, bc heck, she was so sidelined this season too, self inflicted or not) - all these things had been the “UFO’s or aliens i was hoping to see” one day... Guess i was wrong.)

I’m babbling... Sorry. But it will be for the last time in that kind of form. Promise.

At the end of the day (at the end of all things.. sigh, Frodo... i see you... *blinks back tears*) I am so glad that you’re all here with me, in the same boat. That I’m not alone feeling this kind of lost and baited and betrayed. Bc whatever you like to call it: The narrative promised us otherwise. Did JRott OWE us canon Bellarke? NO. Of course not. But HIS STORY did. The story he’d been telling us for SIX GD YEARS! THAT is what makes me so mad. But most of the time (and despite the selfie above) i’m just sad. Sad and disappointed. I know it will pass one day. And that i’ll find joy in watching S1-4, even S5 except for a couple of scenes, and certain episodes of S6 again. But now is not the day. Even IF they’ll give these characters a “happy ending” in some transcended form or whatever, in the afterlife maybe,... S7 is ruined for me. It wasn’t even a bliss for me before, but it was certainly ruined after they killed “The Heart” - pointlessly (THIS is what will haunt me even years from now..).

Today is the day for saying goodbye. It aches my heart, that we’ll have to do it the way we have to now. But at least we are together. So let’s raise a glass in honour of all the hours of joy and excitement this show brought us over the years, maybe even the tears and laughter, let’s raise a glass for the outstanding performances of the cast and the great storylines some writers developed for us. I am thankful beyond words. Let’s raise a glass to this awesome, talented fandom! I’ve met and talked to dozens of you guys througout the years, and it had always been a pleasure! I hope we’ll stay in touch! <3<3<3 And last but not least: Let’s raise a glass for Kass Morgan. This is HER baby in more than just one way. Without her vision... there wouldn’t have been a show. Or even Bellarke. CANON Bellarke, that is! ;) And i LOVE it!

These are the things that stay with us, these are the things we will remember.

So, have fun with the finale tonight guys! Or should i say: Good luck? ;) I won’t watch now. I haven’t watched since 7x13, and i won’t start again tonight. Not even for the finale. BUT... i’ll probably do it some day in the future. I’m still kind of curious after all. And there are still some characters i want to know how it ends for them. It‘s just... i don’t want to support any ratings. I don’t want to support JRott anymore. But i’ll probably get back to it - if what y’all will write about it afterwards looks promising or not... ;)

See you on the other side!

(Tags under the cut)

Hugs and love to you, dear fam! Tagging @together-is-my-favourite-place @natassakar @geekyogicheese @immortalpramheda @carrieeve @bellamyblake @angelbellamy @burninghoneyatdusk @iwearplaids @wankadi @katersann @nvermindiseeyou @ruggedmurphy @clarkgriffon @poppykru @broashwhat @malclmbright @kizo2703 @cominguproses13x @clarkeindra @tenmonologues  @shialablunt @sometimesrosy @zavens @wonderingwhyy @charmainediyoza @the-suns-also-rise @lee-em-dee @bellamynochillblake​ @junebugninja @songhyeri @underbellamy @talistheintrovert @jeanie205 @bellamys11thfreckle @doontpanic @clarkegriffinblake @goddess-clarke @eyessharpweaponshot @hostagetakerandhistraitor @infp-with-all-the-feelings @theatre-steph @historyofbellarke @as-inevitable-as-morning @bisexualbellamyblake @little-oxford-st @delicatebluebirdruins in no particular order (i am so sorry in advance, if i should’ve forgotten someone... >.<), and yes, i include you too @merlination my Danny, bc without you, i wouldn’t have started watching The 1OO in the first place... ;)

[moiraineswife]

Jasnah Meta - The Importance of Context

AKA: PLEASE stop saying that Jasnah is pro-genocide when she is. Not. At all. In any way. Shape or form. Whatsoever. 

TL;DR: Nowhere, at any point, in four ginormous books of text, does Jasnah ever say ‘you know what’s great? Genocide.’ She never even implies. It she never even actually, seriously, suggests it. Please stop saying she does as though it’s canon I lose 12 years of my life every time it’s mentioned. 

AND NOW FOR THE LONG VERSION BECAUSE Y’ALL KNOW I CAN’T LEAVE IT AT THAT!!!!! 

PLEASE NOTE! THERE WILL BE SOME MINOR RHYTHM OF WAR SPOILERS IN HERE. PLEASE AVERT YOUR EYEBALLS IF THIS IS A DISTRESSING CONCEPT TO YOU.

So first things first, let us discuss The Scene Itself: 

“Yes. The answer is obvious. We need to find the Heralds.”

Kaladin nodded in agreement.

“Then,” Jasnah added, “we need to kill them.”

“What?” Kaladin demanded. “Woman, are you insane?”

“The Stormfather laid it out,” Jasnah said, unperturbed. “The Heralds made a pact. When they died, their souls traveled to Damnation and trapped the spirits of the Voidbringers, preventing them from returning.”

“Yeah. Then the Heralds were tortured until they broke.”

“The Stormfather said their pact was weakened, but did not say it was destroyed,” Jasnah said. “I suggest that we at least see if one of them is willing to return to Damnation. Perhaps they can still prevent the spirits of the enemy from being reborn. It’s either that, or we completely exterminate the parshmen so that the enemy has no hosts.” She met Kaladin’s eyes. “In the face of such an atrocity, I would consider the sacrifice of one or more Heralds to be a small price.”

“Storms!” Kaladin said, standing up straight. “Have you no sympathy?”

“I have plenty, bridgeman. Fortunately, I temper it with logic. Perhaps you should consider acquiring some at a future date.”

So the only time Jasnah actually brings up this concept it’s to, hyperbolically, point out that asking the Heralds to return to Braize and trap the Fused may not be the worst idea.

She’s not actually suggesting this as a valid or legitimate tactic. It’s to contrast the plan Kaladin just called her ‘insane’ for suggesting (I bet that’s gonna hurt a million times more than it already does in 900 years when we get Jasnah’s book and backstory but hey. Back on topic) and point out that, in the face of the apocalypse, this is the kind of level they have to think on. 

I’ve already talked about the nuances of this scene at length here, so I’ll just do a quick summary: Jasnah is not as composed about any of this internally as she makes out to be - even what she suggests with the Heralds. 

When we see her alone with Ivory, reading Taln’s repeated mantra, Ivory notes that she’s troubled. The words (and where he was/how he was being treated when they were recorded) is enough to trigger a twenty year old flashback in her. 

This scene is one of the clearest moments (along with the Kharbranth thug scene, I suspect) where Jasnah’s outward projection of her internal feelings and thoughts least matches up with reality.

In spite of the inflammatory remark that sparks this all off,  she doesn’t want to assassinate any Heralds. She quite clearly says she wants to “see if one of them is WILLING to return to Damnation.” She wants to have a conversation with them, understand the Oathpact, and see if any of them would consent to buying them some time. She is not suggesting they knife one of the Heralds in a back alley. That’s Moash’s job.

This is supported by what she does in canon. Jasnah is actually the one who recognises Taln and Ash and, somehow, manages to persuade them to join her at Urithiru and help. She treats them with nothing but dignity and respect in her scenes with them in Rhythm of War, and tries to find out more about the Oathpact and their options - as she said she wanted to do.

But since Jasnah is a Kholin, which means the ‘D’ in her DNA stands for DRAMA, she doesn’t say that, instead she says: “let us find the Heralds and kill them.” (I love her so much y’all. Ahem. Anyway).

But there’s method to this madness, too. Please click the ‘keep reading’ button to discover why! (have to turn my own posts into clickbait bc they’re so long I have to put in a cut to spare ur dashboards). 

Jasnah likes to push people. She likes to force them to think, and consider all angles of a problem, and come to terms with their own thoughts and opinions. This is one of the things that frustrates Shallan about Jasnah in TWOK: 

Shallan caught a victorious glimmer in her eye. She wasn’t necessarily advocating ideas because she believed them; she just wanted to push Shallan. It was infuriating. How was Shallan to know what Jasnah really thought if she adopted conflicting points of view like this?

-TWOK 36

Jasnah doesn’t want to brutally murder the Heralds and force them to return to their maddening idea of hell. But in phrasing it as she does, she can get an insight into Kaladin. Despite the fact we know him very well at this point, this is, this is the first time Jasnah has interacted with him on-screen, and only the second time she’s met him ever. 

“That Windrunner. What do you think of him, Shallan? I find him much as I imagined his order, but I have only met him once. It has all come so quickly. After years of struggling in the shadows, everything coming to light—and despite my years of study—I understand so very little.”

Oathbringer, 33

Jasnah in that scene is deliberately being as exaggerated, ruthless, cold, and harsh as she can get away with. She’s trying to push Kaladin. She wants to bait responses from him, to get an idea of what kind of man he is, and what he stands for. She focuses entirely on him on that scene, and the reactions we as readers get see that as well. 

“If you wish, Captain,” Jasnah snapped, “I can get you some mink kits to cuddle while the adults plan. None of us want to talk about this, but that does not make it any less inevitable.”

“I’d love that,” Kaladin responded. “In turn, I’ll get you some eels to cuddle. You’ll feel right at home.”

Jasnah, curiously, smiled.

 Jasnah likes to be pushed as well. She likes to have people push back with her, and stand up for themselves, assert themselves, make their arguments. She all but encourages Dalinar to publicly do so in RoW. 

Socially, in spite of Kaladin’s rank or status as a Windrunner, it’s probably 100% Not Acceptable to ask an Alethi princess if she wants a basket full of eels to cuddle because she is one, effectively. But Jasnah’s unphased - and even pleased - by Kal’s response. She likes that she’s seeing this from him, that he’s unguarded, and passionate, and more than willing to go toe-to-toe with her, which few people are.

Also, because I foresee potential problems in this meta that I would like to nip in the bud right now, I don’t think that Jasnah is doing this to play with people? That’s not really in her nature or who she is. There’s a purpose to everything she does, and there’s a purpose to her doing this, too.

With Shallan it was to encourage her to think for herself and form her own thoughts and opinions. Just before in that scene, Shallan asked why Jasnah couldn’t just tell her what to think and what was the right philosophy to have in life. Jasnah replied it was something she had to discover for herself - and that’s how she approaches all of their studies. 

Jasnah never teaches Shallan what to think, or even what happened, despite that being the meat of her study. Instead, she teaches Shallan how to think, how to study, how to learn, how to critically reason, and how to form and argue her own thoughts and conclusions. 

With Kal, I think it’s a quick and brutal way of quickly getting to grips with a new, very important, element in what’s going on in her world. Remember, too, that one of Jasnah’s most obvious aims, aside from protecting the world, is protecting her family. And Kaladin is very close to everyone that she loves and holds most dear, while she knows nothing about him. 

However, something else that’s important to note, which, for me anyway, RoW all but confirmed: Jasnah has low cognitive empathy.

She’d come to realize, early in her youth, that she didn’t approach relationships the same way everyone else seemed to. Her partners in the past had always complained that she was too cold, so academic. That had frustrated her. How was she to learn what others felt if she couldn’t ask them?

Chapter 99 really was an absolute fucking gift, I mean really. Asexuality AND low empathy, all in one go. What a delight.

This little snippet can be read as her being asexual, potentially, but I actually think it reads more heavily and obviously about her being neurodivergent? And specially low cognitive empathy. Brandon says that, to him, Jasnah is not autistic spectrum, but you just keep giving me more evidence to say she is buddy!! Anyway. Diagnostic debates aside. 

I would guess some of y’all don’t know what the heck I mean by ‘cognitive empathy’ (I didn’t before I researched all of this a couple of years ago). 

There are two types of empathy, in strict psychology terms (and then there’s the colloquial way we use it to just mean ‘a good person with feelings’ which drives me BANANAS but that’s a rant for another day): 

Affective empathy - which basically means ‘this person around me is happy/sad/excited, I am also now feeling that way. Because emotion is infectious like a cold! How thrilling’. 

Cognitive empathy - is the ability a person has to pick up on/know what others are feeling without having to be told. Using tone/body language/facial expression etc etc. It’s something I, and a lot of other autistic people, are bad at. 

So is Jasnah! 

Her previous partners disliked her probably verbally vibe checking them every other week to find out where they were at. Jasnah was frustrated because how the heck else is she meant to know wtf?? What an absolute mood this woman is. Anyway. 

This revelation/confirmation makes a LOT of Jasnah scenes make a lot more sense. Including: chapter 64, and her insistence, to the point of it almost being illogical, that she fight without her Surgebinding to try and get as clear a picutre of what her soldiers are facing as she can. Jasnah starts off that chapter by saying she’s never actually been in a war before, and states throughout that she wasn’t prepared for what it was actually like. 

Her low empathy means that, without a personal context/experience to relate to and draw emotional experience from, she struggles to understand exactly what her troops are going through. 

Obviously she knows that ‘war is bad, battles are scary and not fun’. But she has no way of emotionally relating/truly understanding what they’re feeling. This is one of the reasons I think it’s so important to her, despite Ivory’s chiding, to do it that way so that she can understand. 

Similar thing is happening here with Kaladin. Jasnah struggles to instinctively Get Vibes from people, so she goes about things in a very scholarly way. 

She does research and makes notes (see: her little folio on the highprinces (which, by the way, misses out on several important aspects of them Shallan picks up on pretty quickly by the power of Intuition), she asks questions - and she sets up scenarios that push people into blatant emotion so she can observe and get an idea of what makes them tick. 

TL;DR TAKE TWO: Jasnah does not want to murder all of the Singers. Jasnah never says she wants to. Jasnah only uses it as a ‘see, asking the Heralds to go back to Damnation isn’t actually that bad now is it?’ hyperbolic counterpoint after Kaladin asked her if she was insane. Jasnah is not actually what she pretends to be in that scene. She is but a hapless gay who cannot detect emotions so she has to conduct her Vibe Checks differently from other people. She is highly valid in every way and i stan her.

[vangoghmusings]

𝖍𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖍 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘

masterlist

pairing: vampire!hawks x gn!reader

genre: angst w/ nsfw themes 

word count: 2.8k 

warnings: swearing, mentions of dead animals, mentions of nudity, main character death 

a/n: so~ im back from my break! i decided i’d only come back once i had content to post :) this one shot was originally going to be smut but angst fit better with the plotline so heres some sad shit for y’all :’) the song for this fic is ‘samson’ by regina spectre, linked here <3 i hope y’all like this cause angst isnt really my thing asfjkhld 

✁  𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖈𝖑𝖎𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖗  ✃

“We all have wings, but they have not been of any avail to us and if we could tear them off, we would do so.”  Franz Kafka

It was a quote you knew by heart. After all, it was sitting neatly framed on your desk. It was a graduation gift, but you don’t remember from who. Years of schooling behind you, you were finally an expert in your field. Animal locomotion, volant insects- it was all the same to you. Creatures with wings were your life and passion. As you looked at the mounted glass boxes that held a variety of pinned butterflies that lined the walls of your office, you were brought out of your daze by a familiar ringing.  

You sighed, picking up the telephone, wrapping the old cord around your finger as you awaited the greeting at the other end.  

“Hello, is this Dr. L/N?”  

“Midoriya?”  

The familiar voice brought a smile to your face. Izuku Midoriya was you best friend, the both of you working towards doctorate in animal studies. You specialized in wings, he specialized in secrets. More specifically, mythical creatures, a secret that zoologists and the government held from the public as to keep chaos from ensuing.  

“Ah Y/N! Yes, it's me! How are you?”  

“Good, how-”  

“I’m fine, thank you, I just- I need your help.”  

“Oh? Is there a situation?”  

“Well, yes and no... we’ve been told there’s been a spike in livestock and animals going missing, along with carcasses being found at an alarming rate. So, we’ve been conducting research and taking in recent sightings into consideration. We think there's a vampire in the Aokigahara forest.”  

“A vampire? Midoriya you know that’s your expertise not mine. I know nothing about vampires, isn't there anyone else that can help you? I wouldn’t be of any use-”  

“No no Y/N, you don’t understand. This vampire, it-it has wings.”  

The line went silent, the ringing of the tone slowly becoming too much to bare.  

“Are you sure-”

“We have photos, they're not great, but we’re certain its him.”  

“Him?”  

“It's a guess, but yes, a him.”  

Another deafening pause.  

“Do you have a plan?”  

“Yes actually!”

The sudden confidence transmitted from Midoriya’s end of the phone made you chuckle.  

“We’d like you to camp out in the woods, film what you can for us as well as observe anything you find or witness.”  

“Midoriya, that sounds really dangerous, this is a vampire, right? I’m not baiting myself for science-”  

“I promise it's not like that! You’d always have a walkie talkie running the entire time and have contact with me and the team. Nothing will happen to you, I promise.”  

“Promise?”  

“Promise. And besides, you’d get to keep his wings.”  

That caught your attention. Like a puppy, your ears perked up at the magic w-word.  

“Really?”  

“Once we complete the research, we’d have to put him in captivity, and we’re not taking any chances on letting him escape, so we’ll extract them and give them to you.”  

You bit your lip, imagining whatever possible large pair of wings could adorn your walls next.  

“I’m in.”  

“YOU’RE THE BEST!”  

You laughed as Midoriya cheered on the other line. Research and new discoveries always made him bounce with glee, and despite not being able to physically see him, you knew he was bouncing around his office like a baby bunny learning to leap.  

“When do we start?”  

“Huh? Oh, do you think you could come to the northwest research building tomorrow? I’ll pay for your bus ticket and everything.”  

“No no, it’s fine, I can make it over by noon.”  

“Perfect! I’ll see you then!”  

Before you could say goodbye, Midoriya hung up the phone, probably dashing around his office to prepare as much as he could for the upcoming events.  

You chuckled and sighed, putting the phone down. You were going to be in the woods for God knows how long studying a vampire that could potentially kill you and suck you dry- all for a pair of wings.  

You later received a text from Midoriya instructing you to pack a bag with at least a months' worth of clothing and your own personal items. He said that his team would bring all the other needs- food, water purifier, stationary and a walkie talkie. You would be set for the entire month to study the elusive winged vampire. All that was left now was go to Aokigahara. But nothing could have prepared you for what was to come in the next month.  

As you trekked the hills of the Aokigahara forest that faithful day, all you could think of was the words Midoriya had said to you that morning.  

“Our hope is that you actually meet him?”  

“Meet him? The vampire? Midoriya you are trying to get me killed, aren’t you!”  

“But the best research is done when you’re close to the primary source!”  

You heaved a sigh and wiped the beads of sweat falling down your forehead with the back of your palm. You were entering the forest with the faux appearance an overwhelmed camper, seeking solace in the forest through self-reflection and meditation. Thus, everything had to look realistic, as to not make the vampire subject suspicious. The immense weight of the hiking backpack resting on your shoulders was unbearable, but you knew you still had to go further into the forest. You had to find the perfect spot. And finally, after several more exhausting hours, there it was.  

The lake.  

You beamed at the crystal-like water, ripping softly from the wind. Without hesitation, you dropped your backpack and began to set up camp. You had a fairly large tent, a cot and sleeping bag, and all your items, plus the ones promised by Midoriya’s team. Once you were happy with the setup of your tent, you deemed it was time to bathe. You were drenched in sweat and your muscles ached and you wanted nothing more than to engulf yourself in the lake’s cool waters.  

Once you rid yourself of your sticky clothes, you stepped into the water, sighing happily. You soon submerged your whole body in the water, humming as you scrubbed the grime off your skin. The sky above was shifting from pink to orange, the sun quickly beginning to set. You could see the outline of the moon too.  

“Pretty isn’t it?”  

You jumped at the unexpected voice, quickly covering what you could of your naked body. You looked around anxiously, fearful of who or what had been watching you. You narrowed your eyes at a tree looming over the water, a figure seated on one of its branches. You clung to your chest tightly as the branch shook, the figure hopping off with ease.  

Infront of you stood a blonde-haired man, incredibly fit, which was easy to see since he was shirtless. It seemed his only clothes appeared to be a pair of dirtied linen pants and a pair of poots. But that’s not what caught your attention- no, it was the enormous pair of bright crimson wings that stemmed from his back. They were breathtaking.  

He chuckled lowly at your frozen stance.  

“I meant the moon.”  

You nodded slowly.  

“O-oh,” was all you managed to say as it occurred to you that that man, creature, vampire, would be your subject of research for the next month.  

His brows furrowed as he looked down at your toiletry bag that sat on the shore.  

“Shit, is that soap?”  

“Uh, yeah?”  

What was happening? He was so normal? So calm? Were you not in his territory, invading his space? Or was he being kind, as to not scare off his next meal?  

“I haven’t been able to use soap in a while. My parents visit me sometimes and bring me soap and shit, but they haven't in a while...can I use yours?”  

Parents. He had a family. Did they have wings too? No, he was exiled, his wings made him an outlier. He was alone.  

“Uh, yeah...” you mumbled, shyly gesturing to the toiletry bag with your chin. The man beamed and dug through your bag.  

“Holy shit, you have hair soap too? Fancy,” he purred. Hair soap- did he mean shampoo?  

You watched curiously as he tossed out item from your bag and set them on the shore. You found your cheeks burning with heat as you looked away while he undressed. You looked down at the water, ripples appearing as he stepped into the lake. You gulped and peered over your shoulder.  

“What's your name?” You asked shyly.  

“Keigo, you?”  

You blinked at his unexpected friendliness.  

“Y/N.”  

He gave you a nodded before picking up one of the bottles he placed in the water that began to float away.  

“So, which hair soap do I use first?”  

“Uh, the one that says shampoo.”  

Keigo looked down at the floating bottles before him.  

“I can’t read,” He mumbled.  

You gaped, he must’ve been exiled at a young age, with neither of his parents willing to take the time to educate him.  

You stepped towards him carefully, we’ll aware of the danger he could pose. You picked up the shampoo bottle and handed it to him.  

“Here, use this one first.”  

He grinned, two large fangs appearing. It was obvious they caught you off guard, since he began to laugh.  

“Scared of my fangs but not my wings? Interesting.”  

You scoffed as he poured the shampoo in his palm.  

“I’m not scared.”  

“Right,” He chuckled, before putting the shampoo in his hair. Which he did a terrible job at, since it all began to drip down his face and into his eyes. “Ah fuck- this shit stings! Are you trying to poison me?”  

You laughed and covered your mouth. 

This was the dangerous vampire Midoriya had summoned you to research? He seemed helpless, and frankly a bit pathetic.  

“Well it’s just for your hair, not your eyes.”  

Keigo growled and plunged his face in the water, washing the shampoo out of his eyes. He flung his head back up and shook the water off, similarly to a dog. You winced at the water droplets that hit you.  

“Do you- do you want help?”  

Keigo raised a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.  

“Why are you here?”  

You froze, not expecting the question.  

“Uh well, I needed a break from work. Just time to be alone and meditate, you know?”  

“No, I wouldn’t know,” He frowned. You bit your lip and looked down.  

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you-”  

You were caught off by his laugh once more.  

“You’re fine Y/N, it’ll take more than that to offend me. Besides,” He said, a sharp taloned hand wrapping around your neck and pulling you close, “I could kill you if you ever did.”  

He smirked, feeling you gulp in fear against his palm. You stood still in his grasp as leaned close into your ear.  

“So, you’ll help me with the hair soap?”  

✁✁✁

In the following weeks, you developed an unexpected closeness to Keigo. He hung around your tent day and night, occasionally leaving when he got hungry. In those moments alone, you updated Midoriya and wrote in your journal. By the end of the second week, you found yourself realizing how close you had truly gotten to the vampire when he finally let you shave off his rugged beard.  

“Look at you!” You beamed, holding his face in your hand. He rolled his eyes and swiftly scooped you up, walking you both out of the water.  

He set you down gently and handed you your towel. He on the other hand, used his wings and flapped himself dry, fluffy feathers flying everywhere. You wrapped the towel around your body and smiled up at him, trying to cover up the sinking feeling in your chest. You were beginning to see Keigo as a person rather than a specimen. And when the month ended, he’d be transported to a facility and have his wings clipped and handed to you on a silver platter for decoration. You shook the thoughts away and flashed Keigo another smile.  

“Its getting late.”  

He nodded and slipped on his pants, which he now also allowed you to wash. You bit your lip.  

“Where do you sleep Keigo?”  

He adjusted his waistband and looked to you.  

“A treehouse.”  

Your eyes widened.  

“Really? Why haven’t you told me?”  

He chuckled and ruffled your hair with taloned hand.  

“Didn’t think it mattered. Wanna check it out?”  

You nodded eagerly and scrambled to put your clothes on.  

Keigo rolled his eyes and extended his hand out to you, which you took once you were dressed. He picked you up and cradled you in his harms before taking to the skies, protecting you from the branches above with his wings. This moment was your paradise, seeing his wings in action. You looked at the trees below you, looking miniature as you glided through the air. The air was thin yet crisp, you couldn’t help but give Keigo a grin.  

He soon swooped down and gently landed on the ground, helping you to your feet.  

“Keigo that was so cool!” You beamed up at him, jumping up and giving him a thankful hug. He blushed and hugged back, not expecting the affectionate contact. You looked up at the large well-built tree house that sat in the tree. With ease, Keigo helped you climb up the tree and inside his home.  

Your eyes widened at the sight. The home was scattered with crimson feathers, blankets, pillows, and old blood stains on the wood.  

“So uh, this is where I sleep,” He said gesturing to the nest-like pile of plush. You nodded and looked up at him.  

“This is really cool Keigo, thanks for showing me!”  

He grinned proudly at his home, despite its emptiness, you understood the sense of coziness it held.  

He looked down at you and seemed to contemplate his next words.  

“Would you, uh, like to stay here with me tonight?”  

You looked up at him curiously.  

“Promise not to kill me?”  

He chuckled and nodded.  

“Yes, I promise.”  

“Then yes.”  

It was already nighttime and you and Keigo had already eaten. All that was left was to rest. Keigo turned on the lamp and stepped into his “nest”, you follow his lead. You step into the softness of his fluffy nest and sink into it. As if by instinct, Keigo wraps you in his arms and pulls you to his chest, your breath hitching when you feel the warmth emitting from it. His wings wrapped around the both of you tightly in a secure fashion. You looked up at the silent blonde.  

“Keigo?”  

He hummed in response.  

“Why haven’t you killed me?”  

Keigo scrunched up his face at the question.  

“I’m not a killer Y/N, I don’t kill humans.”  

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just- you’re a- and you know,” you trailed off.  

Keigo stayed silent, his large hands pressed against your back as he helped you. After what seemed like eternity he spoke.  

“Y/N?”  

“Hm?”  

“What does love feel like?”  

You smiled softly and looked up at him, his eyes peering down at you under his long eyelashes.  

“Well, love is when you really care about someone, and would do anything for them and you always want to be around them and-”  

“Then I love you.”  

Your mouth gaped at the confession.  

“Keigo-”  

“Everything you said, I feel it for you.”  

You gave him a weak smile and ran your fingers through his hair. A familiar story came to mind: Samson and Delilah. Samon loved Delilah so intensely he let her shave his head and take away his strength, leaving him weak. You found yourself in the same position, using Keigo’s love to let you clip his wings to give to the Philistines, well, in this case Midoriya.  

“I love you too Keigo.”  

His face broke out in a wide smile, but he had no clue what to do next. He had never been in this position before.  

You chuckled softly and gently stroked his cheek, “Do you want to kiss me?”  

He nodded, a shy blush creeping onto his cheeks. You giggled lightly before snuggling closer to him and pressing a soft kiss against his lips, feeling him melt at the touch.  

You really did love him.  

And you remembered it every day.  

You remembered him every day.  

You remembered the angry cusses he spewed at you when you watch him get captured by Midoriya’s team.  

You remembered his screams of agony as you watched him wake up from his surgery, only to realize his wings were gone.  

You remembered his sulking, deteriorating body when you visited him, only to learn he hadn’t eaten in days.  

And you remembered your heart breaking when you woke up at 2am to a phone call from Midoriya to learn that Keigo had died.  

As you stared at the crimson wings propped up on your office wall, you couldn’t help but curse yourself. Were a pair of wings worth learning that a vampire with wings had the capacity to love?  

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