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sketching-shark · 3 years

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LMK fandom: Oh, what do we do about this guy who has nothing but hurt Xiaotian, tried to replace Sun Wukong and his crew, hurt Tripitaka and ordered servants to cannibalize a monkey? Oh I know! We’ll turn him into our little meow meow~ he’s so innocent and Sun Wukong is obviously the villain!

What doesn’t help is this idea is perpetuated by multiple fan fic writers and artists for some reason. Especially some aus they make that turn SWK into a bastard for the sake of the story rather than considering cultural context and thinking they should be respectful.

And almost everyone lets them get away with it just because the art or fanfic is good and they get so popular that no one can point what is actually wrong without feeling like they’re going to get attacked.

I'm starting to feel like my blog is the one anons go to specifically to vent their frustrations about the Six Eared Macaque in his lego monkey show form & the associated fandom lmao. But I guess this makes sense, as I’ve had fun quasi-dragging him before & will in fact use this anon submission as an opportunity to have my own, to put it academically, bitch fest about not just this fandom's favorite protagonist-traumatizing meow meow, but about the way villains are often treated in not just fanon, but increasingly in canon works as well. But same policy as with the last anon; I'll post my opinions below the cut, and as fandoms love to say, don’t like don't read if you don't want to see me dunking on the six eared simian & common fandom tendencies towards villains.

Oh man I would say where would you even begin with this but anon you’ve pretty much started yourself with my main gripe with a lot of ways that the Six-Eared Macaque is portrayed in fandom; there seems to be this unspoken agreement that his acts of violence towards Sun Wukong, Qi Xioatian, and Qi Xioatian’s loved ones are either to be framed as somewhat or totally justified, to be immediately forgiven/excused, or to simply & completely be ignored. Like friends maybe this is just me not seeing the proper posts but while the fandom is inundated with art and fanfics of Macaque as a generally decent individual & a true member of team good guy, I have yet to see one person address the fact that this monkey literally kidnapped & mind-controlled Xiaotian’s best friend and father figures & forced them to brutalize Xiaotian while ol’ Six Ear looked on and laughed (X_X). Like this kind of fandom villain treatment is definitely not something that’s solely at work for Monkie Kid, but it is kind of nutty how fandoms will swing between yelling that people should be allowed to like villains without even mild critique, and then will just flat-out not address the villainous behavior, and will even bend over backwards to frame even characters who committed genocide as just poor innocent widdle victims who need a hug. At its worst, I’ve even seen tons of people in a fandom get really angry at other people who don’t like a villain, and will even start accusing those people of hating real-life mentally disabled or abused individuals all because they don’t like the fandom’s favorite literal war criminal. The Monkie Kid fandom is FAR more chill & better than a lot of other fandoms I’ve come across in that regard, but that is an exceedingly low bar, & the tendency to woobify certain kinds of villains-- as with Macaque and the extreme emphasis on his bad boy/sad boy thing--is very much at work.

I’ve also talked before about a kind of monoculturalization of certain character interpretations and story beats in fandoms, and one of the more popular ones that seems to be applied to Macaque a lot is the “hero actually bad, villain actually good” cliche, as observable from the general fandom assumption that Mr. Six-Ears he wasn’t even slightly lying or remembering things through a rose-tinted or skewed lens when he gave his version of his and Sun Wukong’s past. Like at this point it seems the possibility that people WILL NOT even consider is that Sun Wukong never did & still doesn't care that much about the Six Eared Macaque (in JTTW they weren’t sworn brothers & in Monkie Kid the only thing the monkey king really said to Macaque before attacking him was a pretty contemptuous "Aren't you ever going to get sick of living under my shadow?," & responds to his "beloved friend" getting blown up with "You did good, bud" to Qi Xiaotian, who did the exploding), or that their original fight may in fact have mostly been instigated by Macaque. After all, to repeat what this anon summarized & what I've said before about their original JTTW context (& in an example of the things that do feel like it's often lost in translation) is that the Six Ear Macaque was a villain not just because he beat up the Tang Monk, but because he wanted to take over Sun Wukong's entire life and identity so he could have all that glory, prestige, and power for himself. To quote the macaque himself from the Anthony C. Yu translation, "I struck the T'ang monk and I took the luggage...precisely because I want to go to the West all by myself to ask Buddha for the scriptures. When I deliver them to the Land of the East, it will be my success and no one else's. Those people of the South Jambudvipa Continent will honor me then as their patriarch and my fame will last for all posterity." And in order to do this, the Six Eared Macaque had apparently made Sun Wukong's "little ones," his monkey family, his captives through either trickery or force, and gotten a number of them to take on the appearance of Tang Sanzang and the other pilgrims. It's also made clear that in very direct contrast to Sun Wukong, he doesn't care about these monkeys beyond how they might serve him. In fact, after Sha Wujing kills the monkey posing as him the Six Eared Macaque not only all but immediately replaces him with another, but also "told his little ones to have the dead monkey skinned. Then his meat was taken to be fried and served as food along with coconut and grape wines." So this monkey is not only willing to risk the lives of a lot of other monkeys for his own personal benefit, but is also a literal cannibal. And yes yes, I know a lot of people have argued that Monkie Kid shouldn't be considered a direct sequel to JTTW & that's fair enough (for example, Sun Wukong probably shouldn't be smashing anyone into a meat patty in a children's cartoon lol). And of course, it needs to be noted that there are a buttload of really out there & really cursed pieces of media based on JTTW & that were created in China. Yet the above description is the oft-ignored in the west original facet of the Six Eared Macaque's character. And it is this selfishness, entitlement, and treatment of other individuals as tools for his own self-serving ends that is, from where I’m standing, still very much present in Monkie Kid. Like besides repeatedly going out of his way to physically and psychologically traumatize Xioatian, with the last episode Macaque seemed to be going right back to his manipulative ways. I’ve seen people frame their last conversation as Macaque softening to Xioatian a little bit, but personally that read a lot more like that common tactic among abusers where even after they’ve hurt you they’ll dangle something you want or need over your head (in Macaque’s case, the promise of desperately needed training and information about a serious looming threat), with the implication that you’ll only get it if you do what they want you to, such as, in this case, Xioatian going back to Macaque as his student even after having been so terribly hurt by this monkey, which would give Macaque power over Xiaotian and probably Sun Wukong as a result. And it is this violence and manipulation that it seems the fandom at large has tacitly decided shouldn’t even be addressed, instead leaning more towards a (and this is an exaggeration) “Six-Eared Macaque my poor meow meow Sun Wukong has always been bad & has always been wrong about literally everything” reading.

And while it is the case that I am not Chinese and feel that as such it would be best left to someone who actually comes from that background to provide more context into how common interpretations of the Six Eared Macaque from China may clash really badly with the stuff the western fandom creates, it also must be noted that, as much as we all want to have fun in fandom & in spite of all the out-there versions of JTTW from China, we westerners should recognize that there is a very long and very ugly history of western countries stripping other cultures’ important religious and literary works for parts & mashing them into their own thing while implying or even insisting that what they present provides a true understanding of the original piece. And while I trust most individuals in regards to Monkie Kid are able to step back and think “this is a lego cartoon and not a set guide for how I should understand JTTW” (especially given the insistence that JTTW and Monkie Kid should be considered there own separate works) there does nevertheless seem to be something of a tendency to take the conclusions people come to, for example, about Sun Wukong’s characteristic in his lego form & then assume that’s just reflective to Sun Wukong as a totality. I imagine a good portion of this is due to people not reading JTTW & especially to not having easy access to solid information or answers about JTTW’s many different facets (like geez awhile ago I was trying to get a clear answer on what is considered the most accurate translation of the names of Sun Wukong’s six sworn brothers & got like 5 different responses lmao), but that tendency to take a western fandom interpretation & run with it instead of doing any background research or questioning said interpretation is still very much at play. As such, & as made prominent in the way people have been interpreting the dynamic between Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque in the lego monkey show, tbh it does seem kind of shitty for western creators & audience to sometimes go really out of their way to ignore all of this original cultural & narrative context for the sake of Angst (TM) in Macaque's favor, demonizing Sun Wukong, and shipping the monkey king with his evil twin (X_X).

And speaking of which, even beyond the potential inherent creepiness & revulsion that can be inspired by this specific ship given common interpretations of the og classic's original meaning (again, it's my understanding, given both summaries of translated Chinese academic texts I've been kindly provided with, my own reading of the Anthony C. Yu translation of JTTW, & vents from a number of Chinese people I've seen on this site, that the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China as having originated from Sun Wukong himself as a living embodiment of his worst traits, hence why only Buddha can tell the difference between them & why the monkey king is much more slow to violence after he kills the macaque), I'd argue that in the face of all the uwu poor widdle meow meow portrayals lego show Macaque is, especially if you include JTTW's events, still in the role of “Sun Wukong but worse” as he is very much a violent & selfish creep. Like he was basically running around in JTTW wearing a Sun Wukong fursuit, but there he had the sole reason of wanting to replace Sun Wukong wholesale so he could have all the good things in the monkey king's life without actually having to work as hard for them. But if you combine that with Macaque now claiming that he used to be best friend with Sun Wukong in his pre-journey days (something that's made funny from a JTTW context given that that status actually belongs to the Demon Bull King lol), his original violence has now blown into this centuries long and really unhealthy obsession with the monkey king. Like he's apparently gone from wanting to literally be Sun Wukong to being so obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong that he's got basically nothing else going on in his life. Like he's only appeared in two episodes but...does he have any friends? Any family? A career or even a hobby that DOESN'T center the monkey king? Anything at all outside of his "get revenge on and/or kill Sun Wukong/use his successor as my personal punching bag” thing? Like dude! That is extremely creepy and extremely bad for everyone all around! As I’ve said before, this seeming refusal to see beyond the past or to do something that doesn’t involve Sun Wukong in some capacity is a trait that makes Macaque an interesting and somewhat tragic villain--he even seems to be working as Sun Wukong’s reflection in a mirror darkly, with lego show Sun Wukong pretty clearly not being able to heal from his own past which is hinted to be defined by one loss after another, and with Monkie Kid even kind of having these two characters somewhat follow their JTTW characterizations in that in the latter half of the journey Sun Wukong often gets sad & starts crying in the face of what seems insurmountable odds (& Monkie Kid Sun Wukong does seem to be hiding some serious depression behind a cheerful facade), whereas the Six-Eared Macaque retains a worse version of Sun Wukong’s pre-journey characteristic of getting pissed and lashing out if things don’t go his way--but it’s also what would make any current friendship or romantic relationship between these monkeys horrific. Although to be fair even the fandom seems to recognize this in an unconscious way, in that a lot of the art & fanfic seems to swing erratically between them kissing & screaming at each other in yet another example of bog-standard fandom adulation of romanticized toxic relationships lol.

At the end of the day, of course, this is nothing new. You'll find versions of this dynamic across a ton of fandoms and now even canonical work. And as such, I can only look at this kind of popularized relationship dynamic with a kind of resigned weariness whenever it pops up, & my frustrated question with the popularity of this kind of pairing is the exact same one that I have for a multitude of blatantly toxic villain/hero ships, given common fandom discourse & the tendency to either ignore or justify the villain's actions & demonize the hero: if you're THAT convinced that everything is the hero's fault, if you believe THAT much that the hero is the one in the wrong for the villain's pain and their subsequent actions, then why are you so set on them not only becoming a romantic pair, but framing this get-together as a good thing? Like I know we contain multitudes but that's waaay too many contradictions for me to wrap my head around. And it definitely doesn’t help that one branch of underlying reasoning behind this kind of pairing seems to be the ever-present “you break it, you fix it” mentality, where the assumption is that if you’re in a failing, abusive, and/or generally toxic relationship (platonically or romantically), if you put in enough time and effort & attempts to compromise, you’ll be able to restore/have the relationship you dreamed of, even with someone who hurt you really badly. And this assumption isn’t limited to fandom: I’d even argue that it’s everywhere in the culture, hence why a lot of people feel like they “failed” if they have to get a divorce or make the choice to leave an unhealthy friendship. Personally, I feel like people could really benefit from more stories about how it is not only the case that the people you hurt don’t owe you their forgiveness & you can still become a better and happier person without the one you hurt in your life, & that while it can be really hard it can also be a good thing to leave a relationship, even if it’s one that once meant a lot to you.

But in all honestly, from my own perspective this kind of pairing is starting to read far less like enemies to lovers and far more like a horrible fantasy where you can pull whatever shit you want, even on the people you "love," & never be held accountable for your terrible behavior or even have to consider that maybe you were in the wrong. It's another facet that makes me larf every time I see people insist that fandom is an inherently "transformative" or "progressive" form of storytelling like friends you are literally just taking status quo toxic monogamy & rebranding it as somehow beneficial & romantic (X_X).

But as to anon’s last frustration, it is hard to know what is the appropriate response with this kind of thing...like for my own part I’m keeping my frustrations to my blog & now increasingly to posts that you would have to click on the “read more” button to see what I have to say, but I totally get the hesitation to give even a mild critique to big names in a fandom. Like I've now seen it happen repeatedly where someone who has a big name in a fandom will make something that's kind of shitty for one reason or another, someone will message them with some version of "hey, that's kind of shitty, you shouldn't do that," and the typical response is either to blatantly ignore the issue completely, or more popularly to make a giant crying circus that seems deliberately geared towards stoking emotions on both sides of the, for example, fiction does/doesn't affect reality issue so that something that didn't even have to be that big a deal gets blown out of all proportion, with the big name often framing what often started out as a very mild critique into a long crying jag about how the initial response to their kind of shitty thing was so mean/cruel and they're just a poor innocent & that YOU'RE the true racist/sexist/bigot etc. if you don't agree with their opinion. It must of course be noted that there have also been numerous instances of people taking it too far the other way & sending not just big names but smaller creators literal deaths threats over stuff like innocuous ships which like holy hell bells people that’s a horrible thing to do. But for the big names at least, the end result of all this fighting is usually that once the dust has settled they have more attention/fame/money/power in the fandom than before, and with anyone who might have a problem with their stuff feeling afraid to voice their opinion lest they be swarmed by that person's fans. In that way fandom does often seem to increasingly be geared towards presenting an “official” fandom perspective about various facets of a piece of media instead of allowing for a multitude of interpretations, and with criticism, no matter its shape or form or how genuinely warranted it may be, being hounded out of existence. I feel like a lot of this could be made less bad if there wasn’t this constant assumption & even drive to think that a different interpretation of or criticism of your favorite work of fiction or your fanwork isn’t a direct claim that you are a thoroughly loathsome individual (& maybe also if people cultivated an enjoyment of learning things about important works from a culture outside their own, even if what you learn clashes with your own initial understandings), but I guess we’ll see if that ever happens.

So these are my general thinks about the Six Eared Macaque’s current fandom meow meow status & some of my bigger gripes with fandom tendencies as a whole. I stand by my idea that the most interesting & beneficial route for Macaque moving forward would be a kind of “redemption without forgiveness from the ones you hurt” arc--as I think was done pretty excellently with the character Grace in Infinity Train--and if for no other reason than gosh dern this monkey really needs to cultivate some sort of identity beyond his “Sun Wukong but worse” persona.

#lmk macaque #monkie kid macaque #6 eared macaque #monkie kid #lmk sun wukong #qi xiaotian #lmk monkey king #sun wukong #monkey king #journey to the west #jttw #fandom criticism #lmk

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fishylife · 3 years

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Guess who caved and read all 66 chapters of Painter of the Night? I don’t normally like to read comics that are still ongoing because I don’t like losing momentum while waiting for updates but here I am 🤡🤡

Spoilers.

I typed this while distracted so sorry for any muddled thoughts.

Story

I am glad that I read up to Chapter 66 because a huge misunderstanding was cleared up (the fact that Nakyum legitimately did not run away this time). I would’ve been pulling my hair out if the misunderstanding went on further (I HATE misunderstanding/miscommunication as a plot device).

A lot of people on the subreddit theorized that this was a huge turning point in the story. For the first time, we’re seeing Seungho show legitimate remorse and sadness over Nakyum’s suffering. Hopefully we’re going to see change his behaviour and act more reasonably towards Nakyum, and be more communicative about why he’s doing what he’s doing.

Though I think Nakyum is still a bit confused about his feelings for Seungho, he’s past the point of hating Seungho and wanting to leave. He said that he’d tried to run away before but he had nowhere to run to. He acknowledges that Seungho is a constant in his life, a protector and an indirect caregiver. But he’s still struggling with his feelings for Seungho.

In that way, Seungho and Nakyum are sort of opposite. Seungho recognized his romantic love for Nakyum first, but he couldn’t see how he was hurting him. As for Nakyum, he figured out how he could make Seungho happy early on, but he’s still struggling a bit with regards to how he feels about Seungho, likely because a part of his heart is still with Inhun. Again, he definitely recognizes Seungho as his protector (he’d instinctively called out to Seungho for help when he was kidnapped), but he’s still struggling over whether he’s in love with him.

This week we’re getting a continuation to the spinoff story so we won’t see the story pick up again until next week.

I do think the spinoff story is interesting. Currently, Seungho holds a lot of power over Nakyum, both in terms of political/administrative power, and physical power. But with Seungho as a peasant and Nakyum as a son of a noble family, Nakyum holds the social power over Seungho and it evens up their power dynamics a bit, which I do like. It feels safer for Nakyum lmao.

In terms of the style of story telling, it’s mostly angst, I’ll be honest. And it is rather melodramatic because miscommunication tends to be something the author uses quite a bit as a storytelling technique. Luckily, they’re not dragged out for too long.

Art

The art is pretty nice. It’s all in full colour, which surprised me. The art is extremely detailed. I wonder how the artist can do so much in a week lol. I hope they’re not overworked.

Seungho

Both Seungho and Nakyum have had their share of past trauma, but my thinking is that they’ve manifested in different ways.

It’s implied that Seungho’s father knew about his sexuality from a young age and tried to treat it through medical means and then by locking him up, which effectively stopped his education, despite him having been a bright student. Seungho then lived out his young adult days in debauchery. Early on, he implied that he was just living by his father’s principles, or something along those lines. My guess is that his dad left him behind so he could debauch in isolation without affecting the rest of the family.

So Seungho grew up without many close friends. He was surrounded by servants and yes men (like Jihwa) who would not call him out on his bullshit. So I think that’s how he developed his extremely bossy and abusive behaviour.

Why Nakyum was different for Seungho was that initially, he didn’t have power over Nakyum. He would tell him to do things, but Nakyum would not necessarily heed his commands, not painting, or trying to run away. His heart was still fully loyal to Inhun. So I think that was why Nakyum elicited extra violent behaviour from Seungho. Seungho had never been defied like this.

But I think Seungho was also intrigued by Nakyum. Nakyum was a contradiction because he drew smut but was always super embarrassed when faced with sexual situations irl. Seungho should've felt better when Inhun was sent away and Nakyum became submissive during sex and yet that’s when Seungho felt like something was wrong. Nakyum just kept eliciting unexpected emotions from Seungho. I definitely think Seungho saw him as a plaything at first, but came to care for him after he got to know more about him and his personal life.

Nakyum

Nakyum also came from a tough background. He was an orphan, and was raised along kisaeng ladies. Inhun was the first authority figure whom he’d had a positive impression of, and he latched on to him. He admired Inhun so much that he tried his best to listen to him when he told him not to draw erotic art anymore.

Inhun unfortunately didn’t see their relationship the same way. He showed a kind face to most of his students but he looked down on their lowly statuses. Only when he saw Nakyum as a pawn, did he give him attention. But he never hid his emotions, visibly expressing his anger when Nakyum wasn’t being a good spy, brushing off Nakyum’s confession of love.

Nakyum’s love for Inhun was so extremely pure and all-consuming. I cried when he was so swiftly rejected and condescended upon by Inhun T_T Because I knew how much courage it took for Nakyum to confess, how he wanted nothing but for Inhun to have good things, and Inhun cared not for any of that because it wasn’t want he wanted. Nakyum wasn’t helping him in the way he needed, and he cared far more for ambition than romantic love (not to mention romantic love from a lowly peasant).

After the rejection, Nakyum internalized Inhun’s words when he called him a prostitute. A part of him still loved Inhun and if he said that, Nakyum figured he must’ve been right. The other part of him decided that acting submissively to Seungho was the only way to survive.

Basically, Nakyum’s going through a huge emotional journey because his hero Inhun has kind of abandoned him (though he hasn’t forgotten him completely), but Nakyum hasn’t found a worthy person to give his heart to.

Seungho & Nakyum

I’m still thinking about their relationship and why we ship them despite the shit they’ve done (mostly the shit that Seungho’s done to Nakyum).

For Seungho, I think Nakyum was the first person he met who had a different way of expressing love. He’d never met someone like Nakyum who would stuff he despised just to help out Inhun. Even when Inhun didn’t show an inkling of appreciation. Perhaps Seungho felt that he didn’t know what love was until he met Nakyum.

As for Nakyum, he theorized that he was only desperate for affection and that was why he felt himself drawn to Seungho. I think that is technically true. But more than that, I think Seungho has arguably shown more levels of care to Nakyum than Inhun has. Yeah, Seungho has done horrendous stuff to Nakyum, but he’s also shown more affection to Nakyum. That includes physical affection, but Seungho also bought him warm clothes, called on a doctor to care for his health, etc. Again, all of the care absolutely does NOT cancel out the abusive behaviour on Seungho’s side, but that’s how I think Nakyum found himself feeling more and more comfortable with Seungho. Loving someone is about showing your bad sides as well as your good sides.

I think both Seungho and Nakyum are finding affection/care in forms that they’d never experienced before, and that’s why they are drawn to each other.

Problematic?

I had a feeling that this would be a story that a lot of people would consider problematic. It’s probably because I’m older now, but it doesn’t really bother me. I obviously know that there is toxic behaviour shown by the characters and I would never want that in real life, but it’s really not difficult for me to separate what works in fiction vs. what works in reality.

This was a different time period, when rich and powerful people could just do whatever they wanted. Not excusing problematic behaviour, just explaining the entitled behaviour of some of the elites.

Seungho for sure shows extremely toxic behaviour. I think the point is that he is a problematic man who has trouble expressing emotions the normal way, and it ends up hurting those around him and those he cares about. He’s definitely an imperfect person who’s unpleasant to be around, but I think one thing the author wanted to show is that bad people are still capable of having emotions. By no means do I excuse his toxic behaviour. But I am all for showing that flawed people are still worthy of attention. We are still interested in what Seungho does in spite of his poor behaviour because we recognize that he is still a person.

I also recognize that Nakyum is woobified a lot. He’s constantly put in situations where he is the victim and he doesn’t/can’t fight back. In the latest event with Jihwa ordering Nakyum’s kidnapping/murder, the Nameless one had threatened Nakyum’s life so that he wouldn’t reveal the fact that he’d kidnapped him, and that caused all of Seungho’s meanness in the past few chapters. I recognize that whump is a popular trope, but usually because it ends in comfort. (I specifically can’t enjoy whump if it doesn’t end in comfort) It sets up a situation in which it feels reasonable for the victim to receive comfort. Again, this is stuff that I only enjoy in fiction. I recognize that in real life, people shouldn’t have to get hurt to be worthy of love and care. But I can see why people may say that Nakyum being the victim might be a problem.

Other

I thought Jihwa & the Nameless one were going to be a side pairing from the moment I saw the Nameless one’s jaw lmao. It was angular and I was like, that’s a handsome man’s jaw. I’m glad that Jihwa realized before hurting Nakyum that he couldn’t possibly fix his relationship with Seungho anymore. He recognized that even with Nakyum out of the picture, Seungho wouldn’t want to come to him. Seungho’s mind would always be filled with Nakyum, and if Seungho had found out that he was behind the murder, he’d hate Jihwa even more. Like Nameless one, despite the despicable things that Jihwa had done, I did pity him. He was in love with Seungho for a long time, and thought that giving him everything he wanted (including letting him have sexual relations with others) would endear himself to Seungho. But they were just not meant to be.

But Min implied that Jihwa had crossed the line already this time by kidnapping Nakyum. After the happenings of Chapter 66, Seungho’s going to have a field day with Jihwa and I’m not sure how he’s going to get out of that one. Not sure if Nameless one can do anything to help.

I don’t know how long this manhwa is supposed to be, but there are several story lines other than Seungho x Nakyum that haven’t been addressed yet. Like I said, I think we’re going to see Jihwa x Nameless one expanded upon a bit. There’s some stuff going on with the Yoon family, since Seungho’s brother keeps coming over. I wonder if Seungho’s going to try starting a career (this isn’t based on anything, I’m just wondering). And I also have a feeling that Inhun might return, which will likely force Nakyum to choose between Inhun or Seungho once and for all.

To be completely honest, I don’t want this manhwa to drag out for too long. For selfish reasons because again I don’t like waiting for ongoing comic chapters. I don’t know how long the manhwa is intended to be, but based on my paragraph above, it’d still take a lot of time for all of those loose ends to be wrapped up. But considering the fact that Seungho and Nakyum’s relationship is probably finally going to get better, hopefully we’re over half way through? Just me being hopeful.

Final

I didn’t write a full review for this on my Dreamwidth because, like, this comic isn’t even done yet. But as you can see, I enjoyed reading it. I feel like I’m missing a hundred things that crossed my mind while reading this. And there are a lot of interesting analysis posts on Tumblr and Reddit that are opening my mind to other interpretations too.

I had a BL manga phase when I was a teenager and now I’m like “...is it time to get back into it?” Lol. In any case, it’s interesting reading BL as an adult now because like I said, it’s so much easier to separate the fiction from the reality now. I can read BL purely as fiction while recognizing what tropes are not healthy, and they don’t diminish the story. It’s melodramatic because it’s exactly that: melodrama.

#thinking out loud #manhwa #painter of the night

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1dcraftawards · 4 years

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October Author of the Month...

Drumroll please... our author of the month for October ended in a tie between three wonderfully talented authors!

@bopbopstyles @oh-honey-styles @stylishmuser

Congratulations to all three of these absolutely amazing girls! Check out our interviews with each of them below!

Author of the Month interview with @bopbopstyles !

Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this? The only fanfiction I’ve ever written has been 1D! I wrote Liam back in the day (oof) but now I’m a Harry girl - but I’ve been considering doing Niall at some point!

How old were you when you started writing fanfiction? I think I wrote some bits of fics back when I was probably 13 or so, but I wouldn’t really say I *wrote* fanfic at that time. I only started writing fanfic in January of this year, but started doing it a lot this summer.

What’s been your favorite fic that you’ve written to work on so far?100000% Rose Colored Glasses. I write historical fiction outside of my fanfic writing life, so RCG was the combination of all the things I love: history, Peaky Blinders, boxer!Harry, and as my agent calls them “cinnamon roll boys”.

Is there a fic that you really wanted to write, but you just never did? I have this idea for a time travel fic but haven’t decided if I want to take that idea and use it for a non-fanfic story or not yet, so I haven’t written it. It would definitely be a similar vein to RCG if I did write it though!

What’s your favorite trope to write? FRATBOY HARRY HOLDS MY HEART! (If you couldn’t tell by my multiple fratboy/college!harry fics lol) Also, friends to lovers. The pining. The character development. Ugh. I LOVE.

What’s your ideal space to write in? I can kind of write anywhere, but lately I’ve been writing the best in the evening on either my couch or at my desk! Just someplace that’s comfy and I can completely focus is the main thing. I’m also a bit coffee shop writer (but not when doing smut!!!!!!!)

What inspires you to write? Everything. Music is probably the biggest one, second would be television and movies. I love taking something creative someone else has done and twisting and reinventing it. But also things I see, people I know, my own experiences, art -- everything. (Bad For Me is literally based on my best friend, for example.)

Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to? ALWAYS. I’m genuinely always listening to music, and it influences my mood and my writing, so it’ll change depending on the project and the scene. I’ve had playlists for some of my work, but a lot of times it’ll be some moody or lovey playlists I have, other times I’ll just listen to an album I’m loving on repeat. Completely depends! For Elevated Surfaces, for example, it was mostly written to frat party music because that’s where the story was set. You can check out my Spotify here if you want to see some of what I listen to!

Do you have any plans for any future fic ideas you’d like to pursue?I’ve been dying to write my Jane Austen series but haven’t gotten the time yet! It’ll take a while, so I’ve been putting it off, but I reaaalllyyyy want to do it at some point. There’s a couple others, but that’s one I really want to do at some point.

Do you have any advice for other writers in the fandom? Read, read, READ. That’s my advice for writers in general. Read widely (across genres, age groups, etc) and read critically! A lot of what I learned about how to write has come from analyzing books I read. I used to review books, actually, and it has definitely helped form how I write. I think for fan fiction specifically, though, I think a lot of people have a tendency to struggle with feeling pressured to write or rushed or judged for what they write. It’s definitely the result of the way we consume fan fiction, but I also think that it’s helpful to think about why you’re writing. For me personally, I write because it just genuinely brings me immense amounts of joy and I like sharing that with people. Writing for yourself takes a lot of the pressure off, I’ve found. It’s when you start writing for others that it can turn into a more difficult place. So: try to write for yourself first, before others!

How long does it normally take you, idea to posting, to post a fic?This completely depends on the fic! Once I get an idea I can write it pretty quickly, so I can churn out content quickly if I have the time. However, my pieces are long (most are in the 15-30k mark) which usually will take me a few days. Usually I’d say somewhere in the ballpark of like 10-20 hours total per one shot, but completely depends. Multi-chapter definitely take longer!Right now, for example, I haven’t written fanfiction in two weeks because I’m working on other projects. It really is dependent on what else I have going on in my life, because I also work full-time now, and so my posting has definitely declined in the past two months.

Is there a schedule you follow in terms of when you write? Or are you more impulsive and just write where and when you can? 100% impulsive, but mostly I write in the evenings and on weekends (aka when I’m not working). But no specific schedule -- I think if I schedule it then it takes some of the fun out of it.

What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing? How much FUN it is! I genuinely adore writing fanfiction and have made so many amazing friends through it. I wish I’d started earlier, in some ways.

What do you prefer writing, multi-chaptered fics or one shots? One shots for SURE. I don’t really plan on doing multi-chaptered again for a while, actually. Partly because it’s just more work, but also because it prolongs the wait for people to read it, and part of why I love fanfiction is the immediate gratification you get from it.

What was your favorite scene to write in “The Only Exception”?OOOOOH. I loved the early scenes when they were still getting to know one another. I’d say probably the scene from Harry’s release party and their emotional conversation after (from Ch.3) were really fun to write because they were so vulnerable. Also their fights. LOVED writing their fights. The Dunkirk premiere from Ch.3 and 4? One of my favorites. So probably the entirety of Ch. 3, I guess!

What is one moment from “Rose Colored Glasses” that you never got to write but wanted to? I struggled SO MUCH with their reunion scene. I re-wrote it like twice and played with a couple of different ways it was going to go, before settling on the final result. I had this one concept, though, where Cicely was going to ride her horse into Birmingham and Harry was going to be called to the stables to pick her up, and Cicely was going to just be so happy and excited to see him and Harry would be so overwhelmed he wouldn’t care about what his friends saw and would just be so tender with her.

What scenes/scenarios are most fun for you to write? I adore writing pining. The pining in Good Together is probably my favorite I’ve done -- the photo shoot scene? *collapses* I also love banter, which was one of the reasons Behind the Bar will always hold a special place in my heart.

Some readers are wary of leaving feedback because they're unsure how the writer will take it, how do you personally like to receive feedback? Do you want to be critiqued, or would you like to just know if they did or didn't enjoy what they've read? Feedback is literally what I thrive on. I’m in constant need of validation, to be honest, so please tell me when you like what I write! I love it! As far as types of feedback, I think that for my fanfiction, I’m not really posting it to get critiqued. Personally, it doesn’t help my writing in any way, because I’m writing for myself more than for others -- their enjoyment is just an additional plus. So I take critiques in kind of an “okay?” sort of way. It just doesn’t really affect me. I think the other thing about critiques (sorry I’m going off on this question lol) is that you don’t have to take them. I have people in my life whose opinions I trust and those are the people I want to critique my writing. The one caveat here is if my writing is offensive in any way. In that case, I want to be told so that I can fix it, learn from it, and make my future writing better. I will also say that I think part of it is that my fanfiction isn’t really the writing I’m the proudest of. I write outside of fanfiction, have an agent, etc. and so that part of my life is definitely what I care more about. For those projects, I desperately seek critiques, but from people whose opinions I trust!

Is writing a hobby or do you have aspirations of writing professionally outside of fanfiction? Writing professionally is the dream for me! My agent and I put my last project on submission but it wasn’t picked up, so I’m working on something new right now. Hopefully that will end up getting published, but we’ll see!

And finally, What's your purpose for writing? What do you hope to accomplish? I hope that my writing brings people joy and helps them learn something, whether that be about themselves or the world. Books are what helped me learn about the world and have brought me such happiness over the years, so I hope that mine can do the same.

Author of the Month interview with @oh-honey-styles !

Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this? Just for Harry! He’s that obnoxiously endearing, isn’t he?

How old were you when you started writing fanfiction?Okay okay, I guess I wrote something that resembled fanfiction (non-Harry) when I was fifteen or sixteen. That was all extremely idealistic cringy teenage angst that will live under a rock for eternity. But as far as Harry fanfiction, it was about a year ago when I started ‘Met Your Match’.

What’s been your favorite fic you’ve written to work on so far? My personal favorite is ‘January in Japan’. It was the first time I really dreamt up and developed my OFCs. Between Harry’s healing from heartbreak storyline, as well as Stella’s strong, feisty personality, all mixed together against the backdrop of Japan. The entire vibe was, and still is, so special to me. Plus, Japan!H is something else - peak boyfriend material.

Is there a fic that you really wanted to write, but you just never did?I mean, sure, there are always ideas floating around. But nothing that’s really kept nagging at me.

What’s your favorite trope to write? Fluffy mutual pining between strangers/friends to lovers with a tiny dash of angst.

What’s your ideal space to write in? I don’t really have an ideal space! But I will say, I’ve found that writing tends to really flow during AM hours. I’ve written most of my stories laying in bed, in the dark, between the hours of midnight and 4AM.

What inspires you to write? That bloke Harry Styles is the most endearing menace, so he’s generally my number one inspiration. But I also have a few bad ass women that inspire me more than they’ll ever know. They are my ride-or-die encouragement whose writing and brilliant ideas continuously motivate me to be a better writer.

Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I don’t! I do have artists/songs that inspire my stories (for example, The Sugarhill Gang for ‘Hazy’ and ‘Rise Up’ by Andra Day for ‘Black & Blue’). But for the most part, I love silence while writing.

Do you have any plans for any future fic ideas you’d like to pursue?At the moment I’m only focused on ‘Collide’. However, it really doesn’t take long for the bug to bite!

Do you have any advice for other writers in the fandom?Well, since I started writing, I’ve been extremely lucky to have amazing advice poured into me by some of the most phenomenal writers in the fandom. So I guess one thing I would pass along is that writing fic is meant to be fun! Continue to write as long as you’re truly, truly loving it. If you’re not having fun writing or enjoying the process, step away and circle back during another season in life. When fic becomes a stress or a burden, it’s time to step away.

What is your writing process like?Honestly? (insert cringe face) It’s a hot mess. I don’t typically do outlines and if I do, they’re always changing. I usually write raw dialogue first and then add in the rest. Sometimes I’ll write a scene out from beginning to end, but I’m generally filling in the gaps. I always keep a doc open on my phone for ideas that pop into my head throughout the day (a conversation or a visual). And then once a scene is completed, I send it off to my betas and they’re the ones who let me know if I’m completely off my rocker or not.

Is there a schedule you follow in terms of when you write? Or are you more impulsive and just write where and when you can?100% impulsive. I write and post when inspiration hits and when life allows it.

What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing? That once you start, you can’t stop. The writing bug is fucking relentless.

What do you prefer writing, multi-chaptered fics or one shots?All of the above! Multi-chapter fics are nice, having the freedom to really develop your characters as well as elaborate on a concept. But they’re definitely exhausting. And one-shots are such a good way to bust out an idea with no strings attached. I really enjoy writing both.

What has been your favorite scene to write so far in “Collide”?‘The Wedding’ has been my favorite scene in ‘Collide’ so far. I absolutely adored writing the initial nervous attraction between Harry and Franki. It’s really the initial point in the story where they start to realize that there may actually be deeper feelings there on both sides. Plus, who doesn’t love a nervous, flirty Harry?

What is one moment from “Met Your Match” that you never got to write but want to?Oh wow. ‘Met Your Match’ rounded out pretty well, but I guess I had one moment in mind that I never wrote. It was basically a scene where Harry and Kate are in LA on their way to a BBQ at Niall’s house. One way or another it comes out that Niall was Kate’s favorite during the 1D era. The scene would have included loads of teasing and maybe a tinge of jealous Harry.

What inspired you to write “Collide”? How did you come up with the story idea?The whole concept of ‘Collide’ came about when quarantine happened and the world went into lockdown. With there being hardly any new content, we were all basically just reblogging old Harry posts. So each part is inspired by and based off of a past Harry photo/event etc. It's been really fun to tie them all together in one story.

Some readers are wary of leaving feedback because they're unsure how the writer will take it, how do you personally like to receive feedback? Do you want to be critiqued, or would you like to just know if they did or didn't enjoy what they've read? Every writer loves feedback. Honestly, feedback is the most incredible gift a reader could give a writer. Pressing ‘post’ on your own blood, sweat and tears is one of the most nauseatingly nerve wracking things ever, so to be acknowledged for it (through messages and sharing) is priceless. As far as a critique goes, there’s a fine line. Personally, if there’s something I’m writing that’s offensive or off putting, I absolutely want to know (in a positive, uplifting, non-anon-asshole way). But if my story’s just not their cup of tea, I’d rather they move along to the next fic out there.

Is writing a hobby or do you have aspirations of writing professionally outside of fanfiction?Only a hobby!

And finally, What's your purpose for writing? What do you hope to accomplish? My purpose in everything I write is to provide a little escape for myself and my readers from this crazy world. Most, if not all, of my stories are meant to be lighthearted and fun - a decent way to step out of yourself for a short moment.

Author of the Month interview with @stylishmuser !

Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this?The first ever fanfic I wrote was actually for Gossip Girl. It was horribly written, but I had so much fun. After that I wrote Harry Potter fanfiction for about a year, and then I started getting into 1D, and I don’t imagine I’ll ever write for another fandom.

How old were you when you started writing fanfiction? I think I was a sophomore in high school, so… 16, maybe?

What’s been your favorite fic that you’ve written to work on so far?Oh this is hard to answer, to be honest. It probably sounds cliche but I’ve had a favorite aspect in every one of my fics. I think Timeless will always have a special place in my heart, but I have a favorite thing each one of them.

Is there a fic that you really wanted to write, but you just never did?Oh hmmm I think there are a lot of tropes I want to try my hand at, but I don’t like writing a story that’s been done a million times before, so it’s kind of finding an aspect or angle to it to make it different.

What’s your favorite trope to write? Idk if it’s a trope but, angst with a happy ending!

What’s your ideal space to write in? Honestly, I can write almost anywhere. It just needs to be quiet. I like to write in my living room or at the kitchen counter at like 2 am when everyone else is asleep.

What inspires you to write? I really just like to tell stories. I think words kind of have this power to them. I also am inspired by Harry and Niall, their lifestyles/music/careers, and telling stories about/for WOC. When I was growing up, I always thought that people like me didn’t really deserve love stories. So I guess it’s kind of destroying that notion that inspires me too!

Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to? I used to, actually. That first fic I ever wrote was fueled by listening to Mind of Mine on repeat haha. Now I like the quiet, but sometimes if I’m stuck I’ll listen to the playlist for whatever story I’m writing.

Do you have any plans for any future fic ideas you’d like to pursue? This made me laugh because I have four in my mind at any given time. You’ll have to wait and see what they are!

What is your writing process like? It goes something like this: vague idea > random scene ideas that bug me into writing it > visuals > outline > actually writing it.

Do you prefer Au or OU? I prefer OU because I like writing about the music aspect of the boys’ lives. AU is fun too, but it’s a lot more work in my opinion. It needs to be a specific idea or trope or I’ll just go with OU.

Is there a schedule you follow in terms of when you write? Or are you more impulsive and just write where and when you can? I try to keep myself to some sort of schedule, like 1000 words a night or 1 chapter per weekend or I get off track.

What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing? Oh hmm… I think I would go back and tell myself that it’s okay to want to write WOC characters and it doesn’t matter who likes it, or who doesn’t, or how many notes you get. I think it’s really easy for writers — no matter what they write — to feel like they aren’t living up to whatever popularity standards are going on in their fandom, but at the end of the day it’s about what YOU love to write about. That’s what makes a good story, in my opinion, and as a reader you can tell when an author is really putting their heart into something, and that’s kind of inspiring.

What do you prefer writing, multi-chaptered fics or one shots? Multi chapter. I freak out about one shots now because they end up being 15 or 20k words anyway when I write them haha!

What has been your favorite scene to write so far in “Rumor Has It”? I think my favorite scene from that story was either their first kiss, the morning after they get intimate for the first time, or the scene where Ishika comes clean to Harry about how she feels/why she lied. I remember those three scenes came so clearly to me, I was just stabbing away at my keyboard like a cartoon.

You have such complex characters that readers adore, do you have any advice on planning well written and planned characters? AH that is a very nice thing for you to say! Thank you! I like to think of characters in terms of fatal flaws. It sounds weird but like: What makes your character cry? What keeps them up at night? What makes them happy, or mad? What makes them, them? That’s kind of how I approach it. It’s kind of finding a balance of those characteristics and ‘why are you so frustrating I want to THUMP you’ and ‘I adore them, let’s protect them at all costs.’

What inspired you to write “Kiss and Cry”? How did you come up with the story idea? So I watched this show called “Spinning Out” on Netflix and kind of geeked out about figure skating. I knew nothing about it, which is kind of what got me thinking, this would be cool to learn about and writing for me is the best way to learn. At first I was like, nobody cares about a figure skating fic, and then I was like: good, write it. So here we are!

Some readers are wary of leaving feedback because they're unsure how the writer will take it, how do you personally like to receive feedback? Do you want to be critiqued, or would you like to just know if they did or didn't enjoy what they've read? I think feedback is a really personal thing, but there’s a really fine line (haha) approaching it. I really think constructive criticism is an important part of feedback — but it’s often done very poorly. There is a big difference between pointing out to an author what they could’ve done better, or even asking why they wrote something the way they did (because I promise you, they did it the way they did for a reason), and simply telling them they are either a bad writer, have poorly written something, or something worse because god knows we’ve all gotten it lmao. For me, I don’t mind either. But if you’re going to criticize my writing, do it one on one, not on anon where you can add a bite to your words. Feedback is kind of a two way conversation, and I think that’s often forgotten about — especially on Tumblr. And it’s very, very obvious when people do want to act unkind, and say unkind things behind the anon veil on purpose. It’s ok not to like the way someone wrote something, but it’s not ok to be vicious about it, ESPECIALLY on anon. That just makes you a coward. I guess my rule of thumb is: Is what you’re typing out going to hurt the person on the other end? Is it worth it to do that? Or can you reword it in a way that starts a conversation instead of bullying someone for putting their work out there, something that’s vulnerable no matter how many times you do it. But, this is just how I feel. Every writer is different (and valid!)

Is writing a hobby or do you have aspirations of writing professionally outside of fanfiction? I’d love to write professionally one day! We’ll see what happens. I think whether it happens or not, I just love it so much, I’ll do it for a long time because it’s a big part of who I am.

And finally, What's your purpose for writing? What do you hope to accomplish? My purpose of writing… that’s so philosophical. I guess, I honestly just like to tell stories that are important to me, and remind people that life sucks but it’s also pretty damn good at times too. I hope to keep making myself happy writing whatever it is I’m writing, and challenge myself to try my hand at stuff that’s daunting, and hopefully people like what I’m doing and if not, that’s ok, because I do! And to remember that’s my real purpose for writing, it’s never been a numbers game or keeping score, it’s been about telling stories that I love crafting.

#author of the month #aom #October 2020 #aomoctober2020

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scmsdivinecultists · 3 years

Text

A Day in the Department of Fuckery

Warnings: Occasional curse word and tons of crack.

Written by Admin Karebear

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a peaceful morning within the palace of the heavens. Although powerful beings such as gods did not need sleep, many retired to their private rooms when the sun set and spent quiet time with their families or lovers. The sun was half-way above the horizon now, painting the endless sky a shade of beautiful orange. Most of the gods who lived in the palace had yet to leave their rooms and begin work, but unfortunately, duty called for some at this hour.

“Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?” Teresa complained, dragging her feet down the empty hallway.

“Zyglavis.” Kare replied, turning her head left so she could look at her companion. “Apparently he requested to have the meeting at this time.”

“Who the heck approved it?”

“The king.”

Teresa groaned. “Of course he did. Probably wants to see me suffer.”

Kare smirked. “Well, our job is to amuse him.”

Teresa, the Goddess of Equality, had long black hair, dark eyes and wore eyeglasses for style. She served as the minister for the Department of Fuckery. Kare, the Goddess of Peace, also wore a pair of glasses in front of her brown eyes, though her hair was berry purple and stopped on top of her shoulders. Kare was chosen as the vice-minister for the new department.

The Department of Fuckery was created not long ago by the King of the Heavens. His Highness felt that the palace had grown too dull and was growing quite bored of his old tricks. So, by creating a new department with some of the most chaotic goddesses in the heavens, the king had found a new way to toy with the gods in Wishes and Punishments.

Reaching the large door at the end of the hall, the goddesses went in. On the other side was a grand room held for meetings between all three departments. As expected, the minister and vice-minister of Punishments were already inside.

“Good morning gentlemen.” Kare greeted the men upon entry.

“Good morning.” Zyglavis replied.

Instead of using words, Scorpio replied with a nod, not thrilled about the early hour either. The women took their seats on their side of the circular table, Teresa’s eyes fixing into a glare pointed at Zyglavis. The ambiance of the room turned from quiet to awkward in a matter of minutes.

Finally, Zyglavis let out a sigh. “Lady Teresa, is there something you would like to say?”

If it were possible, Teresa’s glare grew colder. “Yeah. What’s the deal with holding the meeting at this ungodly hour?”

“Punishments has a large task to complete later today. This time was best for us.”

“Oh, so we’re working around your schedule-”

“Teresa.” Kare cut in, giving the Fuckery Minister a look.

Teresa huffed and crossed her arms, slouching back into her chair. Kare wasn’t usually this uptight, but when it came to work that woman didn’t didn’t make a habit of messing around.

The door opened once again, revealing the missing Minister and Vice-Minister of Wishes. Leon, unsurprisingly, looked annoyed while Karno wore a friendly, relaxed expression.

“You’re late.” Zyglavis snapped, his tone sharp and unforgiving.

“Yes, we’re sorry.” Karno apologized, taking a seat. “There were some... distractions this morning.”

Scorpio scoffed. “Figures.”

The corner of Leon’s mouth curled up. “Spent the night alone again, did you?”

Scorpio clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes. “Better then whatever disgusting woman you allowed into your bed.”

Kare bit her bottom lip and quickly clasped a hand over her mouth to hide her smile, trying to withhold the giggles bubbling in her chest. Teresa, on the other hand, burst into a fit of laughter, not caring when Leon’s glare shifted to her.

Zyglavis, who’s eyebrows furrowed another inch, cleared his throat. “It’s time to get started. Punishments doesn’t have the luxury of time the four of you do.”

“You wouldn’t be so behind if you got your problem children under control.” Leon said, a confident smirk tugging at his lips. “Perhaps you should transfer them to Fuckery. Seems like they’ll get more work done over there.”

Teresa wasn’t laughing anymore. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Ichthys would fit in, honestly...” Kare muttered.

The Fuckery Minister turned to her Vice-Minister. “Ok, he would, but that’s not the point.”

Karno, seeing that the meeting was going no where, decided to take things into his own hands. “I see that everyone has a lot of energy this morning. We should be able to get through this rather quickly if we begin now.”

Kare nodded in agreement. “Every Department has a problem child and we shouldn’t leave them unattended for too long.”

‘Our entire department is nothing but problem children.’ Teresa thought.

“Fine. We’ll start.” Leon said, sliding a paper across the table in Teresa’s direction. “What the hell is this foreign language?”

“I was going to ask about that, too.” Zyglavis added. “It’s incomprehensible.”

Teresa lifted a brow and picked up the paper, reading the first few lines. “Dammit, Cupid.”

Kare glanced over. “Don’t tell me she-”

“Wrote in human slang again? Why yes, yes she did.”

“Oh boy.”

Teresa cleared her throat and began reading out loud. “This week, I would like to report that there had been an increased number of thots roaming the palace. I have reason to believe these thots were given an invitation to enter by either Leon, Teorus or Tauxolouve from the Department of Wishes, though there is also a possibility that Partheno from Punishments is involved. I can’t help but LOL at how shook some of these thots looked; can’t determine if they’ve been ghosted yet or not. These thots were trying to flex, but I threw hands with those extra goddesses. In the end, I got them to spill some tea, hit them with a ‘Bye, Felicia’, then yeeted their salty asses out the door. It was lit and I wish someone was there to see me snatch their weaves. I can’t help but ROFL at how highkey desperate these thots are to sleep with any of the gods listed above. Now I’m hangry.”

Now finished reading, Teresa looked up at the others. Everyone seated at the table, except for Kare, clearly were unable to process anything that had been said.

Kare broke the silence. “Basically, we’ve noticed a lot of goddess wandering the halls and have had to escort them out. Make sure your guys clean up after themselves.”

Scorpio clicked his tongue, eyes narrowing in rage. “That miget wrote all that garbage for a simple explanation like that?!”

“You say garbage, I say work or art.” Teresa said, folding the report. “Anything else we can translate for you?”

Karno nodded and placed a smaller paper in Kare’s hand. “This was attached to the front of the report.”

Kare read the note first in her head, then out loud. “Tell Aigo to report to my office for a pegging.” Her brows furrowred and she turned to her superior. “What’s pegging?”

Teresa shrugged. “First I’m hearing of it. She must have learned a new word. Did Aigo go see her?”

“Yeah. The way he jumped out of bed and ran, he must know what that term means.” Leon said.

Zyglavis, who usually had a face of stone, was looking away from everyone in attempt to hide his reddened cheeks. This failed, though, as Scorpio noticed right away.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Scorpio asked.

Zyglavis cleared his throat. “Nothing. I don’t see why we are wasting time translating this nonsense.”

Leon smirked. “Oh-ho, so Minister Ponytail does know what ‘pegging’ means.”

“If I did, I would have said so, rabid lion.”

The meeting continued. Gods had a very different sense of time then humans did, but even for the goddesses in Fuckery, time moved painfully slow. When it was finally over, Teresa and Kare returned to their department. Inside were more members of the Department of Fuckery, who had finally left their chambers. Moli, the Goddess of Domination and Maisey, the Goddess of Submission, were having a casual conversation on large couch. Curled up on a single chair was Kay, the Goddess of Innocence.

Moli was twirling a lock of long, red hair around her finger. Her green eyes were focused on Maisey, listening earnestly to her friend. Maisey had long hair that started brown, then faded into a deep shade of green that matched her eyes. Kay’s blue eyes were cast down to the book in her lap. Her hair was also red, but cut to her shoulders. All three were dressed in the Fuckery uniform, which resembled those belonging to Wishes and Punishments, just more of a femanine style. Each goddess in the department wore a velvet-red arm band.

“Thank god that’s over!” Teresa exclaimed, disrupting the quiet atmosphere. “Cupid, you coward! Where are you?”

“She’s in her office.” Moli said, pointing towards the back of the department.

Teresa huffed and stormed towards the office. Kare, choosing to stay behind, took a seat on the couch as well, near Kay’s chair.

“How was the meeting?” Kay asked.

“Chaotic, as always.” Kare replied, nodding towards the book in the red-head’s lap. “Whatcha’ reading?”

“A book from Earth. It’s called 50 Shades of Grey.”

“Sounds interesting. What’s it about?”

Kay’s cheeks turned pink as she shook her head. “You don’t wanna know.”

Kare was confused by the statement, but chose to let it go.

Moli reached over and tapped the vice-minister’s shoulder. “How was Zyg?”

The purple-haired goddess shrugged. “He didn’t seem any different then usual. Although, I’m a little worried he may be over-working himself...”

Maisey raised a brow. “What makes you say that?”

“His face flushed red in the middle of the meeting. If gods were capable of getting sick I would assume it was an illness, but he seemed, I don’t know, embarrassed?”

“Zyg? Embarrassed?” Kay asked, not believing her ears. “Impossible. Over what?”

“Cupid wrote something about ‘pegging’ in one of her notes and no one could figure out what it meant.”

Moli, who looked concerned a minute ago, was now smiling. She almost looked proud.

“Oh, I see.” Moli said, picking up her glass from the coffee table and taking a sip.

Moli and Maisey exchanged a look. Only they knew the reason behind Zyglavis’ embarrassment and who was the cause of it. Kare was about to ask, but Kay quickly shook her head as of saying ‘don’t’. So, once again, Kare was left in the dark.

Maisey downed the rest of her glass. “I gotta ask Hue for more wine. This is good shit.”

“I can’t believe how high your alcohol tolerance is.” Kay said. “Or that your drinking this early in the morning.”

Maisey shrugged. “Gotta get fucked up to fuck things up, right?”

“Preach!” Moli exclaimed, raising her glass in a toast before chugging the rest of it. “Hey, Kare, you want some?”

Kare thought about it. “I really shouldn- ah, screw it. Why not?”

“What about you, Kay?” Maisey asked.

Kay smiled but politely declined.

Teresa lifted her hand to knock on the door, but decided against and threw it open instead.

“Cupid, what the hell is this?” Teresa asked the department’s secretary, waving the report from earlier in her hand.

Cupid, who had been calmly writing at her desk, paused to look at the Minister. Cupid, the Goddess of Infatuation, was small but mighty. She had short brown hair and brown eyes that matched. Also in the room was Ruby. Ruby, the Goddess of Dreams, was the youngest in the department and acted as Fuckery’s messenger while training beneath the others. She had dark, medium length hair and gentle brown eyes.

“Ew, it’s you.” Cupid huffed. “That’s the report, you hooligan. Maybe if you stopped putting sugar on your lettuce you’d have figured that out.”

“Sugar on my- At least I don’t go after basic human white boys!” Teresa snapped back. “I knew what this was. Why all the slang? The gods couldn’t make any sense of it.”

“I was doing my job and made the meeting more entertaining.” Cupid smirked. “How ridiculous were their faces?”

Teresa laughed. “I’ve never seen Zyg look more confused in my life. Scorpio was kinda pissed, Leon was flat out confused and Karno was just like ‘oh, ok’. It was priceless.”

“Um, no one is going to get in trouble, right?” Ruby asked nervously. “Those meetings seem important, so...”

Teresa shook her head. “They’re important, yeah, but we’re the department of Fuckery; we’re supposed to mess a around. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of the king’s boredom. That’s what Leon is for.”

“Ruby helped me with slang research.” Cupid said, patting the younger goddess’ head. “Good work.”

Ruby blushed. “T-Thank you.”

Teresa flashed Ruby a smile before turning back to Cupid. “By the way, what does ‘pegging’ mean? Leon and Karno want to know.”

Cupid laughed. “You don’t wanna know. Trust me. It will ruin you forever.”

“Nothing can ruin me more then the lot of you have.”

“Okay, you asked for it.” Cupid looked at Ruby. “Cover your ears for a minute.”

Ruby was confused, but did as told. Cupid approached Teresa and explained it to her quietly. When she finished, Teresa was frozen in place trying to process what she had just heard. Part of her wasn’t surprised, but at the same time, she was.

Teresa groaned. “Great. Now I have an image of you and Aigo-”

A voice suddenly shouted across the department. “Ladies! We have a problem!”

Teresa, Cupid and Ruby exchanged looks before racing into the main room where the others were. Kare, Moli, Maisey and Kay were still present, but one more goddess now stood amongst them. Bonnibell, the Goddess of Chaos, had a darker complexion then the others and was equally as beautiful with her curly dark hair and powerful eyes. In this moment, her eyes had a fire blazing behind them.

“B? What’s wrong?” Teresa asked.

“I caught a rat trying to sneak in here.” Bonnibell explained.

Ruby flinched. “A-A rat?”

“Poor thing must have lost it’s way.” Kay said. “We should release him outside.”

“Oh, it’s not that kind of rat.”

Bonnibell turned and headed out the door. The other goddesses were confused, but rushed after her, curious to see what their friend had caught.

Out in the hall, the goddesses found someone sitting on the floor, wrists and feet tied together. The god was wearing white clothing, had blonde hair and gold eyes. Everyone recognized him instantly.

“Teorus!” Kare exclaimed, eyes narrowing as her hands placed themselves on her hips. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Teorus laughed nervously. “I heard Fuckery was having some trouble with my goddesses, so I thought I would come guard the hallway. Can’t have anyone getting hurt, right?”

“Oh, so you’re the one who’s been letting all those thots in?” Cupid realized, crossing her arms.

“I don’t know what that means, but it sounds mean.” Teorus snapped his fingers to free himself from the bonds and stood up. “If you ladies are thaaaat jealous, my door is always open. I’ll accept you all.”

None of the goddess laughed. In fact, they were all harshly glaring at him. Teorus seemed to realize what grave he had just dug for himself and took off down the hall.

“After him!” Teresa commanded.

The goddesses of Fuckery gave chase, racing through the palace after the blonde god. Teorus could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He was so focused on the women hunting him that he didn’t think to slow down before racing around the corner. As a result, he ran face first into someone. The impact sent Teorus falling onto his ass.

“Ow!” Teorus hissed.

Krioff glared down at him. “What did you do that for?”

“Ah! Krioff!” Teorus exclaimed, still on the floor. “You gotta help me! The girls in Fuckery are reaaally mad at me!”

Krioff looked past Teorus to the mob of enraged goddesses standing before him. “I can see that.”

Knowing better then to get involved, Krioff turned his back and started walking in the other direction.

Teorus’ heart sank. “You’re not gonna help me?!”

“No. See ya.” Krioff replied, not looking back.

The goddesses pounced. Moli and Maisey each took a leg and started dragging Teorus across the floor, heading back to the department. The others followed, ignoring Teorus’ pleas for mercy and forgiveness. The goddesses hauled him into Fuckery and closed the door. Teorus’ screams could no longer be heard echoing in the halls.

~~~~~~~

Minister Teresa: @teresa-yukibito

Vice-Ministed Karebear: @karebearotome

Cupid: @incurablecupidity

Moli: @john-bull-leun

Maisey: @voltage-supernatural-art

Kay: @jer-ich0

Bonnibell: @bonnisimpparker

Ruby: @currentlysleepy

#scm #star crossed myth #admin Karebear

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imasimpforstevengrant · 4 years

Text

Why do we like this clown so much?

Change the "we" for "I" and you get an usual tag I use whenever I post my content in Tumblr. And it sounds funny at first but whenever you start diving into that phrase, the deeper it becomes. So, I finally have decided to share my thoughts about this strange but wholesome attraction to this deeply flawed character. It's not something I usually do since I don't know how to write down my feelings properly and also in english so please forgive any typos (I'm from Chile so don't be surprised lol).

So...Why do we like this clown so much?

Why was it that a character precisely designed to scare and to disgust the fuck out of us ended up unchaining a series of feelings that shouldn't have taken place in a beginning?

Let's take a look at the background: Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Arthur Fleck/Joker in 2018. The first image of him as the aforementioned character revealed a deeply disturbed man. We knew the plot. A man driven to insanity after a brutal history of abuse, creating concern in people if the upcoming film would inspire real life violence. Incel violence and mass shootings, more specifically.

(the image in question)

As 2019 arrives, the two trailers generated so much hype that media needed to fuel its concern about it. Since it wasn't your typical comic book film, media basically bombed our minds making us believe this film was going to be a total disaster, an excuse to cause harm to others among other nonsense, as if the film would justify everything Arthur would do in the film, eventually. As the release date is closer, the film receives thunderous applause and unanimous praise from critics. At this, fans rejoiced and expressed impatience to watch the film.

October 5th.

People left the theaters amazed, shocked and genuinely moved by the inhuman treatment Arthur received in the film. The fear media tried so desperately to infuse in us with all the incel bullshit and such turned out to awake one of the most positive, best feelings in humans:

E M P A T H Y

The word that so gloriously cleared away any dark thoughts or actions not only proves media was wrong but it turned out to ridicule it in way nobody will forget: Hundreds of people advocating for mental illness, calling out to the kindness that could change a person's bad day and questioning how politicians and rich people are indifferent to social problems proved how much as a society we have changed in comparison with the one shown in the film.

However, since we are on Tumblr, I'll get straight to the point and try to explain why the fuck does this clown has us dying out of love and compassion (and lust).

I. Background.

As nurturing as we women are for a biological matter, we see a man deprived of a good job, is on seven different medications, working like a slave to sustain his ill mother, putting aside his own health and well-being to look for her, struggling to make his dream of being a comedian despite everyone stepping on him, underpaid and treated like a freak for a disorder he did not ask to suffer, which makes it impossible to be indifferent to all the horrible ordeal that eventually will reach the limit of what he can tolerate without going insane. It is impossible to not say or think, at least, that someone (even if it's just one person) should stand for him just as it is impossible not to feel the need to throw ourselves at him to shield him from people who hurt him or simply offer him our shoulder whenever he has had a bad day, specially when he learns he was sexually assaulted by his step father.

This horrid behaviour terrifies newer generations because they get a taste of what being a social outcast was like more than thirty years ago in comparison with today, where there's more acceptance and treatment for mentally ill people like Arthur. We see in him someone who could have been saved with a proper education and emotional support instead of descending into madness as a criminal. Others simply saw themselves being treated like him at some point in their lives and couldn't help but put themselves in his shoes.

II. Personality.

TRUTH BE TOLD:

There's something called "attraction by proximity". It is the explanation to the eventual love you feel whenever someone doesn't catch your eye at first terms of physical attraction but his/her personality does attract you. This happens to be the base of this situation. His shyness, introverted nature, tenderness and innocent desire to make people laugh and put on a happy face awake some kind of tenderness we cannot resist. This combined with the gloomy background increases our understanding (but not justifying) of the bad decisions he'll eventually take during the course of the film. This traces a line of harsh, almost hurtful contrast of the violence he shows later on the film. Once again, it is not justified in any way but it is certainly understandable.

III. Appearance.

Arthur Fleck is unconventionally attractive.

This happens to be a plus for most women. He is out of the male beauty standards (no abs, not too muscly or particularly tall), which makes him even more unique. It is precisely the fact that he's not a model one of the reasons women love him. He could easily be your man next door or your colleague or the guy you always see but never dare to talk for fear to bother him Because it's about proximity. Arthur looks like your common neighbour. He's not meant to be your typical desirable male protagonist at all.

... And yet.

Jesus Christ, he's so fucking hot I can't even---

It's not about how beautiful his green eyes are, his long slender fingers, his hair or his smile only. It's the charm behind it.

Another "magnet point" is the way he dresses. I know he's impoverished and his wardrobe tend to be repetitive but it is so unpretentious, so simple that is hard to not fall for. The modesty of the shirts, ironed trousers reminds us of a mature man deeply withdrawn into himself, love starved and longing to be seen and loved by others, like a war veteran who still fights the most important war: with himself. Is someone who needs to be listened and understood.

AND OF COURSE WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT IT?

He's also brought back the old gentleman outfit, white shirts, red/yellow vest, red suit and elegant dancing moves and the retro style of the film boosts this attractiveness.

People keep comparing him with the previous interpretation of Joker (Leto's) whose costume appealed to young women with a tattooed, gangster, mumble rapper crazy-guy wannabe which didn't connect with the audiences (young people in general). This supposedly was to match or even have a sexy, tormented and desirable villain like Marvel's Loki. We all know how that story ended but it's the link for the next point below.

IV. Transformation

This is a particularly strong point considering how much we loved to watch the process of this weak, powerless, forgotten caterpillar into a beautiful and visible butterfly that will gracefully stir its wings for everyone to see its colours.

When Arthur transitions to the Joker, it's so cathartic to see taking revenge on those who wronged him (even when we're not supposed to root for him) like seeing his shyness fading away into a vivid confidence when dancing half naked in the bathroom, or witnessing him making way to make his name known to people in Murray Franklin's Show:

Adding to this newly gained confidence, there's another turn on: the way he walks.

At the beginning, his pace is hunched and limping, displaying his submission to violence, which makes the viewer more satisfied to see his broken yet beautiful soul turning the past pain of his existence into art: he lets music guide his moves as a way to tell the world he's a new man by cutting most of the sick, evil roots that harmed him, that he's invincible, that no one can stop him. Watching this cathartic display of euphoria was the most iconic scene in the film, following his speech at the TV and the inevitable meltdown that caused Murray's death.

Going to further appreciation, even his clown make up is beautiful. Why? Simple. The combination of colours, shapes and the intimidating glare just embellishes even more the character.

The dark blue triangles in his expressive eyes makes the light green colour to highlight, specially in dark backgrounds, giving the impression he's piercing your soul whenever he stares directly at the camera. Same can be said about the red smile and emerald green hair. They boost an already intimidating look.

The cold and warm colours paint a picture of a man full of intense emotions, mirroring it in a simple yet masterful artistic way.

Another interesting point is the way Joker dresses. Usually we had almost every single live adaption of this character in purple coat, hat, etc. But this particular version is not following any comic, which gives more freedom to creativity and once again, out of the standards of what we could have expected.

Red is a colour related to passion, action, love, strength, motivation and excitement. As for yellow, it indicates freshness, happiness and enlightenment and finally, green. Green is renewal, growth and regeneration. Colours that represent a new stage in his life, a mirthful chapter at last. We finally get to see our battered, always humiliated protagonist (or hero) descending into madness, but finally free from his repressed man who held his soul captive like a bird to fly away, to never come back. An insanity that despite being his downfall, turned out to be his ticket to freedom as he walks to the light in Arkham Asylum dancing at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen: behold the film nobody asked... But the film we fucking deserved.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

❤️💚💛

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tumblingdoe · 5 years

Video

youtube

FULL INTERVIEW WITH DR. KIT STUBBS the founder of the Effing Foundation.

1. How did the Effing Foundation start? Why? Why you?

I started getting the idea for what would eventually become the Effing Foundation back around 2012. I had started making some very nerdy sex toys -- my first dildo, the Tardis Tickler, is a copy of my favorite toy with a small Tardis suspended inside it; I also made The Hammer, a rainbow light-up dildo controlled by an Arduino microcontroller. People really enjoyed those toys! They made people laugh, and they encouraged people to talk about sex and sexuality in a way that wasn't sexualizing or objectifying. So I started giving talks about DIY sex toys and sex/tech, which meant I started meeting all kinds of cool artists, educators, and other sex-positive folk. And I realized that there was a growing community of creators who were trying to start these conversations, but that it's incredibly difficult to get financial support to do so. I realized that changing the world requires money. It takes a lot of other things, too, but if you don't have money, it's hard to get very far. So the Foundation grew out of the desire to move money from, say, my friends in tech who are sex-positive, and get it to sex-positive artists and educators who really need the support to do their work.

Why me? Well, after I got my Ph.D. in robotics and had been working in that field for a couple of years, I realized that there were already a lot of people doing great work in robotics. But there weren't very many people doing sex-positive activism, and I have a lot of privileges that make it easier for me -- I'm white, I'm well-educated, I have financial support, and I can use my wallet name with the fancy letters after it. I felt that I could make better use of those advantages, and make a bigger impact on the world, if I moved from robotics to sex-positive activism.

2. Why do you keep it going? How long would you like it to live on for?

I work so hard to keep the Foundation alive not only because I love doing this work -- I have met so many amazing people, and I have had the honor of helping to bring some absolutely fabulous projects into the world -- but also because it's so desperately needed. We've made a lot of progress, but we are still a ways away from a world where every person has access to pleasure-focused, scientifically accurate, age-appropriate, queer, trans, and disability-inclusive sexual education; a world where we can have open conversations about sex, sexuality and asexuality, about consent and relationships, without fear, shame, or stigma.

I want the Effing Foundation to live on until it's no longer needed, to be honest! But I think we have a lot of work to get there.

3. What's your big dream with it?

I want us to be able to give away hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, to be able to offer ongoing funding to projects we support, and to have a small staff of folks who are doing this full time and getting paid for their work. Right now we can only make grants in the US, but eventually I'd love for us to gain the skills and people we need in order to make grants internationally, too.

4. Is there a way for the public to have a say on who is granted funding?

No, not really, and that's an intentional choice. The folks who have the most say right now are our Board and our Advisory Council, which is made up of sex-positive artists, educators and activists -- as much as possible, we want funding decisions to be made by people who represent the communities we are trying to support.

If you're a member of the public, you can get involved by donating and by telling your favorite sex-positive educators, artists, or organizations about our grant program so they can apply!

5. When is the application for funding deadline?

We haven't announced next year's calendar yet, but generally submissions open in late spring and close in the summer. If you want to get emails about the grant program, you can go to

https://www.effing.org/join

and sign up for grant updates there.

6. How do you decide who to give the money to?

Our submission process starts with an online survey, where someone tells us a bit about who they are and what they would like to do. We first rule out submissions that aren't really about sex or that aren't #ownvoices (meaning the person doing the work doesn't share the same life experiences as the people the work is focused on). We also rule out projects where there are other funding agencies available, like projects that are about public health. We look at how well the work supports our mission and our values, and we have a number of demographic goals to make sure we are getting funding to people with (multiple) marginalized identities. We also have a set of special topics that we're particularly interested in -- this year, those topics included supporting intersex people and supporting neurodiverse people. Based on all of those goals, our staff and Advisory Council narrow those initial surveys down to the top dozen or so, and then those projects move to the next round where they give us more details and things like a budget. The Advisory Council reviews that information more closely and provides feedback to the applicants, who have an opportunity to edit their applications before the Advisory Council reviews them and make recommendations to the Board, who make the final funding decisions.

We try to balance supporting projects and organizations that are well-established with supporting people who may be relatively new to the sexuality space; and we try to make sure we are funding projects from a lot of different parts of the US.

7. Is sexuality underfunded!?!

The sexuality field is extremely underfunded! If you start looking at an area like public health -- HIV and STI prevention and treatment -- those have some funding, but they're still really underfunded. If you look at things like queer- and trans-inclusive, pleasure-focused sex education, or support for art that celebrates sexuality, or for resources supporting fat folks or disabled folks with respect to sex, there's basically nothing. Sadface!

We're extremely proud that the Effing Foundation funds the kinds of work that almost no one else will. Award-winning, ethically produced queer feminist porn? An anthology of erotic live-action games? Phenomenal fat-positive nude photography shoots? Yep, we fund that.

8. How much of an impact do you think it makes? Do you have statistics?

In our first two years, we've awarded over $100,000 in grants. That has helped us reach over 2,400 people directly as audience members, workshop participants, and performers, and we've reached over 240,000 people via the web (including social media, web visits, and podcast downloads). That doesn't include the impacts that are harder to measure -- the work that couldn't have been done with out our support, and the difference that we've made in the lives of individual artists and educators, where we've helped fund new equipment that will help them keep doing their awesome work for years to come.

9. Why did you choose to partner with Sexplanations?

Choosing to partner with Sexplanations was a really exciting opportunity for us. Sexplanations works to provide inclusive, scientifically accurate, pleasure-focused sex education, which is exactly the kind of work that our organization wants to support! We're a relatively young and small organization, so this partnership also gives us the opportunity to tell the Sexplanations audience about our mission and our awesome grantees.

10. What do you want my audience to know about the Effing Foundation?

The Effing Foundation is a new non-profit whose entire purpose is to help bring more sex-positive art and education into the world. If you like Sexplanations, you might also like some of the other projects we're supporting! And if you want to support awesome sexuality educators and artists, your donations will help us make even more grants.

11. What other names did you come up with for it before choosing the Effing Foundation?

Oh, geez! I am so horrible at naming things. So originally my idea had been to build a crowdfunding site for sexuality projects (this was back before you could put much of anything relating to sex on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo), and the best name I could come up with for that site was "Passionate Produce." It was a very weird garden metaphor. Once I realized that it made more sense to build a not-for-profit, The Effing Foundation was actually almost the first name that I came up with, but I was like, "lol, that would never actually work." So I spent another six or eight months trying to come up with a name, but I never found anything that was as good or memorable as The Effing Foundation. So here we are!

12. What is your fundraising goal?

We are trying to raise $150,000 this year, which will let us make more grants and help build our organization's capacity for the future. Our stretch goal is closer to $250,000. (More specific time frame: $75,000 by the end of November and $150,000 by the end of May.)

13. What is the best way for people to donate?

Go to

www.effing.org/donate

! We accept PayPal, checks, credit or debit cards directly on our site, and more.

14. Can they donate in someone else's honor? Like a gift for the holidays?

That's a great idea! Unfortunately we don't have a way to do that on the website yet.

15. How do you feel when you inform people they are grant recipients?

Telling people that they've been awarded a grant is The. Best. It's absolutely the highlight of my year. I'm so excited, and they're so excited! And what's great is, it's really just the beginning of a new collaboration -- now we get to provide support and watch as grantees start doing fabulous things.

16. How can people get in ways?

My guess is this question is, how can people get involved?

- Sign up for our newsletter (www.effing.org/join) and follow us on social media (@Twitter, facebook.com/EffingFoundation)- Donate if you can.- Please help us spread the word! If you have friends who are into sex-positivity, please tell them about us. If you are doing sex-positive activism, or you know someone else who is, please check out our grant program (www.effing.org/grants).- If you're interested in running a fundraiser for us, or you have other skills to volunteer, drop us a line ([email protected]).

17. What gap is the Effing Foundation filling? Is there anything else helping to fill this gap?

There are some awesome groups out there doing sex-positive education and activism, and activism in support of sex workers, and we hope you'll consider supporting them as well. Here are just a few to get started:

- Scarleteen (https://www.scarleteen.com/)

- The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (https://ncsfreedom.org/)- The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (http://www.thecsph.org/)- Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (https://swopusa.org/)

Honestly, I don't know any other organization with a grant program that's supporting sex-positive art and education. And unlike a lot of grant givers, we don't require our applicants to have 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor -- literally anyone in the US doing sex-positive work can apply for a grant from us, and we absolutely fund folks who have never applied for a grant before.

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die8de · 4 years

Text

i feel like i found my motivation back in drawing,, enjoy 98 line as charlie chaplin lol. 😂 i drew this as my art submission for an art exhibition in my campus next week. i originally wanted to draw the 8 boys as chaplin and/or yeosang as betty boop,, i failed miserably at the latter but i might add another member soon.

i know i wanted to write a fic of joong, but i couldn’t seem to finish it so here’s an exchange. it’s not perfect but i’m pretty happy with the result, though it could be better.

i also thought of taking commisions. i’m in desperate need of money and i kinda need to boost my confidence up so i guess it’d be a way ? i need to figure out the payment but feel free to pm me if interested ! i should get to it asap. for the time being i only take a headshot portrait just like in the pictures, will be sent scanned in softcopy. price is negotiable but requests would cost a little more. if anyone is interested i might make a blog about it or we can talk it out in pm.

askkfdfk i’m shy to ask this but if you like these, reblogs would be very appreciated ! also please don’t repost without permission or claim or steal. if you happen to see this art anywhere, my account on instagram (where i most likely will post the drawing soon) is @/hehe.u.land.

ok um i miss mingi and my love for hongjoong is over the top ty for coming to my ted talk.

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singtheskyandfightlikehell · 5 years

Note

that anon you reblogged didn't seem to imply Oswald is weak? actually you seem to be the one implying Ed is so it's the other way around lol

Hi!

So I made those comments in the tags because I was staying in my lane, but since you’ve so kindly brought this discussion to my inbox, let’s have it! because let me tell you, those tags were my version of restrained :)

So i’m going to break my answer down into two parts (fear not, there will be a tl;dr at the end):

1) Why I added the tags I did to that post

2) The idea that I’m implying Ed is weak

Let’s start with number 1:

The context: An anon sent my gf (who I would think is fairly well-established as being anti the “Protect Poor Ozzie” mindset in this fandom, which might be irrelevant in other circumstances, but given the prevalence of it in the Gotham fandom and the way Oswald is treated, it is, in fact, relevant here) a post seeking validation for their idea that Ed is protecting Oswald. My gf gave a fairly light-hearted reply that basically meant “nah, I think Ed is scared and instinctively jumping towards Oswald for Oswald to protect him”.

Awhile later, another anon sent my gf an ask that basically said Ed might be scared, but he’s still protecting Oswald. That same anon then said something about Ed “being complex like that”, which in my opinion felt a little passive-aggressive against my gf’s attitude towards the characters. My gf replied with the “Sure, Jan” gif and a tag saying “it’s not that serious”.

I then reblogged that answer and added the following tags:

I’m going to briefly deviate from the point and wonder why you sent me this message two days after that, especially considering I didn’t put my reply in any fandom tags, so either you had to scroll through all my posts from the 22nd to find that one and it pissed you off enough that you had to send me an ask, or you decided to check any reblogs of that post for tags because ???

Anyways, back to the point:

I did not say the anon implied Oswald was weak. What I said was that in this fandom, there has been (for years) a popular mindset that Oswald is a “little bird” and there have been countless fics, art, and headcanons of him being weak and needing to be protected. The popularity of this attitude combined with the fact that Oswald has been shown to be physically strong time and time again (frequently beating and murdering other characters on the show) has lead myself - and a few others - to wonder why so many fans are so desperate to see him as their “precious little birdie” who needs a big strong man to protect him.

Since canon does not back up this mindset whatsoever, there must be some reason a large portion of the fandom decided on this interpretation. Based on the traits people with those attitudes like to amplify about Oswald, the most likely reasons are his height and his disability. I often see art of Oswald cowering/trembling/whimpering/etc. while Ed towers above him, or fic of Oswald constantly needing Ed to carry him or fetch things for him because of his leg.

In my opinion, both of those things are incredibly offensive. I’m not even going to get started on the fandom’s ridiculously unhealthy portrayals of dom/sub dynamics due to wanting Ed to be dominant and Oswald to be submissive.

Now I don’t know that this is what either anon (if they were different people) was thinking. Because I don’t know who the anon(s) are. What I do know is that when it comes to Ed trying to protect Oswald, while on the surface is a harmless idea, in the context of the Gotham fandom could be much more.

I have seen time and time again this idea that Oswald needs to be protected and the show has made it clear that he most certainly does not. So looking at someone insist that Ed is trying to protect Oswald and connecting that to a fandom full of people who think Oswald needs protecting is really not that far of a stretch.

I did not say that the anon was implying that. I said that, based on this fandom, chance are high. The majority of people I have interacted with or seen in this fandom hold those ideas. Maybe anon is one of the few who do not, but their idea was extremely close to those held by that majority.

Now on to number 2:

“[I] seem to be the one implying Ed is [weak]”

alright first and foremost let me make something very clear to you:

when it comes to physical strength, I’m not implying Ed is weak. I’m outright telling you he is. Here is a post my gf graciously provided on the subject

Here’s another :)

Cory might work out, but Ed sure as fuck does not. Ed - and I say this with all the love in the world - is an egotistical, pretentious nerd. Egotistical, pretentious nerds do not work out. Trust me, we have better things to do with our time ;)

That’s not to say Ed is a one-dimensional character from this perspective, as the whole “he’s complex like that” thing in the second anon seemed to suggest. He has other strengths. For example, he has a high pain tolerance, as evidenced by the torture he endured in “The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause”.

Oswald, on the other hand, has only ever shown weakness when it directly relates to the people he cares about, and usually at the expense of himself. He will irrationally sacrifice himself or his plans for power to try and protect a select few people. He will occasionally break down emotionally over these relationships. However, even when he is emotionally distraught, his physical abilities tend to remain at a higher level than the majority of the characters in Gotham. In fact, his emotional breakdowns often result in his bashing people’s faces in, or other physically strenuous tasks.

It might also behoove you to notice some of those tags directly referenced a private conversation I had with my gf about this discussion of Ed protecting Oswald. The gist of the conversation was that Ed might well try to protect Oswald, but that he does not have the physical capability to do so. If he had lots of time to plan and fight with his greatest asset - his brain, perhaps he could. But in close combat? He would be decimated.

So while I’m perfectly willing to believe Ed might try and get in front of Oswald to protect him, the only conclusions to that I can see are:

a) Oswald reacts quick enough to realize Ed being in front is a Bad Plan and pushes himself to the front. He may or may not succeed in the fight but he has a better chance than Ed does

b) Oswald doesn’t react quick enough and Angst™ensues as he has to watch Edward get struck down in front of him

c) Oswald doesn’t react quick enough, but he manages to get in the fight quick enough that Ed’s injuries are minor. He then proceeds to flay the living shit out of whomever dared touch his boyfriend

Anyways…

TL;DR: I didn’t say anon implied Oswald was weak, I said the majority of people in this fandom do, despite canon evidence to the contrary, and anon did suggest that Ed should protect Oswald, which isn’t far off from the majority opinion that Oswald is weak and needs to be protected. Furthermore, I’m not implying that Ed is weak, I’m openly stating it, at least in terms of raw physical strength, because that is the established Gotham canon (see sources for evidence).

#long post #this fandom IS the reason i don't participate in it as much as i used to...#and as my gf said before: it's not that serious #honestly #the offensive attitudes towards disabled people that have real-world repercussions are serious #but the rest of it is not

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peetabreadgirl · 7 years

Text

Writer’s Block, CH7

Here it is! Thanks @litlifelover for the gif suggestion! I’m going to use it because there is a stay moment here. Thanks also to everyone that gave their gif opinion! I think we can all agree we just like Everlark together, however we can get them there. So here’s a little ‘togetherness’ for you. Read on AO3 or FFnet if you like. And happy continued bday to @katnissdoesnotfollowback. It’s almost time again! Lol. I’m slow....

“Done.”

I open one eye and stare at Peeta, sitting cross-legged next to me on my bed with his computer in his lap. The bright glow of the screen is the only lighting in the room. It’s two in the morning and our project is due in 6 hours. He’s been re-reading and editing here and there while I fell asleep. I don’t know how he’s still awake.

“Really?” My voice is raspy from sleep and my eye closes, too heavy to care that it’s finally finished. But my body feels weightless at the news.

“Really.” I listen to the click of the laptop closing, the sliding of it onto my nightstand before he says softly, “It’s late. I should go.” He stands from the bed but doesn’t get far before my hand is around his wrist. I let my fingers slide down, tangling with his.

“Stay?”

He doesn’t hesitate, nodding and stripping off his shirt before he climbs back onto the bed. My eyes are suddenly not so heavy, but it’s too dark to see much, so I turn over as Peeta curls around me, pulling a blanket over us. His arm across my stomach is comforting, and the warmth of his body would lull me right to sleep, but there’s something pressing against me that’s not going to allow that.

Peeta’s hips flex once, and my lungs stop working. His breath ghosts across my neck and cheek, my mind racing and heart starting to thump harder. He doesn’t move again. Eventually his breathing evens out and I know he’s asleep. I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed. A mixture of both maybe?

I inhale deeply and try to go to sleep. Since it seems Peeta can do it so easily after being turned on, I should be able to as well. But no. An hour later, I’m still staring at the plain off-white wall, turned dingier by the lack of lighting. My eyes are big enough to set tea cups on and drier than the desert. I bet I haven’t blinked in seven minutes. I rub them closed and huff a big sigh, which causes Peeta to shuffle and his hand moves from my ribs to my lower stomach. An instant surge of need hits me. Shit.

And it’s not going away. Not with him so close. If anything, it’s getting worse. Or better, depending on how I want to look at it. I count sheep to keep from thinking that the only things separating our private parts are four minimal layers of clothing - my sleep pants, Peeta’s basketball shorts, and our underwear.

I don’t mean to wiggle my butt and push into him, but I can’t help it. He breathes and adjusts, turning his hips slightly away from me and repositions his hand back to my ribs. Not exactly what I had in mind.

What do I do now? I guess I could get up to go to the bathroom and take care of it myself. At least it would help me get some sleep out of this busted night. But I’m too… something to move. Too nervous or too aroused. Should I just wake him up and ask? No. I can feel my cheeks turn scarlet at the mere thought of it. We haven’t done more than steal a few kisses over the last week. There just hasn’t been time between work and school.

But there is now.

I wiggle against him a second time. “Peeta?” It’s a whisper, just to test if he’s fallen into deep sleep yet.

“Mmm,” is his sleepy response and he snuggles close to me again, but goes still. I lace my fingers through his, wiggling once more before I give up. This night is going to suck. I’ve decided to close my eyes and ignore my body when his fingers curl in deliciously against my bare stomach where my shirt has ridden up. Sparks ignite inside me as he starts to draw lazy circles with every one of his fingertips.

“Aren’t you tired?” he asks in a sleep-roughened voice.

My heart beats a few times as I decide how best to answer. “No,” I whisper truthfully. His lips touch the bare skin of my shoulder while his hand continues to create delicate art above the waist of my pants. I can’t help reaching behind me and sinking my fingers into his hair. He groans and flattens his palm against my belly, pulling my hips into his. I can feel him again, but my concentration is lost when his fingers wander further south.

“Katniss?” His lips are at my ear now. The warm breath that tickles me also lights me on fire. My lips are pressed together so hard my only response is a muffled, “Mmm?”

“Can I touch you?”

I don’t say anything. I am physically incapable of speech right now, so I cover his hand with mine, guide it to the waistband of my pants and push it underneath, letting him know without words that I want him to touch me. I need him to touch me. Sleeping next to him even for the few nights we have has turned into sweet torture. To hell with slow.

When his fingers sink between my legs, my toes curl. It’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for, but way too soon he removes his hand. My chest almost explodes with disappointment until I realize he’s tugging on the elastic sitting lower on my hips than it was moments ago. His lips hover just below my left earlobe, and the warmth of his breath raises tiny bumps across all of my body when he asks me, “Can you take these off?” Again, I say nothing. Just shed my clothing like he wants. I’ll do anything he asks right now.

His hand returns to the place I want - no need - it most, and my body is on a climb to the top of an imaginary mountain. Every stroke of his finger is a step towards the peak, and when I finally get there, there’s no time to spend ogling the view. I jump off the other side without a parachute. Weeks of frustration and longing shatter beneath his touch as I sail to the valley below. It’s even better than the first time it happened in his apartment and I wonder how soon we’ll be doing that again, out loud apparently because he answers with a soft laugh.

“Anytime you want. That was amazing.” He nuzzles my neck with his nose as I float down from my spectacular high. My body sags against his as he cocoons me from behind, completely and utterly relaxed. He doesn’t try to go any further than that. If I had the energy I might wonder why, since the story is technically finished and there will be no more adding to it. No opportunity to write our experiences as Julia’s and Adam’s. But I don’t bother to analyze it, and in no time at all I’m drifting off.

“It’s a big, big, big daaaa-aaaay!” Professor Trinket sing-songs at the beginning of class on Monday. “Hopefully, you all sent your submissions in to my email by the start of class. I’ve already seen a few that I can’t wait to read.” Professor Trinket claps her hands together and gives me a pointed look. There’s a gleam in her eyes that makes me certain ours will be first. And probably read more thoroughly than any other. It causes a bit of a nervous flutter, but then Peeta’s knee knocks into mine and he gives me a smile that almost makes me not care about what the professor thinks. I got something even better than a perfect grade out of this project. Something that rooted itself inside me and grew before I knew what was happening.

I return his smile, unable to imagine what life was like before him, and then I blush, looking away quickly when I remember what happened in my bed last night. Peeta was gone before I got up, leaving me half asleep with a quick kiss to the back of my head, so I didn’t have the opportunity to be embarrassed around him. Which is what’s happening now.

“Obviously there’s no way I can read all of these in a week, so I’ll task you with one more assignment, which will also be part of your final grade.” My attention snaps from last night’s events to the present at the professor’s statement. Everything around me is forgotten. “You will read and review another group’s project - no skimming,” she warns. “You have until end of class Friday. Time starts now, class. Chop chop.”

I look at Peeta, always so calm and collected. The exact opposite of how I’m feeling right now. Most of our story is about us. Me. Finding my way through my own sexuality and a boy I despised but came to... like a lot. I only recently became okay about Peeta and Professor Trinket reading it, and now I have to let more people in? This can’t be happening.

Before I can collect my thoughts, Cato looks past me to Peeta. “You guys want to switch?”

My breathing stops as Peeta looks around at the other pairs, already partnering up and says, “Sure,” before I can scream No! at the top of my lungs. I can’t fault him, though. He has no idea how uncomfortable Cato makes me feel. Should I tell him?

“Here,” Cato says, placing a sheet of paper in front of me. “Write down your email and number for me.” I panic, grateful I don’t have a number but I don’t want Cato to have any way to contact me. I’d rather him not even know my name. Or that I exist as a person.

I grab my things faster than I ever have and excuse myself, not meeting either of their stares even though I can feel them burning into me. “Actually, I have to go. Peeta can you handle that? Thanks.” I don’t wait for a response before I’m barreling towards the exit.

I go on with my day, tense and anxious for most of it. I try desperately not to think about the last leg of the project. I am also trying not to plan Professor Trinket’s slow death. I partially succeed at the first one. I tell myself every ten minutes that it’ll all be over in a matter of days, and while it’s true, it doesn’t make letting a stranger into the doc any less daunting.

It’s not until later when I’m in my room that Peeta knocks on my door. I open it and find him leaning against the frame, a curious look in his eyes. “Are you okay?” he asks as I push the door all the way open in invitation. He shoves off his shoulder and walks in, closing the door behind him. I plop down on my bed, fold my legs under me and shrug my shoulders.

Peeta follows, sinking slowly next to me and places his hand on my knee, shaking it lightly. “Talk to me.”

From anyone else, the statement would come off demanding, but with the person who’s come to mean more to me than almost anyone, it’s an opportunity to purge my feelings in a safe place. Something I’ve never really had before.

“I was just surprised that we have to share our story with other students, and honestly Cato is not the person I would have chosen to review it.” I shiver at the thought of what the brute will have as ammunition after he reads it. “He’s kind of a creep and now he has my email.”

Peeta squeezes my knee in what feels like an apology. “He doesn’t have your email.”

“He doesn’t?”

“No. I didn’t want to partner up with him, either, but it seemed like everyone else was already taken. But I wasn’t about to give another guy my girlfriend’s information anyway, so I just gave him mine.”

I’m almost compelled to tell him I love him right then, and I might have if it hadn’t been for the word he just used. “Girlfriend?” I can feel one brow inch its way up my forehead. We haven’t talked about it and I haven’t given any thought to labeling us. I’m not sure I want to. I don’t want to ruin the easy feeling between us.

“Yeah,” he replies, his hand inching up my thigh, making me lose focus on our conversation. Then his brow creases as his hand pauses. “Are you okay with that?”

I swallow and my eyes flutter. I want him to stop talking and finish where I think this is going, but I know he’s going to want an answer. I don’t have one for him right now, partly because he’s touching me and partly because I haven’t had time to think about what it means, so I answer his question with one of my own. “Are you?”

He leans in and his lips are so close I can feel the smile on them. “I’ve been okay with it since the day I met you.” And then he kisses me. Something in my chest flutters. I stop thinking and fall back on the bed, Peeta following without breaking the kiss. He’s on top of me and his weight is like a welcome home hug. Except way more indecent.

One of his legs finds its way between mine as his tongue divides my lips and conquers my mouth. I raise my white flag of surrender by driving my hips into his. I can feel his hardness pressing against my thigh. He grunts and one of his hands slides down my side to rest at my hip. He squeezes and it feels urgent.

Our kiss speeds up, my pulse with it, and I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him tight to me. Our hips are in a rhythm that feels so natural and… primal. I can feel his length sliding against me, but I want to know more. I need to know what it feels like in my hand. I want to see if I can make him feel good, too.

His hand begins its descent between my legs and for a split second I forget all about wanting to do something for him.

“Peeta, wait.” I say through our kiss. He freezes, his body tensing above me.

“‘I’m sorry-”

“No, it’s not that, it’s um, I want to…” Just tell him you want to touch him.

Peeta must think he knows what I’m trying to say, because his eyes widen and he drops his weight off to the side of me, scrubbing a hand over his face and uttering a soft curse. “I, uh, didn’t bring anything with me.”

I raise up on my elbows to stare down at him and narrow my eyes, trying to decipher what he would need to bring with him other than his cock, which is definitely present, when I realize he means a condom. “Oh! No I didn’t mean - I just wanted to t-touch… you,” I stumble around the words, not able to meet his gaze. Instead, my eyes land on the very large object in question. I don’t want to look away but I know I should. Shouldn’t I? Then it moves. Just the tiniest twitch, and my eyes flick to his, dark sapphires now.

I sit up on my knees and reach for the hem of his shirt, pushing it up a little. “Can I?” My fingers itch and my stomach is a ball of nerves. The good kind I guess, because they’re not holding me back. He nods and his eyelids shutter a few times before he closes them. It’s a bit of a relief not to have him watching my first attempt at pleasuring a man. I’m not a hundred percent sure what to do, so I recall a few scenes from my reading. Scenes that at first made me cringe, but now make my mouth water and my legs tighten when I think about them.

I release the brass button of his jeans and drag the zipper down. Peeta helps by raising his hips and pushing them even further. I’m unprepared for the way it springs up at me and I jolt a little. It’s just… standing there. I bite my lip, watching as it twitches again. A quick glance at Peeta and he’s watching me as intently as I’m watching it.

He breathes out a shaky breath that sounds like my name, and that’s all it takes for me to reach out and grip it in my hand. It’s warm and the skin is soft.

“Fuck.” The curse is quick and soft, freezing me in place.

“Did I hurt you?” I loosen my already loose grip.

Peeta shakes his head and one side of his mouth lifts barely in a crooked grin. “Here,” he says as he puts his hand over my own. “Grip it tighter like - fuck - yeah... like that.” He guides my hand up and down and when I’ve got the hang of it I move his hand away and straddle his thighs.

“Holy shit, you’re gonna… kill… me,” he says between breaths. I bite back a smile. I was always a fast learner. “Feels… so good.” His groans mixed with his affirming words make me feel so empowered. Like I can do anything. I’ve got the world at my fingertips instead of just his cock.

His hips start to pulse in time with my hand and he grabs fistfuls of my comforter. I can feel the dampness in my panties. I fight back the urge to rub myself on his leg, but it’s no use. My body joins the same rhythm as my hand and his hips, like a well-timed harmony.

I wonder what would happen if I just stop thinking and let my body take complete control. I’m tempted to give in and see, but Peeta tenses beneath me. I watch, mesmerized, as his his eyes close tight and his lips purse together. When his hand wraps around the top of his cock, I freeze again, unsure if I should let go or keep going.

“Don’t stop,” he grunts, as warm liquid trickles down my hand. I start pumping until he stills my movement and lets out a deep, shuddering breath.

“Katniss, that was amazing.” Peeta says softly, his face tilted to the ceiling, eyes still closed and lips parted. I feel like I just aced a test and got the extra credit.

“Yeah?” I ask, finally letting go to survey the mess on my hand and his body. It’s gooey and… weird. I grab a few tissues from my desk and hand them to Peeta, then clean myself. It’s strange how satisfied I feel after doing that to him, and he hasn’t even done anything to me yet. I guess he doesn’t need to. I’d be happy to lay next to him and take a nap.

I sit back on the bed, Peeta still laying there with his eyes closed and a contented look to his features. He’s mostly covered again, except for a sliver of muscled abs. He cracks one eye open when he feels my weight next to him, and I have no time to react as he lunges up and grabs me, twisting us so that I’m pinned underneath him. I’ve never been wrestled before but I have to admit that I may take up the sport.

“Your turn,” he says with an adorably crooked smile. He laces his fingers with mine, raising them to the pillow above my head. Then, he nudges my chin to the side with his nose and I feel his lips on my neck. The nap I wanted evaporates like drops of water in the driest climate.That satisfaction I said I felt? It’s long gone. And in it’s place is a hunger I’ve only acted on over the last few weeks.

“Katniss?” he asks as one of his hands skims from my hand all the way to my waist and under the hem of my shirt. His fingers draw figure eights on my skin, up and up and up. He stops just below my breast. It’s difficult, but I use my words and give him the permission he seeks to make me feel good.

He pinches and rolls my nipples between his fingers for a long time, making me squirm and arch beneath him before he undresses my bottom half and parts my legs. He caresses my inner thighs and I can feel his breath hit my center. My pulse thunders in my ears and my chest rises and falls, more labored than a sweatshop in China.

Peeta takes an inordinate amount of time exploring the flesh around my hips and down my legs. He kisses my calves, licks the underside of one of my knees, and bites the inside of my thigh. I both love it and hate it. I wiggle my hips at him, growing more frustrated by the second.

“Touch me,” slips out in a panted plea.

“I was thinking maybe, if you want me to, I could… go down on you.”

I tense when I realize he means he wants to put his face there. I know guys do it. I’ve overheard a few girls talk about it before and I thought it was disgusting. How could someone let a human being put their face down there? Bodily functions happen from there. But now, with Peeta so close, I don’t have the same grossed out feelings, but I also don’t know if I want him to do that.

“We don’t have to.” he says, his hands skimming my legs before he crawls up my body. He kisses me and I relax a little.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “Can we just… kiss for a little while?” The desire I felt moments ago isn’t quite as strong, and I feel like I need to slow down. His answer is just to kiss me again, soft and slow, with no end in sight. His hands don’t venture any place other than my hair, cheeks and neck, and it’s not long before we’re holding each other and falling asleep.

It’s Wednesday and I’m at work, sitting in the box office with a Marie Claire magazine I discreetly snagged off the table of the students’ lounge the day before. One of the articles is about oral sex and, curious, I want to see what all the fuss is about. Maybe get some tips on what to do or how to prepare. I’m mainly concerned with whether or not Peeta will think I’m gross after the fact. Pubic hair and body fluids aren’t exactly sexy in my book, but I’ve learned over the length of this project that whatever I have an aversion to, learning about it helps me understand. Take the edge off whatever reservations I’ve built up over time.

The main question I have is does he really want to do that? According to Marie, he’s fantasized about it. The article is fascinating, though, and what I thought was going to be a cringey read is getting me a little excited and making me feel strangely desired.

I’m insatiable for more on this subject, and I’m rounding out my third read-through when I glance up at some movement on the curb and see Cato strolling towards the building. I stash the magazine hastily like I’ve been caught by my mother with porn. When he’s only ten yards away my heart leaps to my throat. I’m sure I won’t be able to form any words, which is ironic considering mere words can’t express how badly I don’t want to interact with him.

The thought dawns on me that he’s here for me and not to see a movie. It’s matinee time on a Wednesday. The only people who ever come to see movies during this time are the elderly and mothers with toddlers. He is neither of those and he’s alone. Smiling unnervingly. It’s not an ugly smile, and if I didn’t get a bad feeling every time he’s in my vicinity, he might actually be attractive. But I do.

His hulking frame takes up most of the window space. “Everdeen,” he says, tapping his fingers on the outside counter. I clear my throat to speak into the microphone.

“Can I help you?” I pray that being professional and aloof will hurry up whatever this is. Maybe he really is here to see a movie. By himself. In the middle of the day. His smile grows wider, showing bright white teeth all in a perfect row.

“Yeah, I just wanted to see if I could buy you some dinner after work. I read your story. It was a real page turner,” he winks at me, “and I want to give you my thoughts on it.”

“Oh,” comes out as a squeak, but I cover it quickly with, “I already have plans, but you can leave comments in the doc. I probably won’t be able to get to them until late.”

“I don’t want to leave them in the doc. I’m more of an in person kind of guy.” He leans over, elbows on the counter, his face so close to the glass his breath creates a light circle of fog. One of his eyebrows raises in an assumptive way and it makes the fake cheese from the nachos I had at lunch curdle. He tries again. “What about tomorrow?”

“Ummmm-”

“Come on, Everdeen, don’t make me beg.” He winks again.

“I really can’t tonight or tomorrow. I’m sorry.” I hold my hands up and shrug while silently praying for this to please be over.

“Damn, girl,” he replies, and I catch a sliver of annoyance in his tone. Then one side of his lip curls up. “You’re making it hard.” He winks for a third time and I’m starting to think maybe he has something in his eye. But no, he read my story. My very dirty, very private, should have only been read by my professor story.

“How about I drive you to wherever you’re going after work? I know you don’t have a car.” The way he says it gives me this feeling in my gut. Like I should watch out for myself. I freak out inside. An imaginary mallet strikes the lever on my panic meter and the puck goes straight through the bell. So I lie. Anything to get him to leave, and that’s giving him a ‘yes.’

“Yeah, okay. I get off at eleven.” Not true. I get off two hours earlier. I can’t look him in the eyes through the deception. I’ve never been good at lying, so I stare at my computer screen and click the mouse a few times to make it look like I’m working, then say casually, only glancing up once, “But you don’t have to wait around. Just come back later.”

He taps his fingers on the counter twice and a huge smile overtakes his face. A sign of victory, I suppose. If it weren’t for his cold eyes, he might seem harmless. Or at least not as intimidating as he does. “You got it, Babe,” he calls out as he walks away.

A shiver rips its way through my spine. Babe. I can’t wait to get out of here.

By 8:30 I’ve kept a running total of the cash I’ve exchanged tickets for and cleaned my area three times to make sure I can walk out the door by 9:01. I want as much time between myself and Cato’s arrival as I can possibly get. My hands tremble a little more with every minute that ticks by. I swear my bottom lip is going to be one giant bruise tomorrow morning from how hard I’ve been biting down on it. My stomach is twisted into fifty knots. And counting.

The door to the box office pops open and my boss leans his head in, irritation in his voice and a snarl on his lips as he tells me, “Bristel called in. I need you to close tonight.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer, just slams the door, the sound of it reverberating through my ears, settling in my stomach as a boulder, flattening all those knots. When it’s gone, I’m left in complete silence. A needle could drop in a haystack and I’d hear it. I stare at the door knob, feeling like if I tried to turn it I’d find myself locked in. And with only a small opening in the bullet proof glass, there’s no other way out.

My heart beats faster and within moments I feel beads of sweat on my forehead. This can’t be happening. I told him to come back! And now I have to stay? Fuck!

No.

I can’t stay.

I won’t stay.

The walls start to close in. I need air. This place is feeling more like a tomb that wants to swallow me up rather than four walls designed to keep people out.

I’m not supposed to leave the box office unattended, but I don’t care much about it right now. I need to tell my boss I can’t stay late. Fear is eating away at my insides, trying to keep me rooted in place and bolt out the door at the same time. I peel my leaden feet from the floor and choose the latter.

On my way to Marv’s office, I throw a quick prayer up, promising I’ll never lie again if I can somehow get out of this. Begging a higher power for him to have mercy on me. I start coming up with a list of good deeds, like working in soup kitchens every holiday or reading to underprivileged kids at the public library. I could volunteer at the old folks home on the weekends. I’ll do anything.

I shouldn’t have to, though. I’m a good worker. I come in early and leave late. I do my job, going over and above to make sure I’m never written up or give anyone a reason to think I’m slacking off. I’m his best worker. He’ll understand. Or not. He’s kind of a douchewaffle.

I rap my knuckles on his door, my fear waning some in the face of the confidence I’ve built in my work performance.

“Come in,” he hollers. “Yeah?” he barks when he sees me. He’s extra cranky tonight.

“About closing, I-”

“I need you, Everdeen. You know we don’t keep a big staff on Wednesdays. Take it up with Bristel the next time she’s in.”

I stop just short of whining, even though I really want to. “But, I can’t stay.”

“Look, I’m in a bind and you’re my go-to girl.” He sighs, as if deciding whether or not to say something that’s on his mind. “I’ll be needing an AM soon and I was thinking of recommending you for the position. It’d come with a significant pay raise and get you out of that box. Just say you’ll do it and the job is yours.”

Huh. I did not see that coming. I should have told him ‘no’ months ago. I’m about to graduate college, and while I’ll be looking for work in my field, I also know it could be weeks or even months before I find something. I could really use the raise.

I set both options on the scale - weighing them out against each other. On one side - Cato. But more money. On the other - hiding out from him at my place. He may even know where I live. He knows I don’t have a car. Would avoiding him now help me? He’ll probably come back anyway and I’ll have to deal with him another time. He’s been persistent in making me feel uncomfortable for the last few months. I think it’s about time I told him to back off.

“Fine,” I answer Marv with the same snarl he gave me earlier. “But you better not be screwing with me.” I close the door harder than I meant to, but maybe that will seal my point with him. I’ve never spoken to my boss like that, but only one thought is at the forefront of my mind as I return to the box - I need Peeta. He should be here to hear Cato’s thoughts, too. He wrote half the story and edited most of it.

I enter the tiny cubicle, no less nervous about Cato, but I do have an idea of what I’ll be buying as soon as I get my raise - a cell phone. And Peeta’s number will be speed dial numero uno.

I glance at the dingy, white phone hanging on the wall of the tiny room. I could use it, but the one person I need to call right now is unreachable because I don’t have his number.

The doc! I bounce on my toes a few times in relief before springing into action. Employees aren’t supposed to be on the internet with work computers, but I’m desperate to reach Peeta. If Marv finds out I’ll get written up and my record won’t be so perfect anymore, but I don’t think too hard on it. I log in to my google account and click on my gmail, sending off a quick email to get Peeta online. Then I open hangouts and the doc, and wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

A line starts to form for the late shows. It’s not long, but it takes my attention away from the screen. A few people trickle up to the window, but it dies down as it approaches ten o’clock. Peeta still hasn’t gotten online. My stomach turns over a few times. 52 minutes and 36 seconds left if Cato doesn’t show up early.

At 10:15, it’s time to close the box office and help clean up the concession area. I have to log off the computer, but before I do I send a message through hangouts, hoping with everything in me that he gets it and comes, but trying not to put all my eggs in that basket. I may actually have to do this myself. Which is fine. Totally fine. I’m a big girl.

Can you come by the theater around 10:45?

I add ‘please’ to the end, hoping he realizes that’s me begging.

I shut the lights out. I’m about to leave when I spot a figure in the far corner of the parking lot, leaning against the hood of a red car, arms folded while he checks his phone. Goosebumps pepper my skin and my mouth dries up instantly.

Cato is here. And he’s so early that I wonder if he even went home.

#writer's block #chapter 7 #katniss and peeta #peetabreadgirl #reblogs are love #talk to me!

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dailymikayuureminders · 7 years

Note

Hey, i saw you give fic recommendations to that one person. I didn't know you did that (Maybe I'm just an idiot??) Do you know any good Non-AU MikaYuu works? As much as I love MikaYuu fanfics, it's like finding a needle in a haystack sometimes tbh (I mean one time I ran into a fanfiction that was Mika x His child self. I was actually concerned for the author's mental state. Mind you it was rated explicit...)

Haha you’re definitely not. Feel free to ask me for fic recs.

Hmm by non-au you mean like… in the universe of ons?Can they be ummm very canon-divergent?

After Dawn

by seijuurou

In which Mika escapes with Yuu to the outside world.

(The description says it all. Smol mikayuu fluff)

To Be A Family

by lemishie

Glimpses of the daily lives in the Hyakuya family after the apocalypse and taken captive by the vampires.

(The Hyakuya family living in Sanguinem + lots of mikayuu)

displays of affection

by braexm

To vampires, a kiss on the neck was a gesture of trust.

Hold on to this lullaby

by strikedawn

“Remember when we were kids?” Yuu’s question interrupts Mika’s own. His voice is soft, but Mika can hear a sad smile on it. Yuu leans further back into Mika’s body. “You always used to cling to my back like a monkey.”

“You hated it.” Mika remembers with a smile of his own. “You always complained and would bemoan about me being too heavy.”

“You were.” Yuu’s sad smile is teasing now, and something warm fills his heart. “Both your head and your ass were so big, I always thought I had an elephant over my back instead of a boy.”

(This one would be placed after chapter 41, its about that one official art of Yuu resting between Mika’s legs)

Hindsight

by oxeh

Due to a spell mishap, 12 year old Yuu and Mika find themselves ten years into the future.

It’s only natural that their older selves end up taking care of them while they’re there.

(Mika and Yuu live together. Yuu might be 22 but he still fucks up all the time)

Echoes of Me

by blushinglily

Since becoming a vampire, Mika has always thought of his immortal body as an accursed affliction, the flow of time eternally frozen, wherefrom the very concept of it continuously mocks his very being with the speed at which life went on without him.

So when Yuuichirou’s latest experiment goes awry, and their past selves are brought to the present, he does not know whether it is a cruel joke from the gods…or his chance at redemption.

OnS Remix Fanfic Submission 2017

(Hindsight remix)

The world is cruel

by sutera

Mika doesn’t escape the inevitability of his immortality, and history decides to repeat itself.

(^ satan itself)

Entangle

by OccasionalArtist

Winters can be brutally cold in the vampire city, but they provide certain… opportunities.

A story of how Mika and Yuu become accustomed to sleeping side by side, and how Mika becomes involved with Ferid.

(Smol mikayuu in sanguinem)

Every Night

by Ponchyo

The war is settling down, or so it seems. Now that the chaos has died down Mika and Yuu will have to sort out what exactly it is they mean to each other.

(Afterwar)

Afire love

by strikedawn

After Nagoya’s failed mission, an unsteady truce is formed between Shinoa’s squad and Mikaela Hyakuya, making Yuu feel conflicted inside. On one hand, he’s got Mika back, his friends are alive, and they seem to be trying to be civil with each other, even if it’s just for his sake. On the other hand, Guren is being held captive by the vampires, Shinya has just given them a mission Yuu doesn’t like, and Mika… Yuu doesn’t really know what Mika is feeling.Maybe not even Mikaela knows what he’s truly feeling, after all.

(^ actual masterpiece. It’s finished. Diverges from chapter 34)

And We Will Run, We Will

by cloudwatch

In exchange for resources that are desperately needed for rebuilding now that the war is over, JIDA agrees to send over teams of two across the seas to help other countries in exterminating any remaining vampire cells. Yuu and Mikaela are teamed up and shipped off to America, and with Yuu’s recent realization that he would very much like to make out with his best friend, being alone in a foreign country is the least of his problems.

(Mika is with Yuu, on the JIDA’s side. Kind of like in the game)

Dear God

by Roriette

He begged, “You can take everything – everything, so please. Please don’t take Yuu.”

-500 years; 6,000 months; 182,500 days; 4,380,000 hours.What a terribly quiet world it is.A world without Yuu.

(Reincarnation au. Rather, Yuu is the one who does)

Keep You Warm At Night

by cloudwatch

“Sometimes I watch you sleep, and in a totally not creepy way!” Yuu blurts out.

Mika and Yuu snuggle on the couch together and talk.

(After war)

Memento Mori

by Nayru Elric

What other people don’t know about Mikaela is that behind the façade of tranquility he wears on the outside, there’s a weakness he never lets the others see, not even Yuichiro. Even before vampires took over the world, Mikaela didn’t allow his dark past in his everyday life. When Mika comes back from Ferid’s more exhausted than usual, Yuu demands to know what’s going on.

(Retelling)

Hidden Palace

by Nayru Elric

Escaping from the battle and leaving all the others behind was Mikaela’s plan, but now that he finally has Yuichiro all to himself, why is it that something still feels incomplete?

Find You

by Yamiga

For months following the events of the war, Mika has been living in the human city with Yuu. However, living with Yuu doesn’t mean automatic happiness as both discover this soon enough. Things take a terrible turn one night when Mika voices his negative concerns about Yuu’s “family” . Words are exchanged which later result in Mika feeling as if he has no place in Yuu’s life. In turn, he attempts to make things easier for Yuu by running away.OrYuu and Mika get in a fight that results in Mika leaving. Yuu of course, must fix his stupid mistake and get Mika back. Again.

Almost Home

by Anonymous_Dreamer

After the war is over, Mika is allowed to live with Yuu. However, can one even call it a living, hiding from everyone? Yuu and his friends get worried about him, and they suggest Yuu convince Mika to go see a psychologist.

(after war)

Kiss those arms better

by SimTinaAndr

Yuuichirou forced himself to pry his gaze away from the perfect face in front of him and towards Mikaela’s arm. He raised it with both his hands towards his face, and sweetly kissed Mikaela’s bicep. The blond held his breath as Yuuichirou started kissing a path across his arm, slowly going down and towards his wrist before taking a moment to remove Mikaela’s glove and keep kissing his bare hand; first the back, and finally his slim fingers, one by one.

(Related to chapter 52)

if home is where the heart is

by atrophy

Like this, Yuu can almost make himself believe that it’s just the two of them – like they’re the only people left in the world.

(Diverges around halfway through vol 4)

Carving Happiness

by KittieAupa

After several years of research, Mika finally has a chance to become human again. Yuuichirou helps him through the process.

(After war)

Warmth

by awaywards

Trapped together in a snowstorm, Yuu and Mika need to find a way to make each other warm.

(Smut)

Saving you

by seredemia

The war’s over and the world looks forward to a brighter future ahead of them. Mika and Yuu have survived the worst, but soon find that they still have one more challenge left to overcome.

Living together.

(Has some smut)

Sanguine Luxuriae

by blushinglily

Krul had asked him once, “When the act itself of drinking blood is both a sin and a necessity for our kind, must it also follow that the pleasure we get from it be considered a crime as well?”

As Yuuichirou gradually becomes fixated on the rapture of being bitten by his best friend, for the life of him, Mikaela still struggled to find the answer to the vampire queen’s question.

Somewhat disturbing themes, slightly masochistic!Yuuichirou, takes place directly after the anime’s ending. // Canon!Divergence (?)

Unseen

by blushinglily

After Yuuichirou returns to his human self, the Hiiragi Shinoa squad decides to set their plan into motion of rescuing Guren and Mirai. Just before they do that though, some things need to be taken care of first…namely, Mika’s thirst for blood and their need for some new clothes.

Spoilers for Chapter 41 and the final episode of the anime. / One-shot. / Canon!verse/AU. / Mikayuu

Follow Your Instincts

by ruthlesslistener

Mikaela Hyakuya has never been able to stomach the scents of anyone other than his family. For an unmarked, unmated omega, this is practically unheard of- lack of heat cycles from starvation be damned. Available omegas were supposed to crave the scents of viable mates, not be repulsed by them.When he was alone and under Krul’s thumb, this wasn’t that much of a problem. But now that he’s back by Yuu’s side, healthy and re-exposed to the alpha’s adult pheromones, his heats have come back with a vengeance. And it’s taking everything he has in him to keep himself from claiming what his body is screaming is rightfully his.He won’t let his instincts ruin his relationship with Yuu, no matter how agonizing or stressful it gets.(A.k.a Mika is as angsty and self-sacrificial as always, Yoichi tries his best to help but rarely gets the right results, Yuu can’t take a hint from himself or others, and Shinoa is not to be trusted with a sex shop.)

(It’s kind of a retelling + canon divergent but with ABO dynamics. Truthfully one of (if not the) best ABO fics ever. Seriously I’m not much of an ABO person but this one is… JUST READ IT, OKAY?)

I hope that helps!

And yeah, I saw that fic too lol

You actually read it? I’m impressed

#ask #Anonymous

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bub-the-voidling · 5 years

Text

Custom Card Competition wk 18: Investigate

(This is a post about a private Card Brewing competition. Entries were not open to the public.)

This week of CCC or CCL! I still don’t know what the real name is honestly!

Before this all starts, I’m just going to have to say sorry that the quality of this write up is worse than the others (not that they were good judging on the minimal amount of people who actually read these. No need to lie, I know you’re here for your own cards.) but that’s for a very good reason! It was rushed, and if you don’t know yet why it was rushed. Please go to the CCL chatroom and read the latest message I sent with @card-makers. So the ratings in this write up may be a bit off or I might miss obvious stuff. Sorry guys.

This week we’re being the scoobygang and making investigation cards! Sadly no one made the scooby snox card, but I can always wish. **This is where you imagine me snapping my fingers** First card!

I’ll be honest, I’m starting off with this card because I just find it funny. Just look at the art and then despair when you realize that it’s somehow fitting. It fits the name, the flavor, and the effect. I love and hate it.

But what about the actual card? It’s like a Rhystic Study you have to pay for with benefits. Which in my opinion is how it should work, but even if you disagree with it this effect could be explained as different as it lets you sacrifice some clues for free to get the the dimir scry. Which is a pretty neat effect. The more I look at this card the more I like it. I’m also not sure that this is worse than Rhystic Study either since the power is now in your hands instead of the opponent.

9.4/10, Ape, I’m mad about how good this card is.

And after Long-Term we have another card which would be super fitting with that picture. But this would probably have some serious picture about the Scooby Doo gang being after Emrakul with a mask or something.

Anyway, actual card! A late-ish game slow card engine that if synergized with lets you tutor for “free” any card in your deck and eventually win. I like it, no I love it. This might be my control bias showing (I play Goblin control for crying out loud.) but I just like this card. If you’re in need of a specific card you can sac 5 of your needed 15 to win the game just to get a card that’ll help you secure the win, if you’re desperate you’ll actually read the tokens and use their effect to draw cards. The win part seems like something for against the odds, but still fun. Some games will be janked out by that line and I’m all for it.

This card should’ve been further down if they go in order of points. But I just wanted to tell you guys that this could have the artwork from “Idfk lol”

9.2/10, Don’t have much to say, I just like it.

This… this just screams mill mill, yummy yummy!

Like… If you really want to ruin someone, Ghost Quarter (before playing this to bait the opponent to search), play this card into Archive Trap. From there you basically win the game as you can take an extra turn while gaining 8 life, and in that extra turn you can mill the opponent and get a million clues that you turn into extra turns. The mana shouldn’t honestly be a problem given that some mill players already go Esper to have a stronger sideboard and better interaction in general.

This card honestly needs some extra lines that prevents some general mean things like letting you get clues from mill, or from the enemy casting spells (which is debatable), stopping the life gain from saccing clues to himself. Or just remove the extra turn thing, but that seems like the whole gist of the card, so please don’t. Also, holy moly On The Trail with this would be so silly. Actually this card plays well with all the cards here that alter the use of clues.

6.7/10, Wait… you can draw with clues?

More creatures! Looks like we’re assembling the scooby gang! And it’s a promo version at that.

Feels a bit strange to me that this isn’t a legendary, but she does seem fun in multiples. So, what does she do? She copies artifact tokens, be that Servos, Ancient Stone Idol tokens, or maybe even the intended Treasures and Clues. I must say I find it quite funny that this is not the only “Clues matter, but so does treasures/gold.” Which is quite fitting to both this card and the future card’s flavor.

I like the card but honestly it could pack more of a punch, I love how she can turn clues into mana if you’re in an excess of them (or infinite comboing with something like Whitemane Lion, Bygone Bishop, and this.) but it could do more without breaking the game imo, it’s rare so it’s allowed to have some more punch to it. Maybe it makes either a clue or a treasure upon hit and then makes a copy of target, maybe she copies each differently named artifact token, or maybe she even has some sort of evasion like most Scroll Thief effect cards.

But being a lord for specific tokens seems cool anyway :P

7.6/10, “She either trades information for gold or gold for information.“

Enough creatures for now! Let’s go to something less permanent, a sorcery!

So, the flavor here. Yummy, we have either an enraged creature that gets stronger with their rage for each piece of evidence or an impulsive punch to the face for each piece of evidence gathered this turn. I love it. And the effects? Eeeeh… Not sure. Now I’m no card designer but as far as I know the consensus is that if the when the mana cost is split the card itself should be printable as either color. Like, it should only do things that both colors can do. Investigate, unconfirmed for R as there hasn’t been a single red investigate card but it doesn’t feel off flavor for our impulsive color. Gaining attack, yeah that R/W. And going face… The elephant in the room. Dealing damage to face. There are next to no white cards that can deal pure damage to face, and the only ones I do know about are from waaaay back in the day. Back when red still destroyed creatures. So when colors didn’t have their identities yet. Even if you’re okay with red investigators, it’s hard to justify the last effect.

So, how do we fix the color identity problem? Deflecting Palm. As much as I love hybrid mana, this card should really be RW. That would also allow you to lower the CMC to 2 without making the card too… “I do everythingy.” It’s weird to not have a combat trick at instant speed, but I do know that the creator didn’t want to make to too powerful as it’s a common. So I’ll kind of let it slide.

7.4/10, Questionable artist tag imo.

Literally last-minute submission we have this! :D Another card that cares about Clues and Money!

So a colorless land that can produce clues? Interesting, funnily enough we do know the going rate for normal colorless lands drawing cards. It’s 5 mana, thanks Arch of Orazca. So that means this one is balanced, right? 3 mana to investigate and then 2 to draw, 5 mana total. That’s where the nature of clues comes in and ruins stuff. Creating a clue for 3 leftover mana is immensely better compared to simply not drawing a card if you don’t have 5. Clues are permanents, permanents you can cache in whenever you want for that 2 mana (And technically they can be shattered, but come on.) which makes investigating quite a bit stronger than drawing if it costs less. I’m not sure if I made sense as I can barely think myself right now, but the cost to investigate should be at least 4, even if you want to power-creep Arch of Orazca as it has a secondary effect which is both “Turn those clues we made into mana.” and “You can’t shatter any clues as I’ll just turn them into gold if you do.”

7.3/10, just like this write up. A bit too rushed. It’s still just common.

Flavor bomb time, you even have the right icon for where this would thematically be set.

Card effect! Basically, Cabal Therapy but stronger added to all clues if you pay an additional two mana. Which is spooky when it’s at instant speed, even if the whole ordeal is 4 mana. It’s still probably balanced as you have to play a 3 mana do nothing and then spend 4 mana next turn to draw a card and guess what’s in their hand. Good play and deck building can get around this, like sacrificing clues to some effect for free or Peek-ing into their hand beforehand.

Personally I think the losing life seems like a silly thing to add onto the card, punishing good play isn’t my forte.

8.3/10, “afaik Avacyn won the 1v1.” Also, how is the icon misaligned?

Hearthstone time! I couldn’t think of a longer joke!

Wow… Now this is something unique. It’s roughly a 4 mana 4/4 that makes 1-2 clues with the potential up to 4. The etb is so weird to evaluate. If you use cards such as Brainstorm you can get the MAXIMUM VALUE. 4 cards in the future for 8 mana. Nice. Even the second ability seems fun to play with. Manipulating the top to make Aria stronger and stronger.

The only drawback with this card I can think of is that some people will find the revealing top 4 and putting back in the same order confusing. I’ll be honest and admit I missed that interaction until I was doing the write up. Sorry, Xyrillow. And I’m name dropping you because you were really close to being the winner this week and you should be proud of your craft.

9.8/10, you do know they’re a Nightelf and not Veldaken right?

Next card!

This week it was hard to decide a winner. The last card and this one went back and forth and there was even a while I was thinking about maybe sharing the winning slot. But that feels like cheating, so I have to give the edge over to this card. I love this card. Super elegant. The flavor and flavor text is on point, the effect is on point, all the way down to the evasion that costs a card to gain two cards eventually later on in the game… I just love everything.

This is without a doubt the best designed card, proud to be in any set with investigation.

Perfection is impossible, but this is pretty damn near to it.

10/10, could maybe be uncommon. Idk.

I’m lacking words, but please congratulate DrKungFu for such an amazing card. And Xyrillow for being such a close second. And actually a lot of people as this week was quite stacked.

But Mainly DrKungFu.

Now, the next prompt is to make your own guild mechanic, something like Riot, Surveil or maybe even Dredge if you’re ballsy. Sorry that this is rushed, I didn’t even proof read it for crying out loud. But please do read the update in the chat. It’s important.

Thank you for all your submissions, you’re all lovely. Love, Sami.

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arisefairsun · 7 years

Note

Romeo please!!

*Swoons* Thank you, anon!! I was waiting to be asked about Romeo… he’s my child and I love him.

First impression: As I mentioned here, I can relate to him a lot, and it’s always been like that. Romeo and Juliet was the first work of poetry I read in my life and I still clearly remember the first time I read Romeo’s “O brawling hate” speech because it moved me so much I felt like a bunch of angels had descended to sing me a song and bring my purified soul to the heavens. That was the moment when I started writing stuff on my own, and really, I have a whole notebook full of different paraphrases of those lines because I loved those metaphors on a spiritual level.

Impression now: HONESTLY this question is too broad and I would have to make a whole other post to answer this thoroughly. I have too many feelings and too much to say. But basically I love him for being such a soft, idealistic boy who spends most of the time crying. His character development is just so rich and complex I could talk about it for hours. The play begins with the bossy masculinity of the servants and Tybalt. It’s chaotic and violent, but when Lady Montague mentions Romeo the scene is suddenly charged with lyricism: Benvolio’s and Montague’s lines turn so poetic that the whole atmosphere of the scene shifts towards delicacy, and then the boy shows up and the difference between him and his world is so tangible. Instead of showing off and shedding blood in the streets of Verona he spent his time crying under a damn sycamore because he doesn’t have a girlfriend. And I just think he is terrified by what he will have to become eventually, that is, a proper Montague man, and so he tries to evade himself from reality through the concept of love and tenderness. When he realizes there was a fight not long ago he inquires Benvolio about it: “O me! What fray was here?” But he prevents his cousin from giving him any detail and goes on saying: “Yet tell me not, for I’ve heard it all.” He is so tired, he doesn’t have the ability to even care anymore. He then mentions the feud briefly (“Here’s much to do with hate”) but instantly switches to love: “… but more with love. / Why then, O brawling love…“ which leads me to the idea that he is desperate to build an identity that is not bound to his duty as Montague’s heir. He is so anxious about this, he nearly kills himself in Friar Lawrence’s cell in an attempt to extirpate Montague’s name from himself: “O tell me, friar, tell me! / In what vile part of this anatomy / Doth my name lodge? Tell me that I might sack / The hateful mansion!” He tells Juliet that if he had his name written in his body, he “would tear the word.” So I think the “wherefore art thou” speech is the best thing that could happen to him: Juliet wittily debunks the whole idea that someone’s identity must depend on names and heritage. He could stop being a Montague and he’d still be himself: “Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.” (More than that, she says he would “still own that dear perfection which he owes without that title.” She says he is valuable, and I think he really needed to hear that. These kids live in such a scary, cruel world, and the best thing they can do to each other is assure how important and valuable they are.) Romeo immediately rushes to accept Juliet’s point of view and so he gets rid of his name: “Call me but love and I’ll be new baptized. Henceforth, I never will be Romeo.” When Juliet demands to know who he is, he is reluctant to identify himself as Romeo: “By a name, I know not how to tell thee who I am.” He has freed himself from the burden of being a Montague. He has finally found someone with whom he can be the soft, childish boy he really is. The tragedy begins when he can’t escape from his own name, but I’ll talk about that later.

Favorite moment: My favorite part of the whole play is the suicide scene, but I already talked about it the other day, so I’m going to discuss act III, scene I. I’m absolutely in love with all the moral dilemmas that Romeo goes through in this scene. As I mentioned here, Mercutio can’t even consider the idea that Romeo would reject a fight, because Romeo is a man, and they all were raised to glorify toxic masculinity, so evidently Romeo would never elude an opportunity to show off. (When Romeo comes on the stage, Mercutio mockingly invites Tybalt to “go before to field” and assures him Romeo will be his “follower.” He doesn’t doubt that Romeo will indeed accept his challenge.) But when Tybalt insults him, Romeo doesn’t attack him like basically any other man in Verona would have done. He clings to all the dreams and love that he has and publicly states that he loves the Capulets as much as his own family. Mercutio finds this “dishonorable” and submissive, and so he decides to “man up” in Romeo’s place. However, Romeo refuses to let go of his idealism and does all he can to impose peace. But it’s precisely his good will what fatally kills Mercutio, who not only curses him and his whole household, but also blames him for the way things turned out: “Why the devil came you between us? I was hurt under your arm.” (It really breaks my heart that Mercutio uses “you” instead of the more familiar “thou” here.) And when Romeo is left alone on the stage, he begins to realize things he had refused to accept up until then: names are everything, and reality is capable of destroying dreams—or rather, dreams are capable of making reality even worse, because had he not tried to stop the duel in a desperate attempt to erase hate and restore love, Mercutio might not have died. If he had fought Tybalt as he was expected to do, if nobody had had to fight on his behalf, a man who is not even part of any of the households wouldn’t have lost his life. He chose to believe that the whole utopia that he shared with Juliet would protect him from the feud; but reality turned out to be too real. He feels guilty (“This gentleman, the Prince’s near ally, / My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt / In my behalf”) and he is left without his major support, that is, his own idealism. And he is too vulnerable without it. He has to face a reality from which he had done everything he could to escape. He has to cope with the fact that his refusal to kill Tybalt is the cause of someone’s death. His dreams literally break (“O sweet Juliet, / Thy beauty hath made me effeminate / And in my temper softened valor��s steel!”) and when Tybalt comes back to him, he draws his sword in what is to me one of the most tragic symbols of the play, because this kid who is so inherently good has been oppressed so hard that he ends up losing hope. He has been raised in a society that won’t accept his “effeminacy”, as they put it. Just look at Sampson’s words in the first scene: “Draw if you be men!”, or Friar Lawrence’s reaction to Romeo’s hysteria: “Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art. / Thy tears are womanish… Unseemly woman in a seeming man.” Even the Nurse tells him to “rise, rise an you be a man.”

Idea for a story: I’m really curious to know how Friar Lawrence and Romeo became such close friends. In many ways, the Friar acts like Romeo’s father more often than Lord Montague. Romeo even chooses to hide in his cell rather than by his father’s side when he is banished. So I wish we knew more about the development of their relationship.

Unpopular opinion: Okay but why does everyone act like Romeo has a new crush like every few days? I just can’t find anything in the text that implies that he was interested in someone else before Rosaline? Friar Lawrence is actually so shocked when he finds out about his marriage plans, he certainly wasn’t expecting Romeo to forget Rosaline so easily, presumably because it was the first time he was “in love”? (“Holy Saint Francis, what a change is here… If e'er thou wast thyself and these woes thine, / Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline. / And art thou changed?”) I just think that if Romeo had had more crushes, the Friar’s reaction would have been different. The same with Mercutio. He spends a huge amount of his time mocking Romeo for taking love seriously, but he only mentions Rosaline directly: “I conjure thee by Rosaline’s bright eyes”, “That Rosaline, / Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.” I truly think that if Romeo was interested in a different woman like each month, Mercutio would have made sure to laugh and mock Romeo for that. And I’m not saying Romeo is not fickle. He is. But I believe Rosaline was his first crush. Also, I just don’t think he is as rash as some people think. He actually knows what he’s doing. He is the most enthusiastic child ever and he gets overexcited about the prospect of marrying Juliet, but he is clever enough as to not mention it to his friends. He actually cares, and he knows staying silent about it is safer.

Favorite relationship: Surprisingly, I’m going to say Romeo and Juliet lol. But I must say one of my favorite things about their relationship is the way Romeo uses the positivity that Juliet brings him. At the beginning of the story, he avoided everyone and only sought solitude because his ‘love’ for Rosaline did him wrong. It just wasn’t healthy and didn’t come naturally from him. (“Tut, I have lost myself. I am not here. / This is not Romeo. He’s some other where.”) On the contrary, he finds his real self thanks to Juliet, and he takes the affection and the strength that she gives him to apply it to his other relationships. He doesn’t spend the whole day obsessing over Juliet and thus avoiding everyone else like he did with Rosaline. Instead, he comes back to his friends, ready to laugh and make them laugh. Mercutio believes Romeo is back to his real self (“Now art thou Romeo. Now art thou what thou art by art as well as by nature.”) And I think it’s just beautiful that his love for Juliet inspired him to enjoy his friends’ company again.

Favorite headcanon: I headcanon him as bi.

#answered #thoughts #ask game #Romeo #thank you for the ask!#I love my tiny child

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seongnamkrp · 4 years

Photo

* // MYSNU DATABASE —————— STUDENT ID # : 311211

// LOADING STUDENT INFORMATION ▪ ▪ ▪

NAME › noh joowon ALIAS › n / a AGE › 12 / 11 / 1997, 22 YEAR › junior

// LOADING STUDENT RECORDS ▪ ▪ ▪

MAJOR › animation MINOR › art HOUSING › lim village, yi hall, 35 with hwang yideun CLUBS › cooking, art, paranormal SPORTS › n / a

// LOADING STUDENT ANALYSIS ▪ ▪ ▪

› › › Q & A SESSION WITH BYUNGARI, AUTHOR OF STRIKE OUT!! AND LITTLE STARS

now that little stars is completed, i thought it would be fun to do a q&a on my blog. this time, the main character of all these answers is me ~ (if you’re thinking “you bastard, nobody wants to read this sh#t,” i did a q&a in the epilogue for LS, so just go there if you want to know more about youngjun and sang). all questions were collected from ask.fm submissions, so thank you to everyone who sent something. and as always, thanks for all your support ✨

Q. WHAT DOES YOUR USERNAME SIGNIFY? A. nothing deep. my siblings used to call me 병아리 when i was a kid because i reminded them of a baby chick, so when i had to come up with a pen name, my mind naturally went to that. my editor thought the mascot i sketched to go along with the name was really cute, so she insisted on keeping it like this 🐣

Q. WHAT TOOLS / SETTINGS DO YOU USE FOR YOUR WORK? A. i can’t tell you. it’s not a secret or anything—i just don’t really know off the top of my head and i’m too lazy to check. i’ll let my assistant edit in an answer later ❤️

Q. HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH YOUR IDEAS / HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO WORK ON NEXT? A. i don’t know? i get inspired by tv/games/animation or things i see happening in real life. sometimes it’s a mix. aside from that, i work on the kinds of stories i want to read specifically. sometimes they don’t exist so i’ll feel obligated to create content for them immediately, or sometimes they do exist but i know i can do it better (LOL). i have an ugly competitive streak. typically it’s a combination of random inspiration + pretty people i see on the street (for character design) + desperation/spite.

Q. WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FROM BEGINNING TO END? A. usually, i’ll work on the script first because it takes me the longest. i’m not good at writing, so i have to redo lines and dialogue pretty often. but once i have that done, it’s a standard process. i work on figuring out the layout and rough typesetting first, then it’s pretty much sketching > lining > colouring > post-correction. after i edit all the panels into a webtoon format, i finish up the typesetting. actually, i have an assistant helping me out these days, so they sometimes take over some of the more boring jobs!! or if we cut it too close to a deadline we’ll split the jobs fifty-fifty… ha… that doesn’t happen a lot, though.

Q. IS THERE ANY REAL LIFE INSPIRATION BEHIND YOUR CHARACTERS / PLOTS? A. i’m supposed to say that all characters and situations in my comics are FICTIONAL and don’t have any resemblance to living persons/events but that’s… not true. surprise! i end up borrowing from real life a lot; most of my characters are (loosely) based off people i know. and since i write in slice-of-life settings, if something funny or interesting happens around me, i can usually slip that into an episode. shockingly, i haven’t gotten called out for this habit yet!!

Q. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING? A. make comics… i want to answer with something like that, but i’m actually a student in the arts department at seongnam university!

Q. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START MAKING COMICS? A. i don’t mind talking about this even if it’s probably not a fun story. i must’ve been in my first year of middle school when i started? somewhere around then. anyway, my parents got a divorce. i decided to live with my mother, but she worked a lot. both my older siblings also have a large age gap with me, so they weren’t living at home back then. i wasn’t in any clubs or sports, so i would spend a lot of time alone at home after school ended. tv and games got boring after a while, and somehow i ended up drawing comics to pass the time. honestly, it was really fun!! i felt like i was able to tell my own cool stories this way.

but i didn’t do anything serious with them until high school, when my friend found a dumb little series i was working on (i think it was about a gumiho and a human who team up to solve crimes). they loved it, and they encouraged me to work on more comics seriously and post them online. their support really touched me; it was the first time someone thought i was good at something. it’s thanks to my circumstances that i started making comics, but it’s thanks to that friend i decided to share them with the world!! that’s about it, haha. sorry for the serious story all of a sudden >.>

Q. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO DRAW BL COMICS? A. it’s not like i set out to make bl comics in particular. i just had an idea of a story i wanted to draw, and it ended up being about a relationship between two men. when the plot started coming together, i just happened to envision it that way. it’s really that simple!

Q. WILL YOU EVER RELEASE AN ADULT COMIC? A. adult? like about taxes? (…) i’m joking. probably not; i don’t have any interest in it.

Q. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DON’T LIKE TO DRAW? A. i hate backgrounds!!! i force my assistant to do them when i can. i also can’t really draw animals except for my own cat. the anatomy always ends up looking weird. oh, and i don’t like drawing rated stuff either (sorry :P). like, i can do it if i have to, but you would have to hold a gun to my head.

Q. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FOODS / DRINKS? A. i like sweet things ^^ stuff like chocolate rolls, milk bread, etc. i don’t like strong coffee but i need to drink it to survive so i guess it kind of counts as a favorite? aside from that, i like meat! beef! i’m still young, so i need to eat lots.

Q. WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES BESIDES DRAWING? A. sleeping…? i like playing video games (but i only play on the easy setting). i like going to watch movies with my friends too. i think this is just normal stuff, right?

Q. YOUR WAY OF SPEAKING IS PRETTY MASCULINE SOMETIMES. ARE YOU A MAN? A. i’m a worm ㅋㅋㅋ (i don’t know what gender has to do with making a comic. don’t ask me questions like this, please).

Q. CAN WE MEET UP IN REAL LIFE? A. haha, no.

#sgn:enrolled #kpop rp #kpop roleplay #krp #byungchan

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millennial-star-gazer · 5 years

Text

Tantric Flames(reupload from previous accounts): Chapter: 5

Tantric Flames

Originally for Nalu Week/Fluff Week/Lovefest 2017 (on previous accounts)

Genres: Romance, Humor, New Adult Fanfiction

Nalu Lovefest 2017 Prompts: Lust, Stockings/Lingerie, Sweets (Implied) Dreams(Implied) Games and Roleplay (Kind of Implied in Form of Teasing )

Vera's March 2018 Prompt Challenge: Fantasy/Creatures (which fits since Fairytail is a fantasy series and Natsu' species is dragonslayer/ Demon hybrid in this fic that's slight AU. Though this might technically still be true for the overall series since he's an etherious demob/wizard capable of using both fire dragon slayer magic and of his curse power). (On previously accounts)

Upcoming Nalu Love Fest 2018 prompts: Kiss/Makeup (kind of) Playful, Desperate, Unbearable, Estatic ,(Implied) and Teasing

Pairing:Nalu (Natsu x Lucy)

Rating: M for language, steamy and mature adult sexual content (all consensual) in these and future chapters. Reader Direction is advised.(You've been warned!)

Summary: One look, one smouldering hooded gaze, one word, one fiery kiss, one magnetizing touch was all he needed for her to completely unravel at his mercy alone, succumbing to the sinful temptation of her inhibitions, his love, his feral passion, his raw, insatiable desires, his "Tantric Flames". Originally an Submission (slight Au) for Nalulovefest 2017 (on previous accounts) in which Natsu gives his mate a tantric massage-after much persuasion- she won't soon forget when it turns into so much more. Also previously featured in Nalu Week , and Fluff Week with first two chapters on celestialgeekmage accounts .

Chapter 5: Kiss From A Dragon's Flame: Part 2

A/N: Here's Chapter 5! It was originally part ( of what would been a longer chapter 4) but has since been split in two. Though more extensive than last chapter, the of the main story text most likely sits around a word count of within the 5,000 range excluding the preliminary information and A/Ns. All in all, hope you enjoy both chapters regardless. Without further ado, here it is!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairytail which belongs to the one and only Hiro-sensei instead!

Read More Here:

1.Tantric Flames

A. Tumblr

Chapter: 1 (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179863946153/tantric-flames-reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizard/amp?)

Chapter: 2 (Click Here:) (Or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179863946153/tantric-flames-reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizard/amp?)

Chapter: 3 (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179864756428/tantric-flames-reupload-from-previous-accounts/amp?)

Chapter: 4 (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179871908778/tantric-flames-reupload-from-previous-accounts/amp?)

Chapter: 5

Chapter: 6(Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/183149105838/tantric-flames-chapter-6-despojado-stripped)

Chapter: 7(Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/185033161848/tantric-flames-chapter-7-what-belongs-to-a-fire)

Chapter:8 (Click Here): (or here:https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/188352271948/tantric-flames-chapter-8-tantric-art-of)

Chapter:9 (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/624402662880854016/tantric-flames-chapter-9)

B. Fanfiction (Click Here:) (or here:https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13114990/1/Tantric-Flames-reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizardaccounts)

C. A03 (Click Here:) (or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17063882/chapters/40123739)

2. The Draconic Demon Within

A. Tumblr:

Prologue and Chapter: 1 (Click Here:) (or here:https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179816192273/the-draconic-demon-within-reupload-from/amp?)

Chapter: 2 (Click Here:) (or here:https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179816192273/the-draconic-demon-within-reupload-from/amp?)

B. Fanfiction (Click Here:) (or here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13113898/1/The-Draconic-Demon-Within-Reupload-from-cosmicdragonwizardaccounts)

3. Grey Days

A. Tumblr (Click Here:) (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179767381833/grey-days-reuploadfrom-dragon-shield-maiden/amp?)

B. Fanfiction (Click Here:) (or here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13112482/1/Grey-Days-Reupload-from-dragon-shield-maiden)

4. The Rest of My Writing

A. Master Fic Rec Post (Click Here): (or here: https://millennial-star-gazer.tumblr.com/post/179665258923/master-fic-rec-post

Legend:

Italic: Song Lyrics/Quotes (or flashback dialogue)

Bold: First Person Thoughts

Bolded Italics: Empathized Word

Bolded Italics (Within and Outside Bracket) including for author's side notes also known as (A/N:) within brackets (though none for side-notes in this chapter ).

"Kiss me beneath the milky twilight

Lead me out on the moonlit floor

Lift your open hand

Strike up the band,

and make the fireflies dance silvermoon's sparkling

So kiss me"

(Sixpence None the Richer: Kiss Me)

(So there are two quotes that I found really fit the mood of some particular scenes in these chapters this time around— sue me lol!)

"Luce? You all right there sweetheart?"

Natsu's gentle call of Lucy's name broke through her self-ranting.

"Yeah, just thinking . Again I'm really sorry Natsu" She muttered, averting her eyes from the fire wizard's probing gaze in favour of staring down at the floor. "Guess I got carried away."

Carried away? Carried away?! Talk about the most obvious understatement of the goddamned century!

"Nah come on, don't be like that. No need to apologize weirdo," Natsu soothed with enough tender patience colouring his tone when tapping his forehead lightly against hers for the blonde to feel weak in the knees. " I promise ain't mad. "

"You're not?"

"No, I swear . I mean sure I was initially a little annoyed with at first, but it's all good now, right?" Cheer up!"

"I guess you're right..."

"You see? So smile silly! You know how much I love it when ya' do!"

Natsu lightly bumped his nose against Lucy's before depositing a chaste kiss on the tip sending a rush of warmth through her veins; enough for her spirits to be lifted.

"Yeah, you're definitely right," Lucy reiterated again , a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "It's no big deal—no use being so glum over something so minor really."

"Exactly! And it's like I said," Natsu concurred in a sunny voice. " The reward is well the worth the wait— promise."

"That you did and I believe you."

"Good. And sides' , it's not like I was exactly complainin' about the quality of the hand job per say" he added , salacious words tugging the corners of his lips upward into a wry smirk; with a suggestive waggle of eyebrows thrown in for good measure. "Considering how you never fail to impress. It's just really hard to concentrate on being romantic with a raging hard on, am I right?"

"Mhmm.. i suppose even though it just so happens that I am clearly not a dude ," Lucy fired back in a light quip; no real bite to her words with a roll of her honey-brown eyed eyes. "But a lady sans dick— so not sure how that world apply to me . Either way, just goes to show how much of a horn-dog - not to mention pervert you are."

"Dragon sweetheart, you mean to say I'm a horn- dragon" was Natsu's way pf pointing out his soulmate'd minor error through a light correction; when a hand caught hers trying to bat at his shoulder with lightening reflexes. "Not dog- I'm a dragon slayer, remember? Well, fire demon-dragon slayer hybrid to be exact, but you get my point—hence the whole 'horn-dragon' title thing; which I won't deny. As for me being a pervert, you love it and you know it."

"Oh I do, do I?"

"Yeah, you do. Plus, ya' also think I'm a total bad-ass— it's cuz I am."

" Badass huh? Well, well, don't we think very highly of ourselves today?" challenged the summoner in a goading trill . "Though would you say the same even during those times when you're grovelling to Erza, begging her to forgive you for all the buildings or large swaths of forest you nearly leveled in your destructive path on jobs?"

"Well..I... hey.. wait no fair Luce!" Natsu feigned a whine , flashing her the most adorable "puppy dog" eyes that she swore could thaw out even the most iciest of of hearts. "Ya' know I'm not always the bravest guy when it comes to avoiding Erza's wrath! You of all people should know how scary she can be sometimes! And yet here you are teasin' me about it! You're no fun—no fun at all!'

"Yes, I do know and I'm plenty of fun" Lucy countered , a lighthearted , almost tounge-in-cheek kind of lilt to her words. " You tell me all the time how 'fun and awesome' I am to be around—especially as a girlfriend. Not that I'm complaining."

"That I do. and I'm glad you're not cuz I'll never grow tired of repeating it any more than you do hearing it—specially' when i mean every of word I say ."

"That makes me happy to hear."

"Good, I'm glad."

Natsu gave the hand he was still holding a little squeeze; all in all just enough for Lucy's heart to thump in her chest at his touch .

"Aw, you're really quite sweet when you want to be, aren't you?" She gushed, pure affection radiating from within. "Oh and it turns out that you are pretty badass afterall."

"Yeah, I am,—but I can't take all the credit, now can I?" His voice was tender, so cozy and warm like a flickering campfire when raising her hand to his lips for a lingering kiss oh so gentle Lucy very nearly swooned; as if the fact that her heart patterned in her chest wasn't already enough. "I got an incredibly beautiful and intelligent woman for a mate by my side—my irresistible princess."

"Oh, how you flatter me so" Lucy lilted, a light dusting of pink spreading across her cheeks . "I honestly don't know what I did to deserve someone as amazing as you."

"Yeah? Well, as much that does genuinely make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to hear you say that Luce and believe me when I say it does" came his resounding hum, words thick with the reverent awe of a cured, blind man seeing the stars for the first time . "I still think I can top that. I still don't know as to how in the hell I was ever lucky enough to have an amazing woman like you ever fall into my life— much less claim you as mine. My heart, my home, my beautiful angel, my princess, my queen, my goddess, the love of my life —you're literally one of the best things that's ever happened to me . Like winning the lottery— only better ."

"My God, is the charming-but - rough- around-the-edges salamander being sentimental? " Lucy chimed , not bothering to suppress her giggle. "Not that I don't appreciate it."

"Yep, guilty as charged" said salamander in question let out a throaty chuckle; the glimmer of affectionate mirth sparkling in his emerald eyes filling her entire being with a cozy warmth—neither new or unwelcome. "I honestly can't help it when I'm with you. Especially considering how I managed to snag the best mate/queen a hybrid like me could ever ask for."

"Aw— You're doing it again! Best not to let Gray hear you or who knows what could happen?"

"Yeah, snowcone will probably never let me live it down, but I honestly ain't that worried."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, guses I'll just have to sock him in the face if he can't keep his damn mouth shut."

"Hmm... well that definitely sounds like something that you'd do but moving on." Lucy prompted, not only trying to broach a new subject, but also taking a genuine keen interest in the all effort Natsu put in setting up their date . "Looks like you've been pretty busy putting everything together our date. Why don't you tell me what you did? I wanna know ."

"Yeah sure, glad you asked !" Natsu replied eagerly . " Okay, so I after left you to relax this morning, I made my way outside cuz' to find Gajeel afyer happening to catch a whiff of his scent comin' in and wanted to see if he'd be interested in helping me 'borrow' a massage bed.

"was totally gonna go for it too until Levy came rushing out-probably overheard us talking or something .She told us that it wouldn't be nesscary when I could always rent a bed, that Laki even had one of her own lying around back at Fairy hills and would probably even be willing to lend it to me if I just asked . I ended up gettin' Elfman and Gajeel to bring the bed back here for me so I could focus on setting up everything else. Mira and Lisanna suggested those scented lacrima-incense candles you probably saw on your way in to set the mood. Plus apparently they're supposed to soothe the senses, you know give off the whole relaxing vibe which I have to admit do actually smell pretty nice—though not as nice as you . "

"Anyways, I can see that I'm going off bit on a tangent—but I digress. Now, where was I? Oh yeah! Bisca and Alzack let me borrow their fairy lights along with teas lights to use since they figured it would really add to the whole 'ambiance ' or whatever as they said. Now as for the music we're hearin', it's apparently been set to play through a pre-selected playlist of a variety of songs your spirits told me you'd enjoy which Freed and Levy were nice enough to help me hook up to the speakers plus inscribe with Motion- sensor and other kinds runes linked specifically to your magic signature for it to not only kick in as you came down the stairs, but also stay in this room to make everything feel all the more intimate . All in all, quite the team effort if I do say so myself. Hell.. even Evergreen and Laxus of all people-who knew he could be such the romantic?- thought throwing those rose petals in would be a nice touch!

Oh and Cana, Laki and Erza sent me off in the right direction of the shops where I could find the oils and lotions plus some other goodies with the Happy and the other exceeds help which we'll get to later. Course' once that was all said and done, I did have some extra free time on my hands to kill in between waiting for the bed to be brought down before the set up was complete."

"Yeah? That right?" Lucy's wry voice broke in to quip after Natsu finished, lifting a questioning brow." Not that I don't greatly appreciate what you're doing and everything which I'll also have to remember to thank everyone else for their help in setting up later, but did this extra free time involve a scuffle with Gray after the stunt you pulled?"

"Erza told me as much, after she made a point to elaborate on exactly what you'd been up to when you weren't getting things organized for our date. Said you were running around town, setting off and I quote "the most horrendous of stink bombs", not to mention lighting a bag of literal dog shit mixed in with the feces of horse, donkey, cow and Vulcan on fire at Gray's door backed by Romeo and Happy as your accomplices. Just to char his pants clean off by launching one of several fireballs at his ass when he was chasing you down. The next thing she knew the you two were rolling around on the floor punching m each other on the way in. So, what I'd like to know is if any of this true?"

"Oho— you heard that, huh?" Natsu let out a low cackle that was almost diabolical. Not to mention the wide grin was spreading across his lips to boot ." Nothing gets past you, does it Luce? But to answer your question: yes, what you heard is all true."

"Which begs another: why?"

"You mean other than for shits and giggles?"

"Yep, believe that's what I meant".

"Okay so well... ice-prick started it!" He burst out, aggrieved voice lifting into a ppetulant . "He apparently got the brilliant idea to have me super into downing this really nasty concoction a few days ago. Said it was this brand new, special kind of fire- whiskey brew that I'd probably love. So I tried it all excited and everything , only to find it was really rancid sour milk mixed with flour and garlic-talk about disgusting! Next thing I know I'm makin! a beeline for the nearest sink desperately trying to rinse the nasty taste out of my mouth!

"Okay , fair enough— I can see why you 'd be pretty miffed . That all ?" Lucy placated, clearly enjoying her boyfriend's tirade . She found his recounting of the day's past events to be oddly amusing—classic salamander— anyone who knew him well might suppose. "Or is there another reason?"

"Yeah, course' there is Luce. Honestly, the nerve of that guy bargin' on us like that the other day," Natsu grumbled with a hint of Lucy thought was possessive resentment she could detect in his otherwise petulant tone. " He should know better not to interrupt a dragon , demon— hybrid in my case- when's they're in the middle of having sex with his mate! Not to mention the fact that no one else but me ,gets to see you naked now that we're officially soul-bonded in every sense of the word— well okay no one else cept' Happy who doesn't really count since he's family and doesn't care . But either way, it's all part of the unwritten code of being a good bro and the rules that go along with it. You remember, don't ya?"

"Yeah, I remember," Lucy responded, trying to suppress the shudder threatening overtake her frame more from the pair's less-than-pleasant run-in with Gray than the tantalizing memory of their erotic coupling or anything else. He had inadvertently made the untimely mistake of entering the wine cellar at the most inopportune time only to catch a glimpse of Lucy in the nude straddling Natsu in the chair, legs draped over either side; who made a point of pressing said female against him so as to shield her from view of wide eyes while shooting a pointed glare overhead at the intruder . He then took it upon himself to lift Lucy out of the chair in favour of moving her to restake his claim on said female against the door being shut .

Needless to say the poor poor ice demon-slayer— no doubt scarred for life— was sent packing shortly upon hearing Natsu's infuriated, shouted threats along the lines of "come for a good show did ya? Freakin perv! ," "you better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for ya droopy eyes", and "or else I swear to God, I will literally give the most lopsided buzz cut of your life with my fire magic if I so much as hear ya utterin' even a single word about seeing my woman naked!" between panted grunts in time with hard-hitting thrusts striking true .

Lucy on the other hand, would have very much been red in the face if she wasn't already too far gone amid the throes of earth-shattering ectascy to care or her hot-blooded dragon-demon- hybrid prince's rough voice urging her to "focus on me - and only me Luce . That's right sweetheart. You just worry about how good I must feel inside you and I promise I'll take care of ya for us both ." It was only after the fact-mind-blowing sex aside-that the blush already staining the celestial wizard's cheeks darkened a few shades only when she paused to reflect back on the incident which Natsu noticed.

"Blushing yet again, I see," He noted, letting out a hearty chuckle bursting at the seams with so much fond mirth that Lucy's heart fluttered. " I know you're probably a little scarred from Gray accidentally walkin' in on us in a comprising position— but there's really no reason to still be embarrassed when all that's passed now . I will say that I do find your blush pretty damn adorable—makes you all the more endearing than you already are in my eyes . And yeah, I know I tell ya' this a lot, but I always mean every word of it and will never get tired of reminding you."

"Thanks Natsu, that's always nice to hear," came Lucy's bashful remark of sincere praise. She still found the whole scenario of Gray catching her in the act with her horn-dragon-sex-fiend-of- a-boyfriend as if they were right out in the most scandalous of public spaces-(like say the magnolia library for instance - by pure happenstance a little awkward. Still, she couldn't help but be tickled pink by his compliment." It was just a little awkward being caught quite literally with our pants down by Gray—well in my case It was that casual-but chic little rose -corset tunic- -mini dress I was wearing before you ripped it off me of it which would have been a huge hassle if I didn't have an extra pair but you get the picture."

"Yeah, I bet," Natsu sympathized, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin." I was kind of embarrassed myself when that happened. I mean I wasn't really that fazed bout the stripper seeing me me naked- dude's pretty much seen me like that loads of times- but a small part of me was kind of nervous wondering in the back of my mind what would happen if Wendy came down to help him bring up booze , seeing how she's like a little sister to me and I didn't want to scar her eyes. Not to mention, I was worried bout one of the visiting pretty-boy pansies and that troll from blue Pegasus-save ren- would somehow overhear us, and make a beeline for the stairs, in hopes of catching a glimpse of you without any clothes; cuz they tend to see pretty much any situating as an excuse to hit on everything that moves. And like I said I don't want anyone else but me seeing you like that. Though if it's any consolation, you and me both know Gray isn't the type to blackmail people for stuff like this."

"Valid point."

"And besides, I'm pretty sure he's just pissed at the fact that he wasn't the one to nab a spot as sweet as hours for him to get laid first." He followed up with a lazy, purr, words lifting the corners of lips being lifted up into a wolfish smirk ." and I’m talkin’ the most mind-blinding blowing sex you could ever hope to ask for with a wild dragon as a mate . Plus, I'm pretty sure that we both know how much I rocked your world by the way you screamin the name of yours truly the other day."

"Yeah, you were pretty fantastic," Lucy's voice sounded more coy than timid now in her airy giggle when peering through the fringe of her lashes. " I've heard other dragonslayers and their mates often rave about how the spectacular a 'romp in the hay'—foreplay included — always is with each other— especially when it's of the makeup or jealousy variety . The latter of which a prime example of just how especially powerful you are when you're riled up—you were on fire!"

"Hell yeah, I was!" Natsu more gloated than crowed,chest puffing out in a cocksure show of pride. "Combine superhuman stamina with the already-higher-than-your-average-human libido of a territorial and protective dragon, who's all fired up after havin' to deal with dipshits that don't know not to try to mack on what isn't theirs , and you're in for a especially good time. I should know— you won't believe how much it turned me on from just hearing all those delicious sounds from all the pleasure- not to mention orgasms— I gave ya."

"Well, you definitely didn't disappoint if the other day was any indication to go by. Speaking of which, how did I perform? I should hope you got just as much as I did out of it— seeing how I care about your experience just as much as my own ."

"Beyond amazing— you were phomenal Luce" Natsu sang Lucy's his mate's exultant praises, leaning in to distribute a fond little peck on her waiting lips so light, that her heart gave a delicate little flutter."You always are."

"Thanks Natsu— always glad to impress. So," Lucy prompted, words dripping with dry amusement. "Now regrading the other alleged prank you pulled. Wanna tell me why I heard rumours of you lurking around the other onsen bathhouse this morning?

"What? You mean that? It's nothing really ," Salamander gave a little wink, while flashing Lucy a conspiratorial grin which exposed the glint of his canines. " Just thought it'd be fun to spice the next bath time up for my fellow bros by dumping a tiny amount of itching powder into the pool. Should be just enough for em' to really feel a difference."

"So it was you."

"Yep, couldn't help myself. Ain't I a stinker ?"

"You're something all right."

"You're damn straight I am. Course' when that was all said and done, I had way too much idle time on my hands." Natsu feigned a whine, bottom lip jutting out in a pout the celestial mage couldn't help but find adorable . "You don't know how much it sucked Luce, being bored out of my mind while waiting for you, bored out my mind, sitting there, twiddling my thumbs, bidin' my time and counting the minutes until I could finally see that beautiful face of yours when you turned up for our date."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Lucy crooned , voice lifting into a taunting, but good natured lilt. "Not to mention cute! Dragon boy was bored waiting for me— how precious!"

"Oi— don't call me that like I'm some kind of hatchling!" Natsu objected,burning heat rising in his cheeks— though there was no real heat to his words. "I ain't precious or cute! I'll have you know that I'm a ferocious dragon-Demon hybrid, a dragon-demon-hybrid !"

"Oh, I don't doubt either of those things" Lucy countered, a glimmer of light-hearted mirth dancing in her honey -brown eyes. "But I also think that doesn't stop you from being so damn precious."

"Yo, what did I say about calling me precious?" huffed the fire wizard, no real bite to his words."Looks like I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson Lucy— I'll make ya' eat your words."

"Oh you are, are you?" Lucy trilled in a sing-song voice. "I'd like to see you try—though I highly doubt you can."

"Oh really— that so? Well then, challenge accepted, " Natsu shot back, words now merely a soft mumur sending a shiver of anticipation rippling across Lucy's skin; He was bowing his head to seal his lips over hers a second later, stealing whatever else she planned to say along with her breath a in a series of delicate little taps; one, two , than three. One hand came up to cup her cheek, the other to rest on the side of her neck when her fingers wrapped around to clasp his wrists at the same time. Natsu's lips much like his magically-heated digits stroking soothing patterns along her skin, were so soft, so smooth, so gentle and sweet moving against hers, that she couldn't help melt into the kiss.

The dragonslayer slayer didn't release his princess yet however, not without his lips coaxing gently against hers until he drew out a euphoric sigh of bliss. Natsu's kisses always had some sort of mystical effect on the celestial mage , those of a searing intensity enough to set her soul on fire, those of a more gentle nature able to turn her bones to mush. His every touch-even the most of casual— was more often than not, enough to practically make her heart skip a beat, not to mention weak in the knees . It was at that exact moment in time Lucy realized - not for the first time- right then and there that she would always belong to her fierce Dragon-etherious, her heart, her soul; not to mention the exploration of form's contours forever his.

And I couldn't be happier...

"Woah... you did it again— swayed me with the spellbinding power of your kiss."

Lucy's voice was no more than a breathy murmur, high off the euphoric afterglow of post-kiss bliss after Natsu pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers.

"Yeah, I've been told I tend to have that effect on people" he rumbled, his warm breath against the celestialmage's skin sending goosebumps rippling through her nerves. Not to mention Lucy could tell by the content hum in his words that he was basking in the after-glow as much as she which made their intimate moment they shared all the more perfect. "And by people, I mean you. Either way, still doesn't change the fact that I'm always gonna have a major soft spot for ya 'Luce— ferocious dragon-demon I may be. In any case, really hope you like what I got planned."

"I do—thank you Natsu," came Lucy' words of warm gratitude before leaning in for another quick kiss. His lips then broke away to shower feathery- light kisses all over the outline of the astral mage's face wet and sloppy enough for a airy giggle to bubble up from out of her throat.

"God, I love you and I love kissing you " Natsu's gravely undertone was nothing short of reverent behind his rambles after drawing back just enough to speak. "And havin' you in my arms, and holding your hand, talking, laughin with ya—pretty much everything really."

"Thanks Natsu, I feel the same way and love doing all of those things with you too," Lucy echoed in an giggle, with a warm affection for this man that resonated through her bones.

"That makes me really happy to hear, Luce. I mean I've always known it to be true since the day we hooked up but still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside every time I hear those sweet words coming from your pretty mouth."

"I'm glad."

"Did I mention how much I love your hair up like this?" Natsu complimented for which he clearly had no qualms about laying on thick the genuine sweet talk which was enough for her heart to flutter . Not to mention his fingers skimming along the contour her cheek when he reached to tuck another errant strand of hair behind her ear with a touch so gentle where sparks raced that she shivered at the intimacy.

"I mean I really like it in other hairstyles too no matter what— but this one really frames your gorgeous face which I’ll never get tired of waking up to each morning."

"Aw—you're being awfully sweet right now!"

"Thanks Luce! Oh and one more thing: I seriously love how those panties make your ass look," He tacked on with a hint of cheeky admiration when leaning over Lucy's shoulder to sneak a quick peek of the view beneath the hem of her kimono . "Yep, definitely like what I see."

"Why Natsu , are you checking me out?" Lucy speculated, voice lifting into a coy-kind-of lilt that she knew was enough to bait her brazen boyfriend into replying.

"Well princess, you know I ain't one to lie to ya," Salamander drawled, flashing her the wickedest of panty-dropping grins, the kind that showed off the glint of his sharpened canines that she swore could melt any poor, misshapen soul with an affinity for the opposite sex-men and women alike- into a puddle-mass-of hormones—herself included.

Especially when he looks at me with those half-lidded onyx -green eyes of his.

"...Since that's never really been my style— so yes, I am. It is a nice view after all."

"Well, I should certainly hope so— I do work pretty hard for this body afterall."

"That you do, Luce" Natsu concurred , words laced with a roguish purr topped off by a wink that made Lucy's heart skip a beat for good measure."and it shows—very sexy".

"Thank you Natsu—you're too kind".

"Thanks Luce—so are you!"

"Thanks and now I think would be a good time to bring up your shoddy attempt of what—you call— an intimation of my voice earlier" Lucy feigned a light reprimand, though there was no real heat to her words."Not your finest work if I do say so myself."

"Please—My impression of you was spot on" Natsu countered in faux dissent though his emerald eyes sparkled with mirth. "And you know it. Some one really should give me a medal right now for how amazing I am at it."

"I dunno... your impression of what you think I sound like leaves much to be desired" came the blonde's reply, words dripping with what could only be described as wry. amusement. "Still not a fan."

"Beg to differ! Oh, how you wound me woman!" Was all Natsu had to say in response, clapping a melodramatic hand over his chest as if her lighthearted words were the equivalent of a direct shot straight through the heart; though it was all for show for the sake of tongue-in-cheek banter she could tell. "How am I ever gonna recover from such a devastating blow?"

"I'm sure you'll live, you big drama king" Lucy quipped with a mild roll of the eyes before shifting the topic to a new subject of focus . "So what's on the itinerary for today? Mira said you had a lot planned today?"

" Oh yeah — you bet I do!" Natsu crowed, words practically bursting at the seams with unbridled enthusiasm. "I got an amazing scheduled packed with romantic activities for us to enjoy together on our date!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me more!"

"Okay, so besides the message some of the girls and Freed thought a nice soak in the bath infused with what's apparently supposed to be 'the finest natural herbs in Firore' and champagne for the two of us would a real nice way to treat ya'and I couldn't agree more!

"Ooh you're right, that does sound really nice!"

"Course it is. It's actually how I found time to do the thing with the itching powder" Natsu admitted with a bit of a sheepish laugh. "Sorry Luce, you know I can't help myself sometimes!"

"Course you can't" Lucy deadpanned, slapping a hand against her forehead. "Ugh, it's official—I'm the mate of a deviant ."

"Yep , though you also forgot to mention that I'm a drop dead sexy badass with plenty of natural charisma ."

"Oh, I did, did I?"

"Yeah, though pretty sure I'll be able to find a way to jog your memory in case you forgot."

"Oh yeah? Prove it ."

"Oh I will, Luce— just you watch".

"Well do it then."

"With pleasure".

He was capturing the celestial mage's lips in a feather-light kiss so sweet that it seemed to have the intended effect of turning her bones to mush a result.

God.. does Natsu really know how to kiss...

"Remind me again" Lucy groused in pretend exasperation when the fire dragon was pulling back a second later ." How is that you always manage to persuade me into changing my mind with just a simple kiss?"

"Duh! It's cuz you love me weirdo!" came Natsu's reply in an affectationate sing-voice, mussing hair atop her crown lightly with his hand all the while; which somehow always enough for her heart to flutter."and the fact that I'm a fantastic kisser certainly doesn't hurt."

"That you are" was what Lucy had to say in a agreement, honey-brown eyes sparkling with vibrant affection. "Top notch".

"Thanks Luce—you're an amazing kisser too!"

"Aw thanks! So the guild's doing throwing another movie night later," Lucy divulged ."Levy happened to mention it at breakfast earlier."

"Ooh awesome!"Natsu trumpeted, for which Lucy could practically hear how psyched he was resonating through his every word. Movie nights at the Fairytail were always a massive hit with every single member-her and the firebreather included— which he was always revved up by; seeing how such an event promised an evening entertainment of a high caliber second only to the low-key quality time best spent one' soulmate along with family and friends from within and outside the guild.

Not to mention, plenty of laughs and mouthwatering cuisine, both of which those in attendance were partially jazzed by -especially one Salamander with his voracious appetite, The blonde realized with an internal wry smirk to herself .

Dude practically devours everything in sight during guild events like these.

"I love those!"

"Good— I'm glad you enjoy them so much" Lucy approved, for which she couldn't help but not to genuinely validate his enthusiasm. Not to mention , find not only said boyfriend's keen anticipation infectious, but also entertaining." I do too. Plus the lacrima flick that was selected should be one you really like."

"Oh yeah? Natsu effused, sounding curious, even more taken by the lure of an all-around great time . " What're they showing tonight?"

"One of the Hobbit movies," Lucy replied with nonchalant enthusiasm."So not Twilight."

"Sweet! The one with the dragon? Such a good movie! Can't say same for that 'Twi-shit' though." The corner of Natsu's lips turned down in a show of contempt, indicating he was less than impressed by said vampire novels . "Can't believe that some lady somewhere got it into her head that it'd be a good idea to write such a lame series where it takes at least 3 books for some confused teenage girl to choose between a sparkly vampire and moody werewolf. What's worse is some talentless Hollywood hack deciding to go and turn it all into a crappy series of movies just to make a quickbuck ."

"Yeah, well,"snickered the celestial mage. "You have the undying devotion of a crazed bunch of 13 year old fan girls to thank for that-myself included when I was that age. Back when I thought Twilight was somehow among the best YA literature had to offer."

"Ugh... remind me, what did you ever see in that crap?"

"Dunno really.. So you interested in coming to the movie tonight?"

"Yeah, of course!" Natsu declared in earnest."Who else am I gonna park on my lap in my arms and steal popcorn from while we watch the movie? Well besides Happy."

"Guess I'll take that answer as a yes which is great especially considering how appealing the first part sounds," came Lucy's thoughtful observation, words dripping with put-on earnestness she knew he would would able to see right through; all while trying not to become sidetracked by his fingers grazing along the being wound around the nape of his neck. "the second part though... not sure if I approve of you mooching off my popcorn."

"Oh please like you're one to talk missy," Natsu hinted, lips breaking into that trademark, infectious grin of his lighting emerald eyes that was a little too cheeky for her heart to handle. "I seem to recall a certain gorgeous blonde of mine freeloading off the popcorn along with the Malteasers I bought when seeeing the movie with Happy, Gray, Erza and some of the others a few weeks back.. You know, the one with all the zombies. You remember, don’t ya?”

"of course I do you dork! and that was a communal snack pack you got for us to share with Happy you dork" Lucy objected with a put-on scoff that seemed to suggest defensive indignation." And you know it! With some of the money that I pitched in on top of yours no less and all this in spite of your whole and I quote 'I'm buying some of the snacks tonight-don't even worry bout ' it Luce. You can always pay or go Dutch with me or someone else another time' spiel. That is until I insisted on 'going Dutch then ' out of fairness and being a good mate since you paid for dinner during one of our last dates but whatever! And besides, it's not like I mooch off you that much anyways."

"What can I say? I like to provide for my mate and little buddy from time to time" Natsu boasted, voice coming out a little too pleased with himself to see any reason ." Just the kind of stand up guy I am— I suppose. Not that I don't appreciate you going Dutch with me even when you didn't have to—or how adorable you sound when you try to imitate me Luce. Though for the record you totally do sometimes steal my snacks from time to time just so we're clear ."

" I do not!" The summoner fired back, another small noise of offence sounding in her throat.

"Yeah, sure, you don't weirdo," Natsu let out a hearty chuckle, vibrations of which resonating through his chest.

"It honestly doesn't happen that much."

"Oh! So you're saying that you don't mooch off me that often , are you?! That's definitely news to me then!"

"It doesn't but when I do steal food that's only cuz' it's a habit I picked up after being around you for so long. Got it?!"

"Sure, whatever you say sweetheart. Glad I could be such a positive influence on you though and tell ya' what," Natsu proposed to said "snack-moocher' who couldn't help but secretly focus on the cozy warmth of his hands now casually resting on her waist. " I'll gladly let ya' mooch off ' some of my popcorn if you promise to let me steal bits of yours in exchange . That and plenty of kisses while you're in my arms for the movie tonight."

"Works for me—we have ourselves a deal!" was all Lucy could say after she no longer could be bothered to keep up the original charade with her pyromaniac before they were exchanging another quick kiss that was brief, but nothing short of sweet. All in all enough to make her heart pitter-patter.

"Okay, I'm definitely even more hyped for the day we're spending together that I was already was before!" Natsu crowed, unable to contain his excitement."Not only am I thrilled about this date, but I also get to kickback with our friends and you in my arms later too! How awesome is that?!"

"Yeah, it's definitely gonna be a fun night!" Lucy concurred, just as enthusiastic as he. "One question though ."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Just something I have on my mind I'd like to share -that's all ."

"Okay, shoot".

"Have you given any actual thought as to what might happen if Erza and Jellal wind up in the other bath while the itching powder is in the filtration system? May not turn out so well for you if they do," Lucy followed up with an inquiry, thoughtful words laced with a dry edge; only to burst into a fit of giggles when the pyromaniac's face visibly turned pale at the implication behind her words.

"Uh no, didn't cross my mind actually" Natsu chuckled, words oozing with a "I-am-so-screwed-if-they-find-out-kind of vibe giving his trepidation away. Not to mention the tight grin plastered all over his face. Lucy noted with a sardonic smirk. Dude's practically sweating bullets-poor guy. "Though I'm sure it can't be all that bad if they do, right? I mean it's not like there's a chance Erza will skin my hide, bust my balls or anything like that. Be a real shame if she did since I really like my dick— the ideal kind plenty of guys would kill for actually."

"I agree, you won't hear me complaining that's for sure-though not entirely sure how we got on the subject on how impressive your dick is."

"Probably cuz you're not only talking' to a dude with that universal he has along with practically every other guy , but also a dragon with an crazy high sex drive and superhuman stamina-specially when it comes to sex-that's really proud of his dick for obvious reasons."

"Yes, though I think we've pretty much already established why that is 'for obvious reasons' like you said."

"Aw thanks Luce— that makes me really glad to hear ya' say that! It's just I love what I can do with it, ya know? I mean it'd really suck if I couldn't fuck or get myself for a week because of an injured you-know-what. Especially cuz of the first part seeing how fantastic the sex with you always is. "

" Definitely don't disagree , but you and your dick references-my god. You can be quite proud, when you wanna be , don't you? Dragonslayers and their egos— not to mention libidos. I swear that both of those seem to skyrocket through the roof once they find their mates . And As if they weren't high enough already— not that I'm complaining. Anyways, I'm sure your dick will be fine."

"I hope so."

"Don't worry I can always help you find a place to lay low for a while if your hypothetical prediction of Erza coming after you does come true ."

"Yeah, I just might have to take ya up on your offer if shit does hit the fan—probably gonna take you and Happy with me too. That way Erza can't go to the most obvious people for answers on where I'm hidin and neither one of us will be bored."

"Whatever works, I'll do."

"Great! Anyways, enough about my dick for the time being. Now's probably bout high time for us to get on with the rest of our date."

"Agreed—let's do it."

"Awesome. How bout' we get you ready for your massage then, yeah?"

"Sounds good— I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Same here!"

To Be Continued

fic tag squad: @writer-appreciation @fuck-yeah-nalu @soprana-snap @phoenix-before-the-flame @nunnatheinsanegerbil @mautrino @rougescribe @goddesofimortality @phoenix-before-the-flame @nalufever @petri808 @thecelestialchick @nalu-natic @superdomo360 @pyroandtheprincess @rayhneatess @nothingbutwordsstuff @petri808 @thecelestialchick @chiire @nalufever @shootingstarssel @chamilsanya @rougescribe @lover-of-the-light117 @rougescribe @narutoyaoifan

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter! The writing process took me a couple months at least to churn out this chapter in its entirety when I originally wrote it- but I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Now to take care of some housekeeping.

1. First things first, I just wanted to make it clear that Natsu was fully given affirmative consent by Lucy during the whole scenario of being on the verge of ravishing her against the massage bed (before even getting to the massage first. as intended). He wouldn't have proceeded if either one of them didn't or would've stopped if consent was withdrawn at any time in case that wasn't already established. Same goes for Lucy, since it wasn't a matter of Natsu not wanting to have sex (he did), but rather him also being worried about spoiling the romantic mood if the order of how events proceeded was out of order .(Pretty sure that as much as he loves having sex with Lucy, he'd also care about the other aspects of the relationship including the feelings of his mate.

Not to mention , he'd be just as mutually invested in the pleasure, feelings and overall experience of sexual and /or romantic encounters of his partner as much of his own ). Neither of the two are the type to make sexual advances on someone without consent which Hiro-sensei established (even in the Stone Age Omake). Yes, I'm well aware of that controversial page in that Nalu comic from January 2018, which I loved overall-final page included except said page that had the fandom up in arms. I ultimately wish Hiro had tackled that particular bottom panel differently, though it wasn't sexual or malicious . Nor he'd condone such actions regarding where the drawing was on Lucy in real life which made it easier to live with in the end. I also would like to point out that I like Hiro, would never write scenes glorifying non-consensual encounters. Whew, glad to have gotten the main part of this off my chest.

2. Anyway, what I would like to bring up next is the fact that Nalu has pretty much been confirmed to be canon in the manga/anime though the ending of the final chapter was left open-ended. Not to mention, it's no surprise to any fan that both Natsu and Lucy both have sexual awareness which means they are capable of experiencing sexual attraction along with the other kinds—especially those that come from being in love or having feelings that transcend beyond platonic boundaries (all which have been depicted in the series). It could also be very well possible that both may have sexual experience, but not very much in the department of romantic relationships. Keep in mind that being sexually experienced is not always an indicator of the romantic relationship kind with sexual intimacy.

(This isn't to say the two are never interconnected by means) In other words, one can have sexual experienced without having much in the way of the romantic department, though obviously they can gain even more of the former from being in romantic relationships where sex is a component. That being said, there isn't really that much of a focus on the possible sex lives of the characters in Fairytail, leaving room for interpretation. (Course Natsu and Lucy are completely compatible as a couple—especially due to quasi-romantic gestures even as friends. There's also the possibility of their relationship being explored further in the potential continuation of Fairytail since the ending of the final chapter left it open for a sequel and Hiro himself mentioned he would like to return to the FT universe (perhaps through a official continuation of some) in addition to his other projects at some point!)

3. At no point were the two belittling anyone's feelings—it was all lighthearted banter.

4. Lucy does have a permanent mating mark on the juncture of her neck near her collarbone put on there by Natsu through a bite. It signifies Natsu consensually claiming her as is (without being abusive or treating her like property) and their unique, eternal bond. (Just in case anyone was wondering!)

5. In this particular fic (like many others), one of the aspects dragonslayers and demons—including some etherious presumably- share in common is having one person (or group of people for the polyamorous though it doesn't apply to Natsu or Lucy since they both prefer monogamy) they're destined to become eternally bonded to for life and beyond in every sense of the word— their mates a.k.a soulmates. Demons however, also consider their mates/soulmates to their queens or kings for which Natsu would obviously consider Lucy to be both (mate/soulmate and queen) since he's a hybrid of a fire dragonslayer and etherious demon. (I think this fact has already been well established throughout the fic so far along with heightened libidos plus their protective and territorial/possessive instincts—without being abusive or viewing their soul-bonded as property mind you- among other traits. And yes, obviously there would be other dragonslayers who have mates with Levy being Gajeel's as one such example). Anyway, it's been a concept and common-but quality-trope I've always loved since reading Inuyasha fics and becoming a Nalu shipper which has greatly inspired my own creative writing in fanfiction over the years. Same goes for demons having queens from from the fantastic plethora of Nalu/End.l.u fics that I'm also a major sucker for including those written by the amazing @mslead and Kytrin.

All right, that's pretty much it in the way of housekeeping for now. Though just a reminder that particular steamy Nalu scene I've been mentioning in will now be in chapter 6— guaranteed! Chapter 6 of Tantric Flames will be also up after I have chance to finish writ and formatting it . All right guys, that's it for now!

Once again , hoped you all enjoyed the most recent installment of Tantric! Don't forget to let me know what you think by leaving a review/comment and feel free to check out of the rest of my writing!(See above closer to the top of post and bio for links if on Tumblr and my fanfiction author page if on there and possibly archive of our own if I can get it all sorted out once I receive my invite ). Special thanks to all my friends, followers, mutuals, readers and everyone who has been supporting me so far— really means a lot! Until next time, take care!

#fairytail #ft fanfiction #nalu #natsu x lucy #natsu dragneel #lucy heartfilia #tantric flames #reblog #review #millennial-star-gazer #millennial star-gazer writes

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