#sorry if anything in this is poorly phrased - not my first language

[inthelittlewood]

Sorry for the random question, but just curious: back in Last Life, would it have changed anything, as far as c!Martyn was concerned, if he had succeeded in killing Scott and Grian? Like, I assume the Watchers weren't going to let him free from the death game loop no matter what, but would they have given him some nominal reward for doing their bidding, or would it have been a "haha thanks for doing what we wanted, now off you go back to the void to wait for the next round" just as coldly and unceremoniously as it happened with the failure to kill either of them?

(Sorry if this is poorly phrased btw, english isn't my first language)

There is a lore implication if c!Martyn were to win a death game. I still don't forsee that happening but there's already a narrative in play for just in case

Annoyingly I can't say anymore for now BUT the games aren't exactly as they appear

#itlwlore

[bonefall]

First of all, sorry for the quick unfollow and refollow, I don't know why Tumblr puts those two buttons so close together when in dashboard view. But anyway, interesting thoughts on the tribe! I'm particularly curious to know whether you had any thoughts on the naming system.

It always struck me as the most bizarre thing how the writers went to all the trouble of coming up with names based on poorly understood stereotypes of polysynthetic languages and then just... went and gave everyone a much shorter nickname so they wouldn't have to type the whole thing. Like what was even the point?

I found the way names worked in DotC to be the most intuitive and natural way a cat society would come up with names and it made perfect sense to me how the jump to the prefix-suffix system would go. The transition from descriptive phrase names to sentence-word style names in contrast feels like a much more drastic leap in comparison.

I'm also wondering if you have any thoughts on the historical memory of the tribe, whether as remembered by they themselves or by the splinter groups. Do you think the Clans would be able to recognize the tribe from any founding myth story of the Clans? Would the tribe have any stories regarding the formation of the Clans in turn? If given a description of say, The Sisters, do you think they could piece together that this is a splinter group?

Oh and finally I'm wondering about the Wards. How do you view the relationship between them? Do they serve a merely practical purpose in maintaining the territory or are they more central in defining the identity of a tribe cat? Is membership to one over another fixed or is it more fluid? Does this tripartite division play any part in tribe religion?

Names

I have a LOT of thoughts on the naming system. I don't completely hate it, honestly, but the Erins aren't getting any points for the way they implemented it. Not only did they make up a lowkey insulting stereotype of native-sounding names, but then they made fun of it in the field guides and the names are all so bad that they HAVE to be shortened.

And by bad, I mean that these names are simply unpleasant to read and say. Brook Where Small Fish Swim is an awkward sentence, it's long, it's not poetic. It could easily be Minnows in the Brook, Brook of Little Fish, and it still wouldn't be great but it's better!

Possible naming system tweaks

Unfortunately with my re-write I'm not trying to completely overhaul the naming system, but one tweak I DID consider is that a Tribe cat is born with a diminutive name (Fawn, Pebble, Sapling), and then when they're acknowledged as a full hunter they take a full name based on the baby name, plus anything noteworthy.

So for an example, Brook was born Trickle. For being an excellent fisher, she's given the name Brook of Minnows. Swoop of Chestnut Hawk was named Egg. There can also be 'legacy' names, for example, if Lamb's parent Oak died, they may take on the name "Oak's Branch" or "Sheep Asleep under Oaken Shade".

Rhyming would be common, most names invoke some sort of imagery, onomatopoeic names like "Pitterpatter" and "Babbling" happen occasionally

So, where the clan cats carry a suffix forever, a tribe cat just has a childhood name they're meant to grow out of. The evolution came from the Warriors deciding that a kitten is given both their persistent suffix AND a rank at birth, on behalf of their heavily structured society.

On that note, Tribe cats wouldn't be weird about names, in contrast to their Clan cousins. Changes are common, Lamb may have grown into Fearsome Ram at first, then renamed himself Sheep when his dad Oak died, some cats find their childhood names meaningful such as Stormfur's son Feather, so they keep it as part of the full title.

In a way, the full name would be more of a way to start conversation on the cat's life story... which is more relevant to the story-telling/cooperation based overhauls I made to their culture, which I'll get to in a moment

But am I actually going to use it?

I'm considering this system, but I don't know if I actually will. It doesn't actually address the true concern about the Tribe naming system, which is that these sorts of names themselves invoke bad memories of the disrespectful translation of Native American names by colonists (Oceti Sakowin nation in particular), and in trying to fix it I only ended up causing more similarities even though it was completely not my intention at all and I only realized it after I'd already made it.

I'm trying to sever the Tribe from indigenous American inspiration (these cats are in England) as much as possible without changing too much... so even though my reworked naming system would fit the culture I'm making the Tribe into, I think my smartest option would just be to not even touch it.

Historical Memory

The Tribe and the Clans are both actually getting a buff in remembering history; but the Tribe's storytelling skills are unmatched.

The Clan has a pretty clear history back to the SkyClan Exile, but is fuzzy on the details before then. The Tribe can remember when Clear Sky and Co left the mountains, their names, and a simplified description. After all, they've only had THREE Stonetellers between then and now.

They tell a lot of stories and have robust oral tradition. They fill boring travels, they get them through cold winters, they communicate morals and warnings through generations. Jokes, songs, legends, it's all highly valued.

Medics probably have a connection to these traditions as well, having clever quips and quick words is a sign of intelligence to Tribe cats.

The Cave Colony is often used for sacred storytelling events because of the natural acoustics, and Stoneteller's primary function is to share their knowledge and ancestral connections.

You CAN bother Stoneteller with just about anything if you're willing to make the journey, that's his job, he's there to relay advice from your grandpaw AND give his own input. Clan cats would be kind of shocked at how casually they contact the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

So, yes! They would absolutely be able to identify the Sisters as a splinter group, and in addition, they celebrate on the return of the Clan cats as long lost siblings come home!

The Relationship Between Wards

Is it a different river before the waterfall? Is it born twice in the valley? Nope! The Tribe of Rushing Water sees itself as one people. The Stone, Cave, and Valley Wards are like townsfolk, largely based on proximity to hunting grounds and tribemates you can coordinate a hunt with.

(They extend this mindset to the Clans as well, overjoyed to find them settling in the Lake territory, as the Lake is connected to their river.)

Of course, there's still a fair amount of home-Ward pride! But rivalries between Wards are friendly, and cats travel between colonies for any casual reason. Visiting friends, hunting a particular quarry, just needing a change of pace, attending a celebration, whatever.

In a crisis, the other two Wards will care for the vulnerable one, especially illness. Quarantining a Ward is VERY easy, and Stoneteller themself will come to advise its medics, utilizing their invulnerability to starvation and sickness. Other wards pick up the hunting slack.

Governance of Wards

Governance is also very loose. They aren't like clans who obey a Leader and their Deputy; decision making is very decentralized. The closest thing they probably have to authority is a particularly extroverted Medic or a respected elder who calls for and organizes votes and trials.

Religion is only tied to governance insofar as Stoneteller is a mouthpiece for their ancestors. Tribe cats don't see religion as a top-down force; every cat is already talking to their ancestors and can make decisions on their own behalf, Stoneteller simply directly relays advice.

In REALLY rough times, the Wards will gather together and make big decisions. This is probably spurred by any Ward voting to call for it, who then sends a messenger to fetch the others, and they meet in the Cave Colony.

But unlike the Clans, this does mean that there is no central organization. There is a VERY real risk of being ostracized if you're an unpleasant cat with no family. Telling someone that no one will hunt for them when they're old is an actual threat; but it's very rare that this happens.

To that end it's not impossible that members of a specific Ward don't live in the associated colony. Some cats like to have space, and live on the outskirts until they're too old to fend for themselves.

#The tribe of rushing water #tribe of rushing water #bonefall rewrite #Stoneteller #Warrior cats #clan culture

[frosticenow]

Sneak Peek: Young Man's Fancy was Turned into the Spring

So I am posting two chapters next week (!) for Tolkien of Colour week, @tolkienofcolourweek.  Technically both of my jewish characters are white since they are from European Jews but day 5 is faith and religion!  So Chapter three will be going up Monday to keep with my posting schedule and Chapter four will go up Friday for day five of Tolkien of Colour Week.

Chapter 3:

She had not meant to say anything in Khuzdul.  She really hadn’t.  It had just slipped out.  When he didn’t immediately respond, she gave a small sigh of relief.  Her relief evaporated as he asked her something in Khuzdul, presumably if she spoke the language (she really only recognized the one word: Khuzdul).  So she answered in kind, but if she was being honest that was sort of the end of what she knew in Khuzdul.  As a joke, she and Tayor had spent a few days learning some phrases in Sindarin and Khuzdul ‘just in case.’

“Birashagammi, gulubmi nithal Khuzdul. (I'm sorry, I speak Dwarvish poorly.)”  Poorly was really overselling it.  Kip’ (fake name?) eyes widened slightly and lips quivered in fear as she answered back.  And Rebecca imagined he would feel that way, if he was, you know, actually a dwarf who ended up on earth and was told that they were in a strange country after almost dying.  Which he wasn’t ‘cause that was crazy.  But fuck it, in for a penny in for a pound; fortune favours the bold or however that expression went.  Her sister was going to kill her if someone with delusions of being the heir to Durin killed her in Algonquin park.  She turned to fully face him and looked him dead in the eye and said, “Fíli rêdel Thorin dashatu Durinul. (Fíli first heir of Thorin, son of Durin)”

His response was immediate; he grabbed her by the wrist and flipped her over on her back.  All she could do was think oh yeah he was supposed to be like a trained warrior or something.  Fíli/Kip landed on top of her, pinning her wrist down in his strong hands.  While he might either be delusional or something else, her panic was real.  

To read past chapters click here.

#fanfic #fanfiction #tolkien #tolkien fanfiction #the hobbit #hobbit fanfic #modern girl in middle earth #mgime #mgme #tolkien boy in the modern world #sneak peek #fili durin #fili #fili x oc #fili/oc #young man's fancy was turned into the spring

[ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2]

Because most people here on tumblr don't really seem to be aware of what Mumbo does on his Instagram, he cycles a lot, and tends to post a lot about it. Right now he's been cycling towards a goal of 1975km in 50 days, with the goal to raise money for the crisis in Ukraine right now. That specific length was chosen because it is the boarder length between Russia and Ukraine, and with 20 days done so far he's in total cycled over 1000km already!

The fundraising goal is £5000, and it's almost there at just under £4500 right now

To everyone who enjoys Mumbo's videos and wants to support what he does outside of hermitcraft and minecraft, and during his break from youtube, please consider donating to his fundraiser to also help raise money for the children in Ukraine

#mumbo jumbo #hermitcraft #mcyt #charity #fundraiser #ukraine #ukraine crisis #sorry if anything in this is poorly phrased - not my first language #also what i mean about people not knowing is based on the fact that i never see people talk about it #people might know and just not talk about it #but yeah #Oliver Brotherhood #hermitblr

[mmupaa]

I'mmm tired of people equating Europe like its All The Same and not seperate countries and cultures. Not that im a fan of the sistems in place, not at all, but i think its important to not erase cultures that were opressed here, and equate them with the opressors.

Also, each country still battles with their own opressive governmental structures today.

Sometime ago i got the opportunity to physically meet a group of queer ppl, each from their own country across Europe (or close to it, but not in the union).

We talked about things like LGBTIQ+ rights that are present (or absent) in each country and it was so dissociating. How someone from Belgium lives as opposed to someone from Poland...

I'm trying to keep this brief, but please also support forgotten cultures and marginalized people from Europe.

#Sorry if i phrased anything poorly #English is not my first language. #Everything is super vague cause i don't wanne give any personal details away #Txt #Europe #LGBT rights

[pushpinsheep]

Hopefully this puts things in greater perspective because some tourists just don’t get it and need to hear this. For those who are curious and looking to travel in the future I hope you find this is informative! :) We could all use more perspective on linguistics and traveling imho. I have made some of these mistakes in the past too. We can all learn to be better guests/tourists. This mindset people have that not only is it okay for tourists to exploit and mistreat local populations, but it’s something that should be encouraged is wrong. You’re not entitled to anything special as a tourist just because you have enough money to play around somewhere “exotic” for a few weeks. Regardless of where people travel to. As a guest in someone else’s home you should put more effort into not being a total asshat. You will have a better time and you might learn something cool along the way. I will mostly be using France as an example since I live here and have more insight, but everything I say applies outside of France as well. Note: This information only applies to tourists. Immigrants and refugees are a unique situation and thus face different challenges and have different needs. A tourist chooses where to go and has time (and money) to plan for their trip, which is often only a few weeks or days. Immigrants and refugees often don’t have that same luxury and remain in the country for far longer. (in many cases permanently) Moving to a country places a greater linguistic and cultural demand on an individual. Remember to check your privilege. tourism =/= immigration/asylum. A) English is not the only language in existence. It might be a widely spoken language, but it’s not the most widely spoken language (that honor goes to Chinese) nor is it the only lingua franca. Chinese, Hindu, Spanish, French, and Arabic are all widely spoken across multiple borders and where you are on the planet will obviously dictate which one of these people go with. If you expect that to be English because your sphere of the internet happens to put you in that bubble of “my language or bust” ignorance then like... that’s on you pal. Get with the times and stop assuming everyone should just speak English. English speakers are not the only tourists and English, though widely used, is not the only other language a person might need. I have a friend from Laos who speaks absolutely no English. He doesn’t need it and never has. (even now) He speaks Lao (the regional dialects can be as different as Thai is from Laotian btw), Chinese, a bit of Thai, and French because they still use a lot of French for business dealings there. (something I didn’t know ngl) Assuming he should just speak English because “everyone else does” is ignorant. It’s rude. It puts no thought into his situation. It’s entitled. He’s traveled to visit friends in England and he has an English phrase book. He doesn’t need a lot of English so like... the phrase book is absolutely perfect. Most of what he does in England is sight see and speak Chinese with his friends. Be more like my friend from Laos. B) Official languages may not be the only language a country speaks within its borders. Regional and native languages exist and expecting the locals to speak a 3rd language on top of all that is unbelievably entitled. France has a number of them. There are people who are born and raised in France who don’t speak French in their day to day life. (or at all) Basque, Breton, Occitan, Alsatian, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic and a number of others are all spoken within French borders. Many are at risk of being permanently lost (that’s why our new regional language law is important btw) and as a result a greater emphasis is placed on preserving them as opposed to learning something new. Most people have to learn the official language as it’s the only language a lot of countries will accept for paperwork, but anything else is up to the individual and you can suck an egg if you don’t like that. (this also applies to immigrants and refugees btw) Heck there are places in the US where people don’t even speak English day to day! Some places actually speak French or Spanish. I heard more Spanish in my day to day life than I did English where I grew up in NC! (moved to Florida and Spanish exploded. loved it!) C) Borders are a thing. People working and living across borders exist and English is often not the language they chose to go with as a result. France borders Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, England, and Switzerland. People who share these borders often choose to go with these languages. English is in there, but please note it’s not the only one. D) Culturally speaking a country may not like [insert common language here] and as a result may refuse to speak it. That’s entirely their choice. If you don’t like that then don’t visit the country. It’s really that easy.  Colonialism is often a major factor at play in these situations. Respect that choice. You do not get a say in how people reclaim their identity. As for France? This might come as a shock to some people, but France doesn’t like England. I’m 100% certain these two places exist solely to punch each other in the nuts. (ball tap. an international past time) As a result getting English people to speak French or French people to speak English is about as easy as pulling your own teeth. I’ve been spit on for speaking English because people here just assume I’m from England or they hate “annoying Americans” and after seeing how y’all responded to the last post I made... yeah I totally get it now. Granted, that’s no excuse for someone being hostile, but it is something to keep in mind when you visit and applies to more than just France too. E) Retail workers and small shop owners don’t owe you shit. You have absolutely no right waltzing into a shop and demanding the staff speak your language (I don’t care how common it is) for the two weeks you’ve decided to play around in their home. Always ask them first. If they can’t or choose not to then tough luck. This is why a phrase book is important!

Retail workers and small shop owners get treated like shit enough. Some of y’all have never worked retail a day in your life and WOW does it show. Please respect retail workers and small shop owners. You don’t know what their day or life has been like. If they’re tired and don’t want to speak to you in a foreign language then that’s their right. I have had no issues using my phone or a phrase book to help communicate concepts when there is a language barrier. (and I fucking live in France. I’m not even visiting) Emergencies also happen and a phrase book or medical card in the native and/or official language is absolutely essential! Even if you just have an allergy to something! This is a great way to stay safe! When you visit another country being aware of and researching cultural differences includes linguistic differences. Tourists are guests. You don’t live here, you don’t get a say. Remember, learning a second language (esp if you don’t use it often) is really hard. If you’re visiting a country do not expect them to just use whatever language you speak. Mind you a phrase book is also important because people within a country may not have a strong grasp on English even if they do speak it. You can very easily get lost or injured without a phrase book to help you. These things allow you to better experience a country and communicate without actually having to learn the entire language... or any of it. And, once again, they exist for free online! You do not need to learn an entire language to visit somewhere, but you need to be prepared for there to be a barrier. People assuming I mean you need to learn a whole language are uh... really something else. Like do you guys think half the people bending over backwards to communicate with you know the full language? Go ahead. Fuck around and find out. ;) Obviously I’m not saying you should be treated poorly when visiting if you don’t know the language. Unfortunately no matter how much effort you put in there will always be someone who’s a jerk and I’m sorry for that. All I’m saying is as a tourist you owe it to yourself and others to be better prepared. Trust me. You’ll have a better time in the end. (and if you did the research you’d find that Paris is not the best first place to visit... even if you’re french lol) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS64ZT4eWUA Please watch this guy’s video. It is hilarious and touches on a lot of the same points I just made. Thank you for your time. :) ---------------- Cultural tidbit for those who are curious about where I live in France: I live in Alsace currently! (moved from Lyon, but my spouse is from here) In Alsace you might meet people who speak English, but it’s also entirely likely you won’t! Alsace is also a very tourist heavy area because it looks like a German fairy tale and has a lot of tiny villages with cool stuff to do! I highly recommend visiting here over Paris! We have so many storks! (clackclackclack)

Our logo is a pretzel!

That being said, Alsace has its own regional language!

It’s not uncommon to see bilingual signage or to pass someone on the street and hear them speaking Alsatian. You’ll usually hear it from older people, children, or those from rural areas. It’s really fun to listen to and absolutely wild to see written on museum signs!  Kids here will start school learning French, regardless of what they speak at home, which has resulted in a downswing of Alsatian speakers in recent years. That’s why the new regional language law I mentioned waaaaaay above is so important. It’ll allow schools to teach most of the day in Alsatian instead of French with the goal being fully bilingual adults! :) As of right now, most kids here choose German or English (depending on the school) as their second language. Some kids pick Alsatian and honestly? Good for them! I’m glad!

#sheep.txt #long text post #very long #txt #traveling #france #alsace #europe #tourism #language #languages

[sorcerersofnyc]

The Last Thing Life (Zemo x F!Reader) 2.5/9 Standalone Short

Ghosts weren’t enough to hold two people together.

Zemo leaves you alone while he takes care of business. He makes a stop to mourn his losses and you take a step toward friendship.

Angst, various mentions of death & mourning, Zemo's wife's name is Heike because of comics.

Note: Main Character is neutral in most regards, but the story was written with my own cultural background in mind. (In other words, I won't say what she looks like but I envision her as being black.)

I took this scene from the previous chapter. But I liked it so much I posted it as a standalone.

First Chapter | Previous

The house in San Sebastian was impressive; a large sand-colored building with a pitched low roof and deep red tiles. Plants grew in pots below the bay window of the parlor and two imposing columns stood sentry on either side of the door.

It was a cheerful facade, a house meant to please tourists and other summertime guests. The inside, however, was filled with dread. Thick layers of dust settled across each surface, cobwebs took residence along the walls, and the air was stale. Even the light which filtered in through the dark green curtains was listless, almost gray.

This house hadn’t seen a visitor in years.

“You may redecorate if you’d like.” He told you, “Oeznik will ensure you have everything you need, including a hotel for the night.”

You flickered on a light and looked around briefly.

“You’re not staying?” You asked, turning around to face him. Your voice was pitched higher than usual, and the vulnerability in your tone gave him pause.

For as long as he’s known you, such openness had never been directed his way.

“Of course.” He made his voice soft for you. “I’ll be returning to Sokovia to settle legal matters and see to my military duties.”

“When will you come back?”

“Soon.”

Helmut was true to his word and returned within a week; He was given special leave from his military duties (being a Baron and losing his entire family earned him much reprieve.)

It took mere days to complete his work, but he lingered there. Tents and shelters lined the crater that used to be Novi Grad. Dozens of angry people shouted in protest at the vans that lined the makeshift streets. There was still rubble to clear, mouths to feed, insurance to be paid, and loved one’s to bury. But even as the clouds gathered, the people screamed louder and the soldiers used force to keep them in line, he stayed in camp with his former charges, toasting with them one last time.

Oeznik kept him updated; he left messages about the status of the house cleaning, the laptop he asked him to procure, and how you seemed to be doing. He took care to be delicate in his phrasing but it was nearly always the same: you were doing poorly.

But before he could leave his homeland behind, Helmut returned to the place where his home once stood, the estate he shared with his son and wife, just outside of Novi Grad.

He stood for what felt like hours, committing the sight to memory; the bricks and splinters of his home, intermixed with rocks and parts of buildings from the city.

It was a difficult sight, but he would never forget what he lost that day, what was taken, and what would never come to be.

So long as the Avengers exist, he thought, someone will rise to challenge them .

So Helmut made a promise that day, one he would keep no matter what the sacrifice.

*

When he returned to the airfield to board his private jet, Oeznik was there to greet him stoically. He was supposed to be in Spain, but Helmut didn’t care to address his rogue priorities. He didn’t have the energy.

“Sir,” Oeznik nodded, handing him a colorful bag tied with string. “It’s your annual delivery.”

Helmut placed the bag inside his coat pocket, took a seat, and asked for a glass of whiskey.

Then another.

Then another.

He slept the ill-effects away, staving off the worst of it before the plane arrived in Spain six hours later.

It was dusk when he entered through the front door, his military coat slung over his shoulder like a sack.

The entire house was spotless now, the air smelled faintly of lemon water and bleach.

There was a lamp in the parlor that wasn't there before, a sort of abstract statement piece.

“Helmut?" Your voice carried across the room as you padded down the stairwell, your voice dripping with relief.

Had you not believed him when he said he was returning? He wondered, or did you believe something happened on the way?

“I’m sorry," he stated, "I didn't expect my business to keep me away.”

“No, it’s alright. I just…How are you feeling?” Your words were careful, polite. Unlike the day he left, you kept your emotions tightly reigned.

You were worried about him, and if he didn't find your feelings bothersome, he'd think it was quite touching.

It was, after all, Carl’s 8th birthday.

Silence settled between the two of you, but your gaze did not relent. He never realized you were stubborn.

“Here," Helmut pulled the colorful bag Oeznik gave him from the pocket of his coat. He offered it to you instead of answering.

You opened it and peered inside.

“Candy?”

“Turkish Delights; they were Carl’s favorite, you know.”

You knew, and he knew that you knew, but you let him go on anyway, allowing him time to grieve in his own way.

“I promised to buy him an Xbox. I applied for Leave two weeks early just to help him celebrate. He was so happy.” Helmut’s voice was soft as he spoke, low and filled with sorrow.

There were no words for what he was now, not in Sokovian or any other language he knew; He was a father without a child.

He didn't expect anything of you, not comfort or empty words. Luckily, you didn't offer either of those things.

You didn't say anything at all. Instead, you took a single shaky breath and approached him.

Your steps were uncertain at first, as if you were approaching something broken. And perhaps he was—because Helmut felt as though he needed to brace himself when you placed your hand against his shoulder.

Moving slowly, you slid your hand lower and brought them together on the other side.

You were hugging him.

And though your shape felt foreign in his arms and he feared you’d catch the smell of whiskey on his breath, he returned your hesitant embrace.

“I’m here for you,” you promised, “for whatever you need.”

“Thank you.” He could appreciate your kindness, but you couldn’t give him what he needed.

He allowed himself to linger, to stay with you for just a while longer, even when there was little else to say.

*

When Helmut retired for the evening, he took the master bedroom room at the end of the hall and locked the door with a soft click.

The plush pillows and blanket of the massive bed beckoned him closer, but he didn’t have time to rest.

So with a single heavy sigh and a heavy heart, he took his laptop from his bag and got to work at the corner desk.

There was research to do.

This is what he needed.

Thanks for reading!

In part 3 we'll take a look at those early days of living with Baron Zemo and all the highs and lows that go with it. How does one go from 'person with mutual friends' to "Partner?" Not easily.

Taglist:

@actuallyanita

@fillechatoyante

Previous | Next

#zemo #baron zemo #helmut zemo #mcu zemo #zemo x reader

[imdreaminadream]

The results pt 2 ~ “What about it makes you cringe?” Category 1

( - prologue.   - part 1  - category 2  - category 3)

Okay so this is the results to the question in the quiz, What about it makes you cringe. In reference to the questionnaires core subject about smut fanfics.

 Also quick psa there will be a part for the results for the other question -  “In kpop fics, Korean words i.e. jagiya, seem to be a no no, would you like to elaborate why?”

Now note these particular results are going to be split into 3 posts because I decided to split the results into 3 categories. 1 - Writing Aspects. 2 -  Personal Preferences. 3 - Genuine Problems.   

>THIS POST IS CATERGORY 1<

DISCLAIMER BELOW. (please read that before continuing)

This is going to be a long post. The responses were very enlightening but please don’t take this as an attack. Consider this more as constructive cheat sheet to good smut writing or just ignore it if you don’t agree with it. Some of this did get a bit deep appropriate trigger warnings will be put on the appropriate posts but I’m not sorry it got deep fics can also affect real life as much as we wish it were something that didn’t mix in with real life, it does. I’m no official like sex guru or big-time writer, or what ever BUT I did add little advice underneath each answer, which are just a reflection of the people’s answers. Again if you don’t like the sounds of this don’t take it personal and click off. 

Writing aspects.

Poorly written/typos – Nearly all of the people said that, poorly written, bad grammar and lots of typos made them cringe. Answers said that sometimes works are so poorly written it comes across as though the person writing doesn’t know how sex works. Now by poorly written they talked about, the plot being non sensical, choppy or lacking decent grammar, too many typos, using words in the wrong context, repetitive language. They also specified they understand not everyone’s first language is English but the least that can be done is proofreading of the works by them or someone else. And many people cried over the use of first person, they felt it brings them out of imagining the fic. 

Language used – So they we’re talking about strange words for body parts especially genitals, and just weird terms and phrases in general. Regarding body parts, everyone mentioned that childish or full-on scientific names for genitals was the worst. Feedback suggests calling it a dick, cock – although some commented that cock sounded too vulgar, and pussy. Also referring to female’s arousal as juices was a common answer, to quote one of my fav answers “so none of that her juices coated my fingers’ Like bitch it aint orange juice.” Then for weird terms and phrases, no specific example was given but I’m certain they meant things that literally every man and their dog would not say, ever! Personal opinion here but, “you like what you see?” and “Your wish is my command.”, and “tongues fighting for dominance.” should die off. It’s overused and I’m sick of seeing it – pretty sure no one says that during sex in real life anyway.

So, to avoid it alls you need to do is use second or third person, proofread, and learn how sex works if you don’t know. Also, best way to proofread it to leave it a few days then come back and read it again – also there are apps like Grammarly that help with your writing too. (PSA I personally love proofreading work, because I’m weird like that, so if you ever want me to proofread drop me a message/anon.)

So, take a moment to consider what you are writing, again proofreading is very helpful, and just stick to the mature ways to say dick/pussy. Suggestion here if you can’t write it the mature way, stop writing smut fics because clearly you’re either not mature enough or uncomfortable (to be) writing smut. 

Dialogue – Too much dialogue and not enough action cropped up a number of times. Also that the dialogue written is cringy essentially, Then there was too much dirty talk, and dirty talk that shouldn’t even be considered dirty talk which commented a lot in regards to dialogue. And although I think I wrote about this answer previously but weird words, exaggeration, and choppiness in the dialogue. (someone commented over use of buzzword but idk what buzzwords are.) May I also personally add that written fake stutters irritate the living day lights out of me just stop.

---- I actually did another questionnaire about this, it didn’t garner same amount as this one but it gained a good few responses. The answers should be available to see, if you want you can take a look at that to see more about people thoughts when it comes to dirty talk in fics. ----

Advice is, keep in mind when writing dirty talk what sounds good, to plausible, to terrible. Just think about what sounds realistic as well, draw on your own experiences or what you want to be said to you. Also, if you don’t find it sexy don’t write it for everyone else’s sake or to fit in with the trend, stay true to yourself but try to vary it up for each fic you write.

No build up – They talked about how some fics go straight to the dicking down, to action, with no build up or a bit of sensical plot, and it doesn’t work. Or if the characters haven’t even talked and suddenly, they’re down to fuck. They expressed it doesn’t make sense and doesn’t feel like the characters are even that interested, as though they’re fucking for the sake of fucking. This also ties in with some comments that said sometimes people fail to remember smut isn’t just about being railed, it is also about connections with people and making love so going straight to the fucking, fails to make the reader want to continue reading.

The solution to this is to reference history/tension or build up the tension between characters, or just set the scene a little bit before getting straight into it. Also remember no one is having sex without some foreplay and if they are it isn’t very good, so don’t let it be like that in your writing. 

Lack of realism/inaccuracies – Okay so this was mainly in regard to sex, the way the body works and some scenarios. To elaborate, people said that there are just some sex positions and places to have sex that just don’t work. In example one person wrote how sex in a gaming/office chair doesn’t work well and they know through personal experience. So, for the readers it’s just super unrealistic that it happens, and it leaves the reader either fixated on figuring out how that is possible or cringing because they know it’s not possible rather than reading the rest of the fic. There’re also just some ways the body doesn’t work I’m not going to go through examples there are so many, but we all know what is meant. Also, I’ll mention that kinks also were apart of the lack of realism, I’ll talk more about that in the next post.

So, based on this the only thing I can say is keep it real and keep it accurate as possible. Like we know its fiction but consider how ridiculous some of the stuff you’re writing may be, how impossible it is. Just don’t be afraid to google things – you can actually freeze and delete your search history – to double check or educate yourself about. Or ask for advice, draw from experience, or maybe try it out yourself with or without your partner then reflect that in your writing.

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

END OF CATERGORY 1

(Feel free to discuss in comments, in my messages or send anons or anything like that if you want.)

Tag list

@nctsworld, @lauraneuuh, @jooniyah, @ceoofxiaojun, @lovemayble @hyucksie​ @myelle-n

- if anyone else wants to be tagged for the next parts let me know via anon or dm -

#kpop smut #wonho smut #nct smut #the boyz #ateez smut #stray kids smut #got7 smut #i.m changkyun #jay park smut #bts smut #SHINee #monsta x #txt #enhypen #ikon bobby #twice #blackpink #itzy instagram #the results #kim taehyung smut #jung jaehyun smut #lee minho smut #google forms smut questionnaire #jackson wang smut #eric nam #kard bm #exo smut #kai smut #jessi #wanna one

[lorei-writes]

Trials and Tribulations of an Unconsenting Time-Traveller

Part 9:  And the king will be eaten by worms

OC x ???* Interactive Previous Parts: Masterlist Premise: I sent my OC to Sengoku. Help me decide where will this story lead!

And here we are, at another major choice!

Content Warnings: war mention

The map spread before Nobunaga, his eyes drifting between various bridges and valleys, from plains to passings of sorts. A knock on his door – and he lifted his gaze, the voice coming out of his throat a little dry as he invited his vassal inside. Hideyoshi bowed low. “My lord, there is an urgent matter I must report,” he spoke, his face somewhat twisted, as if he himself could not believe in his words. “It was… Relied by Mitsuhide himself, as odd as that is.”

Guide:

Each chapter you will be presented with a choice(s) which will influence the story - a question(s) at the very bottom of the post. Two answers to it are mine, the third one - is completely up to you.

You can add your vote by putting one of the options in the reblog / comment below the chapter.

Before I get to writing the next part, I will count up all the votes. The option the story will follow will be either the one with the greatest number of votes, or the one suggested completely by you (depending on which is more inspiring).

If no votes appear, I will simply go by my own choice. There is no set time limit of voting - as long as the next part hasn’t been released, assume it’s still okay to vote.

Characters in this story are assumed to be speaking few different languages. The following is assumed: normal dialogue notation = Japanese; dialogue written in italics = English. Any phrases not written in English will be put in the dictionary at the bottom of the work.

A nuż, widelec = And perhaps, a fork

Maria glanced from Masamune to Ieyasu, the first man staring at her with excitement, the second – irritation beyond belief. Somewhat lost, her eyes ventured towards Mitsunari, the angelic presence doing little to soothe her this time. Truth be told, she had not thought her position out entirely, the demand having been made on impulse alone, the thought of either of them choosing anything for her making her skin crawl. “Self-defense! Knife!” she forced out of herself, fully convinced she could either say it out fast, or else it would not make it past her throat. “A lass with some gut, eh?” Masamune’s mused – and she would have sworn that, if he were a cat, his pupil would be wide enough to consume the entirety of his remaining eye. Maria winced internally. Perhaps… Perhaps it was the wrong choice after all. “You’re being creepy,” Ieyasu sighed from his place by the table. Seemingly withdrawn at first, he spoke again soon enough, this time directing the entirety of his attention towards her. “Our classes shall start at dawn. I expect you to be ready.”

Something inside of her heart sunk. Nevertheless, she nodded eagerly, aware of the fact she had little to say on the matter. She could sleep some other time.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, mildly embarrassed. “I...Go now.”

“ ‘I will go now’.” Ieyasu clicked his tongue in irritation.

Bez pracy nie ma kołaczy = There are no pies without work

Ieyasu rolled his eyes, Maria slowly beginning to wince as she muttered apologies yet another time. Her speech was still somewhat broken, certain words being poorly placed or used in a wrong form. He brushed his hair back with his fingers.

“Stop,” he demanded. “This is no use. First, ‘I’m sorry’. Second, ‘How bad would such an error be?’.”

“I –”

“Stop. You cannot be of any use if you can’t speak properly,” he cut her off. “How are you going to understand what bothers your patient? How are you going to rely the recommendations? Or do you intend to just guess?”

Maria clenched her fists, her lips parting just to be shut again. Ieyasu leaned forward, his elbows resting over the table.

“What will you do if lord Nobunaga orders you to assist a regiment? What if there is nobody there to tell you what to do? Will you cry and let the soldiers die? Had it not crossed that empty head of yours?” his voice dropped lower. “If you do not want to take this seriously, give up before you become a hindrance to everybody around you.”

Silence buzzed in her ears. Take this seriously? Was she not giving it her all? Perhaps… Perhaps not yet. Perhaps she could do more, try harder, press herself until she could achieve the goal she so desired. After all, didn’t she have to work more than anybody else to make up for the lack in her knowledge? Maria lifted her head, revising the words she had in her mind.

“I… I am not giving up,” she mustered. “Had it not been an order?”

Ieyasu frowned. “It was.”

“Do you hate me?”

He glanced at her face, green eyes faltering. “You know nothing of etiquette and push yourself where you should not be.”

“But do you hate me or…?”

Ieyasu clicked his tongue, the expression on her face telling him next to nothing.

Weeks passed one by one, the classes she requested leaving her thoughts with little time left for wandering, her question still being left unanswered. Then, however, was not the time to dwell on that, her body jumping aside nearly on instinct, Mitsunari coming – or much rather, tripping – from around the corner with a stack of books still in his arms.  Perhaps it was a vicious floor board, perhaps it was simply not his day – whichever it truly was, the man himself regained his balance just in time, the volumes… Not so much, few opening upon meeting the ground.

“Ahh, are you okay?” Maria asked, hurrying to help him collect the pages.

“Lady Maria! Yes, yes, of course.” He smiled lightly. “Your accent improved a lot since the last time we spoke.”

“Oh? Thank you,” she laughed in reply, crouching over the ground. “Lord Ieyasu is a ruthless teacher. A cruel teacher.”

“Cruel? I… I can’t imagine lord Ieyasu in that role, but if you require a change of tutor –”

“No, no, all is fine!” Maria replied, stacking the picked books back into a tower.

Having said brief goodbyes, Maria ran off, all too aware she may be late if she does not hurry. Having arrived at the Date residence, she rushed towards the gardens, although mildly unsure as for why she bothered in the first place. Wouldn’t Masamune be late again? Truly, a life of an heir must have been a busy one… Or perhaps it was how he was, Maria wasn’t exactly certain herself. For all she could tell, their “classes”, as informative and helpful as they were, were more of a pastime for him. Much to her surprise, however, not only was her “tutor” on time, but it appeared they had another guest, Mitsuhide standing with his back turned towards her.

Her steps quiet, Maria walked up to them slowly, the slight change in Masamune’s eye causing her to believe she was not to reveal her presence just yet.

“I bet the lass is stealthy enough for you not to notice that she’s coming,” he chuckled. A test? Let it be one, indeed. She held her breath in.

“I sincerely doubt it,” Mitsuhide replied, just as she was about to touch his back.

A glimpse of surprise flashed over his face, her fingers just barely brushing against the fabric of his kimono as he turned around, his hand instinctively reaching to grab her wrist and push her to the ground. Yet, driven by habit alone, her body refused to comply, soon balancing itself out as she yanked herself free and escaped past the scope of his arm. Before she even manage to cool down, however, something touched her head, Masamune ruffling her hair as laughter tore through his chest.

“Can you still repeat that?” he forced out of himself.

“It was a close call at best,” Mitsuhide replied, his expression locked behind a mask of what could very well be mild contentment. His attention turned towards Maria, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Although I must admit, I wonder whether I shouldn’t have been the one to offer my patronage to you, little mouse. If that little training yielded such results…”

“It is more of talent. The training with Masamune is half useful, half running from Shogetsu.” A frown settled between her brows. “I was called for today. Is there…?”

All her eyes could register was something being thrown towards her – and without a single second of hesitation, she stepped aside, the parcel falling to the ground. Her eyebrows raised, Maria crouched down and opened it, a sheathed medium-sized knife staring back at her. She looked up from the gift, the men gazing down on her. “This may be the last time, lass. We depart in three days.”

I króla zjedzą robaki = And the king will be eaten by worms

The map spread before Nobunaga, his eyes drifting between various bridges and valleys, from plains to passings of sorts. A knock on his door – and he lifted his gaze, the voice coming out of his throat a little dry as he invited his vassal inside. Hideyoshi bowed low.

“My lord, there is an urgent matter I must report,” he spoke, his face somewhat twisted, as if he himself could not believe in his words. “It was… Relied by Mitsuhide himself, as odd as that is.”

“Unusual, indeed. Do go on.” Nobunaga raised his eyes from the documents.

“Mitsuhide believes he found the culprit behind the assassination attempt, and that they will reveal their identity as soon as the opportunity arises. He… Requested for the defence of the castle to be entrusted to me, and for Masamune’s troops to depart a day earlier than initially planned.”

Nobunaga nodded without a sound, seemingly considering the suggestion, questions circling through his mind. Hideyoshi and falsehood were not exactly a well-matched pair, the message thus most likely being a genuine one – or at the very least, as genuine as it could be. Was it a suggestion? A promise? Or, perhaps, a sign the information should spread… Having thought of the matter for a moment longer, he finally gave out his verdict.

“Very well then. You’re dismissed,” he stated, his mind already re-arranging the plans. Much to his surprise, however, Hideyoshi did not move just yet, his fists clenched.

“My lord, could I… Could I have a question?”

“Yes?”

“Ieyasu informed me Maria will be providing medical support during the upcoming battles. May I ask which–”

“Are you worried for her?”

Hideyoshi swallowed, his throat dry.

“Do not be.”

!The upcoming choice will have major influence over the plot line! Which group should Maria assist?

a. Mitsuhide’s group [She walked as if she was her own shadow, fearful of what devils could linger in the forest. After all, she had already got to meet some of them]. Half-truths, responsible role, a close encounter with a certain enemy.

b. Masamune’s group [To emerge victorious, that was the only goal. With hopeful eyes, she dedicated herself to work harder, only slowly learning of what the future may carry]. Test of ideals, doubts, sighting which made her question her options.

Additional question: Should Nobunaga trust Mitsuhide? Should he obey by the request completely? c. (Type-in your answer).

Dictionary

A nuż, widelec - And perhaps, a fork; language joke - nuż (perhaps it is possible) is pronounced the same as nóż (a knife)

Bez pracy nie ma kołaczy - There are no pies without work; idiom; You need to work hard to be able to enjoy the nice things.

I króla zjedzą robaki - And the king will be eaten by worms; idiom; more appropriate: even the king will be eaten by worms; we all are treated the same fate in the end

Tag list: @datenoriko, @nad-zeta, @tsubaki3192, @missjudge-me, @ikemencrossedmyth, @nuttytani, @thesirenwashere, @milas-imaginarium, @kisara-16, @yukas-clover, @alerialumina , @cheese-ception , @iamryxx, @cottonfluffballofdoom, @ozziegrl71, @rikumorimachisgirl, @bestbryn, @kink-rabbithole  @ikesenfangirl @xarexraven If you want to be tagged under my future works, let me know (any way works)! ^^ Also, do remember to specify fandoms (and characters, if you are interested only in some) :D If it ever happens that you wish to be removed from my taglist, for any reason, do let me know. I will not ask why, it’s all fine ^^

#ikesen #ikemen sengoku #ikemen series #masamune date #ikesen masamune #mitsuhide akechi #ikesen mitsuhide #ieyasu tokugawa #ikesen ieyasu #nobunaga oda #ikesen nobunaga

[foreverfangirlalways]

The Astronomer and The Florist (Chapter 17)

Chapter 17 Title: Surprise...

Summery: Logan and Virgil have a date, a thing happens, and then some  o t h e r thing happens

Ships: Analogical & Royality

Warning: Strong language, fluff, kissing, foreshadowing, this warning would spoil-but I’ll tag it

-let me know if I need to add more warnings-

(To all who guessed correctly, good job! Don’t hate me...)

*I have never looked at a star through a telescope, so I have no idea what I’m describing*

<A special thank you to @kawaiikat54 for your wonderful help with Virgil’s reaction to the... question  Let me know if you regret it now >

= @antiredhuman and @star-crossed-shipper help make the end better, so please send them some love!!!=

—-

Today is the one year anniversary of the first time Logan and Virgil went on a date. One year since the first stargazing date, and Logan has a busy day.

Currently, he is sitting on Patton and Roman’s couch, trying to think of the best way to phrase his question.

“So Logan, what is so important that you had to wake us up at 6 in the damn morning?” Roman asked, grumpy from being woke up by a pounding on his door so early.

He was currently burring his face in Patton’s neck, because his husband calms him and is 100% a morning person.

“Well,” Logan said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “As I’m sure you both know, today is mine and Virgil’s one year anniversary. I was wanting to do something really special...”

Patton help up his hand, and Logan stopped. Smiling, Patton asked, “So what do you need help with? Do you have a plan?”

Logan chuckles to himself sarcastically. “Oh, I definitely have a plan. And I don’t really need your help per say, I need your permission.”

The husbands clasp hands and Logan takes a deep breath.

“Can I have both of your, especially Patton’s, permission to ask Virgil to marry me?”

The married couple exchanged a look, and then turn back to Logan. Patton goes, “You’ll never my blessing till the day I die.”

Then Roman continues with, “Tough luck my friend, but the answer is no.”

Logan thinks of how poorly this could have been taken if Patton and Roman weren’t bouncing, smiling, and singing the words.

He raises an eyebrow at the two of them, then sighs when they nod.

“Why do you have to be so rude?”

Patton and Roman cheer, ecstatic that Logan played along.

“I’m gonna marry him anyways.” Logan added on, smirking.

Roman got up and hugged Logan. “Honestly, it’s about damn time. Anyone who even looks at the two of you can see that you were both made for eachother.”

Roman pulled away, and Patton walked forwards. ‘This is the one I’m worried about...’

“I agree with Roman. But always keep in mind, Virgil is my best friend. He is my dark strange son, my kiddo, and if you ever hurt him, you will be my knew favorite fertilizer.” Patton said that in a light tone with a smile on his face, which was understandably unnerving. Logan shuddered.

Patton then started bouncing up and down and hugging Logan. “Of course you have my blessing! You are very wise to have asked, and I’m so happy for Virgil!”

Roman rolled his eyes fondly. “Sure, that’s what your happy about.” He said while trying to discreetly but a 20 dollar bill in Patton’s hand.

“Oh, I give permission too! The little emo nightmare will be so happy, I can’t wait!”

They all group hugged, and Logan mentally checked ‘Get Permission’ off his list. Now the only big thing was actually asking...

-_-_-_-

Logan drove Virgil up to the meadow, and after 25 minutes, he convinced Virgil to let Logan lead him to the surprise while blindfolded.

“Logan, where are we going? We’ve been walking for ten minutes!”

Logan just chuckled. “Don’t worry Starlight, it’s just ahead. I hope you think it will be worth the walk.”

Virgil assured Logan that he would, and Logan told Virgil to take off the blindfold.

Virgil took it off and opened his eyes to see a picnic blanket, in the same way as the first date. Virgil gasped happily, and looked quizzically at the telescope.

Virgil wraps his arms around Logan and smiles. “Thank you, you’re right, it was so worth the walk! But, what’s the telescope for?”

Logan kissed Virgil’s forehead. “Why don’t you look in it and describe to me what you see?”

“It’s gorgeous! It’s looks like a star made of swirling blue and purple. Exactly how one would picture the galaxy to look.”

Virgil looks over at Logan and sees his wide smile. He smiled back.

“It’s amazing, but why that star?” Virgil asks, looking back through the telescope.

Logan walks closer to Virgil and starts saying his speech.

“You said you wanted someplace to call our own, our own little mark on the universe. That star you see? Thats the star ‘Analogical’. It’s ours.”

Virgil looked away from the telescope and stars at Logan. “You... you bought us a star?”

Logan nodded. “Yes. I want to give you the world. Or, in this case, one of your own. Because it’s what you want.”

Virgil smiles slightly while blushing and looks back up at the sky. At their star.

Logan continues talking to a so far oblivious Virgil. “I want to give you everything you want. If it makes you happy, I’d tell people 2+2 equals 15. While factually inaccurate, it would make you smile, and that is worth everything.”

Virgil was laughing an shaking his head at Logan. He knows how much Logan hates the 2+2 question, and anything factually inaccurate.

Logan chuckled, and continued. “You changed my life for the better in so many ways, and I‘m hoping you’ll be willing to help me change it one more time.”

Virgil was confused by that, until Logan got down on one knee and took his hand, making Virgil face him and gasp. Virgils other hand went up to cover his mouth, which was hanging wide open.

Logan pulled a black ring with a purple star stone in the middle, and a purple flower on either side out of his pocket.

“Virgil Illious Storm, will you marry me?”

It was quite of a while, Virgil computing everything that just happened. Logan’s smile started to slip.

"Holy shit!" Virgil whisper yelled. Logan immediately thought the worst  "Oh, you don't like it. I'm sorry I shouldn't have-"

"NONONONO I WANNA MARRY YOU!" and then Virgil launched himself at Logan.

“YES! FUCKING OBVIOUSLY, YES! Roman’s gonna be pissed he couldn’t record the proposal though!”

Logan was basically cradling Virgil in his arms, smiling so wide he felt like his face was about to split in half.

Putting the ring on Virgil’s hand, Logan nodded towards the telescope. “Actually, what did you think the GoPro on top of the telescope was for?”

Virgil huffed out a laugh then kissed Logan passionately, ecstatic for the future that now lies ahead.

Logan was high off serotonin, and then his phone alerted him of an incoming FaceTime call.

“That’s Roman and Patton, they are very eager to hear your answer.”

Virgil shook his head and sighed, smirking. “I’ll go get another blanket out of the car, you can tell them.”

Virgil kissed Logan on the cheek, and ran of laughing, leaving a sputtering, love sick Logan behind to deal with two hopeless romantics.

—-

Virgil was on Cloud 9. All he could think about was the dates they’ve been on, the dinners at Thomas’s, the game nights at Patton and Roman’s, basically every wonderful thing that has happened since the attractive astronomer walked into his life.

Virgil was so distracted by thinking of Logan and staring at his ring that he didn’t notice the sound of footsteps coming towards him.

Right when he made it to the car and held the keys up to the door, a pair of arms wrapped around him.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the robots little boy toy.” Michael said.

“Tell me, does this smell like chloroform to you?”

Michael laughed while pressing a rag against a struggling Virgil’s face. Virgil kicks a shoe off, and then he headbutts Michael.

“FUCK!” Michael swears, and Virgil feels a sharp pain against the back of his head.

Virgil's eyes fill with tears, both out of pain and from fear as he thinks about all the hope he had been feeling, ripped away.

He had to get free. He had to warn Logan. He wants to marry Logan, he has to get free!

Wait... what if Logan never looks for him? What if Logan thinks he ran away? Virgil was struggling to keep from breathing in the rag, but he was starting to get light headed.

It’s Michael doing this. There are so many things that he could and probably will do if Virgil doesn’t get free. And He will most likely do them all.

Virgil was trying so hard to get free, but lack of oxygen was making his vision darken. He new he wouldn’t last much longer, and in a last ditch effort, he slammed down and Michael’s foot.

It wasn’t enough. All it did was piss Michael off.

Virgil hears, “You’re gonna regret that. You’re gonna regret a lot of things. We’ll see how much Logan wants you after I’m done.”

And then his vision goes black...

---

Taglist-

@dragonwithproblems

@five-falseh00ds-ph0nated

@thefingergunsgirl

@kawaiikat54

@sanders-sides-with-quinn

@007ardra

@yikesdodson

@nerdycupcake559

@softestvirgil

@teacupfulofstarshine

@impatentpending

@star-crossed-shipper

@ravenivy2079

@rainbowemonightmare

@ladyartemisia28

@mushroom-dance-mushroom-dance

@resident-trash-goblin

@parx-boiiz

@thepancake00

@kuroyurishion

@funkyfreshfatherfigure

@pattoncake-and-eyeshadow 

@drewwwbydoobydoo

@sure-i-exist

@sophiexteresa

@glitched-cookie

@wellhellothere09

@seraphlies

@decadentscissorsapricotdeputy

#The Astronomer and The Florist #Analogical #Royality #Logan #Virgil #Patton #Roman #Proposal #kidnapping #Michael #dont hate me #i was told i cant write angst #so ha #angst #attempted kidnapping #cursing

[synchronmurmurs]

Hi Sync! Hope you’re doing great! Just wanted to tell ya that Pact is one of the reads that’s been keeping my sanity during this pandemic... I love the way you nail (uh, pun unintended) down everyone’s personalities, the way you describe feelings (and uhm, encounters 😅) and the way you handle character development and worldbuilding. It’s beautiful. A work of art. And I really, really, really appreciate it.

I love DMC (and Vergil) to death. My boyfriend gave me a Vergil action figure for my birthday during the first year of our relationship, back in 2013. Fast forward to 2021 and now he also says “scum”, “DAAAANTEEE” and other random Vergil quotes with me. This happened because he decided to learn how to play Vergil after watching me trying to get the hang on the consecutive Judgment Cuts on DMC5. He learned how to do them and proceeded to destroy finish Vergil’s missions using only a combination of Rising Star and air Judgment Cuts... only to “get reckt” by Dante on M19 and having to learn how to play properly lol. In the end, my boyfriend ended up becoming a huge Vergil simp admirer like us. Even his phone wallpaper reeks of motivation now.

I guess I ended up rambling too much to get to the point of my ask 😣. So, I had an hour long discussion with my boyfriend about the “f*ck, marry, kill” game featuring Dante, Vergil and Nero. We got into similar but different conclusions (I won’t include them here or this will be waay too long) and I’d really like to hear your take on it, alongside the reasoning behind the answer. I hope this question isn’t too lame *sweats nervously*.

Also, sorry for the wall of text and any gramatical mistakes (English is not my first language). Hope this was, at the very least, an entertaining read 😅

skdjhf nonnie, thank you so much!!! 🥺🥺 The pandemic’s been rough on all of us, our frontline workers most of all, but I’m really happy to hear that something I’ve made can help you through this period. 😭 I wish Pact was something a bit more wholesome (not to say it won’t be - the fluff is COMING), but a generous helping of smut is always a boon. 🤣 I’m so glad you’re enjoying my take on the characters too!! How they interact and how I portray that is always something that’s at the very forefront of my mind whenever I write character interaction, and it always warms my heart to know my efforts aren’t in vain. 🙏💖

Also wohhhh, y’all have been together since 2013??? That’s so sweet. 🥺🥺 I wish you both a happy future together omg! Like coming from my single ass, having anybody put up with me for that long seems an impossibility, so it’s always really warming knowing that other people have a lil’ slice of happiness. I’m phrasing this very poorly, I’m both tired and hongry right now, but just know that I’m happy for you both. Doubly so because the Vergil madness has apparently spread to your bf. 🤣 Having that shared interest in a character must be real nice omg, and maybe you can both chip in and get a Yamato replica or something. 👀

And omg don’t worry too much about sending me a wall of text, I don’t mind it at all personally, I’m always really happy that people are taking time out of their days to like... send me anything at all. 🥺 I’m not very good at like... 1 on 1 conversation, especially with someone I don’t know very well yet, but answering asks is always something I look forward too. Like there’s no obligation for a response or anything, I can just... talk without the expectation of maintaining a conversation? Again, I’m probably explaining this poorly but the core of what I’m trying to say is that this method of engaging with followers is very comfy for me BUT ANYWAY

Fuck, marry, kill, huh? It’s honestly a really hard pick no matter how you slice it, because there’ll always be at least one party who doesn’t belong in either category. The last one I did was for Vergil, Nero and Credo, I believe? And that was agony.

Fuck: Vergil. Because it’s Vergil, and he’s the one I started writing again for 🤣 I’d like to marry him too, but in this very specific case, I’m putting him here. We’ll be fucking so often that we may as well be married anyway.

Marry: Nero. Because even though I’m not attracted to Nero (he is the best sonboi though), marrying him doesn’t mean we have to do the do. We could even have like... an open marriage, and he can still be with Kyrie. 🤣 We’d just be buds, but according to the law, we’re “““married”””.

Kill: ........Dante. And not because I dislike the guy, but because he’d shrug it off and just get back up again, on top of not holding it against me. 🤣 To be fair, the other two would be able to do this too (with a little more convincing on Vergil’s part, but I’m sure if I explained the sitch to him, he’s understand), buuuuuuut I don’t know that he fits the other criteria for me. 🤔💦

I hope that was enlightening, nonnie! Like, as handsome as I think Dante is, especially in 5 with the extra scruff), he doesn’t make me feral the way Vergil does. And Nero is just Nero to me. 🤣

#answer: anon #ask sync #long post #because yeah this one did get a touch rambly #I am apology 🙏

[deamstellarus]

In Viata Asta (3)

Pairing: Stucky x Reader Word Count: 6k Warnings: Uhm…none? Maybe injuries and language?

A/N: Sorry this update is so late! My work schedule was shit last week so I was behind on editing and posting. So! I thought posting a little early would help make up for it, and it’s the longest so far? Also yes I know, this gif doesn’t have that much to do with this update but I love how it looks.

Series Masterlist | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

You woke up to murmured voices and mechanical beeps. You were in a bed in a very white room. You could only assume it was the infirmary of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Several IVs were attached to your arm. A woman with long dark hair in a bun and a white lab coat jotted something down on a clipboard beside you, then took her leave silently. Something was making your brain feel hazy. Your bets were on the strong antiseptics in the air, but it was more likely whatever pain meds they were feeding you. Your hand was bandaged now, your back probably was too for how tight it felt. You started to sit up in bed.

“You don’t want to do that, zvezdochka. With your luck, you’d probably pull all your stitches.” Natasha sat next to your bed in an uncomfortable chair, staring intensely at the screen of her tablet. She set it down on the small side table next to you, and pushed a button on a remote. Your bed shifted you into a seated position. She held a white cup with a straw to your lips. You drank greedily, the cool water soothing your dry throat. 

“How long...?” You croaked. 

“Only twenty-four hours. You lost a decent amount of blood but we got you back soon enough.”

Then why did it feel like you were laying on fire?

“Your back was practically shredded from the rocks.” Had you said that out loud? “You needed a few stitches but you’ll be fine. The boys should be back in a few minutes with snacks, if you’re hungry.”

You nodded. Or tried to; your neck was stiff. Natasha went back to her tablet, so you closed your eyes for a few more minutes before Steve and Sam’s voices echoed through the otherwise quiet space.

“Look who’s up. Miss Rough and Tumble.” Sam’s toothy grin lit up the room.

“How are you feeling, Blue?” Steve’s ocean eyes were filled with concern. He looked perfectly okay. As if he hadn’t almost drowned in an evil river. Stupid super soldier serum.

“Just peachy, Cap.”

“I thought we had a deal.”

“Sorry… Steve.” You smirked. Your stomach grumbled. Loudly. He chuckled and plopped the white paper bag he held on your lap. You opened it, smiling to yourself when you found a couple buttery croissants and one of those twisted glazed doughnuts. Natasha was giving away all of your secrets it seems. You chose a croissant, biting into the warm, flaky pastry. It was glorious.

“I see you still can't go very long without getting yourself into some kind of trouble," a familiar voice said. 

"Sorry, sir,  I—" Steve started before you cut him off.

"To be fair, I was doing fine on my own until these hooligans showed up." You muttered, mouth full, lazily gesturing to Steve, Natasha, and Sam, who stared at you indignantly.

"Don't be like that, Baby Blue!"

Fury looked unimpressed. "Excuses are—"

“...just lies we tell ourselves to justify doing something poorly." You finished his phrase, then swallowed. "It's nice to see you too, Nick."

"Nick?" Sam gasped.

"What, did you think his name was just Fury?"

"He doesn't exactly like when anyone calls him that," Sam grumbled.

"Aww, Nick! I knew you were going soft on me." 

Fury grunted, but eventually relented and came over to pat your shoulder until you flinched at his touch.

"Heal up, Agent. We’ll talk about the incident when you’re standing on your own two feet again," he said as he walked to the door.

"Not an agent," you called after him.

"We'll see about that." He threw out.

You pouted. You knew it was unbecoming of you, but this is what you'd been dreading. You didn't want to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. That time of your life turned out to be so traumatic you ended up in a cabin by yourself for two years. But the reality is, you knew he'd get his way in the end. He always did.

__________

As far as doctors went, Dr. Alexandra Marks was patient and kind, and clearly had years of experience dealing with agents that tended to make reappearances in her infirmary. She was thorough with her diagnostics and made sure to emphasize what you could, but more importantly could not, do while you were in the recovery phase. Stitches, a heavy dose of fluids, and an advanced topical solution to help “speed up cell production”, and you were patched together the best you could be. Supposedly, they had a machine that was designed to generate skin, called the Cradle. It could have prevented the scarring, but it was out of commission due to an update or something. To be honest, it sounded too much like a cross between a crazy science experiment and a magic trick. Just the thought made you wary.  

“While you’re still lucid, I need you to give me a report of what happened,” Natasha said after Dr. Marks and the boys left. She attached a keyboard to her tablet, pulling the kickstand out so the whole thing could rest on the bed tray. “It’s just better to do this while it’s still fresh in your mind.”

“Yeah, I know.” You frowned at the screen. Blips of the incident flashed through your mind. “Honestly, I’m not too sure what I actually remember. It feels like it’s all a blur.”

“Any little detail helps,” she pushed. “Anything at all.” 

Weren’t those guys just Hydra goons though? But if that were the case, then why did it feel like there’s something more to this?

“What aren’t you telling me?” 

Her face went through a series of micro-expressions that you would have missed had you not known to look for them.

“Is it not Hydra that came after us?”

“We don’t know. But… it doesn’t look like it at this point.” She sighed. “Just write the report for now.”

“Okay.”

So you did. Any little thing you could remember from the men to the river, you included in your retelling. For the most part, you didn’t remember the men standing out in any way more than they seemed out of place in the general store. The majority of the normal clientele wore flannels, sweatshirts, or thick hunting jackets. The sleek black jackets and black caps they’d been wearing made them stand out. That being said, everything was nondescript, no labels, no logos. Pretty generic bad guys if you were being honest. The only thing you could think of was the small tattoo on the side of one of their necks, but you hadn’t been close enough to see the actual design. 

Maybe that was just you being paranoid and projecting. The tattoo was probably just a tattoo. 

A couple hours later, Dr. Marks released you, with a promise that you wouldn’t do “anything unnecessary like your troublemaker friends.” You snickered at that.  

Natasha gave you a tour of what you now learned was the Avengers Compound in upstate New York. Apparently, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been running part of the agency out of the side buildings that were part of the campus since they re-established, while there was still a segment in D.C. She pointed out the different buildings and rooms during the brief tour, but you were distracted, rightfully so, by the sheer amount of agents that gave you judgemental stares the entire way to the main Avengers building. You steeled your nerves; you wouldn’t give them anything more before you could physically defend yourself.

You stepped into an elevator after Natasha, the smooth doors sliding silently shut behind you. You allowed your shoulders a break from the stiff, upright posture you’d taken.

“You alright?” Natasha asked.

“Yup.”

“Ignore them. The most fun the majority of them have is over rumors and gossip.” Natasha said. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., third floor please.”

“Of course, Agent Romanoff,” a voice responded from above.

“A.I.?” you questioned. Natasha nodded. 

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. is one of Tony’s creations. She’ll help you with anything you need.”

“Huh, well thanks in advance then, F.R.I.D.A.Y.”

“It’s my pleasure… I cannot find your identification in any system, miss. What shall I call you?”

“Oh, you can call me Blue?”

“Very well. Enjoy your stay, Blue.”

The doors opened, revealing a hallway that lead to the left and right of the elevator and seemingly wrapped around the perimeter of the building. In the center, you were able to look down over a common area of sorts, with a variety of couches, tables, an oversized TV, and a kitchen off to the side. Natasha turned to the right, passing several doors before she stopped.

“This is your room.”

The door in front of you was a glossy white with a biometric scanner to the side. 

“Put your hand to the scanner,” she said. You did. A blue light shone through your hand, then with a soft click, the door slid open. The room was bigger than you thought it’d be, but knowing who owned the building, you didn’t expect anything less. There was a plush bed on one side of the room, a desk with a swivel chair on the opposite wall. Tall windows allowed natural light in the space. A fluffy rug and long drapes helped make the room less cold and clinical. But that wasn’t what drew your attention the most. 

Draped across the bed was the plush purple blanket Clint had bought you when you were first brought back to headquarters. It was so, so soft. On top of that was your green duffle bag. It was the one thing you took with you everywhere. It stayed stocked and ready for if you needed to leave at short notice.

“Thank you, Natasha.” 

“Of course,” she nodded.

"No chance of me going back to the cabin, huh?" You asked. Because as lonely as it had been there, it was yours, for the most part, and had become your safe place.

She shook her head. "Sorry, Blue. It wasn't discovered yet, but now they've seen your face, they know you're in the area. We can't take that chance."

You knew that, of course. She only confirmed it.

“There’s an ensuite bathroom behind that door, and a walk-in closet next to it,” Natasha pointed out. “It’s not the cabin, but it’s a good place to stay. You’ll like it here,” You nodded. 

She pulled you into her arms, her hands holding you like she didn't want to let go. 

"You scared me, zvezdochka," she whispered into your hair. 

"I know. I’m sorry.” It was rare for her to show so much emotion. As long as you’d known her, Natasha had always kept her feelings hidden.

A cough at the door disrupted the mood. 

“What does a guy have to do to get the famous Widow to hold him like that?” The man leaned against the door frame, dressed in jeans and a vintage band t-shirt. It seemed far too casual for such a well-known billionaire.

Beside you, Natasha pulled away and rolled her eyes. Like a switch, her blasé facade was back in full force.

“Tony, this is Blue. Blue, Tony Stark,” she introduced.

“What kind of name is Blue?” 

“It’s a nickname,” you said.

“Uh huh.” He squinted at you. “And your real name would be?”

“Leave it alone, Stark,” Natasha growled.

“I just find it strange that not only is there no record of her in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s database, but I can’t find her anywhere. Not a name, a city, a school, medical record. Nothing.”

Natasha bristled. Her eyes were narrowed slits. “I said leave it alone, Stark. She’s a personal friend of mine and Barton’s. Leave it alone.”

Tony glared at Natasha for a moment before yielding. 

“Fine, but we’re talking about this later.” To you, he said, “Welcome to the compound, kid.”

He took his leave, and Natasha shook her head. 

“He doesn’t like when he doesn’t know everything about something or someone. Unfortunately, he will get his way eventually. He’s pushy, but it comes from a good place.”

“Don’t worry about me, Tasha. I can handle him. Besides, I am living under his roof for now, he has a right to know what he wants to know.” 

“Only if you want to.” She puts a hand to your shoulder, before she walks to the door. But his inquiry did make you wonder…

“Why isn’t there a SHIELD file for me, or at least Agent M?”

“It may have gotten...lost when I released the files to the public.” 

“You deleted mine instead of yours?” You remember she had a list of aliases, most from before she joined “the good guys.”

She shrugged. “It was time for a new chapter anyway.” She waved it off as if it meant nothing, but she risked her own neck so you could remain nameless.

“Thank you, sestrenka.” She was always looking out for you.

“Dinner is at six. You’ll meet most of the rest of the team then. Take a nap, you look like you need it.” She winked.

“Tell me the truth, how bad does it look?” You tilted your head, indicating your back.

“Eh, it’s just a few stitches.” With that, she left, copper curls bouncing behind her. And really you had no choice but to take a nap like she said. Especially when the bed looked that comfortable. __________

Natasha lied. That was your only thought as you looked at your body in the mirror of your bathroom. It was not just a few stitches. Forty-seven in total. You cringed as you read off the report FRIDAY supplied. Hearing it from Dr. Marks, and reading it off the report, hadn’t quite prepared you visually for the reality of your injuries. From what you could tell, your back was covered in black zig-zags, reminiscent of Frankenstein's monster. At least as much as you could see that peeked out from underneath the white bandages and gauze. Plum-colored splotches covered your body. In addition to your back, your right hand also received six stitches, and your sprained ankle was now wrapped. And there were bags under your eyes. You looked awful and felt like a walking bruise. 

“The meeting will be starting in fifteen minutes, Blue,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice startled you.

“Thanks.” You’d have to get used to never quite being alone alone. 

Dinner passed by pretty well the night before, by your standards at least. Tony had apologized for his aggressive questioning, with a nudge from Pepper Potts, however wary of you he may still be. That was alright for now. Steve and Sam had taken the initiative to make you feel included in the conversations, though you were more content to observe the people around you. You were introduced to Col. James Rhodes, who had a dry sense of humor and held himself like a military man, and Dr. Bruce Banner, whose alter ego was a stark contrast to the mild-tempered man that had sat beside you. By far, the most fascinating member you’d met was Vision, an android with an English accent who reminded you vaguely of a curious child. 

Now you were heading to a meeting Fury requested you attend. A loose-fitted tee and a pair of sweatpants and you were on your way out the door, wishing you’d had the forethought to have packed makeup in your duffle bag. While you never needed it on the mountain, it would have helped make you look marginally more presentable and less dead. Especially on the walk through the interconnected buildings to the conference room where you stuck out like a sore thumb. Maybe Natasha could take you out to pick some things up soon.

You cracked the door open. Eight and a half pairs of eyes followed you to the empty seat next to Sam. You were the last one there. Of course. Fury stood at the head of the table, Maria Hill next to him, arms behind her back. She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at you. Steve, Natasha, Tony, and three agents in uniform filled out the rest of the table. A projection screen behind Fury exhibited pictures of several men you didn’t recognize. 

“Now that we’re all here, let’s begin,” Fury said. He pointed between two of the five pictures on the screen. “These two men matched the facial recognition we were able to get off the cameras at the general store where the Captain and Agent M were first shot at, amongst civilians. There were no casualties in the store.”

You squinted. The men looked familiar now, especially without the hats to obstruct their faces. In the right image was the man you’d known to have the tattoo. Now that you could see it, on the left side of his neck, the small symbol looked like three triangles overlapping.

“They were found dead in their vehicle on the side of the road, SUV wrapped around a tree. This is confirmed with the reports Captain Rogers and Agent M gave upon arrival.” He pointed to the next two images. “These two were killed on sight by the extraction team in search of the Captain and Agent M.” He pointed to the last of the five head shots. “This last man was interrogated briefly by Agent Romanoff before he was terminated.”

“So were they Hydra agents from the mountain base?” Steve asked, confusion clear on his face.

“Not exactly,” Fury said.

“He wasn’t Hydra,” Natasha said. “He said Hydra was a group run by hot-headed leaders with imperfect ideals. He said what they were was bigger and better than Hydra could ever hope to be.”

“And who are ‘they’?” Steve pressed.

Natasha shrugged. “He didn’t say, just that there were more of them and now that they had a ‘confirmation,’” she made quotes with her fingers, “they’d have all they needed soon enough to execute the program. He didn’t elaborate on what the program was or what exactly they’d confirmed. But before I could really press him for more, he killed himself. Cyanide tooth capsule.”

“Long story short, we’re led to believe these were not Hydra agents that tracked the two of you down. There were no markings on the body that would express allegiance to the group, nor did any declare their motto.”

“So what are you saying?” Sam questioned.

“I’m saying there is another organization who has at least one of the two of you as their target of interest and until we know who they are, you need to watch your backs.”

“No offense, sir,” one of the agents began. “But what would terrorist organization want with her?” She was pretty, blonde, and had an intense look about her. She wasn’t outright rude, she had a point at least; you’ve basically been in isolation for two years. Besides, she had to be more than capable to be in this room to begin with; that didn’t mean her comment didn’t irk you. You pushed down the urge to get defensive, and schooled your face into a neutral mask.

Simultaneously, all eyes were on you.

“At the moment we’re not quite sure,” Fury admitted. “Agent M’s official history within S.H.I.E.L.D. is otherwise non-existent as far as the database is concerned. However, that doesn’t mean no one would recognize her if they worked under S.H.I.E.L.D. before the disbanding.”

“You think this group is a bunch of ex-S.H.I.E.L.D., ex-Hydra rogue agents?” Steve interjected.

“Anything is possible,” Fury said. “For now, it’s best to assume Rogers was the target and Agent M was just an additional person of interest by proxy.”  

“Keep your eyes and ears open for anything that could be related to this organization.” Maria advised. “If there really is another large-scale terrorist group among us, it’d be best to nip it in the bud as soon as possible.”

After the briefing, Fury held you back, as most of the others left the room. Maria relaxed by his side, her shoulders not quite as taut.

“You’re reinstated as an active agent, effective immediately, Agent M.” Fury held your gaze with his good eye. 

“I never said I wanted to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D.. In fact, I distinctly remember telling you I never wanted to be put in that situation again.” You glared back. The fingers on your left hand dug into your palm.

“We all have to do things we don’t want to do.” His large hand cupped your shoulder. “Just because you run away from something, doesn’t mean it goes away. You are good at what you do, and I refuse to let you waste your skills anymore.”

“But I—” He cut you off. 

“You’re not the only one who’s lost someone, Blue.”

He rarely called you by your nickname. It was always ‘Agent.’ You sighed. As difficult as Fury has always been, he’d never given you bad advice. He was the one who fought for you to stay and train to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the first place all those years ago. 

And yeah, maybe he was a tad softer on you than on the others. You’d seen him as a father figure of sorts. If he thought you should be reinstated and otherwise get your head out of your ass, then you really couldn’t argue.

“Fine.”

“I knew you’d see it my way.” Fury smirked, patting your shoulder twice heading towards the door. “As soon as you’re cleared for it, you’ll start training. Rest up. This little incident tells me you’ve lost your touch.”

__________

You sat on a couch in the common room a week later, skimming through the data, searching for anything you could connect to an unknown terrorist group. Without a name, it was hard to even associate what little frays you did find, and you were led to dead end after dead end. You set the laptop on the seat beside you and pressed the heels of your palms to your eyes. You looked to your Stark-issued phone for the time. It was well past midnight. This wasn’t the first time you’d been unable to sleep this week due to your mind racing about the implications of an unknown group trying to bring devastation for whatever reason they’ve deemed justifiable. The bad feeling in your gut only intensified the more frustrated you got at the lack of information. You really wanted to punch something, but you weren’t cleared to do more than brisk walking, lest you pull a stitch and elongate your recovery period.

You went to the kitchen and poured yourself some water. The cool liquid did nothing to soothe your restlessness. So instead, you paced the halls, a habit you picked up since you arrived. You passed the entryway to the lab. More specifically, Tony and Bruce’s lab. The other common occurrence you’d noticed every night were the lights in the lab always being on this late in the night. It seemed like Bruce usually went to bed early in the evening, preferring to start his day earlier than most. Which left Tony as the only possible night owl. 

You hesitated by the door before pulling it open and wandering through the cool-toned lights in the lab. Classic rock played softly through the speakers. Tony stood at table at the far end of the room, back hunched over. He was poking at something that caused small sparks to shoot from the device. His masked face was probably still too close to the object. 

You pulled out a stool from a neighboring table smoothly, just enough to make some noise, not enough to startle him. The masked tilted up, then focused once again on the task at hand.

“Not asleep, Agent M?” He said with an ever-so-slight sneer.

“You can call me Blue, you know.” Tony hadn’t warmed up to you like you’d hoped in the past week. He’d been distant, always in the lab. Natasha assured you that was normal for him though, so you took her word for it. 

“Do I know that?” He snipped. He worked in silence for a few moments, then he put down his tools and flipped up his mask. His eyes were rimmed in red, most likely from exhaustion. “You know, I just find it odd that everything was all fine and dandy until Rogers and Co took a trip to Washington State. Now there’s a new terrorist organization we have to look out for, and you show up with no official identity in any database on the planet, and one word from Fury and we’re supposed to just be okay with that? I’m not exactly a big believer of coincidences.”

“Just ask what you want to know, Stark. I don’t want to always feel like I’m tip-toeing around you.” Because it was annoying. 

“What’s your history with S.H.I.E.L.D.?” 

“Natasha and Clint were on a mission, found me as a teen in an abandoned warehouse. Brought me back to S.H.I.E.L.D.. I was an agent for three years.”

“What made you leave?” His gaze shifted elsewhere.

“Bad mission. I lost people I cared about.” His eyes found yours. “And with Hydra discovered inside the agency and S.H.I.E.L.D. dissolving, I just got out while I could.”

He was quiet for a long time. Absently, you twirled a random screw between your fingers.

“Tell me about the mission.”

You squeezed your eyes closed, sighing deeply. You recalled your worst nightmare like it was yesterday. You opened your mouth to begin when he put a hand up.

“Sorry. You don’t need to tell me.” He waved you away. “I can be insensitive when I’m tired.”

“It’s alright, I understand. Long story short, it went really, really wrong, and I couldn’t handle it anymore. I was young-”

“You’re still young, kid,” he quipped.

“-and I already couldn’t remember my past. Losing people, people I was especially close to, was too much.” Your breath shuddered. “I didn’t want to have to go through that again, so I left. Fury kept tabs on me, same with Natasha and Clint. But I swore I wasn’t going to be an agent anymore.”

“And now, here you are.”

“Here I am.”

Tony nodded. He got up unexpectedly, shuffling over to a hidden cupboard that housed a coffee maker. He came back with two mugs, steam spirals swirled in the air. You took a sip. Minty.

“It’s a peppermint blend. Some candy cane Christmas bullshit I got in a ‘thank you’ basket over the holiday. It’s barely coffee, not even caffeinated, but it tastes nice. Supposed to help clear the mind or something.”

You shrugged. Because it was good.

“So… you don’t remember your past?”

“I don’t even remember my name.”

“That must be tough.”

“Mhm,” you agreed.

“Listen, I’m sorry for the rough start. Genuinely. I spend so much of my time trying to do the best to defend against the bad, that I sometimes jump to conclusions and can be…”

“Overly suspicious?” You supplied.

“Yeah.”

“No worries, Stark…”

“Tony.”

“Tony,” you smiled. “I would have thought the same thing. I mean hell, I almost embedded a knife in Captain America’s head when I first met him.”

“I want to do that sometimes and I’ve known him for years.” He chuckled into his mug.

“So we’re good?” You didn’t want to just assume. A heart to heart doesn’t always form a friendship, but at least maybe you’d be on good terms now.

“We’re good, kid.” He smiled, a genuine grin on his lips. “Come on, you can help me test this new version of my gauntlets.”

Huh. Maybe you were wrong. __________

Another week passed before you were cleared for active duty. The scarring was… definitely there. Harsh, red lines spider-webbed around your back. Apparently, it healed faster than Dr. Marks anticipated, especially without the cradle. She seemed convinced the shorter recovery time meant there was a high chance the scarring would fade quickly as well. You weren’t exactly a vain person, but it didn’t look pretty as of now. At least you could cover it up easily. 

You were placed into a random group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Group C apparently, and were given a schedule that listed off times for hand-to-hand combat training, weight training, endurance training, and shooting practice. You were convinced Steve loved to see you and the other recruits suffer as he pushed you all to run the laps of the course around the compound. The first day, you were dead after three miles, collapsing on the ground when the muscles in your legs gave up and lying on gravel sounded like a better idea. Steve only ordered you to get up and run again. You might have grumbled something about seeing if you’d ever save his life again.

Now you were able to keep up with the group. You found it a necessity, as you’d overheard in the locker room how they didn’t like you because you were “definitely sleeping with the Captain” or why else would you be there. You’d caught a stink eye more than once, and decided you had to push harder and tune them out. The chatter was useless. You knew the truth, so their opinions didn’t matter, but you didn’t want Steve to be accused of favoritism. He didn’t deserve any unnecessary backlash. 

By far, Natasha was thrilled to have you in training again. 

“You’re having too much fun with this Natasha,” you groaned from the mat. 

You were constantly being thrown by her, taunted that you’d lost your reflexes from being out of practice. You always ended up sore and bruised after a session. The snickers of the other agents really pissed you off, but you couldn’t exactly bite their heads off. Plus, even when you were in your best shape, you weren’t always able to out-Natasha Natasha; you’d only done it a few times. You knew first hand the rest of the agents in the room couldn’t do that. And you’d out-fought enough of them to know that.

“You’re making it easy on me,” she pulled you to your feet. “Maybe you should practice with someone with a little less agility for now?” She tilted her head to Sam, who’d over heard as he sauntered in and pulled a bitch face at her.

“Oh that’s low, girl. Real low.” But he joined you on the mat anyway.

Sam’s strikes were powerful and quick, like a boxer. He shuffled his feet, throwing punches at varying intervals. You dodged and blocked what you could. He got in a few hits before you picked up his pattern. That was the problem with most people in hand-to-hand. The body naturally wants to move in a rhythm, just like in running, but it’s too predictable in fighting, which is one of the reasons it was so hard to fight Natasha. She was slippery as a snake and it was hard to anticipate her next moves at the speed she moved.

You swung your arm out, your fist clipping him in his unprotected ribs, jumping out of range after. He stumbled back. You took the opportunity to rush him, diving low last minute to the space beneath his legs. You half-turned in your crouch and kicked your leg out, knocking him off balance and crashing into the mat. Finally.

“Adequate,” Natasha complimented. “But I’ve seen you do better. That was sloppy.”

You nodded, panting. She was right, but you’d take then win. It would take you a while to get back to what your skills had been, but even you had to admit. The ache of your abused muscles was actually rather nostalgic. __________

It was well after dinner when a knock at your door had you sitting up, causing the ice packs to tumble off your body. You sighed.

“Come in!”

Natasha stepped in, eyeing the ice packs. 

“Have we been too rough on you?” She teased. You didn’t take the bait.

“Nah. Just not used to it yet.”

Natasha nodded. “Just wanted to let you know Clint and the others are almost here. The quinjet should be landing in five, if you want to join us.”

“Of course.” You stumbled off the bed, and slipped your shoes on as you followed her to the hangar.

The hangar was cleaner than you would have thought. Relatively spotless and spacious. You and Natasha joined Steve, Sam, and Vision by the marker number 1 just as the rumble of an engine made the quinjet known. The noise echoed loudly in the space as the jet landed smoothly in its spot. The engines cut off, and with the high-pitched whir of the propellers winding down. The door opened down into a ramp. At first, no one came down, then there was a stumbling, mummy racing down the ramp toward you. Clint scooped you up into his arms, twirling you around, rambling a mile a minute.

“I thought Tasha was messing with me when she said you were here!” He was shouting in your ear, but you couldn’t get a word in edgewise. “When did you get here? How long are you staying? Wait! Are you back for real?”

“Barton, I’m pretty sure she can’t breathe.” Natasha’s voice cut through his excitement.

“Oh, right.” He plopped you down. You staggered before you caught yourself.

“It’s good to see you too, Robin Hood.” 

His eyes flitted over you, not overlooking the bruises from training this week.

“Geeze, you look awful. What happened?” 

“What is with the two of you?” You looked between him and Natasha. “You can’t just tell people they look awful when they’ve been beaten up. Besides, you’re one to talk,” you sassed. Clint was covered in butterfly bandages and deep purple bruises. “Can’t you go on one mission without coming back like you belong under a pyramid?”

“‘S not my fault.” Clint scratched the back of his neck. You stared at him pointedly. “Well, not all my fault.”

“Some things never change.” You grinned.

“Blue, this is Wanda Maximoff.” Natasha held her hand out to a girl around your age, with long auburn hair and sparkling green eyes. She looked at you hesitantly.

“Hi, I’m Blue.” You did a little wave, then immediately regretted it for how dumb you probably looked. 

“It’s nice to meet you.” She enveloped you in strong arms. She had an accent you couldn’t place, but it wasn’t so thick you couldn’t understand her. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Natasha and Clint. It’s nice to match the face with the name.”

You smiled, because she seemed very sweet. You could already see yourself being friends with her. You noticed Vision hovering just behind her, and when she pulled away, her hand reached back to find his. That was cute. You also now had questions, but that was for another time. You certainly weren’t close enough to just ask anyway.

Behind you, Steve was embracing a man with shoulder-length brown hair. He looked just as built and strong as Steve, maybe an inch shorter in height. Steve’s eyes were closed, his lips were moving, speaking too low for you to hear. The intimacy of their moment had you assuming they were more than friends. Definitely together. You wondered if the public had that knowledge, but it was more than likely not. The media would probably have a field day with that info.

Steve opened his eyes, meeting yours with a smile before he stepped back and called out to you.

“Hey Blue! Come over here and meet Bucky!”

His companion turned around and the breath caught in your throat. You did a double take. After all these years, you never thought you’d see him again. Maybe you’d dreamed you’d find your long lost friend, hoping that you both hadn’t changed too much to pass each other on the street someday without realizing. But you would recognize those eyes anywhere. 

Before you could open your mouth, he spoke. 

“Ingeras?” _________

A/N: Just now realized I haven’t given any translations for words so far, but I will from now on!

zvezdochka (Russian) - little star sestrenka (Russian) - sister, sis ingeras (Romanian) - angel

_________

In Viata Asta Taglist:  @rvgrsbrns​ @artsyspacebee​ @thelovelydreamer17​

#Stucky x reader #Steve Rogers x reader #Bucky Barnes x reader #Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes #marvel fanfiction #In Viata Asta

[enbyleighlines]

Do you still take modern wangxian prompts? If you do, would you be able to do a floral shop wangxian? (Maybe wwx fked up and had to make up with flowers or vice versa? :P) thanks so much! And merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, anonymous! Even if it’s, like, no longer Christmas...

I hope you still enjoy this drabble, though!

(And yes! I am always accepting prompts for my mdzs modern au! You can read the entire collection along with some extra context notes at ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21909901/chapters/52296226)

—

Wei Wuxian learns something new every day. Today, he learned that the phrase “a broken heart” is not exaggerated. His heart feels like it’s broken, like his entire chest cavity is criss-crossed with multiple painful, gaping wounds.

He and Lan Wangji just had their first fight. Wei Wuxian sits on the stairs outside the apartment, clutching the skin over his broken heart. Putting pressure on it doesn’t ease the ache at all.

The worst thing is that Wei Wuxian can still see Lan Wangji’s face ever time he closes his eyes.

He had meant it as a joke. In retrospect, it was never very funny. But Wei Wuxian hadn’t meant to hurt his Lan Wangji, his boyfriend, his best friend, his love.

Wei Wuxian had apologized, but the damage was done.

The world feels darker. Wei Wuxian knows Lan Wangji just needs time. Their bond is too strong to break under a single poorly-worded joke. But at the moment, this knowledge does nothing to soothe Wei Wuxian’s turbulent mind.

At least A-Yuan is spending the day with Granny Wen. Wei Wuxian would hate to have the toddler witness him like this, so witless and depressed.

Or worse, to have A-Yuan see Lan Wangji cry... Wei Wuxian has never known a more heart-wrenching sight.

Wei Wuxian hangs his head between his knees, trying not to remember the way Lan Wangji’s cheeks glistened in thin streaks down from his eyes, his lashes dotted with dew-like water droplets.

Lan Wangji is so handsome, even when he’s sad. It’s kind of unfair.

It was just a stupid slip of the tongue. A side effect of consuming so much fatalistic humor. Still, Wei Wuxian should have known better. He knows better than anyone how sensitive Lan Wangji is.

Hadn’t Lan Xichen warned him? “Take care of my Didi,” he had said, “He feels things more strongly than other people.”

And Lan Wangji does. Oh, he feels things so strongly.

It’s one of the things Wei Wuxian loves best about him. Lan Wangji is sensitive, and righteous, and so, so good. Wei Wuxian treasures Lan Wangji, because the man IS a treasure. Hidden underneath Lan Wangji’s outward taciturn demeanor is a heart that cares too much, that loves without restraint.

Wei Wuxian wants to be worthy of that love.

No. Wei Wuxian must become worthy of that love.

With his new mission in mind, Wei Wuxian uncurls from his fetal pose on the staircase. He takes out his phone and starts googling.

—

Twenty minutes later, Wei Wuxian is officially lost. He pauses at an intersection he’s already passed twice before, and rechecks his phone app. How has he still not found the flower shop? It’s supposed to be less than a minute away!

Wei Wuxian sighs heavily, and seeks help at a nearby convenience store.

Thankfully, the cashier isn’t a complete idiot, unlike him, so she’s able to give Wei Wuxian directions.

He ends up going down a side corner he hadn’t noticed before, and voila! There was the Phoenix Flower Shop, exactly where his app said it should be.

Wei Wuxian shuts off the app and shoves the phone into his pocket. He’s trying not to lose his temper, but he’s having a really bad day. Granted, he’s mostly mad at himself, but still. He can’t be just stomping around and ruining everyone else’s day.

The smell of flowers sucker-punches Wei Wuxian right in the nose as he enters. Ordinarily, he loves floral fragrances, but right now, it’s a tad overwhelming.

A young woman in an apron trots merrily over to him. “Good afternoon,” she says, “May I help you find something?”

Wei Wuxian nods. He doesn’t know anything about the language of flowers, but he suspects that Lan Wangji might. “I’m hoping to create some sort of apology bouquet,” he explains, “Which flowers mean ‘I’m sorry’?”

The flower shop employee gives Wei Wuxian a sad smile. “Gotten into a fight with your girlfriend, have we?”

“Uh, boyfriend,” Wei Wuxian corrects. He vaguely wonders if he should have just let her believe he was in a heterosexual relationship. He and Lan Wangji haven’t yet discussed to what extent they want to be “out” to people. Since this is Wei Wuxian’s first time dating a guy, he’s been trying to err on the side of caution.

Luckily, the young woman doesn’t make a big deal out of it. “Oh, okay,” she says, “Well, I would go with yellow flowers, either tulips, roses, or chrysanthemums. Tulips represent new beginnings and hope, yellow roses can represent both friendship and regret, and the chrysanthemum is a symbol of longevity. But if you prefer to avoid the color yellow, you can always go with the plum blossom. It can symbolize a refusal to give up on love.”

Wei Wuxian listens, his mind swimming with all his options. He hadn’t realized that there were so many choices! Which one would Lan Wangji like?

The woman seems to notice his stress, because she stops listing new flowers. “A dozen yellow tulips seem to be our most frequently bought apology bouquet,” she informs him, “We can even tie it with some ribbon that says ‘I’m sorry’ on it.”

Wei Wuxian relaxes. “Okay,” he says, “That sounds good.”

She nods, and waves for him to follow her. She leads him down an aisle made entirely of flowers, which is barely wide enough to fit two people. They have to occasionally duck around other customers.

At the end of the aisle, they come upon the tulip section... and a familiar face.

“Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji’s head whips up to stare blankly at Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian immediately notices two things: Lan Wangji’s eyes are still a little red and puffy, and he has a bundle of flowers in his arms.

Yellow tulips, to be exact.

The store employee looks from one man to the other. “Do you two... know each other?”

Wei Wuxian opens his mouth. No sound comes out.

Lan Wangji steps forward, and pushes the flowers he’s holding into Wei Wuxian’s hand. “Yes,” he answers, without tearing his eyes off of Wei Wuxian, “Wei Ying is my boyfriend.”

Boyfriend, huh? So they are being public about it...

Wei Wuxian smiles, but his heart throbs uncomfortably from within his throat. He doesn’t know where to even start. It’s funny, isn’t it? Bumping into Lan Wangji, who is buying his own apology bouquet?

But what is Lan Wangji sorry for?

“I’ll leave you two be, then,” the young woman says, and quickly scampers off faster than anyone should move in such a cramped space.

Silence fills the space between them.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji questions, “Say something?”

And so Wei Wuxian does.

“I’m sorry,” Wei Wuxian says, reaching out and grabbing the end of Lan Wangji’s sleeve with his free hand, “I’m so sorry—“

“I’m sorry, too,” Lan Wangji replies.

“For what?” Wei Wuxian can’t help but laugh. “I’m the one who— who made that stupid joke.”

“I overreacted?” Lan Wangji says, confusion evident in his tone.

“You didn’t overreact!” Wei Wuxian tugs his boyfriend closer, so he can minimize the emptiness between them. “Lan Zhan, I said something that hurt you.”

“You were joking...”

“That doesn’t matter!” Wei Wuxian wants to crash their mouths together, he loves this man too much for his own good, but he needs to make Lan Wangji understand. “It was a bad joke! It was in poor taste, and I realized it as soon as I said it!”

Lan Wangji’s eyes are watery again. His lip trembles, just slightly, just enough to break Wei Wuxian’s heart all over again. “I just...” he chokes, unable to continue.

“I know,” Wei Wuxian says. Because he does. He knows that he accidentally touched something sensitive, something that reopened old wounds. “Lan Zhan, oh Lan Zhan. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

Lan Wangji puts his hand on the small of Wei Wuxian’s back.

(In the back of his mind, Wei Wuxian registers that Lan Wangji’s palm is touching right where his bunny tattoo lies hidden beneath his clothes. A small part of him finds it amusing.)

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji whispers. He doesn’t need to speak any louder. Their faces are now mere inches apart. “I love you.”

And so Wei Wuxian does kiss him, because how can he resist?

They crush the flowers between them, but neither one cares enough to stop. They recommit themselves to one another, sharing the same breath. Their kiss is slow, unhurried, intimate. They linger, lips tasting every last centimeter of skin, reluctant to part.

An eternity passes between them. When they pull apart, both of them are smiling. Wei Wuxian’s smile is as bright as the sun, Lan Wangji’s as beautiful as the moon.

They hold hands as they walk to the counter. They don’t let go, even as Lan Wangji pays for the flowers they ruined.

The cashier gives them a knowing look. Neither notices.

They return to the apartment, and try to make the crumpled tulips look nice in a vase. Many of the petals are creased and folded at unattractive angles.

But Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji look at them with loving eyes. They look at the flowers for approximately a minute.

And then they go back to kissing.

#asks #anon #wangxian #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #mdzs modern au #drabbles #leigh’s writing #anonymous

[darkpoisonouslove]

I retaliate/reward you with writer asks 2, 3, 4, 12, 22, 24, 36, 37, 39 and 42 ;D

Sounds good to me. XD

Okay, let's break these down. (I've crammed things that should be separated in different paragraphs in the same paragraph because of the structure of the ask. I just think it is easier to navigate it that way even if more paragraphs would make more sense. That way every opinion is constricted in one paragraph and you can tell which point it refers to easier. (At least imo.))

(I can't put a read more link rn as I'm on mobile. Sorry.)

2. Don't use adverbs

I cannot begin to describe to you how much I LOATHE this. It is, by far, some of the stupidest writing advice I have ever read. No, I don't care Stephen King supports this. Stephen King writes mostly horror and in horror you need to maintain suspense so short and to the point is definitely better and cutting adverbs is certainly a way to do that. However, I don't think this applies to all writing. I think this isn't really a genre thing as much as it is a specific case by case thing. And in most instances I think this advice is bullshit. Think about it. Language was created to allow us to express ourselves. Cut all adverbs out of it and that narrows down your way to express yourself. It's kinda like "Oh, hey, my leading hand serves more purpose. I should probably cut off the other one because it's not that effective." Congrats, you just crippled yourself. It's the same with language. Why would you deny yourself the help of an entire group of "tools" to express yourself? I just don't understand it. I suppose you've seen the posts going around about "good" and "bad" adverbs so I won't go into that as I agree that an adverb is a good idea when it adds some meaning to the word that wasn't there before (eg. "cried happily"). Sometimes it can actually make things faster to just "tell" them rather than show them through the context. I think adverbs are as neat as any other part of language and deserve their place in writing.

3. Write what you know

Yes, you should know what the hell you're writing about. Whether it was something that you were familiar with before you started writing or you did your research on the matter. I might be a little biased on this because I kinda hate doing research so I can be swayed towards write only what you are completely familiar with but that would just make things boring. So I think you can write about stuff that isn't quite your area of expertise as long as you put the effort to research it to the proper level depending on what you need it for. If it's more of a mention, you don't need that much knowledge about it but if you intend to make it the subject of your writing, please make sure you understand what you're going to be talking about in the entirety of your story. I am begging you because when you don't, we end up with stuff like 50 Shades of Grey (and I'm not just talking about the sex parts since this book is full of poorly researched stuff that, shockingly, ends up being unbelievable at best, potentially harmful at worst). However, I think that applies to a greater degree to published fiction rather than to fanfiction but let's not get into that debate since it's a completely different topic and I already veered off course.

4. Avoid repetition

This I mostly agree with but it depends on the purpose of the repetition. If it is done in order to establish a theme or motif or to emphasize a point (without overdoing it, of course), I fully support it. (I do that a lot in my personal writing and it shouldn't be that hard to find examples of it when looking at my fics ("What Is the One Thing That Can Never Break?" is the best example of this but I have done it countless times in most of my fics if not all of them since this is one of my fave techniques).) However, there is a thin line between establishing a theme and making dead herrings aka something that is brought up repeatedly without any point to it other than boosting the word count since it doesn't lead to anything and it was already discussed at a prior point (which I might have done a few times myself in some of my longest fics). If you're bringing another angle to an issue you've already looked at or are furthering the point, you should be fine but this is indeed a thin line to tread so it demands a bit of caution. I do believe repetition can be a valuable technique in specific circumstances, though, so it all depends on how it is used.

12 is already answered here

22. Do not use semicolons

My personal opinion on this isn't very applicable to anything else because I am not really quite sure how to properly use semicolons so I avoid them. I also don't really like them in other people's writings. I'm sure they have their uses but I think a lot of authors also overuse them to make those horrendously long sentences that I hate (but have started becoming guilty of as well even though I think that if you can't remember how the sentence started at the end of it, it is too long and needs to be split in some way). It is why I haven't bothered to learn how to operate them. XD But I think that my point about adverbs should be applied here as well. It is another tool you can use and I am sure it can be helpful. So I am not necessarily against it and wouldn't tell someone to stop using them. Only, maybe try using full stops as well? And I'll try to do the same because, like I said, I have started becoming guilty of paragraph long sentences as well. (Just to be clear, sometimes longer sentences are okay. But not when literally every sentence is over 150 words. You need to break them down, spice it up with shorter sentences thrown in the mix.) Also, I think this is an instance of the trap of "bigger is better" for a lot of writers except that here it is "longer is better". It really isn't. And I can tell you why. My scenes have started getting thousands of words long and if I were to write novel, I could hit 50k words with about ten scenes. Most novels are up to 120k words total. Those would be 24 scenes in my numbers but don't you feel like a novel will need more than 24 scenes? Consice writing is definitely a good idea and it is much harder to cut things rather than to add (at least for me). Fanfiction gives more room with the word count but I still think that it is important to be able to convey your point in as little words as possible. (Btw, this is a tangent but long sentences and semicolons appear a lot in academic writing and I hate it even more there because it makes it more incomprehensible than it needs to be (and in a lot of cases it already is written to be as incomprehensible as possible). Just... start another sentence, I am begging you. This one already is a page long, for the love of everything in the world.)

24. Don't edit as you write

A complicated one. Mostly because I have done this. I used to do it a few years back. I (mostly) don't do it anymore. I might stop to edit a typo or change a sentence that just doesn't read right but nothing bigger than that. And you should, arguably, not do that either. Why? Because you may end up deleting the entire paragraph, page, chapter and all that perfecting will have been for naught. It has happened to me when I spent a ton of time perfecting the first chapters of several of my works and some of them I will never finish while others actually need to start from a different point in time so the whole chapter needs to go. Along with all of my efforts. I would say this is mostly for longer and chaptered projects since the structure of a one shot (depending on the length) is easier to figure out and you probably won't need to rearrange parts of it. And if something is really poking your eyes out, you can fix it real quick. But once you have the whole thing, it will be easier to see what needs to stay, what needs to go and what needs to be changed. Sometimes the temptation is hard to resist and it's fine if you give in as long as you're doing it with the knowledge that "yes, this may be all for nothing but I can't look at it like that for another second". Sometimes I would say that you need to go back and see where everything derailed if you can't move on. There was good advice that if you're stuck, the problem is probably a few paragraphs before the point where you hit a wall and it has helped me get over a block a time or two. However, if you can move on without touching anything, you probably should. That can also save you from deleting something that is actually good. I have felt like the whole thing I was writing was terrible but holding back from deleting or even altering anything and, instead, giving it some time to breathe has saved a few fics along the way from being completely butchered. So I think this is, generally, good advice because of the reasons I listed but just like any other rule, it can be bent and broken. (I would say fixing typos is a form of bending it which I allow myself all the time. Spelling is just really important to me.)

36. Never use a verb other than 'said' to tag dialogue

I hate this specific phrasing of it a lot. Never start any rule with never. Of course, you need to use other verbs as well since they were created to express the wide range in which a person may speak their chosen words. My problem with this is the reason that is usually given for it and that is that it distracts the reader. It has never distracted ME. Not a single time. And while I agree that using said most of the time works since people usually speak in a calm, even, steady manner which to describe as simply "said" works well enough, I think that other dialogue tags have their places too. Because people don't always say things. Sometimes they scream them, sometimes they whisper them, sometimes they hiss them, sometimes they snap and so on. Here I think a better phrasing would be to use Syndrome's lesson again that "when everyone is super, no one will be". Dialogue tags different from said are supposed to direct your attention to the change in tone. They're supposed to stand out. If everything stands out, nothing will. (This philosophy is so applicable to so many things and I think we have to take a minute to appreciate how valuable the lesson of "The Incredibles" is.) So as with every other writing tool, if used accordingly, dialogue tags (all of them, not just "said") can only be of help and will not hinder you in any way. Just don't put more frosting on the cake than there is cake, you know?

37. Do not start a sentence with a conjunction

FUCK THIS RULE so much. This one you have to keep to only in academic writing. The moment you step through the threshold of creative writing this rule should be crushed under your soles. I often start sentences with "and" or "but" because I am looking to emphasize whether this sentence agrees with the previous one or not. Think about it. When you say "I liked him. But I didn't trust him.", it reads very different from "I liked him but I didn't trust him.". It focuses your attention on that contrast and makes you pay more attention to the objection to the first sentence that comes in the second. That can be incredibly valuable and help emphasize what you're saying in a more subtle way than repetition would. This is one of my favorite techniques of focusing the attention on where I want it to be and I will never give it up. Sue me if you want. And see if I care.

39. If there's a story you want to read but it hasn't been written yet, you must write it

Must is too strong a verb. You are not obliged to write anything. I couldn't possibly write everything I want to see written in a single lifetime. Calm down there. I think what people need to understand here is more that "if you want the story done the exact way that you would do it, you will have to do it yourself because no one else will do it the very same way". Doesn't mean that someone can't come close enough (I had that luck once) but it is unlikely that they'll do it in a way that you won't have any complaints about. So, really, "if you want something done right, do it yourself". But this can also mean "you have something fresh that the world needs because no one else has done it yet" (or at least not the same way you would do it). Which is cool but you really don't owe anyone anything. If that story is what you want to read and write (emphasis on that because writing is hard and takes a lot of energy, guys), then great! Go right ahead. But if you don't feel like doing that, you can leave it alone. Someone else might do it in time but with that we loop back to my previous point. I think that you should write whatever you want to write whether no one has written it before or it has been done hundreds and thousands of times.

42. Write your first draft by hand

Very mixed feelings here. I used to do that. The main reason for that is that I didn't trust myself to edit quite as sufficiently if I wrote it directly in a document as I would if I had to transcribe it from paper to the computer. For me personally, it is easier to change sentences when there is only blank space after that sentence since I don't have to worry whether the next sentence I have will still make sense once I'm done rewriting the current one. It was just easier to change things. A way to deal with that is to just press enter a few times before you start editing the sentence so that it looks like there is nothing after it and you're free to change it as you please. However, writing directly in a document is definitely faster and since I was having a lot of things to do in a limited time, I started doing that. It helped get over the fear of a blank page to a degree. It is faster. And I don't think I have noticed a change in the quality of my fics. Not a negative one at least. I just know that if I had had to write the 10k+-word ones by hand before typing them on the computer, I would've lost it. It would've taken way more time and patience than I was willing to give these ideas. Writing the words by hand sometimes helps me feel them better, though, (if that makes sense) and I wouldn't completely give up on it. I like to go with my intuition when deciding whether to write it by hand or type it directly in a document and it has worked out well enough for me so far.

#ask #her-majesty-wears-jeans #writing #writing advice #writing rules #my opinions

[elfangel94]

Teen Top in San Jose 2019

Concert Day

So I woke up at 6am and started getting ready. At around 9 I woke everyone else up and they got ready as well. I was dressed as joker for the costume contest but I decided I would put the wig on last minute before they took the picture. Unfortunately because it was so disorganized I wasn’t able to be photographed at all (more on that later). We got to the venue around 3:30 and there was almost no one there. A little later around 4-ish my brother spotted cap walking around the building with either staff or a body guard (we watched him but didn’t scream or say/do anything I don’t think he even noticed us we were pretty far away). Eventually people started showing up and staff came out. I had assumed that the contest would be first with all the participants gathered and then photographed, me and my sister wanted to take our pic together but I had already been lined up for the fan signing when she was photographed. I didn’t want to go in and see the boys in costume but they were very confusing and instead of some sort of order the photos were taken really randomly and some people were missed. After we were inside the venue they took some more but I was already changed. Anyway, I go in and in order Niel, cap, Chunji, Ricky and changjo are seated at the table. I walked up and gave Niel my letter and his gifts

Niel: “Hi!”

Me: “hi”

Niel: “To.. Teen Top?”

Me: “yes! And you!”

Niel: “and me?! Thank you~!” (He has the cutest lil voice)

I move on to cap and we say hi he started handing me the album and I was reaching for it when we both realized he had to pass it to Chunji 🤣 (we officially share the same one braincell) Chunji was really bright when he said hi and had this like idk naughty boy face I’m not sure how to describe it but I was weAK. Then on to Ricky who said “hi Rebekah!” I almost didn’t say hi because I was having a spongebob moment in which all my brains cells were having a meltdown over him saying my name. I moved on to changjo who had the warmest smile and just seemed so happy to see me. We said hi and thank you like the others (the interactions are so brief but me being a shy ass knucklehead who can’t do a speak makes it even shorter lol) after that I exited to queue up for the hi touch (this is where I had to change my clothes and I held up the line iM SO SORRY T-T) The hi touch was sO fAsT I barely remember it. I just remember being too nervous to look at them lmao so once that was over we went round again and did the group pic. I get inside and the lady told me to kneel next to changjo (kneel for changjo? glAdLY mY KinG) and he just kept looking at me and smiling so warmly and then he leaned on me and BOYYYYYEEEEEEE HE SMELL SO GOOD 😭 they took the pictures and changjo looked at me and said “thank you!” we literally created a new language consisting of only the phrase “thank you” because I’d say thank you then he’d say thank you then I’d say thank you again because I’m fucking dumb. But he understands. So we finished and went into the auditorium where I sat next to a really sweet cool girl dressed as Harley Quinn(who was also a VAV Stan I was so happy to meet another VAMPZ in real life😭💜). I don’t know her name but I was really thankful she struck up a convo because I was so nervous and anxious and her talking really helped me calm down a bit and she watched my seat for me when I had to go to the restroom so whoever and wherever you are thank you you are truly an Angel 😇 💜 I missed the boys coming out because I had a bathroom break and I legit ran back and started recording as I got back inside. At first I was afraid of getting too close to the stage but after a song or two I was like fuck it yolo bitch I’m moving uP and stood right next to the stage. Changjo was on that side mostly but Niel came over quite a bit too and Ricky as well towards the end of the concert. I was so close I could touch them (I wouldn’t and didn’t! Don’t fucking touch people!) I was really hoping one of them would take my phone but alas ‘‘twas not meant to be ☹️ but Niel, changjo, Ricky and Chunji all looked right at me and into my phone so that’s good enough for me 😭 some people said cap made a mistake but I missed it (I saw it later on my video 😂) all I saw was him absolutely dyInG of laughter. Boy was laughing so hard he couldn’t rap properly 😂he covered his face all embarrassed (he’s the cutest lil bean and I will break your knees if you say different) he was sitting down a lot tho and I’m really outta the loop lately so I don’t know if he was injured or not but I hope he’s ok :(

During Crazy changjo committed a murder by blowing a kiss to this poor girl in front and as her life slipped away as she fell to the floor he stood back and smugly appreciated his handy work. It was damn cute. Every time Niel came close my heart just went a little “AHHHHHHHHJDJDJDNDBRVSUSKRNFDIEJDJ”🥺 I still can’t believe how close I was. The encores were the best changjo threw water on us and got me wet now I’m never showering again. After the concert we had to wait for snapshots and since my little sister got 1st place in the costume contest she went first and I went with her to get her group photo with the boys. They came out into the lobby (also I was so proud of the fans No one was shrieking, chasing or tryna grab them it was very calm and intimate with them just kinda standing around with us for a Bit while things were organized) and immediately gravitated to her they all said hi to her and Ricky and changjo were going on about how cute she was. They all got up on the stairs an she zoomed up to get next to Niel. She was hidden by the other girls but Niel helped her get positioned so she could be seen it was such a precious interaction I wish I could have recorded it :( Once she was done she went back to my dad and I went to get my snapshots. First I got cap he was sitting down and I don’t remember if he said anything or not I said hi we took the pic then we said thank you and I got in line for Chunji. Chunjis greetings were Always so bright he said hi and he wrapped his arm around me (I felt like the queen of the world my dude Chunji has an affect) i finished we both said thank you and I got in line for Niel. About halfway down the line I started getting teary-eyed and had to do everything In my power to not have an absolute break down. When I got to him We both said hi and then we took the photo and he wrapped his arm around me and put his head on mine and held me so snugly and close. I almost started crying again but there was no way I’m crying in front of Niel cap Chunji and all these people so a bitch sucked those tears up. We take the photo and say thank you but as I start to walk forward to leave Niel quickly bent down and moved a basket full of film cartridges out of the way 🥺 I said thank you (shocker) and he says “you’re welcome” in his precious lil voice. I finished and went to go get my photo with changjo and Ricky. Ricky said hi all bubbly and cheery but he quickly changed when we did the pose. Ricky put on his smolder 😩I tried to stare him down too but ended up having to look away and just focus on the camera at the last second. I was wRECKeD. I was so disoriented by the smolderTM that I started to run away and almost forgot my picture 😭🤣Last but not least I finally get to changjo and again he just makes you feel like you’re the only person there and that he’s been waiting all his life just to meet you. I held his (huge) hand in his and kinda felt bad cuz he was so warm and soft and I was damn near frozen solid. Once I got my photo I realized I was done ☹️ so I went outside to wait for my sisters. I don’t really know what else to say other than they were just as amazing as the first time I saw them and I feel like I’ve been renewed, reborn, rejuvenated just by seeing them. I had so much fun the boys were wonderful the fans were wonderful and very respectful no grabbing (that I saw) or unnecessary shrieking in inappropriate times just overall really great and I really hope to do this again some day. Everyone was wonderful and the staff especially were very nice and helpful but the way some things were managed was very poorly and confusing other than that everything went great. I really hope they read my letter because it’s everything I’ve ever wanted to say to them and I need them to know just how much they’ve helped me in life.

#teen top #niel #chunji #changjo #ricky #teentop #c.a.p #bang minsu #minsu #ahn daniel #lee chanhee #choi jonghyun #yoo changhyun #jonghyun #chanhee #changhyun #daniel #minsoo #bang minsoo #TEENTOPinSanJose #TEENTOPinSJ #PARTY_TON9NE_in_SANJOSE #PARTY TON9NE in SANJOSE #teen top in san jose #teentop in san jose #teen top in sj #teentop in sj

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Hey! Non-native english speaker here! Thanks for answering my ask! I'll use the tips! They can be very helpful! However, I'm bilingual and use English all the time! I read in English and I have most of my study courses in English, so my question wasn't much about grammar or punctuation but mostly about how to use the language in a way that seems natural! Like figures of speech etc and how to expand my vocabulary ? But thank you very much for your answer! Sending you love and good vibes!

Oh, okay, sorry!! And thank you!

How to Expand Your Vocabulary

Vocabulary is important. The more expanded your vocabulary, the better the flow of the story and the more professional you will sound.

1. Make Use of the Thesaurus

This only really helps if you write in Microsoft Word.

If you think you need to make a word stronger, you can right-click it and select the “Synonym” option, which will bring you to a whole list of words that can be used as substitute. 

Just by seeing the other options, your brain is storing the words away for later.

2. Take Notes While You Read

Many people utilize expanded vocabulary in their writing, so whenever you stumble across a word that you like, is interesting, or just plain sounds cool, jot it down and look up the definition! It can only help.

If you’re willing for a challenge, pick up some of the old writers like Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. Their books are very, very challenging, and even though the vocabulary is a bit dated, there are a few gem words that I’ve found that have stuck with me through all of my writing to this day.

3. Use A Vocabulary Website

Not to sound like I’m promoting anything, but the way that I personally expand my vocabulary is this amazing website that I’ve been obsessed with ever since I was forced to use it to study for vocab quizzes in tenth grade.

It’s called Vocabulary.com (brilliant and original name, I know) and it helps you learn vocab in quiz-format.

The more questions you get right and words you learn, the more points you get! The more points you get, the more badges you earn!

It’s really fun, and it feels more like a game than research!

How to Use Figures of Speech

Figures of speech in idioms can also be called “idioms” and they’re basically phrases that no one else from other cultures understands but make perfect sense to native speakers. Every culture has them, but English has a ton, to the point where I could never write down all of them/

Here are a few common idioms (in English) that everyone should know:

A blessing in disguise: a good thing that seemed bad at first.

A dime a dozen: Something common

Beat around the bush: Avoid saying what you mean, usually because it is uncomfortable

Better late than never: Better to arrive late than not to come at all.

Bite the bullet: To get something over with because it is inevitable

Break a leg: Good luck

Call it a day: Stop working on something

Cut somebody some slack: Don’t be so critical

Cutting corners: Doing something poorly in order to save time or money

Easy does it: Slow down

Get out of hand: Get out of control

Get something out of your system: Do the thing you’ve been wanting to do so you can move on

Get your act together: Work better or leave

Give someone the benefit of the doubt: Trust what someone says

Go back to the drawing board: Start over

Hang in there: Don’t give up

Hit the sack: Go to sleep

It’s not rocket science: It’s not complicated

Let someone off the hook: To not hold someone responsible for something

Make a long story short: Tell something briefly

No pain, no gain: You have to work for what you want

On the ball: Doing a good job

Pull someone’s leg: To joke with someone

Pull yourself together: Calm down

So far so good: Things are going well so far

Speak of the devil: The person we were just talking about showed up!

That’s the last straw: My patience has run out

The best of both worlds: An ideal situation

Time flies when you’re having fun: You don’t notice how long something lasts when it’s fun by itself

To get bent out of shape: To get upset

To make matters worse: Make a problem worse

Under the weather: Sick

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it: Let’s not talk about that problem right now

Wrap your head around something: Understand something complicated

You can say that again: That’s true, I agree

Your guess is as good as mine: I have no idea

There’s more here.

Good Luck and Happy Writing!

#writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #vocabulary #idioms #expanding vocabulary #writing english #writing in english