#had these in my drafts for so long might as well post them lol
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true romance
popstar!haechan x upcomingartist!reader, angst, fluff
summary: haechan's the world's boyfriend — and yours too, i guess.
word count: 4.1k
listen to: true romance - pinkpantheress
a/n: first, sorry that its been so long...im trying to be better about writing but inspiration comes and goes,,i hope you will indulge in whatever this is!!! everytime i hear this song my mind goes to haechan for some reason sooo yeah >_< i have lots of drafts its just a matter of when or if i finish them LOL love yall tho & enjoy
•°. *࿐
tell me, do you view me the same or do you call me a stranger?
"leave a bit after me so no one sees."
haechan is popular — without a doubt one of the most popular artists of your time. everyone either wants to be him or be with him, to which you completely understand. everything about him screams someone who was born to be on a stage, stealing hearts and whatnot. with such a bright personality, it was almost impossible to not like him.
you've had the privilege of getting to watch haechan grow from singing songs he wrote in his bedroom on youtube to him performing them in sold out shows. you're a fan, of course, but somewhere along the way — with crazy luck — you've wiggled your way into his life and into his heart. the two of you were music artists wishing on every star for some kind of breakthrough to the industry (take a guess on who got it). naturally, it brought you together. you were there when haechan reached 5,000 subscribers, and you were still there when he was selling out shows to 50,000 people. you've stuck by his side for so long that you're sure that its where you fit best.
in the moment, however, you're not so sure anymore.
"leave a bit after me so no one sees."
the small smile on your face slowly disappears at haechan's words and hurt quickly settles into your chest. "...why? what would be so bad about that?"
haechan seems unable to grasp how upset you are at his words. he shakes his head with a small laugh. "it's not like that, y/n. but a scandal at this time wouldn't be good."
"a scandal?" you scoff slightly. "since when have you ever cared about that?"
he sighs and runs a hand through his hair that's still slightly wet from his post-performance sweat. "i just don't want to take any risks right now. especially since my album is coming out soon. you understand, right?"
"i fly all the way out here to see you, and you don't want to be seen with me?" you say with a trembling lip and a weak voice. you're hurt and you're angry, but can't seem to keep your tears at bay.
"i didn't say that."
"you might as well have," you spit back at him.
"let's talk about this later, okay? trust me, it would be a lot worse for you than it would for me." haechan picks up his bag and swings it over his shoulder, making his way towards the backstage exit door.
frozen in place overwhelmed with emotion, you watch your boyfriend open the door. you think he's had a change of heart when he pauses at the door and turns back to you, but somehow he's managed to hurt you even more.
"maybe you should take these too," he says, placing the bouquet you made him back into your hold. the smell of roses and sunflowers taking over your senses as more tears well up in your eyes. you hope the flowers hide them from haechan's gaze. though, you're not so sure he'd notice anyway, as he'd already let the door close and left you behind.
•°. *࿐
'cause, baby, i don't care about the fame
people talk. as an upcoming music artist, you're aware that people talk. as the (hidden) girlfriend of a global superstar, you're more than aware that people love to talk about anything and everything that doesn't concern them.
you and haechan aren't on the same level of fame — not that it matters to you. it never mattered to you, really. even as haechan grew and grew and you remained with your significantly smaller (but still decent) following, fame was never your strongest desire.
yet, now, you're wondering that maybe if you were just a bit more famous, more popular, more well known, then you wouldn't feel as far away from haechan as you do right now. even as he sits beside you on the king bed of the luxury suite he booked for this stop of his tour, you feel further away from him then ever.
"i mean, what would people say about us, y/n? about you?"
"you keep saying that, hyuck, but you're not explaining it to me," you say, growing frustrated with him. "why is it just about me?"
he purses his lips before averting his gaze to the floor. "they'll say nasty stuff about you — that you're using me for fame, or money, or something like that."
you shake your head. "but you and i both know that's not true. we've been together for how many years now? their words shouldn't matter." you take hold of his hand and rub your thumb against his knuckles. "you could have nothing and i'd still be here."
"people don't know that," he scoffs. "they'll assume the worst about you."
maybe he's right — you're sure they will assume the worst about you regardless of your long, deep history with haechan. would he start to believe them? you think it, but you don’t ask — too afraid of the answer you might receive.
"what are you so afraid of?" you ask him softly, begging him with your mind for him to look at you.
but he doesn't, his eyes stayed trained on the ground and he can only weakly squeeze your hand that holds onto his own.
"i don't know."
•°. *࿐
tell me, why i don't play about you
every song is about you
haechan finally has a short break in between the legs of his tour and he chooses to spend every waking moment of it with you.
things between the two of you have felt rocky for a while. it makes haechan ashamed to say it, but he's been so focused on tour and his new album that he's pushed everything else to the side. he's a perfectionist and he feels like he's barely made it — he wants everything to work out perfectly and is committed to making sure that happens. he's not sure how long he's been brushing off anything non-career related, but he misses you — even if you're with him.
he flys the two of you out to a small, quaint place in kyoto where he finally gets to enjoy some peace and quiet in his life. he chooses to turn off his phone, not too keen with the idea of his manager berating him about all his responsibilities he'll have to tend to when he gets back. he's on vacation and he's here with you: the one person who's been with him through every up and down.
you're laying in his arms and haechan misses you to the point where it hurts — when was the last time he laid with you like this? the revelation urges him to pull you closer, placing a soft kiss to the crown of your head as you lay on his chest. he sighs into your hair, breathing all of you in. it's silent, for the most part, until you ask a question that rattles haechan's being.
"why do you not sing about me?" you ask it so softly that haechan almost misses it.
"what? what are you talking about?" he's genuinely confused as to what you mean. who do you think he sings about?
"i know a handful of your old old songs are about me, but you don't perform those anymore," you murmur into his chest. "ah, don't mind me, i'm just talking."
you sound embarrassed and defeated and haechan wants to cry. did you really not know? how long has he been pushing you away?
"y/n, every single song i write is about you," haechan professes. "i couldn't write about anyone else if i tried."
his words shock you, even if they shouldn't. you tilt your head up to look up at him and he looks down at you with the softest gaze.
"not that i ever would, anyway," he continues, a sad smile painting his face.
"you mean it?" you whisper to him, wanting so badly to believe him.
when haechan's resolve breaks and his eyes glaze over, you know he means it. his hold on you tightens with one hand and the other comes up to caress your cheek, swiping a tear you didn't even know had fallen.
"of course," he croaks. "you're my muse, y/n. you."
this time, you're wiping his tears away as he cries and cries into your palms. you shift the two of you so that he lies in between your legs, arms wrapped around your waist and face buried into your torso, your hands running through his hair. he's apologizing over and over and doesn't say why, but you know why. you regret ever doubting haechan's love for you — even if he was to blame.
but, just as you're certain you love him more than anything, you know that haechan loves you back all the same.
"it's always been you, y/n."
•°. *࿐
and everybody’s shouting out your name
“you look too handsome to be pouting like that, you know,” you tease lightly, approaching haechan to adjust his tie fondly.
he can’t help but smile at you as you do so, his hands easily finding their place around your waist, tugging you close. “if you tell me to stay, i will.”
you sigh and place your hands upon his chest, allowing you to push yourself up to place a soft kiss on his lips. his lips trail after yours once you pull away and he pouts at you again, eyes begging for another kiss but you push him back ever so slightly.
“you can’t miss this, hyuck, you know that. this could be really big for you!” you beam, swiping a bit of your lip gloss off of his lips. “some important people might be there.”
“but you won’t be there,” he whines. “what’s the point?”
you roll your eyes playfully. “you’ll be fine. now go, your manager has been waiting.” haechan sighs and leans down to place one more kiss on your lips.
you pull away before he can get carried away. “go! and put a good word in for me with taeyong, yeah?”
haechan rolls his eyes but smiles at you, pecking you on the cheek as he bids you farewell. “no promises.”
ੈ♡˳
it’s barely been over an hour and haechan wants to leave.
normally he’s able to tolerate these sorts of things — the bright lights, loud music, snobby people all trying to one up each other. he can get by and chat with anyone as if he’s known them for years. typically, events like these breeze by for haechan. why was he hating every second of it?
it’s lee taeyong’s end of year celebration party. of course, as his junior, haechan was invited. he’s grateful that he’s made friends with lots of other artists under his company, otherwise haechan would have been long gone within the first 45 minutes of arriving. but, haechan stays, mostly because he admires taeyong and does, in fact, bring up you and your songs — which, to his surprise, taeyong says he knows you and enjoys your music.
haechan isn’t given the chance to talk more, unfortunately, due to an excited kim jungwoo who locks an arm around haechan’s shoulder and drags him away.
“ow — hyung! i was in the middle of a conversation!” haechan grits to jungwoo, lightly shoving his arm off of him.
“my bad, it looked like you needed saving,” jungwoo chuckles. “come on, everyone’s been looking for you.”
jungwoo leads haechan to a small circle of people to which haechan knows as his small circle of friends: mark, his company's beloved canadian rapper; johnny suh, one of seoul's most popular djs; and of course there's kim jungwoo, kim doyoung, and jeong jaehyun who make up dojaejung, korea's heartthrob boy group.
"yo, where have you been?" mark greets him excitedly, lightly slapping him on the shoulder playfully.
"what do you mean 'where have i been', i saw you yesterday, mark," haechan grumbles.
"woah, someone needs a drink," johnny chuckles. doyoung is quick to hand haechan a glass of champagne.
haechan takes a large gulp, hopefully to ease whatever tension he feels in his shoulders. he's trying to enjoy the party, he really is, but all he wants to do is come home to you.
"everything okay?" doyoung asks him, concerned with the way haechan seems to be downing his drink.
the younger boy sighs. "yeah, i'm fine, sorry. just stressed out."
"oh, your album is coming out soon, right?" jungwoo remembers, nudging haechan with his elbow. "congratulations!"
the rest of the boys congratulate him and haechan can only half-heartedly reply despite being very grateful.
"i'm sure it'll be great," johnny reassures him.
"saw a lot of love songs on that track list," jungwoo teases. "got a special someone?"
haechan stills at his words and he's caught in an argument with himself. does he mention you? does he say no? is this how he wants people to find out you’re together? before he can even reply, though, jaehyun cuts in.
"speaking of, i heard that kim minjeong has had her eye on you for a while, haechan," jaehyun says. he raises his eyebrows at the younger boy and haechan gulps, the rest of his friends nudging him playfully as they coo at him.
"that's the model, right? and singer?" doyoung asks. "you should talk to her!"
haechan feels like he's going to be sick. maybe he's being dramatic — its not like they're shoving him into minjeong's face and asking him to profess his love. still, he feels like he's betraying you in some way and he realizes he has to go home.
"i can talk you up, probably," mark says. "we're normally at the studio at the same time."
“i heard that shin ryujin has been talking about you, too,” johnny pipes in. “honestly, who hasn’t been talking about you? i’m surprised you’ve done nothing about it.”
doyoung hums. “she seems like your type, donghyuck! i know some people over at —“
"no! no, don't — " haechan places his champagne glass onto a nearby table abruptly and sighs shakily. "just...don't. sorry, i-i don't feel well. i should go."
confused and concerned eyes watch haechan as he rushes towards the nearest exit. he doesn't bother saying goodbye to taeyong, but makes a mental note to send him an apologetic note tomorrow. haechan sees kim minjeong catch sight of him, and he's sure she's about to make an attempt to stop him to chat with the way she looks at him with a flirty gaze. haechan is quick to turn in the opposite direction and flees out of the nearest door.
haechan's manager comes out soon behind him, frenzied after trying to catch up to a frantic haechan. he doesn't get the chance to ask the latter if he's okay, too occupied with calling their driver upon haechan's request.
"home," he chokes out. he's out of breath and he feels dizzy — whether its from the champagne or from guilt, he's unsure.
"i want to go home."
•°. *࿐
i'm in the crowd, can you see my hand?
haechan has reached the encore of his final show of his tour, yet he still feels a pressure that he cannot explain.
its not from all of his seniors and friends that attended in support of him, he knows that. it's not from the different producers and music artists that flew to seoul for him, either. its a pressure that weighs on his chest that has made him feel unsatisfied with each stage, despite putting 150% effort in everything.
the crowd is going crazy for him after he delivers his final ment, and he takes a moment to soak in it all, in hopes it would give him some peace of mind.
then, his eyes finally spot you.
you, in the back row of some random section, sitting with your manager, with a banner with his name on it and a headband with bear ears perched on top of your head. he doesn't know if you can tell that he's staring right at you, but you start waving around the banner with excitement. haechan can't help but adore you even more than he already does.
time stops for him as he realizes that you're here. through thick and thin you've always been there — what has haechan ever done for you? he hasn't given you even a sliver of what you deserve, yet you've never left him. you stayed when he was a nobody, and even now when he's been terribly selfish, you let him be.
there are thousands of other hands waving at him, but haechan can only see yours.
"actually," haechan starts, quickly silencing the crowd. "there's one more thing i wanted to say."
from your seat, you feel your heartbeat quicken. haechan is still standing and looking into your direction and you know he sees you.
"there's someone very special to me that's here tonight."
your heart stops as you realize what he's doing and you can't help but glance at your manager in a panic. fans around you are murmuring in confusion since haechan had already given a shoutout to his guests.
"they've been by my side since i was writing silly love songs in my childhood bedroom," haechan says, a fond smile taking over his features. "i wrote those love songs about them then, and i still write every love song about them now."
the gasps and shocked noises at his confession fall upon deaf ears — to you, you and haechan are the only two people in the world.
"some of you may know her — she's an amazing music artist as well. far better than me, in my opinion, but maybe i'm a bit biased." haechan sees you laugh and can't help but chuckle too.
"my girlfriend, y/n, is here tonight, and i couldn't be more grateful. wave, y/n!" haechan calls out to you. surprisingly, the camera cuts to you as you wave shyly, hiding behind your haechan banner. even more surprising, the crowd cheers loudly for you.
"isn't she cute?" haechan asks. he's delighted when he sees and hears the rest of the stadium agree.
haechan finally feels that weight lift from off of his chest and he feels like he can breathe. he's happy — ecstatic, even — now that the world finally knows he's yours.
"y/n, you once asked me what i was afraid of, and i said i didn't know," haechan recalls gently. "but i know now." he purses his lips to prevent himself from choking up.
"you've always been so supportive of everything i've done. you've done so much for me and i'm not sure how i could ever repay you." haechan sucks in a sharp breath. "i'm afraid that i'll never truly deserve you."
the crowd coos and some fans in front of you turn around to look at you. you're a mess: tears are streaming down your face, and your hands are shaking. you hide pathetically behind your banner again as your manager wraps a comforting arm around your shoulder.
"i'm sorry for making you wait." haechan puts a hand over his heart, and you do the same. "i love you."
the camera cuts to you again and haechan glances at the monitor to get a better look at you as you mouth something back. haechan doesn't even attempt to conceal his smile or to hold back his tears. there's no use.
"i love you, too."
•°. *࿐
say what you want, this is true romance
“did you really have to mention that, hyuck?”
your boyfriend settles next to you on the couch, arm draping over your shoulder, as you scroll through his recent interview with vogue korea.
you pout at him and he's unable to stop the smile that takes over his face. he pinches your cheek and you quickly swat his hand away.
"what? what did i say?" he rests his chin on your shoulder to read the article for himself.
"i mean, does the public really have to know about me crying on our first date?" you complained. you continued scrolling and laughed as you read. "in what context would you ever have to tell vogue about our matching crayon shin-chan pajama pants?"
haechan laughs and presses a kiss to your shoulder. "honestly, i don't remember half of what i said during this interview. or any of what they asked me." he tugs you a little closer to him so that you're leaning against him, laying the two of you down. "all i know is that i'm pretty sure i started talking about you so much that they just called it a day."
"you're that obsessed with me, huh?" you teased.
haechan scoffs, wrapping both of his arms around you tightly. "obviously."
he watches you open instagram and sees you check the likes on your new post. he gasps dramatically, loosening one arm around you to snatch his phone from his pocket. "you posted?! where was my post notification?" he whines cutely.
he's a little too quick to find your account and he then quadruple clicks the picture to give it a like. "babe, why are your comments off? i was about to get really out of pocket," haechan whines again.
"okay, first, don't do that, please. save some of your dignity," you scold him. "but its because people are mean," you admit softly.
haechan's eyebrows furrow together and his tone stiffens. "who? what did they say?"
you sigh. "no one specific, don't worry. some people are just not too keen about us. your predictions were right, i guess," you attempt to joke, but it only makes haechan upset.
"here, come here," haechan beckons you up with him as he sits up. you're still under one of his arms, which he locks around your neck as he tugs you into his side. you're caught off guard, but lean into him anyway, arms wrapped around his torso. haechan lifts his phone up and takes selfies of the two of you, cheeks pressed together as you both smile uncontrollably.
you're both giggling like two high schoolers fresh into a relationship and you've never felt more happy and in love in your life. haechan presses wet kisses against your cheek before you eventually push his face away. still, he steals one more kiss from you — this time on your lips — and you let him.
"okay, i'm posting all of these," haechan declares casually, leaning back against the couch.
your eyes widen and you reach for his phone in an attempt to stop him, but haechan has already dodged you and raised his hand up. "hyuck, don't."
"why not? i'm in love with you, people just have to deal with it," he shrugs. "anyone who has a problem with us can get blocked."
you fall onto haechan's chest and he gladly wraps you up in his arms again. "you're stupid, but i love you."
"good, because i just posted it."
you peer up at haechan's phone and you see that he was true to his word. all of the selfies you just took piled into one singular post to which haechan captioned 'my heart'. you watch as he scrolls through the comments and blocks anyone with anything bad to say.
"wow, you weren't kidding," you say, amused.
"'course not. these people need to learn true romance." he leans down to kiss you one more time, this time letting the kiss linger. he pulls away but rests his forehead against yours, staring at you with eyes full of love. "i love you, too, by the way."
ੈ♡˳
haechan is popular — without a doubt, he's one of the most sought after guys in the industry. he's confident, charismatic, and he's bright. he's everyone's dream guy, it's no secret.
but, above all, he's yours, and you're his as well. he has devoted his heart and life to you and its not a secret to anyone anymore.
this time around, haechan wraps you up in his scarf to protect you from the cold before the two of you leave.
"i already have a scarf on, hyuck, just keep yours," you mumble from underneath the thick fabric.
haechan doesn't hear you (not just because he literally can't) because he's too focused on zipping up your jacket and tugging your beanie over your ears.
"okay," he says as he intertwines a hand in yours. he clutches the bouquet you made for him proudly in his other arm while he carries your bag and his own over his shoulder. "let's go home!"
its bittersweet as you realize how familiar yet different the situation is. you clutch haechan's hand tighter as he tugs you towards the backstage exit door, outside where the press and his fans are waiting.
he doesn't hide you anymore. no, instead haechan shows you off proudly and wholeheartedly as if it was what he was meant to do.
#bitch im back#nct 127#nct dream#nct#nct fluff#nct angst#haechan x reader#lee donghyuck#lee haechan#donghyuck x reader#haechan fluff#haechan angst#donghyuck fluff#donghyuck angst#haechan oneshots#nct haechan
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Man it's been a long time since I've done an ask cluster! Let's see if I can get some down...
He's an extremely fun character to write for and play with! So in that sense I'm fond of him, haha. He's such a huge disaster of a person, there's always something fun to do with him. Well "fun" in a relative sense.
I don't have anything to forgive him for, he didn't hurt me. |D He hurt the brothers!
I do have an idea for a cute feature inspired by Six-Eared Macaque! I should really sit down and do that already... and finish the one I half started but never finished...
I don't think my opinion on any of them changed! I love them all, haha. Which ones I drew comics about just depends on which ones I get ideas for really. Sometimes I get Alphys ideas and sometimes I get Goatparents ideas! Inspiration is fickle!
I don't have any solid plans or anything. :B Just gonna keep chugging along with silly comics and art! Work on Defrag and such. I'd like to finish a Ladyverse comic I've had lying around forever, and I had vague plans for doing a doujin for them too I could work on... and also seeing if I could format Handplates into a book format... I've always got a bunch of projects, haha.
It works on that level! It wasn't intentional though. |D
I do enjoy speculation! I don't really have much of my own though, I didn't predict anything in chapter 2 so now I'm assuming I can't predict anything in the future chapters either, haha.
Emesis Blue is great! Some really beautiful visuals in there, very striking! Love the mood of it too and a lot of the surreal imagery. I think it helped spur me back into TF2 again, haha. Medic and Scout's relationship was so cute.
I have thought about this! It has its share of challenges though... I outlined them more in this post. A pdf would be more doable though... could even include some extra stuff as well! Hmm...
I can see that! He'd probably spend as much time out in the rain as he could just doing whatever to stay outside.
It was pretty much always going to end like that. I always wanted it to end on a hopeful note! Which might seem weird with how dark it is at the beginning. I DID for a brief period at the very beginning of Handplates think about stopping with the Pacifist run, but that was only because I thought going where I wanted to go would take too long and already the project seemed so dauntingly huge at the time, haha. But it was always going to end in a positive way!
Gaster talks about what he originally intended to create here, and he explains a bit about the physical experiments he runs on the brothers here. They aren't really a solution in and of themselves so much as tools to try and find a way to break the barrier. Really though, Gaster got stuck in the sunk-cost fallacy lol.
I don't really have opinions about what canon Gaster would be like. |D Handplates Gaster is his own thing really. Canon Gaster, who knows! Deltarune Gaster, who knows! I will say I hope Gaster stays a mystery in Deltarune and never actually shows up but I think the odds of that are really low at this point.
I thought about doing a script along those lines! I did a few rough drafts of one, but it never really went anywhere... it'd end up dead-ending or kind of meandering off. I might see if I can get an actual script down for a side-comic or something in the future... it might be better suited for a fic.
I was just thinking about this lately! I was picturing Gaster totally forgetting about that until he sees Papyrus squinting and is like OH GOD YOUR EYES THAT'S RIGHT D: and goes to get him looked at lol.
I couldn't come up with a good idea for Flowey which is a shame, I do like him, haha. If one comes to me though I might make a little side comic about it!
Gaster's LV is complicated... his stats in-game are ludicrous if I recall correctly. Did he carry the damage from his murders into the void, even if those murders weren't his in the new timeline? Deep thoughts.
He fed them anything he could find, haha. Which is why sometimes they just ended up with chocolate bars (which he intended as dinner for himself). He probably fed them more often than he fed himself lol. He did feed them fairly regularly though.
Not about skeletons, probably. |D
Man I know I had an explanation for this but it was so long ago... it's hard for me to remember. It could be that the Riverperson is just weird and has weird insight into elements of things, had a prophetic dream... I don't know! It bugs me now that I can't remember this, haha.
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How to be a Good Beta Reader (or: the difference between critique and beta)
This post is a follow-up to my ORIGINAL POST HERE "How to Have a Good Beta Reading Experience" [link embedded] so I recommend reading that one first for more info.
But I wanted to follow up because I've gotten some questions about it and I figured there was enough to make another post.
WARNING: this is SUPER LONG LOL
DISCLAIMER: Again, I want to clarify that this is based on my own experiences and what I personally look for in alpha/beta reading. Other writers/readers may disagree or have different tastes!
Topics Covered Below:
Critique vs. (Alpha &) Beta Reading
The Purpose of Beta Reading: Mindset
What Comments Should Look Like
How Much Should You Talk to the Writer About It? (Spoiler: it depends)
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Critique vs. Alpha/Beta Reading
I want to start with this because so many times (as a writer) I have asked for beta readers, and basically gotten a critique (or "crit" as it will be called from here on). A crit can look a lot like many different things depending on the reader, but in general, here's the difference:
Critique: grammar, style, clarity, often line-by-line
Alpha/Beta: story structure, character arcs/development, plot, and overarching themes and ideas
And I say this because some writers might want both. Some want all these separately, and some want them all at once.
Generally, crits are harsher, and can resemble "tearing apart" a manuscript. They can certainly offer great feedback, but it depends on the writer and their needs.
Some writers, especially for those who have had critique partners in the past and this isn't their first story, may not want these comments at all. I generally prefer not to have them (unless it's something stark that draws you out of the immersive reading experience) because when it comes to grammar, style, and flow, these are things I can edit myself. I have had enough good critique partners in the past that I can handle that and don't need betas to do it for me.
However, some writers might not feel that way! But I definitely know I'm not alone here. Especially when manuscripts have already been critiqued and you specifically ask for a beta, it can be disheartening to receive this style of feedback (especially in large quantities).
Examples of critique-style comments:
Word choice and/or grammar edits
Line- or scene-specific comments like breaking down or giving advice on dialogue, action sequences, worldbuilding, and the writing itself
E.g. "this needs more visual description" or "this description is too long/drawn out" or "action sequences require faster pacing" etc.
Examples of alpha/beta style comments:
Character arcs/dev: "I liked this character's journey, but I didn't feel connected to them during XYZ parts of the book." or "I don't understand why this character chose to do this."
Plot: "This scene is what I consider to be the part where the plot really begins" or "I don't understand how ABC scene connects to XYZ scene."
So what's wrong with that? Nothing!
But you can see where if someone asked for an alpha/beta but the reader's comments are 90% crit-style, the writer might feel like the reader didn't like or connect with their work. If a reader is crit-style commenting x5+ per page, then they likely weren't engaged with the story so much as analyzing the writing style. And for alpha/betas, you want to be as immersed in the story as possible and analyzing the story.
Particularly if the manuscript has already been critted in depth, and is a polished draft (which, is certainly debatable, but that's a topic for another day) ready for betas, it can be frustrating to receive crit comments when that's not what you asked for. A lot of the times, for well-edited and mostly-polished drafts, these crit-style comments come down to personal preference with the reader editing your work to fit their personal taste. Which is not making the story better, just different.
But, to emphasize: if you were unclear in your expectations and the reader doesn't know that manuscript is already critted/polished going in, they might think you want these comments!
Also, some readers might be awesome critique partners, but terrible betas—and vice versa.
This is why I'm going to drive home my Big Takeaway from my first post: communication is key! Both writers and readers need to be clear on the type of feedback that's desired.
Of course, most readers probably do a mixture of both of these styles of comments, and this is fine! The important thing is to keep what the writer wants in the back on your mind. If you know the writer asked for a beta, then try to keep crit-style to <50% (or maybe even <25%) of your total comments. And vice versa, etc. etc.
TL;DR: A critique analyzes the writing. An alpha/beta analyzes the story. Many readers will look at BOTH, so it's important to discuss this beforehand and provide the feedback desired!
The Purpose of Alphas & Betas: MINDSET
So this piggybacks off of what I just discussed: if someone has asked for an alpha/beta, you should keep the GOAL of being an alpha/beta in the back of your mind. Especially if you're prone to crit-style comments, this will help you.
The goal of BOTH alpha and beta readers is to SUPPORT and ENCOURAGE the writer. I know that's obvious, but so many times I have gotten comments or questions about why some readers' comments seem rude/inconsiderate or not constructive. And, at least in my experience, it's because the readers went in with the wrong mindset—a mindset more appropriate for crit, rather than alpha/beta.
So what is the goal? To me, the goal should be to figure out what the story is the writer is trying to tell. Maybe in some cases the writer is upfront about that, or maybe you're going in blind. But when I go into a book as alpha/beta, this is the question I try to remind myself throughout the journey:
What is this story trying to tell me, and how could it be stronger?
But MJ, what does that mean??
Because no, I don't mean the genre, or the plot, or even the character arcs or writing style. I mean:
What theme is this writer exploring / what is the message they're sending to readers?
And from there: what about the narrative/writing/plot/etc. interfered with my connection with this message?
Side story: let me use avof as an example. This is an urban fantasy with vampires and werewolves and shifters (oh my!). I had some shitty "betas" for this book years ago which really threw off my groove as I was editing because I didn't know they were bad betas. But the truth is they weren't betas at all. They were critiquing it, and from the mindset of "this is vampire romance book." They went in critiquing my book for something that it wasn't. They completely disregarded that it more aligned with adventure, not romance, and the themes explored were self-discovery, self-acceptance, the impact of immortality on psyche, and gender & sexuality & identity - and because of that, they critiqued the book without engaging with the book. If they had asked themselves "what themes are being explored?" they (hopefully) would've seen it wasn't romance, and likely would've engaged better.
So, to continue on with this main goal, there are other things to consider—what kinds of mindsets you should avoid!
Whenever I have gotten insensitive (and sometimes, full-on offensive) comments, these were contributing factors. Regardless of critique, alpha, or beta, these are true:
You are not the only reader. There are going to be multiple people giving comments, and your comments are all of equal weight. You may be the only person who can't visualize that fight scene. You might be the only one who thought a plot point was too predictable. In most cases you will never know if other readers agree/disagreed with you, which is why it is the writer's decision whether to take action on your comments are not.
You are not an expert. I don't care how long you've been reading, writing, or beta reading. I don't care if you've read 100 published books in this genre before. You are not the expert on this book. The writer is. You do not know what is better for the story than the writer does.
You are not here to decide whether the writer is a good writer or not. You should not be making statements that imply that the writer is inexperienced or new to writing. You should not go into reading a manuscript with the mindset of "I have more experience than this writer and I should share my knowledge & teach them something." (But if the writer has expressed this, then it might be okay in some instances to give advice.)
If a specific minority group is being repped on the page that is not ownvoices and you are part of that community, you could offer insight that can be helpful, but should ask the writer if they want that kind of feedback prior to giving it. If you are not part of the community, you should not comment unless the writer has requested it (unless ofc you're complimenting it lol)
When betas go in without these ideals, it can lead to at best, unhelpful comments, and at worst, condescending and hurtful comments. These are the comments that make writers feel like failures, or like their book is bad, or that they are bad writers. Or, for experienced writers who know you went in with these (toxic, imo) mindsets, it can hurt relationships, break trust, and/or make a writer roll their eyes and disregard all of your comments.
That isn't to say that you should only compliment and not have any negative feedback or ignore flaws you see in the writing, narrative, character development, etc... but it is best to go in with the mindset that you are here to give them insight so they can make their story stronger, not to teach/give advice or change the story.
A note on sensitivity, authenticity, and expert readers:
In my opinion this is one of the only cases where direct education/advice should be given. I also recommend having at least 2 sensitivity readers per any group that's repped that's not ownvoices, because even two people from the same group may interpret your story differently or see different weaknesses/strengths.
That said, it is important for readers who are not of the repped groups to hold their tongue. It doesn't matter if your partner or sibling or parents are part of a group repped on the page. If you are not a member of that group, you are not an expert. If you have an inkling that the writer has not had sensitivity readers yet, you can politely suggest it. But it could also be a case of you having different life views, ideals, and/or opinions than the writer and the group being repped, and that is why you are not a sensitivity reader. I can't tell you how many times I had cis/het betas say my representation of an identity or repping gender as fluid was inaccurate/offensive when it was ownvoices, or when I'd already had 3+ sensitivity readers for the group(s).
Basically, as an alpha/beta reader, you are here to offer insight and immerse yourself in the story. It's also good to remind yourself throughout reading that "this might rub me wrong, but another reader might like it." Framing your ideas and comments this way will help you be more objective and less "this is wrong/right" because there is no such thing in writing.
TL;DR: The goal of alphas/betas is to engage with and understand the STORY, give the writer insight into how you interpret it, and help the writer figure out how to make their story stronger. It is not to give advice or teach. The writer decides what changes to make and is the expert on their story.
Ok, now I got the Beta Mindset™. So how do I comment?
Well, really this will depend on the person. Everyone is different and will notice different weaknesses and strengths in any given manuscript. And, as I said above, most people naturally will provide some crit-style comments, it's just in our nature to point out when a writing style doesn't mesh with our preferences.
From a writer's perspective, at least for me, these are the kind of comments that are the most helpful for me:
"I..." statements. For example: "I am struggling to visualize this fight scene." Instead of rewriting it or pointing out that the descriptions or actions are weak or explaining how to fix it—this is an open statement that leaves the decision up to the writer.
Immediate emotional reactions are awesome for writers to know. For example, if a line made you laugh out loud, say so! If you get to the end of a chapter and were so immersed that you forgot to comment, say so!
And on the other end, if you were immersed but then something happens that snaps you out of it, say so! But without "because..." or "you should..." advice. Just say "hey I was super immersed, but in this paragraph you lost me."
I also recommend holding comments until the end of a chapter/section (minus immediate reactions as above). Look at scenes, chapters, acts, as a whole rather than individual pieces. This will help you focus on the story, rather than the writing.
I would also recommend this post!! Excellent, and I agree 100%!!
Other critical examples: "this is my favorite character but this decision is frustrating/confusing me"; "I was bored and skimming through this chapter"; "I'm not sure what [insert worldbuilding feature] means"; "I didn't know that the magic system could do this and I feel blindsided"
Other complimentary examples: "This line of dialogue really resonates with me"; "this has been my favorite description so far"; "I didn't see this coming but it makes perfect sense!"
And here are comments I suggest you avoid:
Anything that implies that the story is unfinished, too long, too short, etc. This might be ok for crits or alphas or if the writer has said that it's unfinished, but probably not for most betas. If the writer is at the beta stage, then likely they consider their manuscript finished (minus any changes they make based on beta feedback). If you feel the need, you might say something like "this genre is usually 80-100k and yours is 150k" but avoid wording like "the story is overwritten/underwritten", which can be hurtful. (Once, a story of mine was on draft 8 and had been called polished and ready to publish by various other people, and then one beta said, "this is a good attempt at a draft of an opening scene." So yeah, avoid stuff like that.)
Wording things in a way that make them seem like Facts. As a reader, everything you say is subjective. Regardless of what you are commenting on, what you are providing are opinions. Especially for writers who tell unconventional stories/structures, comments like "this isn't the way this is done" are just annoying and are not even true half the time.
Unless you can provide sensitivity feedback personally, do not criticize the representation of a group you are not a part of. If you see something overtly harmful toward a group on the page, you can politely suggest sensitivity readers, and leave it at that.
Try your best to not give reasons or "because" statements. "This action scene felt slow because-" "I didn't feel connected to this character because-" Nope. Stop right there, unless/until the writer asks to elaborate.
Side Story: My Favorite Comment
One of the single best comments I've ever received in a beta was when they noticed a character making a decision that didn't seem right. They pointed it out and basically said, "This feels out of character to me because I don't think this character would do this. They have done XYZ in the past, and I thought their motivation was ABC, but this decision directly conflicts with that."
Why was this the best comment? Because 1) they didn't tell me how to fix it, 2) it was objective with evidence and nonjudgmental, and 3) they were 100% right.
What they had actually found was a plot device I had used to push the character in the direction the story required. But because they pointed this out, I was able to see the source of the issue and rework the scene so that the character's motivation was consistent and they still ended up in the direction of the plot.
Since I foresee questions, allow me to elaborate on the last point: so often, a reader will say "this isn't working for me because of this reason" but actually, they're wrong about the reason. Like the comment above, this beta could have easily said, "this feels out of character because you messed up their motivation." But the problem wasn't motivation, it was me using a half-assed character decision to move the plot in the right direction! The issue was the scene, not the character development. The advice to "fix the character's motivation" wouldn't have fixed anything and might've even made the problem worse.
This isn't to say that advice should never happen in an alpha/beta, but I personally believe that the best comments are not those that say "you should change/fix this" but instead say "this is working for me/this isn't working for me." It leaves it open for the writer to figure out how to solve the problem, if a problem even exists.
I shall paste in a quote from the writing god himself, Neil Gaiman:
TL;DR: Basically, you aren't here to give advice, or fix anything, or change the story in any way. You are here to show the writer how their story impacts you, what you connected with, what you didn't, how their writing style works for you. Keep your comments open-ended and use specifics to show the writer what you connected with and what you didn't. You are giving the writer insight into how readers will interpret and understand their work, and it is the writer's duty to then grow their work.
And that leads directly into our final section...
How Much Should You Talk to the Writer About It?
This depends on the writer. Sometimes, writers will do 5+ betas at once (even on the same document) in which case they might not talk individually with the readers about any of the comments. Some writers (not me lol) will have an alpha as they write the first draft so it's not even complete yet, so they would probably talk a lot.
Personally, some betas I talk to for hours trying to brainstorm fixes (see: @jamieanovels and @wildswrites lmao tysm 🙏), and some betas I will just say "thanks for reading <3" and that's about it. It depends on how much you commented, the types of comments, and if I felt like you genuinely connected with the story (or not).
Side Note: I do want to clarify that by "misinterpret" below I don't mean that the readers are wrong, I just mean that they interpreted differently than what the writer had in mind. There is no misinterpretation when it comes to any form of art. But if a writer intended for the Main Takeaway of their story to be one thing, but the majority of readers took away another—that's important for the writer to learn in the beta stage. (Also, some stories are vague or open to multiple interpretations on purpose.)
For me, I talk in-depth with alphas, and maybe some betas, but there are also a lot of betas I barely talk to. I don't think there is a right or wrong here. Because as stated above, alphas/betas are here to provide insight into how readers interpret, relate to, and understand the story.
So once the writer gets that, there may not be anything else to talk about. Or, maybe the writer has questions about something you commented, and will want to follow up. For me, especially if you interpreted something way differently than I intended, I might want to follow up to see what in the narrative made you go that direction. Or, if you interpreted exactly as I intended, I may want more insight into which parts stood out the most to you, or what your favorite parts were. Or... I might not feel the need to follow up at all, for either.
In general, in my opinion, writers should be leading these interactions. Unless the writer has welcomed it, readers shouldn't be reaching out to writers to further discuss the comments they left.
(Note: this is not the same as hype/fangirling. Please come to my dms unsolicited and go hype about my book)
You have agreed to read it and leave comments, but the writer has not agreed to have full discussions with you about their own work. The writer doesn't owe you follow-up on the comments you leave, and whether they liked or disliked, agreed or disagreed with your comments doesn't really matter.
You may leave comments that are totally out of line with what the writer wanted, and that's fine. You might leave comments that make the writer uncomfortable, and that's fine too. We can't control these things, and there is no way to know how someone will interpret a story or what comments they might leave.
That said, If a writer doesn't follow up with you on anything, that doesn't mean your comments were bad. It might just be the writer's style to process and make changes alone. Even if you "misinterpret" their work, or even dislike it, all perspectives bring something to the table. Giving the writer insight into how one might "misinterpret" and/or dislike what they've written can be just as valuable as the betas who loved it.
Regardless, it's important to comment in a respectful way—respectful to the writer and what types of feedback they request, the story itself, and yourself as a reader. We are all growing and learning together, and miscommunication or writers and betas who have misaligned goals can lead to hurt on both sides. Hopefully this longass post gave you some insight into how/why that happens, and how to avoid it in the future.
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ANYWAY that was a lot. I hope you got something out of this, because it took a week to write this up lmao
–mj
P.S. I am considering doing another in this series focusing on writers and how to handle comments (good and bad). If you'd be intersted in that let me know <3
P.P.S. if you'd like to be tagged in this series, message me or comment below!
#writeblr#writblr#writers on tumblr#writeblr community#writerblr#wtwcommunity#beta reading#beta readers#writer community#writing community#critique#critique partners#novel writing#writers of tumblr#writing#fantasy#mj mumbles#mj posts#discussion#mj talks about beta reading#100
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I really REALLY need to tell you my hc that Luffy and Usopp sleep in the same bed 98.37% of the time. They are EXTREMELY hard to seperate.
When Usopp first joins the strawhats along with Merry, the boys have to make do with what they have. And that includes taking turns sleeping in the hammocks. Now I'm going to reference that pic where Luffy is hanging down on Usopp's body from his hammock. Also the one where Zoro and Sanji sleep on the floor face to face. That one. One time Luffy actually falls into Usopp's hammock but neither of them realize it and in the morning the sniper might have hit his head when falling on the floor from the sudden surprise. But then it became a usual thing and both of them were becoming closer friends so eventually Usopp just proposed them sleeping together since they're gonna end up like that in the end. Of course the more they travelled, they got bunks for comfort, because sleeping on the floor/couch got annoying.
Then Water 7 happens and Usopp is devastated. He really wants to go back to them snuggling but he feels like if he offers it right after what happened to them it would feel like he didn't feel sorry at all, which is not true. And besides, Sunny has all the comfort you could ever want, so no more "well, if you're gonna slip into my bunk anyways, why not just share it from the start" excuse.
However, Luffy's thought process is a little different. He gets a little confused as to why Usopp still hasn't invited him over. Well, the sniper apologized, they had an emotional reunion, spent the rest of the day together and now they won't even snuggle like they did before? Something's gotta be up.
So as soon as Luffy makes his decision, he "slips" into Usopp's bunk and hugged the shit out of the sniper, making sure he wasn't going anywhere. Usopp let him stay. He wanted to anyways.
So since then, their habit of sharing one bed and cuddling was fully established. Oh boy, I sure hope they don't get seperated again only for a longer period of time.
No listen you literally read my mind! I’ve literally been thinking about this idea nonstop I’ve it written in my draft somewhere. Still think about that moment post dressrosa where usopp just goes to sleep right on top of luffy and no one bats an eye lol(really tried to find a pic of it but it isn’t in my tag ://) it was just business as usual for everyone but there’s no way that’s the first time that’s happened. They definitely sleep together all the time. It’s just second nature to them to just curl around each other and fall asleep.
And oh w7 ;-; the most devastating arc my beloved <3 neither of them sleeps during their separation(i dont actually have long they were apart but I’m pretty sure it was just one night considering how fast paced one piece is but it was a very looong night either way with Usopp staying up working on the merry while luffy just tossing and turning until he just ends up staring out over that rooftop where nami finds him the following morning telling her he was looking out for robin but really he was just looking out the sea to where the merry was docked🥲)
and ofc luffy would be the one to push past the awkwardness because once usopp apologized that was it he had already forgiving him the moment he saw usopp on that bridge screaming at him to keep fighting(still think about how ready luffy was to bring him to the crew immediately post ennies lobby until zoro knocked some sense into him lol) there was no way he was going another sleepless night without him
#sorry for rambling it’s just#I’ve so many thoughts about lusopp and w7 best arc lol#love interpersonal conflict wish there was more that wasn’t just zoro and sanjis pissing contest#lusopp#asks#thank you for sending this!#love talking to ppl but I also get so anxious about dm ppl bc I can’t hold a conversation to save my life lol#hcs asks
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Ooookay killjoy suitehearts masterpost here we go, been putting this together for a while now since everyone started posting their suitehearts stuff..
So I kinda have two versions of stories for them, i mean thats the great thing about writing and headcanons is that they can varie from story to story but anyway! this is like their main story and what I'll write if I ever get to writing a story focused on them, and varients of it will be similar with some like little changes if theyre more like background characters in something. But the two versions rn are just this main one and a slightly differing one for some other stuff in my drafts bc this main one is focused in the city bc the suitehearts are just such an underground rebel crew to me versus loud and proud killjoys in the desert, while the variation story is one where they are in the desert, or at least theyre like split between the city and desert, you'll see.
Some like basics before I get into their individual stuff, yeah they have, well mostly have their crazy looks, they're a crew of theater kids lol, not really they just have a sense of whimsy. I'll post art of each of my designs for them eventually their outfits arent as crazy because they have to like be able to fight and run and shit in them, but they stick with the colors and facepaint, because facepaint throws off facial recognition scanners so that the cameras cant track them, so they might as well have fun with it, and they turn it into part of their killjoyesque personas, the facepaint becomes them, marks them as crew and their personas kind of become characters in urban legends that everyone in the citys heard of.
ANYWAY
Dr. Benzedrine
Dr. Benzedrine? More like Mr. Medical Malpractice. Kidding. Mostly. He grew up in a wealthy family with parents that were good citizens and he always wanted to be a scientist or a doctor, to help people, and he was smart and they had money, so he was able to get into school and be just that. To learn all about science and medications and surgery and over the years he moved up the ranks, until he was one of the best surgeons in the city, and one thing about doctors, especially surgeons is that they have to be clear minded, not drugged up and foggy headed. And one thing about being good, about being a respected professional? Its like being an exterminator, you're never off the hook but the people in charge? They dont care as much about the state of your head, as long as you're loyal. So Benzedrine has benefits, and one of them is getting clean, of the decidedly mind altering stuff at least. But with clarity of mind for the first time in his life comes horrifying realization, because as a respected surgeon, he sees shit, because hes working in places that screams echo down the halls of and he can just tell that somethings wrong. He snoops and learns of re-education and of what happens to captured killjoys, interrogations and experiments and those are people and hes sickened. The more he digs the more he learns and the more he develops an intense hatred for better living and maybe he starts.. doing experiments of his own. Beause he works on a lot of respected folks, a lot of higher ups. He never botches a surgery but he starts messing with things, fucks with something while hes at the operating table, something that can't be traced back to him but that'll take the patient out in say, a couple months.
He's never disgusted by what hes doing, only finds pride in it, and maybe his hatred has twisted him but he likes himself better that way. The officials catch him snooping, though, eventually, but luckily they don't expect a thing, especially not when hes grown a master at lying. Because he's a respected doctor that has in their minds proven himself loyal, and when he bullshits his way through them finding him snooping about the lower levels of the hospital, they're nothing but happy at the fact he's grown curious about re-education, in fact they show him around, tell him all about it, their words are all propaganda and lies about how they're helping the people there, of course, but he smiles and nods along and makes comments like he agrees wholeheartedly. They say if hes interested in helping these people too, they can get him a position. He asks of he can still be the top surgeon if he takes up this position too and they say of course! As long as he doesn't overwork himself theyd be glad to have him assert himself in different fields of research.
So, he starts working with the prisoners. Because thats what they are. He sees them come in beaten up and hissing and spitting and he gets to see them grow complacent as they forget their whole lives in favor of some made up sob story and how theyll be so much happier once they're introduced back into society after their treatments. They'll only go on to be sanitation workers or office nuts at best, maybe scarecrows if they seem smart, but half of them will probably be plagued with nightmares once thyre released, broken memories trying to break through the chemical haze. They'll relapse, snap, do something drastic and they'll either be dracced or sent right back here to repeat the process all over again. Re-education isn't a complete fix, a guarantee of normalcy. It'll never be, not as long as they're just traumatizing people and praying they stay comatose long enough to get work done.
Hes there when a new batch of them come in, delinquents from the rebel underground, he learns, which flips his world upside down, theres a rebel underground? And they're apparently dangerous enough to be treated like captured killjoys. He sees these new patients come in in bonds, theres five of them captued, some silent and glaring and the others screaming until theres a needle shoved in their neck.
His new position is that of a twisted sort o psychiatrist, they gave him a whole slideshow to get ready for it. It told him to get in their heads, learn the secrets that interrogations couldnt get out and replace them with better living propaganda, until theyre nothing but smiling citizens ready to be let back into society. It's fucking brainwashing, nothing but, he fucking hates it. But they trusted him to do it and now hes here, but since he's here maybe he can help. Not brainwash these people, but help them, and if theyre really part of a rebellion, maybe if he helps them get out they'll take him with them and he can help people that probably actually need it, not just rich assholes from the center city.
Thats his plan, and it works, it takes a while to get the patients to trust him but once they do, they all get out. Sandman, Crab, and Donnie were all part of that group and its how the four meet and bond and start becoming a crew. Dr Benzedrine picks his name and quickly becomes a very valued member of the resistance because theres medics, but no professionals, let alone surgeons.
Mr. Sandman
Street kid, his parents were ritalin rats that stirred up too much trouble and got dracced when he was pretty young. He was hiding under a bed when it happened and Better Living didn't find him, but they didn't bother looking because he was a poor autistic little kid that they saw no use in. So they left him to his empty shitty little apartment in the slums. They never kicked him out, so hes luckier than most that he still had a place to sleep, but once he ran out of food he had to head to the streets, figure out how to either get food or money to survive. He learned and he grew up dealing illegal merchandise, not as low as you could stoop, but pretty low, low enough that if you're busted you could get dracced. But it kept him just afloat enough to not starve.
Illegal merchandise is stuff like outlawed music and media, cds he burned himself off the originals, cassettes, vhs. Just whatever he could get his hands on. And when he could get a signal, he'd play the stuff over the old radio equipment in his basement, making sure to scramble where the signature was coming from, because he'd definitely be dracced if they found out he was putting that stuff on air. Not like it got out of the city, bli has shit that doesn't let any signals in or out, but once in a very rare while, he'll get some faint killjoy frequencies and record whatever he can onto cassettes.
But even though he was dealing in secret and even though he didn't want to be a cog in the machine, even though he wanted to be one of those juvie halls, the rebels on the streets that you can hear hollaring at night, throwing bricks at scarecrows and running off before facial recognition gets them, he strived to get into the Better Living Academy, because it hasn't crosed his mind that he might not be stuck in battery city yet, like most people that rebel, he doesn't want to be on his streets his whole life, so he tries getting in to learn anything, even to get some shitty cubicle job, as long as it means maybe he could actually afford more than the shit slum slop he pawns for. But at he end of the day, he isn't on his pills and he knows they won't like that if they find out, and they keep turning him away anyway for his temperment, for his oddities, because he's still autistic and the bright lights and white expanse of bli spaces make his head scream and he just doesn't get half the questions they ask him and if he has his own questions, they dont explain things furthur for him.
So he gives up on that plan, whatever, at least he's still got his shit to deal out, at least he isnt drugged up like everyone else he saw in the screening rooms for the academy, all empty in the head. He can think, at least. And he has his music, he likes music.
Then he meets Horseshoe Crab, a really weird fellow who takes most of his stock for a hefty handful of carbons that'll get him along for a couple weeks, and the guys so nice he's suspicious, until their deal is interrupted by an ambush, a patrol scarecrows that must've gotten a tip about them, and Horseshoe pulls out a fucking gun, shoots the two closest ones and takes sandmans arm and has him run. At that sandmans convinced the guys not nice at all, hes just fucking crazy, but he runs away after him anyway because the guy just shot two fucking crows, he knows he'll probably live to see morning of he sticks with him. Turns out Horseshoes a juvie hall, like an actual one, not the brash gangs of kids that run around and say they are, actual juvie halls are untraceable, a solid underground, a real rebellion, well hidden from Better Livings watchful eye, its something you have to be smart enough to find and brave enough to join. And sandmans thrust right into the center of it, just a street dealer that followed a crazy guy with a gun that pulled him into a safehouse in the slums that was down a maze of dark alleys, and theres so much illegal shit inside he kind of wants to call it in just for the hefty reward he could get, but he also kind of wants to drop to his knees and worship it all. Theres books, weapons, color. And a few rough looking people that at their sudden entrance, scan them and one goes. "Dammit, Crab."
Long story short, they're members of the fucking rebellion and theres a short but terrifying debate of whether or not to shoot him, but Horseshoe defends him and it turns out the rebellion likes people that risk their lives to deal rock and roll, because he basically gets an invitation. And well, that was his real dream, the one hes had since he was a little kid, wanting to be those unapologetic rebels in the street messing with bli for shits and giggles. This is obviously more than that, but still. So he accepts, and hes thrust into the center of it all. He has to prove he can be trusted by going on so many missions or passing along packages and illegal goods, but once he's proved hes no rat hes showed the base, how to get into the rebellion underground. Its a scattered maze of random apartments that are safehouses, and then the actual underground shit, the tunnels and whole rooms and shit, the stuff from what Battery City used to be that bli just built over and forgot about.
He and Horseshoe become quick friends and he learns that crabs not just a juvie hall but a zonerunner, that he risks his life sneaking in and out of the city to deliver news and supplies to the killjoys out in the desert and vise versa. Sandman turns out to be quite useful, because hes good with computers and especially, radio equipment, since he grew up with that stuff in his basement and copying all that music and playing some over the frequencies when he could, and he fixes up their old shit and becomes the radio operator of the underground rebellion, the voice of the voiceless. He's basically the cherri cola of battery city, as in hes given the task of feeding news to the juvie halls on the streets and so he's always on the air and monolauging what is just weird poetry or random stories to any untrained ears, but while cherri colas thing is actualy just poetry, sandmans is actually speaking entirely in code that only juvie halls will be able to pick apart, because PAX AM isn't some far off station in the zones like WKIL, no, it broadcasts from inside the walls of battery city and better living could always be listening in. Did I make this his thing entirely to play into the lyric all the walls lean in to listen? Maybe.
Hes actually known as Mr Sandman now, took the codename when he became their radio operator, but the suitehearts aren't a thing yet, no, thats still a long way off. Benzedrine isn't even part of the rebellion yet. He also gets his distinct style, encuraged by the juvie halls who just like killjoys push for everyone to be an individual and fuck the citys mandates, so goth gnc bitch it is. The longer hes in the underground the more disconnected from gender he gets.
There's a raid to the underground, someone must have tipped bli off. A solid blow is dealt to the rebellion in the form of a good number of juvie halls being captured, sandman one of them. Now being some low level dealer can get you dracced, but being a real juvie hall gets you something much worse, re-education, because you have to be smart to be a rebel and have survived this long, and bli can use those smarts, as long as they tear you down to a blank slate first. Thats what re-education is, picking you apart piece by piece, drugging you up and pouring propaganda and altered history down your throat until youre a 'functioning member of society'
He's assumed dead or beyond saving from the mindfuck of re-education by the remaining rebellion, who after this bust has to move base to a different part of the city. But about six months after he was taken and the radio went silent, his voice mysteriously reappears, speaking in code about the old base, where the escaped suitehearts went back to and found abandoned as they expected it to be, but had hopes of scrounging old supplies or this, broadcasting their return.
The juvie halls find them and bring them and the radio equipment to the new base, and Mr Sandman is officially the voice of the voiceless again, now with a crew.
Eventually they get fancy tech or an antennae or something thats just strong enough to get a signal out to the zones, and theres always been a slow feed of news between the killjoys and the juvie halls via zonerunners, and the cnnectiom can still be stratchy, but now on the good days Sandman can talk directly to doctor death defying to get news out to the zones and vice versa.
Horseshoe Crab
The only sand pup of the suitehearts, grew in the zones with his dad, who was in the helium wars, but he was dusted when Crab was about eight and he went right to gravel gerties, where he stayed until he joined a group of the older kids when they left gertie to go on their own, and let him tag along even if he was the youngest of them by far. They were all crash queens and glitter brains and he put up with them for a while, but eventually drifted off on his own, and was sixteen when he forst got hired by Tommy to meet with some runners in zone one when they cane outta the walls and to help them get their supplies back to his shop. These jobs always paid well, with either his share of supplies or a handful of carbons, so he kept doing them and eventually tagged along with the runners to go in-city to the rebels there. He liked it there, oddly enough, liked meeting so many different types of rebels, because killjoys are.. killjoys. Theyre all gearheads and glitterbrains but juvie halls tend to be more serious while still having fun. They understand the risk of what they do. Killjoys are just kids with guns, they have growing up to do or things to lose before theyre level headed enoughfor Crab to feel lile he gets them.
So it becomes his thing, zonerunning, getting supplies out to Tommy's and news into the city and vise versa, he makes friends in the underground and eventually meets sandman, then gets caught with him and meets the others too. He isnt around all the time, still does runs, and takes Benzedrine in and out with him if theres someone in the zones that desperately needs a real doctor.
Donnie the Catcher
Hell of an engineer, even figures out robotics, he grew up working in a garage in the neon district, and as he got older, started helping out androids that needed repairs in secret. Its looked down upon to help androids, simce theyre not human and not seen as human, and thats what their service hubs are for, to request repairs, but he knows theres no real help there, not if they're an older model or anything other than some high ups customized pornodroid. Most droids just end up recycled in the incinerators or rusting in the streets, so he does what he can to help when they start falling apart.
He doesn't agree with bli, with how he treats these people, and when a service droid named Jenny that he's helped a handful of times invites him to the underground, because droids can be juvie halls too, theyve gotta be fukin brave to be, because where human juvie halls will be reducated or dracced, rebelling droids will just be shot for going against their programming. Donnie tells Jenny he has to stay and support his family at the garage, but if he can help out he'd be glad to as long as he can get back to the garage at the end of the day. Thats how he becomes a juvie hall. One day down the line he heads to the base and he was there for maybe a half hour when the raid happened and he was captured with the others. He was newer than sandman and crab and had never really crossed paths with them since he didnt spend a whole lot of time in the underground, so hes meeting them for the first time when theyre brought in for re-education. He was one of the ones that stayed quiet and glared, mostly worried about Jenny, that they were there and maybe caught in the raid, becaue she may be all metal but they totally kissed a couple times.
When they all escape he becomes a full time resident in the underground, knowing he can never go back to the garage a fugitive. But not seeing his family is better than the alternative of having been reducated and torn apart at the seams. Besides, once he's got the suitehearts, they're all inseparable.
That's it, once they're a crew, all their experiences and skills combined, they're a unique group for sure. Sandman and Crab already have their own looks and weird relstionships with gender, but Donnie and Benz have never put much thought into the individuality stuff, Benz a slave to Better Living his whole life and Donnie focused on working and surviving. Eventually they find their weird styles, colors theyre fond of as a fuck you to bli, and then the facepaint, it marks them as a crew and as people ready to fight for their cause. Anyway what if I said Donnie transfem she/he(and yes. rocking the beard) :3
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As for the second version, its mostly the same, its just like.. the zones version for stories where they know they fab four. They're all younger and they're basically split between the city and the zones. Their backstories are pretty much the same except Benzedrine got out before he was even really a surgeon, hes still a damn good doctor though, and Sandman left to be a killjoy instead of sticking around the underground. Crabs still a zonerunner that gets Benz in and out to help people and when hes in the desert he bunks with sandman in his concession stand turned weird little trailer in the outskirts of zone two. And Donnies zoneborn too instead of Mrs androidfucker in the city, shes Sandman's good friend and mechanic when he gets into racing at the crash track. They're all good friends and still very much a crew, theyre based out of he zones, Benz too, theyre just still a bit spread out at times when someone in the underground needs help.
Ugh man is there anything missing idk well if there is I guess I can add it later. Okay the end 👍
#americas suitehearts#the suitehearts#dr benzedrine#mr sandman#donnie the catcher#horseshoe crab#ttlotfk#danger days#the true lives of the fabulous killjoys#corvidscrap
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I've practically been stalking your old ivan drago content and saw your imagine prompt for being Rocky's younger sister and having a crush on Ivan, can you IMAGINE the idea of you, being Rocky's younger sister, seeking ivan out after his life changing loss because you know what that means for him? Just being soft and understanding because even though your brother won (and there's a good reason as to why that's the appropriate ending cough cough) you feel the need to offer a shoulder and comfort ivan because you see him for what he is, the product of having to please such a demanding regime? Maybe it's just my penchant to see big strong antagonists and want to hold their face in my hands lol (like iceman, my beloved)
Gah dammit now I wanna write about this!!!!
(No seriously tho I love this, I have daydreamed about it so many times, just needed someone to convince me to write about it! But I'm doing this as a headcanon instead of an actual story because I don't think I can properly get across what I want to get across. Which is why I never wrote about this despite fantasizing about it.)
Headcanon/Preference # 28
Pictures NOT mine.
Year posted - 2023
*I'm randomly coming back to this request because I saw it in my drafts, and I'm dabbling with a few pieces with Dolphs characters again, so I wanted to finish this one. That being said, I've actually got a story I'm working on based loosely on that imagine, it's got a fun little twist to it though. So keep an eye out for that, and I apologize this took so long, but that's honestly kinda just how I roll. 😅 ALSO this isn't exactly what you asked for, but I think you'll enjoy it regardless! MY BAD!
☓Before the fight☓
☭ So before the fight you'd only seen Ivan on the TV screen. But even then you could see him for who he really was. And apparently you were the only one who could, so you kept your thoughts to yourself.
☭ You more or less threatened your brother to take you with him to Russia. And he of course tried reasoning with you, but you'd made up your mind, and he wasn't going to change it.
☭ Rocky was of course worried that the cold might get to you, so he made sure you were bundled to the nine every single day. It was sweet, but a little annoying at the same time. And you had to admit the cold was definitely harsher in Russia than Philadelphia, and that was saying something.
☭ But despite the cold, and the harsh glare from the locals, you found yourself enjoying the landscape scenery.
☭ You helped to encourage your brothers training, and despite having lost your old friend Apollo to him, you couldn't help but find yourself enamored in a way with the Soviet boxer. A fact that you kept under lock and key.
☭ You wondered most nights what would happen in the end. What would happen to Rocky if he lost? What would Ivan go through if he lost? There was just so much at stake, and you couldn't decide who you wanted to come out victorious. Well both of them if you had it your way, but you knew that wasn't an opinion.
☭ You often replayed the fight he had with Apollo in your head. You'd seen how Apollo's theatrics effected him, and how unbothered he'd been by Apollo's taunting. How precious he was, and how powerful.
☭ It made you worry for your brother, but you knew he was one tough son of a bitch. You'd been there for every single one of Rocky's fights after all, even back when he was fighting in shitty clubs.
☓During the fight☓
☭ You were sorta like Rocky's coach at this point, well maybe not coach but rather his hype-man, always had been. So you were with him when he went out to the ring, and beside him in the ring.
☭ You had to admit, seeing Ivan up close for the first time... Jesus he was huge... And very intimidating with his cold expression. Queue your curiosity and worry both spiking.
☭ You shook hands with his team, per the typical routine, and when you were about to turn and leave the ring. You found Ivan staring at you, making eye contact, and maintaining it for far longer than you probably should have.
☭ Rocky noticed your hesitance, and gently bumped his shoulder with yours, knocking you out of your stupor. You offered your older brother a small smile, and he gently bumped your chin with his glove, drawing a proper smile from you. Which in turn made him smile.
☭ He didn't even notice Ivan had been staring at you, or that Ivan continued to do so as you left the ring. But the announcers? The fans? They noticed. So around the world people wondered if maybe it had been a bad idea letting you go to this fight.
☭ Before the fight started, you stood beside the ropes in Rocky's corner, and made good on tradition. Resting your foreheads together you said a prayer and wished him luck, smiling when he kissed the crown of your head before breaking away.
☭ All throughout the fight, you found yourself feeling rather queasy, you'd never experienced that before during any of Rocky's fights. You knew subconsciously because it wasn't just because of your worry for Rocky.
☭ You realized pretty quickly into the fight, that far more was riding on Ivan winning than Rocky. For Rocky if he lost, he would have been humiliated, and failed in avenging Apollo... But Ivan. You knew he would suffer far worse if he lost.
☭ You didn't have to speak Russian to know that his entire life would be determined by the outcome of this fight. If he won he'd be a hero, like Rocky was back home. But if he lost, odds are he'd loose everything he's come to know. How perceptive of you.
☭ Often you'd find yourself looking to Ivan when they were separated for a short break. Almost always finding him already staring at you, his expression dark and furious. Which admittedly made you a little nervous, but you didn't feel his frustration was directed at you.
☭ By the time they were both bloody and exhausted, you were on the brink of tears. And both men had noticed. Rocky trying to comfort you as best he could during his breaks, despite the fact that his state of mind was more important. (Something you kept reminding him about, but he didn't care. He's a good brother.)
☭ Ivan did nothing but watch, wondering if you were afraid for your brother, afraid for himself, or if perhaps you were afraid of him at this point? A series of thoughts that only confused him, and distracted him more than he'd care to admit.
☭ When Ivan picked that man up by his throat, you found that the tears had finally escaped, rolling down the apples of your cheeks as he shouted in Russian. His eyes found yours in the commotion, and he was certain he'd gotten his answer to his earlier ponderings.
☭ Little did he know you were crying for him, not because of his actions.
☓After the fight☓
☭ The crowd had boomed with excitement, and many people rushed the ring to celebrate with Rocky. You had watched as Ivan was led out by his team, and you didn't think twice about following them.
☭ When his team realized you'd followed them, they tried to shoo you away, but then Ivan noticed it was you, and barked at them to leave in his native tongue. Perplexed they complied and left you alone in the locker room.
☭ "What are you doing here?" He questioned, his accent think and heavy, like honey to your ears. "I..." You were at a loss for words. "I'm not sure... I-." He scoffed at you before turning away, looking at himself in the mirror, and glancing at you through it.
☭ "I guess I just wanted to see how you were... If you're... If you're okay." You tried to make sense of the way you felt, you knew you were drawn to him, you just didn't know why. He simply kept watching you through the mirror as you fumbled adorably over your explanation.
☭ But what you said next really caught him by surprise. "Your hands... Are your hands okay?" You'd asked, now looking at him through the mirror, he turned to you with confusion evident on his expression. No one ever asked if his hands were okay after a fight before, not even his wife.
☭ "I'm usually the one that mends Rocky's hands after a fight... Are your... Are your hands okay?" You explained yourself, taking a tentative step towards him, freezing in place when he stepped towards you.
☭ "You are afraid of me." He stated. "Not exactly." You quickly defended yourself. "I'm not afraid of you... I'm anxious around you." You added, thinking he'd accept that response. "What is the difference?" Ivan argued, watching you approach him.
☭ "My heart is racing, but it isn't because of fear." You tried to explain, feeling incredibly sheepish, especially considering you knew he was married. "I know fear... And you do not inflect fear in me." You added, sort of hoping he wouldn't understand what you meant.
☭ Thankfully he did. "I feel it as well." He admitted in a soft tone, not wanting to startle you as you gently unwrapped his wrist wraps. He noticed how you flushed at his confession, it made him smile softly.
☭ You tended to his busted up hands with a gentle touch, more gentle than he's used to. And by the time you'd finished, he couldn't help himself and he kissed you.
☭ It was tender the way he tilted your head back with his index finger, slowly leaning in to give you the opportunity to turn away if you wanted, but you didn't turn away.
☭ It's probably the most wholesome moment of his life, and yes I'm taking into account the birth of his son Viktor.
☭ You were just so sweet, peering up at him with big doe eyes. Foreheads resting together you both forgot about the world around you, if only for a moment.
☭ Ivan just wanted to wrap you in his arms and stay that way forever. He wasn't sure why he was so drawn to you, but he had been enamored with you long before you even knew about him.
☭ Granted you had just been a face on the screen of his TV, but that didn't stop his heart from fluttering at the mere sight of you. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps you were made for eachother, separated from eachother across the world.
☭ After what felt like hours the moment was ruined, because down the hall you could hear Rocky calling your name, probably worried sick about where you'd disappeared to.
☭ "I have to go." You whispered, despite not wanting to. "I know." Ivan murmured equally saddened. "Until we meet again." He added before giving you one last kiss, breaking away and leaving right before Rocky barged in. His heart shattering in his chest, as he knew you'd probably never see eachother again.
☭ "There you are!" Rocky breathed a sigh of relief, and practically fell into your arms. He never questioned why you were in Ivan's locker room, and he never questioned why you'd run off like that. (He had a feeling he didn't want to know.)
☓Years later☓
◈ You hadn't seen him since his fight against Rocky. And you wondered if he'd even recognize you anymore. Or if you'd even see him that is.
◈ You knew about his son, and his determination to fight Adonis Creed.
◈ What you hadn't honestly expected, was for him to show up your brother's restaurant, atleast not unannounced.
◈ "Rocky we need-" You cut yourself off as you laid eyes on him, he looked even more handsome than you'd remembered. Frozen in place you jumped when Rocky touched your arm.
◈ "You okay?" He asked with a soft expression, wordlessly pulling you into a hug when you nodded your head yes.
◈ "(Y/n)." Ivan had approached you both, and you could tell Rocky didn't trust him. "Hello Ivan." You smiled softly, those old butterflies from before fluttering around in your belly.
◈ You'd secretly been sending letters to Ivan for years, and while you sent them religiously, you only ever received a handful in return. Not that you minded, you understood, better than anyone.
◈ "Still so beautiful." He mused as if Rocky wasn't standing right there, his hand coming up to brush his knuckles across your cheek bone. Rocky was quick to put himself between you and Ivan of course, ever the protective brother.
◈ "Rock." You placed your arm on his bicep, gently tugging at his arm, a reassuring smile on your face when he turned to look at you. "It's okay." You reached up cupping your brothers cheek, smiling as you felt him relax under your touch.
◈ When you looked to Ivan again, you asked him if he would like to take a small walk. Rocky immediately tried arguing against it, but you assured him you would be fine, and he listened to you begrudgingly.
◈ "You look good Ivan." You'd mused as you walked side by side, just the two of you, as he'd made Viktor wait in the car. "I've missed you." He admitted, making you smile. "And I've missed you." You found it funny that he could still make you blush.
◈ "I kept all of your letters." He added in a soft tone, again making you smile. "Yeah?" You stopped walking and he turned to you, taking your hands in his. "Of course." He smiled.
◈ "You were always on my mind." Ivan murmured quietly before wrapping his arms around your waist, burying his head into your neck. You quickly wrapped your arms around his large shoulders, your right hand coming to rest against the back of his head.
◈ "You know... I never married." You mused thoughtfully, hoping he wouldn't think you crazy. "I couldn't bring myself to love anyone else." You added when he pulled back from the hug.
◈ "I would have given anything to have you by my side, helping me raise Viktor." Ivan closed his eyes for a moment, thinking back on his fantasy. "Want about now?" You wondered aloud before you could stop yourself, and Ivan smirked.
◈ "You would want that? Want me?" He asked with a small smile, adoration shining in his eyes. You cupped his face between your hands, pulling him down to your height so you shared the same air. "It's all I've ever wanted Ivan." He visibility melted into your touch.
◈ Needless to say the world was shocked to see you by Ivan's side, and even more so when you announced your engagement. Rocky tried to "reason" with you, claiming it was a rash decision. But you told him about everything, the moment you shared with Ivan in Russia, the letters, and the way he made you feel, the way he'd always made you feel.
◈ Rocky came to realize your love for Ivan, was like his love for Adrian. He knew you never really dated, or let yourself get attached, especially after his fight with Ivan. And despite his past with the Russian, he supported you (warning Ivan about what would happen if he broke your heart like any good brother would.), and he attended your wedding of course.
#Headcanon#ivan drago x reader#ivan drago#Ivan drago headcanon#Ivan drago imagine#Ivan drago x you#Ivan drago x y/n#rocky balboa#Rocky 4#rocky iv#Rocky headcanon#Rocky 4 headcanon#dolph lundgren#reader insert#fluff#requested#Rocky imagine#rocky x reader#Rocky x you
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Do you know about the Marchil h-doujin, just called "Marchil Meshi"? (Dunno wether you're comfortable about adult content regarding the ship. If not, sorry and feel free to ignore).
Imagine my surprise… When a few months ago, I was looking up places to buy doujins for dunmeshi online bc of that new-ish laimar (sfw) doujin and I find, many many nsfw ones bUT AMONGST THE HORDE… MARCHIL MESHI. I ate it up. It’s a lil iconic to me ngl, I quote it in my head sometimes. Marcille angrily gesturing always gets me cackling. It honestly has no business being this good, it was made pretty early on in the story so many years ago, and STILL! So in character, and honestly so funny, AND no weird business either.
Like listen, I scour the internet, looking for any marchil content, any marchil content at all… And find a dry af desert, no life here, literally jackshit nothing. Only Pixiv has some afaik but the nsfw is def… Hm. 😔 (2 fics tagged chirumaru on there btw!! That aren’t mine lol) Thank you marchil meshi author if I had to pick 1 piece of marchil nsfw to exist I’d choose this one (honestly that’s already so close to reality lol) Thank u Asaki Takayuki I owe u my life. I like zines but I’ve never bought doujins before so it didn’t cross my mind, but dunmeshi is taking a lot of my first times in fandom engagement and I bought said laimar doujin just the other day hehe
I do want to keep my blog generally sfw but yes I’m 100% cheering on nsfw marchil content from the shadows, glad that ao3’s finally getting some too. I hope that fic writer makes more… Tallman Chil is so so good but I hope they also do some more general premises, which the end notes on that one do make me hopeful 👀 I want more marchil writers in general. More marchil fanartists. Sfw nsfw idk I need to be fed 😭 (<- This post was drafted before that new marchil smut fic WOOHOO. So much new marchil content this week!!)
Oh while I’m here, I find this so funny/odd, but in japanese fandom ship names are simply the beginning of each name smushed together, like marchil or chilmar. The order of the names is that the first one is the "top"… Idk how jp fandoms live without switches but aight, but in m/f ships this means that typically the man is the first half of the ship name right. WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT marchil is so much more used than chilmar lmaoo. Even more stats: On Pixiv, the tag marchil had all the artworks, but the chilmar tag had all the fics. Ain’t that wack to think about. Anyways marchil or chilmar idc you go guys
Sighh thinking about them. They are so "I beg your pardon??!" "Then beg", "Fuck you!" "Fuck me yourself you coward"… Forget stamens and pistils, Chil is the cursed "You see, there are keys and there are locks…"
More under cut since I don’t get to talk about this often, screenshots and hcs for horny time
^ said panel that lives rent free in my head and makes me giggle. I wish I’d just put the whole page here it’s my fave but nahh go find it yourself
Why are they like this. Like what is thatttt
I need to stop collecting these I’m making myself feel insane (thank you fic writer for that last one I’d never noticed but omg)
Alright hc time what was I gonna talk about… Ah yes ah yes. I def think Chil is a pest, he’s horny and he wants sex and is flagrant about it, but also we know that he stayed faithful for 4 years without getting any, I feel like realistically the relationship sex wise would 100% be on Marcille’s pace. And this is the fun part, bc would Marcille be very eager? Would she want to do the romance book correct™️ route and that means no tapping until marriage, or he needs to court her all princely first? I hc that elves have a much lower libido than humans because of the whole long af lifespan thing, it’d be kinda funny if Marcille was like "Let’s take things slow… 🥺" aka first base achieved after two years of being together lol
But seee that’s the thing too bc Marcille is so afraid of loss she might rush through things as well, she very well could like, jump on him right after confessing. Is Chilchuck kind of a shithead or is he very gentlemanly and romantic, wanting to do it right and treat her well? They are such a blank canvas of sexual chemistry listen LISTENNN there are just so so many ways you can go with them they are so special. God the banter… They cannot stop bantering for a second I swear
So many kinks they could fit… I like uhh praise kink for him and for her… Idk she just really loves him and the emotional adoration is what’s at the core of her enjoying it all so like, loving Chilchuck kink, which turns out those two really match together 🫶 He makes her sing and ummm um you see where this goes. They are so grossly in love and into each other
They are so domestic. I hate them
#Followers you now know about the existence of this you’re welcome#Marchil#Sorry for taking a week to answer this ask. I have so many to get back to aaa sorry everyone#There’s never a perfect time to drop bomb posts like these gdvdgd#Fumi rambles#the opening line of this post is a quote of Amanda’s iconic rant about PLA sneasler in my heart#No one can reblog this post it shall be framed in shame on my blog only /j
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Hello friends and fans!! I finally have some updates for ya’ll!
I’ve been working on this project alone for months, specifically since the day Pixelberry announced they will no longer continue forward with Immortal Desires. I was so crushed and saw so many other players and fans feel the same way. So, I decided to start messing around with making my own fan sequel after seeing @itlivesproject @thedistantshoresproject and @nightboundthesecond doing so well and seeing amazing products. I’m going to school for a BA in Game Art and Design, and my minor is Creative Writing, and I thought this would be a good go for my first video game. And I couldn’t be more excited to see things falling into place!
I now have a writer onboard! Meet Mir! @timetravesty
Hey everyone, I’m Mir and I’ll be helping out with the Immortal Desires 2 project! I’m a writer here on tumblr (couple of months till I hit the 1 year mark😯) and am really excited to be a part of this amazing project with everyone, but more importantly, helping deliver an amazing story to a series that ended too soon! Since we might know each other for a bit, some fun facts about me 🤔I’ve wanted a dog since I was around 6. I probably listen to my Spotify account 20/24 hours in the day.My favorite video games to play are animal crossing, stardew, undertale, Minecraft, and I was pretty into Haven recently, which I highly recommend 😌My favorite ghibli movie (since I had a marathon recently) is spirited away.I’m very excited for the future of this project and please look forward to future updates! 😗Nice to meet you all!
We’re still slowly moving, but, Mir and I have started expanding upon the plot points I’ve had planned for a while. We’re confident we’re going to be able to work well together to deliver a wonderful, full story for all of you.
And I couldn’t forget Ally! @fuckyeahilovemarcolinfan
I’ve been a long-time fan and player of Choices; I started playing in December of 2016, but I started getting into the fandom somewhere around the end of 2018, and started on an IG that I created way back in 2014. I didn’t really intend to make my IG account about Choices, but I wanted to connect with people who have the same interests as me, and to share my ideas and opinions about the book releases. A very dear friend of mine started teaching me how to collect assets at some point in time, and I’ve been kind of considered a Spoiler Queen ever since then lol. I focused on posting premium scenes because I want everyone to see those scenes since not everyone can afford them. I started making edits way back in October 2019 because I really wanted people to distinguish me. All in all, I’m very fortunate that my best bud showed me how to access these assets.
Ally has been wonderful in helping me acquire assets and just being super supportive and so helpful. She is so enthusiastic about this project and has been just giving the best vibes!
Now that you’ve met the team, time for some awaited updates for ya’ll! First, lets start with the preview!!.
So, to state the obvious, this is everyone in their formal wear! I have also given all of the side characters formal wear, but I felt like these are what the people are screaming for! And of course, we have our lil Sethy-poo included in here too and he got a makeover! If you would be so kind to click play at the video at the top because it’s featuring a rough draft of the title song. It’s my own lil creation, however, I’m recruiting folks from my local music scene to not only help out with this project, but to help support their bands and their projects!
Super bummed that the quality of these dropped because of the formatting, but I have included all three of the new expressions I’ve created: playful, shy, and disgusted. All of the main and primary characters have these faces! I have also gotten all of the female MC sprite sheets done, most of the female clothes, and all of the hair; I’m so excited to give you guys that update in the future!! From here, Mir and I will be working on a very rough draft of the story. I will continue working on assets for the MC since almost all of the primary/main characters are done.
The next update will likely be a few weeks from now; I’m not sure what I’ll have for ya’ll quite yet, but please stay tuned and ask any and all questions. Thank you all for the overwhelming amount of support and love; it’s greatly appreciate between me and the team.
#immortaldesiresfanproject#immortal desires#pixelberry studios#choices you play#cas harlow#gabe adalhard#astoria
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tell us about day 31 😌
lol so i guess you may have noticed that it may have perhaps resembled a Whumptober prompt? i never actually wrote/posted the last prompt i was responsible for for that month of prompts, but that doesn't mean i don't have a 5k+ word draft for it in my WIPs!!
i started and restarted on that prompt about 4 times until i landed on something i was pleased with. hopefully once i'm done with my RCSS, i can finish that prompt and all will be well with the world.
this fic borrows its premise from an old max/furiosa fic by @sacrificethemtothesquid that i am obsessed with, called Glow. basically, jyn and cassian are on a mission and Cass comes down with radiation poisoning. pain ensues.
snippet, for your pleasure/pain:
“Was it something you ate, you think?” she postulates.
He shakes his head, shoulders heaving under his coat. Her blood stops in her veins when he finally looks at her. His eyes are wide and wild, his face pale and strange-angled in the odd, bloody light of Tilo’s brilliant sunset. He looks ghostly, haunted, an animal caught in a trap.
“The parts—“ he pants, something in his voice breaking in fear. “You didn’t— you didn’t go near them…?”
Jyn hesitates, shakes her head. First in confusion but morphing quickly into hasty confirmation as the fear in his face takes on an edge. She had not touched the half-rusted, nearly unrecognizable pile of parts they had traded for this morning. The man who had traded with them had claimed the parts were from some ruin of an outer-rim rock, now defunct and lost to knowledge. Old Republic and rare as kyber. Or something like that… Jyn hadn’t paid much attention. Cassian had handled the whole transaction (he had more patience for and much more experience in haggling) and she had hated every minute of the exchange. The queer look in the trader’s rheumy eyes, the swiftness of his acceptance of their offer (a stack of Jilib leather and a bag of local moonshine that could strip the paint off a speeder—certainly lowball barter). Jyn had tried to protest, but Cassian had insisted: these fledgling rebel cells they were here to infiltrate traded in scrap and salvage— the more foreign the better, to attract potential collectors and the deep pockets that came with them.
Cassian had assured her it was, indeed, a scam as they left, but they could still promisingly trick any rebel leaders for long enough to get what information and recruits they needed before getting the hell off world.
“Jyn,” Cassian prompts sharply, eyes growing wider, a bit wilder, as he looked her up and down.
“No,” she finally croaks and Cassian collapses in relief on the runner board. “But, Cassian.. what does that have to do—“
He shakes his head, waves a stalling hand so he can cough and sputter between his knees again.
Jyn’s very bones are tingling with heightened awareness. She’s never quite seen him this scared, this… dire. Cassian Andor is a constant, a non-variable. Steady, reliable, a force of nature that couldn’t be stopped or diverted. But here he is, her Cassian, cut off at the knees and spilling his guts into the blowing sands of a foreign planet. Looking at her as if she might disappear at any moment. As if he might.
If she’s being honest, it’s fucking terrifying.
She kneels next to him again. “Cassian… what’s going on?”
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So. This is my first post on tumblr for the occasion is grand and I had a need to share! After seven months of writing I have officially finished the first draft of that Jangobi fic that is like two standard novel length-long. I’ve never believed that I’m capable of finishing anything, but I repeat the first draft of Of Oaths and Promises is finished (well, there are like three scenes left to be written but I will add them in editing process). 🥹 The work is not done, countless edits are still to be made but it still feels monumental (like I’ve never finished anything properly, especially not a thing I’ve written on my own apart from one one-shot). Ugh. I’m proud of myself. Really.
I’m going to continue posting once a week because I have some other projects begging to be written and if I upped the schedule I would spend my whole writing time editing, but yeah we’re finally there!
My next thing is going to be much shorter (6 chapters or so?), alternative universe Jangobi with AgriCorps Obiwan and Boba being their biological child (because Stewjonians). Think along the lines Jango run off before he never knew about the kid (they might or might not meet on Hondo’s ship), there is sort of lost prince Anastasia situation involved (imagine Stewjon-Space Scotland but after like something akin to Russian Revolution) and Jaster being alive and like best grandpa. It will all make sense, I promise (it’s already in works on scrap paper cause I’m bored at work, lol😂). I will probably write it all before posting so. (And then we have modern au fine dining one coming! So like, stay tuned I guess?)
Thank you for coming to my TED talk and happy reading!
#jangobi#star wars#fanfiction#jango fett#obi wan fanfiction#obi wan kenobi#writing is hard#my writing
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Meeting your online friend
Genre: Lovely Oneshot Smut
Pairing: Dom Kim Namjoon and 💕Bratty Submissive💕Female Reader
Poisons: Teasing (Non Sexually and Sexually), Slight possessiveness (Receiving), Making out, Dirty Talk (Receiving), Oral (Male and Female Receiving), Ball Massaging (Giving), Balls sucking (Giving), Cum Swallowing, Fingering (Receiving), Rough sex, Clit stimulation (Receiving), Overstimulation (Receiving), and Creampie (They just met don't do this irl)
Author note: (Hella unnecessary to the story, so you don't have to read this) I'm actually kinda sad about posting this, this has been in my drafts since I had a few hundred followers with two little paragraphs. I'm not even sure if I did this right since I don't really remember what I was thinking about when I started writing it. I hope y'all like it it means a lot to me. Also, this isn’t based on any game, I’m just saying this cause a few of you might guess and I’m literally not thinking of any game in particular lol. (Now story time)
A sigh went through your nose, as the smell of coffee slowly started to become irritating to your nostrils. You’ve been sitting in a coffee shop for about an hour waiting on your online friend to show up, you weren’t surprised that he was late he had a habit of getting lost even when you two played online games together. Your phone vibrated as a waitress and refilled your cup. The shop door opened and namjoon hastily walked to your table, “I'm sorry, I just landed a few hours ago it kept getting delayed, then I tried to get a taxi and every one of them had someone in it.” he said then embarrassingly chuckled.
Namjoon sat down at the table with you, he ordered a coffee from the waitress who was already there then sat down with you. He took off his jacket then you both sat in silence for a while, he occasionally looked over at you making you blush a little, and looked away. The waitress eventually came back and gave him a cup of coffee, they walked away and he grabbed his cup and then took a sip of his coffee. “Why are you being so quiet aren't you gonna call me an asshole or something for being late like you always do?” he asked. “I'm sorry I'm just nervous, I'm not really used to meeting people offline.” you replied.
“Am I the first person you met offline?” he asked, You shyly nodded as you blushed then looked away from him. “I met a few dudes from the game, we chilled and played a few games but you're the first girl I met.” Namjoon said. After a few moments of silence, he took a sip of his coffee and you did the same. Namjoon nearly spat out his coffee as he started laughing, “What's so funny?” you asked putting your cup on the table. “I'm sorry, I know you feel weird about meeting me, but I can't help but feel like you're acting cute on purpose.” he answered. “See this is what I've been talking about, you're literally being an asshole for no reason right now you know that.” you said slightly angered.
“What?!? What did I do I just called you cute cause you are, you're cuter than the pictures you sent in the groupchat.” he said smirking at you as he took a drink, “Joon you're embarrassing me stop, or I swear I'll... throw this cup of coffee on you.” you said, “Wow I call you pretty and you threatening to throw hot coffee on me?” he asked faking concern. “...I'm not.. actually gonna throw it on you.” you said rolling your eyes, “Great, cause I still wanna spend the day together. Plus I can brag to the guys that I had the hottest date to the gallery.” said namjoon. You sunk into the chair as blushed and drank your coffee. “You do have the tickets right?” you asked, He reached into his pocket and gave you your ticket then snapped a VIP bracelet on your wrist. “Surprise.” he said.
“You actually got them? I'm so grateful, thank you so so much joonie.” you said, “It’s no problem, I came here to see it with you might as well see the whole thing together.” He said. “We should get going soon, I've kinda seen the line and it’s getting pretty long.” Said namjoon, “You could have told me that too before you sat down.” You said. You stood up and grabbed your things, he stood up then followed after you. As you both started walking there, your hands ended up holding each other until you made it there. You both walked up to the surprisingly long of people ready to go into the art gallery, you both sighed and got ready to go to the back of the line.
"Those with a Vip bracelet please come you will go be in first, I'm sorry everyone we changed the rules to go in first. If anyone who doesn’t get in that has a regular ticket will be able to get tomorrow." Said a man wearing a staff member t-shirt. You both smiled at each before getting your bracelets checked, then walked inside together. Both of you walked into the art gallery, and were surprised at how beautiful the art gallery is. You both couldn’t believe how beautiful the art is, and how different it was then the art they usually post.
You both eventually found a few of your other friends and chatted with them a bit, namjoon made you blush as he became kinda possessive of you as the guys started complimenting you. He eventually sneaked you away from them, and both of you started walking around and talking again. Namjoon kept you close to him occasionally touching you or fixing something on you, eventually he kissed your cheek nearly missing the corner of your mouth then hugged you. He grabbed your hand and started walking with you again, and you looked away from him as you got embarrassed.
After a while, you both sat on a bench together for a bit of a rest. Namjoon looked over at you and smirked then nudged you. “What’s wrong?” he asked, “Nothing, I'm just not really used to someone being so touchy with me, and we just kinda met so it's kinda weird.” you said. “What? I’m just acting normally, we’ve always hugged and kissed when we talked together in the game, especially when it was just me and you.” He said teasingly.
“You even had me stay up with you all night to grind and get the perfect kiss animation for you, and that works with the one I had.” He said, “You had to be the stubborn one and use that one, with the weirdest animations for the other person. It was that one or we weren’t gonna do it at all.” You complained back, “No I remember it, I was willing to change mine to three different ones but you had to be picky.” Namjoon said smiling at you, “Two were couple poses and one was a kissing one.” you added.
“We have all those customizations on ours, but these are our characters I didn’t know that many people like this ship. You said. “Maybe they’ll finally become cannon?” He asked jokingly, “They can’t we’re the only people we know that ships them, if they become cannon then everyone will ship them. It happen to the first two characters we picked, we couldn’t go anywhere if we wanted to use them cause everyone thought we were one of “those couples” and they were unbearable about it.” You said, “Don’t worry it’s only one painting, and if they did theirs always more characters we can pick from.” He said comforting you.
As time went on the art gallery slowly got fuller, until both of you could barely walk without bumping into someone by accident “They must have let everyone in now, it’s getting pretty crowded now. I have a hotel room not too far away, I think we could walk there if you're not tired.” said namjoon. “Sure, just lead the way.” You said. He guided you both out, with both of you occasionally stopping and saying hi to a few of your online friends. You both eventually left and went to his hotel room, then took off your jackets and shoes. Namjoon turned the tv on and sat on his bed while you sat on a chair near the bed.
“It’s a shame they didn’t have a gift shop or something I would’ve loved a few prints and some figures.” Said namjoon, “They’re gonna sell the painting in a few days so they won’t have to do another fundraiser, it was pretty close last time I even took a few extra shifts to donate more.” You answered. “You took extra shifts?” He asked, “Yeah that’s why I was afk so much during that time.” You answered again. “You know you didn’t have to, the creators even said don’t stress ourselves over it.” Said Namjoon. “I know… it's just… everyone was going crazy and trying to help, and I guess I got worried since everyone was making videos and my favorite writer left the time and that was the only I could talk to you at the time so I panicked a little.” You shyly reply. “I would have just given you the groupchat if you wanted to keep talking.
“We’ll yeah I know that now, but.. I just wasn’t thinking and the timer for the fundraiser was going down fast-” “You were that worried about leaving me?, wow I didn’t know you cared that much.” Namjoon said interrupting you. Namjoon sat up and moved closer to you until he was sitting on the bed in front of you, then leaned close to you kissing you, but you leaned back in your chair and closed your eyes to avoid it. “What’s wrong honestly? You’d get mad at me if I didn’t want a kiss, now you’re avoiding them?” He asked “It’s different than online… You’re just a screen with black text, and we're actually face to face now.” You said shyly.
“You always start it, and asking me to do it even when in the middle of a match. I remember before you knew my real name you used to always call me my screen name. I honestly kinda missed those days sometimes, it was cute seeing how many nicknames you could make of it trying to get my attention.” He reminisced and then looked at you smiling. You rolled your eyes and then looked at him. “Just do what you feel comfortable with, like that game I sent you with Lucy. Our safe word is blueberry right?” You asked smiling softly at him then he lightly grabbed your cheeks.
“I should have known you were into you after you sent me that link, since you and that character both looked so much alike, but honestly thinking about it you’re so much prettier than her.” Said Namjoon. You puckered your lips to make a cute face, he closed his eyes and kissed your lips deeply. You moved your head to pull away, but he kissed you deeper until you felt his tongue enter your mouth. You closed your eyes again as he started feeling you up, he reached down and grabbed the bottom of your sweater then pulled it off you.
Namjoon cuffed his hands under your bra, you gasped at the sudden coldness then he kissed your neck. “You’re so much softer than I thought and warmer.” He said before kissing your lips again, He slid your leggings off then you closed your legs together. “You know I don’t think you’ve ever covered yourself up like this, you’re usually spreading your legs open for me.” He said. You blushed a bit more then held your legs a little tighter together, “You wanna start with me first, then you seem to really like that right?“ he asked. You sighed through your nose, then nodded your head and he smiled at you before getting up and standing in front of you.
You got on your knees in front of him, then you gently grabbed the base of his cock. You leaned close to him, and started licking the tip of his cock. You opened your cock and started sucking the tip of his cock, then started sliding more and more of his cock into your mouth. You filled your mouth with his cock, then Namjoon suddenly let out a moan as your tongue swirled around it. Your tongue started licking and flicking his cock, then he slowly started thrusting his cock inside your mouth. He kept thrusting trying not to go too deep inside your mouth, you stopped at the tip of his cock and kept swirling your tongue around it. Then slid your tongue under his cock, then slid his balls inside your mouth gently sucking and licking them. Namjoon started jerking off as he bit his bottom lip, your tongue swirled around his balls before lightly pulling away from him. He moved his hand, and you slid his cock inside your mouth again.
He came inside your mouth and swallowed his cum, then you slid his still hardened cock out of your mouth.“Just lay down on the edge of the bed and open up your legs for me, I'm just doing what we did in our first few chats.” he said smiling at you. You did as he said and then he got down on his knees, your cheeks started to get hot and he looked at your pussy. His tongue slid up against your pussy, you squirmed a bit as he kept licking then started moaning as namjoon tongue up against your clit. He held your hips as his tongue flicked up against your clit faster, one of his hands released your hips and he gently pushed them inside your pussy. His fingers started looking for flickering around until he found your G-spot, he started thrusting his fingers roughly inside you.
Namjoon kept your legs as still as he could with his free hand, you reached down and gently grabbed your hair pushing his head closer to your pussy. He started swirling and flicking his tongue on your clit. You moaned out as you came, then you gently released his hair as you laughed nervously. “That was kinda fast.” he said teasingly, “Shut up you know my clit is sensitive.” you said making him laugh a little.
“Do you have any condoms, I didn’t really expect to have sex with you when I came here.” He said, “You’re the one who started this, what do you mean you don’t have any?” You hissed. Namjoon looked at you and smiled. You blushed a little as you remembered a roleplay, both of you did a little while ago. You blushed a little more, then you shyly opened your legs showing him your pussy. “I wonder do you actually shave as much say in our chats.” Namjoon asked, as he slowly started rubbing his cock up against your pussy until it slipped inside you then he thrust it the rest of the way in. He slowly started thrusting into you, then slowly started rubbing your clit. You started moaning and he leaned over you, then grabbed your leg as he started thrusting a little faster inside you.
You got on all fours and he quickly got behind you, then grabbed your hips before thrusting his cock deep inside your pussy. He started thrusting inside you again, faster and rougher this time. You grabbed the bedsheets in front of you, then he suddenly grabbed your hair and then pushed your face into your mattress, “Sorry I just wanted a little revenge.” Namjoon smugly said. You moved your head to the side and started breathing heavily before moaning again, “S-slow down a little joonie, you're gonna make me cum again.” you moaned. Namjoon reached down and started rubbing your clit again, you moaned louder for a few seconds before moaning out and cumming. You started breathing heavily again as he slid his semi-hard cock out of you, he sat down on the bed behind you. After a few moments of rest, he leaned forward and gently grabbed your wrist, then gently pulled you towards him until you were on top of him. He laid down for a few seconds before sitting up a little and looking at you.
You blushed then looked down at Namjoon, then started grinding on him. “Don’t worry I could have guessed you would have been too shy to ride me.” He said as he sat up, and then grabbed your hips as he started thrusting into you. You leaned up against him, he readjusted his grip on your thighs and kept his pace as you moaned. You wrapped your legs around him and then kissed him, namjoon lightly bit your bottom lip. You suddenly moaned out as you came, he kept thrusting into you tightening his grip a little. “I'm so close just take it a little bit longer- Fuck!” he moaned, he kept thrusting into you then kissed your lips deeply.
Namjoon moaned into your mouth, as came deep inside you then kissed your lips deeply again. The kiss continued for a few moments longer than the others, before you both gently pulled away from each other. Namjoon slowly slid his cock out of you, then you laid down on the bed next to him. “You know I’m going to be here for a few days since we’re so happy, and comfortable with each other. You might as just stay here with me, I mean if you’re okay with that of course?” He asked, “I don’t know, what if you end up not liking me while I’m here?” You asked. “You’re a lot shyer than how you are in our chats, but you’re you and I really like you.” Namjoon answered, you turned over and started cuddling with him. “I like you too.” You replied. You both leaned close to each other and then kissed each other deeply.
#answered#kim namjoon smut#namjoon smut#bts#bangtan#bts smut#bangtan smut#bangtan sonyeondan#bangtan sonyeondan smut#kpop smut#kpop idol smut#kim namjoon imagines#kim namjoon scenarios#kim namjoon oneshot#namjoon imagine#namjoon scenarios#namjoon oneshot#bts oneshot#bangtan oneshot
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Every day I get more certain that there is no real ship. The members and the company let this shipping thing going on all these years because it benefits them, both in terms of money and being free to date who they want. There are more things that prove Jkk, Tkk or any other ships isn't real than the things that have been interpreted, from us shippers, as being real.
I’m super late on this but when you sent this I started on it, and then was promptly very overwhelmed by a large number of asks and kind of shut down. I found it in my drafts so figured I’d finish and post it, if you still care! Lol. Totally understand if you don’t 🤣
I already know I’m going to ramble so let’s get this out of the way — that’s a perfectly fine conclusion to come to. If that’s how you feel, it’s how you feel. I don’t know the inner workings of KPop marketing, so I couldn’t say whether as a whole they tend to “promote” ships (i.e. fanservice and questionable photoshoot concepts/poses, even mv interactions — is that what you mean?) because it makes them money, or if they follow the fans to see what they’re squawking about online and then serve up content to kind of give the people what they want. In other words, I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg. I think we’d need an industry professional in the KPop media landscape, someone who’s followed KPop a lot longer than me, or at least a blogger more observant and analytical than me to tease that out.
On Jikook specifically — I have a few rebuttals to the idea that the relationship (whether it’s romantic or not) so many of us have clued into is some sort of fabricated marketing scheme. At the very least, it’s not only that. Let’s get into them.
#1: Just because something is marketable doesn’t make it fake.
Are their subgroup photoshoots adorable and thick with chemistry? Yep. Do I think for one moment that there was a BH executive behind the camera telling JK to look at Jimin like THAT? With the slow-gaze drop down to his lips (or his ass)? Idk, to me that’s laughable. He just does. Like, I think two things can be true at the same time: Jimin and Jung Kook can look objectively good together and also be a popular pairing within the fandom and so the company can kind of play into that and promote their interactions, and ALSO they can have a naturally affectionate, long-standing close personal relationship that boosts the chemistry of those interactions. Does that make sense? It’s sort of like when celebrities who are love interests in a movie do a press circuit, and they have palpable sexual tension — that’s half the reason they were cast as romantic leads in the first place — and they also get along really well behind the scenes, because they click and also have spent a ton of time together. Of course the Warner Bros executives or whoever’s funding the movie is like hell yeah, play it up, sell those tickets — but that doesn’t invalidate the fact that the co-stars have likely truly become close and truly have a connection. And, often, it’s later revealed that the co-stars have in fact been banging the whole time. Shocker. AND even if they aren’t — they still may have had a very real connection that could have definitely sparked into something more had they chosen to pursue it — for instance, I don’t think for a second that Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake wouldn’t have hooked up during FWB if he wasn’t so obsessed with his now wife (and she might have been in a relationship then too I don’t remember). And it was exactly the case with Tom and Zendaya. AND that’s just for celebrities, who’ve often only been working together for 8-9 months or so, making a movie. Not two guys who are attached at the hip and have been for the last near decade.
Whew. That was a lot of ands. Still with me?
#2: I think you’re seriously overestimating everyone’s acting ability.
Imagine being “on” all the time.
I get that they could turn things on and get purposefully flirty or suggestive during fansigns, or onstage, but BTS are some of the most prolific celebrities out there in terms of “behind the scenes” footage. They have posted hours and hours of what basically amounts to reality show content, spanning years of their lives.
“But reality TV is scripted.” Well, duh. It typically needs to have some sort of narrative, some sort of direction or it will be dull. But as anyone who watches reality TV will tell you, it’s scripted, but also it’s not. That’s what separates it from purely fictional movies and series with actors; it’s real people having, for the most part, real reactions in real time, and it’s what is so fascinating to so many people. You can script an interaction on a reality show, but it’s much harder to script every individual person’s reactions to that interaction, the interpersonal relationships that form, the nonverbal behaviors and cues, the personality traits that are revealed. More often than not, someone’s true character, or at least several facets of it, will come out when they’re on a reality show. It’s how we can confidently say that certain bachelors/bachelorettes are assholes — because even while they aren’t meant to be portrayed as such, and in fact they are actively meant to be seen as desirable, marry-able people — sometimes they just can’t hide their gross true natures. And that’s just for 1-2 seasons. Imagine pretending that well for something like 8 years of behind the scenes content. That’s approaching psychopathic levels of acting ability, and it’s an unrealistic conclusion. Maybe they’re not dating, but I believe they’re absolutely as close, if not closer, than they look. There’s no faking that level of intimacy and comfort, not for that long.
#3: I don’t agree with you that shipping allows the members to date who they want.
I’m not sure how the two things are related actually, except that maybe shippers in the fandom are more likely to dismiss dating rumors because they believe the guys to already be taken? But that’s just the thing — dating rumors have only ever been rumors for them. Nothing’s ever been confirmed, though there has been PLENTY of speculation, for Jimin and Jung Kook both. So I don’t really see how promoting Jikook as a subunit has protected them from any of that? If they were dating other people they’d STILL have to sneak around and keep that shit locked down, regardless of shippers — because regardless of shipping, proof is proof and if a photo of them making out with somebody on a yacht leaks, it really doesn’t matter how many cute selfies they posted with the other members, know what I mean?
#4: I don’t ship/support Jikook because of their contrived interactions.
I support them and believe them to be in a romantic relationship, or at least something that is not strictly platonic, because of their tension, comments, behaviors, and stories they tell of off-screen moments. Sure, maybe some PR person gave them the okay to do that dance cover of Own It, but nobody told them to do it like THAT, in a dark room, alone, with tension so thick it seeps through the screen. Yeah, they got paired up for 2021 seasons greetings, but nobody paused the shoot to remind Jung Kook to fixate on Jimin’s lips as he playfully leaned in. Yeah, they were asked to share how they felt when they heard the news about the Grammy nomination, but do you really think a PR person pulled Jimin to the side beforehand and said “psst, do that thing where you pretend you were with Jung Kook at 3 in the morning, awake for no apparent reason, the fans love that shit.” Nobody told them to take an intimate selfie in a car together and look absolutely pissed off (Jimin) scandalized (JK) and caught off guard (both) when the camera caught them. Emily in Paris isn’t over there spinning outrageous ideas in a board room and telling JK and Jimin to pause reaally awkwardly when they notice the camera in JK’s hotel room, almost like they weren’t expecting it to be there when they entered together — the ONLY members to do so.
Have I made my point? These two are a treasure trove of suspicious moments that add up, and add up, and just keep swirling together until we all kind of collectively go — huh, that doesn’t seem strictly platonic, my dudes 🧐
Idk. It seems like this fandom is very fickle, and constantly erases any and all nuance and realism for these dramatic, black or white, this or that stances that don’t really make sense in the real world. Maybe Jimin and Jung Kook have never had a romantic relationship (and if they haven’t, in my opinion, no one has, because no one else in the group has anything close to their particular cocktail of intimacy, chemistry, and suspicious moments/stories). But even if they haven’t, does that reduce their every interaction to contrived content thought up by men in suits in a conference room? Nah baby. That’s 90% them, their marketing team is just the lucky bastards that get to reap the rewards of an electric duo. Or unlucky, probably, if you ask the poor peons in charge of editing hours of content 🙃
If you made it this far, you’re a trooper. 💜 Would love to hear any other thoughts!
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Here's a rough rough draft of something I'm working on. Since there's next to nothing with Gideon I figured I'd share and that gives me the motivation to keep writing lol. *also posted on my OG post as a reblog*
The sun was warm against your skin. The grass softer than you expected. Of course, that was on you for not thinking the Gemstone's kept their grass immaculate. Regardless, the sun and the grass and Gideon next to you made you feel relaxed and at ease.
"I can't tell you the last time I just… laid in the grass for fun!" You nearly giggled.
"Can you tell me the last time you were on Go Karts?" Gideon asked.
"Nope!"
The breeze was gentle as it swept over you. Closing your eyes, you exhaled. Breathing in, well, everything.
"Y/N?" Gideon's voice brought you back.
"Hmm?"
"I'm glad you're here."
You peaked open your eyes, turning your head to the side to look at him. The brightness of the sun brought out his blue of his eyes. His hair looking even sandier. Every single freckle noticeable.
"I am too."
"I'm sorry it's under these circumstances."
You shrugged. "It's alright." It wasn't though. You knew it. He knew it. Everyone knew it. But at this particular moment, the how and why didn't matter. This moment was all that did. "I just missed you." You blinked nice and long. Mind running back to one of the last times you saw Gideon.
The after party was already in full swing when you arrived. You wanted to be fashionably late but maybe this was a bit too much. Brooke was already hammered when you found her.
"Hey, bitch!" She slurred, draping a long arm around you. "We've been doing shots!"
You laughed, putting your arm around her waist. "I can see that!"
"There's plenty more!" Her free arm held a red solo cup and you knew that that contained some incredibly strong mixed drink. You took the cup from her and took a sip. Yep. The rum and coke (mostly rum) burned in the best way.
You passed her back her drink. "Guess who's been asking about you?"
Your heart skipped a beat. "Gideon?"
"No." She stumbled as she lead you to where the shots were. "Randy."
That was more disappointing than Gideon not asking about you. "Oh," you mustered.
"He just can't take a hint."
"No, he cannot."
"How many times has he asked you out?"
"Like seven."
"Jesus fucking christ what a- oh! Shots"!
One of the other girls you worked with on the movie - Heather? Halle? Harlow? - had a full tray of shots she was carrying around.
"Brooke! Y/N! Here!" She thrusted the tray towards the two of you. You grabbed one, feeling bad she remembered your name and you didn't.
"Thanks!" You and Brooke both said. You raised the small glasses in the air, a cheers to another successful movie and to each other, before knocking them back. Ah, straight vodka.
Finding a flat, uninhabited surface, you placed the shot glass down. Heather/Halle/Harlow had already walked away with the tray. She was off in the distance, offering them to more party goers.
"Have you seen Gideon at all?" You asked, not yet feeling the buzz of the alcohol but you knew it was coming.
"Um," Brooke though, taking a sip of her drink. "Like when I first got here. Like an hour ago?"
"Was he with anyone?"
She shook her head, drinking more. "I don't think so."
You reached out towards her and she passed you her cup again. Now, there wasn't much left so you downed it. "I'm gonna find him."
"And tell him you're in loooooove?" She teased.
You shoved the now empty cup back at her, trying unsuccessfully to hide the smile from your face. "I don't love him," you said.
"Suuuuuuure."
"I just, sorta, like him a lot."
"Mmmmmhhhhhmmmmm."
"Fuck off, Brooke."
"Whatever," she said, laughing as she walked away. Leaving you alone to find Gideon Gemstone.
Thankfully, the alcohol started to do its job. The warmth was spreading through your body and you cared less and less about what you said to Gideon. Something about your feelings for him. Something before he runs off with Scotty. Fuck, you might just kiss him.
Unfortunately, that was not what Fate had intended. The room you found him in wasn't crowded and that seemed to be the intended goal. He was there with Heather/Halle/Harlow nestled in a corner. Their faces glued together and hands roaming everywhere on each other.
Well fuck. Goddammit. Son of a bitch.
You definitely needed more to drink.
Once again, Fate took that into its own hands. "Hey, Y/N." Randy approached you with two red solo cups in his hands. You tried to ignore him, the sadness eating away at your insides. Fuck, after months and months of working with Gideon, hanging out, growing closer, this happens. He's making out with Heather/Halle/Harlow.
"Y/N!" Randy persisted. "Care for a drink?"
Fuck it. Why not? What could go wrong?
"Missed you too," he said, bringing you from your memories.
Another comfortable silence fell between you two. As you turned your head back up to the sun, you stretched out your arms. Your hands running through the grass.
"You know," he said, looking at you again. "You can stay with us, with me, as long as you like."
Tiny tingles erupted from where his fingers now touched yours in the grass. Not quite holding hands, but not not holding hands. Enough to make your heart skip a beat.
"Thank you," you said, eyes connecting. "I really appreciate that."
This moment was nothing but Gideon Gemstone and you. Simply being. And that was enough for you.
#gideon gemstone#gideon gemstone x reader#gideon gemstone fic#the righteous gemstones#the righteous gemstones fic#kelvin gemstone#jesse gemstone#judy gemstone
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How long does it typically take you to work on a chapter of your fanfiction? In terms of drafting, getting feedback, and all of that.
Omg stop I love this question???
I'mma be real with you chief, the process is very chaotic & fell into place like this overtime organically. I've enjoyed writing prior to this, but more so of journaling and poetry. The work I post now is my first time legit trying to write storytelling, and it's all been a trial by fire kind of experience. But basically:
I've gotten into the habit of making vague outlines for chapters (or even oneshots) a few days before I sit down and actually write something. They're not really meant to be detailed at all; they're just meant to be trigger phrases that keep me on track with the events I aim to have unfold. Here's an example of what this looks like with Chapter 5 of S&S D (The Power Outage & Storm):
The outlines themselves are also very subject to change; I use them as references but often add in extra detail/scenes or remove/rearrange scenes as I'm writing. With this outline you can immediately see...
Juliana texting Drayton became Kieran snapping the cave selfie. I thought this change would be much better commentary on Kieran's unearthing feelings, as he made the active decision to take the selfie on his own. It was also a good way for Drayton to remain aware of their developing relationship (which was a secondary motive of mine given the brotherly role he eventually adopts), and it became a plot point I could refer back to later when Kieran discovers that Juliana might actually have feelings for him given what she does with the picture.
I was originally envisioning something more romantic with a shared Ribombee sighting. I changed this for a few reasons: 1) Having this scene as is would've verified that Ribombee wasn't a figment of Kieran's imagination 2) I had developed Ribombee's backstory and connection to Kieran by this point, and felt that creating a connection to Juliana this early on would diminish the storytelling with that. 3) Having Kieran see Ribombee as a more "pleasant" experience in this moment was symbolic to his healing in itself, and the extra detail of making Ribombee be a bit of a gatherer who is watching over them adds to the mystical/fairy godmother-like characterization I wanted to depict with her.
As for the actual writing itself?
This is a bit of a personality thing with me, but I am extremely bad at breaking tasks up into digestible bits. I'm more of a "I want to sit down and do all of this in one sitting no matter how long it takes me" kind of person. So 99.99% of the time I'm posting something - whether a singular chapter, a oneshot, or even a double update? It's all written in one sitting when I have a free day. I also have perfectionistic tendencies at times, so I tend to be a slow writer. Rather than write a rough draft to go back to and revise later, I hover over sentences or phrases and I will write/rewrite them when I feel stuck. I refuse to move on otherwise because leaving things unfinished apparently bothers me. So the amount of time it takes me can range but it's pretty much an all day endeavor, LOL.
The pros to this method is that I can zero in and maintain a continuous, uninterrupted flow after having an idea simmer for enough time. But as you can imagine, the cons include feeling very drained afterwards and not necessarily having a true revision process. This is why I make jokes about correcting typos immediately after publishing, lol. As much as I rather not have them there and appreciate when people (kindly) point them out, I think it's also important for me to be able to be imperfect to challenge said perfectionistic tendencies. So the proofreading drawback is actually deliberate, but it's more so for my personal development than for the writing! :P
As for the feedback?
Because of the spontaneity and intensity of my writing style, as well as my eagerness to publish after I finish something, I choose not to use betas. Instead, I actually like to do something I kind of refer to as "consulting" from time-to-time, lol? I essentially will tell a trusted person an idea I am not fully confident about or am having trouble with flushing out, and then I bounce back and forth with them. More often than not being able to verbalize my idea usually just helps me in itself.
The other core component of feedback is actually you guys. I always try to keep the reader experience in mind, and gauging your reactions helps inform me on where I wanna go next. For example...? >:)
No one (to my knowledge) has guessed the big moment that's approaching in Sweet & Sour. I kindaaaa want it to be a possible theory right before the reveal. And since we're getting much closer to it, I'm switching up my hints so they're going from more vague and gradual (beginning of story to recently) -> double entendres (last few chapters) -> more in your face (where we're going). I'm actually super excited but also very terrified for the execution of this shift LOL.
But really, even for cuter moments or smaller things or whatever? You guys are constantly inspiring and encouraging me, and your reactions and theories and fanarts and everrrythingggg all helps me tell a better story, so thank you. I do enjoy working with some of your ideas when you give me permission, and I do put in deliberate nods in fics to some of the things you are all saying/doing to express gratitude and respect back to you. I really want you to know that I am listening and I am so grateful for all of your engagement, so thank you for making my storytelling better. <3
So in sum the writing process for me is essentially:
Think about ideas in the back of my head for a few days
Create an outline a few days later, continue thinking in the back of my head
(If necessary): Consult about weak points that are making me feel stuck
Sit down and write when I have a free day and go ham. (Note: Picking out music to listen to also super helps with channeling the vibe of the writing piece.)
Publish
Wait for reactions and gauge where I wanna go from there
Maintain blog/respond to reactions during the gap; tease aspects of the fic & generate hype (mutual benefit - y'all can get excited and I can get motivated)
Repeat
If you're looking to write yourself, I would honestly tell you to do as I say and not as I do. I'm an extremely stubborn person when it comes to my personal expression (lol) and I honestly wouldn't want people to deal with the exhaustion afterwards, tbh. I'd suggest creating an outline, pacing yourself appropriately, and taking breaks as you write. Revising/proofreading before publishing would probably make your work a lot stronger, but if you're too impatient like me I see you and I feel you and we ride at dawn together LOOOLLL
This was a super fun question, I hope this answers it well enough! :)
#my fics#asks#dipplinshipping#kieran pokemon#kieran x juliana pokemon#juliana x kieran pokemon#juliana pokemon#kieran x juliana#juliana x kieran#writing tips
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HELLO :D AM HERE TO BOTHER YOU WITH QUESTIONS ‼️
(7 or 8, 14, 15, 28)
i hope you’re doing well!! 🥹🫶🏼
Well hello you! I'm doing well enough for a long weekend that's flown by far too fast lol ❤️
I just answered 8, so while I'm sure I could come up with another one, let's go with...
7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.
Alex's sexuality musings from Puck It, aka the hockey boyfriend Henry fic:
Alex is aware that he might be bisexual in the same way he’s aware that he might be allergic to cats; there have been a few brief interactions to make him think it’s probably true, but so far it hasn’t had any impact on his life, so he hasn’t really had a reason to look into it and find out for sure. Now, faced with Henry’s clavicle and the sudden, vivid mental image of sinking his teeth into it, he’s not sure how theoretical it is anymore.
I'm just a slut for a good analogy and when I feel like I've nailed one I'm, like, cheering internally lol.
14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?
I'll preface this by saying I definitely don't think it's the worst writing advice for everyone; in fact for some people it's probably exceptionally good writing advice. But no advice is one size fits all, and for me, the ongoing and at times very firm narrative that of COURSE your first draft will be complete dogshit and if you're not embarrassed to show it to people you don't have a good sense of your own work and blah blah blah REALLY fucked me up as a writer for a long time. Because that is just... not my experience. I write clean copy and do minimal editing because 90% of the time my first draft is the story I want to tell! And I got very much in my head about that particular piece of advice and how it must mean that I was a really shitty writer or just had no sense of good writing, if I was reading my first draft and thought it was good, you know? Turns out we all create differently and, spoiler alert, not all advice is helpful for all people. It took me a while to get there, though.
15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?
I mean. It's gotta be the actor AU, right??? It HAS to be.
28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.
Ugh, only three? This is cruel. This is, like, a fraction of a very long list.
Right.
@clottedcreamfudge - Has this particular flavour of "Alex is just ferally horny for Henry immediately' that I both adore and yearn to aspire to. Her college AUs are just so nice to lose myself in when I want to escape the bullshit in my own head for a little bit
@myheartalivewrites - Writes the richest, most gorgeous, completely fleshed out relationships between Alex and Henry, whether canon/post-canon or AU. Their love for each other just rings so true and I want to roll around in it.
@sparklepocalypse - Has this way of getting me a thousand percent on board with even the most off the wall pitches. Time-travelling threesome? Fucking sure. Henry as a cecaelia? Let's fucking go. Alex as a god? Nothing's ever made more sense, actually. One of those authors that could write literally anything and I'll be like "I don't know what I'm about to witness but I know I'll fucking love it".
[40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers]
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Hey what're your thoughts on how marcille and chilchuck show affection for marchil?
I mean, marcille seems to be the type to be the most blatantly affectionate of the two, but I want to know your headcanons and observations on the subject. How do they communicate their wants for affection, and what do they view as signs of affection (ex: hugs, small gifts, ect.) and such?
Sorry it took me this long to answer!! Thank you sm for sending a marchil ask my way I swear I love them sm, they spark joy and even if I have uhh -checks- 67 drafts already I love dropping everything for them when the mood comes hehehe.
I love talking about love languages actually! Little did you know that the first post I made on this blog was about analyzing the love languages of an ot3 lmao. The only reason why this is so late overdue is because as always I’m going to talk so much about it. The pics I put in it are relevant but I don’t put them right beside where I make my point, so stick with me even if they’re a bit jarring at first, they’re just meant to show aspects of them~.
Marcille and Chilchuck’s love languages
+ their domestic romantic dynamic. I’ll say, I ended up talking even more than I expected, and though it is in a marchil context I think my analysis of the characters is relevant even if their partner was anyone else, so non-marchil shippers might also enjoy this post! Give it a shot maybe~
To open it up, I think this post is very relevant. Marchil is def a ship where the ways in which they say they love each other feel more subtle, for Chilchuck at least.
Their perspective, boundaries and overlap
I think Chilchuck and Marcille recognize the other’s way of showing affection well, though it’s very obvious that Marcille and Chilchuck’s ways are super different. Marcille is very open and loud and Chilchuck… Isn’t. Chilchuck is reserved while Marcille loves to get all the affection she can get. Marcille could be seen as too much while Chilchuck would be too little. One could even say they aren’t compatible, but I think that’d be a mistake.
Yes Marcille loves big grand gestures and a lot of open communication, but her thing is analyzing people as they are, like how when she imagines how it’d have been like as his wife she put in details like how he’d be annoyed at having to wait for her to get ready and didn’t idealize that part of their relationship. She’s very good at putting herself in others’ shoes, at understanding why they might feel this or that way.
She typically doesn’t seem put off when Chil is snappy or discouraging at her, like when she shows him the ball of Izutsumi’s hair that she shaped into a cat lol. (The panel at the start of this section was when she was disappointed in him for cheating on his wife, so her good esteem for him was gone). She has a high esteem of Chilchuck’s intentions and has good faith in him overall, so instead of going "He’s annoyed at waiting on me… Am I annoying to him? Does he dislike me?" or "He didn’t notice I got upset when we were out drinking with his colleagues. Does he even love me anymore? Would he care if I left him?" she goes "Oh that’s just how he is, I know if there’s an actual issue he’ll tell me, and he still has my best interests at heart.". Who knows if she’d always be able to rationalize and keep that optimistic attitude up long term, but it gives me a good impression that she would! Or that at least she’d communicate about it if she felt their relationship had a problem.
She loves to confront people about that sort of thing! She can be more insecure and meek when the topic is sensitive to her like her being a half-elf, but when it comes to relationships like that, I believe she’d stand up for herself if it came down to it. The way she said that his wife might have left to "test his love" and see if he’d chase after her is a bit worrying to me, but ultimately I think that was her dramatic novels fan self talking and not something that she’d do herself. If she did leave, she would sooo leave a super long dramatic letter about how she felt and the situation and he’d reply and they’d make up I think. ANYWAYS!
Of course everyone needs to be shown some affection once in a while regardless of if she knows well how he is or not, and Marcille would be very unashamed about asking that of him. She’d respect his boundaries with public displays of affection as much as he’d demand it, but she’d be her usual overt self with stealing kisses or making him say I love you regularly. 0 PDA would be rough on her if Chilchuck wanted it that far, but she’d do it, she’d be able to twist it into something endearing too, like her being like "No one else gets to see him this way but me, I have this sweet side of him all to myself" and "He’s just reserved like that, it makes the time when he does show it all the more meaningful", them cuddling a ton as soon as they get home and Marcille feels touch starved, etc etc.
So what I’m getting at with all this is: Marcille’s love languages are very self-evident and hard to miss so unless Marcille suddenly acts mopey and doesn’t tell him why, and unless Chilchuck has some anxiety (what with his ex wife just up and leaving without him having been able to see the warning signs), he would feel very confident in her love for him and comfortable in the relationship, if not a little tired or frustrated with some aspects of it if she sometimes does too much.
Meanwhile, like mentioned, even if Chilchuck’s love languages are more subtle, more rooted in casual domesticity rather than big gestures or words, Marcille would see and recognize that and not hold it against him or feel burdened by it. She highly values communication —in a way they both do, even if when it’s about feelings Chilchuck becomes a bit of an ostrich hiding his head underground— so if there’s a problem she’ll for sure confront him about it too.
Chilchuck is good at voicing when there are practical problems or when he’s uncomfortable, and Marcille is good at voicing when there are emotional problems, so they’re pretty complementary in that way.
Surprisingly I think if she ever did a marriage proposal it’d be very private though, it’d be a big deal to her and she would want to talk about it in the comfort of their lonesome, already thinking through the grief and how everything would work. I think Chikchuck would also prefer a private proposal, but on the other end I could totally see him thinking she’d love this grand fancy gesture of a big public proposal and organize one for her (Ooh good fic prompt right there). Once they’ve talked it through though they’re both very enthusiastic about it and openly talk about it with friends and coworkers, and Marcille gushes about her fiancé and they both have bachelor parties on their own end and whatnot. The big day would be a fun one, and the daughters would be the perfect wingwomen I believe~
Their love languages
Alright now that the groundwork is done let’s do this thing! Ok so the "official" love languages are words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts (giving and receiving), quality time and acts of service.
Marcille
Starting with Marcille, she’s pretty balanced I’d say! In the sense that she cranks them all to the max. Oh yes, and part of it is that she’s very aware that the time they have together is counted, so she wants to make the most out of every moment.
Idk if it’s fair to say that Marcille has something like separation anxiety, what with her getting mad at Falin when she left and they didn’t see each other for 4 years, and with during canon with Falin and such, because they’re all intense situations that don’t necessarily show how clingy(or not) she would be under normal circumstances (and she doesn’t live with them so she’s def ok with distance to some degree), but also I def think it’s fair to say that due to her experiences with loss she’s scared of taking her eye off of someone she loves for one moment and for them to disappear, also like how we see her talk to Izutsumi when she thinks she’s going to prison.
All that to say that yes, quality time!! She adores quality time, she’s the kind to soak up in someone’s presence even if they’re doing completely different things in the same room. She loves talking with him, cooking with him, bathing with him, even just chilling on the couch together. Post-canon they’d both be rather busy I imagine, so it only makes those moments they share more important. They’re trying out the long distance thing and making it work with the power of communicating well 🙏
Again, she’s big on acts of service, would resurrect you, would bathe you, would nurse you back to health or do something for you. Since she’s observant I could see her noticing subtle things in Chilchuck’s routine that she could help with, like getting his mug of coffee for him each morning, etc. I feel like those things are so natural to her that she wouldn’t mention them to Chilchuck or talk about how she does these things, so if she’s doing too much Chilchuck has to tell her because she won’t realize otherwise.
Gifts. We see with how she showers Chil in apology gifts intended to be from him to his family that she does value gifts! Giving wise, I think she’d be the type to be out shopping, see something that reminds of you then get it for you casually. It’s probably resulted in a few joke gifts that did not land lol, like idk modern AU a grumpy cat mug, or socks with "If you can read this bring me a beer" written underneath them. She’ll also put her heart and soul into gifts sometimes, especially for birthdays which mark the passage of time for her and even if a year passes by a little fast she makes it a point to always always go all out about it, she wants to show that he matters to her and thinks of him a lot, so she’ll put all of herself into picking out an heartfelt gift. She can get a little stressed and perfectionist over it but she does genuinely enjoy picking out gifts and giving them. Receiving wise, she’s also super big on it! She’s the kind to instantly value gifts more than other, maybe better suited options she has, like if you give her an ugly hair accessory or a mug she’ll 100% use them all the time from then on… Until she passes onto something new and the item gets sidelined a bit, but then when she’ll find it again years from then on she’ll be struck by memories and emotions and how much it all meant to her. I could see Chil getting her choker necklaces like she often wears for example, or books he can’t begin to understand about magic theory. It’s not as much of a ‘love language’ as the other ones I think, but she does really appreciate them, and if Chil makes an effort to get her flower bouquets somewhat regularly it would for sure make her feel really loved and happy. Oh yes! Also I def think that if she took up sewing or (personal hc) she’d love felting bc of when she did a tiny Izutsumi with her hair, she’d love making handmade gifts! She’d weave him a bracelet. She’d write him letters and put a nice scented oil on them.
Physical touch ohhh she’s big on touch. Even platonically we see that she’s very casual with her touches and does it a ton to most people (mostly Falin, Izutsumi and Chilchuck, but with her being a healer it also happens with Laios etc) and likes to cuddle or hang onto others, in daydream hour artworks, when sleeping with Izutsumi in an extra, etc etc. Even if she had a romantic partner I think she’d keep doing that with her friends and maybe even favoring Falin when she’s there for platonic touch, but I also def think that she’d be super touchy feely with her partner both in public and in private. As long as it doesn’t interfere with what Chil’s doing and he can remain cool and collected™️ he wouldn’t mind I think, so they’d be holding hands often and like, if he were to sit down on a couch with a beer she’d just drape herself over him and they’d chill out there (until they talk and she makes him laugh too hard and he spits his beer out all over them rip), not unlike how Izutsumi would. But YES physical touch is def a big love language for her, wether they’re arguing or just sharing a soft moment together, if he put his hand to her cheek gently she would melt into his touch. And she loves doting on others herself and touching them and feeling like they’re real and warm and alive, so yes yes touch is a big thing to her.
Words of affirmation aren’t a big deal to her to give out, because it’s so natural to her, but they would mean a lot to her to receive. She can get insecure and feel lonely/alone, and having someone be supportive and tell her that she is valued like in the mandrake chapter lifts a lot of weight off of her shoulders, and I imagine that’s doubly meaningful when the words are each and all true and earned when they come from Chil. Whenever he says "I love you" unprompted it’s like an arrow to the heart. Again, if he made the effort to be romantic and like idk, tell her poetic things like it’s a love letter she would absolutely melt. "My boyfriend is the best, most romantic most loving most virtuous man" @ everyone in hearing distance etc etc. She wants to keep his words all to herself and be a little greedy but just maybe while kicking her feet she’d go "and then he said blablabla~" with friends and coworkers at the palace (who may or may nit be willing listeners lol).
So because of all of this, of how she values all of them, I think she’d cherish whichever love language her partner does the least! She likes variety, and like we’ve talked a bit she adapts herself to whoever she’s with a bit. She’s personally a big cuddler, but she’d value whenever Chilchuck says that he loves her etc more in the end because she knows how much that means for him and how many feelings were put into that gesture for her.
She wants the full range of affection, everything that someone is ready to offer. She wants the full storybook romance experience babyy, if it’s a crumb of love she’ll take it and gobble it up whichever form it takes. They all mean something to her in different ways.
Chilchuck
Chilchuck is more picky. He knows what he likes and what he doesn’t like, and he doesn’t like to compromise much (though learning to do so is part of his arc in canon). His favorites are acts of service and words of affirmation, and physical touch selectively, imo.
First of all, Chilchuck is a more private person by nature, but I think it’s also worth pointing out that he has some stress over how things ended with his wife, so someone growing on him and him getting to trust them etc also just takes slower. Wether you think Chilchuck will largely be open and comfortable once the confession’s done and they’re dating, or if him opening up and growing used to being loving and loved again is more gradual even throughout their romantic relationship, his love languages will differ depending on what "stage" he is at. For example, I think he’d actually love receiving words of affirmation, they’re just not his highest priority and he needs to highly value them and trust them first, trust that they’re not lies or that you don’t have shit judgement. For the rest of this though I’ll assume they’ve been dating for a good while and have grown used to it and are very familiar with each other. Like Marcille maybe his insecurities creep up on him sometimes, but with the power of communication and support those moments tend to be short lived 💪 She keeps him from using alcohol as a bad coping mechanism & distraction too much.
Ok so starting out with quality time… I’ll get it out of the way but yes I think they’d be sexually active, though with how they work away from each other like with his wife and he spent 4 years holding out fr her his libido isn’t as intense as we’d asssume I think, and for elves "often" might be like once a month, so who knows. This is gonna come back in the physical touch section~ But yes Chilchuck spent a lot of time away from his family, so I think if he values quality time he super values the quality more than the quantity of time spent together. That said, I also headcanon that he gets stuck in his head a bunch about it so as long as he thinks about his family to motivate him on the job for example, he also half-asses the time he spends home and he’s generally too tired to go out and do big things, just wanna relax, so idk!! He might be a bit of a neglectful lover and Marcille needs to poke him so they go out on dates, but yes I think in a similar way to Marcille he really appreciates the time just spent together, even if it’s working on their own thing in the same room. As for conversations or emotionally meaningful moments, I think emotional stuff tires him out quickly, unlike with Marcille where she seeks emotional stimulation from books, so spending time being heartfelt and vulnerable together would be appreciated, but would need to be kinda rare for him to not be exhausted dead lying on the pavement and unable to keep up. Feeling gets him tired too, he never knows wether to repress or let the love grow or how to word what he’s feeling etc etc. At least at first, dates that are activities and allows him to just have fun without thinking much are best. It’ll take him time to grow more used to feeling emotionally naked with her and for it to come more easily and naturally, but they’ll get there and they’ll be sooo domestic.
So in the end! Quality time is appreciated but not particularly important, Chilchuck can really keeps the love going even when spending a loooong time away from each other or keeping the moments spent together casual. Oh yes I haven’t gone into that in any of my posts so far I think, but part of why he’s so casual and seemingly dismissive with his wife imo is because the relationship was sooo based on familiarity, respect and trust to him, they’ve been together forever, he trusted that they loved each other and were in this together and that he didn’t have to be extra for her to feel comfortable in the relationship because he trusted that she knew him well enough, trusted that she would stay with him even if their relationship wasn’t perfect, etc etc. So imo as long as he’s like "I love her and that’s enough for me, I trust that if there’s something up she’ll tell me and we can figure it out, I trust in our relationship to stay strong even if we don’t see each other much" then he can seem very casual and neglectful from an outside perspective. But make no mistake he thinks about her all the time and sighs forlornly because he wants to sleep in her arms after a hard day of work and has horny dreams of her 10/10 she matters a lot to him.
Acts of service!!! Biiig big one, there’s little more that Chilchuck values receiving than respect, though he’s much more stingy about giving it out, what with his teasing and insulting snappy remarks and how he’s always laughing at Marcille in canon. But yes like mentioned just before, Chilchuck likes familiarity in a relationship, so his partner anticipating his needs and going out of their way to do services for him would be suuper appreciated and would make him feel loved, would make him feel understood which in turn makes him feel safe that he doesn’t have to try and be someone he’s not to satisfy her and that she understands him well enough that she wouldn’t leave him due to miscommunication. Doing big favors would also be appreciated, but he prefers to live a routinely daily life imo so the acts of service would show themselves in small ways, like idk letting the water run in the bath because he knows Marcille will want to take a relaxing bath when she comes home from work. It’s definitely the love language that he does/give out the most imo, they’re the way he’s most comfortable showing that he cares and that he thinks of them and that he loves them, and he can feel safe doing them in any context wether he has all the eyes in the world on him or if they’re alone. He’s also generally protective, and looking out for her would fit into this category imo. But yes post-canon, I think one way in which this shows is that he’d do her hairdos, maybe even daily if possible. He loves blonde hair and he’s agile with his fingers, but he doesn’t value complicated hairdos much, but he’d learn a lot of hairdos for her, because he loves her and knows how it was once super important to her, and also bc he wants her to slay out there and at the same time he’s doing himself a favor by prettying it up hehe. He had a thing for undone long hair but he loves Marcille and when in the final chapters her hair was all messy the unfamiliar sight of it unsettled him, so besides just wanting her to get through the day without eating her hair and getting the urge to shave it all off, he also just does it because it feels so her and he remembers that side of her fondly (yes, even if that used to make her take even longer to get ready in the mornings).
Might surprise you might not but I think gifts are everything to him. Like the cowl from his daughter that he always wears, and all the mementos from his family we see he keeps in his room, like the dragon plush and the flower. Maybe they help him feel that the love people hold for him is real and exists/has existed at least at one point, maybe it’s about the memories, maybe it’s about being able to keep hanging onto them even after a relationship is over, idk!!!! But I think having gifts from his loved ones makes him feel like his life is fuller and warmer and like he always has some love surrounding him. For that reason he would super value gifts that Marcille would get for him. She overdoes it a bit and often gets him stuff for no particular occasions, mostly stuff that’s useful and that gets consumed so it’s not a problem or a bother though, but when it sticks it sticks, like a durable pair of gloves in a style he likes that she got for him. I don’t think photographs exist (at least not for the non-dwarves) but if they did oooh he’d be keeping stacks of them, would have some framed, he wouldn’t want people to know because he thinks he’d look corny but he wouuuuuld. He’d also have the "this reminds me of Marcille" moments when out into town, looking at jewelry or food that she likes (I imagine this is often the sort of gift/act of service he’d get for her, meals that he picked out because she loves them), but he’d also have the instinct to get her a gift on special occasions, and he’s s bit clumsy with it but he wants to make the item meaningful. He knows what she thinks is romantic, the woman has made plans for him to apologize to his wife with gifts after all, but he also knows that she loves gifts that scream "him" too so the man just doesn’t know what to do to make it as best as he could and he really doesn’t want to fuck it up. I think once he’d made a little metal sculpture-puzzle for her, like a little rabbit out of metal scraps, and he’d be so self-conscious about it but my god she’d adore it sooo much. It’d be cute if he got her a locket, even, and then with the help of imported dwarven technology they could get a picture of them or even all their friends into it and it becomes her most precious item for the following centuries. Ouuugh that’d make a sweet fic where he plans out a birthday party for her……
But yes yes, practical gifts… He knows she values ornamental useless things, unlike him, and though he doesn’t fully approve he also wants to do right by her so he’d go out of his comfort zone and find pretty gifts for her. I touch upon it a bit in my fic Grind Me Down Sweetly (named bc ground coffee beans & it’s meant to be like her slowly getting through the walls he built around himself :] Finding a newfound vulnerability with someone new but finding it soothing, sweet even if a lil bitter bc it’s coffee), and for example he gives her money for a favor she did for him as a friend. She doesn’t want to accept it, because to her doing something for her friend to help them out is more meaningful than getting rewarded for it, but for him respecting each other’s time and abilities is a big thing too. They end up compromising somewhat, because she then spends that money on gifts for him/them to share, so it ends up being a gift to the both of them for a shared effort~
Alrighty physical touch. In canon we see him get touched quite a lot, and when it isn’t patronizing or crowding (like others going to pet his head) he doesn’t seem to mind at all. But it’s a question of wether he’d enjoy it here. We don’t really saw that I think? He often doesn’t mind touching others but usually his touches have a practical purpose like pushing or pulling someone out of danger, and when it isn’t he doesn’t seem to enjoy it, like when Izutsumi sleeps in his bed. As far as I remember the only time we see him happy for touch beyond the few meaningful hugs like when he wanted the party to head back to the surface, was when his succubi were seducing him, sooo overall I get the feeling he’s not big on touch. Like being open with his feelings it’s something he’d keep for the more occasional time rather than something he does often. He is casual with touches but doesn’t give it out and seek it out naturally, so Marcille being very clingy’s not a problem, and as we see with Izutsumi always sleeping with him he’s ready to sacrifice his comfort for others too sometimes. I think being Marcille’s lover though I feel like he’d warm up to touches more, like she’d love to have him rest his head on her lap and to massage his scalp so eventually Chil looks forward to that as part of their routine and it relaxes him and feels right. I think he does like kissing, the routine goodbye peck feels warm and soothing, but with touch what he’d like the most would be making out and having sex and whatnot. Listen it’s super meaningful to him like, the peak of being vulnerable and naked and pouring out his emotions for someone for him. But yes she hangs onto his arm, holds his hand, goes to hug him from behind when he’s cooking, etc etc, and he doesn’t dislike it, but it’s not one of his love languages perse in that sense. It’s more that physical touches are a part of her, so he associates those with her, and so in a way he quite likes them, but it’s nit something he gravitates towards.
Words! I forget what I’ve mentioned already and what I haven’t oof, but yes Chilchuck values respect a lot, and with his last relationship he now values straightforward communication a lot. "If you want to leave me, at least please tell me first" style. But just with the way he is in canon too, where he hypes up his professional skills a lot, getting earned praised does mean something to him. Inversely, he devalues himself interpersonally quite a bit, calling himself a coward or selfish etc etc, and ultimately it’s Marcille telling him that he was a virtuous husband and that he may still have a shot with his wife that makes him see the glass half full and reflect on himself more positively! Remember what I said about Chilchuck first needing to value someone’s opinion before putting stock in their words? This is the canon moment that makes me feel the most like she earned that trust from him, he values what she says and her perspective. He knows her words aren’t empty and he’s able to trust in them more than he trusts his own judgement about himself. So yes yes, he loves getting told that he has qualities, that he’s skilled and manly and handsome and virtuous and kind, though he doesn’t need to be told "I love you" he’d still find it nice ofc. I say this because as I’ve said I think his way of being in a longterm relationship is soaking in the familiar casual soothing energy of it, he loves knowing her and noticing the little things (much like her with how she notices that he hates having to wait on someone for example), and he trusts her love in him, so he doesn’t feel like being told I love you is necessary, but it is a nice bonus.
And this is the bit where the post I linked at the beginning becomes especially relevant. I think Chilchuck shows his affection in subtle but thoughtful ways that showcase just how much they know each other, because to him love languages are less about proving how much love one holds for another but about defining the bond that they share, about quality more than quantity. He’s not one for big gestures, he just wants to feel connected with the person he’s with. Access intimacy, in-jokes, being protective/attack dogism, knowing the little details (Marcille’s favorite) and voluntary vulnerability… These truly ARE more in line with how Chilchuck shows his affection. And thus Marcille would see them for what they are and greatly value them as well.
Last points
… Help I forgot to talk about how teasing is like their whole thing lol
Ok so more concisely, Marcille will receive and give as much affection as she’s allowed, while Chilchuck needs to have the right setting right mood for it and makes more efforts for her sake to outwardly show it.
Edited in: Short section about pet names!! Chilchuck likes to call people by name and finds that in itself to be intimate but with half-foot names having ‘first names’ where Chilchuck’s is Chil, he might instinctively shorten it to Marci. Otherwise I’ve thought it’d fun if he gave bunny themed pet names teasingly, like his silly rabbit like the meme or harebrain rip, ‘bun’ would have the benefit of being related to food…
But also I could see him defaulting to calling her ‘love’, ESPECIALLY if they had a conversation about pet names and discussed it- it could be a more sustainable way for her to feel loved since he’s not regularly showing his affection outwardly much or saying "I love you", that’d be sooo sweet I think. They discussed pet names, and since he doesn’t regularly say "I love you" or show affection all that much, having him call her love as a pet name eases all of that and makes her feel so special and loved. He takes a bit of time to get used to it and not feel silly and self-conscious, but nowadays it slips off the tongue so easily.
How do they communicate their wants for affection:
Marcille will blatantly ask for it and/or make the first move herself, except for when she senses that Chil is tired and needs his space.
Chilchuck will blink in morse code, and Marcille will somehow understand (to his upmost relief and adoration). He’ll grab her sleeve subtly to ask for her attention and touch, wordlessly walk up to her and reach for her face to leave a tender kiss on her lips, quietly speak to her if he wants to tell her something. And, you know, the other half of the time he feels horny and on top of the world so he indulges her wants for big passionate gestures and being very blunt and forward about it.
What do they view as signs of affection:
They recognize each other’s way of showing affection well enough, but it’d be more about which signs they prefer I’d say. For example, Chilchuck does love getting smothered by her kisses and affection sometimes, but if it’s in public 99% of the time the embarrassment will win over, so it ends up meaning more to him that she doesn’t, that she holds back for his sake and she loves him enough to do that and she doesn’t blame him for it and she cares and she would stay with him even if he’s maybe flawed and- It means a lot!!! It’s like an act of service in that way.
They compromise and do acts of service sooo much for each other, like she hurries in her care routine so he doesn’t have to wait on her for long, but then he sees her get out ready with her hair a mess and he takes the time to tie it up nicely for her.
But yes Marcille overanalyzes everything and will seek out signs of affection into literally anything, but values whichever way to show affection she knows is hardest to do for Chil beyond the ones that feel so heartwarming because they just scream "Chil" to her. Meanwhile Chilchuck values her keeping in mind his boundaries, values her words and her being there for him, an unchanging fixture in his life offering him unconditional love through thick and thin. He values how well they know and understand each other, and how they communicate when things don’t feel as easy. Like, you know, when one of them becomes a dungeon lord and threatens humanity for example.
The compromises that being in a romantic relationship inevitably brings, and having to put some efforts to understand the other person and better the relationship, are points at the heart of Chilchuck’s plot with his wife imo. With the bicorn chapter, Marcille and Chilchuck have already hashed out a lot of their differences and come to a deeper understanding, so I’d say they’re halfway there to making it work :) Oohh what if I gave you hope in the world sometimes being a good bright p’ace where things can go right and love can be fulfilling and rewarding, and what if you gave me a concrete real example of the virtuous man figure that I’ve always idealized in books even if no one real can be as flawless, and the compromise both our outlooks on lives mixed to make made something beautiful and productive…
A bit like how the sweet & salty sandwich feels like an ill-fitting mix of ingredients but still tastes surprisingly good… Like perhaps a sweet woman and a sour man would go well together after all.
I’ll share this lil marchil song analysis @thatsmimi did once of Soap by The Oh Hellos to be the note I leave this post on~
#Ask#Marchil#Sorry according to my dates this was asked on like the first of december aka 2 months ago. I had 67 drafts when writing this up at first#Which dates it a lot already lmao#About the Marcille changes her fave love language depending on her partner thing: for farcille I think it’d be gifts and acts of service#For laimar I think it’d be words and acts of service and- Dammit it also depends on when in the timeline it’s set#Marcille donato#chilchuck tims#dungeon meshi#delicious in dungeon#Yahoo I am now freeeeeee#Spoilers#dungeon meshi manga spoilers#Love languages#character analysis#ship analysis#analysis#This is 6k words#Headcanons#I feel so 🤓 rn I’m sorryyy I just love this topic it’s like getting to the core of each character’s psychology and shit it’s so AAAAAH#Handing you this post like a cat bringing you a bird’s corpse#They’re literally bittersweet ough they get to me
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