#anyone is free to reach out to me about it btw. because i get it.

[wolfpoets]

anyway. i'm tired of crying my eyes out so i'm just going to say that one day it will be funny that david jenkins was like oh all MY gay characters get a happy ending! except for izzy. fuck him in particular.

#just like god does to me every day! me & iz are the same. #anyway if you're hurting about izzy i see you i understand i am here with you. #anyone is free to reach out to me about it btw. because i get it. #i'm so glad we could all at least suffer together. love the izzy fandom you guys are great.

[yourfatherlucifer]

Our Aurora : Chapter 1

Ot8!Ateez x afab/female!reader

Summary: Attending university with your eight boyfriends wasn’t easy, neither was sharing a mansion with them.

Warnings: MDNI, this mini series includes tons of smut, slight violence, protective ateez, poly relationship, established relationship, mentions of mxm, choking, other smut themes.

WC: 2K

AU: University

Genre: Smut/Fluff

Nets: @newworldnet

Taglist: (open)

Note: GUESS WHOS BACK BITCHES!!!!! Btw please reblog 🤭

Series Masterlist

The greatest benefit of being rich and going to a very prestigious university meant owning your own mansion with your eight boyfriends. That was a lot of lovers but you didn’t mind and neither did they. Of course, there was always someone who’d called you a whore for having so many men to yourself. You would ignore them because you knew your boyfriends loved you, they took care of your every need.

Each man was different, Hongjoong is an art major. Seonghwa is a mathematics major, he’s the nerd of the school. Yunho is an English major, he wants to be a teacher. Yeosang is a cheerleader for the football team. San is a quarterback for the football team. Mingi is a music major but is part of the basketball team. Wooyoung is a dance major. Jongho is part of the soccer team on a scholarship.

One time, Jongho punched one of his teammates in the face for flirting with you in the middle of practice. You had just come from supporting San at his practice, wearing his letter jacket and one of the boys favorite skirts. You had looked so cute cheering on Jongho, he was always so happy to see you there. Though his face had turned sour when he saw his captain walking up to you, a pervy grin on his face.

Oh this infuriated Jongho. Everyone knew at this school that you were taken, yes the relationship was polyamorous but you guys weren’t welcoming anyone else into the relationship. You were happy with just the nine of you.

So to see this vile man reach out to touch you brought pure anger to him. Jongho had charged him, tackling him to the dirt ground. Jongho had broken the man's nose, his knuckles were bleeding. You had to jump the fence to stop your lover. He was nearly kicked off the team until you paid off the school to keep quiet about it. Which he wasn’t very happy about but he got to keep his scholarship so he couldn’t complain. But you rewarded his protective behavior with a blowjob when the two of you got home. Safe to say he got over what you did.

After that, you’d spend time alone in the university’s art room, alone with Hongjoong. You’d sit in his lap while he painted. This was his practice for his future designer line. He wanted his own fashion line but decided on being an art major to help with his goal. His free hand would dance along the inside of your skirt, around the plush of your thighs while his paint brush stroked the canvas in front of him. You’d have to work so hard not to squirm in his lap, else you wanted to be punished for screwing up his artwork. Today was no different.

“Beautiful, you really need to stop moving. You’re gonna mess me up.” He tutted, “You don’t want that, now do you?”

You lightly whined, trying to get off his lap only for him to pull you back down.

Hongjoong didn’t like that you tried to leave him, “You already want to leave me? I thought it was my day?”

“It is your day, Joongie, but, I..” You couldn’t even finish your sentence.

“What is it? Why can’t you stay?”

To answer his question, you dug your ass into his pelvis, “Because, Joongie, I can feel your cock against me.”

Hongjoong set down his paintbrush with a groan, “I really wish you didn’t notice.”

He pushed his wet canvas to the side and bent you over the table, flipping up your skirt, “You’ll let me fuck this pretty cunt, won’t you?”

His words made you quiver, legs threatening to give out beneath you, “Please.”

“Please what, baby? You want me to fuck you so hard that I’ll have to get one of the boys to come pick you up? Cause your brain can only think of my cock?” Hongjoong’s decorated fingers pushed the soaked panties to the side. Your cunt glistening in the light. Just for him.

The moment you felt his lips to your cunt, you let out a loud cry. This man ate out cunt like it was his last meal. He was one of the few of your boyfriends who would even do such a thing.

Your fingers dug into the edge of the table as Hongjoong’s tongue slithered inside of your dripping hole.

Your body lurched forward with his movements. His hands gripped your thighs to let you know he wasn’t letting you go anytime soon. Two of his digits pushed inside alongside his tongue, pushing and prodding against your walls. He had to free one of his hands to massage his bulge, the growing discomfort in his shorts.

Once his cock was freed from its confines, he moaned a sigh of relief. His lips peeled away from your cunt, just to rub his cockhead against your folds, “Baby, you’re so soaked, and it's all for me.”

Ah yes, Hongjoong was very cocky, he knew your cunt belonged to your other boyfriends as well.

As he slowly pushed in, your mouth fell open and your eyes widened, still not used to him, “Ah, Joongie, careful. Stretching me so much.”

Hongjoong dipped his fingers in his paint palette and marked your ass cheeks with color. The cold liquid gave shivers down your spine. The red and yellow contrasted beautifully in his eyes, he couldn’t wait for the day for you to let him paint your body like a canvas. His perverted mind thought it would be a great idea to paint your breasts someday.

He watched as his cock pushed into your cunt, the squelching could be heard quite greatly.

-

Your body laid limp on the table, Hongjoong’s cum flowing out of your cunt, “Well, as much as I wanna go for round two, you’re all spent. I’ll call Yunho to pick you up.”

When your tallest boyfriend arrived, he chuckled at the sight of your exhausted body, “Again, Hongjoong? How rough did you go this time?”

As he stepped closer he could see the paint streaks along your body, your eyes were barely staying open, “Yuyu?” You could hardly call out.

“Hi, my sunshine, I’m here to take you home.” Yunho fixed your clothes and lifted your body onto his back, “Mingi is gonna take good care of you because I can’t. I have students I still need to tutor.”

You whined at his words, “But..want you to be home, all of you to be home.”

He couldn’t help but frown as he walked the two of you out the door, “I know, sunshine, but you know how busy we are. Seonghwa and Mingi are at home. You know the rest have their sports practice, I’m not sure if Wooyoung is home or not, but if he is, you know he’ll cook you a nice meal.” He could feel your ruined panties against his back, he’d have to tell Mingi to change you.

Yunho gently sat you in the passenger seat, reaching in the back to grab a blanket, covering your shaking legs, “Oh, sunshine, he really put you through it.” He chuckled to himself.

“Yunho?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Shut up.”

Yunho looked offended before he went around the car to get in the passenger seat, “You know, as rich as you are, you seem to love to be spoiled only by your eight boyfriends.”

“Yeah well, the money doesn’t matter to me, all that matters is I have you guys. It would be very lonely in that mansion without you boys.” You sighed, fiddling with your fingers.

As the car rumbled to life, Yunho reached over the console to grip your blanket covered leg, “Sunshine, don’t worry, we won’t be going anywhere. We wouldn’t dream of it. You’re stuck with us and us with you.”

-

Yunho honked the horn a couple times and a very rough looking Mingi wobbled out of the front door. He must’ve been sleeping. His white hair was a mess, his black rimmed glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. His shirt was wrinkled and his basketball shorts hung low on his waist. He wore his cute little flip flops too. You did spoil them with designer clothes but sometimes they liked to dress normal, and so did you.

His face brightened up when he saw you in the front seat. He was like an excited puppy as he opened the passenger seat, “Hi Yunho, hello my princess.” Mingi’s plush lips pressed against yours as he leaned into the car, his huge hand practically swallowed your cheek.

Yunho leaned over the console and smacked Mingi’s shoulder, “Come on, lover boy, take her inside and do what I told you, I gotta get back to lessons. I cannot be late.”

“Be nice, Yuyu, he’s just excited to see me.” You unbuckled your seat belt and tossed the blanket in the back. You tried to step out of the car but your wobbly legs nearly gave out on you, luckily Mingi caught you.

“Goodbye Yunho.” You both waved your goodbyes as he drove away.

He carried you inside, already dismissing your butler and cleaning servants earlier. He knew he was about to make you scream in the bathroom, of course he had to be careful, knowing you just had the daylight fucked out of you by one your shared older boyfriends.

He took you up the giant staircase, took a left and brought you into the main bathroom. The massive tub sat in the middle, it was a square marble tub. The inner lining itself was white and had jets hooked in.

After he sat you on the side of the tub, he slowly pulled off your shoes, your socks. His cheeks reddened when he saw the state of your underwear but continued on, removing your clothes.

“Just sit here and look pretty, I’m gonna let the bath run.” He leaned over to turn the hot water on, “Did you need anything else?”

“Do you mind staying with me, Mingi? I’m really sore and don’t want to be alone..I’ll let you clean me?”

Mingi grinned at that, anything for his princess, “Of course I can.” He threw his wrinkled tank top to the side, his glasses falling to the ground but he didn’t care. He was stripped within seconds, proudly standing bare before you.

You slowly sunk yourself into the water and Mingi sat behind you, his chest pressed against your back, “The warm water feel good, princess?”

You let out a moan in contentment, the water already doing wonders on your sore cunt, “Yes, Mingi, it’s amazing, thank you, big boy.”

Minutes after just relaxing in the water, the tall man’s hand slinked around your shoulder to wrap around your throat, “it’s okay, princess.”

You let out a whimper as you could feel his hardening cock from behind.

“I won’t fuck you with my cock because I know you’re hurting, but you can handle my fingers, right?” His husky voice reverberated in your ear. If it wasn’t for the water, you just knew you’d be wet right now.

“Mingi, please, don’t tease me and just touch me.” Your ass pressed against his cock and his grip on your neck tightened in response.

“I’ll touch you but you just can’t move, got it?”

You couldn’t even get out a word before his fingers went for your cunt, still stretched out from Hongjoong.

Your lips curled inward and your head fell back to his chest, “Mingi!” His fingers were already doing wonders.

His heavy breathing was so hard to focus on as his eyes were glued to the way your cunt sucked in his fingers.

Mingi’s fingers were so long they could easily touch your cervix, “I can feel Hongjoong’s cum inside of you, princess, seems like you need a good cleaning, yeah?”

You whined, “He’s your boyfriend just as much as he is mine, ah Mingi!”

His fingers squeezed your throat, “Doesn’t mean I can’t get jealous, this cunt is heavenly.”

His teeth latched onto your shoulder as he quickened his pace, the water was splashing everywhere. His fingers never slowed down. You could feel his calloused fingertips touching your walls. Those guitar playing fingers.

“Come on, princess, cum for me, cleanse that delicious cunt for me.” He let out a growl.

With your cunt still overstimulated, your orgasm came quick and flooded around his fingers.

He pulled out his fingers with a smile, watching as the water washed the cum from his fingers, “Oh, princess, seems you came a lot..” Mingi kissed along the crevice of your neck while you whined in exhaustion.

“Mingi, please, need..bed.” You could barely keep your eyes open.

“Sure, princess, let’s go get some rest in.”

#newworldnet #ateez x reader #ateez smut #hongjoong smut #san x reader #x reader #choi san x reader #seonghwa smut #mingi smut #wooyoung smut #Jongho smut #Yeosang smut #Yunho smut

[avianyuh]

Tattoos; Yuta Nakamoto

{A/N; what inspired this was my Dating Yuta post (btw ty for all the support on that) but idk there's just something about Yuta that always gets me. But anyways, I think I had mentioned something about tracing his tattoos in that post, and I just wanted to expand on that idea so I hope you <3 it. Though it is kind of short. I guess this is the one shot I kept saying I was going to write. THIS IS NOT SMUT, but it's a lil suggestive because for my scorpio king, I had to make this a little 'shmexy' :))))) Okay, anyways hope you enjoy, Mwahhhhh}

~

Tattoos for reference;

~

Yuta had been home for a few days, which had always been a rarity in your relationship.

He was a hard worker and very dedicated to his job. But that meant that you didn't get to see him as much as you would have liked.

But the past few days, you've had him all to yourself.

This meant that you would barely let him get out of bed.

You just wanted to have him as close to you as possible. He was your baby, your love. You wanted to make sure that before you sent him back off into the world of long hours dancing, and touring, doing interviews and endless promotions, you made sure he knew how much you loved him.

Especially his relatively new tattoos. Since he had gotten them, you had been obsessed. You didn't think he could possibly have gotten any more attractive than he already was but yet, here you were.

Which brings you to now. One of your last days off with Yuta.

He was lying in bed and you were on top of him. He was laughing as you were planting kisses all over his face. You also began to slowly unbutton his shirt, continuing to kiss him by making your way down to his chest.

He inhaled sharply, giving you the intense stare you loved so much.

You hummed as you slowly caressed his toned stomach with your hands, feeling the definition of his abs.

You continued to kiss down his stomach, then to his abdomen and finally made your way down to his hips, where his tattoos were situated.

You moved yourself off of him, and sat down, criss crossed to his side.

You started to delicately trace his butterfly tattoo, that happened to be your favorite one of his. The you moved your hand a little lower so you were tracing over the words 'No Apologies' tattoed on his skin. You took your time on each word. Yuta watched you, the feeling of your finger lightly tracing his skin made his eyes flutter closed for a few seconds. He opened his eyes, looking at the clock on the nightstand. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon, he couldn't fall asleep. "Y/nnnn, you're making me sleepy", he said, nudging you with his free hand. You giggled as you crawled over him to move to the other side so you could continue to trace his other tattoos. "Why do you like my tattoos so much?", Yuta asked you quietly, trying to hold back his smile.

"I don't know", you shrugged, "They're all so pretty and they make you happy and seeing you happy about them makes me happy. Plus...I think they're hot", he laughed at your response, appreciating your honesty. Yuta wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he loved knowing that he had the ability to get you all worked up over him. Especially with something as miniscule as a few tattoos. He sat up in bed and reached over for you, pulling you into his lap. Kissing your cheek. Then he took your chin in his grasp and moved your face a little to the side so he had access to your lips. He kissed you and then let go.

"I love you", he said, before moving his lips down to your neck.

"I love you too", you said in a whisper, closing your eyes and turning your neck to the side, giving him more access.

#nct #nct 127 #nct u #yuta #nakamoto yuta #nct yuta #yuta fanfic #nct fluff #nct imagines #yuta smut #nct x reader #yuta fluff #kpop #kpop writing #nct writing #nct 2023 #nct masterlist #kpop masterlist

[darl-ings]

Hey! Could you write a y/n fic about going to a bookstore cafe with Wonwoo for the first date? Maybe a walk along the park after that and a little kissing in front of the apartment door at the end? 🥺

fireproof | jeon wonwoo

pairing: wonwoo x reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none 

word count: 2321

summary: in which you and wonwoo go on your first date

a/n: sorry this took so long omg... i just wanted to write the perfect fic for my first request!!! i hope you enjoy it anon <3 feel free to request more in the future btw! i loved your request <333 (also this is not at all proofread you have been warned)

“To have and to hold, where even death cannot part us. In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours. Those are my vows to you.”

“Romance, hm? I didn’t pin you as the type to enjoy that genre.”

The voice behind you gently pulled you from your book’s world, a small smile already gracing your lips as you turned back to face the owner. There, your date, Wonwoo, stood with a tote bag draped over his shoulder. He wore a grey cardigan, along with a pair of dark-wash jeans and the black Converse he’s been wearing since freshman year of college. You noticed he had styled his hair out of his face, a boost to your ego, really, because it meant he wanted to look good for you. You had once told him that he looked handsome with his hair out of his face, and it seemed like he got the message. 

“Romance is only a subgenre of this series, Jeon. There’s action, heartbreak, monsters–”

“Spoilers! I thought you brought that for me to read!” Wonwoo whined playfully, moving to take a seat in the chair across from you. He hung his tote bag on the back of the chair before pulling out a book. He placed it on the table, hands covering the front cover before you could see it. “Before you make fun of me, I want you to know that this book was recommended to me by Joshua, so if you want to make fun of anyone, make sure it’s him.”

“But surely you enjoyed it, if you’re recommending it to me? So you have to get some teasing as well, you know,” you stated, the seemingly permanent smile on your face keeping you from sounding serious. You shut the book in your hand, placing it on the table before leaning forward. “You’ve intrigued me now. What is it? The Fault in Our Stars? 50 Shades of Grey?” 

“God, no. But… you’re not far off, I guess,” Wonwoo trailed off, resting back against his chair as his hands moved from the book. You glanced down at the bright red cover, a small chuckle escaping your lips. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. 

“Wonwoo…”

“I said not to make fun of me!”

“I didn’t even say anything yet! I just… I can’t believe you brought me my mom’s favorite book.”

Wonwoo groaned, moving to grab the book back. You reached out quickly, hand covering his own as you stared at him. “Don’t! I’m sorry, I was just teasing,” you reassured, squeezing his hand gently. Both of your cheeks were warm, but neither of you made a move to pull away. “I actually really loved the movie for this. It made me cry, like, a lot.” 

“Well, maybe that’s a good thing,” he shrugged, eyes glancing down at your hands. His fingers itched to lace themselves with yours, but he held back the urge. Do people hold hands on first dates? He couldn’t remember first date etiquette. “If you cried for the movie, you’ll already know what to expect and won’t cry again.”

“I like crying, though,” you admitted, Wonwoo’s eyes looking up to meet yours. “I don’t cry often about the things in my life, so when a movie or a book makes me cry, it feels nice.”

Wonwoo blinked. You sighed, an airy chuckle escaping your lips as you pulled your hand away from his. “Sorry, that was–that was weird to say. I sounded like a psychopath, geez.”

“No, you’re um… you’re good. I don’t cry often either. Don’t think you’re weird or anything.”

The pair of you shot smiles towards each other, you nodding your head as you leaned back in your seat. 

“Right… thanks.” You grabbed your own book, holding it up for him to see, “Um, this is probably my favorite book ever. It’s called These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong. Two gangs in Shanghai, fighting for dominance. The heirs love each other but circumstances keep them apart… it’s a series, actually. And, it’s um… inspired by Romeo and Juliet. I think I remember you saying you like Shakespere?”

Wonwoo thought for a second, trying to think of when he told you that. Suddenly it clicked. Two years ago, in your shared Photography class, you and Wonwoo were partnered for a beginning of the semester project. You had to learn about each other through photos, and share those photos to the class so everyone could get to know each other. Wonwoo took pictures of your cats, your daily coffee orders, and your messily organized desk, while you took pictures of his roomates, his cardigans, and his books. He had a bookshelf full of books, ranging from nonfiction to children picture books. He let you borrow a book, once, for your English project. It was Romeo and Juliet, and the pages were covered with annotations and notes from Wonwoo. You brought up his love for Shakespere one day at the school’s cafe, where you had found him reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the corner with a hot chocolate in front of him. 

“I just like how he writes things. Especially love.” 

“I can’t believe you remember that,” he mumbled, but you managed to hear it. Your cheeks became even warmer, nearly threatening to burn your skin (at least, that’s how being around Wonwoo made you felt; on fire).

“I tend to remember things about people I like, so…” you let out. You laughed awkwardly before standing up and grabbing your wallet from your own tote bag. “I’m going to order coffee. What would you like?”

Wonwoo raised a brow at your sudden nervousness, unable to hold back the cocky smile now on his lips. He shook his head at your words, standing up himself and grabbing his own wallet. “I’ll buy the coffee. Still drink Iced Americanos? One pump of chocolate syrup and extra ice, right?”

Your arms fell to your sides, staring at Wonwoo with a look he couldn’t decipher. The last time Wonwoo asked for your coffee order was your senior year of college, after one long morning when you regrettably told Wonwoo you’d join him at the gym. That was four years ago. 

“You remembered?” you asked, voice soft and vulnerable. Wonwoo’s smile turned soft, his head nodding. 

“I tend to remember things about people I like,” he repeated your words. “Go ahead and start reading. I’ll order our drinks,” he said, switching the books around on the table so Me Before You was now in front of your chair. You watched as he looked at you once more before heading to the front counter of the cafe. Slowly, you sat down, eyes lingering on your date for a few more moments. With one final smile, you shook your head and picked up the book, eyes finding scribbled notes on the first page. 

Can I dedicate books that aren’t mine to people? Why not? 

To Y/N. Thank you for agreeing to going on this date with me. I hope you enjoy this love story as much as I did. 

P.S. I can see you smiling. Keep that smile under control or I might end up falling harder for you. 

Your date with Wonwoo went on for another three hours, the pair of you switching from reading your books to having conversations about everything and nothing. You had to admit, you were a bit sad that it seemed as if the date was coming to an end. Wonwoo was throwing away your trash, and you packed away Wonwoo’s book in your bag while grabbing the one you recommended him, holding it to your chest as you waited for him to come back. You couldn’t help but smile at him, watching as he nearly tripped over someone’s bag and apologized profusely, even though no damage had been done. He scratched the back of his neck bashfully as he approached you. 

“I–”

“This date–”

You both paused, laughing at the overlap of your words. Wonwoo held his hand out, gesturing for you to speak first. You took the book in your hand, pressing it gently against his chest. 

“This date was fun, Wonwoo. I’m happy you asked me to come,” you stated, moving your hand back once he had a grip on the book. “I’ll admit, I’m a little disappointed that it’s over.”

“That’s what I was going to say,” he admitted. “I was going to say that I… um, I know a park not too far from here. Maybe a couple blocks down that way,” he pointed his arm out. “We could walk for a bit, then maybe I could drop you off at your apartment? If you’d like?”

So you and Wonwoo made your way to the nearest park, books away and attention on each other and the beautiful scenery. Seoul in Summer was one of the prettiest sights you’ve ever seen, and you were happy to be witnessing it with Wonwoo. He had taken his cardigan off, revealing a white t-shirt that made his arms look a little too bad for your mental health. You chuckled at your thoughts, gaining Wonwoo’s attention quickly. 

“Something funny?”

“No–no, I’m just… really happy.” 

Your words brought another blush to Wonwoo’s face. His shoulders brushed against yours, your hands threatening to touch as you moved closer to him to get out of a runner’s way. 

“I’m glad. I’m happy too.” 

You hadn’t noticed, but Wonwoo was staring down at you, eyes gleaming and smile beaming. You truly did look happy, Wonwoo thought, observing the crinkles of your eyes and the permanent smile you held. As he continued to watch you, he didn’t notice the child biking down his side of the sidewalk. Your eyes widened, grabbing Wonwoo’s hand and pulling him to your side. The sudden movement caused Wonwoo to crash in to you, your arms quickly wrapping around his torso to prevent him from falling over. Once you had both regained balance, you look at each other with similar shocked expressions. 

“Nearly fell for me, huh?” you broke the silence with a teasing grin, watching Wonwoo’s face scrunch up as he laughed. You stepped back, your arms now on your side. Wonwoo was quick to prevent you from getting too far, his hand finding yours with ease. 

“Nearly have,” he grinned back, suddenly stepping towards you to be close once again. “Is this okay?” he asked, eyes glancing down at your joined hands. You bit back a smile at his sudden quiet voice, nodding at the man. He nodded back, pulling you with him gently to resume your walk back to your apartment. Unfortunately, your apartment wasn’t too far from the park, the rest of the walk only taking five minutes. As you approached your apartment building, you couldn’t shake away the familiar feeling of disappointment once again. You didn’t want to let Wonwoo go just yet, but after spending nearly four hours together, you knew it was time to say goodbye. The sun was beginning to set, and Seoul’s quiet atmosphere was soon beginning to change into its infamous, youthful nightlife. 

“This is me,” you told him, stopping in front of the doors of the building you lived in. You attempted to pull your hand back, but Wonwoo only held on tighter. His eyes were glued to the concrete floor, his Adam's apple bobbing as he gulped. 

“I want to see you again,” he began, his thumb now softly caressing your hand. “Soon. Like… tomorrow? We can go to this cat cafe by my place, then maybe… maybe you could come over and we could watch a movie? Avengers?”

You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your lips at his suggestion. You nodded soon after, watching the brightest smile spread across Wonwoo’s face. “My cats won’t be too happy about me cheating on them, but maybe the scent will go away after I spend time at your place.”

“So… that’s a yes, then? I don’t want to seem desperate, but I really like you, Y/N. In fact, I’ve liked you since our freshman year and when you agreed to go out with me I was so nervous. I searched for hours through my library to find a book that I thought would be perfect for you, and I thought I was going to have a panic attack but I remembered that you read The Hating Game once so I assumed you like cheesy romance novels, and I–”

You stepped forward, your free hand placing itself on the back of Wonwoo’s neck as you leaned forward to press your lips to his. The first kiss was messy, teeth clashing from Wonwoo being caught of guard. You pulled away, but Wonwoo didn’t let you get too far before he grabbed your hips and pulled you against him. Your lips met once again, this time the kiss being less rushed and more pleasant. After a few seconds, you both pulled back, foreheads resting against each other and deep breaths leaving your lips. You grinned, and Wonwoo brought his hand up to the back of your neck. He caressed your skin gently, eyes meeting yours.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Wonwoo. Same time as today?” you questioned, feeling him nod. You both pulled back, with you leaning forward once again to press a quick kiss to the corner of his lips before turning around and heading into your apartment building. As you disappeared through the doors, Wonwoo sighed, his hand moving up to ghost over his lips. 

Wonwoo prayed for the first time in a while when he got back home, begging whoever was listening to not let your romance end in a tragedy. He may love Shakespeare, but the man certainly didn’t write happy endings. However, a part of Wonwoo believed that your romance would be one of happiness. He prayed once more before getting ready for his night-in, thinking about seeing you tomorrow with a smile on his face.

#jeon wonwoo #wonwoo x reader #wonwoo imagines #wonwoo fluff #svt imagines #svt fluff #svt x reader #wonwoo #seventeen #svt fic

[not-goldy]

just because he sings all JMs songs on his live- to promote his music to his unique fans, boost his reach, generate sales from the free ad and marketing- doesn't mean he supports him."

LMAO NO WAY you really think jungkook put jimin's songs out to a bigger audience? how insulting wow. i see now you are one of those jikookers who think jungkook is the bigger artist between the two right... right... how could i forget those stream increases after those handful of lives (never happened btw nice reach jungkook!) or how it boosted jimin's sales (never happened again) no you're right so kind of superstar jungkook to help poor jiminie lmfao give me a break. honestly a shame god free jimin from the likes of you

Screech like a pterodactyl all you want numbers don't lie. And i know you are dumb but Unique fans simply means, in marketing terms, fans of Jungkook who are not fans of Jimin or BTS.

You, as a solo, will count as a unique fan of Jimin while I by virtue if being both Jk Stan and Army as will not count as Jm's unique fan even if he's my bias because I fall within the intersect on the fan venn diagram.

Common sense, should tell you- you don't need to be a marketing expert for this- cross promoting eachother to eachother's unique audience is good for business. If not, hybe wouldn't spend so much money building a platform like Weverse using BTS's massive fan base as leverage and even sometimes deliberately sending notifications of other groups to us acting like it was an accident.

Since they have the same fans, there would be no need for any BTS member to show up on Suga's shows to promote nothing yet here we are- does that make Suga a bigger star than Jimin or Jungkook or any member he features on his show?? Are you stupid?

You are wrong and you know it. Your toxic ass tryna create drama but no one's falling for it mate 😹

I'm glad you enjoy my emojis and gifs- they are cute aren't they😊

Now take your attention seeking drama queen crown off to the misery lounge and bitch complain to the other miserable folks in your band.

You will sit here and complain about Jimin not being pushed and supported and given the same treatment as Jungkook yet turn around puffing your chest out alleging Jimin is bigger and needs no damn support from no one let alone Jungkook.

Choose a struggle. Choose a narrative and stick with it. If JM is big and powerful and successful all on his own why the hell does he need assistance from anyone at all?

And I agree he doesn't need Jk's assistance. What is that going to do for him? Why give Army and Hybe trouble for focusing their energies and resources on the poor helpless ones with the actual problems who need help and support from fans and the company?

Since Jimin got his degree and he knows everything- don't you think it makes sense why Jungkook should be pushed and supported by well everyone? Poor Jungkook he needs to be pushed to be put on the same scale as his successful hyung because he is lacking.

Guys like share and comment Jungkook needs all the help he can get

And turn out your pockets we need money for studio

While we are at it the Pride fight for love shirts are out

Let's do our thing and sell out. We need the money to buy handcream. And keep streaming to keep him on bb🥂

Yall keep setting Jimin up it's crazy

If he wasn't my bias, I wouldn't even want to mention him post him or talk about him to avoid attracting lunatics like you.

Makes a lot of sense why Big OT7s stay far away from Jimin. His solos are toxic as fuck.

And to think, we show random kpop idols love just because BTS mention them or talk about them.

Too many of us had no choice than to accept Jikook just because Jimin fucks with jk. We all have our own ship preferences and yet here we are.

Not long ago I had my own people call me out for supporting Taemin when he'd been accused of making colorist remarks. I could Stan the devil if Park Jimin smiled at him just once. It's crazy the vitriol and hate towards Jungkook even though he's Jimin's favorite- a fact he's made known and iterated over and over.

Naa Jimin, it's time to put timberland boots in the guts of some of your so called Stans. They can't call themselves your stans and hate your family it's crazy.

And I used to hate Army for hating on Jm stans and solos but godamn I'm gonna have to jump on that bandwagon.

Free Jimin from Me, Mr Jimin will pick me choose me over your pathetic ass any day. Wanna bet?

Talking bout yea Jungkook did all that for Jimin but it was in the pandemic years ago- well Hobi went to support him eons ago what's up?

Jk sent trucks to his friends a while ago. So what's your point?

Jimin earned BBs months ago what's your point?

Hybe abused and traumatized him years ago, what's your point?

Nothing you say matters hereon, from your own logic, since they happened years, months, weeks, days, hours and minutes ago- so again what's your point bringing any of them up?

You're gonna act like you know shit when we only know what these men CHOOSE TO MAKE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE.

Imagine judging someone by the little to no knowledge you have of him and what he does behind the scenes.

Not too long ago he was an asshole and fuck boy with zero social skills- now suddenly he's the model friend sending out trucks and buying jewelry for his friends??

YOU AINT SHIT

[galexiee]

Chilly night.

Hotch x Reader (anyone)

I could possibly make this another part btw hehe. hope u enjoy xx.

Word count: 1.3k

TW: physical abuse. And lovey dovey shit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a cold chilly day but the sun was beaming bright and warm. A few days ago, you had gotten dumped by your ex because they just ‘fell out of love’ but you knew it was because your job was your number one priority and they could never understand that. It was for the best though because they were starting to get a bit physical and hit you a few times. You never told the team because you they’d get involved and you didn’t need that right now. All you need though is a little compassion and you are in need to feel loved. 

“Hey y/n are you okay?” JJ asked. “Yeah of course, it’s just a bit drafty in here”. “No worries y/n, I’ll just the window” Garcia said with a smile. You smiled back as a way of thanking her. JJ nodded and proceeded to talk about the case in the round table room. We’re alongside Hotch, Rossi, Emily, Spencer, Garcia, and Morgan.  “Okay wheels up in 20” Hotch said.

We landed in Maine and a sudden burst of wind swept the team.  “Fuck its cold” Emily joked around. “Language Prentiss” Hotch said sternly. “Whoops sorry” Emily said while Morgan laughed at her. “Shut up Morgan” Emily snapped. “Prentiss?!” “Sorry Hotch”.

Throughout the investigation you noticed Hotch keeps staring at you like he’s trying to figure out what’s wrong. “Stop the profiling Hotch” I snapped without thinking. “What’s wrong y/n?” he asked sympathetically. “Nothing why?” you asked back. There was a moment of silence because he answered. “As much as you want to hide it, I know what happened. I haven’t told anyone else. I ran into y/ex/n and he told me part of it but I connected the rest.” “Hotch I need help” I pleaded. You suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over you because he was the first and only person you felt like reaching out to. “Of course I’m here to help I” Hotch got cut off as Emily and JJ walked into the conference room. “Hey Hotch, y/n, we think we have the profile ready.” JJ told us. “Okay let’s get the team together” Hotch told them. Emily and JJ walked out and you started to follow but Hotch grabbed your hand to stop you. His hands are warm which sent shivers down your spin. “Hey y/n we’ll talk later okay?”  he said with a smile. A SMILE? “Yes of course Hotch”. 

Later that night, we returned to the local hotel and started checking in.

"Sorry, team, there are only four rooms available, so you'll have to double up," the hotel manager informed us.

"Well, we know Pretty Boy will have his own room," Morgan groaned, earning a playful smirk from Reid.

"JJ and I will share," Emily quickly volunteered.

"I'll go with Rossi," Morgan chimed in, nudging Rossi playfully.

"Okay, that leaves y/n and I. Everyone, get some rest; we have a big day tomorrow," Hotch declared, shouldering not only his bag but also mine. I caught Emily's eye, and she gave me a cheeky smile.

Hotch gave me the bathroom as common courtesy while he unpacked. “The shower is free Hotch” I told him as I walked out of the bathroom.

“Since we’re going to be sharing a room why don’t you just call me Aaron?” He confessed. “Okay Aaron, the shower is free” I asked jokingly and smiled at him while he smiled back. I got a sudden jerk in my stomach. It felt a lot like butterflies. No, it can’t be butterflies, can it?

Around 20 minutes later Aaron walked out with dripping wet hair and his abs defined through his pyjama top. “It’s a bit cold tonight” I said breaking the ice a bit.

“Yeah it is, do you want to talk about it now?” Aaron asked straight away. I nodded and I moved over to his bed and sat at the end. He sat opposite to me.

“They hit me a few times. Whenever they got mad at something they’d take it out on me.” I stated. Tears started to fill my eyes. Hotch suddenly got up and grabbed a box of tissues.

“Take your time y/n”. Aaron said with a calming voice.

“I didn’t want anyone to know because I knew the team would overreact and I just didn’t want that”. 

“Fair enough y/n. Would you like me to do anything for you?” Aaron asked.

I laughed and said, “I could go for some BBQ pringles right now”. Aaron laughed as well. There was a moment where we caught each other’s eyes and felt like nothing else mattered.

“Right well I think I’m going to get some sleep. Goodnight y/n.”

“Night Aaron”.

About ten minutes later we were in our own beds and I was freezing my ass off. My teeth were shattering and my body was shaking.

“Y/n what’s up?” Aaron asked.

“I am just really cold that’s all”.

“Hold up” Aaron got out of his bed and rustled through the hotel closest and found an extra blanket. He turned the light on so he could see. He placed the blanket on me and I instantly got warm. He pulled the blanket right up so it was nearly covering my face. His hand gently grazed my cheek and we both stopped and stared into each other. 

“why don’t we sleep in the same bed? We’ll keep each other warm.” I blurted and automatically regrated it. “Sorry if that was inappropriate” I told him.

“No, it wasn’t.” Aaron insisted as he went over to turn the light off and then climbed into the other side of my bed. He scooped me into his arms and we both moved around to get comfortable.

“Is this okay?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you Aaron” I said as I looked up to him. Suddenly I felt his warm, soft lips on mine and he engulfed me into a tender kiss. I kissed him passionately and he did so back.

“Wake up y/n and hot- woah what’s happening in here” Morgan said as he was caught by surprise that Aaron and I were in the same bed and cuddling. We must of fell asleep last night. All I can remember is we made out and then called it a night.

“We were really cold last night so uh yeah” I said. It was the truth but it really didn’t feel like it was.

“mhm sure it was” Morgan laughed and walked out so we could change.

“How are you feeling today?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah I’m okay. And thanks again for last night we should defiantly bunk more together.” I joked.

“No doubt we will be. And about the other part, y/n I don’t want this to ruin our friendship but do you think we could grab dinner one night?” He anxiously said.

“Oh yeah sure” I smiled at him. He embraced me in a bear hug and then we got ready for the day.

Aaron sent me out on field work with Reid and by the time I got back I noticed a present with a card that had my name on it. 

“Ooh who is it from?” Reid asked as I opened the card. But the card only had ‘you said you could go for some’ written on it. I was confused and then opened the box to see three packs of BBQ pringles and a box of chocolates.

“Aw lucky I want some” Reid groaned and I shut the present. Aaron walked in and smiled. ‘Thank you’ I mouthed to him and he kept on smiling. Aaron pulled out his phone and my phone alerted with my text message tone.

Hotch: I hope you’re feeling okay, we’ll “talk” more tonight ;).Me: TYSM, can’t wait for the “talking” :)”.

#aaron hotch x you #aaron hotch imagine #criminal minds #thomas gibson #aaron hotchner #aaron hotch hotchner #aaron hotch fanfiction #aaron hotchner smut #aaron hotch x reader #aaron hotch fluff

[babeeangel]

sitting on itzy's lap out of habit.

Chaeryeong - fluff - 609 words

Other verions: Yeji - Lia - Ryujin - Chaer - Yuna

Chaeryeong: would instinctively push you off, then regret and talk you into coming back, swearing she won't let herself be surprised again. She would be super nervous the whole time tho, so it's not that comfortable.

why is it my itzy content is flopping ? where are MIDZY ? hahaha, i find this writing very cute, had the idea while i was reminiscing a mini apple flavored kit-kat i bought in Japan... (btw i try not to care when sumtin flops. It's hard bcos social media made me used to look forward to big numbers but hey, i write for myself and the niche fandoms that could enjoy it-)

Through the screeching sound of chairs being dragged on the floor, people starting to chat again and the door getting opened by the teacher, you search for your phone in your school bag. On the tip of your fingers, you feel it and grab it as you’re lifting your head up. There you saw her, sitting on her chair, hair all over her notebooks. ChaerYeong was still writing something and didn’t even bother to look at you. You got up and started pushing your chair back under your desk, when you remembered you had something for her. Well the both of you. You reach again to your bag, taking out two mini kit-kats, one strawberry flavored, the other peach. You got up again and started walking to your friend. She still hadn;t turned her head, but she knew you were coming anyway.

“Sup Y\N ?” She greeted, without even looking at you, still finishing up prettifying her notes. “3rd period is still as boring as ever, but great. Chaer, we have a 10 minute break, better make the most out of it, stop thinking about class for 10 lovely minutes”, you answered. “Hm right’. She suddenly started tidying up her desk and putting her books away. When she was done, she pushed her chair back, to be further away from her desk. She finally turned diagonally to see you better. “I don’t wanna get up tho. It’s not like there’s anything interesting to do anyways”. “True”, you agreed, looking at your kit-kats. You handed the strawberry one to her, which she accepted, thanking you softly. You knew she’d prefer it anyway.

As you started opening its wrapper, you mindlessly started sitting on her lap. I mean, it’s not like there was another free seat. But you could only start bending your knees that Chaeryeong had already pushed you off. “W-what are you doing ?!” Embarrassed that she reacted too loudly, she looked around her to see if anyone was staring at her, but thankfully no one cared. The classroom was so busy, everyone was focused on their own thing. Unimpressed, you looked at her face. She seemed flustered more than mad, so it was okay, it’s not like you broke any boundaries, just caught her by surprise. 

“Uhm well nothing, just sitting sorry”. No hard feelings nor embarrassment in your tone, you just dead-pan started eating your kit-kat. Realizing she might have overrated, Chaer started talking you out into coming back: “Sorry, I, uh was startled. But come, it’d be unfair for you to stay standing while I'm comfy here.” After a few back and forths, you finally accepted and placed yourself on her lap.

You were both facing the table, but you turned your head back to her when you were talking. “You have a peach one right ? I wanna try it please, can I ?” You nodded as you stretched your arm behind you. She stuck her head up and took a bite out of the chocolate. As she expressed her delightment (“Mhmm that’s what im talking about !”), you whispered under your breath that she was so cute. She heard it, of course, and you felt her whole body tense up. I mean tense up even more than it already was. 

To be completely honest, sitting with her was not the most comfortable thing ever, because she was so nervous. But spending time close to her like this, made you overlook that.

A\N: did you like it ? My fav itzy song recently is snowy. Comeback was announced this mornin !

#itzy #itzy headcanons #itzy fluff #itzy x reader #itzy imagine #itzy chaeryoung moodboard #itzy chaeryeong #chaeryeong x reader #chaeryeong #lee chaeryeong #lee chaeryeong x reader #chaeryeong imagine #chaeryeong fluff

[rorywritesjunk]

((⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠) fwufwufwu I am kind of digging these two ngl. Implied sex btw and apologies this got kind of long?)

Tagging @hey-august

Pt 3

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Sunny asked when she saw the stacks of paper, dish of cigar ends, and the half empty bottle on his desk. She wished he would keep some kind of schedule. It wasn't helpful to anyone if Crocodile was missing out on sleep and in a foul mood the next day.

"Soon, darling." He assured he beckoned her over to him. She approached him, letting herself be pulled into his lap. He was still in his regular clothes, having made no effort to destress from the day. She had bathed and changed into a nightgown for him. "How did the talk with the clown go?"

"He's going to try and earn back money by opening up a circus." Sunny told him as she leaned into his chest. "I told him if he amazed me then I'd see about having a third of his debt dropped."

Crocodile chuckled softly as his hand slid up her thigh, fingers caressing her skin softly. "Since when do you negotiate for me?"

"Since I went to talk to a clown who showed me a card trick." Sunny replied as his hand traveled under her nightgown. "I'll return tomorrow to see what he has in store."

"Is that so?" He grinned, shaking his head as she pushed his hand away and turned around in his lap to straddle him. "That time away from me really did change you, didn't it, darling? Before you would have just let him be free of the debt out of the kindness of your heart but now you want something in return."

Sunny reached up to touch his face, letting her thumb brush over the end of his scar. He reached up to grab her wrist. Normally she wasn't very affectionate with him, though sometimes she would rub his shoulders, kiss him on the cheek, even initiate sex with him. Right now she just wanted to touch his face, her fingers burning from the sensation of touching Buggy's earlier that she knew she needed to remember how her husband's skin felt.

"Well, I took time to grow because I didn't want to be pushed around." She shot back gently.

"I have never pushed you around." He growled softly as Sunny removed her hand from his face and started to unbutton his shirt.

"I never said you did." She retorted before kissing his jaw, trailing down to his chin slowly as she pushed his shirt open. "I simply didn't want someone to have the opportunity to do so."

Crocodile watched her for a moment as she began kissing his neck and throat, running her fingers through his clothes, untucking his shirt before she reached down to undo his pants. He grabbed her wrist, startling her.

"At my desk, really?" He teased as she gave him a pout. "What do you want?"

"Am I not allowed to please you?" She asked quietly, looking up at him as he brought her wrist to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her pulse point before biting down on her skin. She gasped softly when he did that, closing her eyes for a moment as he let out a laugh.

"You are more than welcome to, but I'm wondering what the occasion is." He said as he trailed his kisses from her wrist and to the crook of her arm. "You always tell me when you want something."

"I do tell you, yes." Sunny hated that he could have her trembling under his touch like this; simple, gentle kisses were enough to have her begging for him in the end. "And the only thing right now I want is my husband in bed tonight, that's all."

He glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow before biting into her skin, earning him a sharp hiss from her. He didn't want to disappoint her so without warning he stood up, holding her in her arms like she weighed nothing before he headed to their bedroom for the night. If that's all she wanted then he would give it to her.

~

When she woke up the next morning, burrowed under the blankets while the sun peaked in through the window, she realized how much she didn't want to get out of bed. Sunny pulled the blankets back far enough to see Crocodile was already out of bed and no doubt working. She looked to the bedside table and saw a note for her, saying he loved her and to take it easy.

When didn't she take it easy?

A maid came in with a plate of fruit, eggs, bacon, and toast for her. Sunny rubbed her eyes and sat up. They always seemed to know when she was about to wake up. She kept the covers up high to cover herself, noticing her nightgown draped over the foot of the bed.

"Your outfit for the day has been picked out, Miss." The maid said as she set the tray down. "Let me know if you need help."

Sunny took a bite of a banana with a frown as the maid left her. Why would it already be picked out? Her only plan was to go see Buggy's attempt to put on some kind of show for her. With 24 hours to plan and get it ready, she didn't have high hopes for it at all.

She sighed and finished her breakfast. She didn't want to go to this but she had suggested it. It was only fair.

~

A casual sky blue dress was what her husband picked out. He always preferred seeing her in dresses as he liked how they looked on her body, not to mention having her arms and neck exposed, showing the world the marks he left on her the previous night, was something he liked as well. She had her hair down for this, wondering what to expect as she made her way to the tent. Someone was outside waiting for her and as she got closer she saw Buggy.

He seemed to be taking it seriously. His hair was back in a pony tail, his pants were red with a black stripe down the sides. His jacket, very suited for a ringmaster, was the same shade of red, though the sparkles on the cuffs and collar were a little distracting.

He bowed when he saw her. This was a little much and she almost said something but he offered her his arm.

"Let me escort you to your seat." That showman's charm was turned on once again. She took it, letting him lead her into the darkened tent and to a seat in the front row. She was the only one in there besides Buggy and the performers.

She took a seat as Buggy went to the center of the ring. The show was about to start.

The lights went out suddenly and she looked around. The strike of a match and there was a ring of fire, illuminating Buggy. He snapped his fingers and Sunny heard a roar, startling her for just a moment as the lion from yesterday appeared. The lights were turned on just enough to reveal him, though he looked nervous about the fire.

Buggy pointed at the lion and then to the ring but the large cat shook his head. The clown tried again, snapping his fingers as he gestured and pointed, trying to encourage him to do it but the lion just shook his head again.

"Dammit, Richie!"

"If he doesn't want to then don't force him." Sunny said as she stood up. "If he's not trained for it why would you ask him to do such a thing?"

"He's smarter than he looks!" Buggy shot back as Sunny made her way over to him. The lion looked at her, tail swishing happily as she reached out to pet him. He seemed to like that, nuzzling her hand as he started to purr. "Don't pet him! He's vicious!"

"I'm absolutely terrified of him." She said sarcastically as she reached under to scritch his chin. "What's his name?"

Buggy huffed as Richie's purrs got louder. "Richie."

"You're a sweet baby, aren't you?" Sunny chuckled as the lion curled up against her. She looked back at Buggy with a grin. "Well, this fell through. What other things can you do to put on a show for me?"

"I have a lot more, okay?!" He insisted as Richie rolled onto his back, wanting more pets. Sunny knelt down to pet the lion's belly. Buggy got a good look at her arm when she did that, seeing the teeth marks along it. "What happened to you?"

"Mind your business." She shot back as Richie pawed at her gently, wanting her attention on him. "Anyway, was this it? Your vicious lion jumping through a ring of fire? I'm disappointed."

"I can do more if you give me a second!" Buggy insisted, flustered, as he tried to think of what to try next. He had hoped Richie would have done what he asked so he had to think quick. "Juggling? Do you like juggling?"

"Yes, can you juggle or is this going to lead to disappointment as well?" Sunny sighed. "I have a feeling Crocodile will increase what you owe him after this."

"What?!" Buggy shrieked. "That's not fair!"

Sunny just shrugged and looked up at him. "Well? Get to juggling."

Buggy glared at her, jaw clenched, before he grabbed some juggling pins. Fine, he could at least impress her with this, right? He started off with three right away, giving her a wink as he tossed them in the air, catching them with ease. Sunny didn't look too impressed, whether by his skill or the wink, so after a few cycles Buggy left his hands to juggle while he tossed an arm into it.

"If someone wasn't familiar with Devil Fruit powers, that would be alarming." Sunny commented as Buggy frantically looked for something else to throw in.

"Sh-Shush!" Buggy sputtered as he tried to find anything else.

"Why not your head?" Sunny suggested. "Or balance something on your nose while telling a joke?"

He lost concentration. Everything fell to the ground as he spun around to look at her. Richie cowered behind Sunny while she looked confused by the abrupt halt of the entertainment.

"What did you say about my nose?!" Buggy shrieked.

She stared at him for a moment before laughing softly. "I suggested balancing something on it, like a plate spinner or something. That's all."

"Why, because it's so big?!"

"No, because I watched someone do it at the circus and enjoyed it." Sunny smiled. "I just thought you'd be able to do something like that, that's all." She reached back to ruffle Richie's mane. "I'm sorry if you thought I was making fun of you. I assure you I wasn't."

The apology was... Nice but Buggy still felt on edge. He returned his arm and hands to his body before picking up the pins that scattered around when he dropped them. He was screwed. She was going to get his debt increased because he shouted at her. He was never going to be out of debt now that Crocodile's wife wasn't going to get an amazing circus performance.

"Buggy, if you spin plates for me while balancing on one foot, I'll talk to my husband about your debt." Sunny told him. "Something as simple as that would do."

Okay, maybe he wasn't completely screwed.

#mini fic #sunny x buggy #sunny x crocodile #buggy the clown #buggy the clown x oc #buggy x oc #sir crocodile x oc #crocodile x oc

[decoloraa]

Meet Helen: A state alchemist that was stationed at Briggs.

Helen (no, she doesn‘t have a surname yet, I‘m procrastinating) was a lively woman with a lot of energy, a lot of humor and a big heart. She got her state alchemy license because of her basic alchemy skills, but she does research on a very new alchemy field, which doesn‘t really get recognized by the military tho. Because of that, she was sent to Briggs.

Being a major, she naturally started working with Jung a lot, and they easily got along. Helen was quickly drawn by Matthias‘ determination and charisma. Meanwhile, Matthias was fascinated by Helen's skills and wit. Very quickly and without any of them planning to, they got closer and fell in love.

For a year or two they had a secret relationship without anyone at the Fort knowing. They even shared vows, but of course their marriage isn‘t official and rather just a promise to each others. All of this took place when Jung was in his mid twenties and thus happened years before Casther and Val came to Briggs. In the end, they will never meet her.

Helen's and Matthias relationship came to a quick end when a mission they both attended went wrong. The details aren't clear for myself yet, but Helen gets captured by Drachmans and will never be seen at Briggs after that. It's safe to say that what happened fueled Jung's abhorrence for Briggs‘ general, but it was also Jung's greed was a reason for what happened.

It's no secret that Jung is quite problematic in the story and acts as an antagonist. So what happened? Has he been like this all the time?

Yes and no. Matthias never was manipulative with Helen as he is with Val years later. I doubt characteristics like this just appear out of nowhere, so I'm sure he already had some tendencies back then.

So, is this a "He lost the love of his life and went mad" kind of thing? Definitely no. I like Jung way too much to give him such a cheap excuse. Losing Helen didn't turn a switch in his head that made him toxic. This would be an excuse for the things he does later, and that's not something I want. Jung does questionable choices, and he needs to be held accountable for it.

However inserting pointless trauma that doesn't do anything in the story also isn't my interest. Losing Helen was horrible for Jung and paired with the circumstances of how it happened, it did leave a mark on Jung. He most definitely became more unruly due to this, and I doubt he would've reached his level if Helen had stayed around. Would she have been able to "save" him? Very unlikely.

I had the fight of my life with myself on whether I would make this (and another things related to it) happen. I was unsure if this would fit Jung, and the trope of 'lost love' can be cheap if handed poorly. But keeping its impact in mind, I decided to make this 'canon'. This info doesn't change anything on Jung in the story I told yet, it's just an addition. It's not an excuse and not even a proper explanation.

Also, I really like the parallel between these two and CasVal. Both of them chose to be together despite the laws and dangers this job holds. However, in the end, things ended tragically for Matthias and Helen. They're almost a mirror for what could've happened to CasVal. Not only because of that ;)

There's a lot to unravel with these two and I did include some important hints in these drawings. I'm unsure what I'll share just like that, but I'm open to talk about things if anyone manages to figure out the hints. So feel free to speculate in case you manage to connect some dots :D

This goes for my lore in general, btw. I never know what to really share and what to keep a secret, but if you have speculations, feel free to DM me or send an ask. Then I'll definetely talk about it!

If you reached this point: Thanks for reading everything and for being interested in my lore!

#breaking news: Jung has a freaking wife??? #another fma oc that has no connection to actual fma characters? you bet #my title should be ‚fma artist that never draws a single fma character‘ #fma oc #oc Matthias jung #oc Helen #fma #oc art #my art #original character #artists on tumblr #oc artist #new oc #oc lore #oc character #don‘t ever ask me why I call some characters by their first name and some not #idk why but calling Jung Matthias kinda feels weird

[buff-muffin]

(I'm @beanghostprincess btw this is just my main acc) Please please, I need more ideas of yours for the headcanon of Sabo being deaf in one ear. Because the reblog you wrote was awesome and I desperately need more of it. Besides, I would love to make it a bit angstier and write about him struggling but I don't have any experience with this and I think your opinions would be great <3333

AAAAA IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE IT NJSDNIJSXN OK OK BUT IF YOU WANT ANGST YOU GOTTA KNOW HOW HALF DEAFNESS WORKS. I don’t mind explaining this shit so dw I’m giggling as I write this.

I will say as a like, heads up I was born deaf in one ear Sabo lost it later on so I’m not 100 right but shut up self projection whoop whoop. I can to what I want. You can at least be half right with this information.

So unlike regular deafness it’s important to note Sabo still has one perfectly working ear. An ear that works overtime.

You need two ears to be able to figure out where noises come from cause it will be slightly louder and softer in each ear ect (idk man). Sabo doesn’t have that hence why my thought of needing Koala to be a quick guide for him. Without her help, he’s just gotta look around till he figures out what made the noise. Obviously he doesn’t have to worry too much about sneak attacks n shit cause of Haki but like. A enemy transponder snail calling and Koala is gone? He’s spinning in a circle and moving his head around till the noise gets louder and he can figure out WHERE THE FUCK IT IS.

This plus a pinch of paranoia and left on his own? Delectable. Hearing noises like distant gunshots, explosions, footsteps but can’t sense anyone and can’t figure out where they are or even where to go to help? Horrifying. ESPECIALLY A YOUNGER SABO NEW TO THIS DISABILITY.

Also in social settings this can be super tiring as in loud spaces all that noise is going into one ear and can make hearing one person trying to talk to you directly nearly impossible and rather overwhelming, that’s why I find the Luffy being loud enough to hear in a crowd delightful. There’s no strain cause Luffy is just that loud. But like. Ya know, War zones are pretty loud. And when you’re reaching your stress and social battery limit and you suddenly can’t seem to hear your best friend over the sound of canonballs? I’d be pretty damn close to tears too Sabo.

Also for a short while kid Sabo was probably easily snuck up on at least till he adjusted cause he can’t tell what side people are coming from. And when you get jumpscared cause you didn’t hear someone multiple times in an hour? It makes you feel like ASS

OH!!! Another juicy thing you could use is stripping him of his sight (as in a blindfold or a dark room) and forcing him to rely on his poor hearing to navigate. He can’t hear what’s going on and when you’re stripped of your senses it’s very easy to panic since your body can’t readjust itself.

Dude there is SO MUCH ANGST TO PLAY WITH.

Anyways as a little fluff palette cleanser: The revs obviously learned to adjust to their chief of staff’s disability and Sabo’s personal transponder snail wiggles when it’s ringing so he can know it’s his snail ringing not someone else’s. Any snail given to Sabo must be trained for this.

Ok fr though I hopes this helps! Feel free to ask more about this or ask me more specific things when it comes to your writings if you’re unsure I am always happy to help!!

#when I heard angst I came fucken RUNNING #for who am I to deny some good fucken angst #revolutionary sabo #one piece #revolutionary army #if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes SHUSH I’m excited lmao #all in all having one ear doesn’t actually disable you that much as ya know he can still hear #but loud noises #locating noises #multiple noises at once #all a fucking pain to deal with #he’s just like me fr #self projection BABYYYYYYYYYYYY #rambles #half deaf sabo #ask #mix those factors with some rev drama and you got yourself one sa d bo

[albentelisa]

Hey! I've got an ask for you and I don't mind if it takes a while, because I know that you've probably got so many asks in your inbox, but I wanted to know how do you think Jim would (if he ever did) progress to become a villain and no one realises it until too late?

(I'm feeling a bit angsty this week)

Also, btw, I love your hcs- they're actually really cool and really well thought over, and some of them just really get my creative juices flowing. They always make me smile, especially when I've had a bad today so just... thank you 💙)

Hi! Thank you for your kind words ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Actually, I have some 'bad end scenarios' with Jim ending as a villain (or sorta).

Grit-shaka. Let's say, Jim never managed to get to Bular in Young Atlas, so he never realizes the true importance of fear. Sure thing, Grit-shaka caused some complications, but those were more or less minor. Jim decides to use Grit-shaka in battles occasionally. Unfortunately for him, it seems like a great decision at first as he gets several victories (against goblins and several changelings). However, as Grit-shaka is a Gumm-Gumm object, it's actually harmful, not only taking away Jim's fears but slowly eroding his moral brakes, so eventually Jim reaches the point where anyone getting hurt doesn't even matter. That's where Toby and even Draal start to realize the extent of the damage done (Blinky is against Grit-shaka from the very start but no one is listening). However, it's already too late because Jim gets too addicted to Grit-shaka and cannot function without it at all. Grit-shaka also gives him some horrible ideas, culminating in him freeing Gunmar and letting him take over the Trollmarket (and get the power up after absorbing the Heartstone energy) so that Jim can fight Gunmar in his prime. It ends as bad as you can imagine.

Decimaar mind control. So, the trip to the Darklands leaves Jim with an unexpected 'baggage' - it turns out that Gunmar's attempt to mind control him wasn't a total failure. Neither it is a full success, yet Jim has short blackouts sometimes when he cannot remember his actions. It turns out that Gunmar has managed to instill his will upon Jim's soul, basically creating a separate personality who is loyal to Gunmar. Jim isn't aware of it for a long time (he chalks everything to stress and overexhaustion). Meanwhile, his other personality keeps spying for Gunmar and helping him in the incoming takeover of the Trollmarket. When Jim comes to Gunmar for the first time, Gunmar initially wants to make him his puppet, but seeing the second personality who is loyal to him, makes him amused, so he decides to nurture that one instead, strengthening it during each visit. Jim's friends realize that something is very wrong when Jim isn't able to remember some of his actions or conversations they had. However, everyone thinks that it can be an infiltration from a polymorph like Otto. So, the team designs a special code to be able to tell apart the real Jim from the fake. The problem is that Jim's second personality knows code as well, so it's pointless. Eventually, Gunmar takes over the Trollmarket and erases Jim's initial personality, keeping him by his side as his loyal champion.

Aspectus Stone and Hunter Jim. This one isn't much of the villain one, but still nasty for Jim. So, Jim manages to send all of his copies back, and at first, everything is back to normal. However, Jim isn't aware that the experience was damaging to his psyche and now his soul is imbalanced. He turns more mission-focused, gradually losing his other interests. It's pretty minor at first so his team easily chalks it to Jim feeling guilty because of Gunmar's escape. He starts to skip school, refuses fun activities, and is rarely at home at night. Blinky tries to talk to him about it, but Jim just waves him off. Toby starts to panic when Jim stops cooking, and Claire notices how cold Jim becomes towards her and basically everyone else. She encounters him and asks if he is Hunter Jim (as she is the only one who has met that one), but Jim tells her he is the only Jim. That's when everyone realizes that something is really off, but it's too late. Jim cuts ties with everyone and goes alone to fight Gunmar, only to be defeated and fall under his mind control.

Gravesand. So, in this scenario, Blinky doesn't stop Jim's training with gravesand in time, so it causes some permanent damage, leaving Jim with some troll traits and a feral mind. Moreover, Jim gets addicted to the gravesand, stealing it from Strickler (who has already realized his mistake and tries his best to keep it away from Jim). The gravesand makes Jim attack everyone as he gets highly aggressive. He doesn't even remember his role as the protector anymore, simply enjoying battles and carnage. He ends up killing several Gumm-gumms and good trolls and for him, it's no different. Gunmar finds him in this state and finds it amusing, so he decides to keep Jim as his feral pet and force him to fight his enemies.

Merlin taking 'his champion' thing too far. Another not-that-much villain scenario, but well... So in this one, Jim's friends and family never reach him at the rooftop, and Merlin is the one who finds him there. It is the moment of ultimate vulnerability for Jim, and instead of support, he gets the manipulator. Jim confesses that it's too much for him to realize what exactly he has lost (😢) and Merlin proposes the solution - which is basically wiping out all Jim's memories except ones concerning his mission. When everyone reaches Jim, it's already too late, and the irreversible damage is done. In his state Jim has no trouble defeating Gunmar, however, it turns out that he's highly vulnerable to Morgana's manipulations and she makes him change sides, convincing him that she is the one who tries to build the perfect world for trolls (and in Jim's mind, he is the champion of the trollkind, meaning that he has to protect them first). Morgana makes Jim her new champion and uses him to hunt her opponents.

Obsidian shard's corruption. This one is post-Wizards. It turns out that while Claire managed to turn Jim human, the evil influence residue remained. It's unnoticeable at first, with Jim simply being easily annoyed, which everyone explains as a consequence of his transformations and losing the amulet. However, Jim is haunted by his memories of Camelot times and the abuse trolls faced there. Those ignite some rage inside his soul and it takes a while until Jim can calm down (which gradually becomes more and more difficult). He also starts to feel some odd repulsion towards humans. Barbara and Toby suffer from it the most (Claire and Douxie are fine because they are wizards, and Jim doesn't treat them differently). It ends up with the Arcane Order contacting Jim and convincing him to join their side and build a better world for magical beings.

#tales of arcadia #toa #what if scenario #bad end scenarios #evil scenarios #i divide this post as it's too long already #will reblog with second half #evil jim #jim lake jr. #text post #ask box #imaclotpole121

[rewordthis]

Watching Bucchigiri?! and waiting for the last episode to air can be conflicting.

Do I want it to end or do I hope for a second season for some more explanations (highly unlikely btw)? Do I let it go, because from the get go it was an incoherent attempt from the producers to connect dots randomly put on the paper? Or do I stay for the music, some cool characters (ok 2— but still) and the ‘what may be’? Genuinely asking here...

Arajin, as an antihero-type (more like pathetic) mc sure isn’t the first one I’ve seen, but good god he’s the stupidest!

He’s so blissfully blind and singleminded that to be honest, I see what Senya felt attracting him and possessed him. lmao Even he mentions that this is the way of life and a innate trait of those aspiring to become honkibito; to singlemindedly pursue their goal: to become honki.

Notice how it is shown, that the crypt in the temple opens the same time that Arajin rehearses his introduction for his female classmates in his new school. Peak confidence moment for him, if you ask me! 🤭

Following that logic, of genies being attracted to specific traits of their vessels, the bullet hit Arajin because Senya had chosen him. He actually says first thing when he sees him: “またはずれか” aka: “another miss?”, which means that he’s already tried to posses people many times before.

But, I want to point out some things that are showing through in the series, and this is going to be one long-ass and winding post, so buckle up I guess, if you dare to read further down below the cut!

◆ As for those of you that have a short fuse and still opened this, I’ll be kind and tell you that you can skip to the last paragraph (green colour) for what my expectations are for the final episode. Cheers~

◆ So here we go:

1. Honkibito: 本気人 or マジン (majin) as Senya says and Usagi-san has already very coherently explained here, are spirits that are free to posses whoever they feel more attracted to or consider strong enough for their goals and can equally, easily abandon anyone that doesn’t have it in him. It: is the overpowering desire/will (nozomi) that one holds in his heart. Also, in my boop-induced stupor, I commented on a post, that honki may have been a word play for stars, seeing how the theme is 1000+1 nights and Senya’s symbol is the sun while Ichiya’s is the moon, but love, I am not sure when my moments happen correctly… I was just thinking that 本(hon) can invoke a recall on 本能(honou) instinct -> 炎(hono) flames -> 星(hoshi) stars (because they burn) -> 欲しい(hoshi-i) desire (this is completely inaccurate though, in terms of how the actual pronunciations are and the kanjis… I’m sure the kanjis don’t stem from the same sources either) and I also, actually thought that 本鬼 or 本生 could be other ways to write it. Because 本鬼 could be read as honki: real/wood demon (Akutaro refers to Senya as oni (demon)): and in the Chinese astrology there’s the demon star (7killings and represents the warrior — though it represents the wrong way of using power) and I mostly based what I said about stars on the thought that, what if it means it falls under a wood master since wood grows tall to reach the sky and they fight to reach their higher/true selves? Because aspiring to reach your higher state is like aspiring to get a seat on the sky, appointed by Zeus(!) and that meant you had to die in battle as a true warrior for that to happen (also the spirit probably needs to be free and not “sealed”, too) — hence why they turned into genies instead. (Still new to Chinese astrology here though, and honestly very fucking confused… 😵‍💫 Sorry… ) But there is actually, arcane knowledge about how someone could become a Hero in ancient times which was happening during time intervals in correspondence with the zodiac cycle, however one had to be initiated through a ceremony; one such being The Eleusinian Mysteries. And 本生, can it be read as honki, too (huge stretch here. Help!)? Because that may apply to the spartan/straight-way of life the warriors live, but apparently there’s also a famous buddhist work that is titled Jataka Tales, which I had no clue until now, when I tried to search the kanjis... Ok. I think I exhausted my stupidity quota with this one, I should be studying a lot more consistently than just brain-dumping everything in a mixer and expect a smoothy later. Haha 😅

2. Senya and Ichiya were once humans. And by the time they were killed they were very much vulnerable and well, human and killable. Ichiya, especially was very much in anger at that time without managing to solve the issue he had with Senya…

3. They were sealed (Senya’s words) when they were killed after the wars had ended. (Poor guys did their mission and didn’t get to play after… 🥺) This actually leads me to believe that their souls ie: spirit (気) was bound by a spell to not the bullet (because how else was Arajin able to reshoot himself? the bullet never gets lost or the pistol refilled…), but rather the crystals on the pistols. Each one was killed by only one pistol with their corresponding colour on its crystals. By the way, it is said that crystals can be bearers of supernatural powers or cages of spirits, because of their close relation to the earth and therefore all the energies that run through her. If you have seen anything from Jujutsu Kaisen, these pistols are what is considered a “cursed object” practically.

4. The fact that nobody can see Senya or Ichiya (they can’t even see each other, please! 😫), unless they touch the bullet makes me think that their spirit gets projected into the material world through there but it’s otherwise only seen by their vessel because they are part of its aura. Also, I don’t think ichiya ever really possessed Akutaro because he probably didn’t shoot himself. I mean, we don’t see him having a bullet on him, ever. And if he did have, he would have been alarmed by Ichiya asking him to put the pistol in Matakara’s hands and shoot himself, no? Sir, I think Ichiya only rode him until he could find Matakara, but I’m not sure how. 🧐 Maybe the black spirit was how he possessed him. Or maybe not. Also, maybe because Ichiya wanted to leave but couldn’t until someone he wanted more would use the gun (and Akutaro wasn’t dying atm) he just stayed to search for someone strong. Ichiya has been out at least half a year before Senya found Arajin. Upon finding out about Senya he can feel the clock ticking. And he sure didn’t know about Senya’s state until Arajin punched Akutaro. He realised that this was his chance! He was also pressed, to force Matakara into using the gun because he’d never do it on his own…. And Ichiya really wants to fight Senya… And maybe genies are able to stay as long as either of them wants to merge… I mean, both Senya and Ichiya tried to leave mid-fight to let their vessels die during it or to force them make up their minds maybe, but somehow they were both still connected to them and stick around because they wanted for their vessels to make a resolution in their heart and use their power. Arajin didn’t want Senya but Senya wanted him, so he stayed until Arajin literally felt betrayed by him. I think Senya was able to leave the whole time, he just chose to stay. He was amazed that Arajin was even able to initiate a merge all by himself. He’s one special idiot, if you ask me. But after finding out what merging meant, there was no point in staying with someone that didn’t trust him anymore… 😕

5. Why did I mention aura earlier, though? How is it into play here? Because Matakara could see Ichiya’s darkness lurking in the temple ever since he was a little kid. And I’m steadfast on my belief that this darkness stems from Ichiya, because not only was it on his side in the panel picture but it also seemed to form a writing of his name when it settled…. But, back to the point. Why could Matakara see it? Could his brother see it, too? Well, I’m not sure about Mitsukuni, because he didn’t seem to notice it, but Matakara could definitely see it. It’s because he has a pure soul. There’s honestly nothing better — and worse at the same time — than someone having a 100% pure soul. They are kind, bright and a treasure (ironic — I know…) to those around them, but darling, they are hell broken loose when they get a change of heart and play for the other team. Matakara’s pure, kind side is a lot like Makoto’s from Free! but at the same time I get many Keisuke/Kurosuke vibes from him! (I mean, I still have beef with NitroChi for never releasing official birthdays for that vn! 😤 I always feared that Keisuke could be a Libra, but he’s far more likely to be an Aries at this point.) I also had flashbacks at how Marito called Matakara Arajin’s dog, of how Kurosuke was mad at Akira because he thought he treated him like a dog! 😭 As n said: “stagnant water gets dirty and can’t return to its original state again…’.  Dear god! This must be one of the most beautiful allegories I have seen in anime, if not in general. Water cleanses, is the source of life, but when it pools it gets dirty and dangerous… It’s how powerful a weapon true purity can turn out to be… (Stray thought, btw, but why do you think angels are portrayed as ferocious warrior beings but are still the most pure, huh?)

6. Also, Matakara’s birthday is a day that signifies constant change in the person’s life. It’s frustrating that these individuals are supposed to realise later in their life how the family they originated from hadn’t really helped them at all at evolving or how they need to make ‘amends’ of sorts with their mom especially, to feel comfortable to forge bonds. Yeah… I don’t think so, darling. They are considered saviours of some sort, which in turn puts pressure on them, but in a good way. What triggered me the most reading this, is that they are loners in their core and only consider like one or two people ‘theirs’. Anyone noticed how he only calls Mitsukuni, nii-chan or Arajin, Ara-chan and how fixated he is on ‘saving’ Ken-san for last? Anyone? I’m accepting offers! It’s because these are the two most important people in his life. They are his bonds. His only, truly, fully acknowledged bonds! Kenichiro, is only tangentially important to him, because he was the only one that was second to his brother. Nothing more. So, very sorry for those who got upset when he told Zabu that he doesn’t really know him, because he absolutely meant it. It’s the truest thing in the whole freaking series. There is this darkness that Ichiya latched onto, which honestly must be SO deep, that it makes me feel powerless knowing there are people out there who do feel like this… He knows full well, that no one of his “buddies” knows how deep this darkness runs — they can’t even begin to imagine there is darkness in him to begin with — he doesn’t really even know how deep, himself. He felt oppressed for keeping it under wraps all this time, because it first got out when his brother went to juvy, and that was just him lashing out, mind you. Now he has a magical being telling him that he needs to be this way— he needs to turn into a monster himself and embrace this darkness to become truly strong. He won’t get over it until he realises that nothing is his fault and everything changes because that’s just how life is supposed to be.

7. Here I want to speak about that shadow/darkness that follows Ichiya, that from the beginning I honestly though it to be his “human despairs” that he had tried to get rid off; but for someone to separate and reject parts of their soul can produce incredible frustrations and pain that can result in those energies manifesting in a separate entity of sorts but which is still fed by the broken counterpart, so it stuck close after his death. I genuinely believe this fraction of his soul is still on the loose because he didn’t want to acknowledge it and that he’s not whole even as a spirit. But it’s also possible as it was pointed out, that it is an entirely different entity that possesses him, I still, beg to differ though…

8. I have a huge fear that Mitsukuni was a Libra. Libras and Aries are opposing signs and energies. No matter how good a relationship they had or how much Matakara admired and loved his brother, he’s bound to feel frustration around him. Because Libras can be exhibited as extremely righteous, which to be fair is highly subjective; I’d probably categorise them into the self-righteous bunch. Imagine an Aries now having to live up to these standards. Fucking hell… Not to mention that feeling this way, can also make someone feeling like they are being ungrateful towards the Libra person who showers them with attention and tries to spoil them by doing as many favours to them— even favours they didn’t ask for… 😒 This is an incredibly tentative power balance that can tip over super fast super easily. 😬 In one word: HELL.

9. I also just remembered how there’s a huge difference in how Senya and Arajin are activating their merge to the way Ichiya and Matakara do. As I mentioned above, Arajin is the one reluctant to merge but ends up being the one asking Senya and even activating it on his own during the time he faces Akutaro; he is the one with the overpowering will in their merge. Matakara on the other hand is accepting Ichiya inside him and surrenders his body to him, completely relinquishing and entrusting his everything to him, making himself to be the one with the weaker will despite how he naturally is before Ichiya possessing him.

Just look at him here, how he takes Ichiya in him: eyes closed and stance wide open… 

Again, completely giving himself over to Ichiya and in a sense, self-sacrificing in order to find the strength he’s so desperately wishing for. Oh my gosh, he’s such a beautiful character… *I hate them producers* (´༎ຶོρ༎ຶོ`)

10. Now that I remembered this, his blood type is O. In Japan most politicians or company directors etc, are people with blood type O and so they are also considered “the leader”… just so you know. 😑

11. Also, also! I haven’t really understood the reason the genies ask for “what is your wish” in this anime in particular, because it’s not like their going to make it happen, but it probably is required in order to establish a connection to the soul and the desire of their chosen fighter. I mean, how can you connect and even “merge” with someone, unless you know what their heart truly yearns for?

12. One more thing. Along with Arajin being themed by chinese tradition, there are other elements throughout the series, like some of the character names and even at how they arrange time. For example, Matakara asks Ken-san to meet him at “the hour of the rooster”, which is about 17:00 - 19:00.

◆ Change of heart; change of… clothes: What is the significance of Matakara being designed to have a hoodie? It must be convenient for someone his size. Hm. 

I believe that being interested in fighting as a “sport” or a “self-defining” means (as is the case here) is extremely unlikely one would make such a choice in real life. How so? Because wearing chains, piercings, hoodies and generally having loose items on your person, could prove a weapon or a leverage in your opponent’s hands and be used against you during the fight (sort of when being a goalkeeper and shooting the ball to your own nets kinda thing…). So in a way that, unconsciously, makes those characters look far more assured on their strength. Besides Matakara, other known characters that habitually wear hoodies despite their involvement in close combat are Akira (TnC) and Yuuji (JJK), who are also considered exceptionally strong and they also know it. One other example in the series that stands out, is Marito. The chains and piercings he’s wearing are all a means to say he’s got nothing to expect from those facing him. There may be that there’s just enough respect among those fighting that they wouldn’t resort to such tactics, but then again, Matakara did throw dirt in his eyes when he became desperate, so this is just to say that Marito is insanely strong and also insanely assured about himself— if not just plainly insane. In other words, the design is such that evokes characters with confidence and awareness of the gap that separates them from their peers, something to which it can be ascribed the why and how Matakara tries to be fair during fights up until Ichiya enters him.

Now, I’m sure it’s quite noticeable how Matakara’s light blue hoodie and white undershirt has given its place to a dark navy blue one with a black undershirt. This is because “darkness” is the theme metaphor here. Ichiya said when he transferred to Matakara that Matakara has a deep darkness in him to which he could fit in more better. That was what Ichiya was drawn to— like how Senya was to Arajin. Also, I’m pretty confident that Ichiya had his eyes on Matakara ever since he was a child and could see the “monster”… I also think, that the way Senya thought this to be a sign when he found out about Arajin and Matakara training as kids to become honki, is an indication of the genies being drawn to souls with this desire. Matakara, to be sure, also never left the town and kept visiting the honki temple, which means Ichiya could probably “sense” that original darkness he was drawn, evolving. He rode Akutaro when he had the chance, to manage and get out to look for that darkness. I kind of think, that maybe this has to do with the fact that spirits cannot be seen or be able to see since they don’t have eyes. Spirits are energies that you can feel, however. In that same vain, Ichiya must have recognised Matakara’s darkness during the gang war and was finally able to see for himself how really strong the kid was. The fact that he was able to strategically draw him out while using Akutaro’s grudge against Kenichiro was a very pleasant moment of success for him, I’m sure… 

Matakara as Ichiya keeps urging him to do, has to “throw away his weak (kind) heart” to become truly strong. There is an underlying point to this as well… One where he is currently learning to be more proud of himself, therefore exposing the bullet on his chest. It’s not a dark secret. It’s something he’s embracing and honestly in Matakara’s case, I’m happy he does. The most important thing for me though, has to be the location of the bullet. It’s smack right in the middle of his chest. Close to his heart. And therefore very strongly and deeply rooted in the one place he is stronger (or weaker, depends on how you perceive this). Matakara’s pure heart has center and spotlight. Unfortunately, this very same heart is being broken time and again and that is his biggest frustration. This is why he was wearing an undershirt that was covering his chest before. Because his darkness is in his heart. It’s where he feels weaker, unsure of himself, where the genie can patch a hole in his host’s soul. Does he have an inferiority complex? Most probably. Does he blame that on others? No. Not even Arajin. All he wants, is to become stronger. Strong enough to beat the monster. It’s not even a monster in my opinion — it’s misplaced frustrations that got too strong and got a life of their own (note 7 above).

Also, darkness: apex predators are blending in and lurking in the shadows, hidden away until they spot their prey. Then they make their move, kill, and leave. Does that behaviour remind you someone? Yes, it does. It’s how Matakara has started facing his opponents. “Again”, as Zabu comments. He goes up and challenges them out of the blue, plants them into the ground and then just walks away… 🥺

The really hard part though, is how he had to beat Zabu, because he clearly didn’t want to as is shown in the scene before Zabu catching his leg to stop him, where he doesn’t look at him as he lies on the ground; he just knew he had to overcome his “softness” and actually beat to death someone that was a “companion” to him in order to not falter in his pursue of “himself”. This kid is fighting to find his place not just in the world around him, but in the world within him. He’s always looked into the world without being able to point where he fitted in and once Ichiya challenged this (“friends are for the weak”), he was forced to go against his instinct of fitting in and forging bonds and move into a state of standing for himself. When Ichiya said that “the thing you lack is anger”, so he could initiate a merging process and urging him to lose himself in his anger, wasn’t to say that Matakara just needed to be angry at everyone, but more likely that he had to acknowledge his frustration and be able to draw out a real desire in him to fight not just for the sake of fighting and being accepted but for him to finally stand up for himself, for what he wants— how he should not be feeling guilty for who he is, because let me tell you, he feels so fucking guilty for himself. For being weak. For being a burden. For being angry at himself for never being ENOUGH! He needs to be blinded to be efficient, so the fact that anger is what can trigger this blindness is needed for him to not think and hold back anymore. And the fact that he’s so kind means that he’s never held a grudge. He never felt entitled to get angry at someone. He always, always wanted for things to be peaceful. Super ironic if you know anything about Aries. He’s literally the odd one in the bunch. But pure Aries really don’t hold grudges; they boil and fight and forget about it on the spot. For his birthday especially, there’s a tendency to ignore rules and have issues with authority (looking at Ken-san 👀) but generally being the warrior type individuals, that are seen as the heroes of the group. Kid never had the chance to built self-esteem, though or a defence mechanism. And this acceptance of his darker parts is actually a very important foundation that he’s laying out for himself to learn that some times change is inevitable. Darkness is inevitable. Negative emotions and shitty situations are part of being alive and it’s absolutely valid to feel bad and frustrated and to want more… And that (accepting his darkness) it will make him stronger. “But he’ll be unable to live with himself afterwards”, you’ll say… Yes, he will be tortured afterwards for what he did. He will bitterly regret beating Zabu and anyone the way he did, but he will have proof that he’s not weak. He’s not a burden. He’s not less!

★ I also keep seeing people talking about how the series refer to idolisation and honestly, I don’t think that’s the case at all.

Idolising someone means that you have put them on a pedestal and consider them far out of your reach and eventually give up on trying to reach those individuals. And that it’s simply not what’s happening with Matakara. 

Now, if we’re talking about Mahoro, sure; she even refers to Marito as “god” and has an extremely unhealthy obsession with him to the point where he even has to treat her like a pest to push her away— even though I’m sure he loves his little sister; I mean, who’s brave enough and eats that horror of a bento if they don’t love their sibling who prepared it for them? Especially if they have the chance to throw it out without anyone seeing them??? 😨

★But with Matakara it’s a different story. His whole negativity and frustration doesn’t come from idolising Arajin. I mean he does look up to him but he’s not thinking of him being out of his reach. He just thinks that he’s the weak one of the two.

We see him actively (aggressively, more like it) trying to become stronger. We see him aspiring to reach Ara-chan. 

Trying to get close and live up to his brother’s legacy, who was even considered a living legend among these yankies (and now I want you to try and imagine having to grow up next to a literal demi-god (look point 8 above) among common mortals, I seriously want you to imagine the pain and frustration of never measuring up to them for a moment here… because you see them in their everyday; how they move and hurt and live and breathe into this world… and you still can’t be like them… imagine the inhibitions and doubt this plants into someone’s psyche…) and now that he’s dead, Matakara will never be able to reach him no matter how he tries, because bro has ascended without him, before he ever tried to fight him even as a joke. There is a recurrent theme through the series that you become stronger and acquire power by continually challenging and winning over gradually stronger opponents. You literally “build up” your strength and your way to the “top” as it is mentioned in the series from even as far back as episode one, whatever meaning that “top” may has.

He even, still, wants to be a honki person, who from what we know so far, is questionable anyone ever managed to actually achieve it. (We just don’t have the requirements to know how honki-ness is achieved! 🙄) And the only thing that is actually wrong with Matakara is that he’s miserably failing to objectively asses himself and perceive how he appears to the others, and that’s because he was never in an environment that gave him the opportunity or the tools to build a strong sense of self. His parents literally abandoned their children, with Matakara seemingly not even in the age to start attending grade school. His brother, who by the looks of it was about 9-10 (they have roughly a 5years difference— depending on whether Mitsukuni was the same age as Kenichiro (Arajin, you bitch, come and say to my face that a 21yo is an old man and I’ll rip you a new one! What are we 30-somethings supposed to be huh?! Grr! ( *｀ω´)) or if he became an early leader), was also a kid that had to look after him even as he had no means to provide for even himself since he was underage and couldn’t work. They both had to be taken in and live as a “burden” to the new owner of their family’s old bathhouse…

How the fuck does any of you saying that, can’t realise that this kid literally grew up to consider himself inadequate and unworthy and being fucking torn and tormented so deeply in his soul, that he actually believes he’s just NOT ENOUGH!!! is beyond me. And you dare fucking chalking it up to simple idolisation… (● ˃̶͈̀ロ˂̶͈́)੭ꠥ⁾⁾

How can someone have such a single-angle-view perception to get so blind? This is “Arajin blissful blindness” on your part and I’d like you to think twice before you come into my house talking shit like that. (Not that the producers gave a fuck either to think this through, apparently…) _(:3 」∠)_

※ We are a Matakara & Ichiya wildlife safehouse and we don’t serve tea to haters and surface-tension-level character supporters here, the doors are open for you to go away if you don’t like that. 🐾 * gently boops you out the door*

We also don’t want to hurt anybody, just to achieve enlightenment. 💖

˚✧₊ As for why Ichiya acted like a dick in the first place, I am inclined to suspect, that this was probably because he realised that this was the end for him… 

I mean, he was angry at Senya for holding back, and generally it is showcased that when real friends compete for the same goal they need to do that seriously so that the other gets the satisfaction that they lost to someone stronger than them at least and even more so that they won because of their own powers and not because they are viewed as either too respectable or weak enough to be let to win. 

In the same vain, Senya is indeed like Matakara, because he’s not just holding back from Ichiya for being friends. He’s shown so far, to have such a strong respect for Ichiya, that he at times seemed to be ambivalent about wether he’d be able to really win over him. He’s unknowingly downplaying himself in front of Ichiya which in turn is also a form of weakness to boot, too. 

He’s making Ichiya double the mad he actually is this way because a) Ichiya wants to know who’s the stronger between them for real and b) Senya is risking his becoming of a honki, since he’s essentially running away from fighting seriously. If you’re not able to face all your opponents equally, you are not able to become a true warrior/fighter/whatever and stand alone. The top has room only for one, and one must always be prepared for the loneliness he’ll have to face. You need to rise as someone that has no human weaknesses.

But Senya knowing how serious Ichiya is, is also probably afraid of how much Ichiya will push himself during the battle and that’s why he said “if we fight seriously, one of us could die” to which Ichiya actually said that he’s prepared for even that outcome. And what is Senya supposed to do, then? Do his — so far, one and only (gege when I catch you gege) — friend the favour and grand him his deathwish, without even understanding “why” himself or try and talk him out of it while finding out the problem and meeting him halfway?

Here I should probably add what I wrote in a reblogged post, where I state that I think what Ichiya is also concerned for, is that they need both Ichiya himself and Matakara to push harder in order to achieve perfection, but that can only happen when you overcome your humanity. Ichiya sees being human as a hindrance and therefore pushes for all three of them to abandon that aspect of themselves. Ironically, while doing so he falls in the same trap he initially tries to pull his friend out from and now his vessel, too. Being angry and frustrated is a sign of humanity, therefore a weakness.

Ichiya’s birthday, represents people born on this day, usually having an innate “darkness”, as Ichiya said in anime, too where they can feel the pain and sorrow of this world. In order for them to achieve their higher goal, which is to stop feeling so powerless to save this world from its sorrows (because Virgo is the perfectionist and the helper of sorts of the zodiac), they end up hating their own humanity and trying to overcome it (see note 7 above) even if that means that it is to their own detriment. They pursue this with great zeal even if they die, because death will eventually come for all and they know it. They understand that the time anyone has in life is finite and they internally mourn for this. They also feel pressed by this knowledge, because they want to achieve as much and as best as possible by that time.

I also love how Matakara is an Aries and Ichiya a Virgo, because those two signs are traditionally incompatible but they can work out and polish each-other if they happen to interact. 😊 As signs in aspect, Virgo and Aries are also considered to have a “karmic” relationship, exactly because of the hard lessons they will force on each-other. Surprisingly, or maybe not so much, the cool, collected Virgo will stick around and work with the usually hot blooded Aries to teach him patience and methodology, especially if they have already chosen the Aries. If the Virgo finally forms a bond, it's usually reluctant to leave later. Aries on the other hand can remove themselves the minute someone bores them, but since the Virgo is aggressively independent, they can be kept in a state of continual mini-wars that push the Virgo to open up bit by bit and thus bring the Aries before unexpected discoveries and truths they didn’t even imagine. From outside, they seem to both stick with each other out of sheer stubbornness but the truth is that they take important lessons that hone their less evolved traits of their characters and they are keen enough to recognise that. ie. The Virgo learns to be more honest in sharing their feelings (tenfold in Ichiya’s case btw— imagine how much better he’d be at communicating with Senya after being with this kid for a bit more time…) and Aries learns how to objectively asses and look at themselves. Of course, a fall out is always possible if their energies and other planet aspects are not in favourable positions but, I’d say in this case it’s safe to assume that a soul-that-lived-centuries-ago-turned-magical-being, was somehow fated to be compatible with the soul that needed its guidance the most. (Honestly, this has so much potential and pain and hope to unpack that the fact the series were so half-assed, literally pains me as an astrology enthusiast. Ah, the greatness we could witness had the producers been a fraction more serious and enthusiastic about this project… 🥺😔)

Ok. At this point, I’m sure I have forgotten a shitload of things I wanted to mention when I started and also have messed up somewhere and made mistakes, but mercury is retrograde and the last episode is this Saturday, so I’m writing this knowing that’ll probably be smacking myself and wanting to edit it in a month from now but for now— fuck it, we ball! 🫠😎

I also want to thank anyone who had the steel nerves to be able to read this far… You truly are a force to reckon if you managed to tolerate my incoherent ramblings until this point. I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart and hear your thoughts in return~ 🥰

▼For closing, I really want to say what I expect from the last episode before it airs! So here it goes…

I believe both Senya and Ichiya will fully merge with the kids for the fight. They will battle to the brink of death. I hope it’s bloody and satisfying to Ichiya because he won’t rest otherwise. But I think, like Senya said that he “has no intention of staying longer with Arajin after he found out the reason behind Ichiya’s change”, that they might actually not be able to fully return to their original forms and so, maybe the genies will eventually be integrated into Arajin’s and Matakara’s bodies and consciousness completely. Maybe they’ll even be forced to do that because, what if Matakara ends up being near death and the only way to survive is for Ichiya to fully give up into him? Hmmm??? (I’m looking forward to hitting this one! 😎 they could even resume their training to become real honki people; both the kids and the genies) The fact that merging is dangerous enough for someone to die in itself is very important to consider, but as hinted by Senya’s words there is a possibility to retain or even return a vessel’s soul— which has me thinking Sukuna of sorts... Now, if we were looking at a tragedy genre, Matakara would end up dead no doubt, btw. The other option seems to be that Ichiya finally gets defeated and so maybe his soul is able to rest with Senya actually managing to achieve becoming a true honki; I… wouldn’t particularly mind this outcome but I’m not sure how it’d be for the boys… especially Matakara. I honestly think it’d be a little cheesy. I also think Arajin will get a bit taller as a result of that merge and I think that the shadow we see in the ending theme, it’s going to be his new self after that fight. And hey~ Maybe he’ll even get the girl… no matter how shitty a personality she displayed so far… 🫤 We may even get a glimpse of what happens some 3 or 10 years down the road. Who knows?! 

Now guys, I hope you had a good read. <3 If you stumbled on something that confused you, feel free to ask about it. Or tell me I’m wrong. Works either way! :P

Asks are open for all if anonymous is your thing, too. 📥

Let’s see what the last episode has in store for the fandom this Saturday together, shall we? 🤗

🩵💙🌙💙🩵

#bucchigiri?! #asamine matakara #tomoshibi arajin #senya #ichiya #episode rant #fandom talk #asamine mitsukuni #and what the heck is going on? #‘if you think arajin is awful mc then imagine how bad matakara and his boy crush would be..’ like really? REALLY??? #anyways… #long post is long #so all I’ll say is that despite his name being just a pun on magic without deeper meaning; the word being female kinda works out perfectly😏 #godammit typos… 🤦‍♀️ #and forgot the most important thing I wanted to talk about regarding matakara and ichiya… ughhh… 😫😭

[nintendo-666]

Alright so here's the drama! This was the best way I could think to do it.

@moonlightnova @loveless-nameless-graceless-two

Other people who might get a kick out of it/I want to tell @kannibalkaiii @isaacclarkex-art @toadstooltyrant @this-ken-is-babygirl @xdia-morphin-e

Anyone else, feel free to read! I feel like I'm in a romcom!

Okay! I want to start this off by saying that I am doing fine in this situation. This story involves someone I've been starting to see less and less, and have been looking for a reason to break up with for a while. I'll call them Stack (they/he)

Yesterday, I got a message from someone relatively distant in my life, who we'll call Plushie(they/them). They wanted to discuss someone we mutually know. Totally random, but okay. The person in question turns out to be someone I've been casually dating since February.

Stack and plushie have been hooking up (nbd, major poly situation) but recently stack did something sexually without permission that triggered plushie. Plushie reached out to me to see if I thought stack was a trustworthy person. They were told that I was JUST A FRIEND. And one he had JUST MET IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS. Not someone stack has been following around for 8 whole months, frequently proclaiming undying love to. Stack, as a condition of our relationship, tells me about "all" of their other partners and hookups, but I haven't heard of plushie once. Plushie also brought up ~another~ name I've never heard.

So this of course lead to us discovering a massive web of lies. Stack currently has covid. Sent me pictures of the positive test. But specifically told plushie (immunocompromised, btw) that they only had a sinus infection. They also told plushie that they were single. But as far as I'm aware, stack has 4 partners including myself. Stack is constantly telling me how badly they want to raise a child with me, but told plushie that they're getting a vasectomy in a couple weeks. Stack told plushie that they're "saving the last season of wwdits so that they can watch together". Stack has fully already watched it with me. Stack claims to me that they use condoms with everyone else. Unsurprisngly, not the case. And then there's this whole roommate debacle where stack moved a much younger ex into their apartment, prayed on the power dynamic, and swore up and down that they two weren't hooking up. Also bullshit. During our 5 hour phone call, plushie and I kept finding more and more things stack has lied about. Things that don't make sense to lie about. We found explanations for times that he acted suspicious about things. Like when he was complaining about being low on money, but completely clammed up when plushie asked why. The answer is because stack had just taken one of their partners to a fancy hotel I recommended for their birthday. Which plushie couldn't know because, DESPITE THEM ALSO BEING POLY, stack hid all of their relationships from them.

Bizarre. The entire situation is fucking bizarre. All last night was spent scratching our heads and connecting dots. But it all makes sense. Stack has, in one way or another, sexually assaulted both of us and then made it about them and their depression. That we're the ones being mean and overreacting. Stack is incredibly manipulative and self centered. And a bad, yet seemingly compulsive liar. And now, they've been caught.

Anyways I know that was a lot and I feel like I said very little. Honestly, my brain is still reeling from the situation, and I'm feeling a little fried. But trust me when I say that we pieced together a LOT of lies. The next step is to figure out the funniest way to break up with them, with our new information. We're open to suggestions!

[silver-ink-iron-words]

Please continue "trying to leave" 😭

Heya! Thank you for the request, I hope you like it :)

Btw, we're returning to the villain's perspective

--------

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Trying to Leave, Part 5

The civilian had agreed to start eating again.

They sat at the dining room table, their chest tied to the chair, their arms free. They stared at the wall, their expression empty.

“I made your favorite,” the villain said, striding in with a jolly swing in their step. They placed a plate of chicken parmesan and summer greens in front of the civilian.

“I . . . thank you.” The civilian’s voice was quiet.

The villain settled down next to them with a plate of their own.

The civilian picked up their fork and knife gingerly, as though they were covered in filth. They took a quivering bite.

Their eyebrows shot up, and with rapid movements, they stuffed more and more food into their mouth.

“Seems you were hungry,” the villain said, a twinkle in their eye. “Ah – slowly dear. Make sure you chew all the way. We don’t want you to choke.” Their grin turned teasing. “You’re not getting away from me that easily.”

The civilian glanced to them, and swallowed their food. “Okay.”

They began to eat at a more moderate pace.

Satisfied, the villain started on their own dinner.

“We can watch something together, if you think you can handle being out of your room for an evening,” the villain said. “What would you like? The Office? Stranger Things?”

“Have you, um, heard anything?” The civilian stared down into their food. “About my family?”

The villain’s utensils made a little sound as they were placed back on the plate.

“You never asked about your family before.”

The civilian shrugged, their shoulders stiff. “I just want to know if they’re well.”

“You want to know if anyone’s looking for you.”

The civilian’s mouth pressed into a firm line.

The annoying thing was – they were looking. The civilian’s family was distraught, putting them on all the missing persons’ watch lists and posting flyers all across town.

As the civilian’s partner, the villain had been one of the first people to be interviewed. The police had even searched their house.

Thankfully, nobody knew about this property they had in the woods. As troublesome as the whole search process had been, it was ultimately little more than an inconvenience.

“Your family thinks you’re dead,” the villain said, starting again on their dinner.

The civilian’s knife dropped to the floor. “What?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? There was a fire at your place. A torched cadaver was found in your kitchen. Very tragic.”

Of course, the villain had done no such thing. Any kind of arson would have immediately grabbed the police’s attention. And faking a dead body was harder than it sounded. The dental records alone would have proven that the corpse wasn’t the civilian’s.

But the civilian didn’t need to know that.

“You’re a monster,” the civilian said.

“Eat your food, dear.”

“How could you do that? Why would you do that?”

“Because,” the villain said, reaching for the civilian, “it’s best if you have nothing left to go back to.”

The civilian flinched under the villain’s touch. The villain began to play with their hair.

“You make me sick.”

“I told you to eat your food. Do I need to blend it up, and get the pitcher again?”

Fear flashed in the civilian’s eyes. Their movements slow and robotic, they resumed their eating.

The villain watched as they finished. A few more days of this, and the hollowness of their features would fill in. They’d regain some of their strength. And they’d look more like their previous, beautiful self.

When the civilian was nearly done, they halted. Put their face in their hands.

“Come on, you’re almost there,” the villain said.

“I can’t,” the civilian said quietly. “I feel nauseous.”

“Do I look like I was born yesterday? You – ”

The civilian burst up. Or tried to. Their ties held, and the chair fell down again with a slam.

They eased over to the side, and vomited all over the floor.

The villain swore, and leapt up to help their partner.

----

Later, the two of them laid on the couch, the civilian wrapped in the villain’s arms.

“I’m sorry,” the villain said, stroking the civilian’s freshly washed hair. “I should have given you something plainer, after you’d gone so long without eating. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Please,” the civilian said, fingers gripping the villain’s shirt. They sniffed, and their voice wobbled. “I’m actually, literally begging you. Please, just let me go.”

“Do you recall the promise you made to me?”

A sob shuddered out.

“Exactly.” The villain kissed the top of the civilian’s head.

The villain felt the civilian’s tears pool on their chest as they drifted into the warm, pleasant embrace of sleep.

When they opened their eyes again, they felt the cold prick of a knife against their throat.

Part 6

------

Taglist:

@sweetpeaflower01 , @icarusignite , @memepsychowhowantsuperpower-blog

#villain #hero #civilian #civilian x villain #villain x civilian #whump #whump writing #writing snippet #snippet #heroes and villains #villains and heroes #kiddnapping #captivity #not a prompt

[if-confessions]

I love that so many new authors are discovering and writing IFs. At the same time, as an author, it can be hard to make your IF stand out against so many new ones.

Back to two or three years ago, I feel it was much easier for a new IF to gain a decent amount of people interested, while now sometimes it can be hard navigating through all the new stories.

And don't get me wrong, I believe readers have risen too with time, but it is still hard to create a story that has not been done over and over and that at the same time holds the tropes or characters dear to so many authors.

I think that once your IF is long enough, it all somehow equalises, but at the early stages stakes have become higher. Readers expect more and more customisation, since they have been accustomed to it, they expect variety and a certain level of polish of the story. Which is natural since IFs have become more popular, but it still can look daunting from a new author perspective.

Cherry, the author of A Tale of Crown, has also talked about how the IF landscape on Tumblr has changed on her blog ( X , X ) in the past years. I am sure she is not the only one... It is becoming a bit saturated in some genres for sure...

It is so nice people get to find a new way to be creative and tell stories. That's also something I love about IF. Anyone with an internet connection can create something.

But I agree with the sentiment of looking at the community and seeing a bit of a saturation with so many new IFs popping up on Tumblr. You have to be shinier and newer and grab the attention of readers in new ways and keep that attention, otherwise your project will get washed out by other ones... It can definitely feel frustrating, that's true.

This is why I always tell people who what to start: do a small contained story! Something simple, very linear, with few variation, to test the waters and the IF program. Then try bigger (or not, do whatever).

Though, having been behind the scene with the Interact-IF directory, there are waves of new IFs throughout the year. Usually, we'll see more new projects pooping up around school holidays, especially the summer ones. And of those, very little have available demos or do end up getting one out. Many, many, projects end up getting abandoned after being announced, more so if there is no demo out.

I think this is why you can see a bit of an equaliser once your project is long enough (or you are more settled/popular in the community). People like shiny new things, but they prefer consistency and substance.

On the story and trope note: everything had been beaten to death already, but it doesn't stop those stories or tropes from being used over and over again and achieving popularity. And you can have the exact same premise/plot/trope between two authors feeling different because those authors have different voices.

For the stakes rising... yeah... Readers can have a lot of power in the community. [I'm generalising here, there are exception to the rule.]

Readers are expecting more, more polish in the writing or the UI, more customisation and variation in choices, more choices being meaningful to the story, more updates, more words, more of everything they've been accustomed to have through popular or long-standing IFs (or IFs published/created by actual companies). Note: this is not always a conscious thing, btw.

They will either forget that forget that IF is a hobby for most authors, that they do in their free time, that those authors may not have the knowledge to reach those expectations, or that they are limited by the resources they have (see this other confession). Just because someone did it before or because it is technically possible, doesn't mean that everyone should or has to strive for it.

But at the same time, I feel part of it has to do with how great past and established works have been, how boundaries pushing they were in terms of polish or customisation or just what IF can do/be. Each new project as the potential to push that boundary, to increase people's expectations for the next wave of IF, and to put more pressure on newer creators.

And the issue with that is you can't stop that from happening. You can't take back what's been made, it's already out there. And you shouldn't want it to stop from happening either. Without people pushing boundaries, the medium would be come stale.

I am sure there are many different reasons for why the stakes have been increasing, aside from the saturation of new projects, increased readers' expectations, and increase of great works out there. But here are a few as to why there might be more pressure for creators:

creating an IF to get likes/numbers/interactions rather than just because,

not getting the amount of interactions you expected from the get-go or not seeing it increase as much as you hoped,

IF becoming more popular and the potentiality of your work being read by more people,

announcing a project before having planned or written part of the story,

promising mechanics or features without knowing whether it will possible/make sense/feasible to include it,

not setting expectations about the content of a project when announcing it (or soon after),

expecting too much from ourselves as creators,

believing their story isn't new enough,

starting an IF without having done any research about how to create one,

starting a big project without testing the waters of IF creation,

...

#confession time #if-confessions #writing concerns #follower behaviour #follower interaction #undecided tag