#in the subtext

[akirakirxaa]

“Do you regret it?” (Solus/Valeria)

[Ask prompts here! I'm so excited, this is my first ask for Valeria, I hope you like it!]

Valeria lay curled up on their plush chair before the fireplace, book in hand but not reading it as she stared pensively into the flames, lost in thought. She had long since gotten used to her husband returning late from his many meetings and duties, but rather than going to bed without him as he always insisted, she waited. Going to sleep without him always felt like she would wake the next day to it all having been a dream, and now she was back in her wretched family's attic with her stepmother screaming up that breakfast should have been ready by now. No, she didn't need those nightmares. So she waited.

She had just started to doze, curled up on the chair with her head on the arm, when she heard familiar, unhurried footsteps outside. A moment later the door to their sitting room creaked open slowly, as if he was trying not to wake her. Foolish, she always woke when he finally came to join her, if she had slept at all. At this point it felt more like a dance, just their way of greeting each other after a long day apart.

"Still awake, I see," Solus said, as if it were a surprise, as he removed his coat, leaving him in just his shirtsleeves and trousers. "How was your day, dearest?" Valeria stretched, sitting back up properly in her chair.

"Hmmm, better now that you're here," she gave a smile, gathering her dressing gown around her. He crossed their sitting room, taking one hand and planting a kiss on the back. Valeria couldn't help the heat in her face; the woman could be taken from the common citizenry but the mindset could never quite be gotten rid of. At least she wasn't quite as flustered as when they first met, the emperor of the entire country treating her like the height of royalty when she wasn't even meant to be there.

"Glad to be of service," he gave her a little crooked smile before settling on the couch, and for a while they sat in comfortable silence.

Well, almost comfortable.

Valeria dropped her book, and as she bent to get it she let her golden hair fall in her face, hiding her but not completely blocking her vision. She glanced up at her husband, and there it was. The reason she felt so pensive tonight.

For quite some time now, she noticed that any time he thought he wasn't being watched, he looked at her with a horribly sorrowful expression. It was hard to catch, and disappeared as fast as she noticed it, but she knew for sure he was hiding something from her. She settled back in her chair and thought for a long moment.

"Do you regret it?" she broached the silence, swallowing her nerves. She felt him staring at her.

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you regret it?" she repeated, meeting his bright yellow gaze. "Marrying me? A... commoner? Someone of no importance?" He frowned at her.

"Where is this coming from?"

"I see how you look at me when you think I'm not looking. You appear so sad, so I couldn't help but wonder..." she trailed off, glancing away and fidgeting with her hands. Another few moments of silence.

"Come here, my dear," he held one arm out to her, and she crossed over to him, sliding onto the sofa and into his side. He wrapped his arm around her comfortingly.

"I don't regret us, not for a moment," he tilted her face toward him gently as he spoke. "There's no one I'd rather have as my empress." She searched his face for a lie that wasn't there.

"Then why...?"

"Because I want more for you." She couldn't help the small giggle at his words.

"More? We're already royalty, in a powerful country. I have an entire palace, the best food money can buy, all the assistance I could ask for, for anything I might need, what else could I ever ask for?"

"A better world," he clarified, resting his cheek on her head. "One where there are no wars, where all nations are one, working together. One of peace." Valeria sighed, leaning more fully on his shoulder.

"Sounds like a dream," she mumbled.

"I don't think it has to be," he countered, and she felt like he was still holding something back. But before she could press more, he stood, crossed to their imported orchestrion, and put on a quiet piano piece. He turned back to her with a soft smile.

"Dance with me?" She snorted, but stood anyways, taking his hand.

"You," she accused as they swayed in a slow circle, no thought put into the steps, "are trying to distract me." He kissed her forehead, just above her third eye, and she could feel his amused grin.

"Is it working?"

"A little."

With one finger under her chin, he tilted her head back to capture her lips in a kiss, and Valeria melted into it, her hands clenching in his shirt. He nipped at her lower lip, and she let out a quiet whimper. He took her by one hand and broke away, leading her back towards their bedchambers.

"I think," his voice had dropped lower, holding her gaze as he walked backwards. "It's time for us to retire for the eve." Valeria couldn't help the girlish giggle or the blush on her cheeks as she stumbled eagerly after him.

"I was just thinking the same thing."

#final fantasy xiv #solus x empress #solus zos galvus #oc: valeria yae galvus #solus x valeria #ask response #thank you so much for the prompt! #i was really excited to write them #I hope I got him right #canonically obviously the song they danced to is neath dark waters #but i also like once upon a dream for them outside of canon so you can picture a piano version of that too if you want #shadowbringers spoilers #uh a little anyways #in the subtext #because we know why he gets sad around her #shard of azem #my fanfiction #I have a longfic planned for them at some point #ship: once upon a dream

[emilypemily]

the vast gulf between what some stranger things fans are mad at and what actually happens is borderline very funny

#gay character has crush on girl that she’s already said she’s had a crush on #other gay character is still clearly gay and wrestling with it but didn’t say it this season even though it’s all there both in text and #in the subtext #Some People: this was queerbaiting and the writers are homophobic actually and I feel betrayed #anyway I’m reversing back out of discourse I shan’t bring it up again

[novlr]

The symbolism of flowers

Flowers have a long history of symbolism that you can incorporate into your writing to give subtext.

Symbolism varies between cultures and customs, and these particular examples come from Victorian Era Britain. You'll find examples of this symbolism in many well-known novels of the era!

Amaryllis: Pride

Black-eyed Susan: Justice

Bluebell: Humility

Calla Lily: Beauty

Pink Camellia: Longing

Carnations: Female love

Yellow Carnation: Rejection

Clematis: Mental beauty

Columbine: Foolishness

Cyclamen: Resignation

Daffodil: Unrivalled love

Daisy: Innocence, loyalty

Forget-me-not: True love

Gardenia: Secret love

Geranium: Folly, stupidity

Gladiolus: Integrity, strength

Hibiscus: Delicate beauty

Honeysuckle: Bonds of love

Blue Hyacinth: Constancy

Hydrangea: Frigid, heartless

Iris: Faith, trust, wisdom

White Jasmine: Amiability

Lavender: Distrust

Lilac: Joy of youth

White Lily: Purity

Orange Lily: Hatred

Tiger Lily: Wealth, pride

Lily-of-the-valley: Sweetness, humility

Lotus: Enlightenment, rebirth

Magnolia: Nobility

Marigold: Grief, jealousy

Morning Glory: Affection

Nasturtium: Patriotism, conquest

Pansy: Thoughtfulness

Peony: Bashfulness, shame

Poppy: Consolation

Red Rose: Love

Yellow Rose: Jealously, infidelity

Snapdragon: Deception, grace

Sunflower: Adoration

Sweet Willian: Gallantry

Red Tulip: Passion

Violet: Watchfulness, modesty

Yarrow: Everlasting love

Zinnia: Absent, affection

#writers #creative writing #writing community #writing #writers of tumblr #writing inspiration #creative writers #writeblr #writerblr #writing tips #flower symbolism #writing subtext #writblr #writers corner #how to write subtext #symbolism in writing #writing advice #creative writing tips #writing resources #writing help #writer tips #writing tips and tricks #helping writers #help for writers #references for writers #writing reference #writers block #beat writers block #novel writing

[kingworm]

when you eat, will you set a plate for me?

#dungeon meshi #dunmeshi #falin touden #marcille donato #farcille #well - the subtext - shes implied #my art

[rexalogy]

Every Taylor Swift song

#I truly truly cannot empathize with anyone in limerence with her in fact it feels betraying. #all of the interesting beautiful art in the world and the only thing you can blow up is another implicitly conservative value white woman? #having to write narratives about her hypothetical dykeishness to feel comfortable with that dissonance? as if that would even absolve her #it’s not that I hate Taylor I just hate this unwillingness to engage with where her worldview has serious limitations and it seeps #throughout her discography. I think loving art comes with being able to recognize where it fails #what politics are present in it. it’s not deep it’s not subtext it’s all just right there

[stil-lindigo]

the calamity.

a comic about being seen.

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creative notes:

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all my other comics

store

#cw: blood + eye scarring #oh the inherent intimacy of seeing and being seen #just a comic about how the desire to be seen and shown love and compassion unites us all #also big scary monster lady pretty #girl power! the personification of disaster and strife uses she/her pronouns! #i also feel somewhat obligated to mention here that i dont have anything against christianity as a whole #i just think the concept of God is interesting #i went to a christian school for 12 years im allowed to make this comic #comic art #sapphic #yes. interpret the subtext #stillindigo art #heartearters #thats the name of the anthology this will belong to. whenever i finish it #stillindigo comics

[huachengsromcom]

People call Heaven Official’s Blessing / TGCF a slow burn but Hua Cheng is literally courting Xie Lian like they are DATING. Slow burn who??? They’re sleeping next to each other on straw mats and Xie Lian’s offering to cook him dinner and they’re bantering across THE HOME THEY SHARE like a bunch of desperate hussys

San Lang LEAVES XL WITH A KEEPSAKE OF THEIR TIME TOGETHER SLOW BURN WHOMST

They have A DATE in HC’s armoury where they HOLD HANDS and XL pets San Lang’s quivering sword I-

Hua Cheng basically throws himself at this man he’s like you want a sword?? All of them ?? You want ALL THE SWORDS?? Fuck it take the whole room THE WHOLE ROOM JUST COME VISIT I WILL CLEAN THEM FOR YOU

Like he isn’t the king of a whole realm with shit to do

And this is just the first half of the first book—again I ask the world SLOW BURN WHOMST

#this is half in jest #but #I know some people don’t count it as “real until they kiss but THIS is honestly so gay of them #it’s in the subtext it’s in everything THAT ISNT a kiss #it’s so queer #Hua Cheng is ALL IN XL is just too innocent to Grasp It #XL is saying “come round to my tiny shack whenever sleep on my mat with me BEST FRIEND I will be your home” and HC is SUFFERING #the armoury scene is favourite of the entire thing #I was like my brother in Christ HAVE YOU NO SHAME #and knew immediately I would love him forever #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #mxtx tgcf #hua cheng #xie lian #hualian #she’s being unhinged again

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice

#jeeves and wooster #i want to watch tumblr go rabid i want to watch ao3 overflow with jeeves/wooster fanfiction #yes obviously the fandom EXISTS but it's a cozy little neighborhood #a handful of talented artists and writers doing their best to keep their charming little village going #but i'm tired of cozy i want this fandom TRENDING #I WANT TO SEE THIS ON MY DASHBOARD PEOPLE #i swear to you if they made a shiny new tv series tumblr would absolutely obsess over these characters. good omens levels of obsession #it's just such a great dynamic! the good-natured overly-trusting bumbling idiot in constant need of rescuing! #the stoic all-knowing genius who quietly masterminds mayhem in order to protect this one moron he's devoted himself to for some reason #jeeves as a morosexual is just such a beautiful interpretation of the original text #wooster as a happy-go-lucky himbo who stumbles his way into a relationship with a protective caring and supremely competent mastermind #the angst and social complexities of a same-sex cross-class relationship in turn-of-the century london! #oh AND half the stories are about jeeves helping wooster get out of engagements/desperately avoid marriage #two men who live together constantly scheming to maintain their bachelorhood. this is quite literally the main plot point #the gay subtext is there! the gay subtext is there and very ripe for picking!!! #this thing is LOCKED AND LOADED we can pounce literally any time

[mobfrog]

by god...Naruto and Sasuke, they're...no, I shan't say....

#guy who views his own life as a shonen anime shocked and dismayed to learn of gay subtext #terumob #technically. #teruki hanazawa #reigen arataka #mp100 #this is so dumb dont take this seriously #also ive never watched naruto

[anthonysperkins]

Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler The Wild One (1953) dir. László Benedek

#The Wild One #Marlon Brando #László Benedek #guys #movies #costume design #gay leather #motorcycle #gay subtext #* #** #filmedit #marlonbrandoedit #winterswake #userpedro #holesrus #noirvember

[bluegiragi]

holding back (part 1)

early access + nsfw on patreon

#ghost wears just his balaclava working out since its less clunky #also please interpret the subtext PLEASE #(they have fucked <3) #poly 141 #monster 141 au #simon ghost riley #captain john price #giragi art

[oliveoomph]

Carol Danvers & Valkyrie

The Marvels (2023), dir. Nia DaCosta

#the marvels #brie larson #tessa thompson #carol danvers #mcuedit #king valkyrie #valkyrie #captain marvel #brunhilde #nia dacosta #movie 2023 #whole lotta subtext #mcu #gifs by olive

[acarillustrated]

thinking about mizu from blue eye samurai. thinking. thinking so much. thinking about how mizu operates outside of gender. like we joke about her gender being revenge but straight up? it literally is. like she grew up as a boy and is most comfortable being a man, but behind that is the feeling of betraying himself because he isn't being honest about who he is and he lives in fear of being discovered. and when he lived as a woman, she found joy there as well. she fell in love, and though she wasn't good at it, she liked being a wife and enjoying a simple life. but in that life too, she isn't being honest about who she is. and when she reveals her true self, it's not a woman, she's a demon, a weapon. she's to masculine to be a woman, and too feminine to be a man. ultimately, mizu is most comfortable when they are being a murder machine. that's when they feel they are being the most true to themself. like a sword, they are neither man nor woman, but a blend of both, which makes them stronger.

#also there's a point to be made about how their identity as a mixed person plays a role in their gender #but i can't really speak on that #it's obvious tho #like that's what the show is about #like the reason mizu is perceived as masculine is because she's half white #honestly the racial thing is more important #which is why it's explicitly stated in the show #but im seeing a lot of discourse about mizu's gender #honestly a lot of mizu's relationship w gender is subtext #like good news tho! #mizu is a woman! but also a man! #it's both at the same time #anyway #ill shut up now #i just love her so much #not art #blue eye samurai #mizu #blue eye samurai mizu #bes mizu

[weaponizedducks]

absolutely wild that out of all the possible ships the NATLA team decides to go all in on Zukka. kaatang and zutara in an all-out twenty year war and they decide yeah. we want the insane queer red and blue weirdos . saw voltron do it and were like YES LETS RECREATE THE QUEERBAIT OF ALL TIME

#this is rlly just voltron 2.0 isn't it #positive #coming from a klance and zukka shipper #it's just so funny #natla #zukka #zukka nation #what is it with media and subtexting red and blue gays #klance #kick #avatar the last airbender #atla #red and blue #ian ousley #dallas liu #voltron #vld

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

I mean I'm not even trans and I can still tell Nimona the movie is basically ND Stevenson going back and saying "okay, let's do it on purpose this time".

#nimona #nimona film #the trans subtext is VERY obvious

[gas-station-trackphone]

ftm trans Eddie Munson gets turned into a chew toy for hell bats and rescued in the 11th hour by his friends who don't know he's trans, who have to run some triage first aid and can hardly make sense of the blood and gore that used to be his body as they cut off his shirt and pants to get access to the worst of the wounds, who definitely aren't in their right minds well enough anyway to think of anything other than stopping the bleeding and getting him to a hospital, which they do, and miraculously Eddie finds himself blinking awake in a bright, fluorescent room feeling exactly like he imagines a chew toy for hell bats would feel in the aftermath which is to say: like shit. Even more miraculously, he finds hometown hero Steve Harrington posted up at his bedside with greasy hair (!!! Eddie never thought he'd see the day) and bags under his eyes.

The overwhelming relief on Steve's face when he sees Eddie is awake is touching, the misty eyes and cracking voice when he says god, i thought you were toast, man are downright flattering and, let's face it, giving Eddie all the wrong ideas that he figures he has an I-almost-died pass for at the moment so he rocks with it, let's himself indulge in the fantasy for a moment. Then, gradually, Steve's relief becomes more and more obviously some brand of deeply felt pity (or sympathy, but Eddie's never been good at distinguishing the two), which bursts his bubble enough to call him out.

"I know I look like what comes out the business end of a meat grinder, but I swear I'm good, dude. They definitely have me on the good shit, I hardly feel it. I'll be good as new in no time." Big fat fucking lie, by the way, but he'll say whatever if it gets that wounded puppy look out of Harrington's eyes.

"I...yeah, Eddie, I'm glad." And whatever it is he doesn't want to say, whatever is putting that you poor motherfucker look on his face, he's absolutely the opposite of subtle about it.

Eddie can hear the manifestation of his panic on the heart monitor.

"What? What is it? Is everyone- is Dustin-?" He can't say it, can't even think it, would rather be slowly torn to shreds all over again than know he failed at his one fucking task to keep the kid safe.

"No! I mean, yes, he's fine, they're all fine. Henderson's got a broken ankle and both of Max's arms are broken but the docs say they'll be fine in a few months with physical therapy."

The release of tension in Eddie's body hurts almost as much as the relief soothes him. "Okay then, what the fuck are you not telling me? It's fine, I'm a big boy, Harrington, I can take it."

He sighs, looking sick with it. "Eds...I don't know how to tell you this."

Oh god, what the fuck. Eddie's right back to freaking out because Steve looks inexplicably guilty, pained in the face like he's about to deliver the worst news he could imagine but if everyone's fine then-

"It's your dick, man. It's- it's gone. The bats-"

And Eddie laughs so hard he tears about a dozen stitches, immediately stops laughing, and throws up over the side of the bed and thankfully not all over his freshly reopened wounds as Steve shouts for help.

Eventually, when he's all stitched up again and barely hanging on to his hard earned lesson to not literally bust his gut laughing about the look on Steve's face (he has to force himself not to tell Wayne the specifics of how he ended up back in the OR, because he's absolutely gonna crack up and Eddie will definitely be unable to help himself from laughing with him), he realizes he's going to come out to all his friends in the very near future because holy shit, he has to tell everyone about Steve's utterly devastated expression at the news of Eddie's Ken doll-ification by way of demobat.

#I've been laughing about this in my head for WEEKS #the idea that steve feels so bad eddie got his dick eaten by demobats that he literally can't hide it and tells him immediately kills me #as always please read into the gay subtext here bc yes eddie also tells this story at their wedding many years down the line #eddie munson #steve harrington #steddie