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itsgameofthronesimagines · 1 year

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Strong Dragons (Part One)

(Gif not mine)

Fandom: House of the Dragon

Masterlist Here

Pairing: Daemon x Fem!Reader x Rhaenyra

Warnings: NSFW! 18+ only! Smut, mature themes and language, P in V, arranged marriages, unprotected rough/raw sex (wrap it before you tap it), virginity loss, incest, daemon growls (enough said), angst, mentions of period blood, infertility struggles, threesomes, etc. (I’m so sorry if I miss anything I’m just writing the warnings down as I remember them)

Word Count: 4,032

Summary: Lady Y/n is chosen by Princess Rhaenyra for some would say a dangerous, maybe even an impossible task... and it requires marrying her uncle.

Request by: @ivy-targaryen

Author’s Note: I just so happened to be writing a Daemon x Reader x Rhaenyra fic when this request came in so thank you so much for the added inspiration! For context, Fem!Reader will be a Strong for later obvious reasons, Rhaenyra is still married to Laenor, Daemon stays in King’s Landing and never marries Laena, so their daughters are never born (I’m sorry). This is a VERY long one (that is most definitely getting a second and third part cause this originally had over 10,000 words) so strap in and I hope you enjoy it!

(I do not consent my works to be reposted/copied)

"What troubles you?"

Lady Y/n, daughter of House Strong, looks up from her embroidery to locate the source of her brother's voice. Looking around the gardens, she found him walking towards her, stepping into the gazebo she had hidden in. She tilts his head up at him, "Do I look troubled?"

Ser Harwin Breakbones lets out a snort full of snark, "I hardly see a sour look like that on your face, sweet sister."

Upon mention, Y/n feels the furrow of her brow lighten, straightening her posture when she realized she had been slouching. Blinking rapidly to try and veil her brooding expression, she clears her throat and nods towards the nearest seat for her brother. When he takes up the invitation to join her, only then did she voice her worries, "... If you were given an impossible task, would you do it?"

Harwin's eyebrows furrow, an expression fairly similar to Y/n's. By all accounts, apart from their genders, they were twins, and Y/n is reminded of this as she watched her brother similarly shift in his seat before replying, "Awfully vague question. If you truly want advice from your brother, wouldn't you want to be a bit more specific?"

"If I wanted advice, I'd go to Larys," the quick remark forces out a snort from Harwin. Y/n faintly smiles before urging him on with a stiff nod, "Just answer the question."

Silence lingers as he ponders on said question. Harwin listens to the wind brushing through the vines that have climbed the pillars of the gazebo. He answers boldly, like the strong soldier he was, "Nothing is impossible. Not for me. Not for us. House Strong knows no task that is too impossible to accomplish."

Y/n looked back down at her embroidery to hide her disappointment. She was afraid he would say that, furiously pulling the needle and threading through the fabric. Despite hiding her emotions, Harwin took her silent response as a recoil, worrying him further as he leans closer to her, talking quietly in case the question was for a more personal matter, "Can I ask who gave you this burden?"

The needle paused in Y/n's hand, her eyes still examining her threaded pattern as she mumbled, "The princess."

Harwin's worry eases some, shoulders visibly relaxing under his armor. He smiles warmly with encouragement, "Princess Rhaenyra would not have asked... whatever-it-is from you if she did not believe you could do it. She's also smart. I don't believe anything's impossible for her either," when his sister remained unconvinced, Harwin reaches out to still her hand from stabbing her embroidery with the needle, "She is to be our queen someday, Y/n... Whatever she wants from you, as long as you are not to be harmed, I believe you should do it."

Y/n's shoulders rise and fall as she sighs through her nose, watching Harwin's hand before finally looking up at him, "She wants me to go with her if and when she leaves for Dragonstone."

Not a complete lie, but one nonetheless, and it only added to the weight already heavy on her burdened shoulders. Harwin's eyebrows furrow again, but more so in confusion, "And why is that such an impossible task?"

"... Convincing Father of it is one, and being unwed is another. I doubt Father would let me go if he intends on finding me a husband."

Ser Breakbones scoffs, "Father cannot deny the princess, Y/n. He'll have to agree if she asks you to go with her."

"But the King--"

"Princess Rhaenyra has the King wrapped around her finger. She will get her father to agree to this arrangement, and then our father will really have no choice."

He stands suddenly, remembering that he had the City Watch to attend to and he had only meant to bid his sister a good day. Before he leaves, however, he smiles down and pats Y/n's shoulder, "It's an honor to have the heir to the throne request your service. Politically, the relationship between our houses would strengthen if you choose to accept the princess' proposal. Give it some thought, sister. I know in the end, whatever you choose, I'll believe it to be the right choice."

~~~~~~~~~

Her brother wasn't at all helpful in her struggles, but Y/n had appreciated his words, nevertheless. She knew she wouldn't get his full support if he had known the full truth, but he had answered as she knew he would with what she had given him. That night, as instructed, she slipped into the secret passageways of the Red Keep. Following the drawings that were quickly scrawled onto a piece of parchment, Y/n wandered cautiously down the tunnels, avoiding any source of light she caught sight of. Eventually, she makes it to a small stairwell and climbs up, finding the outline of a door on the top of the stairs. Ignoring the dust and cobwebs, Y/n places her hands on the door and gives it an experimental push. When it didn't budge, she pushed harder, quickly catching herself when the door gave in.

She nearly stumbled into the chambers revealed on the other side. Looking around, her eyes widen in amazement to find herself in Princess Rhaenyra's chambers, the very same Targaryen who was watching Y/n expectedly from her seat next to the hearth on the far side of the room. When Y/n's gaze caught hers, the Strong woman straightened her posture, quickly brushing the dust off her skirt and bowing respectively, parchment paper still clutched in hand.

Rhaenyra smiled, amusement shining in her eyes unless Y/n had mistaken it for the fireplace reflecting off her violet orbs. The princess rose from her chair and slowly crossed the room to the other woman, hands clasped in front of her, "Find your way here well enough?"

"Yes, Princess," Y/n curtly answered. She was nearly startled out of her manners, however, when a large hand reached around her and snatched the parchment from her hands. Dark hair falling over her shoulder as she spun her head, Y/n nearly lost her bravery when Daemon Targaryen stood beside her, seamlessly emerging from the shadows of the room. The prince barely acknowledged her presence, staring down at the small map he had drawn for Y/n as it crinkled in his hands.

Finally, he looked up once Rhaenyra had joined his side, the two Targaryens both staring at Y/n with their matching eyes, looming over her with a fierceness so similar to a dragon. Daemon allows a small smirk to grace his lips, "Incredible architecture, wouldn't you agree?"

Y/n quickly nodded when she guessed that he was referring to the secret tunnels, now slightly shaking, "Yes, my prince."

"Maegor the Cruel had the secret tunnels and passageways built throughout the Red Keep back when he was King. They say after construction was finished, he threw a grand feast for the hands and minds behind the building process," Daemon took the parchment and held it over a lit candlestick stationed on a pillar beside him, watching the remnants of his maps slowly disappear into flames before freeing his hand off it and fixing his gaze back on Y/n. The young woman tried her best not to cower in fear as he took one step closer to her again, "And after three days, he had them all killed so no one but him would know how to navigate the tunnels and trapdoors."

A hidden threat, veiled by his intention. Y/n forced her hands to stay still by folding them in front of her body, unable to meet the prince's eyes when he stepped far too close to her, close enough to feel his breath on her face as she whispered, "I will not breathe of word of this to anyone."

Daemon tilts his head, smirking as though he was playing with his food, "And what made you think I would suggest such a thing?"

"Daemon," both his and Y/n's eyes remember Rhaenyra and look to face her. The princess appeared patient, encouraging her uncle with a brief nod, "I trust her."

Once her uncle had stepped away and dutifully stood at her side, Rhaenyra turned back to Y/n, thinly smiling, "Have you made a decision?"

"I have, Princess..." Y/n nods again, trying to catch her breath after Daemon has stolen hers. She basked in her personal space, able to think straight without the two dragons lingering ever so close to her. Taking a deep breath and regaining her courage, Y/n lifts her chin and turns to Daemon, "I will marry you. I will wed you and bed you. I will give you the children you and Princess Rhaenyra so desire and pass them off as hers with Ser Laenor."

Rhaenyra's eyes were the only thing to give away her relief and veiled excitement. Daemon, however, remained impassive, unwilling to share whatever emotions he was feeling with the stranger in the room he did not yet trust. He keeps his gaze hard, staring deeply into Y/n's as if trying to fish out a lie, "You understand that while you will be the one to bear them, you will not be the one to raise them. When they are born, you promise to not hold motherhood over them and entrust this to the Princess Rhaenyra."

It was not a question or a request, more so a demand. Despite Daemon's bluntness, Y/n nods obediently, "If that is the princess' wish, yes."

Rhaenyra glides over to the woman, gingerly taking her hands in her own. Y/n couldn't find herself able to stare directly into the princess' gaze and so glanced down at their conjoined hands. Rhaenyra's skin was fair and much paler than hers in comparison. Y/n had a few small scars littered over her hands from various stories of her childhood, while Rhaenyra's was visibly flawless, apart from the feel of her palms. They were rough, as Y/n observed, most likely from the use of dragon-riding.

Y/n forces herself to look up, only to be rewarded with a grateful nod from Rhaenyra and a kind smile, "Thank you, my lady. You have no idea how much this means to me."

~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Daemon approached the King and asked for Lady Y/n's hand in marriage. Viserys was delighted that his brother had found a new wife so soon after Lady Royce's death and after the scandal with Rhaenyra and immediately confided in Lyonel Strong for his approval. His Hand, of course, agreed to this proposal between his daughter and Prince Daemon and so a ceremony was quickly planned to take place within a fortnight.

Preparations were made and everyone appeared to be excited about the event, bustling about and whispering with joy amongst themselves. Many of the ladies of the court giggled and gossiped with each other, fawning over Prince Daemon and commenting on how Lady Y/n was incredibly lucky.

If Harwin had a suspicion, he never showed it. Instead, he congratulated his sister on her proposal and promised to be her ally against her future husband should she ever need it. On the day the ceremony was set to take place, Y/n found herself surrounded by maids and other ladies of the court as they helped her prepare for her wedding. Just as they had fully dressed her in a white dress filled with embroidered dragons in red thread, the doors of Y/n's chambers opened to reveal the princess and Ser Harwin. The ladies and servants all bow and made a quick escape when Rhaenyra asked them to leave. Once they were alone, Rhaenyra nodded to Harwin and fondly watched as Ser Breakbones crossed the room to gather his sister up in a tight embrace.

"You look beautiful," he compliments, petting down her hair while looking her in the eyes, "The princess wishes to do your hair, but I will be just outside if you need anything."

Y/n nods and briefly smiles in answer. Before she could even say a word, Harwin had left the room and closed the doors behind him. Rhaenyra waits a moment before joining Y/n at her vanity mirror, instructing the bride-to-be to sit down while she took a brush to her dark hair. The two women were silent for the moment as Rhaenyra ran the brush through Y/n's hair, time and time again until it felt like silk running through her fingers. Then, the princess moved on to braiding certain locks and forming a halo on top of the bride's head, similar to something a Targaryen would wear.

"I understand what we are asking of you is a heavy burden," the princess spoke gently, "And I understand it will be difficult, but I want you to know that I owe you my life for this. You have my gratitude and I will never forget this. You're a true friend to the crown. Daemon may say whatever he likes, but as for me, I still want you to be a part of the children's lives. To them, you will be a distant cousin and an aunt, but to me, you will be every bit of a mother to them as I."

Y/n doesn't nod in an attempt not to ruin Rhaenyra's work on her hair. The curiosity got the best of her as she opened her mouth, "How will we hide any pregnancy? Will we have a maester we can trust?"

"We have a plan," Rhaenyra doesn't elaborate beyond that, "And we will act on it once we are sure you are with child."

"Will Ser Laenor be in the know of it?"

She nods, "He knows."

"And he approves?"

"He does," Rhaenyra finishes the braids, her hands finding rest on Y/n's shoulders. The two women stare into each other's reflection in the mirror, a small shadow taking over the princess' eyes as she spoke, "We did try, you know. Many times, in fact. But nothing came of it. When I turned to Daemon for help... still, nothing happened. As the future queen, it is vital that I have heirs of my own someday. If I am truly barren, well..." she squeezes Y/n's shoulders, "At least this way, the children will still have Targaryen blood running through their veins."

Y/n bites her lip, not voicing what she truly thought to the princess. Daemon never hid his disgust for his first wife, Rhea Royce. Everyone heard him spit terrible things about her, darkly stating his wife to be 'his bronze bitch' among other profanities. With one look at her own reflection, Y/n wanted to flinch away at her Strong features. It didn't take a fool to know that Prince Daemon had a taste for women with silver hair, but not just any woman. Some speculated that Daemon had only ever loved one woman, and could never have her. All the lords and ladies in court looked no further than Rhaenyra herself, knowing that she could ask Daemon to take over the world for her, and her uncle would do so without question. Y/n had once speculated these rumors, and now her arrangement with the uncle and niece only confirmed it.

Finally, Y/n turned away from the mirror to look up at the princess with as much honesty as she could muster, "I cannot guarantee the children will have silver hair."

Rhaenyra faintly smiles, her hand hovering over Y/n's hair as if wanting to run her fingers through it, but wisely decided against it, "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

~~~~~~~~~

The wedding went by quickly, Y/n could scarcely remember it whenever she looked back. The ceremony played out like a rehearsal, vows full of monotone and kisses exchanged in practice. The celebration afterward was one so grand that Y/n had a moment to forget her sorrows. The feast was large and not only was wine being served but also ale and mead as well. Y/n had her father to thank for providing her favorite drink, her cups mostly filled with a honey mead sent from Dorne. She danced her troubles away with anyone and everyone, but not her new husband. Daemon barely paid a mind to her, instead seating himself beside the King as they joked and laughed as if they were boys again. Y/n wasn't too bothered by this as practically everyone danced with her. Her father and Harwin were the first to do so, her younger brother, Larys, was unable to take part in the dancing. Members of the King's small council danced with her, and their sons. The Sea Snake himself, Lord Vaemond, and Ser Laenor all danced with her. With knowing eyes, Laenor passed the bride off to his wife once a new song began, and Y/n was too stunned to remember her manners as Princess Rhaenyra took her hands and led her into a lovely, slow dance.

"I suppose this makes me your aunt now, Princess," Y/n finds herself speaking her mind more than usual, her mead finally dulling her restless mind.

Rhaenyra huffed out a laugh, linking her arm through Y/n's opposite as they spun around each other in a circle, "It does, my lady. Although from this moment forward, I would like to call you a friend as well."

"Whatever you wish for, Princess."

The bedding ceremony was not as enjoyable as the feast, but suppose that is why Y/n drank many cups of mead before that. She was horrified at the idea of everyone in court watching her, including her brothers and father, but was relieved to learn that Daemon had forbidden the court to watch. Y/n will later hear that Daemon himself spoke to the King about this, stating that he had every intention of consummating his marriage with his second bride, seeing as she was the one he chose, unlike Lady Royce, and that there was no need for his brother to watch and make sure. The lords still brought the bride to bed and the ladies brought the groom, but there was no undressing or an audience during the consummation.

Well, all but one audience.

Later, after the lords and ladies had gone, Rhaenyra slipped into Y/n's chambers, undetected by anyone outside. She sat near the bed, watching with interest as Daemon stripped himself and his new bride down to their night clothes. Her face red with embarrassment, Y/n doesn't comment and instead turns her head away to observe the far wall of her room, nearly jumping out of her skin when Daemon pulled her nightgown up, exposing her naked form to the cool air.

Y/n's eyes screw shut and her entire body stiffens when she felt the tip of Daemon's erection run over her folds, barely giving enough time to prep her before he completely sheaths himself inside of her. It's tight and it burns, causing Y/n to throw her hand over her mouth to stifle the cry of pain forced out of her. Daemon lets out a small growl and doesn't give her time to adjust, moving back out of her only to slide back in. His hips meet hers once she's able to take him fully without much resistance, and yet all Y/n can do was either shut her eyes or watch the wall, wanting to hide her body and shame into the very mattress Daemon began to fuck her into.

"Relax, Lady Y/n," Rhaenyra softly soothed the woman, her voice closer than what Y/n remembered. Turning her head, Y/n found her now sitting on the edge of the bed, hovering over the newlyweds' writhing forms. Rhaenyra's eyes appeared curious, intrigued by whatever she finds when Y/n's gaze meets her. The princess leans forward and finds Y/n's hand, sliding her own fingers in between Lady Strong's, "If you relax your body, it will hurt less."

Y/n tries to listen and obey, taking a few shaking breaths to calm herself, despite Daemon's hips snapping harshly into hers, forcing her breasts to bounce. The slight friction of Y/n's skewed nightgown brushing over her nipples sends a chill down her spine, and for a moment she forgets the pain, shivering as her hand tightly holds Rhaenyra's, briefly forgetting her embarrassment. Daemon grunts at the feel of her walls tightening around him, ever so slightly, slick sounds now filling the air instead of raw, dry claps. For the most part, he had been focused more on thrusting instead of acknowledging his wife, keeping his eyes lowered as he watches his cock disappear into her wet cunt with each snap of his hips. He refused to watch Y/n as he beds her, more focused on his goal than on pleasure.

However, after a long stretch of time, the prince found it harder and harder to peak, desperate for release as he starts thrusting harder and faster. Y/n bites the inside of her cheek so as not to scream, forcing her eyes closed again to stop the unshed tears from falling. Daemon's grunts were less pleasurable and were more out of frustration, still avoiding his wife's face and body out of a stubborn will.

Rhaenyra can see the exhaustion on her uncle's face and so she takes matters into her own hands. Still hanging onto Y/n, the princess uses her free hand to cup Daemon's face, forcing him to look up at her. Daemon's eyes meet hers and she could see the lust for her pooling in his hard gaze. She could see his desire but also his frustration. Rhaenyra leans in and kisses Daemon, moaning straight into his mouth.

He had spilled inside of Y/n soon after that, the Lady Strong relieved for it to finally be over.

~~~~~~~~~

However, she quickly realized that it would be far from over. She had promised to bring forth a child for Rhaenyra and Daemon Laenor, and until she did so, she would have to let Daemon back into her bed. It's not as though Rhaenyra wanted Laenor to share Y/n's bed, although Y/n was sure that she was far from Laenor's fancy anyway, but Daemon was now her lawful husband, and a child from him would be perfect for Rhaenyra. Besides, Y/n was positive that Rhaenyra would prefer to have a child from Daemon over her own husband.

For several nights after her wedding, Y/n would be accompanied by her husband and her newly appointed niece. And for several nights, after Daemon was finished, both he and Rhaenyra would leave her chambers, alone and sore in her bed. The nights weren't so bad after a fashion, and perhaps that was because Rhaenyra made it bearable for Y/n. Every morning after, Y/n was visited by the princess, and a tray of food and drink would come with her. Y/n was surprised but also inwardly delighted by Rhaenyra's kindness. Both of the women broke their fasts together so much that it became a tradition every single day. It even came to a point where even if Daemon didn't bed Y/n, Rhaenyra would still visit with her aunt the morning after.

A month had gone by and Rhaenyra sat in her normal seat at Y/n's table, sipping on her morning tea while staring out the balcony. The peaceful silence that usually followed this routine visit was oddly charged and heavy. The princess sensed this, glancing over to Y/n only to find the other woman staring down at her lap as if in shame.

"What is it?" She found herself asking, although her stomach turned with the suspicion that she already knew.

Y/n looked up, sighing in exhaustion, "My flower came this morning."

Disappointed, Rhaenyra only blinks, nodding while setting her cup down, "I can't say I'm surprised. It was foolish to get my hopes up that everything would happen right away."

Y/n nods as well, although the lines on her forehead didn't go away. Rhaenyra wanted to reach out with her thumb and soothe it over but had to pinch herself in order to refrain from doing so. She watched Y/n's face continue to fall into despair, the Strong woman gulping down the soreness in her throat when she felt her eyes begin to water, "Am I doing something wrong, Princess?"

The weakness in her voice nearly shattered Rhaenyra's heart, for once unable to reply with all the things she was supposed to say. Instead, a fire raged within her belly, and with it revealed the dragon within her. Y/n didn't notice, but Rhaenyra felt a cloud in her mind as she reached over to take Y/n's hand.

"No, it's not you, Lady Y/n. It's not you."

She had an idea of who was really to blame for her aunt's distress.

~~~~~~~~~

A/N: So, uh... I'm DEFINITELY making a Part 2, whether ya'll like it or not. Hope you enjoyed!

Go to the Masterlist to see what chapters are posted!

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judasgot-it · 1 year

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Ello again o/. So I eventually experience this… may i req Dazai has feelings for the reader but no intention to confess to her instead teasing/and helping Kunikida having feelings for the reader which ended up with Kunikida actually confessing. What would Dazai react tho–

AAAAAAAAAA this is horrible, caim I'm so sorry if you were put into that position cause that sounds like purgatory.

I'm gonna write from Dazai's POV cause he's a lil stalker who would watch as his heart gets broken and shattered into pieces because of this (I don't hate Dazai IDK why I treat him like this lol?)

Scenario: Dazai teases Kunikida about his feelings, without ever confessing his own before it's too late

(Side note, you used she in your request so I'm using that throughout this, I hope you don't mind !!)

"C'mon Kunikida, you keep saying you have your 'ideal wife' and 'ideal life' all planned out - but you like her, don't you?"

Dazai was smirking, folding one of his documents into a butterfly. His folding was rather sloppy, but it got the shape just right anyway - better than reading the drawl that was written throughout the document. He could just do it later anyway - there was always tomorrow in his mind.

Kunikida took it from his hands, carefully unfolding it. He used his pen and flat desk to carefully take out the creases, line by line.

"Don't put off your work. This needs to be done sooner, rather than later."

"Like how you won't tell Y/n that you like her?"

Kunikida looked up at him from underneath his bangs, glaring at him as hard as could. If looks could kill, Kunikida would have murdered Dazai one thousand times over.

Dazai returned it with a smile, placing his chin over his folding hands. Kunikida looked down, staring intensly at his work. His hands worked as if they were writing the Bible itself, clutching the pen and going over each now non-existent line.

"You like her so much it makes me wanna cry Kuni, it's like watching a little puppy follow its master around."

"Please refrain from referring to me as a dog. Also, she's not my master."

"Oh. I bet you're a bottom. No way you actually would do missionary, trust me I know you're a virgin but take it from an expert-"

Dazai felt the desk shake as Kunikida slammed his hands down on it.

"I do not need your advice! We shouldn't be talking about my crush, we should be doing our jobs."

There was a short pause as Dazai placed his hands over his mouth.

"So you admit you have a crush on her?"

"Dazai-"

"Kunikida."

Dazai was grinning, watching Kunikida's face turn red at his implications. He loved how the blonde couldn't hide his thoughts, especially not from him. It entertained him.

The argument was cut short by a voice.

"Dazai, do you have the paperwork from that last case? The coroner's office wants us to drop it off by today since the case is sensitive."

The two looked up to see you, walking into the office. Your hair was a mess from the humidity of the port, your face flushed from walking up the stairs. Kunikida tried not to stare, since he knew Dazai would make a comment.

"Sorry my sweet Y/n, it seems to have passed my mind. Kunikida did it for me though, maybe you guys can take a walk together and drop it off, hm?"

Kunikida did everything in his power to not tear Dazai limb from limb. Dazai couldn't keep the grin off of his face, watching as Kunikida tried to stay calm fruitlessly.

"That won't be necessary. I don't want to bother her while she's doing her work."

"What? Today is kind of slow. You can take a break, and we can go and drop this off and get a coffee. You need to relax more Kuni, you deserve it."

He blushed as you boldly took his shoulders in your hands, not letting him escape. You were looking down at him, your eyes watching his golden ones with an intensity that made him want to look away and hide.

Dazai found this rather delightful, although a part of it disgusted him. He enjoyed watching Kunikida curl up inside, but he saw the way your fingers curled up underneath his jacket lapels, fingering around the edges.

Your hands should have been on him.

"Yea Kuni, why don't you take one? You barely had a lunch."

"You know my name Dazai."

"But Kuni suits you! I think it's cute."

"See! Y/n agrees with me."

Kunikida held his head in resignation. You smiled, like a cat that caught the canary. Your hands were still on his coat, trying to keep the man close to you.

Dazai smiled back, a rather false grin. He won but he wasn't sure what it really was.

"Let's go. They want it as soon as possible, right?"

Kunikida was quick to pack his things, carefully placing the paperwork together in a folder, all bounded with a large paperclip. You wouldn't even be able to tell that it was once origami due to his careful and dedicated work.

You were quick to follow, waving goodbye to Dazai with a smile splitting your face a part cheek to cheek. There was a feeling that crept into his body as he watched the two of you leave - amusement, fondness, and a little bit of disgust.

Although he found that last bit of emotion, that disgust, was more towards himself than anyone else.

"Here Y/n."

"Aren't you supposed to be doing these?"

In Dazai's hand, was a small origami crane. It was near perfect, except for the fact that you can see the creases from the amount of times the paper was crumbled into a ball and folded over.

"Are you really going to reject it? I made it just for you."

"When I'm in the middle of work? Yes Dazai, I will. I don't wanna force poor Atsuhi or Kyouka to pick up our slack."

You went down back to your laptop, your fingertips tapping away at the keys softly. Dazai leaned into your space, his nose breathing in your shampoo.

"Really? It's not too bad, you can handle to slack off a bit Y/n. Cmon, have some fun with me for a bit."

"I'd rather not. I have to finish this anyway, since I dont wanna be late for my date tonight."

Dazai backed away a bit, giving you room to breathe. He blinked, a little in shock.

"You have a date tonight?"

"I said that. Yes."

The brunette shook his head, his fluffy hair shaking around his face. It wasn't real.

"With Kunikida? Seriously?"

"Um...is it that obvious?"

You turned your body to face Dazai, looking dead straight at him. The man was near completely frozen in shock. He didn't want to believe that this happened.

He knew Kunikida liked you, but enough to break his 10 year plan? To break his ideals of a perfect-life and perfect-wife? Would he even sleep with you before marriage?

Was this somehow his fault?

"Don't look so disappointed about it."

You were still staring at Dazai, now with a questioning gaze. He had to keep his face neutral to hide what was brewing underneath, a strange sort of sickness that was crawling underneath his skin.

"No. I'm happy for you two. I hope it works out."

He felt nothing but resentment brewing underneath his skin, especially as he saw you smile at his words. He tried his best to swallow that feeling down.

He liked Kunikida. He liked you.

But right now that disgust was crawling, making him want to vomit out nothing but anger.

HAAAAAAA this is super short and idk I keep writing a very angst and mean dazai, I don't mean too ?????

#bsd x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #bsd x y/n #dazai x reader #dazai x you #kunikida x reader #kunikida x you #bsd #the banner is staying yall.

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oleander-nin · 1 year

Text

Flirting and Feelings(Rise! Leo x Reader)

A/N, not important: Hate this with all my heart. I can't write. Going to scream. This was going to be so much longer, but if I have to spend any more time on it, I'm going to rip my hair out. Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

Tw: bad writing, emotions, Leo gets really anxious for a minute there

Words: 1485

Summary: ROTTMNT Leo decided to boldly flirt but the reader thinks he's making fun of them.

Leo keeps his gaze on the human in the doorway, a dreamy look in his eyes as he watches them laugh with Mikey in the kitchen. It was hard for Leo to stay silent, wanting nothing more than to go up to his crush friend and start talking to them. Being able to only watch the two talk, the two cook, hurt. Leo had talked to Mikey earlier to confirm they didn’t each have a crush on the same person, Leo almost giddy with joy when Mikey denied feeling any romantic attraction towards (Y/n). Leo was confident Mikey remembered the plan, Mikey having felt bad for Leo’s inability to converse with his crush. All Leo needed to do was wait for the signal, and he could go talk to (Y/n). Alone. Leo gulped, taking in a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. He’d have to wait for them to put whatever they were making into the oven first anyway, he had time. He just had to memorize what to say.

Leo looks back to his phone, a light dust of red across his snout and spreading to his cheek bone refuses to fade, the anticipation making his heart beat furiously. The wikiHow article wasn’t the most helpful, but it was better than Donnie’s advice.(He appreciated it, but Leo had the feeling that ignoring (Y/n) and not talking to them at all wouldn’t help.) The only thing that resonated with Leo was to flirt. Leo was confident he could do that, and most likely do it well. Leo was the face man after all, smooth talking was his thing!

Leo’s head perks up once more as he hears the shut of the oven, Mikey saying something to (Y/n) Leo couldn’t quite hear. Leo watches carefully as Mikey exits the kitchen with his hands behind his back, whistling the opening tune to the Jupiter Jim 8 episode mini series: The Galactic 7. Mikey winks at Leo before going down one of the many adjoined tunnels in the lair, leaving Leo’s sight. Leo beams, his hands tapping his thighs nervously. The whistling tune was the signal, he had around 30 minutes to go do what he wanted. A romantic confession between two people who were certainly destined to fall in love. At least, that’s what Leo hoped.

Swallowing his fear, Leo stands up and rubs his sweaty palms on his bike shorts, making his way to the kitchen. Knocking slightly on the wooden cabinet by the entrance to alert them to his presence, Leo shoots (Y/n) the smuggest grin he could muster. (Y/n) gives Leo a small wave return, acknowledging him before returning back to their phone. Leo’s confidence crumbles slightly at this, having wanted a more definite confirmation that he was welcome in their presence. Leo shrugs it off though, his wide grin still plastered on his face despite the vice around his chest.

Leo leans against the island counter, drumming his knuckles against the hard surface. (Y/n) glances at Leo, their eyes scanning his as they attempt to decipher what the turtle mutant was doing. Leo picks up one of his hands, halting the small rhythm being beaten into the faux wood surface and gives (Y/n) a small wave. Leo’s face softens as the human rolls their eyes, chuckling softly. The butterflies tormenting his stomach calm slightly, his chest filling with air once more.

“You feeling okay?” The sudden sound of their voice makes Leo jump slightly, the haze lifting off his brain. Leo lets out a small laugh, a brighter, softer smile replacing the previous smug one.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Do you have a Band-aid though?” Leo’s confidence quickly returns as he asks his question, his brain staticky as he tries to keep his hands from shaking. This was it. He was going to tell them. Sure, he was going to tell them through a dorky pick-up line, but tell them nonetheless.

(Y/n) shifts in their position, putting their phone on the island as they pat their pockets. They frown slightly, looking up at Leo with concern that made his heart melt. “Nope, sorry. Do you need me to run to the bathroom to get you one?”

Leo just about died at that, feeling touched they cared enough to offer to go get one for him. He felt slightly guilty now, knowing he wasn’t actually injured. “No, it’s fine. I just scraped my knees when I fell for you.” Leo accompanies the delivery of the line with a wink, a small blush adorning his face once more. It felt off to Leo, he knew he said it wrong. It didn’t flow out of his mouth the way he wanted it to, and he felt his chest tighten up again. Leo scans their face, his bright smile seeming more nervous as he awaits (Y/n)’s response.

And waited.

Leo’s smile falls completely at (Y/n)’s reaction, or lack thereof, as he starts twiddling with his fingers laughing nervously. (Y/n)’s face is blank, their forefinger tapping the counter as they look at Leo with their eyebrows furrowed. Leo didn’t understand. He expected a reaction at the very least, not judging silence. Leo chewed on the inside of his cheek, laughing nervously as he opened his mouth to speak. “Hey, look I’m-”

“Don’t say something you don’t mean.”

Leo’s taken aback by their sudden words, their face not changing from the annoyed look. Leo sinks slightly at the interruption, not knowing how to respond. “Excuse me?”

(Y/n) sighs, their body shifting to lean on their right arm while their left hand pinches the bridge of their nose in frustration. They let out a tired sigh, and Leo’s heart sinks into his stomach. Leo didn’t understand what he did wrong. Were they mad at him? Why was their first thought that Leo was lying? Did they really dislike Leo this much?

“The pick-up line. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.” They finally clarified, their arms now crossed. Leo pats his thighs awkwardly, feeling stupid and pathetic. How did he mess up so badly he made the one person he finally loved believe his feelings were a joke? Leo regretted trying, regretted not listening to Donnie. Maybe this all would’ve gone better if Leo just ignored his feelings until they disappeared.

Leo racks his brain, trying to find the best way to explain why he did what he did. In the end, only four simple words popped out. “I meant every word.”

(Y/n) gives Leo a look he can’t quite decipher, his mask mimicking furrowing eyebrows as he scans them. (Y/n) visibly chews on their cheek, huffing slightly. “Do you mean it?”

Leo nods, swallowing nervously as his fingers tap out a nonsensical rhythm into the counter. (Y/n)’s face finally has a smile, small chuckles falling from their lips. (Y/n) reaches their hand out, setting it on top of Leo’s own shaking appendage. Leo’s eyes softened, his face one of worry but it was starting to settle. Leo meets (Y/n)’s eyes, trying to figure out the meaning of anything (Y/n) was doing.

“I like you too, Leo.”

Leo freezes at this, his brain frying for a moment as he processes (Y/n)’s words. They like him back. They like him back. Leo’s face finally breaks from the stress filled gaze as a large smile kicks his frown out of place. Leo pats the counter, his brain buzzing with excitement. Leo rounds the island while (Y/n) watches with a smile, a loud laugh coming from their mouth when Leo pulls them into a tight hug. Leo feels their arms wrap around him, their hands resting in the middle of his carapace. Leo was shaking slightly, his brain running a mile a minute as he held (Y/n) close. (Y/n) pats Leo’s back, pushing him off slightly as they let out an awkward laugh. Leo lets go, an embarrassed blush tinting his green cheeks red. Leo pats his thighs twice, looking around the kitchen to avoid (Y/n)’s gaze.

“So….” Leo starts, still avoiding (Y/n)’s eyes. Leo watches them lean their back against the wall, the dopey grin on (Y/n)’s face making Leo’s heart flutter. (Y/n) motions one of their hands in a circle, prompting Leo to continue. “Would you like to become my partner?”

(Y/n) snorts at this, laughing at his choice in wording. The human flashes Leo a wide smile, looking at Leo endearingly. “In crime, or romantic? Because both are a yes.”

Leo quickly pulls (Y/n) into another hug, rambling on and on about how happy he was, his voice loud as he cheers. (Y/n) just hugs Leo back and lets him ramble, happy to be in the moment.

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mouschiwrites · 7 months

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Heyy:)) I love you’re writing soo muchhh

Could u do a Lloyd x fem reader so basically he’s madly in love with her but he’s mean to her in school and then they meet as ninjas and he tells her about that wonderful girl in his school and she gives him advice and the next day at school he does exactly what she said and she wants to meet him alone and talks to him and then they both know they’re indantiny

Thank you for your kind words! I hope this is okay ^^

Word count: 1k

Ninjago - Giving the Green Ninja Advice to Ask His Crush (You) Out

“Well, look at Miss Smarty-Pants over here,” Lloyd teased, leaning over your desk to stare at your math test. You had gotten a good score, but suddenly you were wishing you hadn’t.

Glancing at Lloyd’s paper, your frown deepened. He had gotten a lower score than you; that’s probably why he was antagonizing you. You just shoved the paper into your backpack, slouching in your chair and staring at your lap self-consciously. Only Lloyd could ruin good news like that. You weren’t sure why, but the boy seemed dead set on making you miserable every time you interacted.

You gritted your teeth at the memory. You were grateful to be able to channel your frustrations from school into a good cause: being a ninja. Jumping from the rooftops, chasing down criminals, engaging in combat—all fantastic ways to let out a little anger.

You had just finished preventing a robbery when you decided to take a little break. You found a perch atop a tall apartment complex overlooking the city, and you plopped down gratefully on the edge. It wasn’t long until a familiar green figure found you, taking a seat beside you.

“Hey,” you greeted cheerfully. You were feeling much better already, but the appearance of your friend was really the cherry on the sundae.

“Hi,” he wheezed. Apparently, he was also taking a break from crime-fighting.

You giggled. “Rough night?”

He took a moment to catch his breath before responding. “Rougher day at school.”

“Oh, really? What happened?”

“The girl I like did not respond well to my flirting.”

“Ooh,” you cooed, kicking your dangling feet excitedly. “The Green Ninja has a crush!”

You couldn’t see his cheeks, but you were certain they were red. “Yeah, heh. She’s really awesome. We have a few classes together at school.”

“You should ask her out,” you ventured boldly.

“Funny you should bring that up—I was going to ask for your advice anyway.”

You clapped your hands together giddily. “Okay, tell me what you know about her.”

“Well, I know she likes (favorite drink).”

“Okay, so definitely buy her a bottle of that. And… hmm… can you draw?”

“Sort of. Only cartoons, though.”

“That’s fine. Draw a little cute caricature of her on a card that says something like ‘I like you, please go out with me’ or whatever.”

Your advice session was cut short when you heard a shriek in the alleyway below. Sharing a quick look of apprehension, you both sprang to your feet and rushed into action.

The next day, you were doodling absentmindedly in your notebook while you waited for first period to begin. You jumped as an object slammed onto your desk. It was a fresh bottle of (favorite drink) with a little card tied to the cap. You looked up just in time to see Lloyd hurrying away.

You sighed. The card probably said something rude, you guessed, but you opened it anyway. To your surprise, it actually contained a rather cute cartoonish drawing that looked strikingly similar to your own cantenance. Below it was written: “I like you. Please go out with me.”

You stared at the card for a second. A strange sense of familiarity overpowered your confusion at something like this coming from Lloyd. You just couldn’t shake the feeling that this was something you’d seen (or maybe talked about?) before. Then it hit you. With a completely dumbfounded expression you looked between Lloyd and the card, back and forth a couple times before clapping the card shut and turning to face Lloyd in the seat next to you.

“Well? What do you thin—”

“Meet me after school. Out by the dumpsters.”

Lloyd blinked at you. His lips curved in a slight smile, and he opened his mouth to speak, but he was silenced by the bell.

The day couldn’t have gone by slower for either of you, but finally you found yourselves face to face behind the school.

You held up the card. “Who told you to do this?”

Lloyd’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Um, a friend gave me some advice.”

You looked around, making sure you were alone, before leaning in to whisper: “Was this ‘friend’ a ninja?”

“Wh… how did you know that?”

“Because that was me! I’m the f/c ninja!”

“You?!”

You stared at each other with wide eyes for a few seconds, tension growing thick in the silence. Then, without warning, you burst into laughter.

“Wait—wait,” you gasped between laughs. “So when you said the girl didn’t respond well to your ‘flirting’, you meant that stupid rude remark you made about my test?”

Lloyd’s brow cocked innocently. “Was that not flirting?”

“No!” You erupted into another fit of giggles.

“Huh. Well, I’m glad I came to you for advice, then. I’m clearly a lost cause when it comes to romancing.”

You nodded, smiling sheepishly. “I totally thought you hated me.”

“I could never hate you. I don’t hate you as Y/n, and I don’t hate you as the f/c ninja. Though I suppose maybe you prefer me as the Green Ninja.”

You chewed your cheek thoughtfully. “Well, I’d certainly appreciate it if you could treat me as nicely as he does.”

“Of course I will. I’m sorry I was so mean before. I guess it was my backward way of flirting.”

“All is forgiven.” You never expected you’d be saying that to Lloyd, but knowing that he was also the Green Ninja, your companion of the night, the words spilled almost automatically from your mouth. It was strange; knowing what you knew now, your hatred for the boy had evaporated at once.

“So, uh… what do you say? Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes!”

Lloyd threw his arms around your middle, lifting you up and spinning you around while laughing gleefully. When he put you down, he pulled out his vibrating phone from his pocket.

“Oh, I’ve gotta get home.”

“Okay,” you breathed, cheeks flushed from giggling while he twirled you. “See you tonight?”

As he turned to walk away, he shot you a smirk. “Yeah. See you tonight, f/c-ninja-slash-Y/n.”

Thanks for your request! And thank you for reading, take care of yourselves precious gems <33

(divider by saradika)

#ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago x reader #lloyd garmadon #lloyd garmadon x reader #lloyd x reader

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yoonsdoll · 8 months

Text

flower - ksy

content : n-i!hoshi x f!reader ; fluff , strangers 2 lovers ; 1.8k words warnings : brief mention of sickness - where you're a florist, and soonyoung (an incredibly cute customer) catches your eye. an : i hope that u enjoy!! ive wanted to write something like this for a while but ive been busy + not proof-read so apologies for any mistakes!

“same customer again..? i swear he comes here every day… what does he need this many flowers for?” you heard your co-worker hum with a little smirk.

the familiar stranger, who without fail purchased flowers daily, has just departed from the flower shop where you worked at, the stupidly handsome guy who always seeks your flower advice, the one who boldly orders custom bouquets exclusively from you. you were the newest florist, the least experienced among your colleagues, so, why did he always choose to talk to you?

“how would i know?” you managed to shrug your shoulders tiredly, offering nothing more but a sigh. “he probably buys flowers for his girlfriend… or maybe girlfriends? i mean… i like flowers too, but what girl wants to receive flowers daily…”

“i wouldn't be surprised, he's a hot ass guy… i’d be all over him too if i had the chance.” your co-worker giggled. “i’m jealous of you, he always comes in and asks you for help, maybe you find him attractive too?”

“yes.. i mean.. no? i don't know. hes cute i guess, but i'm sure he has a girlfriend and is only asking for help cause he needs someone else's opinion on the flowers he gets. to be honest, i don't even know his name.”

it blew your mind how you started working as a florist under three months ago, promising yourself that this job would just be a way to earn money for education. but now its been two weeks since the same nameless guy started visiting the store every day, two weeks since you've actually started to look forward to work. its not like you didn't previously like it, but it definitely made it easier when you started to indulge yourself in delusion, in dreams that contain the same handsome guy coming down to the store to see you daily.

you didn't mean it to end up like this, you told yourself that it was only a coincidence, that he really did just have a girlfriend that he cared for and loved. but you couldn't help and imagine what it would be like to be that lucky girl.

“how could you fall for someone who’s name you don't even know?” your friend hansol asked you when you told him about it.

…but how could you not? seeing all his different outfits - which you’d describe as streetstyle, with oversized pants and cool shirts, occasionally wearing jackets and hoodies - hearing his husky voice in the tiring afternoons, noticing the way he so carefully thought about the choices of flowers he would get, even doing so much as asking for recommendations.

weeks passed and you’ve gotten into a routine of seeing him at this point. you always welcomed him with a “good afternoon” to which he would start to respond with “good afternoon, y/n” after you started wearing your name-tag badge that everyone was usually required to wear, but you never wore due to old people always reading it wrong or mispronouncing it.

but today was different. it was 5:43 pm, and you were going to close soon, yet he still hasn’t arrived.

time passed quickly, before you knew it, it was 6 pm and you just finished helping an elderly lady to walk down the steps of the store. it was now time to close, you couldn't help but feel disappointed. you flipped over the wooden sign on the door that said ‘open’ so that passer-bys wouldn’t walk into the store after hours. you hummed to yourself as you swept away any fallen petals that dropped on the floor, until you heard the bell that always notified you when someone entered. “it's closed..” you mumbled, turning around to face the door.

“i'm a little late huh?” the familiar face spoke, “ah… i should've hurried. something came up and…” his tone quietened as he spoke. “nevermind” he smiled once more, putting his left arm out, which held a cup of coffee that you recognised, a coffee from the expensive café a street away. “i got you coffee.”

“oh. thank you?” the corners of your lips rising into a smile, reaching out for the coffee, your fingers brushing against each other. “do you still need to buy flowers? you do everyday right?” you glanced at the clock on the wall that read 6:04 pm. “i can stay in a bit to help if you’d like” you added.

his expression turned into one of guilt, you could tell he didn't want to keep you in work for any extra time. “no it's okay. actually… i came here to thank you, for always helping me pick the best flowers, the bouquets you make are really beautiful. you have some real talent.” you couldn't help but giggle at the flattery, never really hearing words like these, especially from a guy that you found cute.

“ah… by the way, i’m soonyoung. i don't think i ever introduced myself. i'm sorry, that must be really awkward for you considering i know your name already.” you laughed softly, soonyoung's chuckles quickly following yours.

“its okay, its my fault for not asking previously, i was just nervous,” you quickly admitted, the awkward atmosphere melting away.

“no but seriously, my mother loves the bouquets you make,” he added to his previous statement.

oh. his mother.

suddenly it all hit you. he hasn’t been buying flowers for his girlfriend (or plural - considering at one point you thought he was a player). he has been buying them for his mother like a good son would.

“i feel so stupid oh my god…” you muttered to yourself, unaware of how loud your muttering would be in a completely quiet room.

“whys that?” soonyoung concerningly asks, his head slightly tilted at the sight of your flushed cheeks and embarrassed expression. but his concern quickly changing into a smirk as you stutter trying to let any words leave your lips.

you felt as if the universe was torturing you. the fact that its been weeks since you met this cute stranger but kept your distance because you didn't want to be a homewrecker. and the fact that you were now standing in front of him having to explain the comment you made that you assumed he wouldn't hear.

and worst of them all, having to explain that same comment with his pretty face staring right at you, acting stupid, when in reality you had a feeling that he knew everything.

and know everything he did. in fact, he was even worse than you. ever since he entered the store with hopes to find his sick mother some cute flowers, he couldn't get you off his mind. he told himself everyday that it would be the day he would ask for your number, but always ended up leaving with just a little more knowledge about your favourite flowers and a bouquet that his mother would later put in a glass jar next to her hospital bed. he acted so sweet, he put on his best outfits, he did anything to hint that you should maybe make the first move, but he eventually came to the conclusion that maybe you didn’t find him attractive. he was a mess, telling all his friends about the cute girl that worked at the flower shop, making them hype him up prior to entering the store, yet he never even had the guts to even tell you his name.

but seeing your smile as he entered, seeing you in your cute uniform with your name-tag he assumed you wore for him, seeing how fast you were to come up to him and help him with the selection of flowers he might’ve wanted that day, it all ignited hope within him that maybe he had a chance with you. a chance that you wanted to talk to him just as badly as he did with you, a chance that you counted down the hours till he got to see you just as he did, a chance that there would be something out of this random crush he developed on a late tuesday afternoon a few weeks ago.

“i assumed you were buying these for your girlfriend,” you finally spat out, doing anything to avoid eye contact. his smirk only getting wider, and his cheeks a shade redder.

“you got it all wrong,” he chuckled once more, admiring your sudden shyness. “i wouldn’t be coming to this flower store with the knowledge that such a pretty girl worked here if i did have a girlfriend.” he casually told you as he fixed his jacket.

you looked up at him surprised, your heart beating a little faster at the sudden confession.

“don't act so shocked… why in the world would i need to buy my mother flowers everyday? i like getting her gifts, but her room is filled to the brim at this point… all ‘cause i didn't know how to ask for your number, so i just visited everyday to see you.” soonyoung’s heart now picking up a pace too, his confident expression masking the amount of thoughts he was having in the moment.

his confession ended up leaving you speechless, looking at him with wide eyes and a half-pout, half-smile trying to figure out if he's serious or not.

“your coffee will get cold.” he then pointed out, zipping up his jacket. “i promise to bring you a bouquet next time, with all your favourite flowers in it.” he smiled at you so adoringly as you nodded your head a little in response. “see you y/n!”

soonyoung soon left, leaving you in silence. it took you a few minutes to gather yourself together, remembering the coffee you were still holding in your hand, which was keeping its heat from your warm hands. you lifted the cup to your lips, noticing some writing on the side of it. your eyes quickly shifted to see what it said.

‘please text me. - soonyoung’ with his number written underneath and a cute doodle of a baby tiger next to his name.

that night you opened your phone and typed in his number into your contacts as soon as you got home. you saved his name as soonyoung, but struggled picking an emoji to put, stumped between a flower emoji and a tiger, but eventually coming to the conclusion a white heart would be the cutest. you spent the rest of that night texting him about literally everything, even calling him at some point.

the next day he kept his promise and brang a big bouquet full of your favourite flowers that you always rambled about to the store, with the offer of a date, which of course you would never decline. it didn't take long for you and soonyoung to start seeing each other outside of work. texts ended up in more dates, and dates ended up in promises of regularly seeing each other.

you would've never thought that the cute guy who came in to buy his ‘girlfriend’ flowers would become your boyfriend, your soonyoung. but maybe those weeks full of heartbreak and delusion were really worth it considering you had the privilege to finally call him yours, and he had the privilege to call you his.

#seventeen #seventeen fanfic #seventeen fluff #kwon soonyoung #soonyoung x reader #soonyoung fluff #svt #svt hoshi #seventeen soonyoung #svt soonyoung #hoshi fluff #fluff #soonyoung brainrot #kwon hoshi #yoonsdoll #laura : fics !#laura : writing !

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callmearcturus · 1 month

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writer questions meme: 8, 13, 20 if you please

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

It wasn't explicitly writing advice, but I can tell you where I learned what my specific style would be. There was a fic in the Dresden Files fandom called "Cross" by LightGetsIn. LGI was a tremendous writer and a very kind mentory-friend who I attended my first fan convention with. Extremely accomplished adult who I looked up to when I was barely an adult.

"Cross" is a story about the limitations of perspective. It was the first story that really drove home the idea that Character A would not have the same knowledge and understanding of the world as Character B.

In "Cross", the POV character is John Marcone, a non-magical mafia boss who is deeply entrenched in the magical world. He has a lot of factual knowledge of how magic works, but he's an Italian-American Catholic. So when he's pulled into doing magical rites to bring another character back to life, he specifically doesn't pick up on the more pagan symbology of what he's doing, but filters it through a Guilty Catholic filter. Hence the name of the fic, "Cross."

And that story, which isn't even my favorite LGI story, probably taught me the most about how to write Close Perspective Third Person, which is my default style. When I'm writing in a characters POV, I rigorously limit what the POV character knows and picks up on. I will plant clues and information that the audience will understand, but the connections a character makes, the reference pools they pull from, their morality and ethics, all of those inform that POV, and what you and I know does not.

That is probably the most important lesson I've ever had in creating my own writing method.

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

8 hours of sleep, small breakfast snack like a croissant, decaf beverage, one dextroamphetamine, and no one fucking talk to me for about 2 - 4 hours. I will write 4,000 words.

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Lets put this under a cut, and I'll give you some DVD commentary. This is from chapter 2 of you'll need a new name to survive this. It's the point where Benji realizes Ethan is stalking him and does that trick to lose him in the bookshop, then sits outside waiting for him.

Only five minutes later, the door opened, and Bell took one step out before freezing, his eyes falling on Benji.

Got you, Benji thought with a sharp little smile. "You didn't even buy a book? Bit rude."

One of the goals of the early chapters of PT AU was establishing Benji's character as boldly as possible because we were essentially telling a story that canon does not. This is YEARS before MI3, where Benji gets two gd scenes.

To me, the tightrope walk was that I wanted Benji to have a reasonable grip on authority, to be shiny and new and out of his depth but still empowered because of his accomplishments. He has managed to land a good job working for the US government, he successfully emigrated before he was 30 years old, he has an apartment and a cat, he's new to everything in the spy world but he also has a steel spine that frankly he's fucking earned.

Which is a long-winded way of saying that Benji is a bitch and I love him so much.

Bell's face was blank, but Benji could almost feel how fast his brain was moving, weighing his options. Eventually, he settled on huffing out a little chuckle and stepping closer to Benji. "Hi."

Meanwhile, Ethan. MI1-era Ethan is very very smart but very very traumatised. His skillset is rooted in controlling people and predicting them. So Benji, a fucking civilian, catching him off-guard like this is like waving a red flag at a bull. Or dangling a steak over a lion enclosure. Benji doesn't know it yet but he's setting himself up to be a tasty treat for Ethan Hunt circa the late 90s.

"Are you going to kill me or something?" Benji asked. "Is that your spook job, are you a hitman?"

The flash of expression on Bell's face was offended. (This makes me laugh every time. Ethan Hunt is not a killer unless he absolutely must be and he will go out of his way to avoid it. Being an assassin is gross and he doesn't want to be perceived at all bc he's a spy but if he MUST be perceived jfc don't assume he's a HITMAN) "What, no. I just…" Grimacing, he looked away, eyes scanning the other pedestrians around them. "Okay, I'm screwing this up, I can admit that. Can we talk somewhere private?"

Benji didn't even have to think about it. "We can talk somewhere public."

Benji is never going to be an IMF agent but his instincts are wildly correct. And that knowledge comes from a different place! He was a gay punk rock vagabond who dropped out of law school, he knows how to keep out of trouble. He is probably the guy who told his other punk friends "if you are arrested do not say a goddamn thing, just ask for your public defender, don't joke, don't be a smartarse, keep your mouth shut."

The smile that took over Bell's face was lovely, transforming his whole face from storm clouds to something more seasonal. "That's honestly a very smart answer, doc. C'mon, there's a bakery nearby. I'll buy you a coffee. Least I can do."

It really was, so Benji nodded and followed him.

They didn't speak until Bell opened the glass door to another shop and held it open for Benji.

"Wrong hand," Benji said, noticing the small wince Bell let out.

"Inside, doc."

If it isn't obvious, all of the observational skills Benji has canonically have been funneled into his preternatural observation of patients.

Basically, if Benji as a character has a specific set of SPECIAL stats, all of those are the same, he just has different tagged skills in this universe.

Canon Benji is probably.... Guns, Science, and Repair. PT Benji has Medicine, Barter, Speech.

"Not a doctor," Benji said. "You know I'm not a doctor."

"What do you want to drink, doc?"

Ethan is being purposefully annoying and I could write a whole post about Ethan's soft power and the way he manipulates people, but that'd be another post. Short version: some people you seduce, some people you act like a wounded gazelle at, and some people you annoy.

Inside the bakery was loud. It was a strangely open floor plan. A long pastry case cordoned off the seating area for the customers. On the other side was just… the bakery. There were ovens and industrial mixers and rolling racks of cooling bread. In the corner, the espresso machine howled with noise as the milk frother worked.

It smelled divine, like living inside a baguette during a spring shower of dark roast coffee.

It also was a constant racket, which Benji mentioned to Bell as he sat down and slid a dark tea with vanilla syrup across to Benji.

"That's the point," Bell said, slouching back in his chair. "It's very difficult to eavesdrop in here."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Looking to another occupied table nearby, Benji briefly tried to pick out a word of what was being said by the woman seated closest to him. Nothing.

"Right, then," Benji said, attention back on Bell. "Why are you following me?"

"Why?" Bell seemed taken aback.

One of the many moments in the early chapters that establish that Ethan's perception of Normal is not anything approaching actual normal.

"Yes, why."

"Normal intelligence collection."

"On your physical therapist?" Benji asked with a barked laugh.

"Yeah." Bell leaned on his elbows, one hand cupping his own jaw and holding his head up as he made uncomfortably direct eye contact. "You really don't know who I am? Or why some of the appointments on your calendar come with no information?"

Pursing his lips, Benji shook his head.

Blowing out a whistle through his teeth, Bell grinned. "Sorry, that's just… it's new. I'm surprised Dr. Falsion didn't clue you in, but I guess she's not technically supposed to." Lifting his mug, he looked down into it. "People do shit they're not technically supposed to all the time in this town."

Ethan's major trauma at this point is being targeted by Kittridge and the Mole Hunt, and his trust in people to do their jobs is at a critical low that it'll never recover from.

"I don't even know your name," Benji sighed, sipping his own drink. It didn't taste at all like iocaine powder, so he was probably safe for the moment.

Bell rested his temple against the knuckles of his hand, his gaze so intense that Benji didn't know how to look away without making it patently obvious he was unsettled. Whatever Bell saw, it made his lips curve up slight. "Alright. Yeah. My name is Ethan. I work for an organization that shouldn't legally exist, so that's why you don't get anything on me. Even CIA jackboots manipulating local governments are realer than I am." He blinked once. "Also, I was an unprofessional shitheel last session, and I apologize."

Ethan apologizes here because Benji has earned his respect. And also by earning his respect, Ethan is also aware that Benji is not going to be so easy to maneuver around, so he fesses up that he was a prick, softly setting up a different tactic with Benji.

Benji felt his eyes going wider and wider with every sentence until it was a little hard to breathe. So his patient wasn't the American equivalent of an MI5 or MI6 so much as an MI8?

That did sort of start to explain what a pain in the ass he was.

"Shame," Benji managed after a moment of sitting fairly gobsmacked. "I was getting attached to 'Bell.' But I appreciate… all that. Thanks." He frowned. "Are you saying all this because you're actually sorry or are you sick of being stonewalled?"

Benji has a much more cynical mind than Ethan is the funny thing. Benji gets arguably more accurate reads on people than Ethan does. Or, Ethan gets accurate reads but he is continuously poisoned by the hope that people will be better than he expects. So FUNCTIONALLY, Ethan is an optimist and Benji is a realist.

Bell— Ethan— grinned. "That's a very good question. You actually have great instincts, doc. You did a surprisingly good job of shaking me when I was tailing you, especially for a civilian."

One of my favorite running gags is Benji being impossible to tail, so I'm glad we really drove it home the first time it happened. I love consistency in longfic.

"Again: thanks. Don't suppose you'll answer my other question?"

Ethan sipped his coffee, his smile visible around the edge of his cup.

"Right," Benji sighed. At least this felt like progress. And at least he probably wasn't going to be disappeared by a government assassin. That was a relief.

So this entire bit is Ethan reassessing Benji and pivoting his methods and tactics, setting up for a better way of handling Benji. And also being kind of charmed by him.

#relaxed-and-extremely-uneasy #talking about writing #pt benji au

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maleyanderecafe · 1 year

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Crows Like Things that Sparkle (Webcomic)

Created by: Mr.C/ Mijoo

Genre: Fantasy/Smut

I feel like I really want to like this webcomic. There's a knight female lead, character development for the yandere and there are some actually cool moments in it. The problem itself is the relationship between the two leads, which is a shame because that's what the entire webcomic hinges in. The good news is that there is a male yandere in it, the bad news is, just like me, you too will wish that you could punch this guy in the face as well. As of writing this, there are almost about 80 chapters.

The story starts with with a war between a kingdom and the enemy barbarians, the Norcans, finally brought down viciously by Captain Sahara Ellawood. Upon winning this war, she and her troops are able to come back to be honored by the king. The prince Chestia y Sollante meanwhile is playboying around with another girl, and ends up seeing Sahara kill four muggers that attacked this girl. The prince takes interest in her and Sahara feels awkward about being so rude to the prince before he ends up tagging along. She is invited to be praised by the king at a ball and over the course of a couple of days, the prince seduces her and has sex with her. After leaving and the prince getting injured and tended by Sahara, he uses his power as the prince to force her to strip, yet for some reason she still becomes enamored with him (because "she likes shiny things", I guess). There's a bit of a side thing about tracking down a thief in the village, as well as making a new dress for Sahara. As for the prince, no matter how many other women he brings to his bed, he can't help but think of Sahara, however, upon going to the party, he instead sees the Duke take interest in her and dance. The Duke treats her kindly throughout, while the Prince watches in jealousy, though Sahara's mind is still fixated on the Prince. The Prince encounters the Duke, telling him to stay away from her, but the Duke boldly states that he likes and cares for her, driving him to become more jealous as he watches Sahara supposedly run away from him, and even being afraid of him touching her. Sahara on the other hand continues to put space between her and the Prince after what happened. The Duke and Sahara get closer to each other, to the point where the Duke asks her if he will marry him so that he doesn't have to be approached by the Prince, even promising to divorce whenever she feels. The Prince gets more restless, having strong insomnia because of Sahara, and finds out that some royals have adopted her, and thus she will be living in the castle with him. Out of anger, the Prince nearly kills one of Sahara's subordinates, but not before Sahara sees and is able to bring him away after passing out. When Sahara greets the Prince in the morning he is desperate for her, begging her to not leave, hugging her causing her to tremble. The Prince admits his obsession towards her, stating that without her he can no longer sleep, and that he's willing to give up everything he has just so she will stay. Sahara agrees but under a couple conditions: to not harm her or her subordinates and to not touch her. As Sahara investigates who assaulted one of her knights, the Prince tries to find ways to woo Sahara with gifts with advice from her adopted dad. The Prince is able to keep his promise about not touching Sahara, but with some difficulties considering that she's all he thinks about. Sahara, as she's loyal to the king, decides to be by the Princes side and starts to suspect the duke, as the crown guard are rather disloyal to the king. We learn quickly about the Prince's heritage, how he's very likely a bastard child and not of the royalty linage, something that people ended up spreading rumors about which affected how he perceived himself. The Prince gets really jealous, believing that Sahara ended up marrying the Duke, however, it was the complete opposite, having her attempt to bring the Duke in, making the Prince very happy. During another ball, there is an assassination attempt, something that Sahara takes care of fairly easily, with a battle to prevent the city from being bombed. As a result thereafter, Sahara and her troops go on a quest to kill a bunch of disloyal religious figures, murdering them with little regards from them, in the attempts to fix the bombing that so happens and for going against the king.

I... feel like I should like Sahara. I mean she's a pretty cool and ruthless when she's allowed to be a warrior. I mean her first scene of decapitating someone and her latest scenes of her walking around with blood slicing apart any religious figure that goes against the crown shows that she can be one if the writers want her be. She has at least a semi unique backstory as well, saved by the kingdom and living in essentially the wilderness, which in theory makes for an interesting and powerful female lead.... Except for the giant problem of when it comes to the Prince, she immediately turns into, and I quote "a wet pile of cardboard", which is completely and exactly accurate. I'm not saying that you can't have cool female leads who are shy when it comes to sex and romance, but it still needs to make sense for the character, and it just... doesn't for Sahara. For someone who is suppose to be warrior who is terrifying in how she executes her enemies, having her suddenly becomes so submissive doesn't really make any sense, especially since it's not indicated before that she would end up acting this way. The relationship between her and the Prince also doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Initially, she's enraptured by him because he is "shiny" (or basically alluring), which is why she has sex with him in the first place, however, after he forces her to strip, she becomes somewhat traumatized, so much that she starts shaking when he touches her. However, suddenly after she learns about his backstory... she's suddenly okay with him touching her. Granted, he does at least respect her wishes in terms of not touching or hurting the people around her, but the problem is that the two of them don't really develop any meaningful relationship outside of then talking about what happens in the kingdom and about his past, so the romance between them feels superficial at worst and shallow at best. The reason for her being so loyal to the crown princes also doesn't make a ton of sense, as not only did the king forget about the war until he was able to kill their general, the two princes also ended up humiliating her, which I feel like is probably enough reason to stop being so loyal. The best solution to this is to just not put the romance in this story because it's way more interesting when she's just off doing more knight based duties then having to deal with the nonsense of the romance plot.

As for the Prince, where do I start with this guy. He starts out as a playboy who sleeps with a different girl every night, and ends up seducing Sahara and sleeping with her as well (I think it's also implied that this is Sahara's first time sleeping with someone). After she explains very clearly that she's not comfortable being with him, the Prince uses his power to make her strip for him, which leads to her being afraid of him touching her. Soon after that, he becomes obsessed with her to the point of not being able to sleep with others, gains insomnia because of it and even kills one of the ladies he tries to sleep with (which apparently is just brushed over like its nothing). He does have a begging scene with Sahara which would be something I would be livid for if his face doesn't constantly look punchable in every frame. The Prince does at least have a proper character arc as compared to Sahara, since he goes from a doochy playboy to a less doochy clingy guy, but it's also his fault that Sahara wants to stay away from him and if it not for the forces of the writers trying to smash these two dolls faces together, honestly, should have married the Duke or at least made it harder for the Prince to try to get with her again. Sahara forgives him way, WAY too easily to be believable and in the end, the Prince still gets away with killing that one girl and being with Sahara because plot. Again, these two have very little meaningful time together (other than maybe playing the sympathy card for the Prince since he's a bastard child and not really of the throne), so when Sahara declares while fighting that it's for the sake of love, it feels really shallow.

As a yandere though, while it takes a while, he does get obsessed with Sahara, only wanting her and not being satisfied with any other girl (which... kind of just sounds like your dick talking but that's fine), to the point of not being able to sleep. He tries to off one of Sahara's subordinates, threatens to kill the Duke when he thought that he was going to marry Sahara and is even willing to throw away his title as Prince just to be with her. He is for sure a yandere, just kind of a badly written one and more of a softer one. Which would be fine, if he actually had chemistry with Sahara, which he doesn't and- I'm just going to stop there.

I don't really like or remember the other characters that well too. I think the only one I genuinely liked was a side character who made the dress for Sahara. His backstory was that as a child he loved making dresses (despite being looked down upon because he is a male and guys can't make dresses, I guess) and had to fight and learn to make them until he got where he was today. I would far rather read a story that is based around that character and he was in the story for less than five chapters.

Overall, would I recommend this webcomic? Probably not. Even for a smut, the sex portions are lack luster (and again, this is coming from someone who mostly just tolerates Josei smut), the story is only really good at the beginning and near the current new chapters, and the two main characters just don't have any meaningful chemistry to make sense. There are portions that I did like about it, but it's probably not worth to read through those parts even with a male yandere. If you are interested, give it a try, and maybe you'll like it better than I did.

#Crows like things that sparkle #male yandere #yandere #yandere boy #recommendations #webcomic #ongoing

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jennyandvastraflint · 6 months

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Hey :) Can I ask for advice on the Siren fic? (which REALLY needs an actual name btw) It is rather spoiler-y though, so if you don't want that, maybe delete the ask and don't read on? And let me know?

Okay so, as I have teasered before, I definitely want to give River a human body back and I kinda want it to be Mels'. For plot reasons mostly; I could elaborate on this, but maybe I should keep some secrets.

But the thing is, in the fic it has to be older River from far down her timeline. And I intend to write her as such because her consciousness already as Siren is - while definitely also influenced by cat impulses - older!River. And I also want her to go by that name because it's her chosen name by that point.

But it kinda feels wrong? I believe River likes all her bodies and could cope with it but I reckon it might still feel off to her. Because she isn't that person anymore and she's used to the new body now? I don't really know but yeah. Maybe it's okay because in essence she's the same? The Doctor f.ex. I think would not really mind a mixed up body or feel the difference as much as other timelords like the Master for example or the General. (although I guess we'll see whether I am right with tenteen) But I am not quite sure where River falls on that spectrum. And then there is the added layer of completely changing her worldview while in the River!body and hence association of Melody Pond I and II with the Doctor's assassin.

And then if I have her be uncomfortable with the old new body, I firstly don't know whether I like that message with Mels being black and River white. And secondly there would be the opportunity to have her regenerate into the River!body or an entirely new body at the end but that feels like killing Mels off immediately after introducing her and I am still mad at Moffat for doing that. Also again, killing a black woman for the gain of a white woman - even though it is the same woman in essence - bad idea.

Idk maybe I am overthinking this and should just give her Mels' body and let her be River and be just fine with that? Maybe even a little excited to revisit a face she has been fond of before? (maybe I should also see what tenteen has to say on that in a few days)

Or I could also change the plot slightly and make her be River in the River!body like we know her. Maybe that's for the best?

Do you have any advice/thoughts? Have you encountered something like this in the eu maybe?

(Also do you want to read some River/Yaz dialogue snippets I brainstormed today and that haven't been workshopped yet?)

Read through this, sat with it a bit during lunch, and now I'm gonna give a relatively short answer because I should be doing uni assignments and have like one and a half braincells left XDD

I think if you do want to go for Mels' body for River, perhaps the Doctor tries to turn Siren back into River (because I'm boldly assuming River was just somehow turned into a cat) in a sort of "turning back your body's time" kinda thing, and she ends up fucking up and accidentally dialing it back too much. So we're back at Mels but with River's current thoughts. You could give River some introspection about how she feels being back in that body? That it feels strange but it was a body she had for years as well, that grew up alongside her parents. Meanwhile the Doctor is trying to figure out how to now turn River's body to River instead of having her stuck in one that doesn't correspond with her current mind.

I don't think I've encountered that per se in the Extended Universe, but the third Diary of River Song boxset does feature Mels as a character! (Don't ask me for details, I have terrible memory XD)

Yeahh. But if you want it dealt with quicker, I'd simply go for turning River back into River! (You could write another fic where Mels meets them, if you want to explore that dynamic, just saying)

#doctor who #asks #fanfiction #river song #melody pond #thirteenth doctor #yasmin khan #thasmin

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wetheepiphany · 3 months

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blog #2: the paradox of loving jotaro and not his anime (AKA "Great Expectations")

Part 3: how we learned to stop worrying and love our jotaro

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You may think our bad experience completely ended all interest we had in Jotaro. Oh no. If anything, it only increased tenfold. Left unsatisfied by what we saw in canon, the dissatisfaction became an itch to scratch. We had already been writing little headcanons and story ideas with the character before we'd seen the anime, though it was with an incredible amount of reservation. We didn't feel we had "the right/privilege" to try anything boldly new with the character until we had properly seen Jotaro's canon/foundational material. Even then, we felt obligated to keep ourselves bound to "canon compliance," afraid of doing something that would bring the ire of an entire fandom on our heads. As we grew to accept that we didn't like the JJBA anime, we no longer felt like our work with Jotaro had to abide by it like a Holy Bible. We began to shape our own ideas with Jotaro's character, to explore his potential in ways we felt the canon material did not. The things about Jotaro's character in concept that we liked, and wished we saw more of in the show? Let's focus on that! We're going to focus on the internal world of Jotaro so that we can showcase more of the complexity of who he is, even as he maintains his usual stoic demeanor on the outside. The things in the anime or series about Jotaro's character that put a bad taste in our mouth? Let's change that! We're going to address them in-universe as issues for Jotaro's character to grow through, or chuck them entirely and write Jotaro in our own way. And as we accepted this direction for ourselves...it dawned on us. We had already made a version of Jotaro that was our own.

Early 2022: prior to ever watching JJBA, and even before we had accepted ourselves as a fan of Jotaro and JoJo, we had started using Jotaro as a character in a written role-play server with some friends. We didn't think much of Jotaro's inclusion at the time, as our own original characters were initially planned to be our main focus. We just wanted to throw some random franchise characters into the mix for background action, as them already having well-established personalities meant we didn't have to come up with behaviors or backstories entirely from scratch. Since we'd developed an interest in Jotaro due to Eyes of Heaven and the JoJo fandom, Jotaro was tossed into the fray with the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sans from Undertale.

Since we hadn't actually seen much of Jotaro's source material yet, we tried to write him based on everything we'd heard and researched about him. We knew he was stoic and didn't talk much, so when he needed to express, we had him do so through body language and subtle actions in the absence of words. When he did speak, he kept his words brief and to the point, and tended to pause before speaking as if processing what to say. We knew he was clever and observant, given how he problem-solved during battles, so he was often internally analyzing everything around him. We knew that, while he was pretty good at staying composed, he did have a temper that could be riled up; so when pushed to his composure's limits, he lashed out verbally or physically. We knew that despite his gruff exterior, he had a good heart and a strong sense of justice, so he felt guilt and tried to make things better when he knew he had done something unjust. The gang of assorted misfits did random shenanigans as filler or side characters to interact with, while our original characters did the main storyline. That was all the franchise characters were there for.

That was, at least, until one fateful interaction changed everything.

Another person's character- a middle-aged counselor- took Jotaro under their wing. Bought him some burgers for lunch. Tried to give him advice and keep him calm as Jotaro worried over being away from his friends and family (Jotaro was the only JoJo character present in the role-play setting). In that interaction, we felt something spark to life inside our Jotaro. We felt him clinging to something in this interaction that felt brand new to him: another person being the one to lead him, and take care of him for a change. After all...this was part 3 Jotaro, and he was still just a seventeen year old kid. A seventeen year old kid who- in this unique setting- was all alone, without anyone he knew around him. And though he was too proud and outwardly tough to show it...he was scared.

We felt sorry for our Jotaro, because this interaction made us aware that he was lonely. However, we didn't feel confident enough to play other JoJo characters- nor was anyone else interested in doing so. And so...we started trying to fill Jotaro's loneliness by introducing him to other characters that he might get along with. Characters with personalities or dynamics that he was never shown interacting with in canon. We first introduced him to a stray cat we'd created named Scooter. Scooter's late owner had been a heavy smoker, and so, smelling the familiar scent of cigarettes on Jotaro, Scooter began to follow him. After a positive first interaction, Scooter decided Jotaro was his new human and followed him everywhere. Jotaro was uncomfortable with this at first, having never owned a cat and not wanting a new responsibility on his hands... ...but he still made sure Scooter was getting fed, and getting fresh water, and finding a safe place to rest at night- even if said place was Jotaro's bed. When it became clear that Scooter was bonded to him...and that Jotaro had also grown attached to Scooter; Jotaro finally accepted that Scooter was his cat.

Emboldened by this success, we tried introducing other characters to him, with varying results. One of the most interesting was the godly powerful, yet sweet and demure Guardia- someone Jotaro distrusted and later challenged to a fight. He lost that fight. Badly. Even with him and Star Platinum trying to pull a last minute trump card to turn the tables. Suddenly, Jotaro realized he wasn't the strongest person in the room anymore- not by a long shot- and it hurt his pride. Suddenly, he had to figure out who he was without "the strongest" being part of his identity. Guardia didn't look down upon Jotaro for distrusting her, or for losing to her. Instead, she offered to teach him how to add new powers to his arsenal- to teach him how to become stronger. That was baffling to Jotaro. To be woefully incorrect in his judgement of character, on top of losing terribly in a fight, was so...opposite of the constant successes he'd experienced with the Stardust Crusaders. In Jotaro's experiences, failure in battle would quite literally result in death- which was why it was imperative that he never fail. And yet, in his failure, he had received mercy. He had not been killed, but instead, given the opportunity to grow stronger. The experience quite literally gave Jotaro an existential crisis. And yet, the most poignant of all the interactions Jotaro had were the ones involving that humble counselor.

Jotaro didn't think he needed counseling. He didn't need help in general. He was Jotaro Kujo, after all, with the incredible Stand that was Star Platinum- a Stand with the power of The World. Any obstacle that came Jotaro's way, he would fight to overcome, because he was Jotaro Kujo: a lone hero who carried The World squarely on his back, protector of his family and friends, and last line of defense against the worst that evil had to offer. If anyone could triumph in the worst of situations alone, it would be him. But then, Jotaro and the counselor had a beautiful little exchange of dialogue, which went something like this: "...I want you to be able to be able to be a person, outside of just being a carrier of the world." "..." "I may not know what your world is like, but I want you to return to it being...being the guy...who likes the ocean over pools. ... The guy who rocks out to Toshinobu Kubota, and likes the color clear. "...I want you to return so that you can be more of you, not just the hero." "..." "...I do not want you to return more broken than whole." "...I'm...I'm not a-... ....I am not broken." "You're not. You're a person."

...Our Jotaro had marginalized himself, in his own mind, as a tool. A means to an end. A warrior who merely existed to protect and serve- just because it was right- without getting anything in return...without caring about himself or his own wellbeing. And it was destroying him. It was destroying his life. Years down the line, it would turn him into a distant, neglectful father- distant not because he didn't care- but because he felt his duty was to protect his loved ones by any means necessary, even if it meant severing ties with them and breaking both his heart and their hearts in the process. All because he was Jotaro Kujo. All because he believed his life's sole purpose was to live saving others, or die trying. But in this role-play, in this crazy little version of alternate existence? Someone had told Jotaro, to his face, that his perspective wasn't healthy. Someone was urging him to try and take better care of himself- to love himself- instead of keeping his eyes always focused on the task at hand and the duty he had assigned himself. By seeing where Jotaro was and daring to reach out to him, this counselor had given Jotaro the chance to change his tragic fate. And they had done so without a Stand or any sort of power Over Heaven.

As we finally looked up from what we were doing, we realized that Jotaro was now our main character. All the original characters we had planned to be focusing on, all the other storylines we were starting to build; they either shifted to join into Jotaro's developing storyline or were pushed to the wayside entirely. Out of all the ideas and concepts we had introduced into this collaborative writing project, Jotaro was the one who came to life for us. Storylines, character development, and character relationships all began to form around and gravitate towards him, drawn to that brilliant spark of life and newness that he carried. This was the moment, in early 2022, when we realized that Jotaro had become our new muse. This was when we accepted that our time with Planes and Dusty were over: the era of Jotaro Kujo had begun.

This Jotaro, the one who came to life in our silly little role-play for fun, is the one we want to make art and stories about. We were already fans of Jotaro in concept, but this Jotaro- in his awakening, his development, his realization- was the one we fell in love with.

We love the way others describe and analyze Jotaro's character. We love the way other fans have interpreted that character in their own creative works. We love what he was intended to be in Stardust Crusaders. And, most of all, we love our Jotaro and the spark of life he's taken in our imagination, all his own. Maybe it's considered "heresy" for a fan to love a character and not the material they originated from, but, that's our paradox of truth. It's a bizarre one...but for a character so involved in bizarreness as Jotaro Kujo, we would have it no other way.

#jjba #jotaro kujo #blog #spilled thoughts #fandom #personal experience #unpopular opinion #creative writing #to be continued... ->

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cleoselene · 1 year

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this woman

started playing piano at the age of two, began composing songs at the age of four, was accepted into the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the age of five, was kicked out at age eleven for “musical insubordination,” started playing gay piano bars in DC at the age of thirteen, moved to LA and toiled as a hotel piano bar/waitress through all of her twenties, culminating in a rock band that ended up critically and commercially a massive failure, going from child prodigy to washed-up has been before the age of thirty....

... but that was just the beginning of the story for her, because she released her breakthrough album Little Earthquakes at the age of twenty-nine, after years of struggling to put out music on her own terms (no one wants a girl with a piano, she was told over and over again, hundreds of rejection letters from the age of ten), not only released a record she could fully own and inhabit, but she took on a cause. Going boldly against any kind of commercial advice, she chose her first single, the a capella “Me and a Gun” not for its catchy hook or its infectious beats, but for its raw confessional power and to speak to the painful truth of sexual assault. Known for having fluid setlists, “Me and a Gun” made it into every show for several years, despite the fact that every performance was like opening up a wound for the world to see. She co-founded RAINN, which to this day serves survivors of sexual abuse and assault in the United States in crisis

She suffered three miscarriages while touring and writing some of her masterworks, before finally having her beloved daughter Natashya at the age of thirty-seven, who happily is the light of her life and joins her in vocals on some of her later records.

In 2023, Tori Amos will turn sixty, while touring her sixteenth solo studio album, Ocean to Ocean. Still consistently creating and touring and showing no signs of slowing down, her latest work explores the themes of distance created between people by the pandemic, the death of her mother Mary, and the ongoing climate crisis. At an age when most performers are resting on their laurels and tossing out greatest hits shows, Amos is still an active and creative and vivid and relevant artist.

To anyone interested in her work: simply start with her first album and go in order. I have no deeper or better advice than that. Her evolution is pretty straightforward and she rewards fans who have paid attention. but don’t ignore the b-sides! The tracks that don’t make the album are often as important or more important when it comes to their appearances on live shows. Tracks like “Honey,” “Sugar,” and “Take to the Sky” are such staples that it’s easy for fans to forget they were never formally on an album.

#tori amos #i am in deep in my feels about this woman ok #she is amazing

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positivlyfocused · 6 months

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What Happens When I Follow God’s Advice (My Inner Guidance)

I’m thrilled about writing this post. I’m thrilled because I’m sharing what signifies a big improvement in my vibration. An improvement on a subject showing I am reaching into the “leading edge” of what it means to be human.

Many life goals I have include expressing that “leading edge” life. What do I mean by “leading edge”? I mean living life in ways humans think impossible, and in doing so, expanding what it means to be human. And what’s possible for humanity.

Life for me has been about understanding the human experience through my personal experience, then living in ways that expand on that. While doing that, I’ve lived an interesting life. A diverse life. A life providing all kinds of enlightening experiences. Experiences giving me insight into the human condition.

But at the core of all I am, I am not human. You aren’t human either, dear reader. After all, when this life is over, you and I will continue existing. We won’t be human though. Instead, we’ll cast of this “mortal coil” in favor of our eternal, expanded beingness.

I love the sound of that.

But I really love experiencing that. Experiencing that expanded beingness, right here, in the mortal coil. And that’s why I’m thrilled to write this post. Because I’m experiencing that expanded state, even while I live as human. It’s the best of all worlds.

The power of limiting beliefs

The thrilling thing I experienced happened in late September. I schedule posts in advance. So by the time you read them, what you read happened a while ago. Still, this experience shows it’s worth learning to deliberately create reality through manifesting.

We can literally create any reality we want. Nothing is off limits. But doing that requires diligence. I think most people aren’t ready to take that on. For those who are, however, life gets really fun. Life becomes heavenly. But only for those who can see the possibility. Seeing that, however, first requires believing it’s possible.

That means letting go of beliefs humans accept as “true”. There are many such beliefs. Some contain far more sticking power than others. By “sticking power”, I mean momentum. Momentum we collectively add to these beliefs by accepting and believing in them. One such belief, for example, is “humans can’t regrow limbs.” It’s an interesting paradox.

Because humans CAN’T grow limbs. It’s not because the potential to do so isn’t there, however. Rather, it’s because no one believes it can be done. So no one tries.

Doesn’t this remind you of the story about the baby elephant tied to a stake? Humans are like elephants tied to stakes as babies. Our stakes are our limiting beliefs.

^^Abraham describing why some things are impossible.

History is replete with things once thought impossible becoming possible. Maybe you can think of some. In any case, the leading edge of humanity lies on that boundary between what people believe and what’s actually possible. I live my life on that edge. So I do things most people think are crazy. That includes choosing to leave lucrative careers, giving up “earning a living” and leaping into the unknown, expecting the Universe will catch me.

And catch me it has!

The perfect unfolding

I chose a life path wherein I want enormous amounts of money to flow into my life. And, I want it to flow in ways that leave me free to live my life. In other words, I want money coming in with me doing as little as possible about that. That way, I can live my life loving life, playful and engaged in what I enjoy.

These days my desires have more sway over my life than fear, obligation or “common sense”. That means I’m living more boldly than ever. I’m no longer willing to accept beliefs we humans commonly hold. I decided some time ago, therefore, to prove to myself that this “you create your reality” business is real.

Unlike others doing what I’m doing, I went “all in”. I gave up jobs, let my marriage dissolve and struck out in pursuit of the extraordinary. Doing that, I confronted and am confronting these common beliefs.

Many such beliefs revolve around money. Money is a big subject. One that needs a lot of cleaning up in my Belief Constellation. That process is not always without fear though. And that’s what I’m writing about today. There’s a lot to share and will likely need to be shared over several posts. But here’s what happened in late September.

^^Money as a manifested idea enjoys a lot of momentum. Many beliefs about it limit what’s possible around money. (Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash)

Living the Charmed Life

In January, my rent is going up. I thought it was going up a lot. But I soothed that belief and it turned out I was wrong: The rent did go up, but not nearly as much as I feared. Still, because I’m bold, and because I’m cleaning up beliefs about money I no longer want active in my vibration, my income is quite low. It’s just enough to cover my living expenses. That’s because my current beliefs about money, income and working for income still hold sway.

But momentum from those beliefs is soothing. I know this because, today, I don’t work for income. Rather, I play with clients, showing them how to do what I have done and am doing. They pay me for this. However, it doesn’t feel at all like work. It feels, instead, as an extension of my spiritual practice. You could say then, I’m being paid to pursue everything I’m writing about here. That’s the joy of the Positively Focused Way: the Charmed Life I write about in this blog.

I’ve enjoyed living this way for several years now. It’s been an interesting adventure that’s only just getting started. But with that rent increase looming, I realized I would need more money. Because I know what I know, and because of a long string of manifestations on other subjects, I resolved to manifest the money I needed.

I realized I could take a job instead. But that’s not the path I’m on. I’m committed to manifesting a life on my terms. That includes manifesting money on my terms too!

It began with a post card

So one day in September, I got a post card. It was from the United Sates Postal Service. They were hosting a “Career Day” at my local post office. This card came with interesting timing. Thinking about taking a job occured to me in the same week. And here is this card showing up. So this was an opportunity to test my connection to my Broader Perspective. I also wanted its opinion on the opportunity. Also, I wanted guidance on what to do too. I mean, I knew what I wanted to do (ignore the card). Yet I felt a twinge of fear-induced impulses saying “go to the career day.”

Our Broader Perspective is the larger consciousness that is us, outside our physical bodies. We are far too big to fit in this human form. So we squeeze a part of us “here”. Meanwhile, the larger part of all that we are remains in nonphysical. That larger part is not the “God” most religions talk about. It is US, experiencing all experiences we’re having across infinite dimensions. That perspective exists outside of space and time.

So it can “see” a lot more than we can. It literally sees all probable futures, choices we have made, can make and will make. And it sees how all those choices always work out. It therefore, is a fantastic source of guidance. This is why the Positively Focused Way primarily focuses on strengthening a conscious awareness of our relationship with our Broader Perspective. Do that and we can receive vivid, clear and accurate guidance.

So, I held the card in my hand. Looking at it, I said aloud “should I go to this career event?”

Nothing happened.

^^Being a letter carrier. Was that really my path? (Photo by Trinity Nguyen on Unsplash)

Contrast begets manifestation

Then I offered an alternative: “Should I stay the course?” I asked.

“YES!” my Broader Perspective instantly “said”.

Now, when my Broader Perspective gives guidance, it’s not in the form of words. I don’t hear a voice. Instead, it communicates kinesthetically. I feel its communication. In this instance, what I felt was a “thrilling”. Massive waves of pleasurable tingles and shivers ran through my body and scalp. I’ve used this communication process so many times. After following the communication, I’ve always received positive results. So I know I can trust it.

And trust it I did.

I put the card on my desk. Then I focused on statements affirming my desire. That’s when I realized that post card was intentional. I put it in my reality to prompt exactly what I was doing: amplifying my alignment with the outcome existing in nonphysical. The one representing the full-blown manifestation of what I want: enough income to cover my rent increase.

A week later, more contrast showed up. I got an email from a digital rights law firm. I inadvertently violated copyright protections of a photo owned by someone else. The law firm said I owed $250!

At first I was shocked. I didn’t have $250! Well, I did, in savings. But that was reserved for other expenses. That’s when I realized this was not a bad thing. This bill was more evidence showing me I was on my path. Use it correctly, I knew, and I would have what I was manifesting.

So I wrote and told them I didn’t have that much money. They replied by reducing their fee by 40 percent, demanding instead $150. Not the best outcome, but it was one I could live with.

Getting off course? Maybe not

Getting that bill triggered more fear and worry. When I got it, my attention drifted to the Post Office’s post card laying on my desk. I picked it up. Remembering what my Broader Perspective suggested, I thought about the career event. Would it hurt to just go?, I thought.

But I knew that question stemmed from FEAR. That’s not a good place from which to act. I knew if I took a job at the post office, the job would just show me why I should have stayed the course. After all, my Broader Perspective wanted me to do that: Stay the course.

But in a moment of weakness, I decided, I’ll just go. I’ll just check it out and see. I knew I was acting out of fear. I acknowledged that, dressed and went to the event.

Representatives there told me about openings available. I wasn’t thrilled about them, but I was curious. They all paid a wage equaling about half of what I make per client hour. But because I would be working many more hours, I’d make more money.

I thanked the reps, took some information and went home. By the time I got there, I was clear: I wasn’t going to work for the post office! That’s going backwards!

The biggest factor driving that decision was that I’d have to stop working with clients. I wouldn’t have time. That was a deal killer. Plus I really enjoyed my current lifestyle. One where I spend nearly all my time practicing my Positively Focused Way and seeing clients less than three days a week.

So the experience of going to the event actually amplified my commitment to stay the course. Interesting!

I can be stubborn tho…

Still I wallowed a bit. I weighed the option of working at the post office a bit more. Then I got the impulse to Google “What’s it like to work at the post office?” Most of the information I read confirmed my original conclusion: working at the post office was a massive divergence from my chosen path. I decided then to give up the post office idea completely. Instead, I thought, I’m staying the course. I’m trusting my Broader Perspective!

That’s when my dream reality entered the picture. In it my Broader Perspective reiterated that I should stay the course. I had a dream the details of which are unimportant. But what is important is the download I got when waking from it. The download was “Don’t pay that $150 from savings. Use your credit card.”

This is why dream state is another thing I eventually get clients to become aware of. Dreams are soooo freaking valuable! When we dream, we return to the fullness of our Broader Perspective. There, we CAN experience nonphysical consciously and vividly. But most people don’t believe they dream. Those who do, think dreams are something they’re not. So they miss the massive value dreams bring.

^^Dreams are an excellent Source of inner knowing. (Photo by Egor Vikhrev on Unsplash)

In dreams, we CAN hear our Broader Perspective speak to us in words we can understand. But again, it requires training. Not really training…it requires soothing resistance acting as an opaque shield between us and the dream state. Do that and dreams become very easy to perceive, experience and understand. As does our ability to hear our Broader Perspective while in dream state.

That download was my Broader Perspective guiding me. So I woke and put that $150 on my card.

Staying the course…lead to something awesome

Then I focused on trusting and relaxing into the now. Past experience proved doing so would bring what I want more quickly. Everything you just read also amplified my desire to focus.

That focus felt good. I felt myself tuning in. Tuning into the probable reality where the money I want is!

Less than a week later, I woke one morning feeling really great. I checked my phone. There on the screen was a notification that a new client registered for a one-time Positively Focused session!

I looked at the confirmation email and the name looked familiar. But the photo of the person on Facebook was unfamiliar.

^^The new client and the PayPal notification.

When I sent them a reply email, the reply I got astounded me:

“Hi,” She said. “I’ve had that fake profile on Facebook for years. Last week I checked it and in my recommendations was a link to Positively Focused. I knew that was the universe telling me to sign up for sessions.”

How cool is that?!

After our first session, the client signed up for weekly sessions for a total monthly session rate equal to 30 times my rent increase scheduled to begin in January! And, it’s more than enough to pay off the $150 I put on my credit card!

Manifesting requires staying the course

What did I learn from all this? Well, by October 1 I felt absolute confidence the Universe moves to support my desires. Several other manifestations happened in September. Adding this one to those vastly boosted my knowing. Namely:

My desire to create money coming into my life with no effort on my part is working!

That relaxing and trusting makes what I want to happen, happen faster.

I can manifest something I desire in perfect divine timing.

I can trust my Broader Perspective!

By lightly holding in my mind what I want, I prime the Universe to deliver.

When something seems to go wrong, that usually means I’m close to the full-blown manifestation. See things “going wrong” as actually going right!

Try not to take action too soon. But if I do, I know the Universe will work around my early action and deliver what I want!

Finally, by staying the course towards what I want, what I want WILL HAPPEN. When it does it will be in divine timing. And if it hasn’t happened (yet) that’s only because the timing isn’t right (yet).

All this inspires even bolder action. I know now that everything I’m asking for is happening. So I can enjoy my life on the leading edge of what it means to be human. And, I can eagerly anticipate the day when outrageous fortune flows into my experience.

I love following my inner guidance!

By now you may be inspired to learn to hear your inner guidance. If you are, I’m here. Join my clients experiencing their own versions of what I’m experiencing. Contact me, let’s get you started!

#positive thinking #positivevibes #spiritualawakening #positivity #spirituality #positivethinking #spiritual life #spiritualgrowth #happiness #law of attraction #law of assumption #law of manifestation #law of the universe #manifestingmindset #manifesting #manifesation #manifesting abundance

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creature-wizard · 1 year

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This... this is what constitutes Neville Goddard's idea of writing advice, from Live Boldly!

3. What must I do to inspire creative thoughts such as those needed for writing? What must you do? Assume the story has already been written and accepted by a great publishing house. Reduce the idea of being a writer to the sensation of satisfaction. Repeat the phrase, “Isn’t it wonderful!” or “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” over and over again until you feel successful. Or, imagine a friend congratulating you. There are unnumbered ways of implying success, but always go to the end. Your acceptance of the end wills its fulfillment. Do not think about getting in the mood to write, but live and act as though you are now the author you desire to be. Assume you have the talent for writing. Think of the pattern you want displayed on the outside. If you write a book and no one is willing to buy it, there is no satisfaction. Act as though people are hungry for your work. Live as though you cannot produce stories or books fast enough to meet the demand. Persist in this assumption and all that is necessary to achieve your goal will quickly burst into bloom and you will express it.

Of course it's going to be helpful to believe that you can write a book, and that success is possible for you; but the idea that you can always solve writer's block or come up with new ideas by simply pretending you're already a successful and skilled author?

Boy, that's uh...

That's some seriously bad writing advice, dude.

#neville goddard #law of assumption #writing #bad writing advice

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sjlee326 · 1 year

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3) WEEKLY TUMBLR POST TOPIC #3

"relates" Between the two articles.

Both Goethe and Sylvia Plath are telling you to watch out for 'indecision' in life choices.

Sylvia metaphorically expressed life as a green figure tree and options as a figure in the tip of the branch.

I read her message that we should avoid "indecision" in figs wrinkle and go black and ploped to the ground.

Goethe, on the other hand, directly expressed that "indecision" should be avoided.

The two articles are "relates" in terms of dealing with similar content and conclusions.

If you look at it in detail, Goethe's "indecision" is a little wider.

Sylvia's "figs" are wonderful, fat, perfect decisions, but Goethe's "days" includes everything else.

Of course, it is much easier to understand the direct expressions.

But there are beauty of expressions in metaphorical writing.

In Korea, interest in poetry has decreased a lot these days, but I personally hope it will be loved again.

About "indecision".

I'll start with the conclusion.

I think this author's advice is good advice.

Let me give you an example of what happened to me.

It was when I applied for college in my third year of high school.

That year, many students applied to Konkuk University. Even students with lower grades than me.

Konkuk University was a school with high acceptance standards, so I thought about the application deadline assuming all kinds of situations.

After considering the worst, the decision I made was no.

However, almost all the students who applied to Kunkuk University in our school passed that year.

All I did while they passed Konkuk University was regret and blame myself for life.

Not only that, but I acted like this in a lot of situations.

What did I gain from regretting and complaining while they were admitted to college? Worried?

Worry is a good thing that helps me make better choices, but sometimes people worry too much.

Sometimes it's better to just do one thing even if it's not perfect.

I don't have to eat 100% sweet figs at once.

If the fig I ate this time is 50% sweet, I can eat 20% sweet fig next time and then eat 30% to fill it up 100%.

Before thinking about what to choose, let's see if it's going to get better by thinking deeply. (Whether it's possible for me to find sweeter figs.)

I can't always make the best choice because it's my first time in life.

I'm not saying I should act in any way. Carefully select candidates and challenge boldly without worrying too much.

I may fail, but I'll get more than just regret and complain.

In my experience, doing anything is always better than not thinking about it.

So my motto is "just do it."

So "what you can do, begin it." before the remaining figs turn black and wrinkle and fall off.

This is why I think that advice is good advice.

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allthemusic · 7 months

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Week ending: 30 April 1953

A treat this week: three whole songs to listen to, and one by Kay Starr, who already gave us what's probably been my favourite song so far on this whole endeavour.

Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susie - Guy Mitchell (peaked at No. 2)

Well, we start off very chipper, launching into this song at a high-speed. And the whole song is just quick and chirpy, I like it!

The concept is a simple one: Guy likes lots of things, but he likes "Pretty little black-eyed Susie best of all". It's sweet, it's catchy and it feels somehow quite folksy, especially when Guy exclaims about how much "I love my pipe, I love tomaters / I love candied sweet pertaters" or "I love the sea, I love the navy / I love my biscuits soaked in gravy". It makes him sound like a good-natured grandfather, eating his food and being cute.

Not sure if I was Susie I'd be particularly flattered by the "I love Jane and I love Mary" line. Even if he does love you best of all, there really shouldn't be competition there...

That said, when we hit the line about how "I used to do a lot of teasin' / Changed my gals with ev'ry season", I do start coming round to Guy here. It's the good old "rake reformed" trope, and I'm a sucker for it. His ramblin' days are through, aww...

Musically, a lot to like here, from the clapping on the title line, to the deliciously vintage backing singers, to the whistling interlude, which doesn't go on so long as to get annoying.

I found myself whistling along while writing this, which doesn't often happen. A welcome redemption for Guy Mitchell, whose last outing was the absolutely terrible She Wears Red Feathers.

Side by Side - Kay Starr (7)

Another jazzy banger from Kay Starr, too - I'm being spoiled here! We get a lot of the same carefree, fun attitude here as we see in Comes A-Long A-Love, and it works about as well here as it did there. Kay Starr has charm by the bucketful!

The song itself is free-spirited and easy-going, all about how the singer and her love may not have the most money, but they get along, travelling through the world - you got it - "side by side". Which is already pretty compelling.

But the delivery is really everythin. Kay Starr isn't just nonchalant, here, about not having money, and potential trouble ahead. She's boldly and brassily staring the trouble down, almost daring life to throw its worst at her. That's the level of confidence here!

She has a lot of little technical things she does with her voice, from the sweep upwards on "looooad" to that little quirk before phrases like "a-singin' our song". You can hear them a bit better in this song than in Comes A-Long A-Love, with its tongue-twister lyrics, and the song's all the better for it.

She doesn't go in for lots of soupy backing singers, but she does harmonise with herself for most of the song, which is nifty, especially towards the end, where the harmonies come in unexpectedly, way higher than the tune.

And the backing is also enjoyably jazzy, from the saxophone on the intro to the big-band-style trumpets throughout. Fun, classy and honestly, a great song!

Pretend - Nat King Cole (2)

And we end on the slowest and most melancholy song of the bunch, but it's a nice cool-down from the madcap bluster of the last two songs.

This song feels like a song you'd find in a musical, with its sweeping strings and lush instrumentation, interrupted only at the end by a guitar solo, which I also like a lot. There's this tinkly instrument throughout, that gives the whole song a slightly dream-like quality that also works well.

It's sad, though, all about finding happiness by... just pretending to be happy? Seriously, I think this is just a song about repressing your feelings.

It starts telling you to "Pretend you're happy when you're blue" and ends up reminding you that "The little things you haven't got / Could be a lot if you pretend" - a clever mid-line rhyme, but a depressing bit of advice.

Then it turns to romance, advising you that "You'll find a love you can share" and that "Just close your eyes, she'll be there / You'll never be alone". Which I initially thought was about an unrequited love, but on a few listens, I got the impression that this bit was more about loneliness, and not having someone at all. Which is sad. There should be more songs nowadays about the experience of being lonely, rather than a specific person you're pining after.

And even the ending, which sounds so uplifting, isn't really a win for the listener or for Nat King Cole: "And if you sing this melody / You'll be pretending just like me / The world is mine, it can be yours, my friend / So why don't you pretend?" You can have anything, sure - but it's only pretend!

Depressing, but this song did actually make me feel things, so I'll call that a win. I could actually see a stripped back version of this being a hit today, it's got a fairly timeless blend of melancholy and cynicism that works well.

Man, this was a really good batch of songs! I would genuinely choose to listen to any of these for fun. I had most fun with Guy Mitchell, but admired Kay Starr the most, and Nat King Cole's the one who made me feel things. All strongly recommended Still, I'll have to award my favourite to the only one I could still probably sing along to five minutes after listening to it. Which means...

Favourite song of the bunch: Pretty Little Black-Eyed Susie

#uk charts #1953 #guy mitchell #kay starr #nat king cole

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