#or maybe it’s because her character was set up for the reader to dislike only for her to say this and prove her entire point

[saintsenara]

Thoughts on Ron and Hermione as a ship?

thank you very much for the ask, @thesilverstarling!

i’ll state my position straight away: book ron and hermione are the best of the canon couples.

they will have a long and extremely happy marriage made rich by great and stalwart love, lust, fun, and faithfulness, rather than held together by duty and couples’ therapy like so many readers and authors (including jkr, who seems to have decided to spend the years since the conclusion of the series failing to understand anything about her own characters) tend to think.

i will state another position straight away: lest i seem like i’m just a fan with blinkers on, i think this even though hermione is, by far, my least favourite member of the trio. if she were real i would detest her, and i dislike how she is treated by the narrative as always justified in her negative characteristics. i like fanon hermione - perfect and preternaturally good - even less.

as a result, i think that it’s ridiculous that jkr has said that she thought ron needed to ‘become worthy’ of hermione. they belong together as equals - which is what they’re set up in the narrative as being from the off - and i hate seeing that undermined.

because ronald weasley? he’s an icon. and he doesn’t get anywhere near the respect he deserves in fandom.

there are multiple reasons for this - ron’s narrative purpose is to be the everyman sidekick, and so he is able to be less special than harry or hermione (the helper-figure); the amount of aristocracy wank in this fandom means that the weasleys’ ordinariness is less appealing to writers than making harry have twenty different lordships and call himself hadrian; the narrative interrogates ron’s flaws - especially his capacity for jealousy - much more intensively than it interrogates either hermione’s (cruel, inflexible, meddling) or harry’s (reckless, self-absorbed, judgemental) - but one i feel is particularly significant is that ron is such a british character that many of his traits are not understood as intended by non-british readers.

in particular - as is outlined in this excellent meta by @whinlatter - ron’s sense of humour isn’t indicative of immaturity or a lack of seriousness, but is, in fact, evidence that he’s the most emotionally aware of the trio.

ron is shown throughout the series to understand how both harry and hermione need to have their emotions approached - and i think there is no piece of writing which says this better than crocodile heart by @floreatcastellumposts:

That was what she liked most about Ron, she thought vaguely. He was very good at being suitably outraged on your behalf. For Harry, for her, for Neville. That sort of thing mattered, when you were hurt or embarrassed or wronged in some way. You needed to have someone else on your side, to be as emotional as you felt, maybe even more so, so that you might feel a bit more normal. It was very decent of him, and she was not sure he realised he did it.

ron’s inherent emotional awareness is an enormous source of comfort to other people. he does the work which isn’t flashy or special - he makes tea and tells jokes and is just there - but which is needed in healthy human relationships far more frequently than a willingness to fight to the death for the other person.

[as an aside, this normality - even though i think it is assumed rather than justified by the text - is also what ginny provides for harry. if you believe that hinny are a good couple but romione aren’t… i can’t help you.]

but let’s look at some specific reasons why ron and hermione belong together:

their communication styles mesh perfectly. ron is the only person hermione knows who feeds her love of being challenged and debated, and who is able to engage in this way of communicating without becoming irate when she refuses to back down. ron is good at picking his battles, but he’s also good at recognising that hermione’s tendency to argue isn’t intended to be confrontational a lot of the time - it’s just the way she works through feelings and problems. he’s far more easy-going about her tendency to nag, interrupt, try to provoke arguments, or speak condescendingly than he’s given credit for - and hermione evidently respects this, since when he does tell her not to push a situation (above all, when she’s trying to needle harry into talking about sirius), she listens to him.

that ron and hermione’s tendency to bicker is taken by fans to be a bad thing is because it’s something harry - from whose perspective the narrative is written - doesn’t understand. harry is extremely conflict-avoidant - he tends to take being pushed on views and opinions he has to be insulting; and he has a tendency to assume that he is right which is just as profound as hermione’s. he and ginny communicate not by debating, but by ginny having no time for his rigidity and refusing to indulge it - but ron and hermione bickering about everything is not a negative thing within their specific emotional dynamic.

[as another aside, this glaring chasm in communication styles is why harry and hermione would be a disaster as a couple.]

they each provide validation the other needs. it’s clear - reading between the lines - that hermione is a tremendously lonely person. the friendlessness of her initial few weeks at hogwarts seems to be a continuation of her experience as a child, and - outside of ron and harry - that friendlessness endures through her schooldays. i’m always struck, for example, by the fact that, when she falls out with ron in prisoner of azkaban, she has no-one else to spend time with, and that this is only avoided in half-blood prince because harry decides not to freeze her out. i don’t think her friendship with ginny is anywhere near as close as fanon seems to imply (ginny has no interest in being nagged either), nor do i think that she’s anywhere near as close to neville (not least because she is so condescending to him) as she’s often written to be.

and this loneliness seems to stretch beyond hogwarts. the absence of hermione’s parents’ from the narrative is - in a doylist sense - clearly just a device to maximise time with the trio all together, but the watsonian reading is that she doesn’t have a particularly good relationship with them. hermione’s obviously upper-middle-class background - the name! the skiing! the holidays in the south of france! - can be presumed, i think, to come with a series of expectations from her parents which she feels constantly that she’s not entirely meeting, particularly expectations attached to academic success.

[for example, the grangers - were she a muggle child - would undoubtedly have ambitions for her to attend an elite university and then go into a prestigious career. tertiary education of the type that they’re familiar with doesn’t seem to exist in the wizarding world - most careers seem to be taught by apprenticeship - and this, alongside all the other divides between the magical and muggle worlds which contribute to the distance between them, would be one very obvious area in which she felt the need to prove herself to them.]

ron, too, has quite a difficult relationship with his position in the family - voldemort’s locket is not wrong to point out that he seems to receive considerably less of his mother’s emotional attention than ginny or the rest of his brothers - and he too is constrained by expectations which he doesn’t know how to explain he has no interest in - above all, molly’s desire for her sons to achieve top grades and go into the ministry.

he also suffers while at hogwarts from being ‘harry potter’s best friend’, something which harry never appreciates. but hermione does. she recognises ron’s jealousy and never allows harry to minimise it (and she and ron are very much aligned on having no respect for harry’s saviour and martyr complexes). she appreciates ron’s strengths - above all his kindness and his sense of humour - and makes him feel as though he’s achieved things with them. and ron does the same for her; he is hugely observant when it comes to her, and he challenges and defends her.

the two of them clearly spend a lot of time together one-on-one while harry’s involved in his various shenanigans (including outside of school - hermione has often arrived at the burrow days or even weeks before harry, and they seem to write to each other frequently when apart). they do this within a relationship which is fundamentally equal. one issue with hinny is that, post-war, harry is going to have to get used to seeing ginny as a peer, rather than as someone he has to protect. but ron and hermione never have that issue - equality is baked into their relationship from the off.

because, to be quite frank, fandom overstates the role that jealousy plays in their relationship. it’s true that ron certainly doesn’t acquit himself brilliantly when it comes to hermione’s relationship with viktor krum (it’s because he’s bi and doesn’t know it yet), and a tendency to externalise his insecurity into trying to make others also feel insecure is one of his primary negative traits (hermione does this too, via her patented lofty voice when she’s trying to condescend to people). but this is often taken as the initial red flag for how the relationship would crash and burn, and ron’s toxic jealousy is often used in fan-fiction as the trigger for emotional and physical violence towards hermione which, frequently, seems to drive her into the arms of either draco malfoy or severus snape… who are, of course, the first people we think of when we hear the words ‘not prone to jealousy’...

but i think it’s important to point out several things in defence of ron’s jealousy over krum. firstly, hermione evidently regards his jealousy as ridiculous - she’s upset by it, yes, but her upset must be understood as being caused by the fact that she wanted him to ask her out. she doesn’t think he’s being possessive, she thinks he’s being stupid. secondly, hermione is equally as jealous over ron’s crush on fleur delacour and relationship with lavender brown. she behaves just as cruelly when it comes to lavender as ron does when it comes to krum - and the narrative only treats her actions as more sympathetic or justified both because harry dislikes lavender too, and because, by that point in the series, jkr has dispensed with any inclination to ever criticise her.

but, outside of this teenage pettiness, ron is never jealous of hermione over things which matter. he is never jealous of her intelligence or competence or ambition or success (indeed, he defends her constantly from attacks designed to undermine her in these areas). for someone who struggles with being overshadowed by harry, he is never upset at being overshadowed by her. he is clearly going to be happy to support her in any of the career ambitions she can be written as having post-war.

and, on this point, i think it’s worth interrogating why so many readers still seem to feel uncomfortable with the idea of ron and hermione having a dynamic where she is the more ‘powerful’ one. [it’s always a bit trite to say ‘but what if the genders were reversed?’, but actually that’s not irrelevant here]. if hermione ends up taking the ministry by storm and ron becomes a stay-at-home father or has a job which is just to pay the bills, what, precisely, is wrong with that? why, precisely, should hermione regard ron making that choice for himself as a negative thing? hermione so often seems to leave ron in fan-fiction because of a lack of ambition - something which seems to be particularly common in dramione - but, in canon, she is shown to not particularly care if ron and harry do the bare minimum when it comes to studying etc. she nags them to do their work so they don’t get in trouble. she doesn’t nag them to do it to the same standard that she would.

and, actually, i think that ron being less ambitious than hermione is something which is key to how well they work. because ron provides not only emotional support, but emotional clarity.

hermione is shown throughout canon to - just as harry does - have a tendency to become obsessive to the detriment of her own health. she is also often - as harry is - emotionally or intellectually inflexible, and finds it hard to move on when what she feels or believes is proven to be wrong. both she and harry are micro-thinkers, who lean towards knee-jerk assumptions and stubborn convictions (and, indeed, hermione has a remarkably hagrid-ish tendency towards blind loyalty).

ron is none of these things. ron is a big-picture thinker (it’s why he’s so good at chess). he’s a pragmatist. he’s the least righteous of the three. he understands that faith and loyalty are choices, and that sometimes these choices will lead to outcomes which are bad or hard. he is the one of the three most willing to own up to having made mistakes. he is the one least likely to act on gut instinct (and, therefore, the hardest to fool - i think it’s worth emphasising that he clocks that tom riddle is tricking harry immediately, the only one of the trio to do so). he understands that things are a marathon, not a sprint. he is the least obsessive.

and these traits contribute to aspects of his character which are underappreciated. ron worries about hermione making herself ill during exams, or when she is using the time-turner, and makes an effort to get her to set healthy boundaries and redirect her anxiety. ron stands on a broken leg in front of sirius or goes into the forest to fight aragog not out of righteousness, but out of choice. ron takes over the burden of preparing buckbeak’s defence when it is clear that hermione is approaching burnout. ron is completely right that harry hasn’t done any long-term planning for the horcrux hunt, and his anger does force harry to tighten up after he leaves the trio. ron has a clear head in the middle of battle. ron makes harry and hermione laugh. ron is unafraid of human emotion. ron arrests harry’s tendency to brood over the little things by looking at the bigger picture. ron will always come back.

ron is bringing his politician wife regular cups of tea and making sure she doesn’t work all night. he is helping his lawyer wife to feel less upset over losing one case by reminding her that she’s won ten others. he is noticing stress creeping in and whirling her off for a dirty weekend, or even just a takeaway on the sofa. he is teaching his daughter to be proud of her ambition and his son to treat women as equals and both of his children that all you can do when you fuck up is apologise and try to do better. he is making hermione smile on the worst days of her life. he is helping her strategise her long-term goals when she gets stuck on the short-term ones. he is telling her straight when she needs to get it together. he is seeing a misogynistic head of department call hermione a ‘silly little girl’ and choosing to tell him exactly what he thinks of that.

ron is the ultimate wife guy. hermione is a very, very lucky lady.

#asks answered #asenora's opinions on ships #romione #ron weasley #hermione granger #ron is a wife guy #also may i be clear #ron is evidently unbelievably hot #the text says he looks like bill #who is so fit that harry can barely see when in his company #hermione you lucky thing

[mamaspeckles]

Hey my lovely! So there was some difficulties when working with the fic so here is a fixed version! Mama apologizes!

Velvet x Fem Reader SFW And NSFW Headcanons

CHARACTER IS 18+

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

SFW

-She was undoubtedly the first to develop feelings for you. Despite being a mega star alongside her brother, you weren't initially fazed by all her glitz and glam. At first, you were in denial that a famous pop star with numerous hit sensations would be interested in someone of a lower level like you. "I like you, Y/N! I've always had!" "I know... I knew from the beginning, but why?"

-Being her loving girlfriend doesn't guarantee she'll be all soft with you. She's had a bad attitude since childhood. If she dislikes something you do, expect a glare or a warning grip on your shoulder if you're beside her.

-You and her keep your relationship subtle and private, mainly because her fans crush on her and find her attractive. She believes it's not just her music that draws them in, but also her seductive and attractive aura. Only close family knows about the two of you, and it will remain that way until she finds the perfect time to reveal your relationship to the world.

-She throws her credit card on your lap if she sees you eyeing things you want, but she subtly judges your taste in fashion, mainly because you don't wear gold like her. "Oh, you want that? Okay, put it on my card, babe."

-Velvet's only pet names for you are "babe" and "hon"; she doesn't go overboard on nicknames. However, if you manage to make her truly mad, she'll refer to you as "bro."

-Velvet definitely bought those tap and buzz couple bracelets just to bug you, and she freaks out if you aren't wearing them. One time, you were asleep at 4 in the morning, and she full-blown spams the bracelet, waking you up.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

NSFW

-velvet is a very bold girl and isn’t afraid to say straight forward things to you “Shut up and take your pants off …I want to watch you touch yourself for me.”

-Sex doesn’t affect velvet. The only problem she has is the fact that her body will be covered in sweat when she’s done- She likes showering after. If you want to join her she doesn’t mind- if you are looking forward to her giving you after she won’t do anything to help you unless you tell her what you want.

-During sex, romance isn’t the biggest part of it for her. She mostly likes it to be strictly pleasure-based. She already shows you love in wholesome manner why show it with sex?.

-Velvet LOVESSSS seeing you beg. Anything that sets a power dynamic in general. Get on your knees for her and she’ll be ready whenever you are.

-She doesn’t make too much noise. Maybe a gasp and an mini groan every once in awhile. Vocals aren’t her pride. She doesn’t see the reason to force out noises for somebody else’s mental pleasure. - she does love hearing you cry in pain though..

-She owns toys…a lot of toys. Mostly for sex with you. She strictly uses them on you if you want to.

-she has dirty thoughts of fucking you senseless with a strap on but she doesn’t act on it.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

MY HANDS HURT UGH😭I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS (please like it)

#multi fandoms posts #trolls #trolls band together #trolls velvet #trolls veneer #velvet and veneer #trolls world tour #velvet and veneer fanart #velvet fanart #trolls fandom #trolls fanart #trolls 3 #trolls movie #troll oc #mount rageous #trolls velvet and veneer #velvet x reader #veneer #velvet #veneer fanart #velvet trolls #veneer x reader #x reader

[genshinology]

AN UNEXPECTED REPLACEMENT. ayato

pairing; ayato x fem!reader

genre; strangers to not-so-lovers au, slight crack, fluff and angst (only if you squint hard enough).

word count; 11.6k (i've spent too much hours on this omg)

summary; who would have thought that you, the younger sister of a lowly clan far from inazuma city, would end up in a blind date with the kamisato ayato? the instructions were simple; make an appearance on the behalf of your sister, do what she requested you to do, and pretend as if nothing happened the day after. the main objective? leave a bad impression on him.

content; nobleman!ayato, mentions of some inazuma characters, slight mentions of death, some made up inazuma lore (especially of the reader clan), mentions of manipulation, sir kamisato is whipped, some kissing is thrown in there, there's a tension between these two idiots btw and uhh, this fic has so many clichés and is so unrealistic so please bear with it :3

notes; the main theme of this fic is heavily inspired by a business proposal because i am obsessed with the show except that all of these are happening in inazuma settings and i am an ayato simp. also, this is heavily unedited ;;

"brother," the soft voice of his younger sister was all too familiar, the way she called him since they were young made him knew instantly that it was indeed ayaka's voice. well, he technically did have ayaka as his only sibling, and maybe, thoma was also considered as his partner in crime and his brother in some way.

he hummed, slightly acknowledging his sister presence in his room. although the paperwork was too much on days like this, especially when it was nearing the annual inazuma festival, he didn't let his stress took over his exhausted state. instead, he stood up and went to ayaka, leaving his study a mess, patting her head multiple times and gave her a small smile, because hearing someone's voice after a tiring day made his mood a little bit better, precisely when it came to his own family.

"is there something you would like to talk about?" the slight croak in ayato's voice made ayaka looked up at him, pitying his brother even more than her own self. on days like this, both of them had a lot of works to do, but nothing could compare with the burden her brother had to carry alone.

the tiredness was very much evident in the way ayato took a heavy breath from time to time, waiting patiently as to what she would like to voice out, and this made ayaka questioned her decision.

still, she had already discussed what had been weighing her mind from the start with thoma, and now that thoma was also on the same team as her, might as well she braced herself and quickly went through her thoughts over and over again before ultimately told ayato what she and thoma had been planning all this time.

"brother, i would like to discuss.. some things with you. and please, take this with a grain of salt," how could ayato say no? when his sister looked at him with a look he always had a soft spot in his heart, "i am all ears."

"thoma and i.. have been arranging some affairs regarding our clan and uhm, it heavily involves you and mother's last request," the way ayaka stuttered because of her nervousness and when he heard the last words came out from his sister's mouth, he immediately knew, what affairs she had brought up into her hands.

specifically, marriage affairs.

of course, ayato didn't actually hate the idea, the only thing he slightly disliked was how almost everyone he had been set up with only came to him because of his social status, and it looked like he would be going to yet another date with some random girl in inazuma.

sensing how quiet and awkward the air was, ayaka quickly regretted killing his mood. mentally blaming herself, she should have known better than telling ayato about this matter once again, even at times like this when the clan was super busy.

"i am sorry if i acted carelessly when you are currently rushing out to fulfil your duties, but thoma and i think you should unwind once in a while and—," ayaka stopped herself from blabbering too much, seeing how ayato looked at him lifelessly, she couldn't read his expressions and this was definitely a bad sign, "brother, i'll just cancel our plan. is that okay with you—

"no," ayato cut her off, knowing ayaka too well as if he knew himself, he knew that his little sister slowly taking the blame onto her, and he hated that the most, especially when ayaka actually came with the efforts of making him having his own family as per their mother's wish on her deathbed although he knew she was busy as him and still made her time to do what the best for him, as well as for the clan.

"i will go. you are right after all. i should definitely come out and socialise, it has been quite a stressful week for me too," he gave ayaka a timid nod, "you and thoma have done so much to me, why should i turn down you and mother's request, right?" a sudden, small hug by ayaka was comforting enough for him. the pain of losing their mother suddenly resurfacing and ayato pushed the negative feeling, he knew ayaka tried her best and so did he.

the way ayaka looked up at him with a mix of joy and pain at the same time made his heart shattered into pieces.

both of them were strong, those were the last words from their mother.

"so, who is this person i'm meeting up with?" he chuckled into the hug, and he definitely didn't want to disappoint his mother from above.

the loud slam from the door behind you almost left you flinched and hurt yourself from banging your knees with the lower part of the wooden table. a sigh escaped you momentarily and you quickly thanked the archons that your reflexes were fast enough.

"what brings you here? i almost have a heart attack because of you," who would barge into your room other than your own sister? the supposedly head of your family clan—which wasn't really that powerful—was the only one who loved interrupting your privacy, even in your room. she was unlike any other ladies from other clans, so petty and sometimes, you were so sure that your sister didn't like the idea of being the one who should take care of the things in your family.

the duty of overlooking the shrines at the southwest part of the whole yashiori island was divided to three other clans beside yours. to say that your family clan wasn't that influential like the six main clans, including the tri-comission, in inazuma was an understatement and you were perfectly fine with that.

"y/n, my beloved little sister," her whiny voice resonated through your small room and you ultimately could practically see why your sister suddenly acted super childish, hugging you almost too tight and choking you to death.

you didn't want to exaggerate, but honestly, sometimes her behaviour made you felt slightly ashamed being a part of her sibling. at least she was the mood maker in the household.

"what do you want? i can sniff your hidden agenda from miles away," pushing her away was a bad move, not when your sister turned to you with such a dramatic face and faked her teary eyes after that.

"y/n," you almost cringed at the clinginess your sister exerted, something about this made you thought of what had possibly came up when your sister was so desperate like this.

"how to end this?" she sighed, frowning seeing you acted uninterested when the problem was way bigger for her than you would have initially thought, "well, you see," her hands grabbed your shoulder, slightly forced you to listen her storytelling about what happened, "i just came back from lunch with mother."

"and?"

"for god's sake, listen to me thoroughly on this one. it's not like i am wasting your precious time," she, indeed, was wasting your precious time, but again, she was your sister, and her stories often peaked your interest when you actually decided to hear her words.

"she told me to go to a blind date," your eyes couldn't stop themselves from widening, shocked at hearing the news came out from your sister's mouth, the one and only who you knew was the first person who objected the theme of blind dates and arranged marriages.

"what?!" you half-screamed when her words were finally registering inside your brain, "are you saying that you aren't going to stay single anymore?" your unfiltered words came out before you could actually comprehend what you had accidentally said, and for the first time in your life, you couldn't believe that your sister was going to actually go on a blind date.

a slap to your back was felt and a heavy glare was sent towards your sister, "haven't i already said it is a blind date? that doesn't mean i am going to accept ayato," she rolled her eyes, annoyed that you said something too truthful and hurt her pride.

"what do you mean ayato? is it kamisato ayato?!" you shouldn't freak out more than you already were, but you just couldn't help yourself when shocking news came tumbling to you, "lord kamisato who you hate for more than twenty years?! the yashiro commissioner?!"

"calm down," seeing you panicked now made her day felt much more worse than the uneventful day of ayato being her first childhood enemy back when your family was still living in inazuma city. your sister suddenly felt irritated recalling all the memories of ayato stirring around her life back then, and now she was set up with him? oh, what a cheery on top!

and although ayato might not remember your sister anymore, the deeds he did back then—embarrassing her in front of ayaka, laughing at your sister demeanor and appearance, and worst, making a mess with the first pair of good shoes she had—weren't something she could easily shrug off.

and no matter how drastically ayato had changed from what she heard so far—humble, kind, mature, basically unlike the ayato from her livid memories—since he became the commissioner and took the people trust he was forced into at such a young age, your sister would always scoff every single time she heard someone praising ayato.

"what's the point of me going to the date when all i have always believed in is fate," her shoulders dropped, hands clamping at your face, her eyes somewhat shone in a mischievous light and you were a little confused as to her response to this.

but something about this made you almost rolling onto the floor, you just couldn't imagine how awkward the date would have been and imagining your sister comical face made you snorted, "well, i wish you a really have a nice day to you, wait, i mean have a nice date," you couldn't contain your laugh anymore, chuckling halfway when she once again palmed your face in her hands, while sending back the infamous mischievous smile of her to you. uh oh, you thought.

"what insane plan have you think of this time?" your sister was cunning as a fox, you knew her trait since day one, but the nervous laugh you let out seeing her eyes turned suddenly brighter made your stomach churned at the sight. something about this was off.

"my kindest sister in the whole world," you definitely didn't like where this was going, something was definitely off when her tone changed, "i've made up my mind, so please, go to the blind date in my regards."

you almost, almost pushed your sister hard enough for her to fall. luckily, your body was too stunned. unluckily, you accidentally hit her arms too hard that she winced in pain.

"are you out of your mind?!" your voice might have been heard throughout the whole house, because the next moment your sister asked you to keep silent and begging her eyes out for you to do what she intended at the first place.

"no," you shook your head, "no, no, there's no way i am the one going to that date when i barely know lord kamisato. and from what i have remembered correctly, you are the one who should go. not me," you emphasised word by word, covering up your panic when all you wanted to do was cursing your sister and let out inappropriate words.

"it is a blind date, y/n. you shouldn't know that much about your date partner, right?" she still didn't back down, giving you those eyes that made you having the urge to rip them out of their sockets, "no! i said no, and that's enough," you could be stubborn if you wanted to, "there's no way i am going to help you. when mother literally told you about this on her own," you ignored her pleading, smoothly went to your study and continuing what you had abandoned before your sister came into your room without your approval.

now that you thought of it, how rude of her.

you didn't mean to stay mad at her, but a blind date with the head clan of another, in which a much more powerful clan, didn't sound a great idea to you.

you huffed, scrunched your nose before ultimately attempting to kick your sister out of your room, "wait, wait. i'll reward you!"

"do you really think that this type of manipulation is going to work out on me? get out of my room, sister," you dragged her body with you and opened the door, "don't you have any bits of sympathy left in you? because you have always knew of my hatred towards ayato—

"no, no, no. guilt tripping isn't going to work out on me either," you nudged her body forward and closed the door, the continuous banging surely gave you a headache but you decided to just ignore your sister.

it should be easy, you were born for it.

"i'll give you some mora for you to pay your compensation to the kujou clan," your mind stopped functioning, and before you knew it, you instinctually opened the door to see her standing tall in front of the door, "i know you aren't really having a good financial recovery after all you did to oppose the vision hunt decree and when your name was up there in the most wanted list. but now that the almighty shogun has abolished the decree, i'm sure it is the right time for you to pay back the compensation you promised a long time ago when you accidentally hurt one of the soldiers from that clan," your sister definitely knew how to play her cards well, because you were now hesitant and didn't like the way how she was smiling winningly.

you didn't mean to hurt that poor soldier, it was just that you didn't bear to see the vision of your mother's was ripped out from her, and you accidentally awakened your power to scare the unfortunate soldier.

only to know that the soldier was under the kujou clan and a representative was sent for you to prove your loyalty towards the shogun in form of compensation after all the ruckus ended.

the fact that you were undergoing a financial problem didn't help you at all. the price of paying back what you had done to the soldier was worthy more than your monthly allowance.

you had promised yourself to not drag any of your family members into this matter, no matter how many times your mother insisted that she could pay on your behalf, you often rejected her offer which resulted in her giving up to persuade you.

so now, when you really needed it the most, and the chance was right there in front of your very own eyes, you were hesitant.

"it's fine," you whispered, not more towards the figure in front of you but more to yourself, "it's alright, i can handle this on my own."

"are you sure? a blind date isn't that bad. a high rank official like ayato wouldn't even bat an eyelid towards us," your sister convinced, and maybe, she did have a point.

"imagine if you have finally paid the compensation, you could buy that one kimono you've always dreamt of, but seeing how you are so aware of your own money, it scares me honestly," she nodded, slightly comforting your sudden trembling figure, she knew she hit a jackpot with this one, "only if. what a pity. i want to see you enjoy yourself again like before."

"fine."

your sister broke into a smile, "what did you say again?"

"do i really need to repeat myself?"

"come on now, don't be so gloomy. shoulders up like a real inazuman lady," you coughed at her words of teaching you etiquette when she herself didn't follow the etiquette quiet well, "and don't consider this as a type of your so-called manipulation, let's say that this is my form of gratitude towards you," you gave her a calculating gaze, pondering over and over whether you were sure about your wavering decision just now.

"make sure i don't regret this, sister," you sighed, all emotions came up to you at once when she hugged you and gave an affirmative nod, "i'll tell mother about this, she would be super delighted hearing that you are going to the date!" her happy voice made your heart thumping against your ribcage so badly, mentally blaming yourself that you weren't strong enough to resist the tempting offer she gave to you and silently fell into her trap.

at least you were going to get out from the burden that was eating you alive for the past week.

just what mess did you have gotten yourself into?

reality hit you really hard when the weekend came by. the moment you opened your eyes upon seeing some light penetrated through the window, you instantly knew that you would regret this.

just by thinking about what you were going to do today made you almost lied to your mother and sister that you were falling ill, but then again, your sister knew how to read your body language, and that excuse inevitably checked off from your list of last minute getaway from the situation you somehow indulged in.

it's do or die, do not disappoint me, your sister words replayed themselves in the back of your head. you didn't really find out why she took this too serious. not when you were the one meeting up with lord kamisato as his date instead of the older one. the audacity of your sister was something else, you gave that.

"listen."

you sat across the small wooden table, straightening your back to look at her directly into the eyes.

"let's cause a scene."

when your inner self was trying to be nicer of your perspectives towards your sister, that was the time she proved you wrong. oh, she was way crazier than that, "let's scare him away."

"are you insane? why should i be partaking in this? if this is your way of getting that revenge on lord kamisato, i promise you i'll quit right this instant. honestly, why did i even agree to your stupid plan in the first place?" you glared at your sister, and for a moment, your sister scowled at your behaviour towards her as the eldest sibling, "little sister, you are so boring."

"think about this twice," she continued, knocking her knuckle repeatedly to get your focus whilst skilfully dodging your fiery state, "first, if the date goes bad, no one would dare setting themselves up on any blind dates with us anymore, right?"

you unknowingly rolled your eyes—while you who also didn't like the general idea of blind dates too, because love couldn't be forced by setting strangers up with each other, at least you weren't this devastated as much as your sister—and for sure your sister took notice of this, "second of all, trust me, if you act with little to no manners towards that rascal commissioner, he would definitely believe that we aren't interest in the date at all."

she gave you a grin, too wide for your continuous unsupportive attitude at her unconvincing reasons, "lastly, i will treat you for the rest of the weekend. how's that sound?"

you breathed out heavily, she was really keeping her stance in this matter.

who was your sister even kidding? she could say that carelessly without a single care in the world to your own face when you were the one who would be meeting up with lord kamisato. you were the one who would say that your sister clearly didn't want to be on that date, and instead, put you as her replacement.

not when your own mother put you in the finest kimono you'd ever laid your eyes on, even your first time got to wear the beautiful pair of shoes, perfectly styled hair and those hairpins and ornaments you had always drooled over seeing they decorated nicely on top of your mother's head were now placed on yours.

because she kept on insisting that you should always look your best for the rest of the day. your date partner was the kamisato ayato, there was no doubt that she wouldn't want her own daughter came at the estate with a bad first impression.

you had to admit, this was the best look you'd ever tried for the longest time.

unbeknownst to her, you had agreed to your sister plan accordingly upon countless times of her begging you to do what she wanted you to do.

"one, introduce yourself as the younger sister. two, pretend as if you're uninterested. it would be much better if you are being impolite from the start. three, tell him that i couldn't attend the date. make it clear that i, or even you, against it. four, end the date quickly and do what you want. you could finally put your acting to a good use. the main objective? leave a bad impression on him by the end of the date."

and now that you were here, in front of one of the most elegant buildings throughout inazuma, all of these finally sunk into your unprepared mind. you were nervous.

travelling here back from your own small hometown was taking a toll inside you, and you were already gasping for air before the real deal even began.

"greetings," one of the servants bowed down to you, probably intimidated by your looks. if only she knew, how shaky your legs were underneath the kimono, she would definitely judge you right this instant, "welcome to the yashiro commission headquarters, or informally known as the kamisato estate."

despite your mission of exacerbating the date, you couldn't help but stare in awe at how truly big and spacious the land was, noticing few beautiful details here and there, before you felt something—or rather someone—behind you.

"lady y/n?" you pivoted on your feet, turning your whole body to face somewhat a familiar face. oh, you were no lady alright but this man kept on calling you with that title which didn't suit you by any means.

the blond-haired yet humble figure introduced himself as thoma, the housekeeper of the estate, "it's nice seeing you here, miss," he gave you a welcoming smile. what an odd hair colour for an inazuma man to have, but you decided to not dive further into your own curiosity of his background.

you gave him a small nod, confirming to yourself that you didn't want to come out rude at him when all he gave you was a cheerful smile that put you at ease, despite your sister's last advice; be rude to almost everyone at the estate, if you are brave enough to do so of course.

"miss y/n, i believe my lord is waiting for you inside. i hope it goes well for the both of you," if only thoma knew, what kind of act you were going to put up afterwards, he would instantaneously regret saying that to you.

you felt bad for not saying anything towards thoma all this time he escorted you, but the way everyone looked at you during the whole time since you had arrived until the very moment the two main guards were opening the main door for you, you were feeling uncomfortable. this feeling of being the center of attention made you felt so cautious of your behaviour. everyone was judging you, and you were highly aware of that one fact.

"i'll take my leave. i must say, it isn't the best for me to interrupt you and my lord," you mentally thanked the archons for thoma wise choice. if not, he would see your acting and thought that you were being such a—

the doors opened wide in front of you, no cue or signal was given, and behind them, standing the man who you had been thinking about for the past few days, and the first thing you saw was the kamisato ayato greeting you with a bow and gave you a charming smile.

now that was a rare sight to see, especially in front of your very own eyes.

he was smiling, and you cursed silently under your breath at how good-looking this man was, mentally told yourself to calm down, because you were nervous as hell and almost tripping yourself the moment you stepped inside before you collected your confidence and self-esteem.

if your sister succeeded manipulating you for the damned money, might as well you did your best and got your hands on it.

you were finally determined to do what your sister had asked you to do. something about actually being in this private household, with only lord kamisato in front of you, made you gained so much believe in yourself.

yes, if you were going to get the money, you should just go for it.

cue.

ACT I

pretending in fixing your kimono theatrically—like a typical arrogant, rich lady—whilst looking up directly into his eyes, you firmly put some pressure on ayato's shoulder, and the way his eyes were quick enough to look down at your hand touching his formal wear made you felt half satisfied.

you smiled, only one side of your mouth curved upwards, "hello, ayato," throwing his title aside, you brushed him off with the palm of your hand, "let's sit down, shall we? my legs are tired after all that exhausting trip to this stuffy place."

you can finally put your skills in acting to a good use, your sister words constantly replayed themselves at the back of your mind.

if you had earned the award for the best play back in your school theatre once, you shouldn't doubt yourself, right?

you sat before ayato could, something that you knew, was so rude to do, especially when the person in front of you was someone with an immense power in the politics and official affairs.

no one likes a woman who is too whiny, who often complaining over little things and rude, this sounded about right for you to worsen the date.

ayato sat down gracefully across the wooden japanese table, bowed down once again and for a moment, your heart dropped at his mannerism, were you being too rude whereas this person still acting like you didn't?

no, there was no way you should think of that when there was a generous amount of money on the line.

"greetings, lady y/n. i hereby acknowledge why you are here today instead of your sister. it's a pleasure to meet you—

"oh my, it's so hot in here," you abruptly cut him off, confidence taking over you for the second time. you fanned yourself rapidly, fingers silking through your hair slowly as if putting a show and ultimately loosened your kimono sash.

you could see ayato lifted his eyebrows at your brave attempt from the corner of your eyes, and you were confused as of why he didn't bring out any sorts of reaction because if you were in his shoes, you would get anyone who dared to do this kind of unholy and embarrassing thing in front of you out of the room.

however, you weren't going to expose your bare skin in front of the expressionless eyes, and instead exposed the undergarment underneath your loosening kimono, just enough for him to see the skin in between your collarbone and the bridge of your shoulders.

the length you were willing to take and make him disliked you was even beyond your own initial plan.

no nobleman likes someone who's exposing the skin, even the slightest.

"ah, that's more like it. what did you say again, hm?" you put your arms comfortably onto the surface, hands reaching out to the cup of tea that had been served prior your entrance.

the way your hands were trembling to act natural made you gave a nervous smile to the silent man, "ah, yes," you let a faint laugh at your own involuntary actions, stopping yourself before you sounded like an idiotic maniac. the other unoccupied hand slapped your head gently, as if you were slow at catching up with his words, "i am the younger sister," you took a sip, let the bittersweet taste engulfed your taste buds, "she didn't want to come as she is very much losing her interest in you and the date."

ayato tilted his head, eyeing you with such curiousity, "and so she sent you here because you are interested?" that was the only logic he could put out after waiting for you to take some time saying quiet unimportant things to him.

"sir—" the ceramic cup in your hand was long forgotten, and you accidentally called him by his dedicated title, "i assume that you are fairly mistaken. indeed i came here as a replacement of my sister but, by any means, i am nowhere interested in the date," you took a bite of the delicious dango in front of you, didn't even bother to offer him to dine in together.

"i understand."

you knew lord kamisato was a serious person and didn't like small talks from countless stories you'd heard, but you didn't know he was this serious.

you pointed him directly with the dango stick, mouth still chewing the remains inside and simultaneously voiced out, "i am not that eager just like what you had said earlier," you sighed heavily, shoulders visibly dropped pretending to be upset when all you could feel was cringe to do such things at him, "let me get my point across, i am not fascinated by the blind date," you took his portion of the dango that had been served for you two with the emptied stick, smiling slyly at him observing you with his arms now brought to his chest, plopping the said food into your mouth, "and you."

now that should hit him right on his face, a man will lose interest if the woman isn't, right?

ayato couldn't contain but chuckle lightly at your demeanor, something about you definitely entertained him and the said date. he signalled you to come closer, the black gloves definitely caught your sight as ayato fingers curled, and you did, not expecting anything from him, "i do prefer an honest woman over hypocrite who lies."

for a brief moment, you were stunned at his sudden commentary about your talks, eyes glued to the ethereal face he had, lavender eyes hinting such amusement at you who caught off guard. you didn't expect to see the beauty mark underneath his lips this up close. he was beautiful, might be the most beautiful man you had ever seen—

before anything, your rational side quickly took over your fuzzy mind, pushed him away playfully and slowly brought the strands of your hair behind your ear.

totally didn't expect ayato to make a comeback with those words.

ACT II

"anyways," you fixed your sitting position, smiling once again at the sharp gaze he sent to you. a sudden wave of nervousness approached you now that you knew this lord did know how to play around with his words. if you weren't aware of your acting, you would drop off the act and might ask ayato for his forgiveness as you were being unreasonable throughout this supposedly blind date.

"i have been with multiple men before," you continued, "total of five, or, wait, was it six already?" you tried your best to emit the red flag aura at him, even lying about your relationships when the truth was nowhere near, "all of them didn't last long though. the longest would probably be two months," acting like a random playgirl should be easy for you, and you were convinced that a man would ultimately push a girl away if they knew that the girl casually coming from a man to another as if hopping around to test the water without a single care in the world.

now that should be an easy toxic trait.

ayato casually picked up the boba drink beside him, and you were quite baffled to see lord kamisato nodding to himself, as if he was approving mentally at the sweet taste of the drink, "hey, listen to me while i am talking," you knocked the surface of the table repeatedly, and it was proven enough for ayato to look directly into your eyes. lord, did he even know how much confidence you were losing when he gave you that look, because you were indeed losing your sanity over his cold eyes.

"ah," he sure loved bringing his arms to his chest, eyebrows lifted up, as if he was mocking you, "you are telling me that you are aware of your wavering love life, and you aren't interested in me and our date. that says much that you are changing for the better," he tilted his head to the side, resting his amused face on the back of his palms, "you did some progress."

you almost coughed, why did he have to be so positive even in this current situation?

you said that not to tell him that you were finally serious in your fake love life, you said that to scare him off with how your fake previous relationships ended.

you almost groaned in distaste, it was harder than you thought it would.

unknowingly picking up the food, you kept on chewing and chewing, one after another, mind was racing with lots and lots of thoughts before you suddenly realised how stupid you might have looked in front of lord kamisato, maybe akin to a homeless man devouring the leftover food with such speed as if it was his last meal.

ACT III

"ah!" your high-pitched voice caught ayato attention to the fullest, if he was casually staring at you the whole time you were eating while his untouched portion was still there in front of him, this time around, he looked at you with a serious face.

the question of, "did something happen?" left his own mouth before he could filter his words, but the moment you looked up at him, faking your sad face, he knew you were playing with him yet again.

ayato was a genius for reasons. he literally knew how to read people easily as the outcome of years he was exposed to the dirty politics behind the scene since he was young. unfortunately for you, you were no exception.

the moment he saw you pulled up your hand, pecking 'your' diamond ring multiple times as you went, "oh honey, are you okay? does it hurt clashing with the plate?" he knew he was in for another scene.

"oh, i am so glad you aren't being scraped by this stupid glass slab. need to maintain your shine, okay? i spent a whole whopping millions on you," you cringed at your own words, pretending to be super into your mother's marriage ring she lent to you for the sake of your presentation on the date.

a woman who is crazy over luxurious things, no man likes that.. right?

only to see that lord kamisato wasn't even questioning your whole dramatic scene and he only reassured you with a small smile.

he was unbelievable, truly.

you couldn't think of any other things to act out, all cards had been played, yet the results by all of them were much more disappointing.

it was hard to make up your own stories here and there when lord kamisato genuinely asked you questions about your life, and because you were so clueless of doing anything to 'scare' him away from you, you followed along the conversation before the situation turned more tensed and worst.

of course, with some fake acts and complaints in between your answers.

"thank you for entertaining me," even after all those crazy acts you had put up with, he was still being respectful to you, accompanying you until the outside of the estate, sending you by himself while ignoring all the prying eyes. instantly, guilt came crashing down at you all at once.

despite feeling horrible doing all of the things to make the date unlikeable to lord kamisato, at least the money was guaranteed to be yours and the date was finally over! nothing could compare with the relief that washed you all over, it was definitely the best feeling you had ever felt once in a while.

however though, you still couldn't break the chain of acting you did throughout the date, you suddenly thought of a final card to make him remember that you were such an awful woman with an awful attitude.

the last card you could think of, here goes nothing.

ACT IV

"ayato," saying his name casually all this time actually made you felt less awkward now, and you immediately reminded yourself to keep yourself in check because lord kamisato was still the head clan of the known yashiro commission, and he was way superior than your humble being, "while you're thanking me for my fun presence," you twirled your hair, and winking at him, "i want to thank you for the free, magneficent food."

you didn't know how you becoming braver than usual, but you did, and the way you actually closed the gap between you a little bit closer for you to reach his ear, you knew he could feel your breath on his neck, because the space left felt too close even in your own consciousness, "and for the view of your handsome face too," you pulled away, faintly caressed his slight flushed cheek and his formal attire.

the way ayato slightly caught off guard seeing you acting like this, when he heard from the shuumatsuban that you were a dignified woman in their eyes, baffled him to say the least.

but the way your trembling hand came up to him just now, and the way you almost tripped yourself once again before you left his sight, ayato knew something wasn't right and it amused him.

you knew how to run your mouth, he gave that, and this, you being like this the whole time, actually peaked his interest.

ayato didn't like wasting his time in such things, and although you came into his life not so long ago, he couldn't help but have to admit that you definitely delighted him in many ways.

"my lord," thoma greeted him when he walked back to the main garden, relishing himself within the pleasant view in front of him. he didn't miss the way thoma eyes shone bright under the sunlight, and instantly knew, that his unofficial right-hand man wanted to ask him how the date went, like how he always did to him with the previous ones.

"how was the date? lady y/n seemed very nervous the whole time i walked her to meet you. it might have been nerve-wrecking for her to replace her sister as your date," thoma laughed when he was brought back to the memories and the loud silence between you and him a few hours ago, "she must have been very shy when she met you."

"oh?" ayato's voice sounded much more cheerful than he intended to let out. he found it more interesting hearing aloud on thoma opinions about you which in any case, was way more different than his, "is that what you think so?"

"yes, my lord," he paused, "in my opinion, she was very awry throughout the walk and she didn't even say a word to me. you could say that we were pretty awkward with each other as she was being very cautious about the whole situation and to me," thoma added.

ayato hummed upon hearing thoma further opinions regarding you. was it terrible that he found the date way more interesting than his own work?

if he was tired because of the preparations for the annual festival beforehand, then keeping up with your antics had been such a stress reliever for him. in some twisted way, he actually did mean his last words to you. you are entertaining him, even until now with you aren't even in his sight.

"thoma."

"is there anything you would like me to help, my lord?"

"no, thoma, it's not that," ayato smiled, the way he just remembered all those not-so ladylike things you did made him felt much more at ease now, "the date went well."

"my lord?" thoma couldn't stop staring at how the head clan answered him with a smile he never thought ayato would show after a date, "..what you meant is?" he just couldn't believe his own eyes, whether this was some sick illusion for him to see ayato smiling after all those frowning and serious mode he had set himself in within the past weeks for the sake of carrying out a successful celebration near in the future, for the sake of inazuma.

"the date," he repeated, fully turned himself towards thoma who was still in disbelief, "the date went well."

the words were the only confirmation thoma needed, maybe to ayato, the date went well as if 'went smoothly like all the blind dates he had been set up with before'. after all, ayato was known for saying two different things yet had the same meaning behind them.

"at least the date wasn't boring."

now that left thoma speechless, as ayato heading back to the estate, leaving thoma behind with more questions than ever.

seconds turned to hours, hours turned to days, and it had been more than two days since the date and all you could hear was how your sister convinced you that you shouldn't worry because lord kamisato wouldn't even bat an eyelid towards you. which, in all honesty, was the truth and the most logical thing to calm you down.

you were hopeful that you wouldn't come across the path with lord kamisato anymore, because remembering the acts you put out for a show towards him were haunting you even more than you liked.

a mere lady from an unknown clan wouldn't have a chance to meet lord kamisato again, that was what you had been saying to yourself for the past hours.

up until this moment, you wished to bury yourself underground and never saw the light of the day once again. you were so embarrassed, it was insane how you even had the courage to be such a low woman in front of lord kamisato.

on the brighter side; your compensation was settled and now you were finally, finally free from this burden.

on the darker side; your mother was so happy that one of her daughters apparently had been going through a date with an amazing man himself. if only she knew, how misbehaved you were, she might make you never stepped inside of the house anymore.

only the mere thought of it made you shivered.

"lady y/n," the call of someone made you snapped back from your tired mind and into the reality, too caught up in the past when you shouldn't, "you have been staring at the sakura tree for a long time now. what's the point of you taking turns with your sister to assist the shrine maidens when all you did was daydreaming the whole time?" the oldest shrine maiden gave you a lengthy lecture, and you bowed for too many times to count when you should be the one who took up this responsibility for the day.

the woman in front of you coughed, maybe she was too harsh on you. your status didn't define where you were currently standing in the sacred shrine, age and experiences did. that was probably why she often took you as if her own child, although your family clan was the one behind managing the shrine affairs here in this humble village.

"archons above, and in the name of the almighty shogun, please focus on your duty, lady y/n," she sighed exasperatedly, "tell me if you ever need something else," the woman gave you a bow before heading back towards the shrine, ultimately ended her scoldings onto you as you nodded your head followed after with a sincere apology.

with the shrine maiden out of sight, you took a stroll outside of the shrine for a while whilst looking up at the purple decorating across the canvas up in the air. today was unlike any other usual day of rains and storms, it was clear and fresh, and you basked into the momentary feeling.

here, on yashiori island, normal weather wasn't always sun and calm skies, thunders roared and heavy downpour were the norm to the people here, so to see that even the weather wanted you to ought peace put your heart at a more contented state.

this village and its people were those few who lucky enough to not affected by tatarigami decades ago, unlike how stories about the curse swept across the land and caused sickness and calamities to every living things on this island. sometimes, you were so grateful and taking such great pride of your ancestors for holding out and survived.

"y/n!" one left, and here comes another. the cheerful voice almost left you glaring at the person behind you, interrupting your peace when the mind went haywire was what you definitely needed the most right now. however, upon seeing the little boy who you so much adored waving at you, all your bad intentions died halfway.

"big sister! i totally don't expect to see you here," he ran to you with his little feet, grinning widely at seeing your face. the little boy was the son of the head village, often sneaking around knocking at your door to invite you playing a game of temari and a round of hide and seek.

he hugged your legs, and you quickly softened at the sight, "now, now, why are you here?" you patted his head. it was odd, but his little hug succeeded in slowing down your overthinking.

"father and mother are praying but it was so boring!" the mind of a child was so pure and fragile, you slightly chuckled at hearing his naughtiness, "good children pray too, you know? so, next time, if you go to the shrine with father and mother again, pray with all your heart. you might even get what you wished for!"

he looked up at you, his eyes were sparkling, showed that they were the most innocent pair you'd ever seen, "does that mean i can get to own a new toy?"

"yes, you can," confirming his statement with a thumbs up at the young kid, he then excitedly jumped up and down, "i have to pray well to get a new toy!" the way he was so joyful made you suddenly missing the feeling of doing what you wanted without thinking its consequences. ah, it would be so nice to feel that way again.

you watched him carefully, thinking that it would be a while for his parents to be done with their prayers. maybe you could watch over him for a moment, at least his presence brought comfort to you.

as if he could read your mind, the little boy took out a slip of bamboo from his kimono sleeves, "look at what i got today!" he said cheerfully, too eager to share the thing he mentioned within his hand to you.

you accepted the small piece of slip nonetheless, it read great fortune on it and you shook your head multiple times, "did you go and try your luck when your parents are praying?" the thing in your hand was in fact a fortune slip visitors always tried their hands on to know what they might encounter for the day at the shrine.

"yes! the big sister there told me that i will get super lucky today," he closed your hand with his own, as if giving it away to you and you tilted your head in confusion, eyebrows slightly raised at his actions, "and now i am going to share my luck with big sister y/n! now you and me will get super lucky for the rest of our life!" you heart warmed at his words, how much purer could this boy can be? you just felt the need to protect this boy from the dangers of the world.

wiping his face gently, you carried him on the back of your shoulders, and he opened up his arms, as if mimicking the flying birds he learned back in his class, "let's head back in. your father and mother must have been searching for you," you giggled when feeling him holding onto your shoulders dearly, "let's go!" he exhilaratingly swung his feet back and forth. it was really nice to not think about it for now, as your fullest attention was now on the boy on your back.

you settled him down once everything was safe, his little hand intertwined with yours before you spotted a group of shrine maidens—from what you saw with the outfits—grouping together at the front of the shrine, but what stood out the most was even the boy's parents were there amongst the crowd. it looked like as if the shrine maidens were paying respect to the two powerful figures around the village—the head village and his wife, with his son still clutching his hand with yours—that what you had assumed.

"father, mother, big sister y/n is here too!" he shouted, the child's voice caught everyone's attention and he let go of his hold, running towards his parents playfully.

you bowed down respectfully towards the parents from afar, giving them the nicest smile you could give out, legs continuing in hurry steps to catch up with the little kid that had long forgotten you behind him.

the closer you'd gotten, the air felt more suffocating than ever. something didn't sit right with you, not when everyone looked tensed and rigid the more you came closer. their postures told you everything.

you were about to question what happened, or why everyone was dead serious within the radius, but all you words died in your throat when you saw a certain blue-haired, tall and slender figure among them all. the white and pristine suit looked nothing but too familiar in your eyes and he was definitely the last person you would want to meet face to face.

his lavender eyes bore straight into yours and your steps halted midway from joining the crowd.

why does lord kamisato is here?

you were on the edge, panicking even more when he actually made his way towards you, was it too late to disappear now? you should have known better the moment you saw how the shrine maidens fidgeting their fingers from time to time. but then again, how would you even know it was him? out of all people?

"greetings," you just couldn't move your own feet, as if you had been glued to the same position all this time, even when your mind mentally told you to run away because the look lord kamisato gave you was screaming to you that he recognised you.

it was too unreal, your eyes must have been delusional and playing tricks on you. it could be it, yes, it was.

"lady y/n," the head village interrupted, as if trying to break you free from your stoic state, "this is the yashiro commissioner, sir kamisato," he introduced him to you when you didn't even flinch seeing the person messing up your mind and stared at him in disbelief. the people around you must have thought that you were just staring in awe when the reality was opposite of it.

"thank you all, for such company, but i would like to talk with lady y/n here. excuse us, as we need some privacy to discuss important matters," the way he punctuated those last words made your stomach churned oh so badly. why did he even instruct them to leave you two alone? you were dying of nervousness out in the open.

you wanted to curse, wanted to rip your hair apart, wanted to throw tantrum at the guy in front of you, he remembered your name, and now you were doomed.

a command was given, and everyone left scurried off, bowing to lord kamisato before the last one told him that if he ever needed anything, called her or any of them, only for the lord to shake her off, and said it was alright as he solely came here to visit the shrine.

you pleaded with your eyes to not leave you here alone with lord kamisato, but the young shrine maiden seemed to not catch your hidden intention.

getting anxious was the perfect way to describe this inexplicable feeling, there was no way lord kamisato wanted to discuss any matters with you. you never played an important role with the tri-commission, never really heavily involved with them except for your mother.

ayato, on the other hand, was thrilled to see you again. the desired feeling finally met its own end, the feeling to meet you again, because the only thing that made him lost interest in his works for the last two days was you, the only subject in his mind.

he never ever gotten off from his own tracks, or even strayed that far from his multitasking. people around him said that his mind was full of workloads, yet you, the ordinary lady from afar who he barely knew, was the one occupied his current state of messy mind.

often came up with questions about your whereabouts even when he didn't intend to, were you fine? did you eat well? because the last time he saw you eating at his place, the image of you devouring your—and his—portions made him smiled at the thoughts.

or, perhaps, did you miss him, just like how he did to you? he missed your intriguing presence, maybe even more when he just liked the idea of you entertaining him.

his speculation was right after all. you were just trying to ruin the date. the way you only looked at his black, shiny leather shoes convinced him that it was all an acting. you couldn't fool him, he knew it since the blind date.

the way you didn't dare to make an eye contact with him right at this moment convinced him that you were just an ordinary lady with a manner, and something inside him made him flustered looking at you smiling genuinely with the son of the head village back then.

"m-my lord," you finally greeted him properly after a moment of silence and the sounds of birds chirping, and ayato thought your stuttering was adorable, with the fact that you addressed him with his title.

it was such a sight to behold, the you from his own memories wasn't this attentive of her attitude.

while you were making a deep obeisance towards him, he never felt such triumph, the you from his mind wasn't this careful of her words and actions yet here you were stuttering, looking at all things beside him. all those feisty and bold words, they were gone.

"i beg your pardon, sir," you just couldn't stop shaking, mind went blank in seconds when you looked up at him silently pursuing you to continue with his observant eyes, "with all my utmost respects, what's the purpose behind your sudden appearance, sir?" you finally let out a sentence, it was taking ages and this was just not it if you wished to talk out with him any further.

ayato couldn't stop staring at you, from your less fancy kimono to your hands clasping together, he couldn't.

before he could respond to your question, he could hear the faint whisperings of others, did they know about the blind date? or you shut your mouth about it? because the look they gave to you was nothing less than analysing you, and maybe him.

that look a lot of people gave him once he took the name of his clan on his shoulders when he was younger.

"are you, perhaps, forgetting my duty as the yashiro commissioner, hm?" he brought his arms towards his broad chest, a sly smirk forming on his lips and you couldn't help but gaping at him, once again making yourself an utter fool.

all of the memories about your fake acting and the past blind date disintegrated within thin air along with the falling sakura, you were that shocked to see lord kamisato was actually in front of you again.

"the yashiro commission's duty is in charge of managing shrines, festivals and cultural events," you felt like a middle schooler when he gently reminded you again, only with that stupid, charming smile you wished to wipe off of his god-like face because it certainly did something inside you.

"i came here to supervise what is needed to be done, whether by the village or the shrine," he gave you a knowing smile, making you almost convinced that he knew you were here today, but it could be another trick your mind wanted you to fall into, "the summer festival is right around the corner. it would be such an inconvenient if you, and the whole village, missing out the festival. am i right, my lady?"

he talked as if this was his yearly routine, yet you didn't remember the stories of lord kamisato came to the village for such things, let alone the shrine. if he did, news must have reached your ears as quick as a flash.

"but it doesn't make any sense," your curiosity overpowered your anxious feeling, needed more detailed explanations from the man in question.

how much denser could you be? did he shall directly told you that he wanted to meet you, for his own personal matters? he lied to you, partially for covering the intentions behind his words, and the other was to make people surrounded him to be less skeptical.

it was funny, how he lied to you, when he was so sure that he hated lies and fake promises.

"oh? which part in my words that doesn't make any sense?" he leaned in, you didn't know how or when, but the space between you was slowly decreasing since the start of this conversation. his eyes zeroed on you before you turned red in embarrassment, "my lord, i-i don't think it's a good idea to act carelessly out here in the open," you turned your head away because having him this up close was too much for your heart to handle.

"and what's the reason, my lady? enlighten me," you swiftly increased the intense gap by taking a baby step backwards. his little actions irked you so much, it was definitely not a good sign for you to feel this flustered and shy. at this point, you knew he was messing with you.

"people are going to get suspicious, my lord," you gave out the best reasoning you could form, words after words came out of your mouth of why specifically he was the one who should be more careful, trying in convincing him to not stain his image, and all he thought was how adorable of you to becoming a stuttering mess, and it was all because of him.

if he only did this much, he wondered what would be your reaction if he did more, and why would you be so cautious anyway?

when lady guuji said he was a yashiro rascal, never would he thought that those words could be truer, especially when he went over such length to find you again here in this such modest village.

"i don't mind," all your words died, cheeks flushed upon hearing him, "it is quite pleasant to stumble across you once again, y/n."

did lord kamisato just, dropped all of his formalities in front of you? did he really call you only by your name so causally?

did he ever do this to somebody else?

you panicked for a brief moment, turning your head left and right before the line was clear. you didn't know why you were acting so recklessly in front of him, but the moment you pulled lord kamisato aside, far enough for other eyes to see and hear his last words that could rise suspicions and brought so many butterflies in your stomach, you were confused, either of your instantaneous actions, or even to your own feelings.

you didn't notice how long you held your breath, only to realise once you pulled your hand away from lord kamisato's and you regretted almost immediately at how sweltering the current situation was, a sigh of relief soon followed after, thinking that it would be safe to seek some explanations from him.

"sir, deepest apologies for interrupting you," you were really having a hard time to make your erratic breath steadier, it was harder when lord kamisato was taking his sweet time diverting his focus more on your words, "i am afraid if i misunderstood your words back then," you were at least trying to calm down, almost as if there was a war raging inside your brain telling you to behave at your best now that you had the only chance to sort things out that had gotten more bewildered as time went forward, "...and i truly think saying such scandalous words wouldn't get the best reactions out of public eyes."

ayato leaned onto the nearest flat surface behind him, intently hearing your apology and explanations as why you were quick to do beyond your thoughts, his arms crossing and he brought them towards his broad chest.

it was really entertaining when you tried to be alone with him, he thought. didn't you know if he being all alone with only you in front of him, hidden from prying eyes and gossips about him, that this made him wanted to just say out loud a more controversial topic to stir you than just those words he said beforehand? he only dropped your title, and you were already this alarmed.

he was definitely smitten, which weirded him out when his reasonable side took over his head.

again, he barely knew you, but why did he have the urge to make you his already?

"must i repeat myself, i don't mind, not even the slightest," you almost lost your footing hearing his direct answer, almost fell into his arms if not for the wooden fence that had been fenced throughout the outside of the whole shrine.

"w-what did you mean by that, sir?" he swore his heart melted seeing you became so bothered by his straightforwardness.

"let's just say that i am taking quiet a liking towards you, lady y/n," you were left speechless, as if someone took your breath away and you just couldn't believe what you were hearing. your sister words suddenly becoming more and more loud, he wouldn't even remember you, lies, she lied. she lied to you.

the plan, it actually backfired.

"i-i think you've gotten all wrong, sir—

you were sputtering nonsense, heart somewhat racing when you told yourself that this wasn't real, it wasn't the reality, "there's no way—

there was no way lord kamisato actually—

"relax, little one," you almost gasped hard hearing him addressing you, you didn't want to overthink. what did you hear again? were you this delusional to hearing nonsensical things? no, were you even fine in the first place?

"my lady," he should stop staring at you with such a gorgeous face, body towering over you. even when you were outside, the cold air added more red to your cheeks, you were literally burning, "are you alright?"

you were too stunned. eyes widening seeing how close you were with his figure, another step and there wasn't any space left. were you this close all this time?

why were you feeling so anxious? you were confused about your own feelings, but the way lord kamisato ultimately closed the little gap with a step forward, closer to you, your heart was beating so fast, it was the only sound you could hear beside your ears. it was piercing and you almost shying away before the warm feeling of his arms lingered around your waist.

if a passerby did come across seeing the both of you in such a questionable position, no, you didn't want to even think about it. it was already took a toll inside you to maintain focus on your overwhelming thoughts when his calm breathing beside the shell of your ear was the only thing you could give your attention to.

"ten dates," he whispered, low tone that never thought would awake something deep inside you, "go out with me for another ten dates. ten dates for me to prove myself, my lady," he sighed, tightening his hold with you in his arms, it was crazy how you fit him like a perfect puzzle piece, it was funnier that he would chase you, the girl who tried to leave a bad impression on him, only made him wanting for more, "i'll keep asking you out again and again, until your heart, too, has been settled in such decision."

with that, he pulled away to appreciate the beauty he saw within you, you were such a beautiful mess in his eyes. if he didn't maintain his composure, he might want to plant his lips on your forehead, he never thought he would be this stupidly craving for a little taste. this reminded him that he was still an ordinary man with such desires, only to be masked with a much more powerful and respectful title.

ayato was determined, and what he wanted, he often found a way around to achieve it.

it was a mistake to look at his face longing for you, too close, and you unknowingly melted in his arms, lost in his gaze, palms on his chest, fisting his suit a little bit too rough to calm your inner self.

butterflies dancing inside you, heart skipped a beat every single time he caressed your hair to the side to look at you more, to take in the sight before him because two days without your presence suddenly felt infuriating to him, the days after that date were bland and ayato thought to himself, was he always had been living such a dull life?

tensions multiplied the more you lost in his intense, ethereal, lavender orbs. you could practically feel the strong strings of attraction, and it was more than enough for it to swipe your balance away from your feet when lord kamisato took in a sharp breath, followed by his words of, "they said silence means consent, lady y/n. are you telling me that you are agreeing to my proposal, hm?"

you neither gave him a nod, nor denying his words, it was just too much. too much for your beating heart, and for your flustered state.

all you could do was gulping down the invisible lump in your throat for keeping such an intense eye contact for the longest time. you could see how serious he was about this, and your head thought that this might actually work for the both of you.

after all, you didn't know how, or why it happened, but you were just naturally attracted to lord kamisato more than you'd like to admit. ten dates weren't giving you any harms, right?

he leaned in, way closer than ever, and you eyes trailed down onto his pretty lips. it was hard not to stare, when he was a hair's breadth away from touching his lips with yours and—

"may i kiss you?" he asked you gently, securing his arms even more when he saw your eyes hinted a slight shock and yearning.

never in your life you would agree to such things impatiently, but you lifted yourself. somehow being in his arms felt too safe and brought you such comfort that you badly wanted to indulge in. you were freaking yourself out for behaving immaturely to this man, but all thoughts vanished once you felt his lips on yours.

gentle as breeze, soft as silk, the peck he gave to you was nothing more, or nothing less. it was perfect to not crossing the line, yet you knew there was no turning back when you pushed yourself more into him.

he smiled into the soft kiss, wishing to deepen the kiss, but he knew to be patient. was it bad that he wanted to cross all the boundaries just for you? it was ridiculous to feel this type of thing so early.

the way he held your face as if you were such a fragile being melted you in the inside, you unconsciously titled your face to feel more of him. all logical thoughts were nowhere to be found, all you could think of was how this man in front of you kissing you with such gentleness, and for a fleeting moment, you might have a tiny, minuscule crush on him.

to you, and to kamisato ayato, both of you might have to rethink the terms of love at first sight, because it definitely did work out its magic on him, and maybe, to you too.

taglist; @kazu-topia @sussydemon @hamayumis @a-fairytale @mouchie @achilleas-dream @stuckindreamland06 @nvicvi @kailluaken (usernames in bold are the ones that couldn't be tagged)

a/n; omg it has been such a long ride for me to push this fic out of the drafts. if you, the beloved reader, have reached this very end, thank you so much for reading! reblogs are greatly appreciated as always <3

all rights reserved © genshinology 2022 strictly on tumblr only. any form of wrongdoings under the copyright law is strictly prohibited.

#🌼.writings #ayato x reader #ayato x you #ayato fluff #ayato angst #ayato imagines #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact angst #gesnhin impact imagines #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin fluff #genshin angst #genshin imagines

[akutasoda]

Hellooo💕

May I request a bsd x s/o with like very messy quite short hair? Like, messy and curly but s/o doesn't really like their curls and doesn't treat their hair as they should treat curls (and doesn't really know how to treat them properly) but bsd characters know and sometimes do it for them?? I would request Ranpo, Yosano and Kōyō (+ characters you want to add if u want any!)

looking out for you

synopsis - you never cared for your hair properly and they want to change that

includes - ranpo, yosano, kouyou, mushitaro

warnings - gn!reader, reader has curly hair, fluff, wc - 529

a/n: hello! :)

ranpo edogawa ★↷

↪he probably had noticed your dislike towards your curls. not that he understood why, he personally lived your curls especially when he got bored and would fiddle with them when he was bored. but he did understand it was probably bad for them.

↪and when he found out you actually just didn't know or learn how to take care of them properly he decided there and then that he would teach you. even if he didn't know, he would find out just to show you how.

↪and if he ever noticed you stop caring for them properly he would show no hesitation in doing it for you. he quite enjoyed doing it for you, especially because then he knew they were being taken care of properly.

akiko yosano ★↷

↪again she probably had realised your dislike towards your curls and in turn you not looking after them properly. she most likely has a good haircare and skincare routine. not to elaborate but a tiny bit extensive.

↪so when she found out she definitely would want to change that soon. if you let her, she would teach you how to look after them properly. she would love to see you tale on her advice and would compliment on how your curls look much better now.

↪if you asked her or if you stopped properly caring for them she would definitely help out and do it for you. she would live to take care of not only your hair but anything else you needed taking care of.

kōyō ozaki ★↷

↪would notice how you dislike your curls but thought you still would look after them. she definitely prides herself on her care routines. they are definitely elaborate and very methodical as she believes caring for yourself is very important.

↪and when she did realise that you actually didn't look after them for whatever reason she was determined to change that. would probably set you an optional elaborate self care plan. wouldn't expect you to follow everything but very much apreciates you just doing small things to improve the care.

↪would definitely be on board to show you how or actually doing it for you. would love to do it to pamper you, and she can make sure it's done properly.

mushitaro oguri ★↷

↪would take him a while to notice your dislike for your curls but would notice your lack of care towards them. he definitely has the most elaborate and intricate self care routine. he very much prides himself on his appearance and takes every step to keep it the way it is.

↪when he does either fully notice or decides to intervene with your lack of care he definitely also devises a whole routine for you. it's up to you if you follow it all, he just asks that you follow the minimum. he thinks your hair is stunning and wishes you would take care of it.

↪maybe would be hesitant to actually do it for you. wether you ask him to or you stop taking care of your hair he would most likely only do it if you had stopped completely doing it in hopes you would start taking care of it again.

#x reader #x gender neutral reader #bsd x reader #bsd x gender neutral reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungo stray dogs x you #bsd x you #bsd ranpo #ranpo x reader #bsd yosano #yosano x reader #bsd kouyou #kouyou x reader #bsd mushitaro #mushitaro x reader

[toru-oikawas-milkbread]

Sleepy Cuddles With Diavolo

Pairing: Lord Diavolo x f!reader

Word count: 2K

Warnings/contents: Fluff, fluff, and more fluff

Notes: I don’t think I really have much to say for this. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it was so much fun to take his character and make him such a sweet and loving fiancé who’d be on your side no matter what. So, with the thought in mind, I rolled with the idea and 2k words later, here we are! I hope that you guys can enjoy this chapter! 

<>~<>~<>

Truth be told, the rumors were getting to you. That you were only with Diavolo because he was someone so important. That you were less interested in him and more his money, his heritage, even his body. For the longest time you laughed them off, but it seemed as the years went on they were only growing more intense.

To battle off the annoyance you felt from the constant rumors, you decided to get a job. Going from a child who had everything handed to her in the Devildom to falling for the young Lord, you’d never so much as needed to think of getting a job to make cash. But now, you simply weren’t in it for the money. Instead you were trying to appeal to the people of the Devildom. You thought that maybe if you showed yourself to the public more, if you were viewed as more than Lord Diavolo’s fiancée, that people would see you as more than a lowly gold digger who’s dried up money drove her to any length possible to continue the lavish life that she’d lived.

So you got a job at one of your favorite restaurants: Hell’s Kitchen. A constantly busy, understaffed restaurant that was always looking for new employees.

Often times you ended up serving your oldest friends; Beelzebub, Belphegor and occasionally the other brothers when they would tag along. After joining the Hell’s Kitchen team, you were surprised at how quickly everybody, even the customers, had welcomed you to what some pessimistically teased you as calling “The lower world.” However, Beel’s words were at the front of your mind when people said such things to you.

“Don’t worry about them. They don’t matter. More people here like you than dislike you.”

After a month now of working daily at Hell’s Kitchen, you’d grown accustomed to the working life; you’d grown fond of the regulars and even made friends with most of your coworkers, as fleeting as some of them may be. After some time, it seemed at the rumors were slowly dying off. That your plan to get people to realize you were in it for the long run with the entirety of the Devildom was working.

However you weren’t ready to leave the place you’d joined almost reluctantly a month ago. You felt like you were at home when you were at Hell’s Kitchen. As much as you missed getting in bed with Diavolo and instead coming home after he was already asleep, you were enjoying the time you spent with other people.

But that didn’t mean that you weren’t sometimes more exhausted than normal when you returned back to the place that you called home with Diavolo. With a yawn, you leaned back into the dining room chair and rubbed your tired eyes. You quickly opened them and sent a smile at Barbatos as he poured you a warm cup of your favorite, sweet smelling tea and set it in front of you.

“Thank you, Barbatos.”

“Of course,” he said politely. “You seem more worn out than usual tonight, if you don’t mind me saying.” You took a sip of your tea and nodded before speaking.

“Today was extremely busy and two people quit yesterday so more tables than normal were left up to me alone.”

“Is that why you had to work more hours?” He inquired as he used a feather duster on the shelf by the window, though he was clearly listening as he worked.

“Yes, that’s why I went in early and stayed late. But I don’t want to complain, I saw Beel and Mammon today as well as a few other regular customers and their families. I got some very generous tips today. I think that I’ll give them to Mammon, he’s always complaining about what he owes in debt, though I have my doubts he’d use this money to settle them and instead he’d most likely buy something that will end up laying on the floor sometime soon.” You added the last bit with a soft laugh.

“Is all of this exhaustion, worth it?” He asked, catching your attention. You sent him a confused frown.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if you don’t mind, it seems as if you’re rather exhausting yourself further than needed for some small rumors.” With a small gasp, you opened your mouth to speak but quickly shut it. The air was thick for a moment before a familiar tone broke it.

“Barbatos is right.”

“Young Lord.” Barbatos greeted Diavolo with a smile and a gentle bow.

“Diavolo—“ You spoke, but your fiancé raised a hand to silence you and took the seat across from you.

“You’re beyond exhausted.” Barbatos grabbed another cup and pored Diavolo a cup of steaming tea before he quietly excused himself from the room. “This isn’t the same part-time gig that you told me you were looking for."

“Diavolo, you don’t understand— I’ve invested myself in Hell’s Kitchen. I know the customers, I know the chef’s— I’m one of the only servers left. I can’t leave.”

“I’m not asking you to leave. I’m asking you to take it less seriously.” You frowned lightly and took another sip of your tea.

“I can’t take it less seriously; that’s not how I know how to work. That’s not how I do these things.” Diavolo gave a soft sigh and reached a hand across the table, offering comfort for you that you easily gave into.

“Barbatos is right, my darling. You’re exhausted. You’re working long hours. I permitted this when you were only working a few hours a day to show the people of the Devildom that you weren’t simply using me to get somewhere higher,” you flushed and looked down, unaware that Diavolo had known your plot all along, “However this has gone too far. You’ve more than proven yourself.”

“I should have known that you would see right through me,” you said with a sigh.

“I hear the rumors. I see the way that you slowly started to let it in. You suddenly taking a job at Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t surprising, but I didn’t think that it would go so far.” He stood, keeping ahold of your hand and helping you up out of your chair. “Come now, my love. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Let me clean up real quick—“ You started, however Barbatos was quickly behind you gathering the cups.

“You’re going to replace me if you keep cleaning up after yourself,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll handle the cleaning tonight.”

“Thank you, Barbatos,” Diavolo spoke, gently tugging you along to the stairs to head to your shared bedroom. “Come now. Let’s get to bed.” Sighing, you followed the man with no complaint. Things were silent on your way to the bedroom. He opened the door for you, closed it behind himself, and crossed his arms while you sat on the end of the bed. “Be honest with me.” There was no strict guidelines. He knew that there was more on your mind than you were letting on. You had never known that you were so predictable in his eyes.

“I am.”

“There’s things you’re neglecting to tell me. Not hiding, not lying about, but neglecting. I’d like you to be honest with me.”

“Oh Diavolo… why do you have to know me so well.”

“In this moment, I believe that’s your saving grace.” He sent you a gentle smile as he spoke. “My love, what’s going on?” Gently, the man sat beside you on the end of the bed and placed a warm hand on your shoulder. “I just don’t think that you’ve been yourself lately.”

“I have been.” With a sigh, Diavolo stood again.

“One of these days, I’ll get your guard down. For now, come lay with me.” Your fiancé stripped his jacket off, not bothering to put it away like he usually does. Diavolo took his shoes off and pulled the thick comforter back, laying beneath the sheets on the bed and offering an arm for you as you slowly stood up. You gave in, laying on the bed with the man and moving against his side. “How was work today then? You were gone an awfully long time.”

“It was so busy,” you started, though minding your words carefully. You didn’t want to complain; Diavolo had the entirety of the Devildom on his shoulders, you felt wrong complaining about anything to him. Especially since you knew that he would only make you feel listened to and be there for you. It made you feel selfish to think about. “But it was a good day— Beel and Mammon stopped by for a little while near the end of my shift. I had a quick snack with them before they left when it was closing time. A couple regulars came in, some with their family.”

“It sounds like it was quite crowded today.”

“Extremely.”

“Are your feet tired? Would you like me to rub them for you? I can only imagine that it wasn’t very comfortable to be standing and running around all day in your work shoes.”

“I can’t complain too much.”

“You never do.”

“Well— that’s not true. I complain.”

“Very rarely.”

“There’s nothing to complain about.” Diavolo gave a quiet chuckle and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“You always say that. You know, even optimists can have rough days that they need to complain about,” you frowned and went to speak, but he quickly cut you off “— maybe complain isn’t the right word. Maybe vent is the appropriate term.”

“I have a good life. I’m happy.”

“Then even happy people can have rough days.”

“I really don’t have anything that deserves to be complained about.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” He asked with a small frown.

“It supposed to mean that you have the entire Devildom looking up to you and Barbatos has the future and the past in his eyes, and he’s constantly working all day long. Lucifer has his brothers that he’s always looking after and Levi and Belphegor are extremely misunderstood and they need help.”

“I see. You feel like your problems are not justifiable. Is that it?”

“No, I just… do we have to keep talking about this?” You frowned., your temper growing short “It’s been a long day and I don’t want to have this conversation.” With another quick kiss to your forehead, Diavolo spoke.

“We can talk about it later.” With a huff, you nuzzled into his shoulder.

“Will you just let it go?”

“Absolutely not.” He spoke the words that you knew you were going to hear, one’s that you already heard in your mind before you even finished your sentence. “Maybe I do have the entire Devildom on my shoulders, but you are my first priority. And if you think that life is stressful for me, you’re incorrect. I love my position. Barbatos knows that when he’s tired, he can take a break. Lucifer loves his brothers. Belphegor is growing closer to his brothers and Levi is warming up to people. Everything is okay with everybody else right now. And if everything with you is not okay, then it won’t be okay until we fix it, and that is okay.”

“I hate that you’re always so encouraging.” A laugh left the man as he rubbed your shoulder.

“No you don’t. You hate that you’re just wrong this time around.” He quickly teased you. “Now, please, promise me that you’ll open up to me soon. It doesn’t have to be tonight, maybe not even tomorrow. Maybe not even a week from now. But you can talk to me. We’re not engaged because we neglect to tell the other what tires us.”

“I don’t want to be a burden.” You spoke softly.

“Never.” He spoke in a quiet tone. “Never could you be a burden. Certainly not to me. Now ease your minds of such futile worries and rest your head on me now. Good girl. Get some rest now. I’ll be here for you whenever you’re ready to talk.”

#obey me #obey me x female reader #obey me x female reader fluff #obey me x reader #obey me x reader fluff #obey me diavolo #obey me diavolo x female reader #obey me diavolo x female reader fluff #obey me diavolo x reader #obey me diavolo x reader fluff #obey me imagines #obey me stories #obey me shorts #obey me lord diavolo

[narrators-journal]

It's like hxh characters finding out that's hxh Isa series or movie in the real world, a different world. Which means they have actors. So they're reacting to their actors interview lol

I couldn’t find a way to work in a (y/n) character since a reader insert would depend a lot on the reader’s feelings for something like this. This isn’t a story, after all, I don’t feel right dictating how someone would react to the discovery of being a show character, y’know? So, I left a slot open for reader interpretation! An interactive post, lol.

Otherwise, I just kinda went ham with your general set up. It was kinda hard for me to think if I stuck so close to your exact premise. Hope ya don’t mind!

@coolminahi

In general

In general, the revelation of the show being...a show, would throw the entire cast for a loop. I’ll mention some highlights, but as a whole, the revelation would be something along the lines of existential fear, confusion, and maybe some amazement.

Hisoka

Hisoka is about the only one I can think of who doesn’t have a group, and Kite is just a random character I like, lol. So, they get their own bits. Plus, their fairly simple. Hisoka’s biggest throw off is his actor not having pink hair slicked back like his. The fact their personalities don’t match or his actor doesn’t condone his taste for powerful fighters of any age doesn’t bug him. He can understand that he’s not for everyone.

The phantom troupe

Chrollo has experienced so many powers, and read so many books that he wouldn’t exactly care for the fact his reality is false. Though, he would be offended if his actor is anything but intellegent and appreciative of his reading and grace. Uvogin, though, would have his mind utterly blown. If his physique isn’t realistic to his actor, he’s crushed, and if it is, he would wonder if his actor is a good fighter. If so...could they spar? Feitan meanwhile would lowkey hate his actor if he denounced his torturous tastes. “How can he talk about me like that?! He’s no better than me!” that type of logic. In all, though, the spiders would mostly be confused on how this works. How can Macha or Phinks’ actors be such sweeties? How are they seperate from the characters? How are they different from the actors?

The zoldycks

Where the spiders may ponder the existential angle, the Zoldycks are more worried about the opinions of their actors, and the accuracy of their portrayal. Kikyo would have a fit over the smallest shift in what she believes she’d do, or any harsh comment levelled at her or her babies in interviews, Milluki would complain that his actor isn’t thinner, insulting the man viciously while also picking apart the effects of the show. Alluka would simply find it fun to have an actor, and be called adorable in interviews, while Killua would be annoyed and confused if his actor wasn’t his age. “why the hell is my actor 18?? I’m only 12, how can they opt for hours of make up to de-age him, when they can just hire a twelve year old??”

Illumi would not like the fact their reality is a show. He instantly dislikes his actor, he dislikes how easy going he might be, or him laughing off marriage proposals. He doesn’t like to think about interviews and how this affects him, mostly because of his actor and how different they are. “He’s so emotional and takes nothing serious. I hate how weak he is.” Every one but Killua would probably also be offended at them not bothering to try and match their strength either.

Silva and Zeno would be the only two really pondering what this means for their world. When the story ends, do they cease to exist? If the show is cancelled, what happens then? Those types of questions. Though, Zeno does at least appreciate the work that goes into aging his actor.

The main cast

Gon would be ecstatic to see they’re a show. He’d think it was so cool, and he’d hope all of his friends got good screen time, and were loved by the fans. He would think of the implications, but he’d try not to fret over them. Kurapika, meanwhile, would feel highkey cheated by god. “My family was wiped out...for a mere plot?!” While Leorio wouldn’t know how to feel. His actor seems cool, he seems fun in all of his interviews, but...does this mean he’s not real? Complicated emotions there.

[reader insert]

Readers choice, lol. Feel free to repost or comment how you’d react to this news if you want!

#ask #hxh #hunter x hunter #actor au #kinda #headcanons #kept it light and simple here #tried to include as many as I could remember #The Zoldycks #The Phantom troupe #Hisoka Morrow #reader insert included

[yonemurishiroku]

I was rereading The Blood of Olympus today, and I realized how much I just do not like Piper.

Whenever Piper is in a chapter, to me it feels like she’s always being pushy, selfish, or overprotective. Also, it may just be me with this opinion.

When Piper is in the temple of fear with Annabeth, Piper is the one who takes control of the situation. In my opinion the way Rick explained it didn’t make sense. Annabeth is the one who is always calm and collected. Even with trauma. Piper is the one who acts on impulse and what she wants, (as displayed when she jumps down the chute even though Annabeth warns her not to). Although this action may have been necessary to the mission, it what reckless.

Also, despite Piper knowing something is up with Leo, continues to treat him like a third wheel and as someone who could be sacrificed. It just doesn’t make her a likable character.

As my last little tid-bit on this topic, Piper committed crimes before becoming part of the seven. I don’t think this should be ignored as a part of her character. It shows how much she craves attention and isn’t above breaking the law to get it. There is certain things that are *somewhat* understandable for not having attention from your parents, but never should breaking the law be considered okay to do because of that.

Who knows, maybe I’m reading her character wrong but that’s the way I see her. Please dissect this.

I just want to say that, as someone who has been trying to keep it down to only Nico, to receive an ask specifically about another character I've paid no attention to surely is an experience lol.

Anyway. Let's see. From your words, Piper doesn't seem to be a likable character, which is to be expected. As far as I'm concerned though, Piper, as a character, just does not interest me enough for me to form an opinion. I'm more of a "eh whatever" or "oh. cool" when it comes to her. It also does not help that I haven't read The Lost Hero, and my brain just straight up auto-deletes everything that's not Nico-related, so you can say my grasp of Piper McLean is limited at best and non-existant at worst.

If there's anything I remember about her, then that'd be the times I had to skip some pages of her and Jason (like I did to Percabeth, bc I disliked romantic scenes with everything in me and that's nothing new).

With that being said, as someone technically blank, I feel that your dislike to Piper is already set in stone, so there's no changing to that, and it's not like you need to change anyway. I wouldn't like such a character in your description either. 😂😂😂

About that scene of Annabeth and Piper, (keep in mind that I am not aware of that scene but directly referencing it through your retelling) I think what Rick was trying is to make Piper a direct contradiction to Annabeth in terms of action repertoire - a type of recklessness to the latter's meticulousness.

(Wow Percabeth and Jiper are actually a square full of contradictions)

However. The line between 'bold, risk-taking' and straigh-up stupidity is but a fine line. I will not judge Piper without properly re-reading the whole thing (which I won't), but I can see where you get it from.

I just want to say a few words about the last part. The thing about Piper's criminal record.

I understand that, from a reader's point of view, it'd be unlikable for a character to commit a crime, specifically, to "gain attraction". Though, while the action itself is inexcusable, it should also be acknowledged that Piper - like 90% of the PJO cast - was a teenager, who grew up with barely any parental guidance (or at least that's what I remember). A figure as such is bound to make mistakes, as well as cause debates over their likeliness. I do agree that what Piper did was wrong (I mean. that's like. the law), however there's a reason and background to said wrongdoing.

It's not okay, nor is it right to do so, but it's understandable. That's all.

That is to say: fuck it. I have been resenting Percy since the day I read PJO, you can dislike Piper all you want. We're just humans, not saints. Just don't go around shitting on people with different likes then you're good to go! 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️😂

While we are at it, I'm quite curious as to how this was "ignored as a part of her character". I'm guessing that Rick failed to incorporate Piper's background into her own character as she's developed? Then that's not Piper's fault. That's just Rick and his YA writing lmao.

#piper mclean #annabeth chase #pjo #hoo #toa #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #yone rambling #over analyzing #rick riordan

[beneathashadytree]

Hello, I really love your writing style and how uou portray the characters perfectly! So I was wondering if you can make an age-gap relationship between with either (you can choose) (Sanji, Zoro, Law, Luffy: separately) and the reader who's like 42, who treats them like a kid but the boy wants to be treated like a man.

Oh yea, the girl's persona is like tomboyish too :>

(I had this girl in mind for the scenario)

Thank youuuu~

AS A MAN - TRAFALGAR LAW X READER

Warnings : a little steamy towards the end, major age gap, this is not proofread, reader identifies as female!

Genre : fluff I think?

Word count : 1.3K words (oops)

Additional info : Thank you for being so sweet! I’m glad you enjoy reading my works💗 Headcanon form was more convenient for this request, because I had to touch upon too many points that I couldn’t go into too much detail in (unless I wanted to end up writing 4K words, that is💀). I personally chose Law for this because major age gaps make me uncomfortable when the person isn’t fully mature yet. Law is the only one who is 25+ years old, which is the age at which the brain fully develops. Otherwise it would feel too predatory for me to be able to write it. I hope this one is to your liking and that you don’t mind this! I got a little creative with it near the end🫣

Requests : Are open! Check the rules over here.

Want to support me financially? Here’s my CashApp.

Masterlist

Given just how faithful he is to the Hippocratic oath, Law dedicated a good deal of his free time to making advancements in the world of medicine

As a doctor and surgeon, he’s never satisfied with simply taking the facts as they are and using his Devil Fruit to his advantage; no, he very much prefers to sit in his office and toll over research and papers

He’s also allied himself with different pirates over the years, seeking his own benefit and what he ends up getting from their end

Unsurprisingly, he meets all sorts of people, but his bonds with them have always been superficial, if not cold, even

Law’s never been one to think too deeply about whether or not he likes his “business partners” because he simply wasn’t there to fraternize with people

However, once he met her, everything he’d known about his world changed 180 degrees

She was quite a fair bit older than he was, almost two decades his senior, and it showed clearly just how vastly different their ages were in the way that she carried herself

Perhaps it wasn’t the typical maturity most people expected women to have, the stereotypical stuffy seriousness and stuck-up attitude that most noblewomen had, but something about her and the way her eyes trained on everyone showed just how much she’d gone through and seen

As allies, they were forced to interact from time to time, and to Law’s surprise, he didn’t find himself opposed to being in her presence; hell, he sometimes preferred having her around over his solitude with papers and tools in his office

Having her around while he worked had him eager to prove himself, for some odd reason, and eager to prove just what he was capable of doing with his skill set and his knowledge at hand

Maybe it was because she seemed to not think much of him

Not in the sense that she disliked him, or that she looked down on him, but she somehow always treated him as though he were nothing but a mere boy to her, a kid whose efforts were endearing but not necessarily awe-inspiring in their nature

And though he’d tried to deny it for a long while, Law hated the fact that he hadn’t been able to impress her—and that probably was because of the fact that he was so used to people reacting to him and his abilities with a mix of horror and amazement

Her lackluster reactions weren’t at all disrespectful; in fact, she did often express her appreciation for his work as a doctor, warlord, surgeon, pirate, and all-around menace, but she did so in a manner that felt like she was simply praising a child for their newest achievement

She’d even gone so far as to pat his head with a chuckle in an attempt to calm him down after he’d once lost his temper over an inconvenience in the operating room, which he knew she’d done with no malicious intent but had come across as condescending

And Law did understand where she was coming from, seeing as most people in their forties found little to be impressive, after having seen so much—and especially with her being a pirate who’s traveled at least a good majority of the entire world

Her own personality played part in this too, since she seemed to have a laidback sort of effortless swagger that made all men and women alike look up to her

The casualness with which she strutted and her confident smirk was exactly why she fit right in with them, and why they respected her so much

In fact, he himself found himself momentarily stunned every now and then by her mere presence and how overwhelming it sometimes got, and he had to begrudgingly admit that he couldn’t stay away from her due to his immense attraction to everything that she was

But still, the sting left behind every time she cooed at one of his morbid experiments was one that Law couldn’t soothe with his own faith in himself

He had to prove to her just how worthy he was of his title as the Surgeon of Death, and he planned to do it himself before he lost his mind to the fact that she simply didn’t see him as the man that he was

So he tried time and time again to subtly let her sit with him in his office or operating room, often by claiming that he needed an extra helping hand, or that he needed someone to keep watch to make sure that no one would interrupt his work

He hoped that by doing so she would be genuinely interested in his skills, and so impress her

However, Law’s plan seemed to completely backfire when he had her in his office, asking her to organize a stack of incredibly complicated research papers he’d left out on purpose for her to read

As he’d expected, she’d been curious enough to pick them up and ask him to explain what was on them, and he’d smirked a little as he gave her a rundown of the topic at hand while she sat in front of him

She’d gaped at him with awe in her eyes, and he’d believed that he’d finally managed to impress her, that is until—

“For someone so young, it’s incredible how you’ve managed to discover all this.”

And that was when he’d had about enough, and he couldn’t help but snap at her

“I’m not a fucking child. Don’t talk to me like that.”

Once again, his sharp tongue had gotten the best of him, as he could see how she frowned at him while setting his papers down

“Sorry, Law. Didn’t mean to disrespect you as a warlord.”

With an exhausted huff, he rubbed his eyes before finally saying, “That’s not it. It’s not about that.”

Confusion laced her features, and Law took advantage of drawing to his full height and leaning over her, an intense surge of emotions in his hard-set eyes

“I’m not a kid. You’re treating me like one, but you’re forgetting I’m a man. A powerful one at that.”

“I haven’t—“

“Really?” He narrowed his eyes for a moment, before he hummed and leaned in until he could see every single lash and watch every single stunned emotion flicker in her eyes. Part of him reveled in that wicked feeling. “It seems to me like you’ve only ever seen me as someone your junior.”

Despite her warring emotions, she managed to sigh and say, “Law, it’s… it’s only because you’re younger, and I recognize that you’ve got the youth I left behind years ago.”

With a glint of his teeth that seemed just a little cruel and a little cocky, he allowed his thumb to gently press onto her bottom lip, watching as the red flush climbed up her cheeks at his daring move, certainly having not seen this coming in any which way

“I could very well remind you what it feels like to be young.” His low voice was as tantalizing as a velvety purr, stroking her soft lip. “It’s your choice tonight. Just don’t forget what I’m capable of.”

Though one could read it as a threat, she knew damn well that it was a promise—a very, very tantalizing and delicious promise that had her head spinning

Law’s smirk was all-telling, and he knew that from this day forth she would be unable to remove this new image of him from her mind

Was he too despicable for liking the fact that she would suffer from not being able to stop thinking of him? No matter; he’s never been the most morally righteous, after all

Taglist: @finch-ya @stories-that-shaped-me @wifeofkyojuro @livwritesfics

#imagine #fluff #anime #one piece #op #one piece x reader #op x reader #one piece fluff #hcs #headcanons #one piece headcanons #op headcanons #op hcs #trafalgar law #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law hcs #trafalgar law headcanons #law #law x reader #law hcs #law headcanons #law fluff #trafalgar law fluff #heart pirates #one piece law #op law #one piece trafalgar law #op trafalgar law #trafalgar d. water law #trafalgar d water law

[neverlearnedtoread]

Spinning Silver

⭐⭐⭐⭐; the staryk king and mirnatius with the word 'wife' on the board: there's only one thing more horrible than a wife.... *rips off paper* MY wife

Oh?? 👌😉😏

women are fucking amazing and wonderful and terrifying and unequivocal badasses. especially to their husbands. it's about the fantasy of a marriage you have no control over being perfectly suited to you in ways you didn't even know it could

inhuman fae creatures that actually have a separate culture and set of rules they are governed by. they're much more powerful than humans, of course, but they are bound to their laws, and if you're smart you can work with that

fairytale-esque magic system that relies heavily on (1) trickery (2) Having Audacity and (3) the rule of threes 😉. we love a soft magic system that rewards big swings and BDE!

not one, but TWO separate arranged marriages engaged in HEATED pvp AKA two people bound in hostile matrimony trying to kill each other while having 'wait, are they hot? fuck!' moments

you can be cold and practical and still be a good person. you can be strong enough to protect yourself without sacrificing others. with a good enough grasp of contracts you can force a demon to leave your kingdom AND husband unharmed in a 2-for-1 deal

No.. ❌🤢🤮

multiple POVs with no names for chapter titles so you have to figure out who it is from context clues - if you're like me and love a little puzzle to go with your reading time, you'll really enjoy it (Novik does it VERY well) but if you get confused easily or don't wanna put in the brainpower its annoying and overly complicated

if you don't like enemies-to-lovers where they actually argue and are ideologically opposed, you're not gonna enjoy the romance subplots. this is not a 'forbidden-lovers' kinda enemies-to-lovers. this is firmly in the 'my husband misses me a lot - but his aim is getting better!' zone

really quick wrap up - it gets tied up a little too fast after the final confrontation with the Big Bad. i wouldve liked at least to have irina POV at the end because her side of things just. gets left hanging

Summary: Miryem is a daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, and though her father doesn't have the hardheartedness to be a good one, she'd rather be despised for what she's owed than starve. Her knack for the trade, coupled with her sharp tongue, draws the ire of her village, and even more alarmingly, the Staryk's attentions; faerie creatures who only covet gold, they take her offhanded boast that she can turn silver into gold quite literally, and show up at her door to hold her true to her careless words - which, honestly, kind of backfires on them when she rises to the challenge and upends their realm into complete disarray, so maybe there's a lesson there for the next group of nonhumans to learn: don't bet the house against a human girl whose Had Enough Of All This Bullshit. She might win.

Concept: 💭💭💭 I don't know Rumpelstiltskin's story very well, and Ice Kingdom aesthetics aren't my favourite (you can blame it on my residual dislike of Frozen), but I DID read Uprooted before this. I wasn't as into the book blurb as I was with Uprooted, but I'm an experienced (and opinionated) enough reader to know when to trust my gut - if I find an author's writing style easy to read, and I enjoy how they handle their themes, I'm not afraid of diving into deep waters. If it's that bad, I can always DNF

Execution: 💥💥💥💥 As I've come to expect with Novik's writing, a wonderfully easy read; the storytelling voice flows smoothly and makes me want to keep on reading. No slogging through difficult to understand passages and too slow pacing for me! I instantly wanted to collect every POV character like puppies in a basket, no matter how brief their sections were. I will say the ending does forget what it wants to say and simply ends on a happy note, instead of a complete thought. It doesn't tie in the POV characters together strongly enough - I would've loved to see an epilogue scenes with the 3 main female characters supporting each other, or at least being three distinct Bad Bitches!

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤❤❤ Mostly because of Irina and Miryem (and Wanda)'s absolute BDE. They truly brought their stories to life and felt very dynamic, constantly driving the story forward through their actions, especially because their personalities and characteristics were so well-suited to the challenges they faced (Miryem rules-lawyering the Staryk, Irina taking to politics, Wanda keeping faith despite all the shit she's been through). Honorary shoutout to the complete hilarity of Mirnatius's POV (though ultimately it IS more indulgence than necessity, I respect Novik for it) - may he spend the rest of his life desperately drawing his wife in vain search of her bad angles!

Favourite Moment: the running gag of mirnatius losing his fucking mind trying to prove irina isn't hot. you know that post that's like 'find a blorbo to draw and your art skills will start improving so much faster'? irina is his blorbo. special mention of the scene he gets jealous realizing a random guard has a crush on his behated wife and immediately jumps to the conclusion that irina would want to fuck the guard for the sake of the kingdom. babygirl the hoops you are jumping........where is this gymnastics routine even going 😭 this man is not beating the meow meow allegations..

Favourite Character: It's really a tie between Miryem and Irina, who are both so similar yet different at the same time. Miryem's BDE was enjoyably explosive - she throws it in everyone's face, which is perfect to play off of the Staryk's otherworldly impassiveness. Irina's BDE was a lot more...steely. Quietly coming into her own as she realized how adept she was at politics, and how perfectly well-suited that made her to being tsarina - and when they finally met each other? it was so funny when were like 'hey...why dont we kill our husbands via pokemon battle??'

#spinning silver #naomi novik #books #book review #booklover #bookblr #reading #my hot take is that the staryk king is not immune to double dog dares. #staryk king: please stop asking for anything else you have already taken EVERYTHING FROM ME. STOP FUCKING ASKING! #miryem: what are you - scared?? #staryk king: #my OTHER hot take is that irina and mirnatius spend the next six months to a year irradiating (pun intended) EVERYONE in their castle with #life-threatening levels of pining angst and UST. #like theyre super into each other (everyone knows. fae living on the moon would know.) but theyre both like 'what if the other person #sees it as pity sex or thinks im just using them???' and instead of talking about it they simply. Dont. for ages #in a distant realm miryem wakes up to another day happily annoying her ice fae husband in new and exciting ways and is like. #'hmmm. somehow i feel like there's a disturbance out there. oh well not my issue'

[ae-neon]

I saw you talking about Nalini Singh, and I love her series, specifically the Guild Hunter Series. What are your thoughts on it? Likes, dislikes,

I love the diversity and how the bad guys are still complex characters while the good guys are the same. Also the settings seem realistic and well detailed

The only part of the story that didn’t make sense to me was the introduction of Elena’s grandparents. I didn’t really see the point of them, that a history/DNA test wouldn’t have also accomplished.

What do you think? 🥰🥰

Hi! 🌷

Disclaimer: Its been a looong while since I read the Guild Hunter Series so I'm rusty on the details. I was also a much less critical reader and I took long breaks between books since I was reading it really casually.

But

I really loved the diversity. Not just lazily including vague poc rep but fully fleshed out characters as leads and romantic interests

Also the lore around vampires being the result of the angels turning humans. I enjoyed the action in the series, chemistry between characters and the consequences around power too.

Lijuan was probably my fav villain and Neha's Court in India was maybe my fav location (also probably because I liked switching pov to Mahiya and Jason) but Caliane(?) emerging or awakening and wrecking everything was a really intriguing plot for me

I don't remember much about Elena's grandparents, except that her grandma was Moroccan? And 1 or both were also Hunters like her? I think?? Lol. I might have to reread because I remember wanting to get more into her family after her (step?) sister went missing in one of the books but unfortunately I don't remember what that led to

My dislikes are maybe seeing too much of Elena and Raphael? And maybe not having their romance (especially since Raphael was in that 'cold' state the power forced him into for a lot of it) and Elena's time as a human a bit more drawn out? It's not like she was too weak to be relevant, we could have really explored what being a Hunter is and connected with the guild characters more before they became relevant in later books.

I also skipped Dmitri's book because I wasn't feeling the specifics of the 'reincarnation but not really' situation with Honour.

All in all, Nalini Singh is really up there when it comes to romantic fantasy as someone who nitpicks a lot lol. In particular the world building of her Psy-Changeling series is one of my fave urban fantasy lores ever.

#anon asks #not really but for tagging purposes #nalini singh

[orangepanic]

34, 36 (I am myself a very visual person, and I should say proudly that I have read all your fics during last 2 months, and I visualize Iroh very good, you even told his height, but not for Asami(as far as I can remember) I would love to imagine them beside eachother in your fics, so how tall you imagine her🧐)

39, 41

Please skip any, if you have already answered ❤️

That's such an interesting point! (also you read all my fics???!!!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗) I wonder if I spend less time describing Asami because she has so much more screen time so I assume readers know? Anyway I have Asami as just a hair over 5'9" but as in canon almost always in heels, which puts her at perfect kissing height with Iroh :-)

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

At the same time everything and nothing. There are no characters who are inspired by real people, but at the same time there are little bits of people I know in so much of my characterizations. Asami has my messy purse and my coffee order. Iroh and I probably have the same number of books, though his are far better organized. His and Izumi's dislike of shoes is the same as my husband's. Some of the settings look like places I've been or seen (like all of Starvation Paradise is inspired by a real place in Russia). It's all cobbled together.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Yes, which is often the hardest part. Writing for me is like watching a movie in my head and trying to translate. But it's also filtered through the characters' perceptions. Another reason I might describe Iroh differently than Asami is that they notice different things about one another. For example, I pulled these first re-meeting descriptions from the same fic.

Taller than average, he had thick black hair that he wore slicked back and the typical pale skin and golden eyes of the Fire Nation. Handsome in an angular sort of way, he had the kind of tense, uncomfortable look that she associated only with military men, nuns, and Lin Beifong.

Her black hair was bound up into a ponytail and she’d exchanged her heeled boots for hiking shoes. Even in the flat shoes she was tall, and though clearly younger than him she walked with a surety of movement that made her seem older than Korra and the others. A pair of olive green goggles perched on the top of her head. Iroh hadn’t wanted a traveling companion, but the thought crossed his mind that, if he must have one, he could do a lot worse than a pretty girl with common sense.

While it's only an example, I think Asami is slightly more literal and objective in her internal descriptions. Enter Mr. Tall, Tense, and Handsome from the Fire Nation. Iroh seems to be more relative, so while also noting features like tall and pretty, he's also describing Asami relative to his own expectations and feelings, so you get comparators like "younger than me but seems older than Korra and mature for her age so maybe okay to date?" and "I really didn't want to go with someone but hmmm okay yes I like this."

I can't claim I'm doing this on purpose but maybe I am? It would track with my characterization of Asami as slightly more analytical and Iroh as a big sack of feelings.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

Oh, all the time! First, I shamelessly steal headcanons. All the time. I see something I like and I adopt it. Second, I'm always reading things that make me want to write better or differently. If I read something I like I'll try it out. For example I just read a trashy mystery novel that, while I didn't love it, hardly used dialog tags at all and I was fascinated by that, so I've been trying it out. It's just fun to play with. Finally, I love chatting with other writers and people in fandom and bouncing ideas and getting feedback. They've all made me better.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

I love the subtle intimacy of this one and have been trying to write like that ever since.

Fanfic writer asks

#ask game #irosami #tlok

[thatdesklamp]

hihi!! i absolutely love ur writing and was wondering why you dislike using y/n ? i hope this doesn’t come forward as hateful !! much love 🤍🤍

omg no not at all! This is actually a very funny question, so absolutely.

Let's talk about x reader fics, hell yeah.

This is all to do with my personal preference: when I have read x readers in the past, I have literally never imagined 'myself' as the 'reader' character. I've always found it awkward to do--it's just not my thing--and so to combat this, I just imagine the reader character as this... separate character, more of an OC than anything, and I'm just reading a fictional story and oh wow maybe she doesn't actually have a name, there we go, cool.

This then evolves into me reading x readers where the characters are, actually, essentially OCs: in order for the fic, assuming it's multi-chaptered and pretty longform, to be interesting, the perspective character needs to have good and consistent characterisation, and they can't be a bland 'eh' type person that the reader (e.g. me) can just project onto. Give me a character with flaws and personality! That's the type of 'reader character' I prefer. This is even better when authors give them a name--I've often seen authors sidestep the 'absolute OC'-ification of the reader by having the MC's 'real name' never be mentioned and them only be referred to by a nickname, or something like that. I like this! It's more fun when the MC has a name and a personality: it gives strength to the romance and idk man, I just like it, especially since this 'OC-ification' is just what I was doing anyway.

However, I still don't like 'absolute OC-ificaton', just 'partial OC-ification', and prefer a good middle mix. And I know that some readers do like to project themselves onto the MC, so I've tried to go for the same middle mix too.

You can see it in IW, really. This is the type of balance I like: I've given our MC a name, but it's only her surname, so you can pretend that her first name is your name if you want to, or you can lean into the 'partial OC-ification' and chill with the fact that this is a character with a different name to you. I've definitely given Hebi a personality (or, hell, I've tried to), and she's got her own set of flaws that some people will or won't relate to. But IW's got a wordcount of over 150k now, and it would've been pretty tricky to write all that much without feeling like our perspective character was... well. A character, you know?

Despite this, I try really hard to avoid mentioning physical descriptions, because that can be pretty jarring, imo. Hence why Hebi doesn't have the wattpad-y 'long blonde hair and blue eyes and also she's 5'1 and so petite and little with F CUP TITS' etc. I try not to make overt references to hair (like, no-one will ever 'smoothly run their hands through your hair' because, like,,, not everyone has pinstraight smooth type 1 hair, yk? However, someone might 'brush some hair away' or 'curl their fingers in your hair' etc etc, since that's a bit more universal). I'm not infallible, and I've probably slipped up somewhere without noticing, but I try my best to make it as universal as I can, yk?

As for 'y/n' specifically, I just am not a fan, lmao. I find it disrupts the flow of the writing, and takes you out of the story; it reminds you that you're reading something, rather than letting you get sucked in, you know? It also reminds me of 12yo mafia alpha male harry styles wattpad fanfictions and oh lord, I would rather forget those days.

I like my little x readers where the characters have names etc, but I know some people find that to be jarring and off-putting instead of y/n! It's just what you're used to, you know? <3

#asks from la lamp de desk

[ashes-writing]

the power of love pt four | stranger things ; s.harrington

A/N ; So.. This part came to me out of the blue earlier. I wanted to write something for them but for a hot minute there, nothing I tried seemed to fit. Then while I was cleaning around my house, this came to me and now, here we are. More awkward but cute fluff? Because yeah, that's what this is.

I just wanna say thank you to everyone who has given me feedback on this, y'all truly do not know how much this means to me -be it reblogs, comments, likes, whatever... And y'all don't know how much it inspires me to add to these. I'm just so happy they're out of my head but the fact that people actually seem to be reading them at all has me thrilled. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Pairing ; Steve Harrington x Henderson!Fem reader.

Timeline / Other Stuff to Note ; set in s2 with like.. None of the upside down, it's fuckery and it's nasty crusty villian monster things. Nobody will be dying, nobody faces life or death circumstance. This is a slice of life fic. There's a huge bit of nicer!tommy and nicer!carol but this is only because Reader is someone they've deemed 'acceptable' -ie writer is writing this so that they both disliked Nancy due to her attitude and their feeling she was fake / the way she did not return their boy's feelings enough for their liking, aka, two concerned friends.

Tag List ; @musichealsscars @aries-arcade @hcloangcls and @allelitesmut are the only people on my Stranger Things taglist. However I extend a special tag to @rampagewriting --absolutely feel free to ignore this bb!. if you'd like to be added to my taglists for anything including Stranger Things, please let me know or add yourself -> here.

Warnings ; writer is an idiot who understands the bare bones about basketball -or any other kind of sport, swearing, cute and awkward lil fluffy flirty moments, internal pining/angst, this is just.. cute. Also, friends to lovers, kind of a little bit of a slower burn.

Other Stuff ; tag list doc || my rules - fandoms and some characters I write for || requests are open (pls.. pls... send me things) but they're limited to headcanon asks + filth/fluff alphabet letters at this time-> send me things pls i begggg

I do not consent to my work being reposted elsewhere or copied/reworked/rewritten and reposted here or elsewhere. You don't own this, I do. So like... don't steal my shit.

It was one of the bigger games of the season. Hawkins High was set to square off against their longtime rival, and the winner of the game was going to the first round of the playoffs for state. Steve wasn’t really nervous. Honestly, he didn’t feel anything.

His parents were out of town, of course. But they had called and his father had done that thing where he intimidated him with the whole “You’re a man, son. Get out there and get it done. No excuses, no whining. Just win.”

His mother had been a little gentler, of course, but not by much. And when he asked if they’d at least be around over the weekend or something, she sighed. He could sense her impatience over the phone. Then suddenly, they had to go, his father had some stupid work meeting dinner thing. 

Nance wasn’t going to be in the stands tonight, but then when he remembered that, he laughed bitterly to himself because she really hadn’t ever bothered coming.

Tommy’s mom and dad were all going to be there. Billy’s kid stepsister would probably come even if for nothing more than to heckle Billy.

So really, aside from a scout maybe seeing him play tonight and maybe signing him despite the fact he wasn’t particularly motivated to go to college for any reason, he really didn’t have anything to look forward to.

Tommy was pumped already, jumping around the locker room with Billy, the two of them hollering. Just for appearances, Steve tried to do the same, -mostly so he didn’t worry Tommy or anything, but he just wasn’t feeling it.

Just once, he thinks to himself, I wanna have somebody out there for me.

This was his last thought as he stepped out of the locker room and began the walk up the hallway.

It was something he wasn’t really expecting to happen because it hadn’t yet. Not since he started playing in middle school.

So he really didn’t even glance at the crowd in the stands until Billy gave him a harsh elbow to the side once they were sitting in the bottom row of the bleachers on the home side of the gym. “Hey, Harrington?”

“What, Hargrove?”

Billy nods towards the stands and Steve thinks he’s just being a dick, that he’s rubbing it in like maybe his whole family came tonight or something so at first, he doesn’t look.

But then Tommy’s laughter has him curious. “Ya know.. Y’ keep saying she’s just tutoring you, buddy.. But I digress.” Tommy’s looking in the same direction that Billy was seconds ago. 

Steve finally looks that way too and that’s when he spots you. But not just you. No, you’re with your best friend Valerie, a girl who looks similar to Valerie that he’s seen around the arcade a time or two, your little brother Dustin and Carol Perkins, who always comes to every single one of Tommy’s games. 

“Guess Carol replaced Nic and Stacy, huh?” Tommy muses after a few seconds. Steve is still trying to process. “They’re here with her, then?” and he feels disappointed.

Tommy chuckles. “Actually, they came on their own. Bumped into Carol in the parking lot. So they were already here, buddy. Why? I don’t know.” he shrugs. “I really don’t. Y’know how she feels about sports, man. But she’s here. Name one time the ex did that, huh? C’mon…” he’s taunting, “I’m waitin.”

Billy chuckles. “Still gonna say it’s just tutoring, dumbass?” he asks as he gazes at Steve and shrugs. “You didn’t tell her about tonight and you threatened to kick mine and Tommy’s ass when we said we were gonna so I know I didn’t. You tell her, Tommy?”

“Nope. Not a word.” Tommy promises.

And he’s not lying either. But what he’s not saying is that he overheard you and Valerie talking in the line at lunch and he heard Valerie tell you that Steve’s parents never bother coming. It’s something Carol may or may not have let slip while talking to Valerie even after Tommy told her to leave it alone and just let whatever happens happen.

But Carol wouldn’t be Carol if she weren’t prying or nosing around. For her reputation to be an ice-hearted bitch, Tommy knew she had a softer spot. She was the one who’d kind of just taken both of them under her wing back in middle school, after all.

Steve still couldn’t quite get his head around it. And he didn’t dare let that sliver of hope grow, not even a little. Because the last time he thought what he felt was serious and real and maybe this time, he’d be enough… He hadn’t been.

But the other side of his brain was at war with this. You were here. And he hadn’t said a single word to you about the game tonight beyond this afternoon, when he mentioned that it wasn’t a big deal despite, according to you, being stressed out enough to shoot off into space yet again. After another one of your massages, he’d come straight here to get in a little practice with Tommy and Billy before things kicked off.

Up in the stands, you scan the front row where the team is sitting. Dustin spots him first and with a grin, he nudges you. “Over there. And he’s looking up here, too.”

“Fuck.” you feel that swarm of bees in your stomach start to buzz around again and you pull yourself together enough to meet Steve’s gaze after looking in the direction Dustin just was.

It’s probably your nerves or the loud crowd around you or you making a mountain out of a molehill, but you can feel yourself heating up all over. Swallowing hard as you give him this awkward little smile and wave and then immediately try to tug down the old Hawkins High Physical Ed shirt that you’d cropped just a little too short earlier  before leaving Valerie’s house. 

You still couldn’t believe you’d let her talk you into coming tonight, what if this made things weird? You were just starting to feel like you were getting to know the real Steve Harrington. Not the ‘King Steve’ version everybody else got. You were just starting to really like and enjoy being around him, too. The last thing you wanted was to go and do something like showing up tonight to watch him play and making it all weird. What if he didn’t want anybody to actually know you were friends to begin with?

Dustin nudges you. “I want food.”

You grumble, but you dig around to find him some money to make a concessions run with Valerie’s little sister Gia before the game starts. They’re wandering off and Valerie laughs softly. “He’s starin awful hard. I told ya that shirt would do it.”

“I did not wear this for him. I wore it cos I wanted to.” you’re quick to assert, the bright orange lightning bolt earring in your ear banging soft against the side of your neck as you whip your head to the side to look at her.

But deep down, you’d be lying if you didn’t admit that maybe seeing him tonight had just a little to do with your outfit choice. And maybe to dig a little deeper, it had everything to do with overhearing Nancy Wheeler and Barb Holland talking in the bathroom earlier today and Nancy saying that she just ‘didn’t see you with him.’ whatever the hell that meant.

Nobody saw her with him either, it’s not like she has any room at all to be smug or anything because look what she went and did when she had him.

You’re staring at him again before you can stop yourself, your body on fire under a melted chocolate gaze. Your hand raises and a strand of your hair winds around your finger. Just to dispel some of the tension and a little of the anxiety you’re feeling, you make a funny face at him and stick out your tongue. You see him give you that stupidly sexy grin and you give him a thumbs up.

The coach puts him in the game about the same time that Dustin and Gia come back into the gym, having a very vocal conversation with a lot of hand gesturing about something, some game he goes to play with Mike, Lucas and Will most weekends.

Valerie nudges you.

“Do ya think your brother’s ever gonna figure out my little sister’s crazy about him?” she asks, making you laugh to yourself. He’s totally oblivious.

You glance at the two and grin softly, shrugging. “I dunno. But it’d do him some good. He was real bummed when Lucas and Max started dating cos he liked her first. And he looks happy right now.”

One of the boys on the other team has it in for Tommy, Billy and Steve. He shoves Tommy first and beside you, Carol is on her feet. “Hey asshole!”

You’re laughing to yourself a little. But then the guy shoves Steve and the end result is Steve skidding across the hardwood floor. 

“Hey dipshit, can you walk and chew gum at the same time or are you just tryin to murder somebody tonight? Why the fuck is he not benched?” you yelp, throwing your hands up as you give the referee an annoyed look.

Valerie is beside herself laughing. Right up to the point when the guy goes after Billy.

“You put one bruise on his beautiful Adonis like body and I’m comin down there my damn self.” Valerie yells out. Loud.

This has both you and Carol pivoting your heads to look at her as both her little sister and your little brother try to shrink way down in the row they sit on in front of the three of you. Dustin’s snickering when he looks at you the second time the opposing team’s player shoves Steve.

“Think I’d get suspended if I went down and just punched the guy in the balls?” you muse aloud, rubbing your chin in thought.

“If he touches one hair on Tommy’s head again, I’m right behind you.” Carol admits with a laugh.

“If he even looks at Hargrove, I’m gonna claw his eyes out.” Valerie mumbles, flipping off the player in question when he locks eyes eyes with her and winks right after getting benched by his coach for all the shoving he's just done to the three boys in question.

“Do you three mind? We’re watchin the game, damn.” Gia throws up her hands as she whirls around to look at the three of you. “I’ve got money ridin on this, jesus christ!”

Carol snickers and gazes at Valerie. “Maybe this isn’t so bad. It’s definitely better than having to share a row with somebody I’m not even naming.”

“Ya mean the wet mop?” Valerie snickers quietly.

“Okay, both of you. Nancy isn’t that bad. Knock it off.” you mumble, earning you a weird look from Valerie and Carol.

“Girl… After you and I both overheard her saying what she did in the girls bathroom?” Valerie’s brow raises and you shrug. “Look.. I’m not competition. I’m not even in the game as far as I know. If she has a problem, that’s on her. Not me.” you shrug again as you point it out. "She had him and she gave him up. That's her issue. Not mine. It's not my business anyway, I mean.. Just his tutor.. Maybe his friend, i dunno..."

“Oh my god, she really is oblivious as hell. You weren’t lying, Valerie.”

Valerie shrugs. Ruffles your hair which has you giving her a dirty look. “It took two freaking hours to get it to at least behave this much.”

Around the break in the middle of the game, the three of you wander down from the bleachers. You’re in line at the concession stands waiting for nachos, your cheesy jalapeno fries and Carol’s diet soda when Carol speaks up. “The coach likes me. As in, he’ll totally let me… and possibly both of you, go over and give them something to drink if it’s water. My big idiot looks like he’s not nearly hydrated enough…” Carol is smirking as she says it.

Every part of you starts to say that’s girlfriend behavior and you do not want to come off weird or clingy or anything, but while your brain is on a time out after witnessing Steve just rip off his jersey top and throw it when he got benched before the break in the game for finally shoving the other guy back, Valerie answers for both of you.

“Okay, bet. We’re in.” she’s grinning. Valerie is probably the boldest girl you know and you just have a feeling that she’s not going to stop until she’s gotten a certain bad boy’s attention. You? Not so much so. You just don’t want to lose the budding friendship and you don’t dare to hope for anything else.

“Well?” Carol is looking at you.

You remember the fact that Steve is the only person on his team without anybody here tonight.. Technically untrue because that is the entire reason you agreed to come with Valerie and bring your brother to spend time with Gia tonight… And you just can’t not do… something.

Friends take their guy friends something to drink at breaks in games too… Right?

Right.

And that’s what you’ll stick to.

You smirk and nod. “Yeah. I’m in.”

You dig out some more money and pay for your loaded fries, a bottled water and two sodas -one for you, one for Dustin. And then, on very shaky legs, you are sneaking around the court with Carol and Valerie, using the two of them for cover.

Carol talks to the coach for a second or two and then after the coach grumbles but nods, she smirks in her triumph.

And she grabs you by the elbow and practically thrusts you at Steve.

“Uh…” your brain and your mouth are doing it again, that stupid thing where they hate working together. When you feel your exposed midriff brush against his abs, you nearly choke on your tongue and finally, you remember the whole reason you’re even over here on this side of the court to begin with. You hold up the bottled water and as you’re doing that, your eyes catch on the way he’s got a handprint shaped bruise on his bicep where one of the guys grabbed him earlier in the game and another shoved him from behind.

You cringe as you gaze at it, and before your super strong built in censor can kick in to stop you, you’ve raised a hand and your fingers gingerly graze the bruise. “Ouch. At least the ref finally benched that fucking jerk.” you mumble.

Steve chuckles quietly. And he can’t stop staring at the cropped shirt. Or the way your height makes the top of your head hit just at the center of his chest. You’re rambling again and kind of flushed and it’s cute, it really is. He always wants to ask you if he makes you nervous because to him, it seems like he does. He just always stops himself.

His hand settles against your hip. “It’s fine. Hazard of playin.” he shrugs. “Thank you.” it comes out quieter. Way huskier than he means it to. And he’s stepped closer before he can stop himself. “I’m glad you’re here.”

You want to kick yourself when instead of actual words, your mouth opens and you giggle like some little girl with a crush instead. When you giggle and shrug at him, he’s staring down at you intently. Like he’s lost in thought.

Carol and Valerie stop by you and grab your arm, you’re laughing and waving and you yell “Hey, good luck, break a leg,.. I mean not really, but like.. Yeah.” you want to kick yourself again.

He managed to fluster you without even trying.

And for the rest of the game, Carol and Valerie have so much fun taunting you about your awkwardness. But you don’t really care. Because making him smile was nice. And it was one of his rarer real ones,too.

That was worth it.

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x fem reader #steve harrington x reader imagine #steve harrington x fem reader imagine #steve harrington x henderson!reader

[alectology-archive]

ohh im sure youve maybe already discussed this but if you're up for it id LOVE to hear your full take on Min. personally i like her okay, but I've never understood the massive favouritism of her on reddit, and it really annoyed me that so much time is spent on her and rand, and so little on elayne/avi/rand, tho obviously elayne and aviendha.. have their own storylines which min. doesnt really

There’s definitely a Type of crowd on reddit which makes her a very popular character there - characters like Egwene and Elayne who’re complex, willing to set themselves against their respective partners, realistically flawed & ambitious aren’t quite as popular for the same reasons.

As for Min herself... well. In general, my feelings about her have progressively gone from 'deeply disinterested in her’ to ‘deep dislike’ over time and it’s such a shame because I’m very fascinated by whatever is up with her ability. It lowkey reads like a very, very minor way of manipulating the Pattern and I've previously kind of compared it to whatever the Finn do & the Seanchan's own omen-reading practices (although I do need to admit that RJ has stated that what the Finn do is very different from Min's powers). If I weren't so irritated by how she ends up getting credit for a fashion trend in Cairhien when 1. She didn't actually start the trend 2. She didn’t like dressing the way she did and only did it because she thought Rand liked it 3. And If Dobraine had actually been praising her for talents other than dolling herself up for Rand, I would actually obsess over the fact that she got called Lady ta'veren because the text lowkey allows for that interpretation in a way. But I digress.

To get back on topic, the main issues I take with her characterisation are:

1. Her contributions to Rand's trauma, even if they're unintentional are massive - these include dumai's wells, Semirhage & Cadusane (I include her since she spends a lot of time bullying Rand or just being a Problem in general. She's not a good mentor figure.)

2. She receives undeserved praise all the time for supporting Rand during his downspiral when she does nothing but exist in the background. She’s acknowledged as Rand's emotional support gf in the fandom pretty widely but this is pretty much nonsense because she doesn't do anything to actually help him with his mental health. 

3. She encourages Rand to resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms (resorting to sex during moments of emotional distress) while discouraging him from nurturing healthy coping mechanisms (she also gets really bothered when she isn’t the centre of attention in private)

4. It also definitely gets on my nerves how Min is constantly complaining about having to share Rand with two other women & always reminds the readers that Rand is involved in a polygamous relationship - Avi, Elayne and Rand easily read like they’re involved in a polyamorous relationship without her tbh. 

5. Her arc of embracing femininity & constructing her personality around an idea she has of the kind of women Rand prefers (even if Rand liked her perfectly well before she started changing herself for him and never asked her to change herself for him) is one of the worst things to come out of the books. Sometimes her pants are so tight and her heels are so high that she can't walk properly. It’s kind of funny how she’s constantly complaining and blaming him for problems he isn't to blame for because she hates that she's supposed to love him according to prophecy.

6. Min is used to replace more healthy relationships like the ones Rand has with the Maidens & his friends from home which also really grates on my nerves since the books where they take centre stage are my favourite ones

7. She encourages and excuses Rand's bad behaviour a bunch (which Avi and Elayne would never have done). I got this vibe especially during TGS.

8. She blabs about Rand's trauma to practically everybody - including people who're looking to take advantage of him/manipulate him.

9. Min also threatens Rand with physical abuse when he's going through rough patches (this includes using her knives on him? The narrative plays this off as a fun, kinky thing when it really isn't)

10. Also because I’m petty I specifically hate her for that scene from TGH where she gets mad at Egwene for ‘tossing Rand aside’ when she wasn’t romantically interested in him anymore (like ???) She seems to feel that platonic relationships don’t matter as much as romantic ones do & pretty much behaves like it during the rest of the series lol.

RJ is to blame for a bunch of this, obviously, but Min doesn't have enough of a personality outside of Rand for me to really find it in myself to redeem her in my head, tbh.

I will admit that the entire point of providing Rand with an emotional support gf when he's supposed to be in a mental health downspiral was a pretty ridiculous choice on RJ’s part. I suppose Min as a character was set up to fail all along - she can't provide Rand any actual help because that would mean helping Rand out of his downspiral, you know? It gives the same vibes as the pointless plotpoint where Cadsuane is assigned as Rand's therapist when her method of accomplishing tasks involves bullying, abusing and harassing people until they’re sufficiently cowed.

#still think Rand should've had a warder gf tbh #since min doesn't have plot anyway it couldn've been her. #although the way she's written in the books I definitely don't buy her talent with knives or her interest in philosophy/reading #it seems very forced and ooc #you know who else is (actually) good with his knives and would actually make a good warder- #asks #cirillasedai #min farshaw #text #wheel of time

[greatwyrmgold]

Why is the Muscle Devil?

Remember the Muscle Devil? That thing Denji fought in chapter 2? Anime-onlies won't, because it was cut from the anime.

In the manga (after Makima, Denji, and company reached the udon stand, but before Denji half-fainted and explained that he loses blood when he turns on the chainsaws), some guy runs up and says his daughter was kidnapped by a devil. Makima threatens Denji, Denji goes off to hunt the devil, and he sees a little girl playing with a devil. The girl cries and says the devil protected her from her abusive dad; Denji asks if she and the devil want to run away with him. But psyche! The devil can control muscles, he made the girl lie! The Muscle Devil is present in 16 panels, and three of those are while Denji's cutting him to pieces.

Sometimes, when a scene is cut from an adaptation, you wonder what the adapters were thinking. Sometimes, it makes you wonder what the original author was thinking. This is in the second category.

Almost everything the Muscle Devil scene does, was accomplished in the Zombie Devil scene. Both show Denji in action, show that he's stronger than ordinary devils, show that not all devils are nice like Pochita, etc.

I remember that point being particularly grating when I first read the series. (I just really dislike anything that feels "All X are inherently Y," especially when it's framed as a twist.) It's especially odd in retrospect, with how many devils are written with depth and complexity. Maybe Fujimoto thought that we'd be expecting Power, Beam, and the rest to be decent people if the only devils we saw them were Pochita, the Zombie Devil, and a tomato mook? It's weird.

The Muscle Devil scene also does two non-Zombie-Devil-overlapping things that I noticed. First, it shows us a devil lying, so we know 100% for sure that Power's full of shit when she says devils never lie...but the reader knows that the thing Power said right before that is also a lie, so maybe that's not a thing.

Second, it gives Makima a chance to threaten Denji, which is a red flag! But this isn't really necessary, because Makima's red flags are obvious to anyone who isn't both into pet play and an authoritarian fanboy. Maybe it seems a lot more obvious now that I've seen the anime, which uses character animation, cinematic language, and so forth to fly those red flags more subtly than "Our useless dogs get euthanized."

It also does some basic stuff to set up the conversation and scene after it, but the anime barely had to do anything to stitch over that gap. Have Denji faint at the udon shop from the blood he lost fighting the Zombie Devil, and that's about it really. It's really not a necessary scene.

Best I can figure, Fujimoto included the Muscle Devil scene because he hadn't read the next ninety-some chapters of Chainsaw Man yet and didn't realize how useless the scene would end up being. But I'd like to hear from people who have other thoughts on what the Muscle Devil does for the story.

#chainsaw man #muscle devil #media analysis #close reading #manga #anime #meta #chainsaw man meta

[toournextadventure]

Why am I now thinking of a fic based around the idea of Reader and either Lorraine or Tara, but in a modern 'Pacific Rim' AU set in the near future? (I'm saying either of these two because I love the idea of Jenna Ortega being in a PR movie, but it'd be weird to write a fic based on a movie with just her in it or as a new OC character and be like "Imagine it's Jenna Ortega"...if that makes sense? Both Lorraine and Tara are older too, so about 24/25)

Tara because I love the idea of her being a cocky little spitfire sailing through the tests and getting drafted onto the 'Drift' program where she gets paired with the 'Veteran' Reader (who of course has a tragic back story) who takes an instant dislike to her backtalking attitude and tries to knock her down a peg or two in training. But they eventually grow from tolerating one another to being really close and becoming so in sync with one another they become the best Jaeger pilots (Tara may or may not also thirst like hell over Reader when she's training, because dear god those muscles 🥵)

Or Lorraine because I also love the idea of her absolutely acing the logic, apptitude and compatibility tests because she's a very smart cookie. And turns out she is 'Drift Compatible' with the Veteran Reader. Reader though is instantly dismissive and initially tries to scare her off the program (partly because she reminds her far too much of the person she already lost but mostly because she can't bear the thought of another young person losing their life in the fight) by pushing her too far in training to get her to leave. "If you can't even beat me, then how the hell are YOU going to fight a Kaiju?" But despite her size and not being as physically strong as the other cadets, she keeps coming back for more every time, even when others don't. Eventually Reader realises she underestimated Lorraine and trains her properly and how to rely on her other strengths too, while Lorraine shows Reader a different way to fight by using logic and how to open up and even love again. (Plus Reader may or may not have a very soft spot for that gentle, lilting Texan accent of Lorraine's. Absolute Southern Belle that she is!)

I swear if I had the time, I would write this myself. Instead it seems that I'm doomed to have ideas that may never see the light of day 😭

No wait but a PR AU would work so well with this? With either of them?? Like Tara being the natural that just has no issues at all EXCEPT she isn't drift compatible with anyone. Like, she's top of her class in all areas, but it doesn't matter if she can't drift with anyone. But when they're about to give up on her and decide "just throw her with R" and then it works? And Reader is pissed because this little brat is already rollin around like she owns the place? Oh it starts a riot (and maybe Reader likes Tara's spunk just a little bit, but that's no one else's business)

And Lorraine is just too soft, not necessarily in a bad way, but it brings a certain sadness to Reader because shit... life really has come down to this, huh? Where someone like Lorraine has to join in on the fight? But once Reader realises Lorraine won't just duck and hide, only then do they put in the genuine effort to help her succeed and stay safe. They turn into an unexpected power team that, quite frankly, is unstoppable

#multiverse birb