#it's a great read and I love how you were able to mix the Bad Boy x Princess AU with the Role Reversal AU! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

m1d-45 · 8 months

Note

i love your sagau/imposter au fics so much (esp kazuha’s),, do you think nahida would be able to sense if the creator isnt an imposter because of her having access to Irminsul and being able to see if there are records of them? anyways okok so uh hear me out, maybe the creator tries to seek safety in sumeru while they’re being hunted? sorry if this is a lengthy ask ekwjkwm anyways thanks for reading, ur amazing !

sandy refuge

word count: 3.4k

-> warnings: spoilers for the final sumeru archon quest

-> gn reader (you/yours)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yuus3n || @esthelily || @turningfrogsgay || @cupandtea24 || @genshin-impacts-me || @chaoticfivesworld || @raaawwwr

< masterlist >

sumeru was a deadly nation.

liyue was guarded by the adepti, and inazuma’s storms tore the sea around the archipelago to shreds, but sumeru…

sumeru, the land of wisdom, headed by academics and led by scholars and sages. the nation split in two, lush forests barely a stones throw from barren deserts, believers of two (three?) separate gods walking side by side through the city. for a nation so divided, it was rare to get everybody to agree on something, every decision inevitably and invariably leaving some group of people unsatisfied.

and yet, there they were, united under one flag. eremites and the matra, the beige robes of the desert dwellers shifting in the wind besides the glittering armor of the akademiya’s soldiers, spears and swords aligned towards the same target.

it would be beautiful, if only you weren’t the one they rallied against.

you didn’t know how long you had been running when you managed to work your way past the wall, nor how long you had managed to stumble across sand dunes before finding your current oasis.

literally. trees swayed around a large pool of clear water, thick grass cushioning your knees as you barely hesitated before cupping some in your hands and drinking. it was blessedly cool, and you were tempted to swim in it and let it soothe the continuous heat from the desert sun. sadly, you didn’t have a spare set of clothes, and you weren’t keen on stripping when the matra could storm the place at any moment.

or the eremites. or the corp of thirty. or literally anybody else, since you’ve apparently been declared public enemy number one.

you splashed some water on your face and over your head, goosebumps rising where a drop raced beneath the collar of your shirt. how water was so cold when the sand was so hot, you didn’t know, but you weren’t going to complain.

after drinking a few more handfuls of the water, you finally looked around. there was a large spire of stone next to the oasis, flanked by large trees, with a thankfully abandoned hilichurl hut beside it.

you try not to think about how an archer would have had an easy shot as you were drinking.

at the base of a few of the trees is something green, and you remember the nuts that grew in the desert. you were too wary of the henna berries and the cacti they grew on to try and eat those, but you distinctly remember these being used in a few recipes.

all you could do was hope they were edible raw.

you stood—your vision blurred, the ground tilting, but you ignored it—and walked around the oasis, inspecting the green and hoping it wasn’t a fungus.

good news, it wasn’t. bad news, it was the husk of one of the nuts, hollow without any of the fruit inside. fresh, by the looks of it, the green leaves squishing instead of crumbling when you kicked at them.

great.

you sat on the curved trunk of one of the trees, holding up a hand to shade your eyes as you looked up. you could see another nut, hanging off the top of a tree, but.. the bark of the trees were smooth, and any of your athletic abilities were worn away by exhaustion and malnutrition.

you let your head drop and tried not to focus on your hunger, instead inspecting the mix of sand and grass beneath your feet. sand and grass. all of sumeru, represented right at your feet. hot, slippery sand, and cool, spiky grass. the desert and the forest, two wildly different ecosystems, and yet… both drove you out.

you tried not to cry, to push away the helplessness of the situation, but you couldn’t. what had you done, you wondered, for your very face to cause such an uproar? for two separate groups of people, divided in location, name, and faith to ally in their shared hatred of you? if somebody asked you what the millelith, matra, and eremites had in common about six months ago, you couldn’t have answered. you’d have thought about it, maybe, but drawn a blank outside of ‘defenders.’

but what were they defending? and how were you a threat?

when the first tear fell, so did something else.

you jumped at the dense thud, digging your nails—overgrown, bitten at, broken—into the bark as you searched for the source of the noise.

a large fruit had fallen, the one you were eyeing earlier by the looks of it. it sat atop the empty husk of another, magically fallen from the tree by seemingly nothing.

you weren’t going to complain.

you slid off the tree, reaching for the nut, grabbing the stem and pulling, but dropped it just as fast. a fungus was standing just behind it, large orange eyes looking up at you.

you were frozen. would it attack you? was it trying to eat? did they even need to? could you get sick from fungus spores? even if you couldn’t, getting hurt wasn’t worth the meal…

the fungus tilted to one side, then the other, bumping the large fruit towards you.

it… was giving it back?

you stared, but the fungus didn’t move. when you carefully tugged at the nut, slowly drawing it closer so you could properly pick it up, it didn’t move. it just watched you, the rim of its cap slightly falling into its eyes.

you sat back on the tree, pulling it into your lap. the outer leaves were coarse, softening as you pulled away the many layers. there was a high chance some of the inner leaves were edible, but you didn’t want to take chances. the fruit itself was a pale green, easily tearing under your fingers. it was soft, with the barest edge of sweetness that had you prying up more. it wouldn’t make for a full meal, but it was certainly far better than nothing.

you checked on the fungus every once in a while, but it just stood there. by your guess, it was the floating anemo kind, but where was its group? fungi rarely appeared alone, and part of you felt bad.

(felt bad. for a fungus. you’re in dirty, torn clothes and on the run for your life, and you still find the empathy for a fungus. at least you knew your morals were still intact.)

you offered a piece of the nut to the fungus, but it didn’t react. instead it turned, floating into the air and drifting away.

…alright.

you try to eat the fruit slowly, as to not make yourself sick, taking breaks to sip more water from the lake to dim the sweetness. you didn’t know how long the fruit would stay good now that you’d opened it, but you were trying to enjoy it. its not as if you were overflowing with excess, and you likely couldn’t linger here long. you don’t even know why you resorted to the desert anyway.. between cyno, the ruins, scorpions, the primal constructs.. to say it was dangerous was an understatement. even if you made it to the far west, the pari were there, and you didn’t think they would take too kindly to you. fontaine wouldn’t be much better, provided you somehow crossed the sea around it��

nowhere was safe. you supposed that was the point, that nobody would give you refuge, but it still hurt. you didn’t think you’d ever land in this situation when you first downloaded the game..

whatever. you’re not going to go down that path for the nth time. you hold the remains of the nut in one arm as you stand, picking off chunks as you walk toward the hilichurl hut. with any luck there would be something useful inside, or at least be a safe place to rest temporarily.

the camp looks like it’s been clear recently, which is both good and bad. good, because neither hilichurls nor patrols should come by here for a bit, but bad because it lowers your chances of finding anything useful. there’s no arrowheads or vegetables, not even embers in the fire pit, all the supply boxes long since broken.

at least it’s shelter. at least you had food today, and (hopefully) clean water. small wins, small wins…

you gather your strength and begin to drag all the rubble into the hut, using what was left of their training dummies to make a hollow pile. hopefully it would just look like trash to anyone walking by, and could maybe keep you warm. the scraps of furs littered over the camp were matted with something you didn’t want to think about, so this was your best bet.

man, you missed your bed.

you returned to the oasis for more water, scrubbing off some of the dirt from your arms and face. you wouldn’t be clean for long, what with the dirt floor you’d picked as your shelter, but it felt nice. a topical fix for a bone deep wound.

you didn’t try to clean your clothes, eyeing the sun dipping in the sky. having wet clothes wouldn’t help at night, even if it might feel good. perhaps tomorrow? yes, tomorrow. tomorrow you could scrub at your shirt—*blood doesn’t clean easily without soap*—and try to undo some of the knots in your hair, maybe even use leaves and some of the scraps of twine around the camp to bring some water with you.

tomorrow. you got this. surely.

(just ignore the fact that you don’t know where in the desert you are. or how easy it would be to get lost, or dehydrate. nope. this is a perfectly fine and normal situation that you have an okay amount of control over. you got this. you have to.)

you return to the hut, retrieving the other half of your fruit and taking it with you into your pitiful shelter. at least you didn’t have to worry about rain…

it was only slightly cramped beneath the pile of junk, but you had enough room for you and your food. you laid there for a long time, occasionally peeling off pieces to eat. you didn’t know how much was left, and you didn’t think about it, distracting yourself by thinking about tomorrow. if you were clever with some sticks you could fashion some wider soles for your shoes to get more grip on the sand, or maybe a hat to keep from burning… but there was water and food to worry about, but the area along the wall was certainly dangerous, but it might be worth it if it meant you lived a little longer…

you fell asleep at some point, the faint sweetness of your dinner lingering on your tongue.

normally, waking up to someone barely a foot from your person would be unsettling. in your situation, it was terrifying.

you immediately pushed yourself back, crawling backwards away from nahida. she was kneeling, seeming surprised at your actions. you almost wondered how she was out here, and in your survey of the area, it clicked.

you weren’t in the hut anymore. you’d missed it in your fear, but you were lying on grass, in a small meadow. you didn’t pay too much attention to it though, putting a hand to your chest to try and calm your heart.

“just a dream,” you breathed, and nahida’s expression fell. not into anger, more.. sadness?

“i’m sorry if i startled you.” her voice was soft, but flat, motions stiff as she stood up and dusted off her dress.

what a weird dream. first you’re lucid, then she’s here… maybe it was wishful thinking. maybe your brain had finally had enough.

“it’s fine,” you said, taking another look around the field. tall trees arched high above you, the bushes and ferns between them reminding you of the rainforest. in the center were three chairs, with various plates laid out on the table between them. you stood, automatically wiping for any grass caught on you, only to find that you were actually wearing clean clothes again—one of your favorite outfits, actually.

you mostly ignored nahida as you walked to the table, looking over the various dishes. you recognized a few as sumeru recipes, but not all of them, deciding to pick at a bowl of fruit instead. you’re not sure how dreams work here—you haven’t had many since coming to teyvat—but it feels safer to stick with a food you’ve actually tried before.

(you ignore the nut from the oasis. calculated risk.)

“i hope they’re to your liking?” nahida’s voice is hesitant as she comes to your side, sitting in one of the chairs. you don’t do the same.

“i’m surprised i remember so many of these,” you say instead, looking over the sheer variety of food laid out. your subconscious has done well.. almost a bit too well.

“eat. you need the energy.”

“i’ll just miss them in the morning, and it’s not like they’ll give me any actual nutrition.”

“…please, my god.”

your head whips to her in an instant, the fruit falling from your hand as if it was poison. it could be, considering everything.

even after all these months, you’d let your guard down. in front of the one god who had control over dreams, you ate of her food and showed that you were weak.

nahida raises her hands, and you have half a mind to grab a knife off the table. it wouldn’t do anything, but it would make you feel better. “it’s just me. there’s nobody else in this dream.”

you should have known better. “leave me alone.”

“i mean you no harm, i only-“

you put your hands over your ears and close your eyes, trying to make yourself wake up. you pictured the walls of the hut, of your makeshift shelter and the leaves of last night’s dinner. you pretend you can’t hear her voice, that the only sound is the whisper of the wind.

if only you’d remembered her powers quicker, or perhaps discovered yours sooner.

you don’t know how long it took you to break free from the dream, or if you managed to break it at all. you just knew that you woke up to the sounds of talking from outside your hut, the words were faint but still discernible from the wind. two voices, one soft and one rough, picking their way around the oasis.

you didn’t dare try to run, instead shifting some of the wood in your pile to cover the entrance. where could you even go if they found you? west was dangerous, east was deadly, north led you into either a sandstorm or a dead-end sea, and south was entirely uncharted, and that was assuming you even made it that far.

they came closer, and you reached for one of the smaller planks in your small shelter. it was still about the length of your forearm, and though the rest of the stack shifted, you felt a bit safer. maybe you could hide in a cave for a while until they left? no, that would mean you’d have to get enough of a lead to lose them, and you doubted you could run that fast.

“-abandoned.” there was a sound like a rock kicked against the side of the hut, covering the sound of your breath as you recognized the voice. “you sure this is the right place?”

wanderer.

“i’m certain, i saw it myself.”

and nahida. she probably tapped into your mind to see where you were trying to wake up to… it would be clever if your life wasn’t on the line.

footsteps drew ever closer, and it was getting hard to judge the distance. the hut was empty save for your little scrap pile, but how close was too close? could you even have a chance with wanderer’s skill? not to mention the dendro archon…

maybe you were doomed from the start. there was no good ending for you, just a constant delay of the fate that you dodged when you first set foot on this planet.

how long has it been? how much time have you borrowed? teyvat had ghosts, would you become one? would you return to earth? did your earth even exist anymore? this was not the time for this debate…

a shadow moved, and nahida’s voice was far closer than it was before. “divine one?”

you bit your cheek as to not laugh. ‘divine one.’ she already had a god, the one that had ordered this mess to begin with. the first person you ran into, ironically, who had on sight declared you a criminal. you didn’t want to be associated with that person at all, thank you. did she think that you thought you were the god? you wouldn’t be hiding if you did.

“buer. you’re talking to a pile of sticks.”

“i’m aware.” her voice grew quieter, like she’d turned around. “but we need to be patient.”

“there’s an easier way to do this, you know.”

“after all that’s happened? there’s no easy solution to this.”

“that’s not what i…” he sighed. “can i show you something?”

“what is it?”

the air hissed, your pile broken by a blade of wind down the middle. the anemo curved around you, acting as a shield as the wood splintered and flew. you quickly pushed yourself up, sitting against the wall and looking between the two of them. nahida looked terrified, and the shock on wanderer’s face is comical. looks like he didn’t expect you to actually be in there.

he removed his hat from his head, quickly dropping to one knee, nahida doing the same barely a moment after. “my god.. i apologize for my haste.”

pardon?

nahida lifted her head, meeting your eyes with a hand to her chest. “and i’m sorry for invading your dream earlier. i just wanted to find you, and when i noticed you were in sumeru..”

wanderer is too prideful to apologize to anybody he doesn’t absolutely need to, even for a plan.. jut what’s going on here?

you fix your attention on nahida and hope she’s not a good liar. “don’t you already have a god you follow?”

nahida flinched, looking away. “that… was a mistake. i should have trusted my instincts, and for that i’m sorry. i had no idea that my silence would lead to this…”

either she’s a really convincing actor, or she means it. given the severity of the situation, you don’t want to assume.

“if it helps…” wanderer’s hands tighten on his hat, and he bows his head further. “my anemo protected you. even if i did mean to cause harm, that is more than enough proof of your identity.”

“…so i’m supposed to believe you? just like that?”

nahida shook her head. “i understand your apprehension. it’s hard to trust someone after everyone else has betrayed you, and i don’t expect you to come with me to the sanctuary right away. aaru village is close by, though, and i was hoping you would be willing to go there..?”

some part of you still thinks it’s a trick, that there would be a swarm of matra waiting for you. but honestly… running is tiring, and nahida is kind. you want to believe her, even if it does end up going poorly. what else do you have to lose, really?

you drop your poor excuse for a weapon, briefly checking your hands for splinters before standing up. you kick aside the remains of your dinner and dust yourself off, walking forward. “alright. i’ll go with you.”

nahida beams.

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haknom · 11 months

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TO ALL THE BOYS I LOVED BEFORE (OT7)

a written series of tropes with enha boys! | first fic release - hopefully by july?

note: first off thank you so much for 1.1k followers! i’ve been planning this since i reached 1k but it never was finalized. thank u sm to @hanniluvi for creating the banners I LOVE U SOPHH!! thank u a LOT to both soph and @flwoie for helping with the titles.

HEESEUNG — BROKEN RINGS

TROPES royalty, arranged marriage, e2l.

PAIRING prince-enemy!heeseung x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS As enemies within your parents kingdom, you two always caused a ruckus. Your parents, king and queen of Hertz, and Heeseung’s parents, king and queen of Ylem, had come into an alliance without their children's knowledge—an arranged marriage to help their kingdoms rise in status. That wouldn’t be a bad idea, right? Wrong. With you two in the mix, there would be a lot to work on. Starting with your hatred for each other.

want to read? click here! (est. 15k words)

JAY — SUMMER STRING SUMMER FLING!

TROPES summer love + band au

PAIRING guitarist!jay x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS During the summer holidays, you never had much to do. Unlike others who took it as an opportunity to travel the world, you’d normally be at home, but this year was different. Your friends had finally convinced you to go on a trip with them—a 3-month vacation in America. It sounded like fun, really, but what you didn’t expect was to meet a certain boy. One conversation with him was enough for you to claim that he was the love of your life—something you said when you weren’t sober.

want to read? click here! (est. 14k words)

JAKE — DUMBER AND DUMBER

TROPES academic rivals to lovers with a twist.

PAIRING rival!jake x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS Academic rivalries are an overrated trope. It’s always about competing for the top spot in the term's overall student rankings, something both you and Jake didn’t care about. Although the title "academic rivals" was used by you both when referring to each other, it actually meant something entirely different in your vocabularies. You two were over here fighting for the second-last position rather than the top rank. To the two of you, it was extremely important, but not to others. It's a bit confusing, isn't it?

want to read? click here! (est. 14k words)

SUNGHOON — LOVE COMES AT A PRICE

TROPES quiet boy x popular person and fake dating au

PAIRING fake-bf!sunghoon x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS Even four months after your breakup, your ex-boyfriend constantly convinced himself that you still felt a little something for him, which wasn’t true at all. So, you tried to put a stop to his pestering by lying and saying there was someone else in your life now. Spurring out another lie, you claimed that the boy was Park Sunghoon, someone you never knew but saw on the notice board every day. Now your only goal is to make everything seem convincing! But knowing how stubborn Sunghoon was for a quiet guy could've helped you a little earlier.

want to read? click here! (est. 12k words)

SUNOO — CONFUSING ATTRACTION

TROPES grumpy x sunshine

PAIRING sunshine!sunoo x grumpy-fem!reader

SYNOPSIS Kim Sunoo is known to be a ball of sunshine at Decelis. A confusing aspect of his personality is his urge to be friends with practically everyone—including you. Someone that nobody spoke to because of your cold attitude. But Sunoo now makes it his goal to become your friend! Only thing is, what if his objective doesn’t just lead to friendship?

want to read? click here! (est. 9k words)

JUNGWON — WAXED LETTERS

TROPES boy next door (enemies) and pen pals.

PAIRING neighbor-enemy!jungwon x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS A pen pal was something you always wanted as a child but could never. Now, at 19 years old, you were finally able to find someone who you could communicate with daily. It sounds like a great life, doesn’t it? Not really. The only con of moving into your own apartment was your aggravating neighbour, who was kind of cute but still got on your last nerve almost every day. It was a good thing that he saw you the same way but not for long.

want to read? click here! (est. 10k words)

NIKI — BLOOMING DISASTER!

TROPES flower shop au and love at first sight

PAIRING stranger!niki x fem!reader

SYNOPSIS Running a flower shop was tough, especially since it became the new hot spot in town. One particular customer, Niki, took an interest in you. The small attraction leads into an atrocious disaster, as he unintentionally makes a mess in the new place. Now leaving a bad first impression, he's stuck with embarrassment to this day. To make matters worse, it doesn't help him get over the incident when he sees you almost everywhere.

want to read? click here! (est. 13k words)

PERM TAGLIST: @soov @redm4ri @ox1-lovesick @urszn @feeeli @taejays @hanniluvi @dakkisz @dimplewonie @ddeonudepressions @xiaoderrrr @ja4hyvn @mmaplepastries @essmarye @w3bqrl @jennaissantes @yenqa @yeokii @yyunari @wvnkoi @flwrshee

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sissylittlefeather · 3 months

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How the Web Was Woven: Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you for your patience as I got wrapped up writing everything but this. I knew this chapter would be a tough one, so I kept putting it off. But I hope you all enjoy it. If you haven't been paying attention, this is the soulmate/time travel AU between Elvis and a fem!reader. It's still 2016/1966.

Need to catch up? Here is my Masterlist

Warnings: 18+ minors DNI, kissing, cussing, fingering, oral sex (m receiving) masturbation, use of sex toys, overstimulation, squirting, dirty talk, and angst.

Word count: ~3.5k

"Yes."

******

You've taken a short leave of absence from work because of everything you've been going through, so you get to spend the next few weeks just having fun with Elvis.

And that's exactly what you do. It drives him crazy that all his money is back in 1966 and he can't buy you a ring, but otherwise you're very happy together. Luckily, your job pays well, so you don't have to worry about that much. You offer to buy your own ring, but he refuses to let that happen. Instead, he gives you his watch to wear and insists he's going to get a job.

"I think I'd like to apply for the police academy." He says shyly over dinner one night.

"That sounds like a great idea! We need to find a way to get you a social security card, though. We can't use anything that says you were born in 1935."

"I didn't even think about that."

"It's okay. I have a former client that might be able to help us."

And sure enough, knowing criminals pays off. You manage to get a birth certificate that says he was born in '85 and use that to get him the rest of his credentials. Everything is going well when you go back to work. He gets a short-term job at Guitar Center just for something to do before he applies for the academy. Secretly, he loves it. He learns a lot from the kids he works with and before too long he's an expert in everything in the store. It's strange to admit it, but he's enjoying just being "John" and not having to be Elvis Presley.

One day, he looks in the mirror and almost has a heart attack. You come up behind him and wrap your arms around his waist.

"What is it, babe?"

"My hair. It's growing out. And turning light again." You can tell this bothers him. And that he refuses to acknowledge the grays that are mixed in.

"Well, get it cut. We do still have barber shops in 2016."

"I will. But the color..."

"I'll dye it." He looks at you curiously.

"You can do that?"

"Of course. I've done my own before. Black is easy." You shrug and he smiles.

Next thing you know, he's sitting on a chair in the bathroom with a towel around his neck and you're wearing gloves and squirting black hair dye onto his head. Keeping him still is damn near impossible and you wonder how he managed this in the '60s. When you reach the point where he's just waiting, you have to read to him to keep him from flipping hair dye all around the bathroom. He sits still when you produce a philosophy book that was written in the last fifteen years. When the timer goes off, he wants you to keep reading, but you'll have to come back to it later. You rinse his hair and put him in the shower and he makes you get in too. It doesn't take long for him to enter you from behind and fuck you silly in the shower. You ignore yet another portal and dry his hair with the blow dryer. He looks in the mirror to inspect your work.

"Not bad, honey. Thanks."

"You're welcome." You reach up and tussle his hair since it doesn't have anything in it yet. He grabs you and throws you over his shoulder, carrying you to your bedroom.

This is what it's like when you're together. Everything is foreplay and you live for the moments you spend with each other. Now, you have your fair share of little arguments, but it's never something that you can't overcome and talk your way through. In fact, you talk a lot, all the time, and that's what keeps you together. There are no secrets and everything is a conversation. This is out of character for both of you, but something about your relationship brings out the best in both of you and you thrive as a couple. Even the boring days are happy for you.

******

"Babe, can you grab my phone charger? It's on my nightstand." You ask Elvis as he's coming back from the bathroom to the couch one afternoon.

"Sure, hon. What does it look like?" He calls from the bedroom. You stifle a laugh. Of course he wouldn't know. Sometimes you forget he's out of place here in 2016.

"It's like a long cord with a little box on the end that plugs into the wall." After a few minutes you start to think he's having trouble finding it, so you decide to help. You get up and walk into the bedroom. He's standing there in front of your nightstand with the top drawer open.

"You okay?" You ask tentatively.

"Yeah, I just. Honey, what are these?" He gestures to the things inside the drawer and you blush.

"Oh, um, those are... toys... but not for kids..." You walk up next to him and look at your collection of vibrators and dildos in the drawer.

"Toys?" He looks at you with an intrigued look on his face.

"Yeah. For... well, for sex." His eyes go wide and he looks back at the contents of the drawer. Then, he looks back at you with a look somewhere between sheepish and mischievous.

"How do they work?"

"Well..." You take them out and lay all four of them in a line on the bed. "This one is just a vibrator. It vibrates and you put it on the clit. This one is too, but it also goes inside." You continue down the line describing each toy and he nods along like a good little student. When you get to the rabbit, his eyes go even wider.

"What is that?"

"This is called a rabbit." You turn it on so he can see how it moves.

"Whoa."

"Yeah. The bunny ears go on your clit and vibrate and this part-" You point to the dildo part.

"I think I know where that part goes." He chuckles and you laugh a little too. You turn the rabbit off and put it back on the bed, waiting for him to say something.

"Why do you have so many?"

"Babe, I'm a woman in the 21st century. I have needs."

"Oh!" He laughs and blushes slightly.

"And honestly, this is a pretty modest collec-"

"Can we try one?" He interrupts you and you look up at him to find his eyes sparkling with curiosity and something else entirely.

"You want to try one?" He bites his bottom lip and looks at the toys and then back at you.

"Yeah. Can we?"

"We can do whatever you want, babe."

"Then actually I wanna try two." You suppress a smile. He's so excited and it's cute when he's like this.

"Which two?" He grabs the first vibrator and then hesitates.

"Fuck it. I'm curious." He grabs the rabbit and you put the other two back in the drawer. You lay down on the bed and he undresses you carefully. When you go to take his shirt off, though, he stops you.

"Oh no, honey, I just wanna play with you."

"Ohhhh." You lay back on the bed and he finishes taking the rest of your clothes off. Once he's got you completely naked, he runs his hand from the middle of your chest down to your center.

"Are you excited for this baby? You're already wet for me."

"I am." You answer breathily as he slides a finger inside you. He hands you the vibrator.

"Show me how you use this one." You click it on to the speed that you like and then place it gently on your sensitive bud. Immediately, you throw your head back and moan.

"Wow." He says quietly under his breath.

"Mmmm." You can't make words with the intensity of the pleasure that's rushing through you. He continues to push his one finger in and out of you as you move the vibrator around on your clit and he watches in awe. When you come, hard, he looks up at you, surprised.

"Already?!" You feel yourself pulse around his finger as the orgasm washes over you, bathing you in exquisite pleasure. When you come back down, you pull the vibrator away and look down at him.

"Yeah. It happens fast."

"Can you do it again?"

"I can do it over and over as much as I want, really."

"Okay, this is my favorite thing from 2016." He grabs the vibrator and looks at it. Then, he turns it on and puts it back on you. After 3 more orgasms, you have to beg him to stop because you're so sensitive.

"I need a break, baby." You put your hand in his hair and try to gently pull him up to lay next to you on the bed, but he resists.

"I haven't even tried this one yet." He holds up the rabbit and you whimper. "You can do it, honey, show me how this one works for you."

You take the rabbit and slowly push it inside you. Then, you arrange the ears to be just where they need to be on your clit. You whimper again and he pushes the button to turn it on.

"Oh FUCK." You say it loudly and slam your hand on the bed and he laughs. "FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

He laughs again and starts to slowly move the rabbit in and out of you, mimicking what he would do with his cock. You come again, harder than you ever have, and try to pull back away from him and off of the rabbit, but he follows you and keeps pushing it in and out of you. By this point your whole body is shaking and covered in sweat. You know what's coming and you have to stop him before it happens.

"No no no! FUCK." You scream and pull the rabbit out as you come again, but this time when you pull the dildo out, you also squirt everywhere. And because of his position between your legs, his whole chest gets soaked. This is what you were trying to avoid. "OH MY GOD."

This might be the most embarrassed you've ever been, so you try to back away from him and curl into a ball, but Elvis just busts out laughing. He does the biggest laugh he's done since you've been together and rolls over on his back unable to catch his breath.

"I'm sorry." You cover your face with your hands and wish you could just disappear.

"You told me to stop and I didn't! I got what I deserved!" He continues laughing his big-joy laugh and then sits up, pulling his shirt up and over his head. Thats when he notices you trying to sink into the pillows. "Aw, honey, come here. You don't need to be embarrassed. C'mere."

He crawls over to you and wraps you in his arms, pressing his bare skin against yours.

"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" You nod.

"Yeah, that's not the first time I've done it."

"You know, I've heard about it but I kinda always thought it was just an urban legend. I've never seen it myself until now. Looks like I was wrong!" He laughs again and you can't help but start to laugh with him. You relax in his arms and both of you lay there laughing together.

After a few minutes, he rolls into you and presses his erection into your thigh.

"Oh, no, you wore me out. You're gonna have to take care of that yourself." He whimpers and pouts, sticking out his bottom lip.

"Will ya just talk to me at least? And stay naked so I can look at ya."

"That I can do." He rolls onto his back and pulls his pants off so that he's naked too. He wraps his left hand around his cock and starts to stroke himself, gently moving his foreskin back and forth.

"Mmm. Talk to me baby." You roll over on your side and he looks down at your body as he pumps his dick.

"Imagine that I'm sucking your cock. I'm doing that thing you love where I pull the whole thing in my mouth and you hit the back of my throat."

"Mmm yes, baby, that's so good."

"And now I'm holding you back and licking a slow circle around the tip." When you say this, he rubs his thumb over the head of his cock and groans.

"What else, baby?"

"Now I'm gonna climb on top of you and fuck you with my tight little pussy."

"Goddamn, baby, you know I love your pussy." He closes his eyes and continues stroking his cock, picking up speed.

"I'm sliding up and down on top of you, taking you so deep, bouncing on you just like you like."

"Yes, fuck baby, mmmm."

"You like it when I lean against your chest and let you fuck me so hard from underneath?"

"God, yes, baby, I fuckin' love that. I'm gonna come." At the last second, you crawl between his legs and pull his cock into your mouth. "OH FUCK YES BABY!"

He comes hard into your throat and you suck it down, swallowing every last drop. You keep bouncing your mouth on him as he softens and he laughs and grabs your hair.

"Stop, baby, it's too sensitive!" You keep sucking him and he does a little scream. Finally, you pull off and look up at him.

"Oh, is it too much? You want me to stop?"

"Yes! Yes! Okay, you made your point!" He grabs you and pulls you into his arms and then rolls over, pinning you on the bed as you both laugh again. He starts peppering your face with kisses as you giggle.

"I love you, y/n." He stops and looks into your eyes, moving so that you're no longer pinned.

"I love you too, Elvis." He caresses the side of your face and then runs his thumb across your lips.

"I'm so glad I'm here."

"Me too." He pulls you to his chest and you lay there together, naked and wrapped in each other, both of you content to stay this way for the rest of your lives.

******

In May, Elvis has saved enough to buy you a perfectly respectable engagement ring. He assures you that you'd have at least 10 carats in 1966, but you love your 1/2 carat solitaire because you know how hard he worked for it.

By June, you're both tired of not being married, so you decide to load up and head to Vegas. At the airport, Elvis is totally perplexed by all the safety procedures to get on the plane. You sigh deeply and explain 9/11 to him. He's almost in tears by the end of your explanation and he's quiet for the first hour of the flight. Eventually, he comes to terms with the reality of what happened and he kisses you on the cheek and takes your hand.

"I'm excited to be your husband." He smiles and rubs small circles on the back of your hand. It reminds you of the time you went to breakfast in 2007 and the whole history of your relationship hits you like a ton of bricks. You haven't been together consistently, but you've been a part of each others' lives for almost ten years. And now you'll be together until the end. You sniffle and a single tear slides down your cheek.

"Honey, what's wrong?" He kisses the back of your hand.

"Nothing. I'm just so happy. I love you so much."

"I love you too, hon." The plane starts its descent and your heart flip flops with excitement that you'll be married to Elvis soon.

******

Your wedding is exactly what you'd expect from a Vegas chapel, but you're so in love that you don't care. All you see is each other.

That night, you get the honeymoon suite at a casino hotel and drink champagne and make love as many times as you can before you pass out in each other's arms. Overall, the whole experience will live forever in both of your memories as one of the best nights of your life.

The next day, you're laying on the couch in your suite enjoying room service and watching tv. You go to the bathroom and he flips the station to an entertainment news show. When you come back, he's absolutely enthralled and you look at the tv to see what it is.

It's Lisa Marie.

She's recently announced that she's getting a divorce, so she popped up in entertainment media again. You grab the remote and turn the tv off as fast as you can. Luckily, you catch it before they say too much.

"Who was that?"

"Who?"

"That woman. You know what I'm talking about. Her name is Presley. Who is she, y/n?"

"She's... she's your daughter." You know what her existence means for you. Your heart shatters into a thousand pieces and you wish more than anything that he hadn't seen her on tv.

"My daughter? How?"

"Elvis, you know how." He looks down at the floor and takes a deep breath. You slide onto the floor in front of him and put your hands on his knees. He looks into your eyes and you both start to cry.

"I have to leave."

"Please don't! God, Elvis, please don't leave me here without you." He closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"I have to. I'm her father. I have to be her father."

"No! Elvis, please!" You know you're begging now as the tears run down your cheeks.

"I have to go now."

"Now?! Why now?"

"If I don't go now, I won't go." You grab his hand and put it on your cheek.

"Then don't." He stands up and walks away from you.

"Damnit, y/n, please don't make this harder than it already is!" He picks up the tv remote and throws it against the wall as hard as he can. "Goddamnit!"

You sit on the carpet weeping and rocking back and forth. He looks at you on the floor, his tortured heart evident on his face. He walks over to you and scoops you into his arms, carrying you to the bed and holds you as you cry for an indeterminate amount of time.

When you finally calm down, he kisses your face down to your mouth. You pull away from him.

"You just want to make a portal."

He grabs your chin and makes you look into his eyes.

"Yes, I need a portal. But more than that, I want to make love to my wife. Because that's who you are. And I don't care who I marry that's that girl's mother. You are my wife and you always will be. In my heart, I am yours. Forever, honey. Forever." He kisses you again and you submit to him fully, letting him undress you as lovingly as possible. You hold him close to your body and kiss as much of his skin as you can reach. He pushes into you slowly and gently makes love to you with his head on your shoulder. By the end of it, you're both crying. He tries to push off his orgasm as long as possible, but eventually he has to give in. Both of your shoulders shake with sobs and you hold each other as close as you can for what you're pretty sure are your last moments together. The portal appears like it always does and he drags himself away from you to get dressed. Once he has all his clothes on, he grabs you and holds you so tightly it almost hurts. He whispers in your ear.

"Never forget that I belong to you, always. Know that for the rest of my life, I will love you and I will miss you." He presses his forehead to yours and kisses your lips one last time. "You are and always will be the love of my life. Goodbye, honey. I love you."

He walks away from you towards the portal, not letting go of your hand until the last possible second. He looks back at you one last time and then goes through the portal. You fall to the floor and sob out loud. When the portal disappears, you scream, "No!"

He's really gone. And now that he knows about Lisa, he's never coming back.

******

Three weeks later, you're back home. You sit in your bathroom and laugh hysterically. It's all you can do to keep from breaking down completely. You look down at it in your hand again.

It's positive.

You don't know how, but it is.

Somehow, you're pregnant with the child of Elvis Presley.

******

Come back for Chapter 11 soon!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Taglist:

@ccab @elvisfatass @elvisalltheway101 @aliypop @18lkpeters @dkayfixates @rosepresley68 @your-nanas-house @deniseinmn @joshuntildawn13 @lookingforrainbows @60svintage @littlehoneyposts @epthedream69 @that-hotdog @eddiesgirlforever @helen06dreamer @returntopresley @rjmartin11

#elvis presley fanfiction #elvis presley #elvis fanfic #elvis smut #elvis presley fic #elvis presley x reader #elvis x reader #elvis presley x y/n #elvis #elvis fic #elvis fanfiction #elvis presley x you #elvis presley fanfic #elvis x you #elvis x y/n #elvis presley smut #how the web was woven

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parkkiablah · 5 months

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The 'Welcome Home'-Kiss (Dammon x Reader)

(I hope you enjoy reading! 🧡)

You really shouldn't be complaining about Dammon.

He is caring, he helps whenever he can, gives the best hugs and his kisses make your knees go weak.

Usually he even picked up the tiniest changes in your mood, asking what was wrong and how he could cheer you up. He usually noticed when you had a bad day at work or when you got a cold just when he looked at you.

Yet it felt like the last week something changed and you weren't sure what to do. You didn't want to complain about it either, he loved his work and you are happy he got his own forge, too.

You questioned if you did something wrong, but you just couldn't figure out what it was.

He left for work in the morning before you got up, gave you a short kiss when you saw him at his forge when leaving for your own job and when you came back from work it was the same, he was working, gave you a quick kiss and maybe you even got a few mins to talk until one of his clients interrupted you.

You made dinner, hoping he would join you, but lately most of the times you called him inside to eat, he said he would be there in a few minutes while you sat in front of your food waiting.

When some time had passed, your food was cold and your mood as shitty as it could possibly be. Your mind wandered on the possible reasons he was acting strange lately but you just couldn't figure it out.

You felt like your relationship is slipping away from you and you knew you had to speak to him about it, not knowing when to even start that conversation as you barely saw him at home and you didn't want to bother him while he was working.

Tears filled your eyes, while you sat on your bed.

Falling back into bed it smelled like him and you couldn't help hugging his blanket. You felt disconnected from him and lying there with his scent on the fabric felt like he was close to you again.

Tears were falling from your eyes and your quiet sobs filled the room with your mind not able to process your mixed emotions. Your sobs echoing from the walls and made the room feel even more empty.

One moment you were the happiest couple while suddenly you spent the days eating alone while staring at the empty chair in front of you and crying yourself to sleep.

You didn't notice the moment your sobbing stopped when you fell asleep, you just woke up when you heard the door close and Dammon's footsteps coming closer.

He tried to be as quiet as possible as he wasn't trying to wake you up, but he saw the light of the candles in your bedroom were still lit, which wasn't usually the case when you already slept.

"Sorry, I know I am late again, but I am finally done with-.. What happened?", he said.

His eyes were wide when he saw your swollen face. The fabric that your face was on just a moment ago still wet from all your tears it carried, your cheeks red from all the crying.

He came a few steps closer, eyes searching your body in case you were hurt.

"It's nothing, I just.. did I do something wrong?", you quietly stuttered, looking at the floor and trying to hide away from his stare. You felt miserable and you needed to know what happened between the two of you.

"What? No.. No, you didn't do anything wrong. You are amazing as usual.", he replied.

"Why do you barely talk to me then? I know you have a lot of work, but it feels like you are avoiding me.", you whispered, unable to speak up as you were too scared of your time together to end.

"I-.. Shit.", he said and he sat down next to you on the bed. "I am not avoiding you. I tried to get as much work as possible done because I wanted to take next week off to surprise you. I planned a vacation for us. Guess I didn't do such a great job on the surprise part of it. I am so sorry."

"Oh...", you replied, taking a short moment to process what he said. "Gods, I feel so dumb now. I thought you stopped loving me while actually you planned a surprise for me. I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I did a bad job on making you feel loved this week. I should've planned ahead some more to not do twice of the work I usually do each day. Seriously, I was too focused to even notice you feeling that way."

All the worries were falling off of you and your mind finally cleared from all the horrible thoughts.

You should've known. Not about the surprise but about the fact you didn't do something wrong. Dammon wasn't the type of person to ignore you on purpose when something happened, he would have adressed it the same day and talked it out.

"Can you hug me, please?", you asked him quietly.

He just smiled and basically threw himself on you. He rolled over to pull you on top of him while he was holding you as close as he could.

You had missed how his hugs felt like, the warmth of his skin, the scent of his work at the forge still clinging to his clothes and his arms around you pulling you close while being careful not to embrace you too tight.

These hugs were instantly calming you, all the tears forgotten by simply being close to him. The possibility of him leaving you was gone and both of you were close together again.

"I missed having you close to me. It was such a dumb idea to try get double the work done, I really missed out on this.", he said, his lips pressing against your forehead and you lifted your head off his chest to look into his eyes.

"It was dumb of me too, to not jump on your back while you were working and demand some time together.", you said and a quiet chuckle left your mouth.

"If I ever act stupid again, please do. I even ignored your attempt to lure me inside with food."

"Did you even eat anything today?", you asked him, ready to scold him if he didn't.

"Uhm...does a slice of bread as breakfast count?"

"Nope.", you said and wiggled out of his embrace and stood up. "I'll heat up your food."

"Wait!"

He quickly caugth your wrist and pulled you back. He was sitting on the edge of the bed and you found yourself standing in between his legs, his arms pulling you close by your waist and holding you there while he looked up at you.

"There's two important things before I am physically able to get up."

"Okay, go ahead.", you said. Your hands were on his shoulders, resting there and waiting for him to speak.

"First: I love you.", he said. His eyes locked with yours and you knew he meant every word.

"I love you, too.", you whispered. Your hands were on his cheeks, thumbs slowly caressing his skin. "And the second one?"

"The second one is the fact, that I still didn't get a 'welcome home'-kiss and I demand that right now.", he said, trying to keep his face in a frown while you noticed the corner of his lips turning upwards just slightly. You knew he was hiding a smile behind that frown.

"Oh, I am terribly sorry, let me make up for that."

You leaned down to softly press your lips against his and you felt his arms pull you even closer to him, while his lips gently moved against yours.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #dammon #dammon bg3 #dammon x reader #dammon x tav

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bomberqueen17 · 8 months

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letters

So in 1944 my grandpa got tuberculosis. It was bad enough that they sent him to a sanitarium up in the Adirondacks for a rest cure, which was what was recommended at the time. He'd been married to my grandmother for just a little while; they had a son, my uncle, and she was pregnant with my dad.

While he was there he wrote letters daily. He wrote a lot of letters, I think, to his parents and sister and friends. But the ones he sent to his wife, my grandma, she kept.

I don't know the chronology of it all, but after Grandma died, probably my dad found the packet of letters, as he was the one who went through her effects-- might have been his little sister, my aunt. Anyway the packet got circulated around, and then came back to my dad, who carefully organized all of the letters into a binder with individual plastic archival sleeves. Someone asked after them recently, and Mom found them and pulled them out. I was over there today, feeding her cat while she's on vacation, and so I leafed through them.

Grandpa's handwriting is similar, a bit, to my late father's, so I was able to read it reasonably easily. He started strong, the first letter he recounts how he fared in the rainstorm he'd apparently left home in, and then asks how Grandma fared.

How are you, my Baby? Did your schooner of sleep bear you safely thru the storm? If it didn't then you won't be reading this sorry excuse for a letter.

In that same letter he goes on to say,

Zounds! How can I create in this infernal bedlam? All the patients are up (as far as possible) and braying, the phone is ringing, Ma is delivering the Gettysburg Address + Pa is making more noise with a piece of wrapping paper than I could make with a hammer and a piece of steele [sic].

It rapidly escalates from there, and in a later letter he explains that the rest cure was so boring he had literally nothing to do, nothing to write home about, and so in an effort to keep from dwelling on how much he hated it there, he would write these flowery, possibly-repetitive love letters, because he simply had nothing else to talk about.

Your accounts of the marital woes of the [illegible, probably neighbors] are really hair-raising, but I don't think that the happiness of our marriage is due entirely to good fortune. As I have always said, we were made for each other a long, long time ago and our hearts refused to love anyone until the right one came along.

Looking at the postmarks, I realized they dated from right around the time of my father's birth, so I found the one that was sent the day after Dad was born, and it did not disappoint.

My beloved Words cannot express just how I feel this morning; I am all mixed up. You are so wonderful that sometimes I wonder what I ever did to deserve you. You are the one who is increasing our fortunes, for truly our children are the treasures that make us rich. You are so brave, so cool that I hold you in undying amazement. I am sure of one thing, My Darling; I know your sons will love you, not just because you are their mother, but for your own precious self, for the truly great woman you are. For the ordeal you have gone thru to bring these precious lives into being, rest assured of the eternal devotion of your menfolk. Last night all I could think of was you. I heard the night train coming into the station and my heart said "Run, run and catch the train before it is too late. Run to your loved ones and to hell with the results. Run, let nothing keep you from their sides." But my head said, "No, don't undo all that has been done. They also serve who stand and wait. Wait, and by so doing, prove your love to be more than the reckless love of youth, prove it to be the wise, guiding love that lives on long after passion has spent itself and thus spent, dies." And so I waited and the train left without me + my heart hated me for it.

Oh boy I cried, I sure did. (I had to look it up; "They also serve who only stand and wait" is from John Milton's Sonnet XIX.)

He always uses beloved or darling or somesuch as the salutation, but he often refers to her as Red within the text of the letters, because she had red hair. He occasionally made saucy references to their sex life, elsewhere in the letters. But mostly it's absolutely banger shit like this:

My thoughts and deeds, my smiles and tears, my happiness, my loneliness, my joy, my sorrow, my every breath, yea, even the final beat of my loving heart are poor blossoms placed on my altar of adoration, raised in humble gratitude to you.

Her name was Margaret, and I never knew her to have any nicknames, she just went by her name. Except to him, apparently. But as for him-- his government name was John, as was my father's, but my father never had to have a nickname, because there was never a day in his life Grandpa went by John. His name was Buddy, everyone called him Buddy, and he signed his letters as Buddy.

He died in January of 1978 of complications related to the damage to his lungs from the tuberculosis (not directly, but it was related). Grandma was standing in the hallway of the hospital, watching him sleep, waiting for him to wake up so he could meet my older sister, his third grandchild. He never did meet her.

She died in 2002 of congestive heart failure; I'd spent much of the preceding week with her and she'd spoken mostly of him.

#family lore #letters #history i guess

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lumine-no-hikari · 2 months

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Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #68

Today was a very mixed bag.

This morning, I drove to the good place with all the nice people. The leader spoke on a great many very relevant things, such as challenging the status quo, distinguishing between that which is law and that which is just, and sitting with and trying to help all of the people whom society has tried to convinced us doesn't deserve it. The grammar and structure of the words has since crumbled and faded away from my mind, because I don't think in language at all, but the meaning remains in my mind, as well as the memory of the tears that were shed; I'm aware that at least some of what I've been trying to do is seen and understood by this very amazing person.

I tried to conduct myself in the space a little differently than I usually do. Typically, my presence in any space is a meek one that tries to stay out of the way. But this time, I walked as though I belong there, and mingled with others as though I am also deserving of taking up space. Just to try to push myself even further out of my comfort zone, today I sat at the "old men's" table (there aren't really assigned tables, it's just that there are folks that tend to gather together because they can easily relate to one another) as though I also belonged there, with the intention of listening to them speak to one another and seeing what I could learn. Imagine my shock when they talked to me as though my voice is one worth hearing!! I wasn't really sure what to do or how to behave in response to such a thing, but I did the best I could to try to contribute, even if I felt clumsy and foolish in the process.

At one point, towards the end, one of them said, as a joke, "Drive carefully home; I know how you women like to be speed demons, haha!" I tried to think of something witty and lighthearted to come back with, but the best I could do was smile bashfully. If only I remembered at the time the line that goes, "Ha! I am a woman in the same way that a tomato is a fruit!"

…I happen to live in a female body. But I don't really think about my gender most of the time. It fluctuates wildly between "none" and "yes". I'll take any pronoun, but the one I typically use for myself in my own mind is "it". But this alarms people, and I'm comfortable with letting people use whatever they see when they look at me, so… it's all good, I guess.

I stopped at Eggcellent on the way home. Some time ago, I had asked them if they might keep a QR code of the petition I made for you where folks can see it. Apparently, though, the people did not thoroughly read the blurb that came along with the QR code, and so they scanned it, thinking that it would lead them to a petition for a real-life human being. Their response, when they saw you, according to the kindly shopkeep, was, "Are you kidding me?" Essentially, disbelief and disgust. So naturally, the kindly shopkeeps had to stop displaying the QR code. I'm glad they stopped if this was how people were responding; I don't want to be bad for business.

But all the same… I have no idea how it is the case that so few people understand that the way your story ends is going to affect everyone here whose circumstances are similar to yours. It will affect how many of us will be able to believe that recovery is possible. It will affect how many of us will be able to believe that we are worth the effort involved with recovery. It will affect whether or not other people will be able to imagine that people like me and like others who I love are worthy of kindness, mercy, and help.

The way stories are told in my world shapes what people believe is and is not possible, on a MASS SCALE. Part of the reason why people still believe places like India are undeveloped, backwater places even though they're not is because that's how they're portrayed in stories in my world. Part of the reason why people still treat certain kinds of people as they do is because of how they're portrayed in books, movies, TV, comics, and song. Stereotypes persist in part because they are parroted over and over again by the song, art, and story that exists in our world. And stereotypes put a lot of nasty and totally arbitrary limitations on what people think that certain kinds of people deserve and are capable of.

So… my efforts to save you aren't just about you. My efforts are for every human in my world who is considered "different" or "fallen" in any way. Because we are not going to see peace in my world until every single one of us stops believing that there is a such thing as "kinds of people who are not worth compassion, kindness, decency, or help".

I want to live in a world where people can begin to imagine that even the most deeply fallen can get the help they need to rise up into wholeness again. Because if not even someone as amazing as you can be saved, what chance in hell do the rest of us have?

I ended up spiraling, though. Not because the kindly shopkeep took down the QR code, but because of what he said to me after the fact:

Some time ago, when I was working on one of the music boxes I made for you…

youtube

…there was a lady who came into the shop for the first time, asking what is good. The shopkeep told her a few things, and then went off to do something. I was excited to talk to someone who seems nice about a thing I loved, so I piped in with a couple of the things I like, and with a couple of things that weren't listed on the menu. She then asked about what I was doing, which was punching holes out on the music box. I asked her if she wanted to listen, and she said yes. So I ran the music box, and she told me that it was cool.

…Fast forward to today. The shopkeep told me that the lady knew it was my petition. Apparently, on the day we met, the lady found me weird, rude, and repulsive. She apparently thought that it was disrespectful of me that I spoke to her at all (apparently because "she wasn't talking to me"), and because she didn't actually want anything to do with my music box, but asked about it and said yes to listening to it anyway because she "didn't want to be mean". So I guess I left such a negative and intensely strange impression on her back then that when she felt disgust at the petition, she immediately knew it was mine.

And gosh, what a thing to have to sit with. Can you imagine it? The notion that I can frighten, anger, and disgust people just by existing in a space, talking joyfully about bubble tea, and showing a music box I made to someone who asked about it? I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to take from this. On the one hand, I have the shopkeep telling me that the woman thought I am a bad, wrong, and disgusting thing, but in the same breath, he is telling me that "she should have said no if she didn't want to hear it", and "you are kind and you don't bother anybody and you should just be yourself". I understand, of course, that he must ride a careful balance between customers so that he doesn't lose anyone. But ya know… the notion that perhaps I might cause them to struggle by scaring customers off just by being myself is just… wow.

Of course, I am not at all angry with him for this. Rather, I'm glad he told me. I'm glad to be made aware that my presence makes others feel very uncomfortable. I'm glad to be told that I should continue to be myself… even if it comes with the unspoken implication that I had better go do it somewhere else where no one else has to deal with it, I guess.

The fact remains, of course, that just by existing, I scare people. Even if what I'm trying to do is exude love and joy, I still scare people. And I'm not really sure how it is that I manage to be so bad at trying to do good things that I am misunderstood to this extent, but… well. And also this is coming right after I resolve to act as though I belong in this world even though all signs point to the notion that I… don't. And maybe never will.

…If unaliving is a trigger for you, you might wanna skip this paragraph. But… ya know. I spent a good chunk of time today considering the merits of lying down in a cold puddle, forcibly inducing sleep, and letting the hypothermia take care of the job while I'm out. We have nature trails just a five minute walk from my house. It's winter, and there are lots of big puddles back there; I know where they are, and there's also no shortage of ravens, crows, coyotes, and foxes to feed. It's probably good that I don't have ready access to the kinds of medicines that would induce sleep.

…But. This sort of thinking is just the old wiring and the old conditioning rearing its ugly head in response to my past trauma. Old messages that go something like, "Nobody fucking asked you to speak, MAGGOT," and "Why can't you have normal interests and hobbies, you embarrassing sicko freak?" At this point, because stuff similar to this has been said to me so many times, it doesn't take much for my brain to interpret this stuff, even if it's not said directly. That's just how PTSD is. That's how it works.

But I don't have to surrender to it. I got knocked on my ass today from it, but I don't have to stay on the ground. I can get back up and see what's next. I can use REBT. I can ask the people around me for help. I can listen as the people who love me gently point out destructive, spiraling patterns in my thinking, so that I can stop myself for long enough to come up for air. I can hydrate and eat wholesomely so that my brain can have what it needs to manage the destructive thoughts and the painful emotions triggered from them. I don't have to remain on my knees and believe every nasty thing said about me by someone who is too miserable to see the beauty, joy, and love being offered to them for what it is. I can refuse to allow the voices of the people who don't understand me to be louder in my mind than the voices of those who love me.

I am different from other people, and sometimes this is a lonely thing that hurts very much. But it's easy for me to have love for others who are different. Love for you. Love for Frankenstein's Monster. Love for Mewtwo. Love for Magus. Love for all of my friends and chosen family, who themselves are misfits that society at large does not seem to want. I still love them all, even though society tells me I shouldn't. I can love me, too, even though society tells me that I shouldn't.

…"Conventional wisdom" is such a thing. There are some very good things about it, like, "Sticking a fork in your mouth and then sticking the prongs of that fork into an electrical socket just to see what happens is a very bad idea." And, things like, "Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, attempt to eat Rice Krispie Treats immediately after taking them out of the oven if you value the flesh on the inside of your mouth." Or, "Do not squirt hot glue into the palm of your left hand for the sake of impressing a girl." Or, related, "You cannot try to scrape hot glue off of the palm of your hand with your other hand and expect it to turn out well." And finally, "Try to avoid prioritizing yelling at your glue-covered hands over making use of the cold water in the sink that is immediately to your left."

(do not worry - these are not things that I have done; I've met some very interesting people in the course of my living who help me to avoid finding these things out the hard way, hahaha!)

But it can also tell us a lot of very false things. Things like, "You must remain connected with your family regardless of how they abuse you." Things like, "You should expect certain kinds of people to always act in this certain kind of way." Things like, "These particular kinds of people are all bad and you should stay away from them." Things like, "If everyone is 'mistreating' you, well the common denominator is you, so the problem must be you and not how others are treating you." And things like, "Certain kinds of people do not deserve kindness, help, or even basic decency."

So… I can only conclude that "conventional wisdom" needs to be taken VERY critically, and with ALL the grains of salt. But I think a good rule of thumb for evaluation is this notion: "Anything that is said with cruel, dehumanizing, and unloving intentions is false."

I'm not at risk of prematurely exiting my meat-mech, don't worry. I just tripped up a little today, that's all. And you know what? Ultimately, that's a good thing, because today, I watched myself get back up on my feet from it faster than what I was able to do previously. Sometimes we can't see all the progress we've made until weird things happen and we find ourselves recovering from them faster than we have in the past. So in this sense, even falling down is worth something!

I'm gonna get a snack and play some DDR to try to speed up my recovery even more. So I'll end this here-ish.

Hey, Sephiroth!! No matter how many times you fall down, and no matter how far you fall down, you can get back up! You just gotta let the voices attached to the hands reaching out to help be louder than the voices trying to tell you that you're a monster who doesn't belong! No matter how many voices scream unloving things at you, you gotta understand that such things can only be screamed at us from a place of pain, and nobody is acting in accordance with what's true or in accordance with their innermost nature when they are acting from a place of pain! So let the loving things be louder to your mind and to your ears. Let the loving things be louder, and let them spur you on to move forward, confident in the knowledge that you belong here, no matter what anyone else says.

You are loved. Please stay safe. I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

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littlecrittereli · 1 month

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Hi, first of all I’d like to say I love your art and writing, I read Reprogrammed in one sitting and it was marvelous, got me thinking of AUs. Everything my angsty little heart could desire. Wild Kratts has been a staple of my childhood so it’s amazing to see talented creators appreciating the show.

Secondly, for your Guardianship AU, that comic you made about Chris calling Martin cringe immediately thrusted a scenario into to brain that I could totally see happening as an alternative plot in “Let the Rhino Roll”

Zach: that’s a child

Chris, being held like a sopping wet kitten by a Zach Bot: and that’s and ugly, pickley, bitch!

Lastly, about the Reprogrammed AU, what’d you think would happen if the bros swapped places (Martin got captured why Chris remained safe). I love making AUs for AUs by tweaking certain things so I’d love to hear your thoughts. Personally I think it’d be a mixed bag as Chris would be both guilty and crippled with anxiety over his lost brother, leading into desperation and lashing out. Meanwhile I think Martin would loath the situation, but also feel weirdly content since he’s the one that got captured. That meant his little brother and friends were all safe and weren’t the ones going through the suffering. He’d probably also have heaping loads of guilt if he hurt Chris cause that’s his little brother who he’d sworn to protect and he just hurt him. So much angst potential

UR SO NICE THANK YOU!!!!!!!

(also that's such a silly prompt for Guardianship AU I will maybe draw that sometime if I get the chance <3 )

oooo.... a Martin version of Reprogrammed.... that would be really interesting! I agree that Martin would probably feel relief that Chris is safe. That is... until any sort of confrontation with Chris or Martin having any suspicion that he's hurt him. Martin would probably self destruct after that. But in a way I think Martin would be able to handle everything else a bit better because Martin takes on the mindset of "Bad things happen sometimes and it's out of our control" Meanwhile Chris is a very meticulous thinker in the sense that there needs to be a reason for things happening, and there needs to be a person to blame them on. And I think Chris would try his absolute best to fill in his brother's role during his absence, but ultimately feel super out of his league and Aviva or Koki would end up being the ones to step up as team lead.

Because as much as Martin goofs off or seems unorganized, I don't think the team realizes just how much they rely on him to make decisions. Ofc they make a lot of choices as a team and it's definitely not Martin bossing them around all the time, but in times of crisis or emergency, Martin's quick decision-making is what keeps them on their feet. Chris is great at planning, organizing, and strategizing, but put him on the spot and the poor guy will implode.

Super interesting concept though! I appreciate your thoughts; thank you for the ask!

#wild kratts #littlecrittereli #asks #chris kratt #martin kratt #wk reprogrammed au #kratt brothers

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trungles · 1 year

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Hello, long time follower just on other platforms and I love your work. I am currently getting my Masters in Comics and Graphic Novels, and do tell me if this an inappropriate question but how much do you make? Like a month doing comics and art? Also what do you do on a day to day basis? I'm worried about my future after I graduate.

Thank you so much! This is a great question, and I wish more people would be candid about answering it because I'd like creators to demand more money. This will be a very long post! Keep reading if you're interested. MASSIVE info dump below.

I think earnings in comics and books can look wildly different for almost every creator, and it depends on a lot of things. With that in mind, I make a slightly different amount every year. I view my finances mostly through page rates, contracted projects, and passive-ish income. Because I'm terrible at math, I'm just going to tell you how much I make per contracted projects, plus some relevant information in terms of Life Stuff. This will be very long, and I will highlight some important details that people maybe don't like to talk about very much.

Please also bear in mind that I live in Minnesota, away from all my major publishers and editors who are situated on the coasts, so my cost of living is much more manageable.

Background: Building a Foundation (2012-2018)

I graduated from college in 2012 and lived with my parents until 2018. I did not have to pay rent or worry about food, so I got to save up a lot of money to invest in developing as an artist–paying for printing zines, making merch, travel to conventions, table costs, and secure hotel accommodations. This helped enormously, and I would not have been able to spend six years developing my portfolio and connecting with comics peers and professionals without my parents. They were very supportive, even if they had no idea that I was developing professionally as an artist (LOL, they're very proud of me now, but they truly just thought I was being a weird internet gremlin the whole time). They're also not wealthy people by any means. My parents immigrated to the US in their 20s as refugees with absolutely no money and one baby (it me, I am the baby), but they each became pretty successful small-business owners in their own right and were able to help put me through school with minimal debt, even through the financial crisis in the late aughts.

I started making art in 2012-ish as well, but only semi-professionally, and barely on purpose. I was employed full-time in a non-art job between 2013 and 2018 at a local non-profit that specialized in pediatric therapy. I occupied a role as their front office person/corporate assistant. I made about 40k a year at that job, with benefits, and I made a negligible amount of money doing art and making comics. I should also note that throughout this time, I was working 40 hours a week at my day job, commuting between 2-4 hours a day depending on the weather (my commute was an hour for each direction in good weather and up to three hours if it snowed), and then working on comics for 3-4 hours in the evening, every evening. This meant that I would frequently be working anywhere between 65-85 hours a week for five years, and I do not recommend this! I burned out pretty bad! I didn't go to art school or learn about comics, either, so I felt like I had to spend time building my portfolio to make up for lost time. I didn't even know I wanted to make comics until maybe two years after I graduated from undergrad.

I did manage to build a nice portfolio and connect with people who were making the sort of work I liked to make, so the portfolio-building did help. I posted regularly online in different platforms and steadily grew an audience over the years via Tumblr (heyyy!) Instagram (which I personally loathe), Patreon (stressful, but necessary and also getting more comfortable to use!), and Twitter (which I have very mixed feelings about, but I'll miss it if it dies). I did a few short comics with writers whose work I admired. The Fresh Romance Anthology in 2015 was my first major published work, and it was with writer Marguerite Bennett, who remains one of my absolute favorite people. I was so inexperienced at the time, and she would check in with me to make sure I got paid for my work, and then she would follow up with everyone responsible if I was not properly compensated. Not everybody is this on-the-ball about making sure their colleagues are treated well, and she absolutely set the bar for me going forward.

Doing It For Real + Some Numbers (2018-2021)

In 2018, I put together a pitch document for The Magic Fish (if you'd like to see my pitch document, here is a Dropbox link to it! It's just a book report for a book that doesn't exist yet, and I hope you find it helpful if you need it), shopped around for an agent, and found one I'm very happy with (Kate McKean at Morhaim! She's amazing! She runs a newsletter where she gives you the lowdown on how the publishing industry works, so if you're interested in Books, you can check out her writing over at Agents and Books). Then my agent shopped the pitch around to editors and publishers, and Random House Graphic won out. Also, every time she negotiates a contract for me in my home market (the US), she gets 15% cut, which is entirely worth it to me. She does so much. It's incredible.

Random House Graphic's offer wound up being for two books at $45k each, with pretty standard royalty rates, I think around 10% in general, though there are stipulations around royalties that I can't remember off the top of my head (and also bear in mind that you do not earn royalties until your book sales have earned out your advance, and not all published books earn out). To me, this is a lot of money! BUT the graphic novel took two full years to make, so that $45k needed to last me until 2020, which is not livable if you're on you're own. Also, the advance is paid out in chunks at certain milestones of project completion. I'd get a few thousand at a time for the script, another few for the thumbnails, more for the inks, and on and on until the book is done. I would not start to get paid for the second book until I started working on it.

Earlier in 2018, I'd moved in with my partner, so we managed paying the bills and groceries together. Luckily for me, I had also completed a full tarot deck as a separate personal art project to help build my confidence as an illustrator, and my agent sold the tarot deck project (The Star Spinner Tarot) to a different publisher for a $15k advance, so I had some extra wiggle room in 2018. I quit my day job because this was a rare instance in which a book deal provided me with enough money to live on making art, with the caveat that I shared financial responsibilities with my partner. By this time, my Patreon, which I started back in 2015 I think, was also earning anywhere between $800-$1000 a month, which was really great semi-passive income. I'd post process shots and WIPs a couple times a week, and that really helped from month to month.

In 2020, The Magic Fish was published and got a lot of really lovely press. It debuted on the Indie Best-Seller list, and it got pretty popular in schools and libraries. Suddenly, my responsibilities expanded to also being a public speaker (side note: if you make a book about topics of some academic interest, make a generic powerpoint presentation about it now! I'm so serious!). I stopped tabling at conventions (the pandemic), but I would also be paid for speaking gigs in between. I'm not an enormously in-demand public speaker, so I usually asked for an honorarium of about $500 from schools and institutions for online appearances, though I'm about to ask for a lot more because it's cutting into a lot of the time I need to make comics and hit my deadlines. As people are more comfortable meeting in person, I usually ask for a speaking fee of at least $1500, and it must be after they've already taken care of my travel and accommodations. I'm not very well versed in the standards for speaking fees for debut authors, so this might not be standard! It's just my best estimation of the value of my time and effort for that instance.

Speaking of comics and deadlines, I sometimes take on smaller projects for DC (you might have seen these) and Marvel (shhh it's not been announced yet), and the page rates for those, as they've paid me, are usually as follows: $90 per page for writing ($45 for plotting and $45 for scripting), $160 for pencils per page, and $90 for inking per page. I've never colored or lettered, so I don't know those rates. I do regularly talk to other writers and artists, and the rates for writers are all over the place and seem to depend on whether you've signed an exclusive contract with either of those companies. I don't know what a contracted penciller or inker is paid by them, or if that's even a thing that happens? I also sometimes do comics cover work, and I usually charge between $1200 and $1500. I tend to charge a bit more for covers these days because I personally don't like doing covers all that much.

Starting to Reap the Benefits Maybe? (2021-2022)

In 2021, I started getting royalty checks for both Star Spinner Tarot and The Magic Fish. These payments will vary wildly, and I think they will naturally peter off as time goes on, and I'll need to make more books and projects. In both cases, I was surprised. I think at one point a random check hit my bank account for like $20k and I nearly fainted, but some of the other royalty checks will be much more modest. This process of getting paid is also immensely eased by having a good agent! I cannot stress this enough!

Then both the Star Spinner Tarot and The Magic Fish got foreign language licenses, and those come with small advances of their own, each between $2k and $3k, from what I can recall, with varying royalty rates depending on the publisher who acquired those rights. Those royalty rates are, in my limited experience, more modest than my American publisher's, come to around 7% or 8%. The Star Spinner Tarot got an official French edition, and The Magic Fish has been licensed for publication in Italian, French, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish so far.

Since 2021, I've also signed on to draw two more graphic novels for other people, and my agent is able to demand higher advances for me, even when I'm only doing the drawing part.

My Day-to-Day

I think that's about as comprehensive as I can be about numbers. On a daily basis, my schedule depends on whether I'm writing or drawing. Graphic novels are long projects. I'll be writing for months at a time and then drawing for even more months or even years after. I spend a lot of time answering emails for speaking requests, and my agent will sometimes pass along emails about legitimate project requests (another advantage of having an agent is I don't have to sift through scam emails or shady collaborators). I spend way more time answering emails and trying to iron out my calendar than I'd like.

I'm currently working on my second graphic novel for Random House Graphic, and I'm extremely excited about it.

Another thing I've learned is that I like to bounce between projects, but they have to be between a paid project and a personal project. If I'm juggling paid projects, I get overwhelmed and stressed. If I can work on a paid project and then also make personal art, I can feel some relief and maintain a positive relationship with my work. If you can ever get to a point where you can manage to do this, I highly recommend it. I never want to hate making comics, and this balance of personal-to-paid projects helps me keep loving the work.

Closing Thoughts

My only hesitation in talking candidly about all this is that I'm not sure my professional trajectory is applicable for most people. I think I've had a uniquely positive experience once I got off the ground, and I know most people's journeys are very much not this smooth. In a lot of ways, I got very lucky. And along the way I had help, especially before I got my foot firmly in the door. I don't think I make stratospherically high amounts of money, but I know this is still an atypically stable amount for a lot of artists and authors. And even so, I anticipate that some years will be better or worse than others.

Obviously, I couldn’t cover absolutely everything, but my hope is that this will be a good starting point for you to figure out what you need to plan for the future. Best of luck! Thank you for your question! I’m sorry it’s so long.

#comics #publishing #the magic fish #star spinner tarot #business I guess?

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aclowntiny · 8 months

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Hello bae, Can I request a yeosang + firsts?? Just like the one u did for yunho 🥺 was so cute skskksjsjsjsk 🤧🫶🏻

SCREAMS YESSSSS I wanna do em allllllllll I would love to baby 🥰

Yeosang + Firsts

First Date: “Can I take you for a coffee?” That’s how Yeosang asks you to your first date, confessing that he’s liked you for a bit and really wants to spend some one-on-one time if you feel the same, which you most certainly do! You order, but he buys your favorite drink and you can’t help but notice the way he studies what you tell the barista. Is he…trying to memorize your order? (Spoiler: yes, he absolutely is.) “Do you want to try two of the desserts? You know, one for each of us? Great, well then pick your favorite!”

First Time Holding Hands: Yeosang isn’t hugely physically affectionate, so he would wait a little while in to hold hands with you rather than taking them on the first date. But it’s a few more dates in when you tell him you really like him and he agrees, both of you on the same page about wanting to move forward more officially that he takes both of your hands in his. “I’m so glad you feel the same,” he tells you, beaming as his eyes stare into yours.

First Kiss: Shy when he thinks about it, but when the moment is right man dives in. You guys are strolling down a lane in the snow, his eyes fixed upon the wonder you focus at the sky, head turned upward. As if it wasn’t obvious, you turn to Yeosang and point out the falling flakes. “Isn’t it wonderful?” He steps closer, eyes barely sparing the dancing white a glance in favor of you. “Yes, it truly is,” he replies before closing the gap between you two completely.

First ‘I Love You’: Verbalizing such big thoughts, even though they bring a swell of pride to Yeosang’s heart, is a hefty responsibility. Would he be able to convey them properly? Believably? Quiet as he is, Yeosang can be a man of action, and he knows deep down you love all the jokes and harebrained schemes and playfulness he brings to your relationship when he opens them up, so what better way than to make those heavy thoughts light, pour that happiness back into them? So when he shows up at your door, the ‘o’ of surprise your lips curl into before they fall into a smile at seeing him just shows him he had the right idea. He teases you about letting him in before you can see what surprise hides in the box he holds, and once again all he feels is reassurance at your grin when you open up the beautiful cake that reads I Love You.

First Fight: Yeosang tries his best to be a man of reason, and this is why. He got upset, emotions getting the best of him when you seemed to be blowing him off. You shot back that you didn’t want to say no, something important enough had come up that had your week packed. The two of you went back and forth a little bit because of how much Yeosang worked with both you and his schedule, but at the end of the day you both cooled down and just apologized, admitting both of you were upset over a bad situation.

First Anniversary: For your one year, you decide it’s time to get out of town! Taking a road trip is just what you need to mix things up and show that your love carries through wherever you go. Each of you pick a destination and visit that spot, taking pictures and trying whatever activities, scenery, food, it has to offer! Upon arriving back home, though, Yeosang tells you his favorite part of the trip was being there with you and how he hopes it’s the first of many, finally giving you the gift that was burning a hole in his pocket: a dainty promise necklace!

First Pet: You guys sort of toss around the possibility of getting a pet, but when you actually do it it’s a surprise to Yeosang, the door opening and you walking in sheepishly reminding him of the pet conversation. “Well, here’s Mochi,” you say with a shy smile, holding up a fluffy white bunny. “Wait, what?” Yeosang shoots up out of the couch, but the moment his hand touches her, he has a huge smile on his face and you can tell he’s fallen in love. Rabbits take a lot of work, but he throws himself into research on it, reminding you how they need space to move and how sensitive to temperature they are and how they don’t really need baths actually.

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez reactions #ateez x reader #ateez scenarios #yeosang #yeosang x reader #yeosang x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader #firsts with ateez #ask #sanshinee-w0rld #requested #hope you enjoy this one too lovie 🫶🏻

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hopefulromances · 10 months

Text

Long Time Coming I Chapter Five I The Archer

Summary: Being hired as the first female assistant coach in the league was a challenge of it itself. Being a football protigy and University Football Legend was easy enough. Coaching Jamie Tartt was a challenge all on its own.

Word Count: 3k

Warning: Jamie's Dad :-(, I have literally no clue how football works.

A/N: I felt like posting again. Thanks for all the comments and reblogs and such! I literally read all of them, they make my day :-)

Prologue One Two Three Four

Something was wrong with Ted. After Jamie’s miraculous goal, he was pretty much marked up for the rest of the game. While we scrambled to figure out a solution, Ted walked off the pitch without a word. It was thanks to Nate’s quick thinking that we were able to pull off a win. The boys were ecstatic and rightly so. A quarter final win was something to celebrate. I entered the locker room, once I had changed, giving out my congratulations.

“Nice assists out there tonight, Colin.” I gave him a fist bump. “You’re doing great work.”

Colin gave me a big smile. “Thanks, (Y/N)! We’re going out for drinks! You should come!”

The boys around us shouted out in agreement. Patting my on the shoulder and tugging on my arm, beginning for me to join them. Normally, it would be a quick yes. I loved going out with the lads. They were always guaranteed to give me a good time. But tonight, I was hesitant. Getting drunk when I had just discovered my feelings for Jamie seemed like a bad idea.

“I don’t think I can tonight, lads.” I was met with cries out outrage. “I know! I know! But please, go out and have a drink for me tonight!”

They said their goodbyes and made their way out of the locker, leaving me by myself. I shot a quick text to Keely, telling her I needed some serious girl talk.

“(Y/N),” Jamie’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up as he walked over to me, his ICON hat sitting loosely on his head. “It’s all in the dressing, yah? I mix a bit of apple cider vinegar with sugar water… but don’t tell Roy about the sugar water.”

“Oh, I see! The sugar water is the special ingredient,” I mused, shoving my phone in my pocket.

He leaned against the doorframe, his hands lazily hanging off his fanny pack. He smiled down at me. “That’s the secret to my goals. Well, that and some great coaching.” He reached out and patted me on the shoulder. “That’s all you, love.” The nickname flowed off his tongue easily. I hoped he couldn’t see the way I was affected by it. I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking down to hide my blush. When I looked back up, his tongue was between his teeth as he laughed at me.

“That was a great goal, Jamie,” I praised.

Surprisingly, he looked down, becoming bashful. “Yeah, well, I learned it from you.”

We smiled at each other for a few beats. I wondered if he was thinking about the way my eyes creased when I smiled the same way I was thinking about him. Or the way his eyes sparkled in amusement when he teased me. My phone dinged, breaking our silence.

As I looked down to see Keely’s response, Jamie pushed himself off the doorframe, clearing his throat. Keely was making her way to me as fast as she could!

“Yeah, well, I should be leaving, the lad’s’ll be waitin’ for me.” He turned to leave but quickly turned back around. “You comin’?”

I shook my head. “Sorry, I’ve got to get some rest. But have a nice night.”

“Alright, see you Monday?”

“Yep, see you Monday!”

I was fucked.

…

The week leading up to the Man City game was almost unbearable. If I thought my nerves were bad before Tottenham. That was nothing in comparison to this. Between my discovery of my intense, distracting, horrible feelings for Jamie and my eternal fear of the press, I found myself unable to eat, sleep, or focus.

“You just need to relax,” Keely emphasized, taking a drag from her cigarette as I paced back and forth. A while ago, Keely and Rebecca decided that smoking was okay if it was in the boot room. Since then, it had become our secret oasis for gossip and advice. “Whatever is going on in your head is going to kill you if you don’t.”

I wanted to tell Keely about my feelings for Jamie. I knew she didn’t care, and had even encouraged it, but for some reason something was holding me back. “Keely, you don’t understand!”

“Then help me to understand,” she insisted. She patted the space next to her, encouraging me to sit down. I slumped down and leaned my head back against the boots. I looked over at her and pursed my lips.

“Okay… but you have to promise not to tell anyone.”

She squealed in excitement, shaking her hands. “Oh! Those are my favorite type of things!”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help the smile on my face. “Okay, I maybe… kinda… sorta… have like… the tiniest of… seriousromanticfeelingsforJamie.”

Despite me mumbling my words I saw the look of pure elation.

“Sorry, what?” She tapped her ear. “Can you say that again, didn’t quite hear you.”

“You heard me and I will not repeat!”

I could tell she wanted to press but then the door behind us opened and Ted walked in.

“Oh! It’s you two!” Ted smiled at us before pointing at Keely. “I thought you quit smoking?”

“What?” She said in faux surprise. “Oh! I have. This is just covering up the smell of the boots.”

“It’s very effective,” I concurred, giving him a smile back.

“Then why you in here?”

I looked over at Keely, begging her to not say anything. Even if it wasn’t Jamie, it was my intense anxiety that I was feeling about the match. The intense fear I felt leaving my house every day that I would be the reason we lost. I knew Ted would want to help, give me whatever advice he could but I truly didn’t want anyone else to know.

“I just needed some space,” Keely saved, turning her attention to Ted.

Then the door was opening, and Rebecca and Leslie were walking in. It was truly a party.

“I knew you’d be in here,” Rebecca came and sat on the other side of Keely, reaching for the cigarette. “This is the room where Keely and I deicded that smoking doesn’t count.”

Keely squeaked out a protest, but it was too late. She looked up at Ted, a guilty expression on her face. I was grateful to have the attention off me. I let myself tune out of the conversation, having heard Keely’s complaints about a million times now. I chewed on my thumb as I thought about my situation. Though if I chewed much longer there wouldn’t be much thumb left.

Then, as if the universe was laughing at me, in the door walks Jamie Tartt himself.

“Oi, Will, do you think you could take me name off me shirt and then put it back on but bigger?”

He looked up and saw the room, now crowded with people. His eyes scanned the room then landed on me. I gave him a small smile.

“They’re talking about Roy,” Will said, his face almost covered by boxes.

Keely and I both shot him a glare. Not cool. Jamie shook his hand and put his leg up next to wear I was sitting. Was it bad that I wanted to lean against it?

“Grumpy, old, twat,” Jamie muttered, joining in on the conversation. I felt Keely’s eyes burning into the back of my skull, but I refused to look. I also refused to look at Jamie. Pretty much I just stared straight ahead, not looking at anyone or anything. God, if one more person walked into the room, I was gonna lose it.

The door opened and I hopped up, needing to leave the room immediately. My sudden movement caused everyone to look at me. Then I realized they weren’t looking at me, they were looking at the person entering the room. Roy.

“You talking about me?” He asked. I nodded, surrounded by agreements around me. He shrugged before addressing Keely. “Ready to go?”

And they were off. Somehow, I ended up being one of the last people in the room. Of course, it was just me and Jamie.

“You look tired,” he commented, addressing me finally.

“Gee thanks,” I sighed, starting out of the room. He followed closely behind me.

“Just saying.” He shrugged. “Need you in tip top shape for the game on Sunday. Isaac told me he’s gonna sprain his ankle on Friday.” Normally I would jump at the chance for a good banter with Jamie, but he was right, I was tired, and I couldn’t keep up. I must have taken a beat too long to respond because Jamie rolled his eyes and let out a loud dramatic groan. “You are no fun when you’re tired.”

“You’re right, Jamie. I am fucking tired. I’m tried because every time I leave my house there’s another reporter there waiting for me to comment on the fact that I am somehow either single handedly saving the team or ruining it. Or how I’m sleeping with all of you at once, or whatever other bullshit they want to know.” I spun on my heel and faced him. “I’m tired because if we lose on Sunday, it’ll be my fault. I’m tired because every single day, I wake up and I’m actually so scared all the time that today will be the day that you all realize I’m ruining this club and kick me to the curb.”

I didn’t mean for it to all come out like that. I covered my mouth with my hand, surprised at my own candor. Jamie’s eyes were wide, his surprise matching my own.

“I’m so sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” I admitted.

“That was a lot,” He agreed, nodding his head. “Me dad’s been texting me.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. Jamie had told me a bit about his parents. His dad was a piece of shit. His words not mine. I remembered at the end of last season, overhearing his father berate him in the training room. He hadn’t done good enough.

“Wants tickets to the game on Sunday.”

I nodded, still not quite sure how to respond. “Are you gonna get them for him?”

Jamie shrugged, half-heartedly. “Gotta, don’t I? If I don’t, he’ll be right mad. So.”

In that moment I understood what he was saying. It was a tough week. For all of us. But for Jamie and I especially, and we understood each other.

“We’ll get through it, yeah?” I said.

“Yeah, we will,” he agreed.

I couldn’t be faking it. He had to be having these feelings as well. Our eyes were matching shades of wanting. But it wasn’t a sexual wanting it was an emotional want. We wanted to be understood and here we have it. We understood each other.

“Anyways, well, I have to go, Sam’s getting his hair cut by Isaac, team needs to be there,” he told me.

“Right!” I blinked, finally tearing my face away from him. “Well, good luck! I’ll see you at here for the bus to the match!”

Man City was awful. The game was awful. The crowd was awful. Everything about the game went poorly. We wanted to win so badly but City was just too good. You could hear a pin drop in the locker room as the boys cleaned up after the match. I stood with Colin, helping him with a stretched bicep. Our one of our physios was out for the match and I was filling in where I could. Still though, it was silent. It was like a cloud had landed on top of us and we were moving, lethargically through the fog.

“Uh, Mr. Tartt?” The silence was broken by a security guard entering the room. “You have a visitor. Says he’s your father?”

I glanced over at Jamie. His already dark face dampened even further but he stood up, motioning the security guard to let him in. Jamie’s father’s face poked in through the doorway.

“Are ya decent?” He laughed, though he didn’t really say anything funny. “I told ya, dick.” Glared at the security guard as he walked into the room. I patted Colin’s arm, quietly instructing him to sit down. “Gentlemen, gentlemen! It’s a tought one, lads. It’s tough one, but no shame to it, ‘cause you know, we only every beat, uh, everybody we play!” Again, he laughed at his own humor. I crossed my arms, standing in front of the lads defensively. “You pups never had a chance” His gazed landed on me and I felt myself tense. “Now hang on! It’s the wonder queen herself! The savior of the sport!”

He approached me lowly. I kept my gaze on him but was careful not to let my expression change, despite the fear that was bubbling up in my stomach. Behind me, I felt Colin stand, careful not to come across threatening but there if he needed to be.

Mr. Tartt looked me up and down before giving and impressed look. “I see why they hired, yah!” I didn’t reaction, much to his disappointment. “Oh, c’mon! I’m just having a laugh. Tell me, what’s it like having all the lads to yourself, huh? You got a favorite to seduce or is more of a group situation-“

“Dad”

Jamie’s voice pulled him away from me. “And there he is! My own flesh and blood.”

The second his gaze wasn’t on me, I stepped back, standing next to Colin who rested a hand on my shoulder. I was shaking. I didn’t even notice that until he rested his hand on me. I shot him a quick look of thanks before returning my attention to Jamie.

He was awful. Belittling his son in front of his teammates, after using him to get what he wanted. I balled my hands into fists, wanting to step in and get this man away from Jamie. The despondent look on Jamie’s face was heartbreaking. He just stood there and took it, never saying a word. That was until he asked Jamie to take him on the field.

“I’d rather you not.” Jamie was stone cold in his response. His dad glanced around at the team, trying to maintain his cool.

“Yeah, they just want a look around,” His dad pressed, throwing some fake punches. “It’ll only take a second.”

“I’d rather ‘em not,” Jamie repeated, unmoving.

His dad took a step back, shifting his weight. “What? You’re not gonna all go little moody bitch just ‘cause you got your arse served to you on a plate, are ya?”

“Don’t speak to me like that.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t speak to me like that.”

“Okay, well, let’s see if you can hear this, hmm?” His dad got in real close to his face, speaking directly into his ear. “You know that ickle TV show you made? You made it easier for Manchester City to kick you to the curb. And now look where you are.” This time his laugh was more sinister, condescending as he spoke down on his son. “Twaddling about with a bunch of amateurs and their social justice warrior!” He shot a glare over at me.

Jamie refused to be goaded though and began to turn away from his father. In an instant, two things happened. Mr. Tartt yanked Jamie towards him and pushed him then Jamie’s fist flew into his father’s face. I jumped to attention, beginning to move forward but Colin’s hand reached out to pull me back.

Jamie’s father let out a groan on the floor, trying to cover up his pain with a laugh. “Oh, yeah? Okay.” He stood up and began to move towards Jamie. “You can have that one for free.”

Jamie flinched backwards as his father began to rush him. Luckily, Beard stepped into wrap his arms around Mr. Tartt. He dragged him out, kicking and screaming insults and threats at Jamie until he was out of the room. Then silence returned. No one quite knew how to react. I looked down and realized my hands were shaking and my chest was heaving. Then I touched my cheek and realized tears had escaped my eyes and were now rushing down my cheeks.

What truly broke me was the fear on Jamie’s face. He was afraid of his father. I wanted to rush forward and take Jamie into my arms. Tell him it was going to be okay. But I was afraid that if I did, that I would collapse. Luckily, Roy, as usual, was there to assist. He marched forward and wrapped Jamie up in his arms. Jamie stood; shell shocked, unsure of how to react at first. Then he slung his arms around Roy and let out a sob.

…

Somehow, I ended up outside, watching the lads filter onto the bus. I was still feeling the aftereffects of my fear from the locker room and didn’t notice that Jamie had approached me.

“You okay, (Y/N)?”

I dragged my eyes up to meet his. His eyes were full of concern for me. FOR ME? I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. And then I kept laughing and laughing. Jamie looked at me like I was crazy and honestly, I was. Eventually, I was able to calm myself down enough to speak again.

“You’re asking me if I’m okay?”

Jamie shook his head. “Yah? What’s so funny about that? My dad got in your face.”

“Oh, Jamie.” My laughter died out as I realized how serious he was. “I’m okay. Your dad doesn’t scare me.”

“Well, he scares me,” He admitted, shoving his hands his pockets.

I could feel my heart aching. Like actually physical aching for him. Finally, I let myself reach forward and pull him towards me, wrapping him in a hug. He responded quickly, wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders, keeping me tight against his body. I rested my cheek on his shoulder, letting him hold me as tight as he needed to for as long as needed to.

Tag List: @optimisticsandwichgladiator @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @ajax-petropolus-wife @higherthanheroes @heletsmelovehim

#jamie tartt #angst #enemies to lovers #eventual fluff #jamie tartt fanfiction #jamie tartt imagine #jamie tartt x reader #jamie tartt x y/n #ted lasso #ted lasso show

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secretswiftymarvelfan · 4 months

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I love you 3000 writing bonanza!

I’ve hit 3000 followers!!!

Now if you remember a while ago I asked how you guys would like to celebrate and this is what I’ve come up with! If you remember my 2.5k Followers Writing Challenge and Exchange its kinda similar to that but I’ve made some improvements!

What is going to happen is I am going to open up my askbox/dms for requests!

To make this manageable and allow me to complete as many as possible I will only be accepting requests in these following forms:

1) A question about a character or series

For example: How would X characters feel about Y character doing XYZ?

2) A What If…. For one of my series

For example: What If the character for X series met 10 years prior

3) A request using a maximum of 3 of the prompts below (the list is hella long so I’ve put it below the cut!)

For Example: Ari Levinson / Mob AU / You won’t get away so easy

If I receive a request that does not fall into one of these three categories then I will not fulfill it!

And because I like for everyone to be able to get involved if you yourself are a writer/want to give writing a go and you like any of the below prompts feel free to use them (the max of 3 doesn’t apply to you guys) all I ask is that you tag me, use the hashtag Niamh Loves You 3000, use appropriate warnings and let me know which ones you’re using so I can keep my eye out!

If you are writing a fic using the below prompts I ask you to follow these rules:

No sexual relations with minors, no somnophilia, necrophilia, incest, toilet stuff, snuff, or beastiality!

Dark Fics are allowed (Non-Con/Dub-Con) but they MUST BE APPROPRIATELY TAGGED!

Any creation MUST BE ORIGINAL! No stealing, stealing is bad!

The creation if part of a series must be able to be read as a stand alone!

No word limit! If it’s over 500 please use the read more function!

All the prompts are below the cut, remember its a max of three, but you can mix and match as you like so the possibilities are endless!

Characters:

Chris Evans

Steve Rogers

Andy Barber

Frank Adler

Ari Levinson

Curtis Everett

Johnny Storm

Jake Jensen

Ransom Drysdale

Any other Chris Evans character

Trope:

Fake Dating

Only One Bed

Enemies to Lovers

Friends to Lovers

Cuddling for warmth

Trapped together

Mistaken Identity

One night only

Love Triangle

Fated Mates

Childhood Sweethearts

Grumpy x Sunshine

Forbinned Love

Forced Proximity

WILDCARD! (You can pick an Trope not listed!)

AU:

A/B/O AU

Mob AU

Sports team AU

College AU

Emergency Service AU

(Medieval) Royalty AU

(Modern) Royalty AU

Pornstar AU

Fairytale / Fantasy AU

Biker AU

Soulmate AU

Band/Musician AU

WILDCARD! (You can pick an AU not listed!)

Dialogue:

"I told you not to touch that"

"I'm tired of answering that question"

"Why didn't they come?"

"I'm so sick of pretending everything's okay"

"don't just stand there! do something!"

"do you remember that night in [insert place]?"

"is there a problem here gentlemen?"

"what on earth happened here?"

"there's blood everywhere"

"Get in the van!"

"I'm not saying you're a bad cook, but even the flies in the kitchen wear gas masks."

"I may be a terrible dancer, but I've got great moves in bed."

"I'm not high maintenance; I'm just low tolerance for mediocrity."

"I love the sound of your voice and the way you say my name."

"Being with you feels like coming home."

“You're not the person I thought you were."

"I never imagined my life without you."

"I never got to say goodbye."

"I'm so glad you're here to point out my flaws. I would never have noticed them on my own."

"Oh, don't worry about being late. We'll just sit here and wait for you forever."

"I'm sorry. Did I ask for your opinion?"

"Why do you always insist on seeing the worst in people?"

"It's not my fault you can't handle the truth."

"You don't know what I'm capable of."

"I'll do whatever it takes to get what I want."

"You think you're better than me, but you're not."

"I'll use anyone I need to achieve my goals."

"You've made a huge mistake, and now you're going to pay for it."

"Don't you realize how much you've hurt everyone around you?"

"you have no idea what you do to me"

"don't you dare go slow"

"I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow"

"move and you won't be coming tonight"

"hands behind you're back"

"Beg for it"

"you can take it, you've done it before"

"I'm going to fucking ruin you"

"do you think you deserve a reward/punishment?"

"show me how much you missed me"

"Are you holding back? don't"

"shall we put your mouth to better use?"

"Slowly, I'm not going anywhere"

"I said I'd take care of you"

"Please, I can't sit still"

So there’s absolutely so many to pick from covering fluff, comedy, angst and smut �� don’t forget to follow the rules I’ve set out above!!

I love you all 3000 🩵🩵🩵

#NiamhCelebrates #Niamh Loves You 3000 #Writing Event #writing challenge #request info #chris evans #andy barber #ari levinson #ransom drysdale #johnny storm #jake jensen #steve rogers #colin shea

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deadcrowcalling · 23 days

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the olive theory

Neil hates almonds, and Todd loves them. Giving almonds to Todd becomes a tradition, lasting even after one's death.

warnings: angst? major character death (canon-compliant), grief, sad :(, some fluff at the beginning maybe, not proof read we die like neil, bad formatting due to the fact i'm writing this on my phone in the notes app lmao, ooc writing??

a/n: my first fic yayyy!! this was supposed to be rlly sweet and fluffy anderperry but it most definitely isnt :(

It was an oddly well known fact around Welton that Neil Perry did not like, perhaps even despised almonds. It was a not-so well known fact that Todd Anderson loved almonds.

"Who wants my almonds?" Neil spoke over the hubbub of the dining room. One boy named Anthony had snuck in bags of trail mix from town and had been using them as payment for notes and homework answers for weeks.

Todd immediately perked up. He gestured for Neil to hand him the almonds, and as he did, Todd immediately put a few in his mouth and began to chew.

Charlie, who had been in the middle of telling off Cameron, quirked his eyebrow at Todd. "Since when have you liked almonds so much?"

"I love almonds," Todd said in his usual quiet tone. "Always have."

Charlie scoffed. "Where were you all those times Neil made me eat the damn almonds?"

Todd shrugged and kept eating the almonds. Neil watched as the scene progressed. "If i had known you liked almonds so much, Todd, i would've given them to you sooner," he smiled.

And so a tradition began, if Neil received almonds, they'd go to Todd.

•December 10, 1959

"Meeting tonight?" Todd asked Neil as he sped up to walk at the same pace as the brunet.

Neil hummed. "Oh, that's reminds me," his hand traveled to his pocket and pulled out a bag of almonds. Todd's eyes brightened. "I've had everyone forfeit their almonds from Anthony's trail mix for the last few days."

"You didn't have to do that," Todd smiled sheepishly, taking the bag from Neil.

"I wanted to." Neil smiled. "You're my friend, and nobody else likes almonds, with good reason,"

"Hey!" Todd interrupted. "Almonds are great."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself." Neil shrugged, shaking his head as Todd rolled his eyes.

That night in the cave, as Pitts read a poem from the book, Neil bumped Todd's shoulder. In his hand was an almost-empty bag of trail mix, everything gone except the almonds. Todd gratefully took the bag from Neil's hand and began to eat.

•December 13, 1959

Neil paced back and forth in his shared room with Todd, reciting his lines as Todd wrote something in his notebook. Per usual, he had a bag of almonds next to him, snacking away.

"Have you told everyone when the play is?" Neil asked nervously. "I don't want anyone missing it."

Todd nodded. "You mentioned it at the last meeting, remember? And you've already told Mr. Keating."

Neil sighed. "Oh, yeah, right."

Todd set his notebook and pencil down. "Is everything alright? You seem on edge."

"It's just, the play, my father, it's-" he sighed, messing with his fingers. "Nerves."

Todd hummed. "You'll do great, i know it. You'll be the next Frank Sinatra within no time." he smiled. Neil's mouth rose into a small smile. Todd gently kicked at his leg from his perch on his bed. "If they ever remake Around the World in 80 Days, you better be in it. I'll go see every showing of it if you do."

Neil smiled and sighed. "I'm getting worked up over nothing. Thank you, Todd. For everything."

Todd smiled and continued eating his almonds. Neil groaned and mumbled about how he had zero taste for liking something so disgusting and Todd giggled.

•December 15, 1959

Todd was right. Neil did amazing. But, to the poet's disappointment, Todd wasn't able to inform his friend of his success before Neil's father dragged him into a car and drove off, not before telling Keating to stay away from Neil.

On the way back to Welton, Todd wondered how much trouble Neil would be in. His gut felt uneasy with worry. Mr. Perry was in no way fond of Neil's longing for an acting career, everyone knew that, even though he was spectacular.

Todd tossed and turned in his bed for what felt like hours. Eventually falling asleep, he was soon rudely awoken by Charlie. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking the sleep out of them. Charlie was... crying? The rest of the poets stood in the doorway. "What is it?"

Charlie took a shaky breath. "Neil's dead."

Todd's insides were buzzing. The air felt thick and it felt like he was drowning. His ears rung with a painful sharpness and his brain ached. "What?" His voice was feeble, and his tone quivered.

Charlie sniffed. "He-" he wiped a tear off his face. "They said he killed himself."

Todd shook his head. "No-no..." he chuckled nervously. "Neil wouldn't do that. He- he wouldn't kill himself."

"Todd.." Knox said.

"No!" he said, voice a bit louder than it should be. "Neil wouldn't leave us. He- he wouldn't leave us. Why.. why would he do that? You're lying." His breath was unsteady now, and his chest rose and fell with an unstable pattern.

"I wish i was. I really, really do, Todd." Charlie said, voice shaking.

•December 18, 1959

Neil's funeral was somber. His mother was hysterical, sobbing the entire time while his father stared on, face expressionless as people spoke about his late son.

Todd's eyes never left his feet. Not while he was carrying his friends casket, not while he was speaking about his friend, not while they were putting him in the ground. God, they were putting him in the ground. Snow fell upon the dirt as they shoveled it upon the casket that held Neil's body. Todd felt numb even thinking about it.

The night they returned to Welton was hell. Todd walked into his room, some part of him still expecting to see Neil's smiling face practicing lines or doing trig homework.

Todd sat at Neil's desk and immediately fell apart. He sobbed into his hands just looking at the dogeared pages in Neil's chemistry book or the pencil shavings sitting on the desk. A single pencil sat out. Todd opened the top drawer of the desk to put it away, and sobbed even harder at what he saw. A little plastic bag of almonds, Todd's name written across it in permanent marker.

it was an oddly well-known fact at Welton that before his death, Neil Perry did not like almonds.

Now, neither did Todd.

#anderperry #sad #angst #fluff #neil perry #todd anderson #dps #dead poets society #dps fandom

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frogletscribe · 3 months

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I finished the main story of A:FoP last night and I have more thoughts but don't want to spoil anything for anyone who is not there yet so im putting them under the cut again lol. Also a lot of this gets into like general Avatar lore things and not always specifically A:FoP. I just have a lot of thoughts and not a lot of people to talk to about it lmao.

Warning: this is very long, i am apologizing now if you choose to read the whole thing.

Spoilers for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora under the cut

TEYLAN oh my god my boy. He scared me so bad when he showed up again but I'm so glad he had a hand in stopping Mercer. It felt like such a moment of growth for him finaly setting himself free of his abuser. Poor guy feels so guilty about everything that happened, and I'm very nervous about whenever Nor comes back in future DLC stuff because he still doesn't know that Teylan 'betrayed' them. Especially after everything with Alma.

Speaking of Alma, I have somewhat mixed feelings about her story? Obviously the Sarentu have every right to be pissed at her, I am pissed at her, she used them (and honestly is still using them) to ease her own guilt. What bothers me is the "You will never be one of us" rhetoric? Mostly because it makes me think of Jake and the Sully kids (Lo'ak and Kiri specifically) who all are/look more like Avatars rather than Na'vi. It makes me wonder how the Sarentu would react to them? The situations are very different, Jake gave up almost everything that made him human to live as a Na'vi where Alma has stayed human, albeit unhealthily attached to her Avatar form. Jake worked to earn his place with the Na'vi where Alma is trying to take it from this group of children she has been lying to from the very start.

But more than that, her still talking as if she was a part of their family at the end made me so mad. I don't think Nor had a good reaction to her by any means, stabbing her was definitely not good, and it leaves all of the other humans scared of him but like,,, i'm on his side tbh. His anger is justified, he's just not coping with it in healthy ways. Like at least the Sarentu did shut her down, Alma is not a part of their family by the end, but giving her the grace they did at the end i think was more than she deserved. Idk, I am glad that they are able to be the bigger persons (pun not intended lol) and move forward, I'm just not a fan of forgiving a person who was partially responsible for the murder of your entire family?

Back to Nor. He is such an interesting character to have next to Ri'nela and So'lek. His anger is palpable and it has nowhere to go. He refuses to connect to Eywa again because he feels he has been poisoned by TAP and humans as a whole and it colors everything he does. He copes with his pain by ignoring it until it becomes too much and he snaps.

And then there is Ri'nela, who is also clearly hurt by everything that comes to light about the Sarentu and TAP, but she is so much more reserved about it. She has a really lovely audio log about how she feels the need to set her own emotions aside so she can take care of others and their emotions. You can really tell how much pressure she puts on herself to be that emotional stability for others. Still she works through it and at the very least tries to talk with the Protag about it in a much more healthy way than Nor does.

Compare that to So'lek, who is similarly reserved in is emotions to Ri'nela, but less to protect others and more to protect himself. Hopefully we will get a little more insight into his character with the comics coming out, but So'lek is i think very similar to Nor in a lot of ways. His clan was wiped out in the Great War, and he was the only survivor to not assimilate into another clan, and we can assume, i think, that those other survivors were most likely children and other non-warriors, either too old or unable to fight for whatever reason. He is entirely alone by choice, and he is angry, but he keeps it together.

So'lek sees the bigger picture, he knows that the resistance is the one other group that's actually fighting back (Besides Jake and the Omatikaya), even if its entirely a group of humans, who we can assume he is not terribly fond of in general. He makes a point of saying the RDA is what needs to be removed from Pandora, not humans. He knows how to separate his allies instead of generalizing 'all humans bad', something Nor is implied to struggle with at least a little. That is especially clear when So'lek calls Nor out after he stabs Alma. But that still doesn't negate how angry So'lek is and is capable of being. He says it after HQ is attacked, he is trying not to follow Nor and his rage. He knows that if he has that conversation with Nor, it will be very easy for him to let his rage consume him as well.

Given that Nor is pretty much gone from the game after he stabs Alma, I'm hoping that in the upcoming DLC we get to find him? Maybe he is being an angry loner out on the woods or if he has found other missing TAP students? There are 4 mentioned in game, either by name (Ri'nela asks where two of them, Telisi and Yefti, are at the very start of the game, and 2 more are mentioned in TAP School Records, Okni and Yuayt) Of course they could all have died while the main four were in cryosleep, 15 years have passed and if they werent with that group when Alma saved them, theres no telling what exactly has happened to them. I just think it could be cool for them to pop up and join back up with the Sarentu.

On, like, an entirely different note, the joy it gives me that there are multiple nonbinary characters! Ahh!!! I think right now the only ones are Tsu'kiri from the Aranahe and Okul from the Kame'tire, at least that I have found, but the way that they are handled, I really really love. They are both just people! Existing in the world! As a nonbinary person myself i also really appreciate the game using they/them for the protagonist and letting you flavor your character however you want so that you aren't locked into male/female like so many games tend to do.

Getting into less A:FoP specific and more general lore territory: Something else I found really interesting while digging around on the wiki is that Mokasa is not the Olo'eyktan? He is listed as Anufi's chief advisor, which made him a sort of stand in Olo'eyktan while she was exiling herself, but he isn't actually the Olo'eyktan the way Ka'nat and Nesim are for their respective clans. Even on the wiki, the Olo'eyktan for the Kame'tire is labeled as Unknown. At most we get Okul being named ? Tsakarem? Thats at least what I took from it. But it makes me curious about the other clans and their leadership (also just very curious about them in general lol). There are 16 clans that we know of (that are all still canon) but we really have only really in depth explored 6 of them in the whole series so far. (Just counting the movies and A:FoP right now because I do not have access to the comics or I think the like one? other games that is still canon) Idk im interested in more Olo'eyktan/Tsahik dynamics beyond just mated pairs like we have seen. Like the Zeswa sisters is really cool to me, or father/daughter dynamic with Ka'nat and Etuwa. Obviously, Jake, and later Tarsem, are not mated to Mo'at but there was the intention of Neytiri eventually taking over as Tsahik before the Sully's left, which would have continued the married couple leaders dynamic that we have been seeing.

We also know that Olo'eyktan don't always have to be men (See Nesim for the Zeswa and Ikneyi from the Tayrangi clan that we see in the first film), so then are there examples of male Tsahik somewhere? Okul being presumably named Tsakarem as a nonbinary/gender non-conforming character would imply that on some level, but im curious if we will ever see examples of it.

And finally, somebody has got to let me smooch the characters in this game PLEASE.

If you actually read all that kudos to you and thank you for indulging my screaming.

#atwow #avatar way of water #avatar frontiers of pandora #froglet rambles #frontiers of pandora #so'lek #afop #sarentu #teylan #ri'nela #nor #afop spoilers #frontiers of pandora spoilers #avatar the way of water #james cameron avatar

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verosvault · 2 months

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🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 6🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 6 "Party Politics"

Timestamp: 00:15:49

Video Length: 4min. & 58sec.

The Bad Kids meet Buddy Dawn (Pt. 1 | ‣Pt. 2)

Buddy says that's not how being a "chosen one" works. 🥲🥲🥲

When Kristen left the church, they lost their chosen one. 🥲🥲🥲🥲

Buddy asks how things are working out with Kristen's new god though 😭✋

Adaine and Fabian lie and say that things are going so great with Kristen and her new god! 😭😭✋✋ Fully backing her up as they should! 😭✋👏❤️🫶👌

Fabian mentions Craig! 😂🤣💀

Adaine says that Helio chose Kristen but Kristen chose Cassandra! 😭✋

Kristen is invisibly crying 😭✋

Buddy asks if Kristen is around somewhere other than right in front of him! 😭 *Points to Fig disguised as Kristen* 😭✋

Fig forgot they were there! 😭✋

Fig disguised as Kristen wants to go do another shrimp jump! 😂🤣💀

Buddy: "It can't possibly be as good as the first!" 😭✋

Buddy tries to rile up everyone that they're about to see another shrimp jump! 😭✋

Fabian says to rack 'em up! 😭✋

Fig asks the Hangman to destroy the ramp and he does it in Hellhound form! 😭✋

Buddy calls the Hangman Hellhound "A servant of the devil"! 😂😂💀💀

Gorgug says it smells good from the inside because of all of that butter!! 😂😂🤣🤣💀💀😭😭

Fabian and Riz wonder where Buddy's friends are at....his adventuring party.

Buddy says that Kipperlilly is so bright and that she's a blessing and a gift! 😭✋

Buddy says that Ruben is very talented.

Adaine asks Buddy what his thoughts are on Ruben's song 😂🤣💀

Kristen does an insight check on his positivity and wants to know if it's authentic 😭✋

Brennan: "I think you recognize it from growing up in the church and growing up amongst the Harvestman. On first glance, the fact that Buddy is here fraternizing, unless there's some secret nefarious reason that he's here to do this, right, would put him in a different category from the Harvestman or Coach Daybreak, right? Coach Daybreak would not be able to be here and not be aggressive and hostile to people, right? But it doesn't mean that all of Buddy's positivity is sincere. I think you would read it in a more nuanced way. Buddy's positivity is partially coming from a genuine place. That genuine place is deeply judgemental, but maybe some part of him wants what's best for other people, but that wanting what's best for other people, is cloaked in a really myopic sort of Manichaean worldview. So it's the mix of- it's all the good and bad stuff that you would-

Ally: It's extremely recognizable

Brennan: "Extremely recognizable"

Brennan: "I don't think Kristen would clock it as positive, but that doesn't mean it's not genuine, right? It has all the problems you associate..."

Brennan: "You WERE this kid, so it's like, whatever you didn't like about your old self you feel like, oh, it's present in this kid who's also drinking water out of a beer can, and is here being like, 'I genuinely love everyone at this party, and I wanna keep you from doing the choices that are wrong that you're making. You know, that vibe, right?"

Adaine asks Buddy why he joined the rat grinders

Adaine and Fig asked if he replaced somebody and Buddy said that he got requested specifically by them. 🥲

Riz asks him if something happened to somebody on their team. 🥲

Riz asks if he knows if the rat grinders had any former members.

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sansblues2 · 3 months

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The cards:

Hello again! I didn't tell you but I went through a lack of motivation phase. I'm better now but it was really bad at the beginning of this year, I didn't feel like drawing anything and what I did draw felt lifeless, like it was missing something. At the same time, the last chapter of Samatfoe part 4 came out, and wow, that was an awesome chapter. I loved how Sílthéy appeared, narrating the scene and her entrance, I found it so creative. And Toffee's backstory, I actually got emotional on the part where Sílthéy described the events that led to Toffee's parents and brother's deaths. For some reason I still believed Glossarick didn't have anything to do with what happened to Toffee, until this chapter, even though it was clarified since the beginning that he was the bad guy, I think I was still associating him with Glossarick from the original series who, at least in the beginning, was good. Anyway, great chapter, it was an amazing way to finish this part of the series and I can't wait for the next and to see Sílthéy again. Now going back to the drawing, I wanted to make something big, and somewhat detailed to see if I could motivate myself again, so after I read Samatfoe's last chapter I couldn't stop thinking about the characters' reactions at the end of the story, the mixed feelings they were feeling, betrayal, anger, confusion and I wanted to illustrate that, but I didn't want to just draw their expressions. And then I remembered the drawing @sagesilentfire had posted before the chapter update and I thought, " That's it. That's what I want to do". So this drawing is supposed to be the aftermath of the events, how everybody was feeling at the end of it, I tried to use some symbolism here and there in the cards. I'm not sure if I was able to capture the emotions of every character, but I did my best. Just to clarify some things, in Marcie's card that cape is supposed to be the one Marco receives in one of the episodes(can't remember which one), I don't believe Marcie also received one but it is just to represent Mewni, her armor is also one that Marco uses in another episode. Meteora's dress is the one she was going to use in the coronation, I just took Meteora's dress in the original episode and added some details based on Eclipsa and Star's dresses from the same episode. I even put the little bow she uses on her tail. Star's dress is based on her butterfly form(which is beautiful. I love how chaotic and vibrant it is, it fits so much with Star). Also, this is the second time I draw a wheelchair, you can barely see under Star's very fluffy dress, but I hope what you can see looks good. To finish, I also used this drawing to put into practice some new methods in how to draw things, like blood, crystals, tears, and flames, and how to do different renderings and different expressions, and I think I learned a lot with it. This drawing took a long time to make. It is the biggest drawing I've ever made with 125 layers only for the cards, so I really hope you like it. See ya ❤️.

#star vs the forces of evil #svtfoe #samatfoe #star butterfly #moon butterfly #eclipsa butterfly #marcie #meteora #toffee #glossaryck #sílthéy #fanart #tw blood

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isekai-crow · 4 months

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The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

I didn't go into this expecting much, because you can almost never tell if an isekai is going to be good or not (and all the subjectivity that comes with the term 'good'.)

This looks like it's gonna be hella fun.

Overall Score so far: 7.5/10

The summoning to another world as "Heros" to defeat the "Demon King" is your standard isekai plot. It's not original, but it's a good basis for a story, if that's not all there is to the premise. I'm looking forward to how this will get it's own unique twist.

The initial vibes I was getting from it were a mix of

a bad reminiscence of the beginning of "Rise of the Shield Hero" where I was worried that healing magic would be considered a bad or weak ability, and our main character Usato would be looked down on. AND

The great impression of "Wow, I want the Student President Inumaki and Vice President Kazuki to become a poly ship with Usato." I'm just gonna head cannon that the whole way though, thank you very much, they have great vibes together!

I'm thankful the first didn't come to pass, and that the second is going to be the basis for fanfic I look for in the future lol. But also, I hope the Demon King is fun, and that the fox girl doesn't bring any Loli vibes into this.

The green-haired Rose, a healing magic user who is going to train our intrepid healing hero, is the only Voice Actor that popped out at me. Which makes sense, as going through the other voices, it's a lot of small time or up and coming VAs! They're all doing a fantastic job though.

But Rose.

For a second I thought it was the Headmaster from Season 2 of Ancient Magus Bride, as she have a similar low and husky voice. But no, we have Tanaka, Atsuko - The voice of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, and where I recognized her from, Hanami from Jujutsu Kaisen!!! She has a very long record of supporting roles in so many anime, and I really like her voice, so I'm glad I get to listen to it here~

Episode 1 Spoilers Below!

Youve got your standard typical kid who is So Normal, and you have the Amazing and Loved By Everyone Student Body Council members, who everyone thinks are dating, and are just So Pretty and Smart and Good At All The Things.

I love how they are both interested in Usato for treating them like normal people, because as we find out, they are just typical high school students. And while they are not actually dating, just spend a lot of time together, I could absolutely peg these two as swingers looking for a third member, and that's all just delusions on my part hahahaha.

Inumaki-sempai, the Student President, is a secret Chu-Ni-Byo, or one of those edgelord kids doing the naruto run and unironically thinks they have special powers to move things with their eyes. It's a phase everyone goes through, even if they won't admit it. But she is SO HYPE to be in an isekai, and I'm right there with her. I would totally react the same way.

And of course, to feed her Chunibyo tendancies, which are immediately spotted by Usato whose image of her is shattered (good, please see her as human), she's gained the power of Lightning Magic. All she needs now is an eye patch and some bandages on her hand, along with manical laughter.

Kazuki, her second in command, seems like a typical Popular Guy, but I love that when he's getting heated over their nonconsensual summoning (despite Inumaki getting hyped in the backgroun), Usato stepping in to calm him down and point out that there is no use getting worked up, is such a good base jumping point for where things will go from here. He's not a particularly interesting character yet, but he's a good guy who wants to protect those around him. It makes sense that he gets Light Magic.

I love that Kazuki has NO IDEA what an Isekai is, and is like - "Light magic... I can blind people I guess???" Has he never even played Dragon Quest? lmao

Usato of course, gets something different, and everyone flips out. He then stops being able to read the room and puts himself in his own situation by mentioning as such in front of Rose, despite the king and magic nun trying to dissuade her from finding out. He's a Super Duper Rare Healing Magic user, because of course he is. He's Protag-kun. But it's fun to see the "tag along" who DIDN'T HEAR THE HERO BELLS WHEN SUMMONED get such a unique skill.

Bless this sweetheart. I hope they can become an awesome trio.

I can't wait to watch episode 2, and see if we get some actual twisted ways to use healing magic to fight.

My hopes for how Healing Magic can be used "incorrectly"

up someone's internal organs with a punch

be able to manipulate their blood or body water content to kill, OR

just toughen this kid up into a fighter who can heal all the damage he takes and turn him into a tank rather than just a support. ZOMBIE FIGHTING STYLE

Either way, I'm gonna enjoy this one!!

ep2 ep3 ep4 ep5 <- these will be links eventually

#anime winter 2024 #the wrong way to use healing magic #chiyu mahou no machigatta tsukaikata #治癒魔法の間違った使い方 #isekai #isekai anime

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