#this is probably not my best work but in my defense I missed a train and also me writing this got interrupted like 3 times today

[salora-rainriver]

We're talking about Ads Again

Context for those followers of mine who weren't there: I made a post about tumblr ads being weird back in 2016 and it's literally still getting notes to this day. People responded GREAT to it. honestly, despite being like. ass old at this point and written by a literal high schooler, it's still pretty good! I thank my dad being in advertising helped significantly. I had an expert witness.

Tonight, I'm writing the sequel to that post. the sequel is this post.

let's just fucking dive into it or whatever.

why am I doing this?

okay for starters I made that post in goddamn 2016 and I refuse to believe my insights into the marketing world have not improved since then.

Also, the marketing world has CHANGED. Huge swaths of my old post are no longer relevant. What we saw with tumblr ads in 2016 was in some parts a passing fad, and in other parts the harbinger of a new wave of influencer marketing and corporate parasociality (I coined that term just now).

Honestly I've been thinking for a while that I should make an update post, but what with, yanno, adulthood, that's been kinda hard!

Well, I've missed a train, and it's Christmas, so I've finally found the time to do that.

What has Changed?

in my personal life... dad got fired! yeah it fucking sucks. the good news is he and his wife are working towards their retirement now, shifting away from the industry overall. Good news as far as life is concerned, but it does mean I no longer have as clean a connection to the Industry as I used to.

but more importantly, why he got fired. The fact is, dad's old! I know, shocker. More than just being old, though, his field (and my stepmom's field - they both did the same work) represents an older paradigm of advertisement. he did TV spots and posters, not ad reads for Raid Shadow Legends. He was great at his work, but we're in an era of data-driven, maximalist, google adsense, low-barrier-to-entry, super-fast and super-cheap digital advertisement.

Well, more specifically,

We're on the cusp of an extinction event poised to bring said era crashing to the ground.

Pictured: the current vibes in the ad world

Siberia is on Fire and Everything is Dying

So given that my typical source on stuff like this is currently unemployed, I decided to hit good ol google (well, google and duckduckgo. fitting given what we're talking about) to see if I could get any insights into what the current state of advertising is.

and the short of it is that everyone says the end is nigh. check this out:

Digital is dead, and so is TV. God fucking damn. BY THE WAY, I loved these two articles. Chris Gadek, a man I only learned about today, is clearly an excellent writer and his professional insights are probably gonna be way better than my amateur synthesis of the half-dozen different articles I read today, including his.

blatant shilling for random article writers aside, let's get on to my half-baked synthesis, starting with:

What Set Siberia on Fire

In small part, it's the same issues facing most major companies and industries in our late capitalist world: Hubris.

As this New York Times article points out, we've got a low barrier of entry into a gargantuan industry that's increasingly pumping out slop to follow a strategy of 'more is more'. And we've all seen the bizarre mobile game ads and shady scams that have resulted from THAT.

On top of that, we've also got the fucking digital privacy issue shaking up the entire world as consumers increasingly don't like being spied on (imagine that), and the EU starts rolling out heavy restrictions on the data harvesting that was fueling a bunch of this advertisement bubble.

There's also the ad fraud. Oh, you didn't hear about that? Well, it's nothing much, just that lots of bots are clicking ads to falsify click metrics, artificially inflating the effectiveness of said ads. look, it even has a wikipedia article

oh and Facebook did it. Facebook did ad fraud. :)

and I'm not even getting into everything that works to shake up or demolish basically every advertisement channel out there - the decline of cable tv and print newspapers, the increasing use of ad blockers, the crisis of consumer trust, etc etc.

In short we are looking at a multitude of micro-crises all working together to make the environment unlivable for most current forms of advertisement.

in other words: an extinction event!

Who's Gonna Survive

And just like in a real extinction event, whether or not you survive depends on how good you can adapt to the brave new world you've found yourself in. Old school advertising needs to drastically rethink their everything if they're gonna stay afloat, and every field of the industry needs to recreate itself. As my new favorite writer Chris Gadek says,

"These crises show that there are no safe havens. You can’t substitute one advertising medium for another. Rather than pivot, the advertising industry must adapt and learn to effectively use the channels at their disposal (TV included), factoring in the seismic societal and technological changes that have occurred over the past decade and beyond."

and what is that going to look like? what's going to be the new face of advertising?

The field seems torn, at first... but also aligned, at least when it comes to the core principles:

privacy is a big issue. Seems like a lot of advertisers are seeing an end to wanton consumer surveillance, and looking into less invasive ways to gather important and meaningful data

companies that rely on selling ad space and propping up their engagement metrics are going to be relied on less, probably, because the metrics themselves are being seen as less reliable (for good freaking reason)

regaining consumer trust is going to be a massive priority in the future.

overall, we're probably going to look at a massive downturn in ads, as people turn to a quality-over-quantity strategy in an attempt to stop flooding the attention marketplace.

that's the gist I'm getting from reading oh so many different articles of varying quality from so many different sources.

So, yanno, there may be some hope out there. If smart people start leading this industry (lol), we may get to actually enjoy ads.

Yeah. Enjoy ads.

Unironically.

I know, it's crazy.

PS: if you start seeing affiliate links on mainstream TV ads, thank our lord of excellent business analysis Chris Gadek for calling it early. God, that's such a crazy left-field idea and I really want it to actually happen.

#advertising #advertisement #I'm not apologizing for the chris gadek worship. it's a good running gag fuck you. #this is probably not my best work but in my defense I missed a train and also me writing this got interrupted like 3 times today #i saw a post about ads today and it made me go 'i think the internet needs to know how much this industry is on fucking fire right now' #I am correct of course. y'all need to know.

[quiet-onset]

seeking refuge

pairing: carmen berzatto x reader

wc: 1.5k

summary: carmy is having a day, and you want him to get lost in you.

warnings: 18+ minors do not interact!!!, unprotected sex, overstimulation (character and reader)

a/n: is this realistic? probably not. but that's why it's fanfiction! i truly do not remember writing most of this, but i was looking through my wips to find something work on and came across this already finished fic from last year lol. enjoy!

He had the look in his eye. That look had him curling in on himself, shoulders slumped as his mind ran wild. Every once in a while, he’d get lost in his own thoughts, a complete mashup of all the anxiety-inducing shit he’d ever encountered. Money, renovations, Michael, don’t miss NA meeting, walk-in door handle, Ma, menu, run menu ideas by Sydney, Sugar, and oh shit, Sugar’s baby, right, I’m an uncle—

“Carm?”

Like some sort of psuedo-siren, your voice called him back to stable ground, away from troubled waters. Still, he was merely wading when his eyes focused on you. His lips pulled up in an anxious smile, the best he could give you at the moment. “Hey, sorry, hey. I’m here.” He said, nodding his head. Then, his brow furrowed, and he shook away the confusion. “Wait, what are you doin’ here?”

“Richie called, said you might need the rest of the day off.”

Carm rolled his eyes and stood from the office chair, stepping past you to yell at Richie from the doorway. “Cousin!”

“Uh-uh, you are not fuckin’ up my flow today, cousin. I’m in the zone. Take that anxiety bullshit elsewhere, heard?” Richie dismissed him before he could make his defense.

“Hey, fuck you.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you, too. See ya tomorrow.” Richie replied. “I need hands, chefs!”

You chuckled behind Carm, wrapping your arms around his waist. You pressed your cheek against his back and immediately felt some of the tension there roll away. “That training did a number on him.” You commented.

“Too smart for his own good now.” Carmen added.

You leaned up to press a soft kiss against his ear. “Come home, bear.”

It was only a matter of time after that. He’d explained the issue on the way home, or at least tried to. “I dunno, there’s just too many thoughts and not enough time or space. Feel like my brain’s gonna fuckin’ explode, just get lost in my goddamn mind.”

He almost pulled over and dragged you into the backseat at your reply. “Get lost in me instead.”

And he did. He managed to keep himself contained long enough to get home, but once there, he wasted no time. A mere fifteen minutes later, and he had you on your back, legs spread about his waist as his thick, hard cock stretched you open. You held on for dear life as your pussy clenched around him, wet and sticky with your arousal.

“Fuck, you feel good, baby. ‘S exactly what I needed.” He panted. “So fuckin’ wet.”

You could barely form the words to respond, hips canting up with each thrust, chasing the pleasure. Not that it mattered to Carmen, he was content with the sweet moans and whimpers that fell without pause from your lips. He adored the sounds you made and strove to pull them out of you as he pounded you into the mattress. He stopped for a brief moment when he felt your walls tighten, groaning deep in his chest. One hand gripped at the back of your thigh and pushed, spreading you wider. The other slid forward until his elbow was pressed against the mattress next to your head, and he buried his face in your neck.

“Gonna make me come ‘f you keep squeezin’ like that, baby.” His lips brushed against your ear as he spoke, his breath hot and wet against your skin.

“Can’t he-help it.” You whined prettily. “Feels good. Please don’t stop, gonna come.”

“Yeah? Gonna come on this dick?” His hand reached down to toy with your clit, eyes rolling to the back of his head when you cried out his name.

All you could do is nod, your moans getting louder as your orgasm approached. And then, pleasure so good, tears pricked at your eyes. Your back arched, your breasts pressed into his chest, you moaned his name. That white-hot bliss pulsed in every part of you, almost like it was being torn from you. Your cunt clamped around him, and you’re sure if you looked down, a ring of your arousal would coat the base of his cock.

Like all he needed was your pleasure, his finish hit him like a truck seconds later. An unending string of fuck, fuck, fuck as he pumped his come into you, the white, warm streams of him coating your walls. His balls pulsed hard as he gave you long, slow strokes, the head of his cock nearly kissing your cervix with one particularly deep thrust.

And even though his pace had slowed, his hips didn’t stop. The overstimulation was starting to set in, your stomach flipping deliciously at the continuous pleasure. Still, he was strangely quiet, so you wanted to make sure he was okay.

“C-Carmy,” You whimpered out. “You still with me, bear?”

You expected a pause, a wait, but the answer was immediate. “‘F course I am. Nowhere else I’d rather be. Goddamnit.”

“Carmen?”

“Gotta have you again.”

You didn’t have time to process his words before he was pulling out of you and flipping you over. He hastily grabbed a pillow and lifted your hips to slide it under. Even in the orgasmic-haze that fogged his brain, he wanted to make sure you were comfortable. Still-hard cock in hand, he stroked himself firmly as he kneeled behind you. His free hand gripped at the fullness of your ass, pulling lightly until he could see the mess he’d made of your pussy, a mixture of yours and his come dripping out of you. It might've drenched the pillowcase, but the thought hadn’t even passed Carmen’s mind. He just leaned over you until his nose was buried in your hair, pressing himself into your sweet cunt once more. You let out a loud moan of his name, your tight walls still fluttering post-orgasm.

“Didn’t want your legs to get sore.” He mumbled as he started fucking you again, slow and deep. “Shit, I need to keep goin'. Need to fill you up again.”

“‘S too good, oh my god.” You cried out. At this angle, the tip of his cock brushed against your g-spot with every thrust.

“Gonna let me keep goin’, right? Let me keep fuckin’ my cock into you, fillin’ your sweet little cunt with my come? Gonna let me get lost in you, pretty girl?”

On one hand, you weren’t sure where this Carmen came from. It wasn’t like he was silent during sex, but he never talked this much. Never this filthy. It was like his pleasure controlled him, the overstimulation working double-time to control his body and mind at once. With every word, his pace got faster, his thrusts deeper, inhibiting your ability to speak. 

It wasn’t made better when Carmen wrapped his arm around your neck, his bicep pressing lightly against your throat. A ragged gasp passed through your lips as he gave an experimental squeeze, timed perfectly with a deep thrust of his cock. He pressed his cheek against yours as you nodded eagerly, hoping the response would suffice.

“That’s it, baby, that’s fuckin’ it. So good to me all the goddamn time.” He groaned, hips bouncing off your ass with every thrust. “Pullin’ me out my head, makin’ me feel good. Perfect girl for me. Perfect girl with a perfect fuckin’ cunt, shit.”

He kept going and going and going, only relishing in a short rest each time. A setting sun and four orgasms later — five, for him — he was still burying his overstimulated cock in your overstimulated pussy. You were on your side now, facing him with your leg thrown over his hip. Each slow thrust of his dick and every pulse of your puffy cunt was laced with pain, but the pleasure was still there, too, making it hard to think. But for Carm, his mind was clear, the only thing left a vision of your sweaty face contorted with mind-numbing pleasure-pain.

One hand pulled you closer by your ass, the other brushing your hair off your sweaty forehead. “So pretty like this, baby. Could do this all fuckin’ day.”

“Carm, ‘s too much.” You gasped, eyes wide as you looked up at him. “Feels too good.”

He wiped a tear from your cheek, feeling his balls throb hard, almost painfully, as he plunged his cock deeper into you. “I know, I know. Just need another one, need to keep going till I’m fuckin’ empty. You can do that, right? You can take it.”

And sure, the overstimulation may have been clouding your judgment. But one look at his blue eyes, glazed over and needy, and you wanted to keep going. You wanted to lay there and let him take what he needed until he was spent, till all the anxious thoughts he ever had faded from memory. Your pussy tightened at the thought as you wondered how long it would take before he fucked his mind completely empty.

And just like that, he was coming again. Your sticky walls coaxed it out of him, pulsing around him until his hips stuttered. With the number of loads he’d already pumped into you, you couldn’t even feel the new warmth of his come. You only knew it was there when his cock pushed back inside, and come dribbled out of you and down your thigh.

And not a moment later, you were on your back again, and he was fucking you headfirst into your sixth orgasm. You and Carmen had a long night ahead of you. 

#carmen berzatto x reader #carmy x reader #carmen berzatto fanfiction #the bear x reader #the bear fanfiction #the bear fx fanfiction #carmy berzatto smut #carmen berzatto smut #carmy berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto fanfiction

[sleekswosobession]

ignored

alexia putellas x fem!reader

request: here

A/N: this photo is my roman empire and new tiktok pfp 😜 (my titles on fics or SO over dramatic icl)

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

Being the second captain of Barcelona, meant coming with a few responsibilities. Like showing new players around, and trying to include them in the atmosphere to make the whole move less daunting. It probably makes sense considering we are the best in the world.

Which is what’s happening right now, we’ve signed a new centre-back, considering we barely have any due to injuries. Currently we rely on a defensive midfielder, and anyone we deam can do it. Not ideal. January transfer is like heaven.

We walk around, talk about our lives a little bit as I try to make conversation more homey. Apparently she has a girlfriend who plays for PSG and I talk about Alexia, my other captain and long-time girlfriend. Who may (definitely) have a slight jealousy problem.

After a while of talking and walking, we make it to the gym and I announce the arrival.

“Everyone! As you know, we have a new person joining us! Make her feel welcome, included and we won’t have any problems. Got it?” They nod their heads going back to their respective activities as the new recruit smiles fondly at me, something which doesn’t go missed by Alexia.

I turn to face the CB.

“Now you, let’s get you headed for the locker room. I’ll show you your area and then you can go home for now. I’m assuming Jona has emailed you a schedule of everything?” She nods.

“Alright, now message me if you need anything and I’ll add you to the main group chat all of the girls are in.” She smiles and I lead her toward our changing rooms showing her where she’ll be.

“You can decorate a little bit, add some personality like some of the girls have. Anything you need can be kept here.” I point to a door at the end of the room.

“That’s the showers, obviously if you’re going anywhere after trainings. I know Patri likes to play music, so I suggest some strong noise-cancelling headphones if you don’t like the music. Any questions?” She shakes her head, I smile.

“Well then, go home. Settle into the new apartment, Ale and I live pretty close to you. Same with Ingrid and Mapi, who are also willing to answer anything else you have in mind.”

I pause.

“Now, if that girlfriend of yours ever comes to visit I’d like to meet her, I know it seems straightforward but I do like meeting new people.” I notice the recruit blushing, and pat her shoulder before leaving.

- - - - -

Over the next couple days, I ensure the new defender is fitting in well and she is. Hanging out with Ingrid and Frido but also Keira and Aitana, it’s good to see.

Alexia might think differently. I noticed her getting worked up over something but I can’t imagine what. I can but I don’t know how when a quick instagram search could cease any of her worries. She’s too straight headed for that.

It’s after training when I see her approach, I’m speaking on tactics in the locker room when Alexia slides in next to me, her arm wrapping protectively around my waist. I smirk then hear what she has to say.

“Ready to go home amor?” She says, kissing my neck softly, something she’d rarely do in such a public setting. I stifle my laugh nodding and saying my goodbyes to everyone else, getting in the passenger seat of our car as Alexia insists she always drives.

I sigh, her jaw is set and I can tell something is wrong.

“Alexia, qué pasó?” She shakes her head, her knuckles growing whiter as she grips the steering wheel. I know I can’t do anything but I seem so helpless at the moment.

It’s a completely different change from the confidence in the change rooms to now not even speaking to me.

We head inside without saying a word, I head straight for a shower to hopefully get a grip on where the conversation with Alexia will lead.

- - - - -

After the shower, I walk into the living room and Alexia is sat with her legs crossed in the couch, staring straight ahead at the blank TV. I break the silence.

“If you stare at the poor TV any longer I think it’ll break.” She doesn’t say anything, just nodding slowly her eyes darting toward me before back in front.

“I will not do this Ale. You need to tell me your feelings or we can’t work this out.” She huffs leaning back.

“Lo siento, I just… missed you.” Her voice quiet, I nod in understanding, I spent a lot of time with the new defender.

“So in other words, you’re jealous?” She blows an air bubble between her lips. (do you guys know what i mean by that)

“Maybe.” I can barely hear her voice but I don’t need to.

“Well baby, nothing to worry about because A. she has a girlfriend and B. I love you more than anything. Never forget that. I’ll try make more time and maybe we can meet the new ones girlfriend when she comes to Spain.” She nods slowly.

“Sorry I acted this way.” I shake my head.

“No, it’s ok. I understand, I sort of put you aside. I’ve learnt and I’ll prioritise your feelings a little bit more in the future.” She nods, tears glistening in her eyes.

“Te amo Ale. Remember it forever.” I place my lips against hers, gently and full of passion that I’d never give to anyone but her.

When oxygen gets the best of us I rest my forehead against hers, breathing in everything of this moment. Oh, I never want to leave.

#woso #woso x reader #woso community #woso fanfics #wlw #barca femeni #barcelona femeni #alexia putellas #alexia putellas x reader

[wileys-russo]

Thinking about golden retriever girlfriend lessi and how she would forever attack your neck from behind when you’re trying to study because she’s bored and needy and can’t sit still

book worm II a.russo

you exhaled heavily as your fingers mashed furiously against your keyboard, eyes trained with laser focus to the laptop screen in front of you, though struggling to stay open as your unfinished thesis glared back mockingly at you.

"baby, are you nearly done?" your gaze flickered upwards to the blonde looking down at you, toned arms folded over her chest and a slight pout on her lips as she stood in front of you with a frown, the sleeves of her training top rolled up having had to train in a harsh summer heat.

you forced your eyes away, knowing if you focused too much on her exposed muscles she would catch on and you'd shortly pay for it.

"no less i'm not, i told you this already...when you asked me five minutes ago." you couldn't help but roll your eyes at your girlfriends impatience, not having gotten more than ten minutes of uninterrupted silence since she'd returned from afternoon training, blowing off her team mates plans and making a beeline straight for your room.

you'd tried your best to convince the taller girl to return to her own dorm for even a few hours so you could concentrate, but with a false promise that she would use the time to work on her own papers, and a very convincing argument that you'd hardly know she was here, here she was....doing the complete opposite.

you loved her very very dearly, but she had the attention span of a fly and sometimes you felt more like her babysitter than her girlfriend, forever dragged away from whatever you were doing with requests that she needed you to entertain her.

which most of the time simply meant making out for hours on end, which was probably the only activity she could do for so long without growing restless and needing to move onto something else, her hands always occupied and roaming every inch of your skin she could pinch or bite at.

"but i'm bored!" the striker whined, collapsing backwards onto your bed with a dramatic groan. "then go hang out with your friends! i told you i needed to study, i have until the end of the week to finish this thesis." you sighed, not missing how the blonde perked up at your words, quick to sit up and give you a grin.

"alessia, no." you warned firmly, unsure what she would do next but knowing the cheeky twinkle in her eyes well enough to know it would not be to leave you alone in peace to do your work.

"so really then since you have another....four days. you don't have to do your work right now?" your girlfriend smiled teasingly, standing up from the bed and slowly making her way over to where you sat at your desk.

"no, that is not what i meant!" you huffed defensively, attempting to shake her off as her arms wrapped around you from behind. "but...it's true, no?" her hand darted around to shut the screen of your laptop as your head thumped down onto the desk with a long sigh.

"lessi-" you started, ready to practically beg for her to just leave you alone for an hour so your stress could ease. "mm?" the striker hummed, her lips pressing feather light kisses to your neck as your eyes fluttered close.

though as you felt her quickly bite at her favorite spot of your tanned skin, running her tongue over the red mark before placing a gentle kiss over the fast forming hickey, hands wandering a little lower, your brain began to go foggy.

"no! less you always do this." you snapped out of it, pushing your chair back slightly as the blonde stumbled away.

"do what exactly?" alessia accused with a frown as you spun around in your chair to face her properly. "kiss my neck and get all handsy when i'm trying to study and you want attention, it's not fair because you know i have a sensative neck." you glared at her as an amused smirk tugged at her lips.

"you're insufferable russo!" you groaned, spinning back around and thumping your head down against the desk again with a deep sigh.

"excuse me moody, your loving adoring girlfriend is trying to kiss you here if you don't mind?" alessia sung out in your ear, body pressed against your back and poking and prodding at your sides as you shoved her away and stood up quickly from your chair.

"and where are you going?" alessia crossed her arms and puffed out her chest, standing toe to toe with you as you stared her down.

"to the library, where i can study in peace!" "may i ask you a question before you leave?" "fine." "do you just not love me?"

"oh not this again!" you groaned loudly, throwing your head back. "because if you loved me, you wouldn't leave me right now when i'm simply bored and wanting to spend time with my girlfriend. just trying to be a good partner and make her feel good, just simply doing my best to love her as she deserves!" alessia threw her hands up with an overdramatic sigh, and you struggled not to break out into a smile at her antics.

"has anyone ever told you that you're a child?" "just this super attractive but really mean girl i'm seeing." "you should listen to her, she sounds smart." "she tries, really she's just a massive teachers pet with a big mouth."

the blonde grinned at the obvious offence on your face, quick to grab you by the hips and tackle you down onto your bed, crawling on top of you.

"now shut up and kiss me, book worm."

#woso #woso x reader #woso fanfics #alessia russo #alessia russo x reader #woso blurbs #woso imagine #engwnt

[da-birb-writes-sometimes]

One of Us is Guilty; Epilogue (Part 1)

Cater is missing and Vil, Azul, Silver & Jade are now remaining. Will they find Cater? Will they catch Rook? Will they survive the night?

Characters; Vil Schoenheit, Azul Ashengrotto, Silver, Jade

Content; Murder mystery, revealing some clues

Content Warnings; Dead bodies, kidnapping (dead dove content)

Word Count; 1.2 K

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Epilogue (Part 1) | Epilogue (Final)

Do not put my work into AI If you enjoy my writing, check out my masterlist

Rook was gone, and so was Cater. They should have felt relieved that the killer had been found, but now, he was missing, and he had taken Cater with him.

Vil clenched his jaw, and his nails were digging so hard into his skin that he nearly drew blood, nearly. Even though he can be strange, Rook wouldn’t do something like this… it’s against his own code; he would own up to it, not hide it. “Is everyone okay?” Obviously not, but still, checking in can help.

Out of everyone, Jade looked the least panicked, but Vil could read him well enough to know that this situation disturbed him greatly. Silver was shaking a bit, not from anger, but rather, grief. And then there was Azul, who was pacing and muttering to himself; of how this could happen, to possible motives. And Vil? He was hurt — not physically, but emotionally — since he knew Rook the most, but knew that whatever was happening, was not the real Rook.

“No,” Silver spoke up, eyes meeting Vil’s. “But there isn’t time to waste, for all we know, Cater cou- is still alive. And we shouldn’t waste time, the sooner we find him, the better the outcome is.”

Vil nodded, “I agree, and I want you all to stay behind me.” Just in case. But he didn’t say that. Vil was the eldest of their remaining group, and he saw it as his duty to protect his juniors… even against his own friend and vice-house warden.

Jade looked at Vil, and could tell that the Pomefiore house warden was willing to protect them. “And what about your safety?”

“… I trust that you all know offensive and defensive magic enough to where you won’t hit me by accident,” was his answer. Vil knew the risk, but the more that he ruminated on all that had happened tonight, the more he was sure about what they were going to do. “We’re going to the teacher’s lounge.”

Azul stopped pacing, turning his eyes to Vil, trying to get a read on him. “Is that really the best idea,” he questioned. “The last time we moved rooms–”

“I know what happened!” Vil hissed, before taking a breath and calming himself down. “My apologies,” he sighed, “but we can either try and solve this and try to get Cater back or we can stay here like sitting ducks. And trust me; Rook is quite the marksman.”

Azul backed down, “Sorry.” But he still felt uneasy, as if there were eyes watching him still, even though the guilty party was now known. “May I ask why the teacher’s lounge though?”

Vil opened the door out to the hall, “Even if Rook isn’t there, and it isn’t the room where the original murder took place, there could still be clues about why this whole ordeal happened, and how.”

Silver stood beside Vil, and matched his stride; if Vil was willing to risk his own safety to keep them safe, he was going to make sure to guard him, to put his training to use. He may not have a sword, but if it came to it, Silver would not hesitate to use his magic, or his body, to protect the others, even if he had to use said magic against a fellow classmate. 

Jade brought up the rear since he trusted his own keen senses and his magical capabilities; the ocean made him acutely aware of his surroundings after all, and he wouldn’t have made it this far without them. “The professors do sometimes make notes about student behaviour, so that could bring up some new information,” he hummed.

“Professor Trein would probably keep the best notes,” Silver offered quietly. “So… should we just read them without his permission?”

“I don’t see any other option. It’s better to ask for forgiveness in this situation rather than each of us…” end up dead “find ourselves in a difficult situation,” Vil answered, finding himself in front of the door all too soon.

Azul, despite being in the centre of everyone, still felt uneasy. Still felt eyes watching him. “Difficult how? Dead? Perhaps tortured? Made to watch as the rest of us are picked off like bait fish to a shark’s kill–” He stopped himself, forcing himself to take in a deep breath. Have I been holding my breath? “… do you think we’ll find anything of use?”

Vil opened the door, “I guess we’ll find out eventually.”

Silver, Azul, and Jade followed after him.

…

…

“I find that Mr. Hunt has been acting lacklustre in class. He told me that everything was fine, but after talking to Divus, it has come to my attention that Mr. Hunt could have been in contact with an expired potion,” Vil read Trein’s notes. “Other than this though, he seems to be doing well… but he is far too good at masking his true emotions, so I can’t help but worry.”

“Did Professor Trein mention what the potion is,” Azul spoke up. If anyone could figure out the side effects of an expired potion, it would be Azul and Vil.

Vil looked over the note, “No…” But his eyes widened as he got an idea. As much as he hated it, it could be their only lead. “But someone does. Come with me.”

He marched back down the hall, Silver on his right, with Azul and Jade keeping up behind him. They were going back to the main hall, where all three of the bodies were.

“You must be joking,” Jade huffed, looking at Vil, avoiding looking at the bodies of Headmage Crowley, the Ramshackle Prefect, and Professor Crewel. “You know reanimation–”

“It isn’t reanimation magic, I would never dream of doing something so… dark.” Vil brought out his pen, and he walked over to Divus’ body, kneeling down beside him. “Bring memories back,” he whispered, staring into the glassy, dead, eyes of Professor Crewel.

The others shuffled as the memories of the past week started to play out around them; from the professor having his morning coffee, to him sighing over papers. 

“Show us Rook,” Vil demanded. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep this up. Even though this wasn’t as taboo as reanimation, looking into the memories of the deceased was still considered a violation… but they had very few choices, so in comparison to what else had occurred that night, this transgression was far less important in the grand scheme of things.

The memories flashed until they showed Rook in class, three days ago. He was talking animatedly to his alchemy partner as he reached for an ingredient, but his hand bumped into a glass vial, making it crash onto the ground, covering him in the contents.

Vil paused the memory and examined the vial. “Azul,” he called, beckoning him forward. He gave him a look, and Azul looked at the vial. Vil wanted to make sure that he was actually seeing this. That he wasn’t wrong.

“A love potion? An expired love potion?” Azul huffed, wracking his brain for the side effects. “Lacklustre behaviour… obsession…” He muttered to himself. 

Vil stopped the spell, knowing that if he lingered, it could risk blot accumulating. “It makes sense… the hunter of love,” he sighed, pinching his nose. “But this, this is…”

“AZUL!” Silver shouted.

Vil turned around, but he was too late.

Azul was gone, and his glasses were broken on the ground, the glass shattered. He didn’t even have the chance to make a sound.

“You chose the wrong room!~” Rook’s voice hummed merrily on the PA system.

SUSPECTS:

- Silver; the kindhearted knight with a mysterious past, is it just for show?  (Plum) - Vil Schoenheit; the actor who is always pigeonholed into the role of a villain (Scarlet) - Divus Crewel; the alchemy teacher with a penchant for fashion, Crowley’s co-worker (Peacock) DECEASED - Rook Hunt; the enigmatic hunter who always has a hunch of what’s happening (Mustard) MURDERER - Azul Ashengrotto; the owner of The Mostro Lounge, a businessman with dubious morals (Green) MISSING - Reader; the ‘house-keeper’, a role that was imposed on them by the late Headmage (White) DECEASED - Jade Leech; a student enamored by fungi and seems to have a foreboding presence about him (Orchid) - Cater Diamond; the preppy beau of Heartslabyul, but his smile seems forced (Peach) MISSING

ROOMS:

- Main hall (eliminated in Chapter 2) - Teachers’ lounge (eliminated in Epilogue (Part 1)) - Cafeteria - Kitchens - Lecture theatre - Botanical garden - Alchemy lab (eliminated in Chapter 3) - Library - Crowley’s office (eliminated in Chapter 1)

WEAPON: MAGIC (found in Chapter 2)

TO BE CONTINUED!

Author's Note; The last vote ended in a tie which included the correct room where the murder took place, so Chapter 5 will be a continuation of this. It just felt natural to end it here for this chapter to build suspense!

So congrats!!! Just need to sit for a bit and decide how to wrap things up! And since you guys did technically get the room, there won't be a poll this time; just putting the next part in a new chapter.

#dove does events #twst #twisted wonderland #twst murder mystery #vil schoenheit #azul ashengrotto #twst silver #jade leech #cater diamond #<- still missing #rook hunt #<- murderer at large #cw death #cw murder #cw dead body #dead dove do not eat #i have to decide how to wrap things up; so that may take me a few days #do we want a happy ending or do we want a bad ending? hmmm decisions decisions... >:) #so while i go ahead and enjoy my weekend you guys can enjoy the cliffhanger!!!! mwah mwah love youuuuuuu #cw kidnapping

[jamiebuckleys]

Unpopular, or just unconventional, headcanon about Roy Kent? Any other shows you’re into?

I think my most unpopular opinion is that I don't think he had some deeply traumatic relationship with his parents that seems a bit classist and horrific tbh. Most of the stuff I see about his parents just makes me feel so icky bc it feels like 'bc his parents were poor and maybe had to spend a lot of time working' they didn't care/were terrible/were happy to have one less mouth to feed and it rubs me the wrong way. My headcanon for Roy's childhood really is like, I think he loved and spent a lot of time with his grandad/his grandad drove him to Sunderland bc he was older and probably didn't work. It seems like he and his sister are close and I think probably his parents couldn't necessarily take the time off to get him there or go visit - also it's weird to see people saying that they sent him away dramatically to make money for the family as a) for a 9 year old it would have been a HUGE honor for him to get asked to go train with a (at the time) premiere league club - that's very young to get scouted so we know he was *good* and b) he would not have had any kind of professional/paying contract at that time. He probably would have had a family he stayed with up there, as well, from what I've heard of youth leagues from friends who grew up into the sport. I think he loved his grandad but him missing his grandad a lot doesn't mean he didn't have a positive relationship with his parents and I think the assumption that he had a shitty relationship with them always uses a lot of tropes that involve oh poor people are bad parents/parents who spend a lot of time at work to earn money for their family don't care about their kids/aren't interested.

Roy lived his dreams and his parents allowing him (ALLOWING...not sending or forcing) their 9 year old son to go away to the north for months and months at a time in order to play a sport shows that they wanted the best for him. It's clear his sister had big hopes and dreams as well and they clearly also encouraged and supported her, so the assumption that he must have had shitty parents just feels really weird and baseless to me. Roy's got issues but they mostly seem to have more to do with him growing up in sports toxic masculinity bullshit culture than him just having shitty parents. (ted: you just found out your dad is a little racist. roy: my dads from south london and he's in his 60s of course he's a little bit racist reads to me more like someone who has a positive view of his father but also recognizes how he's a bit shit about some things rather than someone who has a really shitty relationship with his dad). Also Roy seems proud and defensive of where he came from. IDK. I guess I do have a lot of opinions about Roy headcanons lmao.

As for other shows, Doctor Who maybe???? I don't watch a lot. I mostly listen to podcasts.

#roy kent #answered

[piracytheorist]

OKAY

I think it says a lot about my job that I was able to concentrate on it today and completely forget we GOT TRAILER

It was a mistake to check tumblr first thing in the morning, before I even got out of bed, but in my defense, I didn't expect it would drop at such a day and time! But anyway I did jump off of bed, turned on my laptop and recorded my face as I watched it. I needed to have that memorized XD

So, spoilers about the trailer below, and my own predictions about what each scene could be for! Reminder that I'm anime only, but have read the chapter that the first episode (probably) is based on, so for the most part I know what's going on, but for the rest I'm very much NOT aware :D Don't spoil me please :D

FAKE FAMBLY IS BACK

Manipulative Anya at her best! We love our gremlin!

Oh he's looking good :D

I fucking love this image. Look at Twilight pouting in the background. He doesn't understand why a child finds news boring.

WE GOT BLOOD WE GOT THORN PRINCESS IN ACTION LET'S GOOOOO

your honour I love him. Why does he look like he's ready to cry!

Ok from a first hearing the OP song sounds super cool. I feel like it's got "Mixed Nuts" vibes and I love it! I gotta look it up later!

Jeez Loid. Woman just woke up. Is that how he honeypoted all of his other missions?

Yor having a meltdown in the foreground and Anya being cute waking up in the background <3 I love my fake fambly <3

... okay. That's how his honeypots worked.

Yellow roses, if I'm correct, symbolize friendship. Interesting.

This is going to be a disaster and I cannot wait. Also I'm spotting Anya and Franky doing a horrible job at hiding in the left pic XD

My heart skipped a beat when I heard Anya's voice say "Moja-Moja" :')

Very sneaky. Much hiding. Wow. There's no way Franky thought this was working XD

The way all of this could have been solved with a "I tripped down the stairs and fell on my butt and now it hurts to sit" but hey we're getting a funny date how can I ask for more

Also the way Yor says that line my god

I am so ready for more Yor you have no idea

I gotta say, showing this moment is perfect for anime-onlies who haven't actually read this specific chapter. Loid just looks worried and Yor looks enraged. So many feelings for this episode XD

Are those macarons? What were the fucking chances that yesterday I went like "Next morning I'm gonna pass by that bakery that makes macarons". I haven't had macarons in years, yet I see one (1) advertisement about that bakery and its macarons and I go like yeah why not. Macarons. And now this. The fuck.

GREMLIN ANYA IS BACK

Honestly, her face in official merch is always a :D face with an almost unnaturally big smile all the time that I've missed her silly little face.

AH I WAS SENT THAT AS A MANGA SCREENSHOT!

Are those playing cards she's throwing? And is she reading someone's mind? I don't even care if she's cheating, good for you girl

Yeah, buddy, welcome to the real world.

I remember that line from the end of the bullet-in-butt date chapter, and I gotta admit I don't really like it... but the way Eguchi delivers it makes me think he's not like "Women amirite" but more like "All my years of training did not prepare me for how people are like in their day to day lives because spy training has skewed my perception of day to day 'normal'" and that's perfectly valid.

But also what the fuck is happening here. What is that cat. Why is Yor about to Thorn-Princess it. What.

So Anya goes on a studying rampage, fails, and ends up crying on her penguin?

This only made me sad, what the fuck. It looks like Loid and Yor are looking at her failing grades, and Anya is disappointed in herself. I will don my clown wig again and say "If Loid doesn't go and reassure her so help me GOD"

I... don't like the ending theme song. But that's mostly a matter of taste, I guess.

Aw.

They dare throw this to anime onlies when they know we won't get romantic canon twiyor content until three to five business years from now at least

The assassin group... I'm supposing he means the one Yor works for? How long does "for a while now" mean? Wasn't Yor working for them since she was a teenager caring for Yuri?

In any case, wow that's a very intense visual.

omg omg omg

from the colour and the angle this looks like a vision Bond has. Loid and Yor are smiling and blushing but why does it make me feel sad!!

I don't know if it's because of what is said in that moment (they look like unrelated scenes since the line is being said by a woman who I'm guessing is a fellow assassin working with Yor or something) but then there's this

And we just don't see Yor like that often, if at all in the anime so far.

What is Franky wearing? It looks like a military jacket or something. I wonder if that's just stylistic choice or it's something more important.

*snorts laugh*

Gotta admit, from a few tidbits here and there it looks like Twilight is finally gaining some more understanding of himself and his situation... but the way he says that just makes me think that realization makes him more concerned than anything else.

So I can say with conviction this did fix something in me. Though I guess the first episode will be the bullet-in-butt date, so it will take me another week to go into new territory. But! Bullet-in-butt date in 12 days! And new cool stuff to look for later on! I'm so happy!

(Again, I don't want spoilers for any of these. Just let me have my fun speculating :D)

screenshots taken from the unofficially subtitled trailer here!

#sxf

[yhwhsdaughter]

I think it was mine u accident deleted it 💀 but it's fine my request was an one-shot Illumi x GN reader with a son who look exactly like Illumi and the son could be 5-6 years old?

Yes, I think it was, my bad..! Not sure if this is what you wanted, but I hope you like it regardless.

He’s not great with children, to be honest, so you’d have to do most of the parenting—at least when it came to nurturing and caring for the child’s needs.

Your son, though he’s the replica of Illumi, is more expressive in his emotions and features. As a Zoldyck, he would’ve be expected to hone his abilities and would be taught nen at a young age—so, by the time he’s reached the age of six, he’s already being trained.

As the father, it would be Illumi’s responsibility to train your son in the ways of assassins, as it’s the family trade. I guess you can see that as a twisted form of father-son bonding….?

You’re definitely the favorite parent. Your kid respects Illumi, but is more attached to you which is why whenever he rebels or avoids his torture training, he’ll come to you, something that Illumi knows too well.

This tall mf will stand in the doorway of your shared bedroom like🧍🏻 “[Name], hand over our son.” Why does he say that like you’ve kidnapped him? Um, sir, the child ran away from YOU. If Illumi has used one of his needles on your son, he will have to deal with an livid spouse. Threaten to leave him bald if he ever pulls shit like that.

That said, he’s not a deadbeat dad, unlike Gin others. He… cares for the child in his own way. If Illumi is not on a mission, he will try his best to be involved. He wants you there too, of course, though he may not express it outright. Mostly because he thinks the child will behave more complacently if you’re present, but he enjoys your company too.

He’s also secretive about his affection. Why, exactly? You’ve yet to figure it out, though he probably sees it as training and keeping an eye out for potential dangers. For instance, if your kid had an interest in sports, Illumi would either attend in disguise or show up as his expressionless self. Don’t expect cheers coming from him but he’ll make sure to congratulate the kid.

He’s such a competitive dad though. If he sees another kid doing better than his, Illumi is already planning their downfall 😭 get this man away for the safety of everyone.

Picky with the friendships your son makes, but you’re there to interfere if he thinks about scaring someone.

“I want a family portrait.”

You’re sat in a comfortable chair, whilst Illumi—the head of your household, stands behind you, with a hand on your shoulder and the other on your child’s shoulder, who’s standing next to you.

I think Illumi wants a constant reminder of the both of you. Time is illusive, so he doesn’t want to blink and miss the years when he would play tag with his son (more like running and chasing for endurance).

Absolutely the type of father to hold his child like a grocery bag. It’s a bit concerning to you because the kid is just dangling there so loosely— like a kitten being grabbed by the scruff of its neck. To Illumi’s defense, he’s never dropped your son.

Illumi is tough parenting regarding your son’s usage of his abilities but other than that, he won’t be the type to scold the kid. I can’t imagine Illumi yelling at him or anything. On the contrary, he speaks to him softly in that monotone voice of his and actually spoils the child?

Overall, not the worst father; there’s a list of things he needs to work on but he can rely on you to help him with that :)

#✎ hxh #illumi x y/n #illumi x you #illumi x reader #h x h #hxh illumi #illumi zoldyck #reader insert #x reader #hxh x reader #hunter x hunter

[saltyfishdream]

Kazuha x Reader (Hogwarts AU)

Tags: reverse hurt/comfort, triggered by weather, coping with grief, gn!reader, implied past Kazuha/Friend

Words: 3.8k

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was empty for only you and Professor Minci. You gulped nervously as she started to talk about your consistent “trolling” grade, which you still had to stifle a few laughs from hearing. You grew up in a Muggle family, and of course, the Internet.

She continued with how she tried to put you with other “high-achieving students” (Diluc and Kaeya) to get your grade up or making you sit on your own (after she found that you three together were the perfect stew for chatter) but they “probably weren't the best ways for you”.

“So that's why I'd like to introduce you to your peer tutor,” She finished. Peer tutor? You don't dare raise a brow at the idea even though you wanted to. You were sure that Diluc and Kaeya’s grades dropped that term because of all the chatting in class. Would you distract that peer tutor so much you'd forget about studying in the first place?

A knock on the door stopped your train of thoughts.

“Come in.”

You were first met with red eyes. Not as dark and piercing as the crimson in Diluc's, but a shade closer to the warm flame in the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room despite the fact that he was a Hufflepuff. His hair was white for only a few red strands, which was brushed to his right.

“Kadehara,” Professor Minci continued, “Will be your student tutor this term…”

She went on with a lot of details (like how good a student Kadehara was? Or he's a sixth year who didn’t drop the subject?) that you mostly missed, before noticing that it was almost time for dinner and ushered you two out of the room.

Kadehara said, “[name], are you fine with calling me Kazuha? I'm not really used to being called by my last name–”

You only blurted out the thing that was hanging on your mind from the moment you saw him. “You should put less stress on yourself, or even that red part of your hair will turn white at this rate if you insist on tutoring me.”

Kazuha's eyes widened for a second, probably from confusion.

“A-Ah no, I just bleached and dyed my hair! Kind of, actually. I wanted to dye it all red but the dyeing spell didn't work as well as I'd imagined,” he let out a few dry laughs, even though he didn’t look anything close to feeling awkward or already hating you.

You could feel the warmth creep up your face. Those rumors about the guy who found his hair whitened overnight was total bullcrap! Why would’ve you believed it? Are you fricking stupid? And had to make that tutor think you’re stupid in non-DA stuff? You ask yourself, almost embarrassing yourself in front of Kazuha again by nearly hitting yourself in the head with an imaginary rolled-up newspaper.

And so you both got back to your own tables without saying a word.

.ೃ࿐

“Isn't it time for you to go to that student tutor?” Kaeya asked. You groaned, looking up from the magical equivalent of a Rubik's cube in your hands, the only difference between both is that it keeps tricking you into the wrong steps by changing its colors and giving you riddles then roasts you for not solving the puzzle. It was a Saturday morning and the last thing that you had the mood to do was tutoring.

You pretend to have forgotten about the whole thing. “Tutor? What tutor?”

“The sixth-year who bleached his hair with a spell,” Diluc said, hands subconsciously turning his own cube.

“Ugh, thanks for the reminder.”

That conversation a few days ago had left a much sour taste in your mouth than you'd imagined that you were dreading seeing Kazuha again. Now every time you think of anything related to hair or peer tutoring (which Diluc and Kaeya are very unhelpfully mentioning in every conversation) you would cringe for the next hour about it– even Scara telling everyone that your face keeps turning into a tomato isn’t as embarrassing as that!

Don't know what to do next? Too bad. The words showed on your cube while it made obnoxious booing sounds. Note to self: get self a set of wizarding chess that is not from Dori.

You put the cube down for it to reshuffle in a flurry of colors and launch itself into Kaeya’s hands.

And for once the cube was right. You didn't really know what to do next, go to the library and face Kazuha or think of some random excuse that can convince Professor Minci to let you off the hook.

You left the common room. You knew that Kaeya and Diluc would literally drag you to the library if you stayed for a while longer, and they weren't sick of making hair-dyeing references yet while you were more than sick of the conversation with Kazuha. 

Speak of the devil, he was standing next to the Fat Lady waiting for you.

“Oh, you're finally here.” He said with a smile as if the conversation didn't happen at all. “I thought you… forgot… or something…” Kazuha’s voice trailed off further as he went.

It was so awkward that you hoped that the floor would open up like the stairs did and swallow you whole (which it sadly didn't yet).

It took something like a million years and 20 tokens for you to generate a response, “It- I… lost my book. And notes, so, uh…” 

You haven't even gotten to the part of calling off the tutoring session because of that when Kazuha replied, “That's fine, there are copies of textbooks in the library… it's really a blessing, isn't it?”

You could do nothing but nod and pray for whoever Merlin is to get you out of this cringefest.

.ೃ࿐

You both go to the library in total silence. There weren’t many students in the halls early on a Saturday morning. But you just can’t relax from the lingering threat of awkwardness. You and Kazuha each grabbed a seat at the left third row as a copy of the DA textbook automatically flew to your desk and opened itself on the first page.

“Ah, right. Would it be a bit inconvenient if you don’t have your own notes with you?” He asked while handing you a piece of paper. Yep, it’s the paper you’ve never seen ever since you’ve been to Hogwarts. You put it on your side of the table, your mind as blank as how it looked. “I never had any notes for DA,” you confess. Kazuha exhales deeply. “From now on,” He stated, “You have to start writing your notes.”

You groan. 

“This subject is no fun…” Mumbling under your breath, you take your spare pencil out from your robe pocket, “I have no idea why Diluc and Kaeya could pass without even studying…” They were telling you to “blame everything on the pre-war Ministry” while you were still struggling with who did what. You were that day years old when you knew that Tom Riddle had never been the Minister of Magic.

Kazuha shrugged. “Most Muggle-borns like me have to study it the hard way. I mean– you’ve never known about the society and history and whatever shit we have here so you need, like, plenty of time to get used to it.” He puts his hair down and ties it back up, not giving a care about how he was swearing out loud. In the library.

You begrudgingly force your eyes back to the parchment and textbook. “How much do you mean by ‘plenty of time’? It’s been a term and I’m still trolling every single DA-related assignment.” Holding the urge to gnaw on the end of your pencil back, you finally write down the words “DA notes” on the paper. 

“Can you tell me what the first chapter is about first?” He asks, gesturing to you to close the textbook. You stare at him with the same blank expression as if his head were the DA textbook. The air solidified around you. How on Earth would you know? You’ve never really touched the textbook, and he’s talking about the first chapter? Finally, you confidently tell him your answer which is definitely right. “It’s about how to defend yourself from the Dark Arts!”

Kazuha laughed– not dryly, but fortunately heartily. “Can’t say you’re totally wrong,” He said, a hint of amusement in his voice, “But I think it’s a sign for us to go through this chapter together.”

You start reading the chapter with him, the memories about the incident last week slowly fading to make way for the words in your textbook. The whatever “grim consequences of the Wizarding Wars” didn’t seem as hard as they seem to be, and even better– you finally remember the name Tom Riddle gave himself. (Hint: it’s not Dildo-lover Rat Mom or anything dildo-related) Kazuha seemed to be a way better teacher than Professor Minci– his voice was calming, but didn’t sound boring when he spoke and scribbled down concepts on his parchment.

“You see? It’s not as hard as you’ve imagined!”

Towards the end of the session (did time pass that quick?) you were at the end of the first chapter. There was still half an hour before lunch starts and you were too lazy to go back to the Common Room yet, so you decided to chat for a while while waiting.

“First year DA used to be more fun,” Kazuha sighed, “They had At least that’s what I heard from my seniors.” He puts his own quill and parchment away.

You say, “Define ‘fun’. If you’re talking about some lame Auror droning on about how he peaked in his teenage years and gave his wand to a dead man in the end, don’t count me in.” You weren’t even sure if Harry Potter did ever come back to Hogwarts to do some speech or whatever for the first years–but it’s most likely true if Kaeya told you. Very big thanks to the trust issues everyone you knew gave you after last week. 

Books in the distance flew back onto their shelves, dust falling down onto your table.

“I mean- yeah, Auror Potter did come back to introduce DA for first years, but, that was like, a couple of years ago. And if I were you, I wouldn't say that he's lame.” Kazuha’s round, autumn-like eyes fell, staring at the dust.

The air was lead. And you both were suffocating in it.

A gust of wind blew the invisible lead, along with the dust away. “Anyways, they used to have lessons on the actual stuff besides all those theories. Combatting Boggarts? Check. Resisting Unforgivables? Check. Professors who make up ninety-nine percent of the Dark Arts themselves? Check.”

He kept on talking about how they postponed all that cool stuff to the third year. You would’ve looked forward to fighting off evil creatures but you were more stuck in Kazuha’s reaction to what you said. You had to blurt and now you don’t think he’s feeling totally good with that. Great.

You headed your own ways without a word.

.ೃ࿐

It has been two months since Kazuha started tutoring you, always sitting at the left third row in tutoring sessions. Your DA grades were getting better– definitely not the best, but having four assignments in a row without a “Troll” was progress. You started to control your big, fat mouth in front of him as well. You didn’t want to risk embarrassing yourself or having him look at the dust again.

Kazuha was a great guy as well– a cool sixth-year that you could rely on. When you met him out of tutoring, he would wave, or stop for a chat with you, slightly blushing when his friends hooted or whistled behind. His kitten– which perched on his shoulder like a Pikachu– even stretched itself to you when you met Kazuha, begging for a boop on the nose. He sometimes talked about his misadventures as a first year which always made you laugh, but you could sense the hint of something else in it, whether in his gaze or tone.

You were walking alone on the path next to the Great Lake on a sunny afternoon. Diluc and Kaeya were busy talking to Dehya about joining the Quidditch team next year and they told you not to wait for them.

The blonde with the red strand in his hair, sitting next to the lake while putting a maple leaf on the calm water surface. With a gentle swish of his wand the leaf sailed away, leaving two lines on the lake. “Didn’t you watch the Quidditch match?” You ask.

He said, “No, I didn’t.” Before putting another maple leaf onto the water. 

“Come on! You totally missed out on how Gryffindor whooped the butts of all those Slytherins! It took, like, three whole hours before Heizou finally caught the Snitch!” You sat next to him, looking at the maple leaf floating on the water.

Kazuha fidgeted with his wand like how you would spin your pen in class. “I… used to love watching Quidditch, but…” He lost hold of its wand, luckily catching it before it fell into the water, “The person I usually watched playing left. So, yeah.”

“Left in terms of graduated?” You ask.

“You can say it like that.”

He stopped putting leaves into the lake.

You sit in silence with him for a while. Before you leave upon seeing Diluc and Kaeya in the distance.

.ೃ࿐

Another Saturday morning. It's raining so heavily that you thought that someone was pouring buckets of black water down from the roof. Breakfast was over already and you were running late for tutoring so you had to ignore the sensation in your gut.

You grab your textbook and notes and make a mad dash to the library, passing the practically waterfalls of rain along the corridors. You look at your usual seat. He wasn't there yet despite you being already– you look at the clock– ten minutes late.

Huh. That's weird. Maybe he decided to go to a new table today for the view? You look into the dark, barely-illuminated depths of the library. Nope. Not searching by yourself. 

You go up to the front table and ask the librarian Pela if she had seen Kazuha.

Pela shakes her head, before picking back up the doujinshi she was reading.

Feeling like sticking out like a sore thumb, you go back to your usual table. Maybe he just overslept like you did and he was on his way here.

Another ten minutes pass. No sign of Kazuha. You open your textbook and start studying Chapter Nine. But no matter how many times you read it, the words just rebound from your brain and back into the textbook.

You close it a bit too loudly in frustration. Where was he?

“Mmnh?” Kazuha appears in the corridor next to your table, black circles under his puffy eyes. He forces a smile and says, “Sorry for being late, I pulled an all-nighter last night and got to bed at five AM. I got myself some coffee, so… don’t worry too much about me.”

He sets his stuff down on the table and immediately starts explaining the chapter.

“… So Aurors had to undergo strict tests…” He kept speaking, eyes on the textbook. His voice was raspy– not Scara’s oh-im-so-dark-and-mysterious type, but rather the type you get when you catch a cold or have stayed up the whole night crying.

Maybe he caught a cold after pulling an all-nighter. Just maybe.

His words fuse with the pattering of the rain on the windows outside. You can’t comprehend anything he was saying while your mind is running a hundred miles per hour wondering what’s wrong with Kazuha even though you know that it’s technically not your business. You don’t even bother asking yourself to focus– your head was just too occupied with these thoughts.

He didn’t notice the fact you weren’t listening at all. “Nowadays, Aurors still have to- to… fight against… the remaining power of Tom Riddle’s followers…” He said, trailing off at the end of the sentence. You look at him. Then at the textbook, where a whole chart of different events with the corresponding years with the title “Major Breakthroughs in Defending Post-War Magical Britain from Death Eaters” occupied two whole pages.

Kazuha was covering his eyes with both his hands, his elbows resting on the table. You can hear his muffled sniffling.

Well, that was definitely more than a cold.

“Kazuha? Uh- you ok?” You felt stupid asking this question. He is visibly not OK, cold or not. The ball of panic erupted in your head. Is this supposed to be normal? Think, [name], you have to think… Why is he like this? What can I do?

Your pencil feels slippery, and if you keep the tip pressed on your notebook you’d be drawing a seismograph.

You had never seen him like this. Like, of course, you guys just met two months ago and you expect him to be vulnerable in front of you? But you always saw him as the “cool senior student”. 

A flash of lightning.

You ask, “What happened?” as if your head has been struck by a Stupefy. It came out as a whisper.

Kazuha rested his head on the table, not looking at you.

The roaring of thunder broke in the library, not helping with anything at all.

“It- it’s just the weather…” He turned his back against you, conjuring a piece of tissue paper.

You put your pencil down. “Yeah, awful weather, isn’t it?” You say without even thinking, your voice sounding dead.

Lightning struck again, momentarily painting the room in white.

Kazuha closes the textbook. “I’ve always hated rainstorms,” he says, his voice still breaking, “They… they took him away. In the middle of a rainstorm.”

Your train of thought gets cut short by the thunderclap. “I’m… sorry for that.”

“No, y-you don’t have to. It’s not your fault.” The feeble candlelight flickers, illuminating his face. Fresh tears were streaming down his reddened cheeks, his red eyes looking like the Great Lake under the sunset. His light hair was slightly disheveled, which he brushed towards one side. “It’s just that… I never thought that they would be that cruel.”

The pattering sound outside seemed louder. “Tomo… I should’ve… Why didn’t I…” Kazuha muttered under his breath.

“Mind if we, uh, just,” You struggle to find the right words to say, “Talk about it?”

Kazuha nods.

“Tomo… he was a nice friend. A Ravenclaw. He was a fourth-year student when I started studying here…” 

The candles flickered a few more times, teetering at the verge of totally going out before reilluminating itself.

“I got bullied for being a Muggleborn and having a strange accent, he was the only other Japanese guy here and he stood up for me so… we became friends…” He paused.

“I should’ve stopped him from being an Auror if I knew this would happen to him… He could’ve been a good Quidditch player or potionmaker or… I was just happy for him when he told me he passed all the tests last summer but just on his very first mission…”

His voice broke again. You scooted over to him. “He sent me a letter that morning about how he looked forward to it and before I could reply, that evening it rained until the next morning and what I saw on the news was that…”

You patted his back. The wind howled, as if it were weeping as well. Leaves flew by the window, which was barely holding on to the frame. You haven’t even experienced such a storm back where you lived.

“The Death Eaters killed him but didn’t take his wand. His partner told me he could’ve survived if they didn’t fire a second spell at him…”

“They really are… heartless. More than I'd imagined. It must’ve been awful knowing that,” you say.

Kazuha continued, “It was. The first spell landed on his keychain instead… Why were they so bent on… doing this? He fought until the last moment… The keychain… we bought a matching pair at a cheap souvenir store together at Hogsmeade… it cracked when the spell hit…”

“I kept it when they sent it to me. And… his kitten… I guess it helped me keep my mind off stuff for a while.”

The raindrops sounded lighter.

“… he loved cats, but his parents were allergic so he got it after graduation when he got to rent a house with his colleagues and updated me about his life and training along with a photo of his kitten every single day… And he was a good Quidditch player but quit in his sixth year. If he were a Quidditch player maybe he would’ve still been here but not…”

The sky seemed lighter as the heavy rain faded. Kazuha fell silent. “Was he happy? About being an Auror?” You asked.

He nodded. “It… it was his lifelong dream. I had thought of pulling that ‘stealing a Time-turner’ trick in those rumors… but I guess he wouldn't listen if I went back and asked him not to become an Auror. It would’ve been selfish of me to do that but there’s just that part of me that wanted to save him…”

You think aloud, “He wouldn't have regretted anything even in his last moments.”

“Huh?” Kazuha asked.

You’ve done it again. Why can’t you take control of what you say? You stare at him, trying not to let him know that your mind is rolling down the spiral staircase for the rest of the summer.

“You are right. It was always his dream to be an Auror. And he achieved it,” He said, looking back at you.

A few drops of rain clung to the window frame, occasionally dripping down.

“It was just… never your fault, ok? Fudge those Death Eaters, I bet they get haunted by Tomo’s ghost every night that they’ve gone insane in Alakazam,” You tell him, not minding that you’re (almost) swearing out loud in the library.

Kazuha coughed out a few laughs as he wiped off his tears. “It’s Azkaban! Why must you make a Pokemon reference here?”

You put up your most innocuous smile.

The bell rings for lunch.

“Anyways, uh,” Kazuha stutters while tidying up his stuff, “Thanks but... Sorry for… just… venting to you like that…” He blushes, red creeping up from his neck to his face.

You give him a playful slap in the back. “No biggie– as long as you’re feeling fine now.”

You walk out of the library. The thick layer of clouds have disappeared, leaving only a few droplets on the trees and the birds singing.

You part ways at the Great Hall as usual.

#genshin impact #genshin imagines #genshin x reader #genshin kazuha #kadehara kazuha #tomokazu #kazuha x reader #kazuha x you #hurt/comfort #genshin

[shcmook]

I think the story and worldbuilding of TOTK would be overall much better if more of the champion successors had NOT been Sages. As it is, 3 of the main characters of the game end up with this problem where it feels like they’re the only useful person in their entire respective races, and the game seems to be implying they HAVE to perform their multiple roles within their cultures due to their bloodlines.

Tulin stands out as the GOAT of the four main sages for several reasons. One is just that his ability is so constantly useful that I dread going back to BOTW bc I’ll miss those gusts. But also his story is the only one that feels unique to this game. It’s not a sequel to a story in BOTW it’s focusing on a minor character from that game who doesn’t have to now juggle multiple roles in his society. The older members of his tribe are struggling just to get food and take care of the village. Teba can’t take time away from his duties as chief to be the sage. Tulin stepping up and going through his arc feels SO natural and works so well both as a story on its own and as a follow up to the Revali / Teba storyline.

Sidon may be an exception to bc my thesis. It’d seem incredibly out of character and ruin a good arc if this guy didn’t feel in his heart that his place is joining the fight alongside link. It would probably eliminate the queer subtext of sidons inner conflict as well but we’d still headcanon it no matter how it was written. But as is it’s still weird that he feels so torn between being king and being Sage and being with Yona and purifying the water for the domain and helping Link and part of him still mourning Mipha when like. Why can’t Yona do some of those things for him? The idea that he’s worried about losing Yona like he lost Mipha would be much stronger if she was the one going to the temple with Link and Sidon wasn’t ok with it. Yona being the Sage would also still have the three of them had to work through this complicated relationship, and probably just add more layers to a poly reading of that dynamic. Idk. I just think it’s weird that they went to the trouble of creating Yona so that she could be the wife of a guy who is a sage and a king and the Hero’s best friend instead of her having an actual identity or a role of her own. I lied when I said Sidon was an exception, Yona should have been the Sage.

The Gerudo having a weird heirarchy and multiple leader figures within their culture is part of why I love the Gerudo so much in other games. In OOT, Twinrova, the leader you fight in the Fortress, Nabooru, and Ganondorf all fill leadership roles in their society. So why is Riju chief AND sage? Why not make Buliara the sage? Rijus main thing in the other games was her sandseal, she didn’t have thunder powers before this game. Buliara is literally a Guard so it’d give failing the town defense missions more emotional stakes if you losing means she fails her duty. I love Riju but. It’s make more sense for her, as Chief, to be busy managing her tribe’s underground affairs while Buliara feels ashamed at not being able to defend her Chief from the Gibdo threat and then *she* gains lightning abilities while training in the ruins.

I’ll be honest I haven’t actually played the Goron quest yet. But was anyone really hoping for more yunobo after the first game? I like the idea of him getting corrupted by Ganon I like the whole marbled rock roast concept. But why not introduce a new Goron who helps us free Yunobo from Ganon’s influence? And then that bro becomes the Sage instead? Doing this relieves us of having the bit in the story where the Sage of fire kind of ruins the lives of a bunch of his own people, and then still gets to be their Hero. It’s waved away too easily and I don’t like it and also I just don’t like Yunobo. If any of the Champions’ successors should’ve been replaced it’s him.

In conclusion: Tulin’s story I s the BEST, and more of the Sage quests should have been based and Tulin pilled.

#TOTK #Zelda tears #zelda tears of the kingdom #tulin

[ghostofskywalker]

Eye on the Prize

Harley Quinn/Reader

Fictober Day 24 of 31 

Words: 2,059

Summary: No matter what you were trying to do, it seemed that Harley Quinn was always interrupting. And the worst part? that you couldn't even bring yourself to truly dislike her over it.

Harley Quinn Masterlist

Your rifle was trained in the direction of your target, and you were just waiting for him to step three feet to the left, where you would have the perfect shot. You held your breath as you watched him finish a conversation with another government official, hoping that you wouldn’t have to wait here forever. You would have taken the shot right there, but there was a tree in the way and this was already a pretty public street, so you knew that you were only going to get one shot at this, and it had to be perfect.

Gotham was an ugly city, and its inhabitants were included in that description. Corruption was the only constant, and madness had more control over the population than any police force ever could. For you though, it was the perfect place to set up business, because there was always someone looking for a mercenary. The person who had hired you had hands no cleaner of blood than the man you had your gun pointed at, but you never passed any judgement on your clients, because you weren’t exactly the pillar of upstanding citizenship either.

The man was finally standing in the exact spot you needed him to be, and your finger was hovering over the trigger of the gun, an intense stare on your face. It seemed that this job would be going off without a hitch, and you would soon be paid a handsome fee for the assassination of one of the city’s councilmen, until you heard another voice beside you. “Hiya Pumpkin! Fancy seein’ you here!”

Thankfully you hadn’t already taken the shot, because if you missed you would likely never get the chance to kill this man again. But either way, you were clearly not happy about being interrupted, especially as you recognized the voice in the room with you. “What the fuck do you want Quinn?” you grumbled, trying to steady your hand enough again to take the shot while your target was still engrossed in his conversation. “And what are you doing here?”

“I’m on a job, same as you,” she said, and even though you weren’t looking at her, you knew she had an indignant look on her face.

Right as you were about to pull the trigger, the target walked away, and the cars on the street now obstructed your view. You scoffed as the man got into the back of an armored van, because now you really had no chance of getting him. “You didn’t answer my question,” you said, pulling your rifle from the open window and turning to face her. “What are you doing here and why are you messing with my work?”

“Hey, I was on a job too, thank you very much,” she said, dropping a bag on the ground. It made an audible clanking sound when it hit the floor, and you just raised your eyebrows at her. “What? It’s not my stuff!” was her bubbly response.

“If you’re looking for Harvey Salem’s head, it’s being taken care of,” you said, a slightly defensive edge to your voice. You didn’t normally have to compete with other criminals for jobs, as there was usually an understanding between members of the underworld, but you could never assume anything when it came to Harley Quinn.

“Who, that sleazy councilman out there before? I’m not here for him, don’t worry your pretty head over it.”

“Then why did you decide to be here right now?”

“I needed a window!”

“It’s not like there aren’t others in Gotham.”

“I needed a place to spy from, and this window has the best view,” she said matter-of-factly. “You don’t have a claim on all the good real estate you know.”

You sighed. It was no use arguing with her and there was no use staying here now that your target had left already anyway. “Well next time don’t interrupt me when I’m working, or I’ll shoot you next.”

She laughed, much louder than was probably sensible, given the open window and the illegality of the work you two did. If someone figured out that this abandoned building was being used by people like you, there was a chance it would be boarded up immediately, which would make jobs like this a lot harder to carry out. “You couldn’t even if you wanted to, but I appreciate the optimism. Next you’ll say you wanna take me out on a date.”

You snorted as you started to walk out of the room. “Don’t hold your breath with that one.”

She said something in response, but you couldn’t make it out. The summer air was sticky as you stepped out of the building, and when you turned back to look up at the windows, Harley Quinn was completely hidden from view.

***

Thankfully, you had another chance to kill your target, though it was much more high stakes than if you had been able to shoot him from the window of that abandoned building. It was a fundraiser gala for the local government, and the entire city council would be in attendance. You were able to secure an invitation under a fake name, but it didn’t seem like security was the biggest concern of the evening, because you saw several public criminals as you flitted around the ball room, many of them too high profile to have gotten in under any name but their own.

You had a needle in the pocket of your jacket, filled with an extremely potent poison, perfectly engineered so it wouldn’t take effect until you had enough time to get away and establish a clear alibi, and you could slip back into the night just as the police started to secure the building. Or at least, that was the plan.

And everything was going smoothly until you turned your head just in time to watch her down two flutes of champagne in barely five seconds. Why was it that every time you tried to do your job, Harley Quinn was always there too? And even worse, she noticed you, immediately waving at you and making her way over to where you were standing. “I didn’t know you were here!” she said, grabbing another flute of champagne off a passing waiter and drinking it just as fast as she drank the others. “Good champagne, right?”

“Technically, I’m not here,” you said quietly. “And I’m working, so I’m not drinking tonight.”

“Oh you’re no fun,” she pouted. “Still chasing that council guy, right?”

You nodded and opened your mouth to answer, but right as you did you saw your target walk past where the two of you were standing. He didn’t see you and you were pretty positive that he had no idea who you were, but given the company you were keeping right now, you had to adjust the way you acted if you wanted this to succeed. “And I really should be getting back to work,” you said (once the coast was clear).

You walked out towards the hallway of the venue, but Harley followed you. “Come on, stay a while! I don’t know anyone else here.”

“What part of ‘I’m working’ do you not understand?”

She was about to respond, but you heard footsteps coming down the hallway and held your hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking. This was the hallway to the back entrance of the venue and the caterers were already all inside, so anyone coming to the gala now likely had less than honorable intentions. Thinking quickly (just in case things went wrong), you opened the door to the closest supply closet and pulled Harley in with you. It was a tight fit, completely pitch black (other than a few beams of light from vents in the door), and the two of you were right on top of each other.

There were voices out in the hall, gruff and unpleasant, and you had a gut feeling that these men were not just here to deliver more hos d'oeuvres. The best way to get out of this was to leave the gala altogether, but you didn’t want to be seen leaving from the supply closet, because that would only raise suspicion and make them think you had something to do with anything that went wrong. Unless it was the assassination of the councilman that you came here specifically to do, you had no involvement in any other schemes that may be ongoing, and while you tried to avoid getting locked up at all times, you absolutely refused to go to jail for things you didn’t do.

But it seemed that you wouldn’t be that lucky, because the handle on the closet door started to turn. You had just accepted your fate (because what other options did you have at this point), but Harley hadn’t yet resigned to be caught. And being Harley, her methods weren’t exactly what you might have resorted to.

She leaned in and kissed you. Hard. Like full make out session passionate, and her hands pulled you closer to her. You went along with it, because you knew exactly why she was doing this, but it didn’t last too long, because soon the closet door opened, and the small space was bathed in light. It was Harley that reacted, and she looked annoyed as she turned towards whoever had just interrupted you. “Can’t you see that we’re fucking busy right now?

She sounded annoyed, and she was in no way a quiet person, so the man who had just opened the closet’s door realized that if he wanted to get done whatever he came to this gala to do without being noticed, he would need to leave you alone. The door closed again and you heard someone say something about cheating spouses, but you were honestly just relieved that you hadn’t had to pull out your gun. Immediately you decided that you needed to get out of here, and the fact that you probably weren’t going to get to kill your target today wasn’t even that disappointing. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, you liked kissing Harley. “Thank you,” you said to her once the two of you had gotten out of the closet and left the gala altogether.

“Oh no problem!” she said brightly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to kill your councilman though.”

You shook your head. “It’s okay, this time I don’t think it was your fault.”

“Yeah I don’t know who those guys were!” You laughed in response, and then suddenly the two of you were leaning in again. You made no effort to pull away, so your lips met for the second time tonight in the dim glow of the street light outside your car. Her lips were soft, and you enjoyed this kiss even more than the one when you were trapped inside the supply closet. When you broke apart, Harley stayed so that her face was still close to yours. “I’ll go kill that councilman right now for you if you want.”

You didn’t pull back, but raised your eyebrows at her proposition. “Oh yeah? And what’s in it for you?”

“I get to kiss you again.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

You almost believed her, but you also weren’t born yesterday. “So you want none of the money?”

“Oh don’t get it twisted pumpkin,” she laughed, leaning in to kiss you on the cheek. “When we go on dates, you’re paying.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. “How about this: you let me do my job, and then after I cash in my kill, I’ll take you out to dinner?”

“You’re no fun, you know that?”

“I just think we’ve had enough excitement for one night, is that a crime?” She sighed at your words, but you knew it was all for show, so you leaned in and kissed her again. “Come on, we really should get out of here before we get framed for something.”

As much as she still tried to act annoyed, a smile still came peeking through. “Can we get something to eat though? I’m starving and all they had was shitty fancy food.”

“Absolutely,” you said as the two of you got into your car and pulled away. “How about a cheeseburger?”

“Sugar, if you weren’t driving right now I’d kiss you again.”

- the end -

#ghostofskywalker.fictober #harley quinn #harley quinn x reader #harley quinn x you #harley quinn x y/n #harley quinn fanfiction #dc x reader

[howtofightwrite]

So, I know you can't learn martial arts from merely videos or watching others but in a couple of stuff I've seen before, learning in this way is specifically said to be a superpower (and not limited to martial arts). Is that all right to portray?

You don't need my permission. You don't need anyone's permission to create, and you should never feel that need. If you're wanting to write something, do it.

The advice we provide is about trying to help you have the best reaction from your audience. Most of the time, when one of us says, “it doesn't work,” (or something to that effect), it's because it doesn't work in reality, or because it's unlikely have desired result on the page.

Ultimately, it is up to you, what you choose to do with that.

Now, I do have a problem here, and I want to make this very clear, this is my problem, not yours. I see the people who think you can learn martial arts from watching a video, and in most cases, it's not a problem. But, then I run across the people who think they can learn self-defense from watching a video of a technique being demoed, and that breaks my heart. It's a horrible situation, because the belief that they know what they're doing could genuinely protect them, but if anyone calls that bluff, the results will be tragic.

The reality is a lot more complex. If you have a martial arts background, you can learn quite a bit from watching video of other martial artists. It's not like these videos are a bad thing. In fact, I'd argue that the dissemination of martial arts demo videos is (on the whole) a good thing. Especially when it comes to preservation of rare schools.

More than that, if you know what you're doing, you can learn from them. Not, “replicate the technique,” but identify pieces that might be useful, pick up on weaknesses that you might have missed. You can learn a great deal of theory of what allows combat to work and function, and excellent theory for both weapons and hand to hand combat. You will learn rapidly if you have the context to put the theory together with what you already know. Hell, you can learn a lot from watching videos of yourself, if  you know what you're looking for.

But, watching videos alone can't get you to that threshold.

So, when this is a superpower, it's kinda tricky. Sometimes, it's a “superpower” that is entirely within the range of what a sufficiently skilled martial artist could actually do, and sometimes it's a “Batman style superpower,” where it may appear credible, but is beyond human capability.

A character who can sit down and analyze someone's fighting style from watching video of them in combat is entirely plausible. (With a lot of specific caveats, like the quality of the video, how much they can see, and so on.) People who can do that exist, and it's not as impressive as it sounds. A sufficiently committed MMA fan will probably learn to do this to some extent, and any fight announcer will need to be able to do this on the fly. Any competitive fighter or their coach will watch tapes of both their fighter's previous bouts and the bouts of upcoming opponents to address weaknesses and generate strategies to focus their training regimen around. This really another skill in its own right, and it can exist independent of martial arts training (though, you need to both to operationalize what you're seeing into a counter strategy. Also, importantly, that MMA fan, and possibly the announcer, will be limited to examining things they're familiar with. Now, that can result in a kind of, “adjacency,” situation, where they recognize something as a variant of a technique they're already familiar with, but much like linguistic, “false friends,” this can also be misleading.)

A character who can sit down, watch a video of someone in combat, and completely copy their fighting style would be a superpower. Especially if this is how they developed their martial arts skills in the first place. The biggest problem here is that watching someone perform an act does not teach you the  less visible components, like where to put your weight; when, and how to move it. If you don't know what to look for, watching someone else won't teach you what to look for.

Now, I'm talking about martial arts here, but, there are skills you can learn from watching video tutorials. In fact, if you find the right tutorials, you may be able to learn quite a bit about various martial arts, including their philosophies, their history, and how they perform their techniques, however, in the last case, that is not a substitute for formal training.

A good example of this is the HEMA community, which does have a lot of video tutorials discussing the specific details of their techniques. It's not a substitute for training, it's certainly not a substitute for supervised practice, (and a novice engaging in unsupervised “practice” is a recipe for completely botching their muscle memory; which could seriously impair their ability to ever learn martial arts correctly.)

Learning martial arts is a lot more than just, “watching someone do a thing,” it requires a lot of training and practice to get it right. Repetition to the point that you no longer have to consciously think about what you're doing and can simply act. Watching a video can't do that for you. But, that's why this is a superpower, when it shows up.

There's another very important component to this from a writing standpoint, which is a character who cheats their way to power never respects their power. They made none of the sacrifices and have none of the experiences to teach them why doing the thing might be a bad idea. They've never had the training experience of hitting someone a little harder than intended or being hit too hard, and that lack of context hurts them. More importantly, writers who cheat their characters into power don't respect the power their character wields either. This is where a lot of hyper aggressive characters come from, especially the ones who treat the hyper aggressive violence in their heroes as okay or even laudable, because the author themselves never learned to moderate violence to situationally appropriate levels. How much is too much? If you don't know, you don't know. You'll just go for it and because none of this is real, there's going to stop the writer or the character from going too far. Then, there's no narrative consequences either because they don't realize they did and create a world where abuse is normalized, even expected. It happens entirely by accident.

There's a real reason why mimicry (of basically any variety) is frequently restricted to villains and villainous characters. Your character has the ability to replicate, and in the processes, devalue, the sacrifices and even the very identity of the character they're copying. In this case, if you have someone that can flawlessly replicate someone else's techniques, they're saying, to the original, “your training meant nothing.” This is even worse in cases where a character can fully copy that individual, as it elevates this tone to, “your very existence is meaningless, everything you've experienced is irrelevant. I can do all of this without giving up anything.” The superpower to copy another is existentially brutal. It may not seem that harsh at first glance, but the full implications are subtle, and vicious.

It's a great power for a supervillain to utterly obliterate someone's self-worth.

-Starke

This blog is supported through Patreon. Patrons get early access to new posts, and direct access to us through Discord. If you’d like to support us, please consider becoming a Patron.

#Starke answers #How to Fight Write #Writing advice #writing reference #writing tips #martial arts

[sleepysheepyeclipse]

Jealousy Jealousy

A sheep x Nariender fanfic (1/2)

Summary: Narinder is finding himself in a position after being well settled in the cult where he knows of a new friend’s affection for their leader, and takes the sideline for them. 

TW: Feelings of inadequacy, mentions of & allusions to cannibalism, and unrequited feelings, Love…Triangle? Tangle? Something. Spoilers for the game.

Other content tags: Fake relationship

Narinder stood in the garden, plucking beets from the earth and placing them in the chest. The lamb had recently installed some sort of totem to make the plants grow faster, which was both a good and a bad thing for him. Good because it provided work for him to do. Bad because it meant he had little freetime anymore during daylight hours.

“These will probably be the last thing I do before I take a break for a short while.” 

He says to himself. Since he was up during the nights anyways; He’s come to find out that he enjoys being productive, over having idle hands. 

Idle hands lead to idle thoughts, which right now were not exactly all that kind to Narinder. 

He’s long settled into the cult’s life, watching those who did not wear a skull necklace when he was first indoctrinated pass on, be sacrificed, or went abruptly missing one night. Years go on as time for him remains standing faithfully still.

He didn’t really care for the last two sacrifices, only because it made weird looking food appear in the morning. It tasted really good, but whenever he asks about what its made of, the sheep never really answers the question. Now that he has had the thought, he wonders where Jack and Edmund went.

Oh well. That was neither here nor there.

He hears the small dinging of the bell and sees everyone in the distance getting up, or laying down their axes/pickaxes. Some make their way over to the food to eat before heading to bed, others are making a beeline for their huts. 

“Hey Narinder!” 

Came a high-pitched voice after he wandered closer to the worshiping statue. He looks down to see the yellow snail with the white shell on her back. 

“Evening Gloria,” 

He answers her. 

She too wore the necklace he did, and by the stars she was extremely perky despite neither one of them really sleeping. Always carrying an upbeat attitude and in her own ways, always inspiring others. In his humble opinion, she is the best missionary the lamb has. Any follower she has brought back has been extremely loyal to the cult and its teachings. Not only that, she makes a friend out of them extremely quickly.   

The reason he talks to Gloria has more to do with the fact that they’ve bonded over being the only ones up aside from the Lamb. However, even then, the lamb is out on crusades and bringing things back to the cult, or they’re somewhere else in the world. 

“How’re you?”

“I’m alright, sore from all the farm work.”

“Understandable, my knees start aching after praying for so long. I just can’t help it, I want to put everything into my prayers!” 

“Of course, devotion to the lamb is a wonderful thing.”

“Well... I would love to be devoted to them in a way more than just a normal follower.”

She must have picked up on the “confusion” on his face because she was quick to explain. This wasn’t actually the first time he’d heard her say this same train of thought, but due to the head trauma she had endured on her way into/including her stay inside of The Silk Cradle, Gloria’s memory was not entirely the best. 

“I mean-- I’m--I...”

She sighs, 

“I’ve been trying to hide the feelings I’ve developed for our leader, and before you ask--!”

She puts her hands up defensively, 

“I have made sure that it’s not just the idea of them I’m in love with, and that it physically them I'm in love with. I know my memory isn't as good as it was, so I wrote it down to make I didn't forget what my goal was!” 

“I’m glad.”

Even though the ex-god was not, in fact, glad at all about hearing this. 

“Do you think if I asked the lamb to marry me, they would? I mean...They don’t have any significant others right now. Not after Theodosia’s ascension.”

Which Gloria would know if they did or didn’t given that she’s one of the older cult members. The more experienced ones. 

“I’m not sure,”

He replied honestly, then thoughtfully added:

“I mean, marriage is an awfully far jump from a crush, what if you realize that it’s gone one day?”

Gloria looked surprised for a moment or two, then bit her lip with a nod. 

“I suppose I’ll need to start spending more time with our Leader. Now that you’ve said that, I realize I don’t want that to happen. Thank you, Narinder! What a wonderful friend you are, always thinking of the things I forget or overlook.”

She got up quickly, hugged him briefly, and started over to where the Lamb was cooking not horribly far from them. He waved and watched. He bit his lip. Hating every second all of a sudden. 

How she made them light up. How she interacted with them. How she placed her hand on their arm or shoulder. How she flirted with them once they handed her a bowl of whatever they were making. From the looks of it, it did not look like the hearty meat meal the lamb’s been fond of making. If he had to guess, it’s probably more of whatever meat comes as a result from a sacrifice.

Which surprisingly doesn't bother him as badly as he thought the idea would. Now if he had to eat a bowl of that one particular batch of it again, then he would most likely puke.

He felt sick, so he forced himself to turn away and walk briskly to his hut. He almost sprinted away and had to physically make sure the door did not slam behind him. He didn't want to give away he’d been watching the two of them interact.

He flings himself onto his bed and buried his face into the covers. Stupid Gloria, stupid lamb, stupid feelings, stupid, stupid and stupid.

-

How Narinder got drafted into this elaborate plan, he has no idea. Yet here he is, sowing string through the bottoms of Camilla flowers to make a crown for Gloria. Gloria was currently making the one she would give to the lamb.

“Thank you so much for doing this,”

She had said, but Narinder didn’t audibly respond back. Too busy wanting this to be over already. There was light conversation between them, but nothing of any substantiality. He leans over after stringing what he hopes is the last one to place it on her head. Holding it closed as so it sits in its intended circular shape.

“Does it feel alright?”

“It’s a little snug, but that’s alright. Means it’ll stay, right?”

“Right.”

He offers her a smile and then leans back away starting to tie off the string.

“Does this look like it’ll fit?”

Gloria holds up her stringed flowers, trying her best to mimic the gesture he had had seconds ago.

“It looks a little small.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah. Looks more like it would just rest on their head, rather than go down where it would be secure.”

Gloria nodded, but let out a very strong oh no upon realizing that the basket next to her was empty; thus meaning, that she had no more flowers to expand the crown any further than what she already had.

“I’m sure it will be alright,”

He tried assuring, but the snail seemed inconsolable at the moment. So, as a result, Narinder came up with an idea.

“Why don’t you ask for them to go get some from Darkwood whilst out on one of their crusades?”

“But how would I—”

“You don’t have to confess then and there, just simply say you need oh…ten camellia flowers to make a bouquet for the one you wish to confess to?”

“Oh that’s good.”

“I thought so.”

“I’ll go do that now!”

She moved much faster than the former god expected, quickly making her way over to where the lamb was finishing taking a confession. He saw Beelzebub coming out with a refreshed look on their face, and figured whatever weight they had on their shoulders must have been significantly lifted.

She seems to make her request, then her face falls for a moment or two as the Lamb seems to ask her for something after a longer than anticipated paused. Narinder sees her bite her lip, but ultimately agree to whatever it is. The lamb gives her a hug, (which he managed to stop himself from growling at), before rushing off to deal with something inside the temple.

The snail angrily sulks as she walks back over to him and he looks at her confused until she’s close enough to hear him if he said anything.

“What happened?”

“They just asked me to go on a mission in exchange for getting the flowers.”

“And?”

“I said I would of course; they said they wanted me to go see if I could find someone to convert since we’ve had some recent deaths, and our numbers were dwindling and so is some faith. They figure if we have some more intensely faithful members then all will be well once more.”

“I see. Their reasoning isn’t unreasonable. You are one of the best missionaries they have within our cult.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I don’t have more words to offer you to make you feel better.”

“It’s alright Narinder, it’s the idea that’s counting.”

There’s a brief lull in the conversation before he offers something he debated saying. Her eyes drifting to her crossed arms, then her feet.

“Hey, Gloria, look on the bright side. At least you’ll have something to look forward to when you get back. Something to keep you going when it gets tough out there.”

She looks up from the ground and one can see the lightbulb clicking into place. Her eyes widening as her lips curl into a smile.

“You’re right!”

She exclaimed, seeming like she has hit enlightenment with the thought.

“—And the sooner I get started, the sooner I get back! Oh, Narinder!”

She drops to her knees and hugs him around the neck. He fights with himself to hug her back, but ultimately does.

“You truly do come up with the best ideas and comfort. I shall see you in two days time!”

She smiles at him as she pulls away, then quickly hurries over the missionary hut and disappears inside of it. Far more eager to get started on her mission than she was when she was given it.

Narinder knows that she, despite her reservations, is truly one of the best missionaries that the lamb has as he has said more than once to others and himself.

He hears the bell from the temple and picks up their project off of the ground, placing it into his basket to drop off at his hut before he heads to the temple. Unknowing within the next few days that his world was going to turn and start spinning differently over the course of 48 hours.

————

Narinder hummed quietly as he plucked berries from a newly ripened bush in the garden the next morning after Gloria set off, letting his mind wander idly to random things.

“Narinder?”

“Hm?”

His head lifts as he sees the Lamb standing nearby, jumping a little. Had he been hurried that deeply in thought as to not notice them?

“Oh. Hello Lamb,”

“Morning Narinder, how’re you?”

“I’m alright.”

His eyes turn back to the bush in front of him, but his third one remains open and trained on the Lamb that way he can multitask; continue working, and carry on a conversation.

“And yourself, dear lamb?”

“I’m alright, although…”

“Although what?

“I can’t seem to get me mind off a few matters.”

There’s a brief pause in the conversation that allows Narinder to get up and place his basket in the chest behind him and go to check the trap the scarecrow holds for birds. He resets them, and takes the two caught for the day to the chest.

“Care to share with the cult?”

He invited. The chuckle at the words, but answer his request with letting him in on their thoughts.

“Well for one, I’m worried about Nanajul. They’ve been desperately trying to get me to play along with some cruel prank that they want to play on poor Cassidy. Their faith in me is dwindling as a result and I’m worried I’m going to have a dissenter amongst us soon.”

Valid reason to be concerned. He makes note to talk to their idiotic mutual acquaintance later.

“I see. I can talk to him if you wish, I’m sure he’ll understand if he’s being told it’s a poor idea from someone else rather than his leader.”

“I would appreciate that.”

The lamb’s body language relaxed a little, and like water coming out of a spigot as you slowly turned it on, the other troubles travelled out.

“Secondly, I can’t seem to keep someone consecrating resources. It seems like every time I’m turning around I’m having to tell someone new to go and then having to tell them what to do even though there’s a list of resources in order to do each day.”

Again super valid. He remembers Leshy having some sort of similar problem with their prophets when they were younger. He remembers roughly how Shamura answered in response and tries his best to imitate his older sibling’s response despite not liking having to do so. Things might have gone sour between them, but that didn’t make their words any less right.

“That’s rather annoying, but at least from my perspective that’s probably nothing to worry about. I think as long as it gets done, then what is taking a few minutes to provide guidance going to hurt? You haven’t forgotten how many times you have— had. You had needed my help prior to our current circumstances, have you?”

The lamb looks sheepishly— no pun intended on Narinder’s part— before nodding a little bit. He shook his head, but didn’t harp on it more. He knew they were a quick learner and with pointing out the flaw in their thinking, he figures they’ll try and have a little more open mind to the change of members trying to complete the task.

“And third, I don’t want to go to Darkwood.”

“What is in Darkwood?”

“Those Camellia flowers for Gloria.”

“What is wrong with her request, dear lamb?”

“If I tell you, how poorly would you look at me?”

“Lamb, have you forgotten who I used to be?“

“Touché.”

“You know how you had given me the abilities to read the minds of my members?”

“Yes.”

“I decided to check in on her mentally since it had been a long while since I have last done so and I…”

The lamb trails off.

“You…?”

They don’t answer immediately, so Narinder wanders over to them and stands across from him. Taking the hint they wished not to speak loudly.

“I know the real reason why she wants the flowers, and I feel horrible because I’m not interested in her like that.”

Narinder feels his blood turn cold at that admission. All three eyes widened at the Lamb.

“Which is part of the reason why I sent her off, so I could have time to think of how to let her down gently.”

.

“Please don’t look at me like that.”

Narinder shakes his head and closes his third eye.

“Apologies. It’s just…That… is a…heavy confession, lamb.”

“I know. I know, but I don’t know what to do about it.”

An idea, though devious, crossed Narinder’s mind as he lets the worry hang in the air for a moment or two before speaking up. It was selfish of him to suggest, and he knows it. The guilt tells him so, but nonetheless he wants the lamb bad enough he’ll deal with the fallout from Gloria when it happens.

“You could always fake being in a relationship. Say someone confessed to you or you confessed to someone while she was gone.”

They consider it for a moment or two before frowning.

“But it wouldn’t hold up for long.”

“Why so?”

“Because I’m sure she would expect me to be around said member, and when day in and day out nothing happens…”

It’s implied she’d put two and two together that she would figure out they lied quick, fast, and in a hurry.

“I will help you.”

Narinder said without thinking, and almost wished he could take the words back and shove them into his face. They were words back when they were a god that were so natural between he and the Lamb. Words that he would offer a million times over if they needed his guidance. It was a habit he hadn’t realized he still had given the distance that had been between them for so long.

“Are you sure? You—We— I…”

They stammered, at a loss for words evidently from either the absurdity or the abruptness of the idea.

“Look, I know we have our… differences, given what happened.”

Narinder didn’t need to imply their entire fight given the betrayal the lamb had caused because they wanted to keep the crown they wore; moreover, the utter anger and resentment that hung between them for so… so long after he was spared. Which each party had their reasons to be legitimately upset.

“But in the end, are you really that against me wanting to help you— albeit in a different way than I had once, lamb? Do you truly think still so low of me?”

They don’t answer, and he opens his mouth to tell them to consider it at least, but they beat him to the metaphorical punch bowl.

“No. I know that when you said you’ll help me you mean it. I know that fact too— too well. I want to move past this animosity we have still between our friendship.”

They nod to themselves.

“So, lovers?”

The lamb outstretched their hand to him, and he feels his heart excitedly skip a beat despite his brain knowing this wasn’t a real offer.

“Lovers it is, my lamb.”

#the lamb x narinder #cult of the lamb #true devotion #lambder #narilamb #cult of the lamb leshy #bishop heket #bishop shamura #cult classic #lamb x narinder #lamb x the one who waits #narinder #the one who waits #unrequited love #fake dating #fake relationship #farmer Narinder #cult leader

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Magnus nearly tripped up the stairs when someone pounded at his door. He had to reach for the railing to catch himself just in time, his head spinning in an uncomfortable way. He had just been going to bed, but, well, not anymore he supposed. There was second, more aggressive round of knocks.

"Magnus," a voice said from the other side of the door. "I swear to Gods if you don't answer this door I will magic missile it down!"

"Uhm, ma'am, maybe threatening violence isn't the best idea-"

"He deserves it if he's already asleep. Humans are weak. No offense." the voice got louder again. "Count of ten, Mags!" Another thunderous round of knocks. Magnus hurried to open the door and Lup's fist nearly collided with his face.

It was dark outside, which was understandable considering it was... well, Magnus didn't know the exact time, but it was probably pretty deep into the night. The porch lights around the rest of the cul-de-sac were off with the exception of Lup and Taako's weird joint house. Magnus could see that the window into their living room was still lit up.

Magnus supposed that made sense since Lup was right in front of him. She was still fully dressed and, concerningly, fully covered in blood. Cowering behind Lup's body a bit was Angus McDonald, who looked halfway between pissed off and like he'd rather be anywhere else. Two emotions Magnus knew quite well when it came to his family.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Lup said, inviting herself in. Angus trailed behind her, sullen. Magnus waited until they had shuffled further in to close the door. Lup deposited Angus onto the couch.

"I-" she began and then paused. "What're you wearing?"

Magnus looked down at this shirt, with two hands pointing up at his face with the words "THIS GUY IS MAGNUS BURNSIDES' BIGGEST FAN". Notably, he was also only wearing underwear. Underwear with little ducks on it.

"This is what I sleep in," Magnus said defensively.

"We can- I'm gonna circle back to that after," Lup said. "Do you want a kid?"

"Do I... what?"

"See, he doesn't want an almost teenager!" Angus piped up from the couch. Magnus felt like he was missing half of this conversation. Maybe even three-fourths of it. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't want a Magnus, either, Miss Lup, so I think I should be going now-"

Angus tried to stand up, but Lup pushed him back onto the couch.

"I will magically restrain you," she said seriously. To Magnus, she continued, "Do you want a kid? 'Cus no offense to like, Taako and Kravitz, but I don't think they know how kids work. I saw Kravitz talk to a baby like he talks to Barry, which is concerning in a several different ways. And considering I just got my body back after like, seven bazillion years of not having one, I am not ready to be a parent. Dav's not around enough for it, Merle's got his own lil' shitheads, and, uh, Lucretia..."

"Director Lucretia is very nice," Agnus said. "But she also offered me wine during my entrance interview. And laughed when I fell down one time."

"So between the guy who through his off a train, the women who decided it would a good idea to hire a ten-year-old without asking about his background, and, y'know, me and Barry, I think you're the most qualified."

"Hang on," Magnus said, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, recap. Angus needs an adult why? Doesn't he have a grandpa?"

"Everyone has a grandpa, sir, biologically," Angus said.

"Magnus," Lup said. "I'm gonna break this down real simple for you because, T-B-H, it's been a fucking stressful night and I don't want Angus to have to go through it all again-"

"I think I can explain it pretty well, ma'am-"

"He doesn't have anyone," Lup stressed. "No grandpa, no parents, no friends or some shit-"

"I have-!"

"Nothing," Lup continued. "And as much it pains me to say this, you are our next best option in terms of giving a child what they need to sort of kind of thrive instead of just, y'know, living on the streets."

"I wasn't on the streets!" Angus defended. "I have an apartment!"

"Your heater doesn't work," Lup said.

"It's summer," Angus said. "I don't need a heater." To Magnus, he said, "sir, please make her reconsider! I was doing perfectly fine and everything. I almost have enough for rent this month too, so it's fine! And I'm a terrible roommate, to be honest, sir. I think it'd be better for everyone if Miss Lup would just take me home and I can shower and then go to bed because I am a very little boy and it's very past my bedtime, sir."

Angus blinked innocently up at him.

"We found him in the middle of a cult, Mags," Lup said. "A cult."

Magnus had never seen Angus's look go from completely innocent to pissed off so quickly. But he kept his mouth shut and glared at Lup from behind her back. Magnus took a moment to take a good look at Angus now that he could. He, too, was pretty bloody. He was cradling his hand in a way that made Magnus think it was hurt somehow. And he was small. So small. Magnus was reminded of a puppy he saw the other day, if only the puppy was full of prepubescent rage and covered in necromancer blood. At least, Magnus hoped it was necromancer blood and not his own.

"You can stay for the night," Magnus said. "I'll give you a pajama shirt and we'll get you to set up in the guest room, okay? The rest of this-" he gestured to Lup and Angus as a whole, "can wait until tomorrow. I am so ready to pass out for seven to eight hours."

"But I'm going back to my apartment tomorrow," Angus said. "Right, sir? Ma'am?"

"That's a convo for tomorrow," Magnus said before Lup could answer. Both Lup and Angus scoffed, but neither objected any further, which Magnus considered a win. "C'mon. I've got like, a hundred of these shirts."

"I'll get you one of Barry's," Lup said quickly. She held out a hand and her scythe appeared. "Don't let him trick you into that, Angus. I'll be right back."

She cut a rift in the middle of Magnus's living room and stepped through. It closed behind her with a loud zipping noise. Angus glanced at Magnus with a critical eye.

"Would it make her more upset if I took one of your shirts?" he asked after a few tense moments of Magnus not knowing how to react to what he liked to call "Angus's Detective Look".

"Definitely," Magnus said. "I'll go get you one." Angus grinned.

Guess he had a kid now.

#angus mcdonald #lup #magnus burnsides #taz #taz balance #mine #i wanted to get this out before i forgot about it #not the best quality i could do but it's oki! #ise cube writing #tw wine mention

[foreverdolly]

sneak peak of "wanna be yours". . . 

here's a little tease of the austin butler "ex's best friend" fic that i promised:

“Come on, Y/n. Jeremy is a-” She lowered her voice as she looked up from the cutting board. “Asshole,” she whispered, shooting you and Juniper a small smile before going back to work with her knife. “But Austin isn’t. He asked specifically if you were going to be here tonight because he wanted to talk to you. He loves you both. Besides, you weren’t the one that got caught with a Tinder account. You aren’t the bad guy in this situation. Austin is a loyal friend, but he’s fair. He knows Jeremy is the one that messed up. When I talked to him last night he sounded super angry about it all.” You rocked back on your heels, spinning around in a circle a few times just to make Juniper squeal before continuing your train of thought. “Yeah- no. . . you’re so right. I don’t want to make him choose a side, but he’s known Jeremy the longest. I know that if push came to shove it wouldn’t be me he’d stick beside. That’s all.” You’d have to be an idiot to think that Austin would pick you over his longtime friendship. You had met Austin through a modeling gig towards the beginning of his career. The Hannah Montana era- which he still visually cringed at the mention of. You had been an assistant photographer back then, fresh out of high school, and the two of you had clicked. Two years later you both ran into each other at Ashley’s birthday party and decided to exchange numbers. Austin was the person that had introduced you to Jeremy in the first place. Of course, he probably never thought that the two of you would end up dating. You and Jeremy were polar opposites, which you had once found cute and quirky, but now realized was incredibly annoying and a waste of your fucking time. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” You heard Ashley mumble under her breath, but when you hummed at her, she merely shook her head. “Nothing. I didn’t say anything.” She was quick to flash you an “innocent” smile. 

There was a knock at the door, and you were quick to shuffle off towards it. “No, no. I’ve got it.” Christopher called out, jogging ahead of you before opening the door. A few familiar faces shuffled in, giving Ashley’s husband tight hugs before moving over to you. You gave them side hugs, smiling softly to yourself as they cooed at the adorable baby in your arms before moving towards the kitchen. Words of congratulations were exchanged before they were ushered out the back door. “I’ll take her from ya.” Ashley walked over, scooping Juniper out of your arms before nodding towards the kitchen. “Can you cut up the carrots and celery for me? That’s all that’s left.” You were quick to salute her, a silent ‘you got it’, before moving over towards the kitchen island. She wrinkled her nose at you, blowing you a quick kiss before floating out the back door and to the waiting guests. “I think you should stay another week. Having you around has been an absolute blessing, Y/n.” Chris told you, and as you looked up you could see that he wasn’t joking, but telling the truth. “Ah, you guys need your privacy though. I just didn’t want to go back to our apartment until he moved all of his shit out.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We have a big house. Besides, Juniper hasn’t been this well behaved in a while. She’s teething, and with you around she hasn’t been as fussy. Not only that but Ashley loves having you here. You live an hour away, and she misses you.” You shot him a warm grin before ripping open the bag of organic carrots, cutting off the stems before slicing them down the middle. “Hey! In my defense you two are the ones that moved away from me.” He laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry for stealing her from you.” He teased before heading out the back door to follow after his wife. 

You’d met all of Ashley’s previous flings, and none of them were as fantastic as Chris. You couldn’t imagine her with anyone else. He loved her as well as her family and friends. He treated you like family, and you adored him for that. There was a soft knock on the front door again, and instead of putting your knife down to open the already unlocked door you simply called out that it was open. A lanky blonde pushed his way in, a large bouquet of flowers in his arms. For a second the two of you stared at each other, anxiety already gnawing at your stomach. Ashley’s words from earlier had only calmed you down a little. You weren’t sure what kind of conversation he wanted to have with you, but you were sure that probably wasn’t going to be good. “Long time, no see.” He smiled softly at you, walking further into the house so that he could set the flowers down on the kitchen table before making his way over towards you. He stood across from you at the kitchen island, leaning over so that he could place his forearms against the granite. You rolled your eyes, shooting him a soft smile. “It’s been two weeks.” He returned the smile, his blue eyes dancing over your face before he nodded. “Exactly. Long time.” 

For a few seconds the only sound that could be heard in the house was your constant chopping. You weren’t sure if he was waiting for you to say something or not. You weren’t sure what to say in this sort of situation. You were sure that something along the lines of ‘hey there, i know my shithead of an ex boyfriend is your best friend, but i’ve known you longer than i’ve known him, so i’m hoping we can still be friends’ probably wouldn’t go over too well with him. “So Jeremy called me last week.” You sucked in a breath before placing the knife down on the cutting board. “Oh yeah? What did he say?” He cleared his throat before walking around the island, moving closer to your side. He leaned his hip against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked good, but when did Austin not look good? He was wearing white wash jeans, old boots that made him even taller, and a jean button up the same shade as his pants- tucked in with a belt. You would be lying if you said that you had never been attracted to your friend. He was a good looking guy, but he had just started dating Vanessa right around the time that the two of you got close. Not to mention that, but you weren’t the type of person to cross the boundary of friendship with someone that you were close to like that. That was how things got messy, and you didn’t like drama. 

“Well. . .” He pursed his lips for a second, his blue eyes flickering up to the ceiling for a second before he finally looked back down at you. It appeared that he was trying to find the right words to say. “He tried playing the victim for a few minutes, but caught on pretty quick that I wasn’t falling for it. I scolded him a little bit, and now he isn’t returning my texts.” Your mouth fell open, eyes going as wide as saucers. Austin had stood up for you? God, you knew that he was a wonderful person, but you didn’t expect that. “He isn’t talking to you?” Austin shook his head, mouthing the word ‘nope’ before reaching over for the knife that you had placed down. He went to work doing what you had been doing before, giving you the opportunity to assemble the vegetable board in a way that Ashley would find aesthetically pleasing. “I’m sorry if I look a bit shocked, but I wasn’t expecting you to actually say anything to him.” He cleared his throat, his long fingers gripping the hilt of the knife tightly as he started to work on the celery. “Being cheated on is a shit feeling, and the fact that he threw away almost five years with you is just plain stupid. He knows how I feel about it, and now he’s choosing to ignore the problem rather than to own up to anything.” Ashley had been right. It sounded like Austin really had picked a side. 

And it was yours. 

“How are you holding up though? I was waiting for you to reach out to me, but you never did.” He sounded a little hurt. You licked your lips before grabbing one of the small bowls Ashley had taken down out of the cabinet, filling it with the green goddess dressing the two of you had picked up at Whole Foods a few hours back. “I’m doing surprisingly alright. I’ve been staying here with Ash and Chris for the last week, which has been pretty great,” You took a deep breath before continuing. “I didn’t reach out to you because I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position with Jeremy. I didn’t want you to feel any pressure on my end. Maneuvering friendships after a breakup like this is really hard.” He hummed in understanding, scooping up the celery in his hands before distributing it on the plate. His hand brushed yours, and he kept it there for a couple of seconds before moving it back down to his side. “Look, I appreciate that, but I’m your friend too. You’re having a hard time, and I want to be there for you. Jeremy can be a selfish dick, but I’ve known him since we were kids. He’s always been like this. I don’t really expect too much out of him anymore, but just know that I’m really upset with him over this. When you two first started dating I had a feeling that this was how it would turn out. I tried to warn him about hurting you, but he didn’t seem to heed my advice.” He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest again. “Which isn’t surprising.” 

Sure, you’d heard some pretty choice words about Jeremy from Austin’s lips before after a drunken fight or some play-teasing that one of the boys took too far, but this was pretty full on. Whatever picture Jeremy had tried to paint for Austin the other day over the phone must not have been very nice. It made your stomach churn just thinking about what he had told his other friends. God, they must have thought you were some kind of a monster. That was the one thing you absolutely couldn’t stand. You were the one that had been hurt in this entire situation, but suddenly you’re the bad guy. You had done everything you could think to do in order to save your relationship with him. You knew that it wasn’t going to work out long term, but you still loved him. You don’t just waste five years of your life on someone you don’t love. The longer you spent away from Jeremy, the more and more you started to pull your head out of the clouds and come back down to earth. Even if it was a long way to fall- the realizations had been hard- but it was good. You had been biding your time with Jeremy. The two of you never really talked about marriage or children. It was almost like the two of you had just been in a relationship because it was convenient for the two of you. You were attracted to one another, you had mutual acquaintances, and it had just made sense to be together in your early twenties. Now? Now you just felt like a moron who had allowed herself to be mistreated all in the name of “love”. 

“Well I don’t know how you’ve put up with him for so long. I’ve only known him for five years and I’m starting to regret the day I ever met him.” You tossed a carrot onto the plate a little harder than you had meant to, and you cursed under your breath as it bounced off and landed right on the floor. Austin bent down and picked it up for you, tossing it into the trash. “I guess you have me to blame for that. I wouldn’t have introduced you two if I knew that he would have hit on you. You aren’t the kind of girl he usually goes for. You’re unique and actually have a personality.” That made you laugh. Austin couldn’t wipe the smile off of his face as he watched you, and soon he was bumping his shoulder up against yours. “Do you need help with anything? I’d be willing to drop some of his stuff off at his place. Maybe egg his house? Might be therapeutic.” You snickered, shaking your head. “No, he should have all of his junk out of my place by now. I gave him a week, and my neighbor said that he hauled a whole truck load of shit out. The only thing that’s causing me some stress right now is the fact that I spent way too much money on those Artic Monkey tickets and a hotel room up in Vegas, and now I can’t even go.” His nose wrinkled as he looked down at you. “Why the hell wouldn’t you go? You need to get out of the house and have fun after all the shit you’ve been through this past week.” 

Yeah, you really could use a night out. Sure, getting wine drunk and watching Married at First Sight with Ashley was a blast, but you needed to get out of California for a bit, even if it was just a two day ordeal. The tickets had originally been a late birthday present for Jeremy, but he’d gone and fucked everything up. You’d already called the hotel only to find out that they don’t do refunds so short notice, and it was impossible to find someone to go with you. Ashley didn’t like the Artic Monkeys, and even if she was willing to go with you, there was no way you were going to inconvenience her any more than you already had. Jenny from work said that she would have loved to go with you, but her fiance had planned a surprise trip to Arizona to visit her elderly grandparents. The rest of your friends either weren’t big fans and weren’t willing to take the time off of work or already had plans. Sure, you could always go down there and stay by yourself. It would nice to have meaningless sex with a hot stranger, but over the years of inconsequential hookups you knew that doing something like that after a bad breakup only ever hurt you worse in the long run. There’s nothing bad about chasing your own pleasure, but you were better than that. Besides, getting even with your cocksucker of an ex wasn’t worth the possibility of contracting some kind of sexually transmitted disease, and Vegas was probably chalk-full of those. 

You also had your own safety to worry about. There was no way you trusted yourself to get drunk at the concert, hail an Uber and then crawl back to your hotel without something bad happening. Human trafficking was a real and serious thing, and you’d rather waste a little over a thousand dollars than something bad happen to you. “I wish I could go, but I’ve already asked everybody I could think of and they’re all busy. I’ll probably just try and sell the tickets or something.” Austin’s eyebrows furrowed as he took a bite out of one of the carrots. He chewed a few times before hurriedly swallowing. “You didn’t ask me.” And for a good reason. You didn’t hate the idea of being petty. Jeremy totally deserved it, but Austin didn’t. There was no way you were going to pull him into your drama. You gave him a look, and he let out a small chuckle before shaking his head, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. “No, I’m serious. I’ll go with you. I don’t have any shoots or interviews for a full week, and my upcoming project doesn’t start for another month and a half.” Ever since he was in that Elvis biopic his face had been plastered all over god’s green earth. “Jeremy would-” “No, fuck that. You told me you spent like. .  . five hundred dollars on the hotel room for the night. Let’s just go, have a good time, and then we can both come back home refreshed. Besides, I love the Artic Monkeys. You know they’re one of my favorite bands. The tickets were sold out by the time I decided to buy one. Not only that, but I didn’t want to crash you and Jeremy’s date.” Austin did love the band just as much as you did. Also it was always a blast hanging out with him. You hadn’t been alone with him for years. You remembered how much fun the two of you used to have back in the day, and you could really use a good laugh. 

#foreverdolly #ex's best friend #austin butler fic #austin butler #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler x reader #x reader #this will be the next update

[heliosthegriffin]

Lionheart V: Skinship

Jaune was lying in a crater on the ground, his back to the air, with his arms laying on top of each other, and his knees pulled up just under his arms, also laying on each other.

He was also smoking, as in smoke was coming off his prone form.

He would like to groan, but he was too busy coughing out smoke. You see, he had just finished sparring with Arslan.

And, his crush had crushed him.

Mercilessly finishing the match by slipped her roped dart around him, pulling him to her, uppercutting him into the air, and sent a explosive fire ball that sent him into the ceiling face first.

He was also tired from Pyrrha’s training, so that was that too.

Jaune didn’t mind though, Ars was just trying to help him, in her own very painful way, and if his girl wanted to help him, he wouldn’t complain.

He just wished he didn’t feel so sore all the time, though.

Arslan leaned over Jaune and pulled him up from the crater she had put him in, feeling a bit guilty, it was easy for her to forget that he was only about as strong as Nadir, but his enormous aura just made it so easy to go all out!

“You ok?” Arslan asked apologetically.

“Yeah, I’m fine,��� He shot finger-guns at her, “I’m used to taking a beating!” Jaune giving her a cheesy smile.

Against all odds, Arslan chuckled vibrantly, her smile instantly refilling Jaune’s energy and soothing his pain, like he had been dropped in warm honey.

Arslan only barely not missing how his Aura seemed to flare with a unusual strength before settling.

Jaune then felt a wave of uncertainty hit him, what now? 

He wasn’t boring her, was he? Should he leave? He couldn’t bore her if he was somewhere else! Yeah! He also probably stank to high heaven, probably best should get out of here.

“So, I guess, I should get going?” Jaune said, shifting his feet to the door.

A familiar iron-tight grip took hold of his hoodie. “Let me touch you.”

“What?” Jaune asked wide-eyed.

Ars blushed. “I mean, let me rub you down!”

“What?!” Jaune said, blushing. “I really don’t think we’re at that stage in our relationship!”

Ars’ looked at him embarrassed, but firmly. “I just want to groom you!”

“Uh? What?”

“You’re sore, I’m good at directing aura into my hands, so I can stimulate your body to heal faster!”

“OH!” Jaune finally got it. “Oh...” If slightly disappointed.

Ars’ looked away nervously. “And maybe, you could rub me down too?”

“Yes!”

“Really?” Ars looked at him with curious eyes.

“Yeah, my sisters used to make me do that all the time, and my dad, and my mom, and my uncles... You get the idea, right?”

She nods her head, then pushed Jaune down. Settling on his stomach, grabbing his left hand, holding it in front of herself, starting to apply pressure to it, before working her way down his arm.

“Your shield-arm, absorbs a lot of force, even with Aura, with you so often on the defensive. It must be more sore than your sword, right?”

Jaune was stunned, not just from Arslan sitting on his stomach, but also her analyze of him. “Yeah.”

A sharp pop came from his elbow as Arslan suddenly jerked it, Jaune letting out a low groan, before her skilled and strong hands moved towards his upper arm, targeting his bicep.

Feeling subtle release of warmth in the area’s she targeted, like tension being released. Despite having the most beautiful girl in the world on his stomach, he was starting to succumb to a spell of unconsciousness, as she worked up his shoulder, before moving to his right arm.

As Jaune slowly feel asleep, Arslan was hard at work feeling him up.

Arslan’s eyes were focused, as she targeted area after area of her boyfriends body. A small blush on her cheeks, as she truly did feel heated, touching Jaune’s body as much as she did.

But, her mother always said the best way to get a man was through her body.

This was what she meant right?

Not that she would complain if she was wrong, there was perks to easing Jaune’s aches and pains.

Like watching his cute face relax and his eyes drift off into sleep, seeing his breath calm, the anxiety leave his eyes, and him focusing in on her and only her.

Arslan also liked his muscles. Alot.

Taking the chance to feel through the thick, accursed hoodie he wore, to get a good feel of his budding, but firm muscle. She could hardly wait to feel how big they would get.

Rising off Jaune, somewhat hesitantly, she flipped him on his back with a thud, and confused ‘what?’ from Jaune, before she sat on lower back, and worked her down his back.

Any defiance from him disappearing under her hands.

----

Jaune wouldn’t be lying saying he was nervous, seeing Arslan laying on her stomach, in only shorts and bandages, but he’d like to think he was nothing, if not a trooper, and he would accept this fate before him.

Settling over her, putting his knee on either side of her, hovering over her back, he spoke softly. “You ok, with me starting?”

Arslan nodded with a sharp, ‘yes,’

Taking a deep breath, Jaune steeled himself, Arslan was trusting him with this, he wouldn’t mess this up. If she was going out of her way to help him, he would repay her back tenfold! And no dirty thoughts, this was all for her!

Ok, maybe a couple.

Jaune rested his large hands on Arslan’s shoulder blades, his style different her, in massaging the body.

The lion-like huntress realized, as despite him being larger, he was very gentle in how he touched her back, gently and firmly rubbing circles into her muscles, and they were very warm to her.

Skilled too, he had done this before, not as technical as her, but far more experienced, hitting and targeting her sore spots like a pro.

This was a good idea, she idly realized, even if it had started as haste plan to keep him from leaving so soon.

Jaune hardly even realized his girl was melting into his hands until he heard a soft hum from her.

She looked half-way to sleep, but her melody was a sound he wish he could hear all day.

Redoubling his efforts, Jaune got to massaging her shoulders and arms.

----

“We’ll do this after sparring from now on.” Ars told him bluntly.

Jaune nodded. “No complaints from me.”

He looked at the outside window somewhat sadly, he had to get back to his team, and he noticed Ars doing the same.

“Alright, we need to go do leader-stuff, and I got to train with Pyrrha, see you tomorrow?” Jaune smiled at her.

Arslan nodded firmly. “I will find you,”

“Nah, I’ll find you first.”

Arslan nodded. “Let the better hunter win then.”

“Uh, ok, then.” A burst of courage hit Jaune, as he pulled Arslan into a hug. “I’ll look forward to it.”

The gold-haired girl’s eyes went wide and she stilled, and Jaune almost let go, but choose to hold to her.

His efforts rewarded as she pulled his collar down, and gave him a wet kiss on the cheek.

Jaune felt a sharp burst of joy at the sensation.

Then Ars bursted out of his arms and disappeared, looking to almost be steaming in embarrestment.

Jaune craddle his cheek, and walked off with a dumb-struck look on his face.

#Jaune Arc #arslan altan #jaune x arslan #Lionheart