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ncroissant · 3 months

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aquamarine hoshino x jealous! bimbo! reader

summary: after aqua's passionate kiss with akane on the final episode of 'love for real', aqua comes to home to your jealousy.

content warnings: spoilers to oshi no ko, suggestive, mentions of cock/crotch, toxic relationship, controlling behaviour, dacryphilia, manipulation, use of petnames: angel, sweetheart, good girl like once, no use of yn

wc: 1.2k

author's note: aqua is 16 in the anime and manga, mentally 40, but i'd like to age him up to 18!! this is not proofread, so there are probably a lot of mistakes, lmk if i need any more warnings!! minors please DNI !!

you spent most of your days encased in aqua's basement. he made the entire place feel like home; decorating it in pretty pink wallpaper and making sure you had anything in reach. whenever you asked for something, he would provide. he was fully set on servicing you as long as you obliged to his one and only rule:

'stay in this room, don't leave without my permission'

he would drill it into your brain like clockwork, never letting you forget, especially since you were likely to forget within a few seconds. you'd look up at him doe-eyed, hanging off his every word. you loved when he would tell you what to do and you could just blindly follow along. he was your best friend after all.

he spent a lot of his time with you: he'd check on you before and after school, he'd listen to you talk about the animes you watched and the mangas you read, or do his work assigned by the director while you sat in his lap, questioning every little detail.

but as of late, he came around to visit less and less, to the point where you would hear him come into the basement late at night, slipping under the covers to cuddle with you.

he convinced himself that you were the one insistent on being touchy-feely, but he was self-indulgent in the way you'd bury yourself in his arms, snuggling deep into his chest.

"aqua?" you'd mumble, feeling him wrap his arms around your waist.

"sorry angel, did i wake you?" he slid an arm on your back, rubbing it soothingly to lull you to sleep.

"no, s' okay, i missed you aqua," you flipped over, wrapping your arms around his neck, inserting yourself into his neck.

he reeked of women's perfume. you wanted to convince yourself he was going around stores finding you your perfect scent. but a pit in your stomach grew and you didn't understand why.

aqua would never tell you he was on a dating show. for one, he only needed to go on it to find clues on ai, but he also didn't want you to worry your pretty head over it. as much as he loved to see the frustration on your face when you were thinking, he knew he'd have to lighten the load for you.

it was tv day, aka saturday, because he was very insistent that TV was very, very bad for you and could only be watched for an hour a week. and miraculously, that hour was filled with content from the last episode of 'love for real'.

you sat there anticipatingly, already shocked from aqua's appearance in the intro, but the final moments had caught you off guard. although the two other guys had gotten rejected, aqua had marched over to the blue-haired girl, akane as you remembered, and placed a long, passionate kiss on her lips.

your eyes widened. he might have done a lot of things for you, but he's never kissed you before. he's never looked at you like that (at least not when you were looking). the tv automatically closed (as aqua had programmed it) and left you with a reflection of your teary-eyed expression.

your knees were pressed against your chest, your arms tightly holding them in place. you wanted to throw a tantrum, a fit, anything that would get rid of this stupid anger inside of you.

as if on queue, the lock on the door unlocked and in walked aqua. "hi angel, how was you day?" he slipped off his shoes, placing his bag down before looking over at you.

"aqua, why didn't you tell me you were on a dating show?" you pushed yourself onto all fours, kneeling in front of him with your stupidly big, round eyes, clinging to his tapered pants.

his eyes widened. he didn't know if it was a treat or a curse to see you in such a state. but, hearing that you saw the show snapped him out of his trance.

"how did you...?" shit. they changed the airing for this episode for saturday instead on sunday, he mentally cursed himself, remembering the fuss the crew made about it earlier.

his thoughts were cut by your sudden display of waterworks, burying your face into his thigh, hugging it like a babbling baby. "are you getting tired with me already?" you sobbed, pulling and pushing at the fabric of his pants.

he felt bad, he really did. but the way you were looking up at him so sweetly and clinging onto him like a little girl made his cock strain in his pants. he was biting back a smile before kneeling down to you level.

"so you saw it, huh?" he frowned slightly, holding the hand that gripped his thigh in his own.

"mhm," you nodded, crying incessantly, trying to wipe away your tears with a free hand.

"aw, c'mere sweetheart. let's get your tears out," he pulled you into his lap, allowing you to bury yourself into his shoulder as he patted your back soothingly.

you cried, rambling about how he didn't tell you and how he's never kissed you before. before you knew it, your hands had boldly gripped his shirt collar.

"why can't you kiss me like you kissed her, aqua? do you like her better?" you puffed your bottom lip out, tears still filling your waterline, leaning too close for aqua's comfort. you so badly wanted to be kissed by him too.

"angel, you know i can't kiss you, it's..." he trailed off, pursing his lips in thought.

it's not that he didn't want to kiss you. he felt like he was too tainted to even think about pressing his lips against yours. you were too pure and innocent. not a single thought inside your pretty little brain.

little did he know, all you could think about was him.

"aqua, please i wanna kiss." you pushed your lips out like a fish, clearly unfamiliar with kissing. he sighed in relief, but also somehow felt nervous to lean in.

he had countless fantasies about kissing you. more dreams beyond just kissing, but dreams of being intimate with you. if you hadn't shifted yourself right on top of his cock, he wouldn't have hastily pushed you down with his lips pressed against yours.

you squealed in surprise from the sudden movement, but he protected your head when you two had tumbled to the floor. he pulled away to look at you, both of you out of breath from the intensity of the kiss.

you looked so pretty just waiting for him to continue and let him do whatever he wanted to. he knew you'd agree with whatever he told you to do. but he wanted to relish in the fact that you were lying there so perfectly, patiently waiting his next command like such a good girl.

"you still want another one?" he teased, inspecting the redness on your face that trailed down the entirety of your body.

"mhm, wanna get her taste off your lips." his cock pulsed at your sudden possessiveness. you didn't even know how to kiss 10 seconds ago, but he wanted to see how much he could teach you in one night.

"yeah, you'll help me like a good, little girl, right?" he dragged you closer by the thigh before pressing his lips on yours once more.

#oshi no ko #aquamarine hoshino #aquamarine hoshino x reader #ncrescent

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manasurge · 8 months

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Mourynn, my GW2 OC's bio page! This is just meant to be a simplified breakdown of her character where I will branch out (lol) to all the other aspects in detail in their own separate posts/drawings. I just wanted her bio to me more visual instead of all just text, and I also included some inspirations with a little background info to fill in some blanks (which will be expanded upon later as well). to note: - she does, for the most part, follow the canonical Commander storyline, except not EVERY part and with not the same exact personality of the in game player character either (tbh I don't think anyone's Commander OCs do so I suppose this is obvious lol) - allowing her to still play the Commander role (to a slightly lesser degree but still just enough) allows me to integrate her into all areas of Tyria, and with a more diverse set of experiences and characters to interact with and keep her involved in the major storyline (ESPECIALLY with the Elder Dragon storyline. I'm going to have lots of fun with those interactions and experiences) - this also opens more doors for giving her unique experiences in these different zones with different characters that don't happen in game (since it's easier for me to work with an existing storyline instead fo fully creating a new one. Uses up less of my brain battery) - this also allows me to poke fun at some things in game with Mourynn in character bc I have SO many things saved up that are highly amusing to me and this way I can use a bunch of my saved screenshots to my potential. - I'm also taking advantage of a bunch of plot holes and other spans of time (such as the Firstborn Era before the Secondborn came about) Her dragon form will have it's own page (with inspirations) since there is lots I still need to design and showcase, and I wanted it to have it's own separate focus! Everything will make more sense once it's all done (such as explaining how a firstborn and scion(?) are to exist at the same time, I have a fun way to which I wanna explain it once I'm done the dragon bio page). I'll also have a separate breakdown of her Elite spec and showing/explaining what it does and how it works bc it was a lot of fun to create.

Anyways this is a VERY self indulgent OC, and since I only ever make one OC (since they're almost always a self-insert to some degree with me), she's going to be very spoiled and will allow me to give her lots of attention and have fun with all the dynamics. I also can't mentally handle more than one OC bc that is WAY too overwhelming for me lol.

#Mourynn #Mourynn art #gw2 OC #sylvari OC #sylvari #Artgallery #Gw2 #Rip I wish I was better at focussing bc it makes my drawing so slow. This really could've been finished a month ago; but alas~#also sry for all the rambling; I'm just one of those people who over explains things -_-' I can't help myself #also I love dragons! in case you haven't noticed jlaskj (also my chinese zodiac is the Dragon so I always use that as an excuse as well lol #Working on her dragon form next!!! I can't wait; i've been wanting to do this for like; 3 years now; but I wanted to finish this stuff firs #she's been literally slow cooking in my brain for like; 3-4yrs at this point; she's finally escaping the confines of my brain

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krashoutluv · 3 months

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What are your thoughts on Jason from Three Jokers?

particularly for me, his emotional dependence is so big just because he confused things with the Barbara

3 JOKERS SPOILERS !

tldr; i ramble a little abt how i hate modern Jason fucking Todd and highlight how much justice this comic did for him

and how modern writers are just trying to turn him into a batfam insert of deadpool

Yes! I dont think Jason had 100% feelings for Babs, like he said, he thought it could work. It definitely came from a moment of weakness/vulnerability, its often that Jason doesn’t get cared for too often, not in the way he needs. So when Babs let out a hand for him, it hit him HARD. Especially with just being traumatized by the last two jokers, I think its pretty obvious he doesn’t need someone to clean up/watch after him but like need someone to generally emotionally guide him.

my personal pet peeve with most modern Jason Todd canon ships is the laziness of it(b4 i get criticized i think ANY ship with ANY CHARACTERS can be good as long as the writings GOOD and makes SENSE) . GOD NO- i dont ship jason and babs, but they still put an odd amount of effort into it, to at the very least actually flesh out their characters.

Jason doesn’t need a character that fixes his mistakes when he’s overly impulsive, or babies him, or fixes his mistakes with a veil of ‘Your so dumb but i secretly care about you!‘ because then it leads to most of lazy writing where he does something stupid but his gf is here to fix it! so its ok! NO!! HES NOT LEARNING ANYTHING!! YOURE MAKING HIM LOOK STUPID AND MENTALLY BRAIN DEAD!! anyways sorry.

Jason needs someone to break him out of his cycle of impulsiveness and self-destruction, not have him indulge in it.Jason needs to go fucking soul-searching or something im so tired of his ass— REALISTICALLY I COULDN’T DATE COMIC!JASON IF HE DIDNT CHANGE,, HE WOULD FRUSTRATE ME RLLY BAD.

ahem. anyways. I think Jasons note shows a lot about his character and something that the modern writers ignore a lot. Jason CAN change, he just needs a reason, a solid reason to. He doesn’t have to put down his code, or the guns, he just needs someone solid to really make him think about himself. “All I need is one chance to you I can be better. And I will devote my life to making you proud. Happy. Loved.” WHERE IS THIS SWEETHEART RN?? I SWEAR EVERY OTHER WRITER IS MAKING HIM A EMO FUCK-BOY WHOS BRAIN MATTER GOT SUCKED OUT THROUGH HIS COCK?? ahem sorry.

I really love how much DC actually puts details into Jason in this comic. Ex. Jasons helmets abilities being highlighted, “Helmets registering multiple security doors opening across the facility.” OR him saying the chronic pain management book was helpful. SORRY— I REALLY ENJOY DETAILS LIKE THIS. It just makes Jasons technical skill and such more obvious then whats normally stated. Also Jason tracking sea water off a wrench to the Aquarium— where is this skill in more modern comics?? I swear they make Jason a braindead wannabe deadpool sometimes i swear to fucking god. Also him shooting the shark tank so it eats Gaggy— I DIE FOR DETAILS LIKE THIS.

They don’t even get rid of his humor in 3 jokers either, he still has a really well displayed personality and his banter with Batman is really bearable for once, it makes sense and its well written. I slightly dislike how hard Babs is being on Jason but i’m not 100% sure what Babs is like. I haven’t read comics centered around her, so I don’t mind it. Also dont mistake this for me disliking babs for rejecting Jay— thats not what i mean at all. Just her constantly saying how he’s a criminal and focusing on getting him in prison like he’s an opp was confusing 2 me..

anyways stop trying to turn red hood into the batfams deadpool challenge!!

inbox is open 2 yap or requests sum!!

#jason todd #jason peter todd #skullkidwithsunglasses #i ramble about comic jason hehehe #red hood

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kicktwine · 1 year

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wanted to ask, could we get a look in to how you put together your animatics?? I've been toying with the idea of trying to make one of my own, but I've got no idea where to start

oh yeah totally

though to be fair, a HUGE chunk of my time is spent listening to about 20 seconds of a song and imagining how the images move around like a little movie, and I refine a ton of stuff in my head before starting to actually put scenes down on paper. This happens with non-music boarding too, imagining different versions of how the scenes line up with dialogue/music. So step one: put a song on repeat and daydream for at least two hours. But, if you aren’t sure how to do this, I’d suggest looking at animatics, MAP projects, AMVs, animated musicals, fight scenes, etc. what do they do that’s cool? Imitate them.

after that, I have most of the main images with some blank spots im not sure how to fill until I put them down. I make something like this and get the compositions of each main image looking more or less okay in this form. This is also the stage I figure out the in between blank spots. I try not to have weird camera moves or other storyboarding don’ts, but some storyboarding donts are completely valid to break if you know what you want aesthetically. As usual. This one was actually pretty clean, but check out all the framing edits. i always have to make the frame bigger

If you really don’t know what goes in between things, don’t be afraid to focus on some little details of the scene, pull out and show us the setting, put some flowery symbolism on screen, give us some fun little comedic anime inserts, or do what cowboy standoffs do and build tension. What we used to do was draw paws stepping across the screen or eyes blinking, lol

next comes audio sync! I like to get the timing extant on copies of these rough thumbnails before moving on. It helps my brain work through smaller more animated movements + testing if the things I came up with for the blank spots work. and also just makes it happy. And also, most importantly, it tests if the compositions work. If you can see it, the whole sequence with mom was a blank spot until I sketched it. I usually do this step in roughanimator even if i don’t finish it in roughanimator. Keeps it very rough.

after this is just a lot of polishing and layers! For lots of small animatics, I just use roughanimator and leave it like that. It’s surprisingly good for a very basic program. But, for things that need tweens or lots of camera movement, I use toon boom harmony. It’s more powerful and is actually supposed to be used for animation, which. Yknow. I do. I tried storyboard pro, it wasn’t my favorite.

Here are some, I guess, miscellaneous more technical tips for making your animatics feel nice!

If you’re going for lots of movement, try out timing it so big movements or scene transitions line up with the spikes in the audio WAV. If it doesn’t feel right, move it a few frames BEFORE the spike/audio beat. Your brain usually wants to see something move barely before it hears it - this works for dialogue especially. BUT! Don’t feel like you have to do this for every beat. unless you want to feel like Wes Anderson, which you can do and I will not stop you.

If you’re going for something slower with not that much movement, try motion tweening! or adjusting something very slowly so we don’t linger on one still image for forever.

you don’t need crazy camera angles for everything, but put a few in there for spice. This all depends on your mood you want to cultivate. Slow = flatter, spacious, details; fast = lots of moves, weird angles, perspective; disorienting = slow/jerky weird angles etc etc. the camera has emotions built into it. Because the camera is you! surprise!

watch storyboarding tutorials. lots of people zoom in too much when they draw and I am not excluded. Also, keep in mind the eyesight rule. It’s hard for me to explain concisely but… you as the artist are always leading the viewers eye somewhere, with every shot you make. Don’t make them dizzy by having the center of attention jump around to six different spots for six shots straight - if you find yourself unhappy with a sequence, especially a fast one, see if your line of sight is going all over the place and try moving the subject of a shot or two somewhere else or having them move/gesture towards the new shot’s focal point so the viewers eye moves there naturally. I’m actually not great at doing this when words/lyrics are involved, pmv makers have my respect.

contrast is your friend. If you want to emphasize a big fast move or big bright image, put little slow moves or simple images right before/after it. and vice versa! this counts for camera too!

easy camera shakes are just 3-4 frames of cam down/up/down less/up less, a blank tween or two (easing back into normal), and then a key for your desired normal camera location. Or left/right, whichever.

your brain needs about six frames to fully register an object as being an object. If you want someone to see and really See it, rather than just get a glimpse of it and go "What was that!" It needs more than six frames.

don’t be afraid to experiment!!!!!! And don’t get overwhelmed! Everything I just described I MOSTLY do off instinct, which you’ll get a sense for after you make one. Or like…. Ten. Does it feel good in your heart? Then that’s what’s important. Find an idea you want to make move, figure out your limits (programs, attention span, drawing capability, make sure not to commit to a minute long amv if you dont KNOW you wanna do a minute long amv), and plan around that. When I was A Child, people on youtube were just making like three amvs per second and cringe hadn’t been invented yet so they were all mostly untrained unpolished and so so important and based to me. Stop thinking so hard about it. You gotta get that animatic out there into the world or it’ll start fermenting in your brain and make you sick. So what if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you imagined it? You’ll have another idea tomorrow. And if it matters that much, you can always do it again. Go make! Good luck!

#long post #haha sorry! That turned into more of a tutorial which I hope is what you wanted #i dont know how to do edits; honestly; but thats not what you asked. a very cool form of video making! no clue how to do it well #ask #anon #hmm for the eyesight rule #dont misunderstand -- dialogue over the shoulder shot a/ shot b style are not 'jumping around'#i mean like something moves on the LEFT and then the next shot has something spinning down from the TOP to the BOTTOM and then the next #you have something on the LEFT again moving UP #yknow?#idk if hearing gifs counts as synesthesia but silent moving things make noise in my head #so it kinda works vice versa. sometimes noise can make moves

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precious-little-scoundrel · 16 days

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What got you into writing/how long have you been writing?

What’s your writing inspiration?

Do you write in silence or need background sounds? Like music?

Do you struggle more with dialogue or detail?

Any tips for someone who wants to write fanfiction?

How do you differ all your OC’s so you don’t rewrite the same characters over and over?

Do you do research?

— from someone who would love to write their own stories lol but yours are great!

My darling. So many apologies for how tardy I’ve been in replying to this, I really wanted to give it due thought because I’m quite touched you’d even ask.

1: I’ve been writing since I was little, my mama was always reading me classics and my greatest ambition was to be some kind of author every bit as colorful as their characters, a la Oscar Wilde. 🥳

2. Writing inspiration? Oh that’s a hard one only in that I could cite a million things and chat your poor ear off, but to be boring and also frank -I just love stories. I think they’re so inspiring and healing and necessary for making sense of things, or else resigning to things that can’t be explained. I love to study love and how very human and fallible and also indestructible it is in its many forms. I love to dig through tragedy and find the refining purpose of it, I love to take characters through hells I’ve been through so that I can imagine their triumphs, too, and my own through them. If this can happen to -name your hero- then I’m no smaller for it happening to me, if -name your hero- can get through it and be loved and admired by a whole fandom? -I deserve the same commendation from myself at the very least. Stories are essential and fun and I never ever imagined I’d have a little group one day liking my own where we could all scream about these things together. I’m legit so humbled each time I log on here and find y’all ready and waiting and interactive. The community of it, that’s the biggest drive right now, tbh. What a sweet season.

3. I usually write in silence, or else at any chance where I have a moment, so that could be public transport or lunch breaks or in the loo during family holidays, ha. However I do find music to be an inspiring mood setter for writing later that day. Especially as i juggle many ongoing projects at once, the genre im listening to before may very well influence what gets worked on.

4. Detail!! Dialogue can be challenging but I hear it so clearly in my head most of the time that it’s not hard. Details can devastate me.

5. Ooof, I still feel like I’m a baby at it, this is only my second fandom to dare for. I’d say for sure write what you find inspiring instead of what appears to be wanted, i firmly believe that’s the only sure way to keep up any inspiration and the niche will draw its own crowd, one’s who will like it all the better for its specially crafted world. Also, for dialogue -replay and replay dialogue from the character before you write. Are they terse or do they ramble? Are they sarcastic or earnest? Do they have a word they repeat often? -I noticed the other day how Rosenthal uses “you know?” often in the show. Also, sometimes switch up sentence structure from character to character, it helps feel like hopping brains without a fully jarring POV change. All these are things I’m currently working at myself, but that’s the best I’ve got for advice.

6. Oh boy I’m still figuring this out myself. Three things come to mind as little helps I use- first off, read real biographies, it helps tremendously with crafting fully dimensional fictional people. Two -have a maturing arc for your OC during the story, separate from whatever adventure or romance that occurs, this will make it feel less like a inserted person into the broader story. Three, choose a personality type or something similar to both keep them separate from the next but also to ensure their virtues have corresponding vices.

7. I do research a lot. But I find that it’s a fine line for myself of when that drains all creativity or bravery. Im massively indebted to so many mutuals who generously share their own with me.

#best of wishes to you Nonnie! dare bravely!!#writing woes #about the author 💋

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tyxoxo · 2 years

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One Night Only - II.

ch. 1 , ch. 3, m.list

Jeno x fem!reader series

Genre: slow burn, fuckboy!jeno, enemies to lovers/hate fucking fwb! bookstore jeno → model jeno au, 00’ dream + mark + jun (seventeen) character inserts

Words: 3.1k

(future) Warnings: pure filth, jeno is mean, cocky, stubborn, this relationship is extremely toxic (i dont condone, this is pure fiction), unprotected sex, choking, slapping, degrading, spitting, dumbification, dacryphilia, oral (f and m receiving), cum play, envy, mdni!

a/n: idk if its just me but this feels rushed im all about the smutty smut ㅠㅠ

Chapter 2

“Uhm…excuse me?” Mark’s frenzied voice pierced through your ears. You had only just met him a week prior during your interview but nothing could have prepared you for underestimating his authority. It made you feel better knowing that even though he wasn’t red-blooded like this asshole who seemed repulsed by your presence, atleast he stood up for you.

You heard the words: “Fucking fantastic…”

It immediately made you feel nauseous. You were just about to bow from being introduced but once he opened his mouth, a siren rang in your brain. He was ugly on the inside, you knew that now.

There was an awkward silence that followed, causing your hands to sweat profusely. You would just have to hang your head in shame.

You weren’t sure what was said next as your mind was still whirling from the last 2-minutes. Your eyes widened when you noticed a pair of shoes step into your view. You raised your head slowly, hoping it wasn’t who you thought it was. You glanced at his name tag handwritten in an untidy fashion: “Renjun :)”

You exhaled in relief.

“Hello, my name is Renjun. I hope you enjoy your time working with us.” His voice was so gentle, so calming. He bowed in front of you to which you returned the gesture.

“Thank you.” Your voice was shaky but you needed to hold it together for the sake of your first day.

“Mark, is it okay if I show her around? I don’t mind.” Renjun looked over to his manager who was standing tongue-in-cheek; obviously bothered by his ill-mannered employee.

“That would be great actually. While you do that, I’ll have a talk with Jeno…excuse us. Also Jun can you take over the register for a minute?” Mark bowed to you before motioning his head towards Jeno. An usual name to go with an usual attitude.

“Okay, so let’s start with the back of the store!” Renjun began leading the way while Jeno, Mark, and Jun walked off together towards the front. You followed closely behind, hoping Renjun could explain what his coworker’s problem was.

“So in the back is where we have our round tables for people to sit down, read, study, etcetera. Mark is hoping in the next year or so to add a small computer lab for those that don’t have their own laptops. Over in the corner is our storage room. This is where we keep deliveries, packages, mail, cleaning supplies.”

You nodded at every detail he provided, all the while appreciating his enthusiasm. He seemed sweet.

“I can show you where our restroom is. It’s unisex but it has a lock which is nice.” The two of you walked to where it was situated next to the storage room.

“By the way, I am sorry about my friend Jeno. He’s having a rough day, not sure why.”

Something told you that he knew why, but it was best to not know.

“Yeah that was shitty. But I appreciate your concern.” You spoke freely, disregarding your formality.

“Any time. We’re all easy going here and Mark is super chill.”

Both of your heads swung towards the front when the doorbell chimed, signaling another walk-in.

“Around noon is when it starts to pick up but I can still show you everything else. Customers are usually self-sufficient here.”

“Sounds great. I’ll follow you.”

You had already formed your judgement of your 3 coworkers within the remaining 3 hours of your shift:

Renjun was welcoming.

Jun was approachable.

Jeno was a dick.

It was that simple.

You had no choice but to follow them around to learn the odds and ends of your new job. But every question you asked Renjun or Jun, Jeno had some sly remark or smack of his lips. Even if it was under his breath, you could still hear him clearly.

It was starting to get unbearable. How could Mark hire someone like him?

“So like this, right?” You asked while holding up index cards that you just laminated. Mark had given everyone the duty of picking their top 3 favorite books, and writing a reason why the customer should give it a read. You agreed that handwritten recommendations were an endearing way to get people’s attention.

You were curious if Jeno actually even read in his free time. He didn’t seem like the type.

“Yeah it looks good! All you need now is the double sided tape so you can attach them to the shelves.” Renjun said as he was laminating his own index cards. Of course, the roll of tape was nearest to Jeno who was 3 seats away, writing his own notes.

It was such a shame that he had such nice handwriting. You didn’t want to admit it.

“Jeno, can you pass me the tape please?” You asked while gathering your cards. It was now a test of how immature he could possibly be…over a roll of tape.

There was no movement. He kept writing, with his dip pen bleeding through the card from his heavy hand.

“Jeno.”

The way his name sounded on your lips somewhat disgusted you. Now was not the time for him to play childish.

“Didn’t hear you.” He spoke curtly, tossing the roll into your chest without even looking up from the table.

“Bullshit.”

All he could do was sneer at your comment. Jun walked to your side and helped rip off a few pieces.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Good choices of books by the way. Jeno over there just looks up book summaries online.” Jun’s smile made your mood lighten up a bit. It felt nice to get some back up from him and Renjun.

“How’s it going over here so far?” Mark appeared next to you after closing the register for the day.

“Good. I just finished putting my cards on the shelves. My penmanship isn’t the best so hopefully it’s readable.” You said while gathering the blank index cards to put back in the holder.

“I’m sure it’s fine! How about you guys head out a bit early and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Remember, 11am Monday!”

Jeno caused a loud screech from pushing back his chair and walking briskly towards the exit, not even bothering to say goodbye. Renjun followed behind, having already cleaned up Jeno’s mess within a few seconds.

“Nice meeting you!” Renjun turned his back and waved at you, tripping over the door frame and into Jeno’s back in the process. From what you could see, Jeno barely budged from Renjun’s clumsiness.

It felt so discouraging to know that your first day at work would’ve gone fine if it wasn’t for Jeno.

You decided to let it go, there was no use in dwelling on it. You were off tomorrow and that was enough to put you back in good spirits.

Plus, Monday could be better, right?

You were dead wrong. Mark sent texts out to everyone stating that he would be out sick from a cold. Luckily, Renjun was already entrusted with a spare key for situations like this.

Sadly, this also meant it gave Jeno free reign to say what he wanted. He was a shallow pool with few surprises.

“What happened to biting me back?” Jeno glanced over at you with a smirk as the two of you reorganized the shelves. He had already rolled his eyes a few times at your lack of coordination, disregarding the fact that it was only your second day.

At first you didn’t even want to respond but it was only 12pm and there was going to be some point that you had to acknowledge his existence. Considering he seemed less brash today, you could maybe see yourself holding a civil conversation with him.

“What do you mean?”

You kept your eyes forward, scanning for the next book to place in alphabetical order.

“You were tough shit on Saturday. Why so quiet now? I was having fun.”

You couldn't help but contort your face into a dumbfounded expression. He was having fun? What, being an ass?

“I was just sticking up for myself, but now I’m just going to ignore you. You’re not worth my time.”

“I am worth every bit of your time, it’s just up to you to deal with it.” He stepped closer to you but as luck would have it, you were done with your share of organizing the books.

It took everything you had to not say a quick “fuck you.” You just knew he would have a conceited response. If this was his attempt at flirting, this was going to be miserable no matter how attractive he was.

You left Jeno alone in the aisle and walked up to a customer that was searching for assistance.

Unbeknownst to you, Jeno snarled behind your back. You were every bit of plain to him, but the fact that you weren’t giving him the attention he wanted, faced him with a challenge. He wanted to see just how easy he could make a second-rate girl crumble beneath him.

“I’m gonna go eat and when I’m done, I'll take over the register.” Jeno said to Renjun as he placed his nametag in his pocket and walked out the door. Ordering from a restaurant would’ve taken too much time out of his break so he opted for a lunch box at the nearest convenience store. He didn’t have as big of an appetite today so he would just let Renjun have the rest.

He still had so much left to go on his shift. Another 5 hours of dealing with annoying customers, and a bitch that seemed too entitled. He felt like a prisoner. You never had anything remarkable to say but Jun and Renjun seemed to think you were magnetic. You never really talked at all. It felt unnatural of him to actually recall your name. It made him shudder at the thought.

As soon as he sat down in the outdoor benches placed near the store, his phone buzzed. It couldn’t have been a new hookup, he’d been shit out of luck for the past week.

2:05pm

[jaemin]: how’s the new girl, is she hot? 👀👀

[jeno]: pfft, no

[haechan]: whats her ig? i wanna see

[jeno]: idk and i don’t even think it’s worth knowing honestly

[jaemin]: let me guess, nono’s mad that she’s not paying attention to him 😈

[haechan]: yeah she’s not easy is she

[jeno]: nope

[haechan]: then she’s definitely hot, i need to meet her

[jeno]: fuck off, i’m trying to eat lunch

Jeno chewed with such grimace, upset at the fact his friends saw right through him. The food wasn’t that tasty either but at least it was cheap.

To Jeno’s dismay, his lunch break was going to be over soon. He huffed in annoyance while sealing the box and placing it back in the plastic bag. Atleast he could enjoy the fresh air once more while he walked. By the time his shift was over, it was going to be glum and dark.

“Do you want this? I wasn’t that hungry.” Jeno asked as he swung the bag over the counter, not even caring that it could’ve spilled.

“Yeah, I’ll be back. I think I'd rather have Jun at the register instead of you though.” Renjun teased as he stepped down and walked around towards the exit with his lunch in hand, the two of them switching places.

“Shut the fuck up.” Jeno actually smiled for once. Renjun mentally noted that fact.

“I am in charge y’know?” Renjun exited and began walking the same route that Jeno took, most likely going to the same benches situated at the convenience store.

Jeno immediately scanned the store for you. With it not being busy for a Monday, he found you with ease; crouched down, dusting the bottom bookshelves in the science-fiction section.

“Hey dude you okay?”

Jeno hadn’t even noticed that Jun walked up the counter, hunched over with a paper plane in his hands.

“Yeah, why?” Jeno immediately took his eyes from your backside and directed his attention to Jun.

“You’ve been looking a little mad lately.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“What did she even do to you? Go fuck someone and get over it.” Jun was just as aware as Haechan and Jaemin.

“Whatever.” Jeno scoffed before looking down at the register, using the stylus to scribble nonsense on the screen. He didn’t appreciate being an open book.

Jun remained slouched over the counter without adding on to the conversation. During the silence, Jeno thought of an idea.

“Hey, can you take over for a minute?” Jeno asked as he slammed his palm on the counter to get his attention.

“What are you about to do?” Jun’s eyes followed Jeno as he walked around to the outside of the counter with a smug grin on his face.

Jeno ignored his question. He would be able to see perfectly from his position at the register.

You were still dusting the bottom bookshelf when you felt a presence behind you. Assuming it was just a customer, you continued swiping the wand across the mahogany shelf.

But the smell of a familiar cologne entered your nose and you recognized it as Jeno’s.

As soon as you turned your head to the left, you were met with his groin perfectly level with your face. Your eyes immediately scanned up his body to see him reaching up on the top shelf to grab a book.

The way his veins popped along his outstretched forearm made you gulp. Thankfully, the sound of people typing at their laptops drowned you out.

“Can you back up?” Yet again you were trying to hide the shakiness in your voice. It wasn’t easy concealing embarrassment when there was dick in your face.

“So I can’t even grab a book? Get over yourself.” Jeno paused mid-grab, looking down at you like you were a miniscule creature.

You covered your eyes and rose up off the ground, making sure you didn’t meet eyes with him in the process.

“I’ll be glad when Mark comes back.” You muttered under your breath as you went around north to dust in the next aisle.

“Why? So he can save you from me? Please.”

It was as if you could hear the shrug in his shoulders at his “please.” You continued on, trying to ignore the fact he walked around to be next to you again.

You felt him lower his head to your height, with his lips a mere centimeters away from your ear.

“How come you don’t ever look at me?” You felt your body go into shock at hearing him whisper.

“Jeno! Who’s covering the register?”

You jumped when you heard a smack atop Jeno’s shoulder.

Renjun was back from his lunch already, thank God.

“Jun is! And stop fucking hitting me before I smack the shit out of you.” Jeno turned his head to the right to talk to Renjun with gritted teeth.

“Well he’s not there!”

This was your cue to slip away unnoticed. It was your turn for lunch anyways.

It felt nice to get some fresh air outside. The slight smell of rain mixed with the gasoline coming from the convenience store was oddly pleasant. You didn’t mind eating here since Renjun suggested it but you were definitely going to find a different lunch spot in the future. Something with more greenery instead of a busy intersection with honking cars.

You didn’t know if it was too soon to talk to Mark about Jeno…it was only your second day. It baffled you that Jeno and Renjun were that close too. They seemed to travel to and from work together, maybe even lived together. What did sweet, little Renjun see in Jeno? All you saw was a tense, egotistical, manchild.

10:30am

“Renjun?” Jeno called out from outside his bedroom. There had been no sight of him yet and they were going to be late to work.

Usually he was the one dragging Jeno out of bed in the morning. But for some reason it was too quiet: no foot shuffling, no clacking of dishes, no gargling from mouthwash.

“Renjun! Get up, we're gonna be late!” Jeno barged into his room. Renjun’s blackout curtains prevented Jeno from seeing if he was still asleep or just dead. But judging by the sound of his unusually loud snoring, he probably wasn’t feeling well.

“Renjun.” Jeno shook him quite hard, causing him to stir and swat at his hand.

Jeno drew his hand back once he was able to get a closer look. Renjun’s eyes were crusted shut. He rose up out of bed slowly, coughing in the process.

“Damn, you look like shit.”

“I don’t feel well at…all. I can barely breathe.” Renjun’s congested voice made Jeno cringe. He sounded way too nasally for his liking.

“Where’s the key Mark gave you?” Jeno asked while trying to scan the room through the darkness. Renjun tried to do the same but his eye discharge made it nearly impossible.

“It’s under my laptop.” Renjun choked on his words, coughing more into his shirt.

Jeno walked over to Renjun’s desk and lifted his laptop, finding the spare key Mark entrusted him with.

“Okay, I'm gonna head out. See you later.”

“Jen, please don’t lose that key.” Renjun struggled for air amidst the desperation in his voice. He hoped Jeno could keep track of it, for Mark’s sanity.

The train ride to work alone felt weird and using the key to open the bookstore felt even weirder. There was a reason why Mark left Renjun in charge.

Jeno paced around the store, turning on the vintage lamps and opening the blinds. He was hoping it would be slow today considering Mark was still out sick. And with Renjun out now too, he was definitely letting Jun take charge.

It was too early in the morning to text his “Unholy Trinity” group chat, so scrolling through Reddit would have to suffice.

Jeno’s eyes grew big at the new iMessage notification that popped up overhead.

11:10am

[mark]: looks like Jun will be out sick too. I should be back tomorrow. Work diligently 👍🏼

All Jeno could do was leave Mark on read.

This couldn’t be happening.

Jeno banged his head against the check-out counter repeatedly, hoping to knock himself out by the time you showed up.

*ding*

Jeno swung his body around to view the entrance. There you were…

Of course he had failed at his attempts to knock himself unconscious. He would just have to wreak havoc upon you for the entire day instead.

“Guess it’s just me and you sweetheart.”

Jeno noted how you you rolled your eyes and immediately stormed towards the back; your blood boiling by the second.

“Kill me now.”

Satisfaction showed across his face at your words.

#nct dream fanfic #nct dream fanfiction #jeno x reader #jeno x you #jeno smut #nct dream x reader #feedback is appreciated <3

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hyunsuks-beanie · 2 years

Text

Toys

Pairing: Yeonjun × afab! reader

Genre: Smut

Content Warnings: Use of all sorts of sex toys; choking; mentions of lingerie

Part of: Mellow's You've Got A Letter Event

Mellow speaks: I had to wrack my brain a little for this, but I think it turned out okay?

Tagging: @sweethyuka @yedammi @enhacolor @yunhorights @axartia @yeonyeonyeonjun @yjs6x

Hey gorgeous,

I see you've got my gift for you, and this note too, obviously. Have you opened it yet? I'm guessing not, because knowing you, the letter in pink probably looked a hundred times more interesting, right? Well, let's see what you have to say about that by the time you're done actually reading this note, because I have quite a bit to tell you.

As I was getting dressed a few days ago, my eyes landed on your lingerie drawer. Why, you ask? Because I noticed a particular piece of fabric sticking out, the red lace rather easy to discern. You guessed that right, it was that one underwear of yours that we both know makes me lose it.

And this time was no different, my gaze shifting over to your form, resting peacefully on the bed, looking more innocent than you actually are. That was the moment when I got reminded of what you had said to me not too long ago. "I wanna spice things up," hadn't they been your exact words, every ounce of naughtiness inside you dripping through your choice of phrase.

That's what I was reminded of, and before I knew it, an idea had come to life in my mind, an idea that I needed a few days to make real. Flash forward to now, and that very idea is probably sitting on your lap at this very moment, ready to catch you by surprise. By now, I'm sure that you must be wondering what that box contains, but you don't have to bother opening it (yet), because I'm here to tell you just what it is.

You wanted spicy, so I bought you spicy. A whole set of spicy toys, perfect for fulfilling your desire and giving me some much-needed fun. I've got you a dildo, a vibrator, a pair of Ben Wa Balls, and even a cute choker, customized with your name on it. Exciting, right? That's exactly what I feel too, and I can't wait to come home to you and try every single one of those things on that pretty body of yours.

I want to watch as you give me a show of inserting the dildo into your pussy, and I want to be the one who relishes in seeing you squirm and writhe under the effect of the vibrator. And I want to blindfold you, and tighten the choker around your throat till your begging for me to stop. I want to make you cum as I shove the balls inside your walls, priming you up for your favorite treat, my dick.

But guess what? That’s far from being all, because if you manage to make me happy enough, you might just score the chance of using a cock ring on me. Yeah, you read that right. I'm giving you a once-in-a-lifetime offer of watching me be the receiving end of torture, all at your hands. And of course, there's the leather whip to look forward to, in case you wanted something even more rough.

I would love to go into more detail about what I'm planning to do tonight, but I feel as if it'd kill the whole purpose of leaving things up to your assumption. So I'm just gonna stop here, happy daydreaming my love. Wait for me to be back.

PS. And yeah, wear that same lingerie I talked about earlier.

Waiting to be home,

Yeonjun

#yeonjun #yeonjun smut #txt smut #txt #tomorrow by together smut #tomorrow by together #tomorrow x together #soobin #soobin smut #beomgyu smut #beomgyu #taehyun #taehyun smut #huening kai smut #huening kai

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brucenorris007 · 1 month

Text

"Sonic 06: gameplay is shit, story is shit."

Okay, I somewhat disagree but don't see the need to expend energy toward-

*comparison between 06 and Forces is drawn*

My brain: heyguesswhatyou'rehyperfocusednow

I was going to do things today. . . but here we are.

Okay, up top and up front: 06 and Forces are both flawed, yes.

But they are flawed in fundamentally different ways, and Forces flaws are, quite frankly, far more glaring and demeritorious for a franchise like Sonic than 06. Anyone who, years from now, goes on to claim that "Uh, actually, Forces was peak." the way that some people are saying about 06 now will be just as, if not more, wrong. And I'll attribute such claims to declining media literacy.

BEFORE the youngsters in the fandom start throwing things at me, note that I said just as wrong. 06 wasn't ever as good as some of the mainline games prior or even spinoff titles after.

The difference is, most of 06's issues stem from the fact that it reads as pitiably unfinished.

The problems with Forces begin and end with the fact that it reads like self-insert fan fiction that had either zero beta readers or too many beta readers that were all given editing privileges. There's definitely a place in the world for that sort of creativity, but said place is not within a licensed game that people have to pay for; one that drastically affects the canon of the franchise and how the fans old and new perceive it and the characters within.

All right? Okay, let's get into details.

Let's address gameplay first, since I have less to say about that.

On this count, if nothing else, Forces barely edges out by being functional; granted, that's the end of it. I wouldn't go back to play it again, and the 'highlights' I can recall mostly felt like reskins of stages in the style of Colors but shortened, with boss fights reminiscent of daytime Unleashed. I imagine the primary draw for people is watching their customized 'sona jump and fly around whilst listening to dialogue from the main cast.

And this isn't really a substantive point, but the fact that receiving stuff like outfits like loot crates at the end of virtually every stage feels kind of manipulative and annoys me. If there's unlockable features, put some actual challenge between the player and the prize, like how you perform within the stage. Otherwise it's just another example of "shiny, novelty, tickle brain often, get player to play longer."

Setting that brief tangent aside since that's just a trend in games in general and not Sonic specific, moving on to 06's gameplay. And uh, yeah. The USP was, like the adventure games, supposed to be that you got three interconnected stories and three main characters each with unique play styles.

I suppose 06 showed us before anything else that Shadow really isn't as fast as Sonic, and as an idea, Silver's psychokinesis was cool. If the tracking in the Speed Up stages and the hit boxes in a handful of other areas had been ironed out, there's foundation for a fairly solid experience. Project 06 is basically proof that the base of the game had potential that wasn't realized, whether due to time constraints or other reasons.

As far as environs, the concept for Kingdom Valley showed off the most soul, I'd say, with Silver's future coming in close second. Character design for the Iblis fragments (not sure if that's the official name but I'm doing stream-of-consciousness here) and Mephiles I actually like a lot. I don't think there's anything objectively wrong with them and however you rate them will come down to preference.

Also, the model for Sonic is like. . . ridiculously good. He just looks like an older teenager; it fits with the widely accepted idea that he was 15 as of Adventure 2. Polish it a bit and that's just how he appears in my head when I write about him.

That said, there are only about six different environs that serve as stages, discounting the hub areas, and compared to Heroes' twelve stages, it just adds to that incomplete/rushed feeling.

That's about all I can say on the gameplay aspect. Functional yet non-stimulating technically wins out over some creativity yet patchy. They are games, after all.

Now then, the "story is shit" business.

Look, if you're going to criticize Sonic's story—which, yeah, his should be subjected to more scrutiny, being the titular character—then much of what you can say against it also applies to the first Adventure. Eggman wants to collect a thing (emeralds/Princess), Sonic wants him to not collect the thing (emeralds/Princess) because he's obviously planning to do evil stuff with the thing, Sonic manages to get the thing only for Eggman to snatch it out of his hands.

Multiple times.

Meaning Sonic spends most of the games on fetch quests that Eggman keeps one-upping him on until the penultimate fight.

And those are the beats. Of both stories. (For Sonic.)

And then at the end of both games, a monster you've fought in various forms (Chaos/Iblis) reappears to threaten the world on a scale that requires the seven chaos emeralds to combat.

Super Sonic. Rad soundtrack. Credits.

Granted, much like how Gamma's story was the strongest in Adventure, the quality of the three main story lines in 06 also vary in strength, with Shadow's taking first place.

My point is, in a franchise that is about characters, you don't grade every aspect of the story on the same scale. You weigh the grade of various aspects differently; and the point that gets graded most heavily is:

Character moments; which can encapsulate literal moments, arcs, development etc.

And for all its flaws, 06 has character moments, almost immediately, even. Sonic's first spoken line is "My, that's a pretty snazzy performance there!"

Which, after the tension of Eggman interrupting the festival and threatening Elise, cuts through the moment right away and, paired with the next several seconds, shows who Sonic is. He sees Eggman's robots aiming and waits until the last second to jump before going to town bashing up bots. Even as he carts Elise off amidst homing missiles and explosions, he's grinning the whole time.

Sonic does what he does because it's fun.

And his third spoken line, answering Elise's question of why he's helping, is: "No special reason."

Again, that's Sonic. Doesn't matter who it is, he helps people because he Does what's Cool. And as well as being fun, fighting off Eggman and his bots is Cool.

06, as Silver's introduction to the series, also does a decent job establishing his character of Temporal Bulldozer. He can be aimed, but his solution to problems first and foremost is usually smashing, and it's really tricky to change his mind once he's focused. He suffers from myopia arguably as bad or worse than Metal Sonic. Amy's the only one who momentarily gets him to pause and wonder if really does want to kill Sonic.

Which is a character moment for her. As in Adventure 2, Amy will happily break laws and go against who and whatever to help her friends; and as she did with Shadow, she's rather skilled at getting very hurt people to listen.

She's not unlike Silver in her willingness to do whatever it takes, really; since Temporal Bulldozer can and does traverse time on several occasions to make things right. And up until the last moment, it never occurs to him that anyone but he should bear the burden of saving the world. Blaze has to physically shove him aside so she can absorb Iblis herself.

Silver sees himself as a Hero with a responsibility toward the future just as much Sonic sees himself as just Some Guy.

Finally, Shadow. And man, there's a reason a lot of people say 06 was the last time a game featured Shadow written correctly.

It's me. I'm one of a lot of people.

Team Dark in general gets a fair bit of spotlight in 06. Rouge, an anti-heroine with perhaps the greatest self-interest after Eggman, promises Shadow that she'd stand with him even if the very world turned against him. Omega, who loathes taking orders and prioritizes his own freedom nearly as much as Sonic, takes on Rouge's assignment for him without question or complaint to wait out 200 years to help rescue Shadow.

And Shadow, in an in-game line during his first fight with Mephiles, reaffirms all the progress he made in his titular game that was wholly about discovering his identity: "Don't bother trying to deceive me. I know who I am!"

And, in contrast to the Shadow the franchise first introduced us to, the Shadow of Adventure 2 who was thoroughly convinced that his only remaining worth was his ability to keep his promise to Maria, the Shadow who was so resigned that he chose to plummet through the planet's atmosphere to his presumed death. . .

That Shadow is faced squarely with his fate of persecution, asked why he would bother fighting to protect. That Shadow declares that it the world turns on him, "I will fight as I always have."

He's grown such that he's now willing to fight against fate.

And that's pretty fucking cool.

On the other side, applying the same grading method to Forces, we find what I call (as of just now) character fauxments.

Remember how I talked about 06's introduction for Sonic? How he cuts through tensions, finds joy and fun in fighting bullies and bad guys?

The thing about that, which Forces doesn't seem to understand, is that if you lean too hard on the wisecracks and nonchalance, you end up with a character who reads as either obnoxious or totally tone-deaf. Sonic knows when to take things seriously, yet in Forces he's purportedly been tortured as well as locked up for half a year, Infinite's destroyed countless homes and killed who knows how many people, and yet when Sonic interrupts his fight with Silver. . .

I mean, if Sonic was written correct, you'd cut out a bunch of faff and change his line delivery. Show that he's frustrated by his time confined and absolutely raring to throw hands and get to business; because Sonic does understand when things have gotten real, and while rare, he does get angry. Something like:

"Since you like talking so much, mind sharing the source of your power? I can ask the easy way or the hard way. I've been cooped up a long time, so I'm hoping you pick the hard way."

It doesn't need to be the most original lines in the world, but Sonic's banter in the middle of a war shouldn't be long-winded, no matter how pretentious his opponent is (and damn, is Infinite pretentious. Like to the point that it's the most memorable part of the game.) If there's banter, it should be punchy and succinct; quick, like he is.

Instead, Forces Sonic's attitude is just kind of. . . incongruous with the stakes the game claims to have established. But then, since we don't get a truly convincing scene showing the rest of the cast being sad that he reportedly died, that's not too surprising.

Speaking of setting up stakes, here's an idea. Rather than cutting from Sonic laying battered in the middle of the city for a lazy six-month time skip established by text on the screen, make it clear that "Oh shit, things are different" via gameplay.

After Sonic falls, immediately transition into a level. Where you run from right to left to escape Eggman's fleet. Turns everything on its head, you can witness and navigate the destruction as it's happening and if you string together enough environs, you can even have the city burning in the distance or the skyline as you near the end of the stage and escape to relative safety.

Anyway.

And of course, the notorious character fauxment: Tails cowering in front of an offline Omega.

There's nothing I can say about this fauxment that hasn't been said already. It's not the first time in the series that Tails was portrayed as having regressed to a scared child, but it is the most egregious.

And. . . actually, that's about it, at least off the top of my head. Which might speak to how short the game is and how little screen time and action the main cast get aside from Sonic and the player character.

But it's enough to determine that Forces' story, or what stands in for it, is weaker than what 06 offered.

Again, I'm not here to rally a feral defense of 06 as a masterpiece, but its flaws are not on the level of Forces. The reason they're lumped together is the amount of disdain both games got on their release; though in the case of 06, the 2000's were just a weird time when hating things was somehow cooler than liking them, and since 06 wasn't up to par with Adventure 2 or Heroes, people picked an aspect of the game-most often how much the almost final fantasy style model for Elise didn't match up with the Mobian models (and yes, the final cutscene, but there's nothing new I can say about that either, and talking about it here is just an open invitation for someone to blow it out of proportion again) and dogpiled the hate on the game.

Sonic 06 feels unfinished owing to a lot of little and larger details. Knuckles' portrayal and having little to do in the story, poor optimization leading to nearly twenty second loading times, BLAZE BEING A GLOWING NEON MISSED OPPORTUNITY! (SEGA, I know I was literally twelve when the game was released, but my Phoenix headcanon works so well and makes her appearance in both Rush and 06 work! A retroactive fix would be so easy and we could get more adventures in her dimension!)

Even acknowledging all that, though, there were still attempts at creativity that just, for one reason or another, didn't pan out. There's significant potential here.

Forces is just. . . a mess. In every sense. And I understand how a mess can be attractive to a fandom, because a mess means you can take whatever you want from it and organize things however you choose.

But a mess that's sold as a finished game is not the same as a rushed title with visible untapped potential.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic #Sonic 06 #Sonic Forces #analysis #This is a reminder: I'm not interested in telling people how to enjoy Sonic #Just. . .#I have thoughts #clearly #Sonic 2006

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sadattemptofawriter · 2 years

Text

Dual Natur (Tommy Shelby x female! OC)

Summery: Life in Birmingham is hard for every unfortunate soul that lives in it, but it is especially difficult for women. And if that woman has noan of her own and no family to call her own than life is difficult in even more convoluted ways. If that woman is fair of face than she has little choice to become a whore. Minerva knows this and tired of constant unwanted attentions she, hatches a plan. A plan that if done right will ensure her an honorable job with decent wages and if undone will most likely get her killed. But she is willing to try anything to avoid prostitution.

One day, Minerva Griffin made a point to show herself leaving her home, moving out and leaving it for someone else. So that her brother, Byron Griffin can come and stay. Byron Griffin who is a scrawny lad, but eager to work with a funny girlish way about him. .

Note: this was originally meant to be a reader insert series but I got carried away with choosing names. I chose Byron for the male persona and then the rest just came poring down. But if you want to, you can read it as a reader insert. I didn't include much of any physical depictions. I do not consent to my work being translated, copied or posted elsewhere on this platform or any other.

Warning: Canon conforming mention of violence. Your media consumption is your own responsibility

Chapter 2: the boy, the horse and the grave he dug

Once finally alone in my small rental room, I felt a pressure I hadn't noticed lift off of me. I leaned against my door and the old damned thing whines. I slide down and sit there, my muddy dress pooling around me. I felt tired, exhausted, scared but most of all exited.

The moment I thought of the words that had earlier left my mouth my heart begins to race like a wild Dutch warmblood. I had set in motion a dangerous plan that I hadn't even completely thought through. Was it perhaps desperation? Or was it my devilish Irish blood singing to me? Who knows. My mama always said I was good as gold, then again she never saw me ride wild bucking stalions bareback. Nor did she ever see me wrestling in horseshit with my brothers. My father, who did see me do all that, and often helped me get away with it, always shook his head and would say "Minerva, you devil child, you'll drive me to an early grave. Or a bloody divorce if you keep coming home covered in mud." My brothers, bless their soul in heaven, used to laugh and say we were all seven brothers.

Won't be a bad idea. To be their seventh brother.

I sigh and gather my resolve, pushing myself off the ground and poured myself a glass of water. I sit down on the old creaky chair and try to gather my wits about me. Tonight is going to be a long and exhausting night.

"Think minerva, think. Make a list. You're good at those. Make a list of the things to do." I tell myself. I look around to find a piece of paper and a pencil to write down the list. I find an old, small pencil I had laying around but no paper. So, I resort to pick up an old book. A copy of Lord Byron's poetry that belonged to my second oldest brother, Elliot, who had always been the scholar of the family. He had been studying literature and poetry in a prominent university before the war. And now he'll never finish his degree. He'll never sing me those poetries. And I will never again hear him rant about the genius that was Jane Austen's Emma. I would never be able to throw a pillow at him and yell for him to shut up so I could take an afternoon nap.

I open the last page of the book, an empty page where I can write down my list. "First things first. What I need. Men's clothes, a hair cut, an acceptable identity. I'll probably make that based on my brothers. Then I need to throw away my feminine things, just in case anyone would come inside. The men's clothes I can purchase from...the Chinese. yes." I roll the old pencil in my hands as I rack my brain for more details. If I really want this to work than everything has to be flawless. Thanks mother, for my obsession with planning and making lists, you'll save my ass in this a great deal. "I'll have to throw away, or sell. Yes, sell away some of my belongings. Most of them. A man has no use for skirts and heels. And no hair pins."

I suddenly recall my hair. In the past two years, I've had neglected my hair that was once in the latest fashion of the time, was now longer and has lost its style. I should cut it short. In men's style? Ideally. But who would do it for me? Too risky to go to anyone with it. I'll just cut it with scissors as short as I can.

But what if I need a pass as a woman? Public baths and washrooms. I can't always pass as a man. I'll keep it short enough to hide under a hat. A peaked cap. But long enough to still pass as a woman when needed.

With the thought of playing both a woman and a man, like a double agent, excitement and thrill bubbled through me and gave me a full body shiver. I giggled, for the first time in two years. I giggled with pure joy and thrill. Like when as a young girl, me and my brothers would take the horses out without permission. Would ride young stallions that haven't been broken yet. I felt like I was scheming another prank with my brothers.

Once satisfied with all the planning, I quickly got to work. Seperating all my arguably few belongings into two piles. Those to keep and those to discard.

The pile of to keep items was small. It included two items I would never throw away. Whatever risk it may bring me.

My father's pocket watch, the only thing that reached home from France. It wasn't all that cheap but by no means something so expensive that would raise eyebrows. Inside it, there was an engraving, done sloppily and sharply by yours truly as a young girl days before my father departed. "Father, you make me completely and perfectly incandescently happy." I had taken the quote from Elliot's copy of pride and prejudice. It was all done in haste and secrecy, meant as a surprise to my father. I wish I had seen his face as he'd seen it.

Second item on the pile was my violin. That was risky to own. It was definitely expensive with intricate designs. It had my initials carved on it. I could never get rid of it. Never. A gift from my mother once my teacher deemed me proficient enough at the instrument. I used to play at family functions and tea parties. I used to play to cheer up my mother while the men were away. I hadn't played since last I played at their graves.

The rest of the pile, were little nicknaks, each from one of my brothers. A fountain pen that didn't write anymore belonging to my eldest brother Christopher who was my father's secretary and kept the books of our horse training business. and the Lord Byron's poetry book from Elliot. On the early pages I could read his hand writing where he had taken notes, third was the weirdest item I owned. A pair of riding gloves, black with silver buttons and blue ribbons around the wrists, they once belinged to Joseph, my third oldest brother, he had them decorated with ribbons so I, the girl, could wear them easily every time I missed him or wished to go riding with him.

Then came Oscar, the fourth eldest brother, the casanova, the ladies man, the socialite. The man who singlehandedly would repopulate London given the chance. I thought the slew of bastards and broken hearts would be the only thing he would leave behind for me and mother once he went to France. But no, he left something more. He left me his tie and a matching handkerchief from his most expensive suit. They were shiny and a rich Navy blue with a sort of peacock feathers patterns on it. He used to wear it with an emerald decoration that was gifted to him from on of his lady conquests. I used to call her the victory number 56 as a joke. He was the only one we had a body to bury of. We buried him in his best suit but not his best tie, I hold that to my heart and cry when I miss his improper jokes or his drunken snickers.

The gift left by Robert, my fifth brother was by far the most jarring. He had been estranged from the family. After a rather nasty fight with our mother, something about our grandfather looking down on us or something, I had been to young to remember that. Nevertheless, he had walked out on us for most of the years and only made up once war started. They came together all sons and father to live one month happily before going all to war. God knows what he had done, where he had been, with whome he had associated himself while away. I only know the night before his departure he hid a loaded gun along with a handful of bullets hidden inside a bunny doll for me. I no longer had the bunny, but the gun I kept.

There must have been a reason why he thought perhaps I may need it. And I will take his judgement to heart. Because in the last month that he came home to use, I learned he was the smartest, most perceptive man in all of London.

The final nicknak junk that was on the pile, was a flask. A men's booz flask belonging to Liam. The last brother. He had just turned eighteen when he got on the train. Just turned a man. His face still held that boyish roundness, that softness in the eyes. And they told me, he had become a tunller just like Christopher and my father. And I had wept, wept that he had not returned to me. Not even his lifeless husk for me to cry over.

Reminiscence over and done with, I placed one single green set of feminine clothes and placed the rest on the get rid of pile. "Maybe I'll add one more. A casual one too." I tell myself. And place another set, floral and colorful, on the pile as well. Everything else must be throne out. Sold off and replaced with simpler, manlyer items.

No skirts or blouses, no little jewelry that I had allowed myself, no hair pins that were The only joy I allowed myself. No little tapity shoes, with little bows on them and no feminine sheer socks. Nothing.

Minerva Griffin was gone. She had gone to the country to live with relatives. She was, is, effectively dead and done with.

Thinking of a profile for the fictional character of Byron I drank more tea. I need to be prepared. Best lies are the once as close to the truth. Byron William Griffin, age... Eighteen, or nineteen. From the country. Father and brothers dead and here to find work to send money home. Is good with horses and... That should be enough for now. Decent enough with numbers and what not.

-------------------

I left earlier than ever, the sun barely out but I was already up and leaving towards the Chinese. To both sell away and buy.

It was easier than I thought, in a place like Birmingham, with a few well woven lies I manage to change my entire life. "I need them for a relative." I said. "He's a young man, still a boy." I said.

Everything I own now lies in an old used military duffle bag I bought off of a drunk man desperate for more gin. And all that I no longer own, sits in a pawnshop traded for a total of ten pounds.

Ten pounds and seven shillings. That's a lot of money for this kind of place. I can rent a room near the factories and if I live sensibly and modestly, I won't have money troubles for quite some time.

I try to ignore the nagging voice that says there was once a time I bought a pair of shoes twice this much. But it's been over two years and those shoes were the first things I sold away. So what does it even matter.

Getting a hair cut was harder than I thought. Getting it short enough to pass as a guy with unkept hair, making sure it could be both feminine and masculine. Leading a double life would be hard. But with any and all difficulties, I took sewing scissors and in essence, brutalized my hair beyond recognition.

------------------------------------------------

It was barely noon and all unfortunate souls of Small heath factory workers were busy as any day with taxing jobs, shedding blood sweat and a slew of slurs and getting paid for it.

There was no exceptions in Charlie Strong's yard. He worked hard and he worked his men harders. Curly, fussed over every little thing in his stable and muttered furiously under his breath.

On the other side of the yard, at a dingy old table out in the shaded open sat John and Arthur Shelby, enjoying an undisturbed drink of whiskey.

They were mid laugh over some dirty joke John had said about some woman, when some fool had the audacity to open the gates to the yard and walk in.

He was a young boy, a brat of no more than eighteen. He was short and a bit lanky. Small in all accounts. Hell, even his face was distinctly unmanly. High cheeks, round jaw. He looked more like a girl or something. And he walked slowly, asured but respectful. His head held high and showed a tuft of messy hair peaking out of his dark brown peaked cap. He was new. Neither John nor Arthur had met the boy befoe. And with subtle side glancee, they confirmed it.

He didn't look threatening. He was smaller than John and they doubted a lad that looked like a dry branch would be able to do anything.

"Who're ye?" Arthur asked. Looking as menacing as ever. In fact just to make sure, he did his best to be even more intimidating than any other day.

***

"Name's Byron Griffin." I said exactly as I had rehearsed all night and all hours of early morning.

"Byron Griffin?" Hollard a voice from on the other side of the yard. And once I turned my head I saw Mr. Curly practically running at me. For a brief moment I worried he might run me over.

"So you're here." This was Mr. Charlie Strong himself. Walking slow but with long strong military like trides. Meaning business.

"Yes sir." I courtly said. Best way to earn points with old men was manners and respect. That was universal between all classes.

"Your cousin said you coming here for work." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. But one that prompted explanations and brief introduction.

"Yes sir. Minerva Griffin's my cousin. She left to stay with my mom and I came here for work."

"There no work at ye own place?" He asked.

"None that would make a nineteenth year old work." I lied. This was tricky. There no reason for them not to give me a job, there no reason why they would pass up an able bodied young man at any job.

I internally prayed to God that they would buy my blatant lie.

"You worked with horses before?" Mr Strong asked leaning against a large tool.

"Yes. Me father was a horse trainer. Me and me brothers, we... We always helped around. Learned the tricks of the trade. "

He nodded, his eyes still narrow and sharp like a hound waiting for a small sign he should rip me apart and spit out my bones. Slowly he pointed to Mr. curly and without taking his eyes off of me said "Take him to the stables Curly. See if he really does know the....tricks of the trade." He dragged the last words as if he didn't believe me. I would have been insulted if anyone treated me like this in London. And if I was Minerva Griffin. But I'm not. I'm Byron Griffin, a nineteen year old from the country. I have nothing to my name here, other than an alleged cousin.

"Of course." I courtly reply. I truly have not much to contribute to the conversation. These men here are my only chance of proper employment that could use my knowledge, without me resorting to prostitution, that by all accounts is still on the table if this goes wrong.

Mr. Curly walked fast and frantic towards the large wooden building I assume to be an attempt of the stables. It was by no means the stable of my father's business. It wasn't by no means fancy and highclass but it was still much better than what ever this is.

I don't make a comment, as it would be very impolite but I subtly make a note that if this works I would have to start some renovation plan.

"Say, lad. You said you worked with horses. What breed you like best, eh? " his question seems innocent but even his horse like skittishness, could not overshadow his subtle wisdom that seemed burried deep under stutters and nerves.

"I may say this 'cause of meself but I prefer colored ponies. mix blood. They're always stronger. " I smile a little. To witch he nodded approvingly. I suppose that ment I had said the right thing.

"You mixed lad? " he tilts his head as he opens the door to the stables that give me nightmares.

"Irish father. Originally from Glasgow. British mother from London." I answer honestly. Best lies are always closest to the truth. Easier to remember.

"How'd ye end up in the country then?"

"Me dad didn't agree with his family's ways. They were IRA and me mother, left the altar for me dad. They started from nothing in the country with one mule. Then they had twenty horses... "

"Twenty horses? " I nod and he seems to take in the thoughts of that many horses in as a wonder far out of reach. "What happened to them?"

"The war ." I said. And refused to say any more. I walk forward to check the horses kept there and do my best to pass whatever test they have in mind.

"This one's mouth seems bruised from the bit. Sometimes jokies pull to hard. I suggest putting Vaseline or olive oil to reduce friction. I'm sure you already were thinking of it."

Mr. Curly turns his entirely large body around to look at me and it's obvious he has to bend his neck quite a lot to actually be fully facing me. "Trot is a two-beat gait for the horse – true or false?"

"True." I say. Tilting my head to the side and pat the horse's body and check it's muscles and hoof. More as a show of my skill than a habit.

"And what saddle do you prefer?" He asked.

"I've worked with all saddles and each have their own use. But I prefer english saddle... To be honest, if it wasn't bad for the horse's back in the long term I would have gone bareback only." He only humms in response.

Without prompt, just to showcase my skills, I casually begin to medically examine the large black horse. Name bones and muscle, say one or two tidbits about some breeds I simply liked.

And then I picked up the foot to check the horse shoes. "That's not good."

This instantly peaks Mr. Curly's attention and he too bends to see what had shocked me.

"This is bad. Very bad. " I say again.

" what? What you see?" He demands to know.

"Look here, it's an abscess. See how soft and squishy it became? It's full of infection. full if puss. I'm surprised he can walk." I press the bottom of the hoof and watch as it goes in a bit.

"Oh no. It's bad. So bad. Very. Bad. No good. He has a race coming soon. I... I gotta tell Tommy. I have to tell Tommy. How, how did this happen? It's no good. No good at all." Mr. Curly, became frantic and panicky much like the way he was the night before. He was shaking and his arms flew around.

"My guess is that the problem started while shoe changing. Could a pebble have gone in there and made a wound?" I try to say, but he's already running out of the stable yelling for a Tommy.

Thomas Shelby I assume.

I take another look at the hoof and try to remember the process of hoof restoration, and changing horse shoes.

"The fuck yer doing?" I hear him before I see him. He grabbed me before I can let go of the hoof and he practically lifted me up and slammed me against the wall. And only then I manage to look at the eyes of Arthur Shelby.

Behind him I vaugly see the other men plus a new one huddling around the hoof. Mr. Curly fretting still like a terrified horse, Mr. Strong seemed swearing at an absent member and his shit work and a new man, Tommy Shelby I persumed was attentively checking the horse. But soon enough, my vision is blocked by the younger looking man - John Shelby - I persumed and he places his razor cap at my face.

I feel the cold sharpness of the small razor at my cheak. A small pressure, stinging and the wetbess of my blood sliding across my face. I try to move away to no avail.

"Don't fucking move laddy less you want me to blind you for good." John Shelby snarles at me.

Fear and panic clench my stomach in ways I have never felt before. I must have been a bit slow to panic, either due to shock and being unprepared or simply because I have lost the emotional depth to appropriately react. Considering I am thinking about this, I would say option two. But now that I have some time to look at my.... Assailants? Captors? In the eye, I feel the impending doom of my mutilation or murder. My stomach turns and twist and I feel my legs grow cold and limp. I pray to God I may not faint.

I do as John Shelby said, and stand as still as I can. I try to rein in my breath so not even a hitch would cost me my eyes. Seeing as how I am practically dangling midair by a very lethal veteran man who happens to be in a gang, I have no other choice to resign myself to my fate. Not like I can do anything.

Note to self, get a blade for myself if I survived this mess.

"Put him down boys." I hear the handsome Birmingham accent drawl of Mr. Tommy Shelby. He was not as tall and menacing as his first brother Arthur nor did he radiated vigor and violent vitality like his younger brother John. Yet, with each step he takes towards me I feel the blistering cold of winter seep into my bones. Like taking a bath in freezing ocean water. His face, calm and controlled resembled the brewing of storm clouds.

"Curly here, " he points towards Mr. Curly who is now being calmed down by Mr. Strong. "He tells me you came here for a job as his assistance and in once casual inspection found that my horse has a bad hoof."

I nod once. They have let me go, I am now speaking with Tommy Shelby. I am in presence of the devil himself. I very rarely get tongue tied, that is a skill learned from spending days in high society parties. But now... Now, words seem to fail me and my voice chokes in on itself.

"Come here, come here." He says. His voice calm but his Strong hand that grabbed into my collar vibrated with barely contained violence.

He pulled me and I let out a yelp of shock. "Ok. Ok. No need to pull. Jesus Christ,I'm not fighting ye." I let out in frustration. I bend by the horse and pick up the hoof again. "See here." I push again into the abscess and watch as my finger goes slightly in. "I suspect the problem comes from under the horseshoe. It was done wrong and something must've injured the hoof. A crack maybe."

"Fuck." He let's go of me and let's out a slew of slurs that will put sailors to shame. "Curly, call Reggie and tell him he's a dead man. He fucked up my horse and I'm gonna fuck him up."

"Tommy, we can't find anyone new soon enough to fix this." Arthur Shelby says from where he stands hands now holding a flask.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. " the youngest Shelby brother seems to be even more vibrantly violent now. Which is never good. No man should look that gleeful with the impending mutilation looming over.

My mama said I was good as gold. And my father said I was a devil child. And I'm sure he was more right that my mother because in one instant my devilish Irish blood sings a nasty songs in my veins.

And once again I open my mouth to dig myself a whole. "I can fix it." Fuck me and my mouth that never shuts up.

"What you say?" The icy blues of Tommy Shelby pierce my own eyes like a hail of bullets.

"I... I am young but I've worked with horses plenty. I've fixed hoofs and changed horseshoe before. There won't be any races for this one for some time and that's nothing anyone can fix but I can fix him."

"Explain." He ordered. His voice carrying such a comand you'd think it was his god given right to boss everyone around. Like he was a young arrogant god amongs mere mortals. A king with his slaves. Well, that was Tommy Shelby. He isn't the boogy man of adults for nothing.

"Well, we have to take off the horseshoe, chip away the hoof until we can find were the abscess is, empty it and then find where and what is lodged in it. I suspect a pebble or a nail. Maybe a metal share based on the state of the yard."

"State of the yard? The fuck you mean by that?" Mr. Strong snaps, but by the looks of it he doesn't seem very angry at me.

"Well this is a yard, and near factories. There are metal shards bound to be laying around. It is a possibility that one could have been lodged in there." I explain trying not to further insupt the man's working place.

Tommy Shelby regarded me with a calculating stared, smoking deep and hard as his eyes held mine in search of something I hoped he found and dreaded to find. Finally seemingly satisfied with what he did or did not find he nods once.

"Alright. Mr...? "

"Byron, Mr Shelby. I'm Byron Griffin." I introduce.

"Alright, Mr. Byron Griffin. You will fix my horse's foot. If I am satisfied with the job you've done, you'll have a permanent employment here with a payment we will discuss at the time of your employment. If you fail me, Mr. Griffin. You will die. " He says as if he's talking about what he had for dinner. His voice, despite his ominous words was soft, calculated and all business. There was a sickly pleasantness to it that made me wish for death.

This man was dangerous. And not for the same reasons as his brothers or the drunks in the streets. This man will be my undoing.

And I have dug myself a whole so deep, I may not be able to climb out of it.

"I'll start immediately, Mr. Shelby." I say with a respectful bow of my head.

I keep my head down until they leave and only dare to look up once the door is shut behind me. There I see myself alone with Mr. Curly, who is bringing out a familiar tool box out for me.

"Be gentle with him, alright. He's an energetic one. Hell get over exited." The large Duck draft in shape of a man says.

"I'll be as gentle as I can. He won't notice a thing. I promise." I comoly to the wishes of a man who's gentleness reminded me of Robert's innate tenderness for animals.

I set to work, ignoring the beginnings of hunger, anxiety of failure and the swinging swords of Damocles. Or the swinging razor of Shelby in this case.

"It's a long way out of this grave. A hell of me own making." I mutter.

#tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby x oc #tommy shelby x reader #tommy Shelby #arthur shelby #john shelby #polly gray #michael gray #finn shelby #peaky blinder fanfic #peaky fookin blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinders #dual nature #sadattemptofawriter

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crisalidaseason · 1 year

Text

I have to get this idea out of my system. I HAVE TO.

The blooms of our mind

Summary: Armin and Erwin's eldest daughter meet.

Content warning: spoilers for season 3, mentions of mental illness, mentions of not wanting to be alive, Armin is very mean with himself, mentions of someone's death, Armin being whipped, the boy is crushing haaard, Hange being a scheming mf. Can be a reader insert, but reader uses she/her pronouns (and also has a nickname), no description of physical appearance though!

When Armin was given the second chance at life, he never felt more betrayed. He chose to die, he wanted the death of a hero, he wanted to die knowing he took the colossal titan down and avenged his entire hometown and lost childhood. When he came back, the sacrifice was useless, it lost its meaning. Since his second awakening, he never felt more sad and undeserving of life.

That is until he met her.

One day, like many others, he joined Hange in a meeting at Sina. Hange had a habit of doing many things on the way to a serious appointment, which drove Levi mad and made Armin even more anxious. That day in particular, they asked Armin to pick up an order while they prepared for the meeting. The address given by the commander was a simple building with nothing to give a clue of what it was.

"Hello" he said to a woman at the front desk "I've come to pick up documents for Commander Hange Zoe from the Survey Corps"

The lady did not even look at him before speaking:

"Library, the door at the end of the corridor. Call for Miss Smith"

Armin did as he was told. And that day, that single day Hange needed extra help, changed his life forever. When he called for the name, a beautiful young woman appeared at the desk. She was dressed formal and basic, her entire being held an aura of elegance and also kindness.

"Hello, sir, may I help you?"

He stuttered a lot that day, but was able to get the documents for Hange. He later learned that those documents were actually calculations for a new weapon Hange wanted to develop. The commander showed him all the complicated mathematics and intricate details of the project drawn on the sheets, made by Miss Smith herself.

"That girl never misses" Hange said, still impressed "You know, the two of you would make a lovely duo with your overdeveloped brains."

He looked at the beautifull handwriting and calculations, all the details those delicate hands drew on the page. He was afraid that his brain would short cirtuit if he saw Miss Smith again.

And he did short circuit. Hange called him on a random afternoon to discuss some plans of action to expand Wall Maria territory, upon arriving on the commander's quarters he found Miss Smith herself sitting on a chair.

"Oh, hello mister Arlert"

If he was awkward their first meeting, he was even worse that second time. The girl smiled throughout the entire conversation, as if Armin's communication issues were amusing. He saw her calculate something for Hange on the spot, her brain working faster than her hands. Armin was in awe watching her explaining her points, seeing how she eloquently detailed every change necessary and proving them with those wonderful numbers.

Miss Smith left that day asking if she could speak with Armin over tea. He was confused, so confused, that such impressive woman would want to speak with him, but he accepted right away. Something about her was impossible to ignore.

"I know you must be worried, but she is the kindest soul" Hange said after the girl left "she would never...you know, blame you"

"What do you mean?" Armin asked.

Hange looked at him, a little surprised.

"You didn't connect the dots? Wow, you're crushing hard, boy" Hange laughed softly, but their face soon turned serious "she is his daughter, Armin, Erwin's eldest"

And with that, all his excitement towards their speak-over-tea turned into the worst anxiety ridden days he ever experienced, and he was a soldier for the wall's sake! He supposed the surname should have ringed a bell, but he never knew the previous commander had any children or even family alive.

Eren and Mikasa were trying to understand why he was more nervous than usual, but Armin was a little ashamed to share what happened. He was tired of the pitying eyes, the walking on eggshells whenever Erwin was briefly mentioned in a room. Armin was tired of being the spotlight of any sort of discussion, and now he seemed to be the center of almost everything.

The day Miss Smith scheduled finally arrived, and Armin also did, way earlier than he should. He was sitting in a small teashop in Wall Rose, waiting for his companion to arrive.

"I hope I am not late" her voice sounded like wind chimes "have I kept you waiting for long?"

Armin pathetically stuttered when she appeared in front of him:

"No, I arrived earlier. I had some errands to run for Hange around this area and decided to wait here"

He stood, pulling the other chair and offering for her to sit.

"What a busy man" she said.

They talked about the most mundane things, which Armin was so relieved for. He learned about her passion and love for mathematics and astronomy, she asked about his interests and any book recomendations he might have for her. They spoke about mutual authors and books they have read. Armin felt the strange bubbling of excitement on his chest. When was the last time he spoke about something he loved without having to summarize and simplify everything? It's not like his friends were stupid, but they surely were not so interested on his latest obsession.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation, mister Arlert" she said at one point "I had a feeling you would be very interesting, and I was not wrong"

He tried, really tried not to blush, but failed.

"Thank you, Miss"

"Call me Nadi"

"Isn't it too informal?"

"I'd like to believe we already are very informal despite you wearing uniform"

"In this case, if you call me Armin, I will call you Nadi"

"Deal, Armin"

"Deal, Nadi"

Armin went back to the Survey headquarters that day with his head on the clouds. On his pocket, a piece of paper with Nadi's post office box, which made sending letters easier for Armin. He would later take that piece of paper and put it in an envelope, in hopes to preserve the ink of her pen and her beautifull handwriting. He wondered if she would also do the same with his piece of paper, or was he the only one completely struck by their interaction?

Armin stared at his ceiling that night, smiling for the first time in months.

&&&

Part two

#pls this was eating me alive for days #a little self indulgent ngl #but i hope it's your cup of tea too #armin arlert #armin fanfic #armin x reader #armin x you #aot x reader #aot x yn #aot x you

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construingseacats · 7 months

Text

Umireread: Legend of the Golden Witch - Chapter 4: Dining Room

Sat, Oct 4 1986 - 1:30PM

The following contains spoilers for the entirety of Umineko. Please do not read if you are yet to finish it.

Starting out with some new character information in the menu!

You don’t really get to see it in the main game, but man, what is with Shannon’s dress gap? I suppose it’s so we can see the tattoo of the One Winged Eagle, but it’s such an awkward way to show it off. Probably shouldn’t worry too much about this kind of stuff this early into the story - we haven’t even got to the leotard army yet.

There’s a line here about Krauss and Natsuhi thinking that Genji is a spy for Kinzo - which is a pretty astonishing thing to see, since it means we’re just straight up allowed to lie in this section. It’s unreliable narrators all the way down.

I suppose it necessarily has to be lying for Kinzo though, I suppose. Talking about designs again, it’s pretty neat how Kinzo is basically wearing the same fit as Battler, going with the white suit and red undershirt. Reflections etcetera etcetera

Anyway - I’m excited for this chapter, but hoo boy, do I remember it being rough the first time round. It’s one of those ones where the inheritance discussion is important, but I remember my eyes glazing over due to how long it was taking to get to the point.

Speaking of taking too long to get to the point - god we’re still going with the intros huh? It feels kind of weird since we’ve now met all these characters already, but I guess I should be grateful that we didn’t have these all frontloaded earlier.

Kinzo beat his children and raised them with an iron fist, eh? Well, at least we know Rosa is a true Ushiromiya then.

Oh I remember none of this. Turns out my memories of being bored numb by this chapter were hiding even more stuff that I’d buried deep.

I honestly do like how much of the early information regarding Kinzo and his actions are done to paint him as crazy and illogical, to drive you towards the “mad dark sorcerer” angle rather than make you stop and consider why he would do something like this. I don’t think anyone would necessarily be able to piece together all the information regarding the war and his acquisitions afterwards, but you could probably make good headway towards a theory regarding it if you managed to look past what the text was driving you towards. There’s just so much misdirection here, you really need to grab that the story is intentionally trying to point you towards falsehoods at every opportunity, you can’t just sit back and enjoy the ride. I love it.

This is our one allotted Magical Godha Chef. I’m making no promises on limiting later mentions of Gohdatrice.

This is another scene that didn’t stick with me from the first read, and man, is this dinner scene gratuitous in a bad way. There’s just so much detail… Sure, it’s letting you see how people interact with one another, but couldn’t we have done that in a more interesting way?

Yasu continues to be down bad. Extensively.

God, we really are just describing a boring meal here, huh? At least Gohda is happy. That makes one of us.

I’d forgotten how hard they pushed Natsuhi’s headaches this early on. She feels a little too one-note, but I suppose that’s intentional - reflecting her inferior position in the family and all that.

You heard it here first folks, self-insert Mary Yasue is flawless at everything else.

And here we go! The real meat and potatoes of this chapter!

Rudolf shushing Kyrie is neat to see. We’ve already basically shown that she’s the real brains behind the operation, but the Ushiromiya caste system overrides all sensibility. There’s really no reason Rudolf would even want to be doing the talking here over Kyrie, but it’s what we’re getting regardless.

It’s really interesting seeing the different tells that each character has for lying. Jessica tries to cope with snark, Nanjo just sighs. Part of me wants to actively keep track of various tells and see if they show up at any particular illuminatory points.

woah mega episode 8 foreshadowing confirmed

I honestly wonder how many of the adults are suspecting that Kinzo is already dead at this point. There was a point in the previous chapter where Krauss offered Rudolf the chance to go and knock for him, but Rudolf declined, so I’m wondering whether that’s a case of Rudolf not knowing the truth, knowing the truth but wanting to keep the facade, or another case of this tale being penned with a near miss that would have potentially unravelled the plot.

Natsuhi is really not holding her own in this scene. Poor girl being constantly stressed through the wazoo.

You know, they made a point about how Kinzo’s wife had normal, black hair, and Kinzo had silver hair even in his youth, so I wonder whether Krauss being light-haired and Jessica being blonde lent credence to the idea that Beatrice was some kind of mistress for Kinzo. The fact that my immediate thoughts are about Krauss’ hair colour are probably a good indicator of how much my attention is drifting in this scene.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the character dynamics on show here, and the inheritance discussion is a crucial part of the story. In fact, I like how everyone is getting pretty balanced screen time, with everyone getting something to say without being overshadowed by someone else (unless that’s done narratively, a la Natsuhi and Rosa). But there’s an awful lot of skirting around the point for what can be summed up pretty succinctly as “Krauss is funnelling funds”.

Eva swinging with some major Beatrice vibes right now. I’m looking forward to digging into the Evatrice stuff in Episode 3.

Very quick follow up on the earlier line about Eva’s weapons being her lower body, going as far as to have George to get a leg up on her siblings. Although, let’s be real, her real weapon has to be her mouth at this point - frighteningly effective at arguing.

Even if Kumasawa is talking about Natsuhi here, she’s sure doing this a lot, isn’t she? You could apply this line and sentiment fairly readily to Yasu as well.

Oh wow, we end the chapter here? I’m kind of glad that the inheritance discussion got split in half, because I don’t want to think about how long this one segment would be without a breather in the middle. I suppose we'll see how part 2 compares to part 1.

#umireread #umineko #umineko spoilers

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helsingvania · 8 months

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just realized I misread the directions for the ask game. who is ur guys for star wars for it :3

GRRRRRRRRRR I have 3 characters that my brain considers blorbos. Luke, Sabine, and Mon

Luke is such a fucking funny guy I love him, for the entirety of the 2015 comic series once per every arc he needed to get knocked out or kidnapped. Initially people see him as a bland self insert character but really hes a a character from a transition on what the hero looks like in media making him one of the most unique protagonists there is. He rewrote masculinity and heroism especially entering the 80s the era of action heroes. All the traits that made him Luke in anh actively works against him in esb and it's so interesting with hindsight because not only was he championed for these traits like his father before him....only to learn that ultimately that's what ruined his father and the path he's going will only lead him to becoming another monster. He's unapologetically kind and literally one of his best lines is from battlefront 2 where "why did you help me?" "Because you asked me to." With a literal imperial trying to survive because he saw good in him and gave him a chance to be good. I cannot speak on the sequels for I have not seen them recently enough to make a judgement on em thoroughly but I love it era Luke so much he just wants to be a helpful guy

SABINE THE BEAN WREN GRRRH. I think she is what got me to actually like mandalorians with this fixation. I'm not going to go into ahsoka series....BUT I can talk rebels because I think I'm one of the only bitches in this echo chamber that see this show. Sabine was a child used by the empire first and foremost. She showed great enginuity and weapon crafting and under the empire the safest bets on the now Clan Saxon controlled mandalore was to comply to the empire so her family sent her to the academies. The empire used her childhood nativity and her desire to take up seemingly impossible challenges to create a weapon....for mandalorian genocide if there was ever a uprising. Because if mandalorians were together for fuckin once they could over thrown the empires power. They made a child create a machine that can eliminate anything made of beskar or anything carrying or holding it. Beskar is the metal of the mandalorians. Sabine was a child when she learned what the empire planned and tested, she destroyed everything she could of the dutchess and ran to her family. Mandalorians have a lot of empathsis on family and children, you cannot disown your own children in Mando culture....and yet her family did disown her running away and sided with the empire. She has absolutely nothing and lead a life of selfishness and bounty hunting before meeting Hera and Kanan that sets her life right and eventually making everything up with her family and finding another one along the way

MON MOTHMA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! Andor made me fall in love with her so hard. She was a very nothing character in the beginning to trying to keep a pleasant demeanor to keep face during the war in light of saw gerra fighting his own war in methods she doesn't agree with (saw is actually based but we're not talking star wars politics) but andor extended her in the existential horror that she lives in before she left for the rebellion full time. She was a child bride, she spent most of her life in politics, she watched everything fall apart around her, and she's watching it all fall again in a smaller scale of her own daughter. She is in a violently unhappy marriage but she had to make a choice of subjecting her daughter to the same fate....or ensuring that this could never happen again to the rest of galaxy. Ultimately she chooses the galaxy and can only hope for forgiveness in the future. She never got the chance to have a childhood she above all else understands sacrifice for the greater good. And just these details make watching her struggles all the more interesting

#star wars #helsing speaks

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yellowocaballero · 1 year

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As much as I would love to send every question on the writer questions list i will show restraint and stick to 5, 7, and 9! Hope you have a great day! 💜

[I HAVE A QUESTION FROM YOU IN MY INBOX HA HA WHOOPS - will take a look at that later]

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

Haha I felt the need to yell about it in the tags anyway, but to be more obvious - I was itching for an excuse to explain Good Luck, Jake's title! My titles usually have different layers of meaning, and GLJ especially - I find myself often going towards theatrical references or imagery, and the title had the exact point of sarcasm and faux-support and genuineness that the story is dripping with, down to the sarcastic summary (It's subtle, but although the story's from Jake's POV I am constantly low-key making fun of him). The main joke is that it's something genuine you'd tell somebody out of a theater, but if you're talking to somebody who's about to put themselves on stage and make their life and personality into a performance - it's bad luck. He probably deserves it.

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

An embarrassing amount. A lot of my little fics in my AUs are written just because I have all of it in my brain and I'm making it somebody else's problem. Often I don't really have the opportunity to go into detail about it - e.g. I know everything about every Rogue One member in Roleswap but never got the space to really talk about it ha ha. That was fun.

At this moment it's DEFINITELY the completely revamped Matt Murdock I created recently. @usaigi made an off-handed joke about how Matt Murdock was totally Latino and I went full Pepe Silva mode for an hour detailing exactly how a Latino Matt Murdock, like, fixes Matt Murdock, in every possible way, listen to me, LISTEN -

9. How do you find new fic to read?

I actually don't read a lot of fic! These days, I do it just like everybody else - go to fandom tag, exclude ships I don't read and often E, sort by kudos. If I come back to the fandom a lot I keep it to within the last two months. Something I actually do is go through the bookmarks of people who bookmark me haha...people have reliable tastes!

Do you guys remember how we used to find fic? Rec list posts on LiveJournal? TvTropes rec lists? Anybody? Just me?

#“meg wait you laid out an entire new backstory and character arc for daredevil so are you going to write it”#who the fuck do you think I am of course I'm writing it #my writing #haha hope you have a great day too <3

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catty-words · 1 year

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1,2, and 5 for the fic writer ask game

what fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work?

you know what, i'm gonna go with easy to resemble, hard to learn the workings of. get on my pro-masturbation agenda or bust, love devi vishwakumar or else. etc. etc.

go to your ao3 works page and check your 3-5 most used additional tags. do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

ooh, without even looking, i know "one-shot" is going to make the list

yeah, that pretty well sums it up. i like a self-contained fic adventure, especially one that changes one small detail from canon to see how actions might have spiraled differently.

i suppose i'm surprised 'fluff' shows up so often (relatively speaking, 13/124 isn't exactly a staggering majority). i tend not to think about my fic occupying any space on the fluff-angst continuum. then again, maybe i'm pretentious!

what do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? answer it now!

did you have a fic in mind for this one? i tried to pick one myself, but i forgot every fun fact i'd ever want to share about my fics when i was scrolling through the list so. my brain needs some guidance.

#thanks for playing!#thefabulousfab 3 #replies #questions for fic writers

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the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see · 2 years

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god, you know that feeling when you meet someone you haven’t seen in ages and you’re freaking out bc you want to tell them everything, but your brain goes completely blank- that’s literally me everytime i send you an ask!! brain overload, too much i want to tell you!!

firstly, your response made me cry so how dare you be so kind and thoughtful and sweet?? it’s literally so unfair that i can’t give you a giant hug. honestly, i fully believe that we are parallel people and that the sheer queer energy of us meeting would tear a hole in space and time and shit. that being said, the universe could stand to fall apart every now and then if it meant i get to hug you.

noooo, i used to dance to bangaru kodi petta in front of my family as a kid and you just unlocked a core cringe memory. why…. did i have no shame?? i agree there is something so wrong and so right about that song. what does it even mean? why does it exist? no one knows~~

also i just started an internship too?! (this furthers my suspicions that the multiverse is real..) but my boss didn’t show up for my first day and no one knew what to do with me so i just sat in a couch for six hours. i wish this was a lie. needless to say, i had a pretty shitty day lmao. how’s your internship been?

i’ve got weird thoughts about graduating high school. i just want to be a kid again and make mud pies and fairy grass food again (yes, i was one of those kids who played fairies lmao)

i haven’t watched ms. marvel, but i will soon- v excited to see some good south asian rep! god my memory of ninjago is so blurry, but i remember being obsessed with it and having a crush on one of them. i can’t remember which, but they’re all kinda cute in a plastic toy sort of way.

also i made you pani puri, bc i make the best pani puri and thats a fact, so here *insert pani puri emoji*

mWah! mWah! mWah!

- indi <3

(please indi is fine, Mrs.Indiphannon was my mother)

omg thats exactly it!!!!!!!! its like i go through the week waiting for sunday or something so i can call you up and give you the highlights of my week like you would not BELIEVE what alex said on tuesday to darion it was INSANE and twirling a phone cord >>>>

oh 🥺🥺 i think the universe might have to just take it if we met, i think it'd be worth it to destroy it for a little while. i want to hug you so badly<333333333333333333 one day im tearing down your door just you wait

stopppp, the mental image is making me LOSE my mind kdshfksjdfh, i used to dance to kevvu keka all the time for NO fucking reason. i was twerking before it became popular/cringe i was into it and i was never going to die. kevvu keka is still a great song but i cant listen to it without the Memories anymore. bangaru kodi petta is so???? like lyrically and musically it makes sense but when you listen to it it just? confuses you? its a song beyond comprehension

omg we are. The same people. hello god? i have a query? nooooo, im so sorry about that, that literally sucks, why did he not show up??? my friend you are the boss. i hope next time goes better!! did you get to do anything on your own or did they just make you sit with empty hands? either way that sucks shit :/ my internship has been good! we had an excursion to a stadium to learn about the tech used there and we got the vip tour so we got to see the team locker rooms and everything it was super cool! plus i got a lot closer with the other interns so we're a lot more comfortable now, and we took the marta there bc it was far away so it was just a bunch of us with company shirts on crowding the back of the bus and laughing at literally nothing. on the downside, we have a project we have to do for it and my team is Actually shit, they wont do anything unless i detail how and when and why they need to do it, plus one kid is a sophomore in college but hes literally the worst bc he has done Nothing so far. grrrr

omg i played fairies too!! from first grade to third grade i had everyone convinced that i was a fairy for real and pretended i had to go visit fairyland and i had a sister there (other than my real life sister) and everything and i would put my head on the seat in front of me on the bus with my friends and hide my face and say i was sending my soul to fairyland i was. hot ig idc, but then something Happened in third grade (trauma event LOL) (its actually kind of funny now but its a loooong story so) and then everyone in the grade hated me including people ive literally never met before?? so i kind of dropped it. SAD wish i could be a fairy forever. well at least i am gay. on the bright side, you can still make mud pies and fairy grass food as an adult!! you can also make REAL pies and REAL fairy grass food omg!!!! whats more magical than macerated blueberries in puff pastries?? i will make fairy food with you i promise

omg im excited on your behalf, its so good!! one of the title cards at one point is in telugu and when i say i screamed? i SCREAMED. ME i used to have a crush on each one at various points 😔 baby tree, they are legos. <///3 all of them are so worthy of crushing on though, maybe they should try not being good people. stfu and steal candy GODS. i do remember i had a crush for the longest time on jay, but that was very very closely followed by. ok dont make fun of me but. by pythor 😭 i guess i was into him in a bad boy sort of way we're never talking about this again

you DO make the best pani puri !!!!!!!!! this is so good thank you indi youre amazing *nom nom nom*

mwaH! mwaH! mwaH! mwaH! 🥰

(so Mrs. Indiphannon is who i have to get permission from to marry you? whats her number rq)

#ily indi #indiphannon #< until we get used to the new tag :]#asks #the tree speaks

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