#(But seriously can we talk about how BOTH OF THEM use this method and the emotions Hiro probably went through in a SPLIT SECOND)

[3hks]

How to Avoid "Talking to The Reader"

A lot of people will often tell you to avoid talking to the reader, but why? How? And what does it mean? "Talking to the reader" is a technique used by an author when they want to specifically address the reader directly. Depending on your writing level and style, there could be several drawbacks to using this, such as a sense of informality and sudden awkwardness. However, I'm not saying that you shouldn't talk to the reader, because how you write is ultimately up to you!

But if you're genuinely looking for some tips on how to avoid talking to the reader, then I absolutely got you! As both a frequent reader and writer, I have advice based on experience and knowledge! These simple tips can seriously elevate your writing (especially if you're pretty new), or at the very least, make you aware of certain things and offer new ideas!

Replacing the 'you' with...

A VERY common factor in talking to the reader is using the word 'you' to reach out to your reader (dialogue from characters don't count). Although you should avoid this when you're trying not to talk to the reader, there is something behind it. Majority of the time, we include this word in a story when asking a rhetorical question. This creates a certain effect that reaches out to the reader while making them think, which can't be exactly duplicated.

Okay, so how do we fix this? Well, my advice is to simply replace 'you' with the word 'one'! Let's go a bit into depth, shall we? When dealing with a rhetorical question, the first step is to rephrase and reform the inquiry into a statement that answers what you're asking. Remember that this is a rhetorical question, meaning that there IS technically a right answer that you're looking for! Next, remove the 'you' and slap the 'one' on top of it! The replace-you-with-one method also works when you're not including it in a question, but instead a statement! Let's look into some examples, shall we?

Prompt: A lot of people will often tell you to avoid talking to the reader, but why?

Let's examine this example that I took from the top of this post, shall we? While this sentence is indeed in the format of the question, I am not directly asking you to give me an answer and there isn't really just one right answer. So how do we fix this? Replace 'you' with 'one' and boom! Done!

Fixed: A lot of people will often tell one to avoid talking to the reader, but why?

Alright, how about a much more direct question?

Prompt: The king's way of ruling was incredibly biased and unfair, wouldn't you agree?

For this prompt, we can see that 'you' is in "wouldn't you agree?" so it's pretty clear that we are seeking for an answer from the reader. In this type of context, the answer is almost always "yes," so we will have to take the longer route of rewording the sentence.

Fixed: The king's way of ruling was incredibly biased and unfair, one might argue.

As you can see, the phrase "wouldn't you agree" got altered into "one might argue." Why did I choose this? Well for starters, the sentence is now a statement, not a question, and it does indirectly answer our questions of "wouldn't you agree?" because it distinctly demonstrates that they agree with the opinion that the king's rule was unjust. Now, why did I choose "might argue"? Our previous question may have been rhetorical, but not everyone is going to say "yes, the king was unfair," so adding "might" and "argue" helps include the fact that it is indeed, an opinion!

Now that we have gotten the 'you' part out of our system, let's talk about another thing that can really help you improve on your writing (while avoiding talking to the reader)!

Stop Using...

Stop starting the sentences with "he/she is or has" (including past forms) when describing someone. I can safely say with first-hand experience that repetitive use of the sentence starter can feel a bit unnatural and too straightforward. In other words, you can most definitely do better!

When writing one's attributes, instead of starting with "he is" or "she is," try starting out with a possessive form of the pronoun, such as "his" or "her"! After that, it'll work itself out; let's look at an example to clarify!

Prompt: She had long, luscious, brown hair that fell over her shoulders in waves.

Fixed: Her long, luscious, brown hair fell over her shoulder in waves.

Simple, right? There may seem to be hardly any change, but this can seriously improve your writing when used correctly! Of course, continuous use of "his," "her," or "their" will also sound repetitive, but it's a good place to start! As experience follows, you'll get the hang of creating more varied sentence styles! Let's look at an example!

Prompt: He was new to the school. He didn't know how to interact with those his age because he was homeschooled his whole life. He was nervous even when thinking about his classmates and didn't know how he was going to survive.

Does it sound choppy? Too direct? Let's fix that!

Fixed: He was new to the school. Having been homeschooled his whole life, he struggled to interact with those his age, and even thinking about his classmates made him anxious. He had no idea on how he was going to survive.

Look at the second sentence; that's the most major change. As I combined a few different parts of the other sentences and rearranged them, it should seem much smoother now!

Be creative with how to form your sentences--that's all there really is to it! Experience will be your biggest guide and best friend when it comes to this!

Did this help? Keep in mind that my advice won't work with every sentence because a lot of it mainly depends on context! Happy Easter Sunday!

Happy writing~

3hks :)

#writing #writeblr #writerscommunity #writing tips #creative writing #writing advice #writing inspo #how to not talk to the reader #avoiding talking to the reader #avoid being too direct #talking to the reader #tips on avoiding talking to the reader #tips on not talking to the reader #advice on avoiding talking to the reader #advice on not talking to the reader #thank you

[gretavanlace]

Valtava

Josh Kiszka x reader

18+ only! Minors do not interact!

Warnings: graphic sexual content, unprotected sex, pain during sex (this is handled gently and lovingly) language, dirty talk, etc.

Everyone thank our dear @jake-kiszkas-smirk for the scene where his head is resting on her stomach. I’ll say no more to avoid spoiling it, but it’s delicious and it was her idea that she so kindly left in my hands. Thank you, you filthy genius, you. I love you madly. Also, I no longer remember who to credit for this pic of Josh, it’s been in my camera roll so long. But I couldn’t not use it for this…that’s dangerously close to sacrilege.

“This scene right here,” Josh speaks over Ray Liotta’s musings, one arm stretched across the back of his couch, the other bent to stroke his thumb along your jawline, absently “This is where Scorsese really stretches his wings. Here we are, watching the heinous discovery of murder after murder while Layla, a song about love and lust, lulls us. We feel both safe and shaky.”

His fingers now wind through your hair, relaxed and warm, with your head in his lap. “I think it serves as a reminder that even ugly can dip its toe into the waters of beautiful, if you squint hard enough.”

He pauses and talks over his own stream of thoughts, “Well, most ugly things, anyway. Someone saw these murders as a necessary evil. Something to ensure the world they had built for themselves, for their families, stayed clean. Someone went home and slept a little easier knowing there was one less heart beating out there ready to turn state's witness on them.”

You nod and hope for him to keep going. The way his mind works fascinates you, as does the unique lilt of his tone, and the excitement that sharpens his gaze when he is ruminating on something that really spins the wheel for the hamster in his brain.

Catering to your unspoken wish, he carries on, “And maybe even the victims were in on the method to the madness, y’know? They chose the life they chose, they understood how quickly loyalty and love can shape- shift into survival and self preservation. Layla helps the audience understand. It marries the beauty and the bloodshed for the people in the seats.” he shakes his head in wonder. “It’s fucking genius.”

“Thought your brother was the big Marty fan?” You ask, studying the perfect cupid's bow of his lips from below.

“Jake?” His eyes are on the screen, but his focus is on you. “Tarantino. I dig the use of his nickname, though. Marty. It makes it seem as if you have him over for dinner regularly.”

“Maybe I do.” You tease.

You earn a smile, but still not his gaze. “And what do you serve?”

Adopting a tone of nonchalance, you shrug, “Usually, we make love until dawn and then share cold spaghettiOs right out of the can.”

“Ah,” He nods seriously, “the opulence. It’s all very grand.”

A comfortable silence wraps itself around you both until you have a thought that pokes to be shared.

“Do you suppose Scorsese might have chosen Layla because of the double-edged sword it also happens to be as a piece? Since Clapton wrote it about his best friend's wife?” You feel a blush heat your cheeks, and immediately wish you hadn’t contributed. He knows so much about film and you know so little.

True to Joshua-form, however, he hushes your unease effortlessly. “Shit! I’d never even considered that. The beauty for Clapton was the ugly for Harrison. God, I’m so in love with the way your mind sees everything that’s invisible to mine.”

I’m so in love with…

He means the ideas in your head, the quiet corners of your thoughts, but it quickens your heart and nudges the butterflies in your stomach to life, nonetheless.

So, you pull yourself up, a thigh nestled on either side of his waist in the blink of a breath.

“Hi.” You long for the timid smile dancing shyly on your lips to morph into something sultry. Something sexy. Something that might flicker the darkened flame, that hides down deep in his belly, to life.”

“Hi.” He grins back, allowing you to wiggle around until you’re comfy in his lap. “If Goodfellas is boring you, I stand zero chance of keeping you entertained, baby love.”

Your fingers worry over the beads looped around his neck and then twist into the soft pink linen of his shirt, finally coming to rest at the button fastened nearest to his throat. Your eyes travel over him, hungry to soak him in. To tuck this image of Josh, so quietly content with you perched above him, away in your heart…a pretty picture to revisit when he inevitably becomes a memory.

What is he thinking? That question seems to occupy your mind more often than any other. He is an enigma. A mystery parading as wide open sunshine.

Intrusive thoughts, cruel and unrelenting, silently bully you. You’ve become quite adept at ignoring them over the years, opting for at least some semblance of normalcy in your quest for a happy, healthy life. Whatever that means.

But these thoughts in particular are cloaked in far too much truth…too many signs pointing to the worst being the obvious…to be easily disregarded.

You want to say these things to him. If only to bask in the assurance you might catch in his reply. But to risk the absence of said reassurance, is a feat too great.

Instead, you begin a tentative roll of your hips as you lean in close to meet his pillowy lips with your own. He tastes of mint, and the IPA he has been nursing, and Josh.

Like always, he indulges the kiss, but stills your hips, and you long to vanish into thin air, leaving nothing more than a coiling wisp of smoke in your wake. The rejection comes with a throbbing ache in your chest. Is your heart truly breaking? Now you’ll be forced to offer it to him in pieces.

And he isn’t the only one to indulge in old habits, because, also like always, you crawl into the safe embrace of humor. “You’re right, Joshua…you’re boring me. Back to the brilliant mind of Marty, my beloved.”

You slide off of him and stretch back out on the couch, focusing on the screen to hide your tear glossed eyes as he gets comfortable behind you.

“Scorsese, you bastard,” he shakes his fist in mock indignation, “how dare you steal the affections of my woman?”

A forced laugh comes out sounding a little too close to a sob. You play it off as best you can. Nothin’ to see here.

Alas, he catches it. And, of course, he won’t leave it alone, though you certainly ask him too.

“What is it, baby? What’s wrong?” He turns you toward him, hovering over you as you lie on your back and long to melt away. “Talk to me.”

“I just— I mean,” death seems of great comfort. “Is it me? Do you not… are you not… am I not pretty enough? Or sexy enough? Or… I don’t know,”

A frown of deep concern furrows his brow as his palms move to cup your face, “What? Are you not…Jesus, baby, of course you are. Fuck, if anything you’re too much. Too pretty, too sweet, too smart, too sexy.”

Your words come quiet and small, quivering with painful vulnerability “Then why?” You close your eyes, and thankfully, he allows you to hide this way.

Exactly what you knew would happen, happens. He lies without lying. “Why, what?” He sounds of feigned confusion. He knows what you mean.

Throat now constricted and pulsing with a wringing pain, you close your eyes tighter, unwilling to bear witness to whatever lie will follow his last. “Why don’t you want me?”

A tear breaches the dam you had hoped was impenetrable. You loathe and curse it.

“Hey, shhh…don’t do that. Don’t cry.” He brushes the tear away and then kisses over the path it took.

“Don’t cry?” You snap. A twinge of regret flares to life within you. You’ve never spoken to him unkindly, and could it be that there’s no going back? Perhaps this is it; the end of the road you’ve been heading inevitably for.

To your great surprise, he laughs. You crack an eyelid open to find it sincere. “So, she’s capable of something other than sugar, spice, and everything nice, after all.”

His hand smooths down your chest - can he feel the violent rattle of your heart as it thrums and beats out of control?

When at last he speaks, there is an edge to his tone you’ve never heard before. It warms you clear through to your curling toes “You think I don’t want you?”

You shrug, all pink cheeks and complete ineloquence.

“Well,” he soothes, drawing gentle patterns upon your temple and forehead, “you should know, that is far from the case.”

But, rather than take the moment further, as he so easily could, as you so desperately want him to, he sinks into an innocent position - resting his cheek on your stomach as you struggle to keep it from rising and falling too rapidly, his eyes, once more, on the screen.

The film drones on; mafia murders and cocaine swirling down flushed toilets. Betrayal and 20/20 hindsight…

…and on you watch, on the surface - in reality, you can think of nothing else other than the weight of his head on your stomach.

There is a dull ache there, inside you, gripping at every nerve ending all at once. He knows what you want, and he very obviously doesn’t want the same thing. He doesn’t want you.

He speaks first, and there’s too much truth in it. He knows you too well. “I need you to stop that.”

“Stop what?” You stupidly offer a tiny shrug, but for what? He isn’t even looking at you.

“Your walls, I can feel you stacking bricks. Stop, or I’ll take a wrecking ball to them.” he pets over your forearm comfortingly. It doesn’t help.

“Alright, Miley,” you toss the joke out like a life preserver for yourself. “Just don’t start licking sledgehammers and we’ll be alright.”

He gives you the softest laugh. It more closely resembles a sigh, “Is it only sledgehammers that you are opposed to me licking?”

Oh.

When he coolly pushes your shirt up and begins dragging his lips, licked slick and warm, around your belly button, you think you might burst into tiny, burning, longing, pieces. God, how you want him.

“You like that, baby love?” He speaks the words melodically into the room like a lullaby, hushed as a priest absolving you of your sins in a darkened confessional.

A whiny hum is all you seem capable of, but it doesn’t look like it matters much to him.

“Yeah?” He’s teasing now, and you think it might kill you. Your hips begin a barely perceptible rock in response. “Can I touch you, sweetheart? Do you want that?”

“Josh, please,” his name is less than a whisper. It’s a plea gasped into the dark, dancing with the flickering glow of the tv as it blinks and changes like lightning.

The warmth of his hand between them causes your thighs to twitch and tremble, but he hovers just above making actual contact. “God, look at you. How could you ever doubt how much I want you? So pretty. Can I touch you here, baby? My pretty, pretty girl.”

With a soft moan, you lift your hips, pressing into his palm. He doesn’t push for words, your body has given him all the consent he needs, and the want in your eyes reiterates.

His mouth is wandering your soft, flushed, stomach as he slides your pants away, gentle and sure, the tip of his tongue bridging the distance between his kisses.

Your hands weave down into his wild curls, comforted by the way they wrap themselves into your touch, spiraling around your fingers as you tug at them and tenderly scratch over his scalp. A particularly sweet drag brings a shiver to life on his shoulders. He groans in appreciation and runs away with another piece of your heart.

“Oh, fuck,” you murmur, surprised and grateful, when at last, he sinks a single finger into your warmth.

Should you at least have the decency to feel shy about the sound it makes? About the way you must be soaking his skin? Perhaps. But you don’t, and judging by the curse he secrets into the still of the night, there isn’t any reason to.

“Does that feel good?” He isn’t taunting you, it’s a genuine question, but there is a hint of a teasing tone there as well, peeking out from around the edges of his words and you think it might just be the sexiest thing you’ve ever heard.

“So good.” You’re whining and writhing beneath him, tiny pouty huffs of breath tumbling off your lips over and over…but you don’t care about that either.

His finger slips out and you mourn it pitifully, until it swirls around your swollen clit, tearing a shaking cry out of your chest. And then, there it is again, filling you as his thumb begins a slick trail of tight circles just right.

“You want more?” Oh god…the way he sounds, the way you feel. He’s setting you further and further on fire with his gentle, decadent, prodding. With his breathy, gingerly obscene questions. Flames - scorching and crackling - lick up inside you. Incinerating as they consume.

“More?” He asks again, rasping the word, wantonly urging you on.

“Yes!” You nod frantically, spreading your legs further. You want him, need him, so badly…coveting the very breath in his lungs for its privilege of being inside him in a way you’ll never know. You long to trickle down into his pores and vanish.

A second finger - they feel longer than they have ever looked - joins the first and then begins a perfect, guiding, curl.

Tucking into that perfect place inside you, he fucks the pads of his fingers against it ever so carefully. Gently spinning your head in every direction.

He rests against your belly as the muscles inside churn and flex beneath his ear, watching intently as his hand fucks away at you. He wonders what it might be like to stretch you to almost breaking. How it would feel to push another finger inside, and then another, and another. When would you tell him to stop? Three? Four? Could you take that burning stretch? Would you relish it and ask for more? Fuck, he hopes so.

But you feel so tight around him…just two fingers full and you’re squeezing like you’ll never let go. He worries, and the pounding pulse of neglect that aches rhythmically in his cock, reminds him that he worries rightly so.

He has always believed you to be the most beautiful thing his eyes have ever had the pleasure of landing upon, but he’s never seen you like this - spread open, soaked and puffy with want. With need…for him. It doesn’t seem possible.

The way you move…fluidly, like ripples chasing over the surface of a placid lake, urging him along with your body. Your gorgeous cunt sucking his fingers in. A goddess, a beckoning siren, an angel…he can’t look away.

Can’t until he hears it, until he feels it, how close you are. Wild, frothing, horses couldn’t keep him from the gift of watching your face as you fall apart. An army of men wouldn’t stand a chance. He wants this moment with you, and he will have it. He wants to make you cum, and he wants to watch your eyes go blurry with it, and so watch he will.

“C’mon, baby…” he goes breathless when his face tilts up to meet yours. You are flushed and panting, lips parted. The soft pink of your tongue just barely visible, blushing like saltwater taffy in your mouth and he wants to lick against it, wants to taste you.

The smallest blips of a sound he can’t describe chase each other out of that beautiful mouth he wants to kiss so badly. Tiny uh’s that shift into gasps of desperation. You’re right there, and he wants it more than you do.

With his bottom lip caught between his teeth, he eases his chin into the softness just below your navel, creating a delicious pressure, and crooks his finger so perfectly, pressing and stroking until it feels like you’re floating and the only thing holding you in place is him.

It is celestial. He is every constellation and you are the astronomer, feet held to the ground by gravity, eye pressed against a telescopic lens hopefully, frantic for a glimpse of his wonder.

There is only Josh.

“Almost there, pretty girl,” he nods, gaze glossed with lust and something that looks like love. “You gonna give it to me?”

You are. You’re going to give it to him. You couldn’t stop it now if you tried. Fluttering walls trap him inside you as his stare fixes, unmoving and heated, with yours.

“That’s it, baby love, that’s it.” He urges you on, leads you deeper and deeper, those long, warm, perfect, fingers working you like he’s been there a thousand times before. “Shh, you’re alright. I’m right here, just breathe for me.”

That’s all it takes for you to realize your lungs are burning for a breath you’ve been unknowingly denying them - and with that hissing, hungry, gasp for air, you explode under him.

He watches, mezmorized, as your eyes roll back, teeth clenched like some ethereal, feral creature. It bursts out of you, clear and shimmering, like liquid diamonds, but you don’t know it yet, he can tell…you’re too far gone, and he fucking loves it. He fucking loves you.

He has said it aloud. I love you, sweetheart. I love you so much. I love you.

But that’s the thing that he doesn’t know yet because he’s also too far gone.

You’re quiet, gentle. Sweet, whining whimpers floating out of you as you vibrate and spill.

On your end, you hear the confession of how deeply his feelings run, but you don’t register…it will settle in later and you’ll weep for not saying it back. Though you don’t need to, he knows.

Once you’ve settled, he pushes up until you are eye to eye, lapping your release off his fingers. You’re sweet enough to lick off a whisk like cake batter, and he tells you so…but you can focus on nothing but the shining glint of you that he wears so well.

Shocked by the sheer amount, you blush hard and hot. Burning brighter still when it drips from his hand and lands on your lip. In an act you don’t seem aware of, you lick it away like a raindrop. The very sight of it, the somehow still innocent depravity, weakens him until he is forced to swallow a whine.

“Had I known what I was missing,” he grins lazily, “I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself.”

The confusion sends you crashing back to reality.

“But why stop yourself at all?” Your eyes are so wide and clear. It makes him want to gather you up and keep you safe.

Once more, it crosses his mind that you’re an angel. He wonders where your wings have gone.

“Because, I—“ he falters, shaking his head as if he might rattle his thoughts into place. Finally, he opts to show, not tell, pressing his hips against yours so you can feel him.

And feel him, you do, but only for a moment. He’s so hard you’re cozy from the heat of it through the sweats he was lounging in when you arrived.

You’ve noticed. Of course you have. You’ve stolen a glance or two when he wasn’t looking. How could you not? You’d just always thought, and not to be crass, you’d always just assumed he was a shower, rather than a grower.

Now you aren’t so certain. He felt massive during the short amount of time he was rocking into you.

“You’re thinking very hard, baby love.” He smiles down at you. “Are those thoughts in my favor, or…?”

He trails off and awaits your answer with that Josh-like patience. Rather than speaking, you curl your hands around the waistband of his pants and then cast your eyes up, in silent question.

Nodding the go ahead, he continues watching you closely…studying your reaction as you tug him free.

“Oh, fuck,” the expletive sighs out of you as the tip of his cock - leaking, angry and swollen - slaps up, well above his belly button, with a solid thump.

He’s big. So big. Long and thick, beautifully shaped. Blushing pink at the head, and visibly pulsing under your awestruck scrutiny. You absently wonder how he isn’t light-headed for the amount of blood it must require to bring him to such full attention.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.” He explains softly, finally letting you in on the secret of why he’s been so skittish, “And I didn’t want to…”

His confession loses traction as he watches your mouth rather than meeting your gaze.

Your palms reach for him, cupping his angelic face with as much gentleness as the renewed desire racing through your veins will allow. “You didn’t want to what?”

While he searches for the words, you curl your thighs around him and pull him in, moaning out his name like a mantra when you feel him against you, skin to skin.

“God damn, baby…” he rocks his hips closer to yours and then remembers what he’s doing. “I didn’t want to scare you. And I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“Yeah, you said that.” You tease, trying to lighten the heavy load of his anxiety.

“I know.” His mouth meets yours, searching out a slow, needful kiss. “But I kept imagining hurting you, and you being too sweet to say so. I’m still imagining it.”

Your tongue licks into his mouth as you wrap your fist around him. “Look at you, Josh,” you smile shyly through a kiss that is anything but shy. “My fingers don’t even touch.”

“Grew up under some power lines.” He teases, relaxing as he pecks along your jaw.

“I want you inside me.” You sound despondent, and feel just as forlorn, the look in his eye warns you may have a fight on your hands.

“Pretty girl,” he tucks himself away and begins kissing a slow, serpentine trail down your body after he flutters your shirt, indicating he wants it off. “I could barely get two fingers in your sweet little pussy. Why don’t you just let me kiss it? Don’t you want to cum on my tongue, hmm? Won’t that feel nice?”

Such filth is a captivating development, and one you like very much…but, you stop him all the same. Grabbing him by the hair with enough force to tilt his head back, pulling his mouth away from your straining nipple, you issue a demand you intend to make sure he fulfills, “I said, inside, Joshua.”

He raises an eyebrow and suppresses a grin of dirty glee. “Joshua?”

Ignoring him, you watch as he licks the pad of his thumb and then arch away from the cushion when he begins a steady, swirling journey over your clit with it. “Gonna make you cum first, love. Again and again. I’m gonna baby this gorgeous cunt until my name is the only word you want in your mouth…and then I want you to fill my mouth.”

“Jesus, Josh…” you’ve never wanted anything more, but you can hardly force the words out to convey just how fucking agreeable you are.

“You want that?” He flicks over you faster and faster, indulging in your pouty, needy cries, praying they never end. “You want to cum in my mouth? Feed me something sweet?”

~

“Easy, baby love,” he coos, whispering to you like you’re a tiny, broken bird, fallen from the nest and afraid. “You’ve got to relax a little more for me.”

“Yeah…” you nod, staring up at him as if he painted your entire world into existence. And maybe he did.

No longer able to count the number of orgasms he’s gifted you with, you feel like liquid silk. Or clay in his palm, happy to be molded to his liking.

“Yeah?” He drops a kiss onto your forehead and pushes in just a hint further, eyes darting up when you hiss with discomfort.

You offer a smile for him to continue and he returns it gently, but the way he’s fighting for breath betrays him. He wants you badly, he’s going slowly mad with the need to bury into your body to the hilt.

His fingertips skate a ticklish trail down the curve of your waist and then grip into your thigh, spreading you open a bit wider.

Both bare now completely to each other for the first time, you’ve given yourself over right there on the couch. The room is silent, save for hushed words and choked breaths twisting languidly through the air, the movie long since over.

He’d wanted to carry you off to the bedroom, but you refused.

You want him here. You want him now.

Palm cradling the back of your head, he brings you forward until your mouth is sucking at his shoulder. “Just like that, sweetheart. Good girl.” His praise flips your stomach. A violent somersault of carnal need. “You just suck and bite all you want. I’m gonna take care of you. You know that, don’t you?”

Nodding urgently against him, you’re far too interested in the marks you're leaving against his overheated skin.

“Words for me, okay?” He coaxes so gently it makes your chest ache.

“You’re going to take care of me.” You mumble through a long lick along his collarbone.

Without reply, he slides in deeper, yet still not much more than the tip rests inside you.

A shocked cry escapes you before you can stifle it and his face snaps up, searching your own for tells of pain that he doesn’t have to look all that closely for. “Baby,” the pet name sings out of him, a soft crooning apology. “Let’s stop, I…”

“No, please!’ The frantic want bubbling up inside you colors your voice and surprises you both, but he masks it well.

“Hush, love. No one’s stopping yet.” he soothes, massaging your hip carefully. Just wisps of touch, but you relax beneath it like a sleepy babe cradled up snug and safe.

You’re not fond of that ‘yet’ he tacked on to the end of his promise.

“Deeper.” Your hips lift, forcing his hand while you gulp down another sound of discomfort.

“Don’t.” His grip is suddenly digging into your waist, no longer careful, but swift and insistent instead. “Let me take my time. Let me be gentle. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He’s right, and you tell him as much as he begins a slow, stuttering journey. Starting and stopping as you writhe with impatience and uncomfortability in his capable hands.

Reaching up, he guides your fingers down until they brush over your sensitive clit. “You take care of this for me, okay, baby? Help me make this easier for my pretty girl…I can’t stand the thought of hurting you.”

“Please, Josh…” you sound a mess, and who gives a damn? “Please!”

You’re right, it’s time. He knows it better than you do. He can wait no more. There isn’t far to go anyway.

Suddenly, with one firm thrust, he drives in all the way to the base, shuddering as you coil around him like a hot, wet, fist. Squeezing harder and tighter and fuck….

“So fucking tight.” He is trembling, fighting the urge to let go already. “It’s like you don’t want to let me go. Pussy so pretty and soft. Like the sweetest thing all dressed in pink. Aren’t you fucking gorgeous?”

Your eyes drift closed, breathing through the last remnants of the biting sting. You’re so full, it feels so good. So right. So completely perfect, you cannot begin to fathom how you’ve lived all these years without him inside you.

“Say it.” He sounds like an angel clawing his way closer and closer to something he can’t survive without any longer.

“What?”

“Tell me you’re gorgeous.” He’s fucking you faster now…and it stings, but it hurts so good you want to feel the burn forever. “Say you’re my beautiful girl. Come on, I wanna know that you know.”

“I—“ your face flares as pink as the cunt he’s currently locked inside

“That’s it, baby love…” he coaxes, pumping into you with long, torturous strokes. “C’mon,”

A little less tentative now - he effortlessly makes you believe - the words finally come “I’m gorgeous.”

He smiles so wide his nose crinkles as he nods and dips his lips to meet your own. “Fuck yes you are. My pretty girl. You’re doing so well, look at you. Just taking and taking and taking me.”

Pulling you up and away from the pillow gently, he guides your line of sight to the sinful image of him gliding in and out of you. His cock, glistening and covered in your unbridled desire - it catches the light and steals your heart. Is it possible to be in love with a cock? Or are you just in love with the man who wields it?

Both. Most definitely, both.

“Look, baby, look…” a quivering huff escapes him. “It’s like coming home. Being inside you is like coming fucking home.”

“Harder,” you beg, winded and lost. He feels so good inside you. Stretched further than you ever thought possible around him, you clench and twist a fist into the throw pillow beneath you until your fingernails threaten to rip it open.

“Just…fuck,” his pretty face buries itself in the crook of your neck with a whimper as he falters. “Just a little.”

The room is hazy and blurred, filled with sounds neither of you can seem to quiet. Each moan and breath filling your head up until you feel feverish. Every groan and gasp pushing him closer and closer to the edge.

Your bodies meet in a sweat glazed dance that causes your teeth to grit together - biting down hard to suppress a scream that he might confuse with pain.

He tucks his own teeth into your throat deeply, growling out a melodic sound that sets you on fire, when the salt of your skin hits his tongue.

A shaky, “I’m gonna cum, baby love…where, baby, where?” Pants out of him with a desperate urgency the moment he releases your skin from his bite.

“Inside…” you plead, clawing at his waist as your thighs lock him in close. “Cum inside me…c’mon. Please,”

“Pretty girl begging for my cum. Begging me to ruin this beautiful little cunt…” he sounds as if he’s talking to himself, like he’s trying to convince himself that you’re real.

“Ruin it, baby,” your palms drift up his back, slow and steady…urging him along gently. “Ruin me.”

A sound so exquisitely angelic rumbles up out of his chest. Deep and primal, but somehow gentle and submissive, like he wants to fall at your feet in veneration of something holy and ancient.

He falls against you, pulling you as close as he can get you, and then draws the scent of your hair in only to feel that much closer. Rocking into you as he slowly comes down and finds himself.

Gathering you in his arms, he lifts you away from the disheveled couch, ignoring you when you protest weakly that you can walk.

A bath is drawn and laced with plain epsom salt to soothe your throbbing muscles. He slips into the steaming water behind you, cradling you as he drags a washcloth over your skin.

Quiet verses of a song you’ve never heard are whispered in your ear as you drift into a light slumber without worry, confident that he will keep your head safe above water.

Taglist: @gretasintrees @greta-van-chaos @celestialfauna @s0livagant @groggyvanfleet @kiszkathecook @brokenbellz @llightmyllovee @doodle417 @seventieswhore @jake-kiszkas-smirk @weightofdreams-gvf @imdepressedaf1996 @alisonwonderland29 @gretavanfleas @gretavangroove @sparrowofthedawn @xserenax-13 @tbagggvf @obetrolncocktails @tripthelightjaketastic @jakeslovehandles @poofyloofy @70sgroupielovr @heatmyfleet @age-of-nyahh @sammiboo162 @spicedandicedtea @jakekiszkasleftnutsack @saoirsemaeve @mywickeddivinity @paintmyhouse @tripthelightfandomtastic @tripthelight-fanfic @mckenna4 @sarakay-gvf @thelvnternskeeper @theweightofjake @joshsmama @sammysvanfeet @rhythm-of-space @highladyofasgard @calumspretty @sunfl0wer-power @sad1lynn

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet fic #greta van fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet smut #greta van smut #gvf fic #josh kiszka #fanfic #gvf josh #josh kiszka fanfiction #josh kiszka fic #josh kiszka smut #josh kiskza fanfic #josh gvf #smut

[overleftdown]

farleigh start and racism; oh boy.

(some people are going to find this post really annoying. some people are like felix catton.)

read this.

just some thoughts from the perspective of a person of color who is slightly too obsessed with this character. this movie leaves the viewer a lot of wiggle room to interpret how dynamics such as race and privilege come into play. there are certain parallels between this movie and the real world, and how unnoticeable white privilege tends to be for white people.

lemme lay some groundwork. from what i understand, the most prevalent form of racism and white privilege within upper- and middle-class circles is implicit bias. this is racist conceptualization that subconsciously interacts with one's perception of society and people. implicit bias is often externalized through microaggressions, differences in treatment and language towards a marginalized person, misplaced guilt or pity, and persistent denial of any existing privilege or marginalization. most of these biases are also founded on stereotypes. some racial stereotypes are heightening (e.g. asians are all smart) and some are lowering (e.g. black people are all lazy). all stereotypes are harmful. i'm going to discuss some of the stereotypes that could theoretically interact within the saltburn canon, as well as some things i've noticed within viewers. can of worms, to be honest. boutta get INTO IT.

to use one of my externalization examples, let's discuss (or, more accurately, let me discuss) the denial of existing privilege or marginalization. this is a subconscious way to uphold a sense of morality, effectively avoiding "white guilt," so to speak. as is clearly presented to us, the cattons are very attached to their methods of upholding their own self-righteousness. saviorism is a common theme within both elspeth and felix. in oliver's conversation with elspeth about poor dear pamela, you can see that oliver recognizes elspeth's need to justify her actions in an attempt to preserve her sense of decency. one can only assume that this applies to how they view farleigh's relationship with them. there's more to talk about there, but i'd like to start with the only overt mention of race in this movie.

in felix's confrontation with farleigh, farleigh makes the bold and brave decision to mention his blackness. i call this brave because it's genuinely a terrifying thing to do, and the end of this conversation is proof. "oh, that is... that is low, farleigh. seriously, that's where you want to take this? make it a race thing? i never know our footman's names; the turnover for a footman is notoriously high!" we have felix's intentional or unintentional shaming of farleigh. we have felix's appalled denial of any involvement of race or racial bias. we have felix's diversion away from farleigh specifically and onto his own inability to know his staff's names. felix made no further attempt to recenter farleigh, aside from telling him that the cattons have "done what they can." (which is SO absurd on its own. they are clearly and obviously able to do more. they are disgustingly rich). farleigh does feel ashamed after felix's response; you can see it on his face, and archie says it directly. here is a relevant and prevalent stereotype for all marginalized people: that the discussion of marginalization is exclusively weaponized to gain something or manipulate a situation. this is how felix chooses to see farleigh's implication of existing white privilege. this conversation results in nothing, does nothing, as felix chooses not to confront what he's probably thinking as he repeats the words "begging bowl" to venetia.

now. saviorism, guilt, and pity. felix specifically tells oliver that sir james made an effort to support farleigh out of guilt. i'd like to order some things in a way that i perceive them. frederica start runs from england, which is explained in a condescending way by felix. frederica start marries a so-referred-to "lunatic" who dug through fred and jame's money, although it's farleigh who only mentions fred's financial irresponsibility. out of guilt, james offers to pay for farleigh's education. the specificity of education is compelling to me. perhaps james is simply a patriotic man who strongly believes that english education is better. or this is a mobilized racial stereotype! who can truly know. i digress. james' offer to pay for farleigh's foreign education puts the cattons in an odd position; if farleigh is to attend english schools, he will need to stay with the cattons. if farleigh is staying with the cattons, he will need to be treated as equal to felix and venetia. this is all one long chain of obligations. none of these acts from one family member to another should be considered "charitable," because family should intrinsically create a trustworthy and supportive dynamic.

i believe that the cattons do consider their fostering of farleigh as obligatory. moral obligation, as they recognize that families are intended to have a sympathetic and loving relationship. they cannot, however, escape the truth that they're just guilty. the "begging bowl" and "biting the hand" are more symbolic of a starving dog and its charitable adopter than a cousin/nephew who's staying with his absurdly rich family. see, the cattons are fully and entirely capable of affording another child, of supporting frederica financially, etc. the only way i can rationalize their reluctance to do so is by assuming that they don't feel like farleigh deserves it. is this a crazy assumption? i genuinely don't see why else. of course, i don't think this mentality is explicit or conscious. it's more-so the reality that when farleigh walks in a room, he's not the same as anybody else. aside from background characters at oxbridge, the only on-screen black people are liam, joshua, and james' godson's wife (who gets degraded on-screen). this is the reality of being different in an environment such as the english aristocracy. the cattons choose to see themselves as the hand that feeds the less fortunate, more entertaining, and least inconvenient. the cattons' inclusion of farleigh is not only reliant on how well farleigh performs, but also on their own pity and guilt.

all of this is somehow, painfully mirrored by some takes i've seen on farleigh. maybe this entire post is presumptuous, but you know what isn't presumptuous? saying that certain people hold farleigh to an incredibly odd standard. while the cattons never canonically said anything along the lines of "farleigh doesn't deserve our love and support," mfs on the internet have. the number of times people have referred to this character as greedy, lazy, petty, and malignant is so odd to me. i'm insane, i know. i just don't understand how people can hold farleigh to the backdrop of an english aristocratic family and so passionately say that he, of all characters, is the most detestable. or that he, of all characters, has no reason to behave in the way he does.

is farleigh greedy? greed is defined as a desire for more. farleigh has no desire to climb ranks, no desire to replace or surpass felix, no desire to hold any power over any family member. he is maintaining, upholding a standard that has been set for him throughout his life. is it kind or selfless of him to meddle in other people's affairs with the cattons? no. does he have a reason to be upset that non-relatives of the cattons are a threat to his inclusion in the first place? yes. is farleigh lazy? i don't even need to explain this one. no. if you don't consider oliver lazy, then i really don't want to hear anything. is farleigh petty? pettiness is defined as "an undue concern for trivial matters, especially in a small-minded or spiteful way." farleigh's meticulous attention to trivial matters isn't undue in any sense. a person of color and their meticulous attention to trivial matters is almost never undue. elspeth is a good example of petty. is farleigh malignant? there are a lot of definitions of malignant and i've seen people apply all of them, in some way, to farleigh. that's just wrong. archie madekwe once said, "i was interested in humanizing what, on paper, seemed like a mean character, a villain, or a bully. i don't think he's any of that. he's very self-serving, but i think he's really a heartbreaking character." case closed, this was for my own piece of mind. had to write this section because good lord.

in conclusion to this post that has gone tragically off the rails, i think the in-canon and viewer perspective of farleigh is, perhaps, a little racially motivated. sue me. they are all very centered on this idea that farleigh doesn't deserve inherent respect, support, and love. to remove farleigh's rational position within the cattons family would be akin to removing his right to familial love. genuinely, that's how i see it. the transaction nature of farleigh's actions is responsive. he sees felix as a social shield at oxbridge, he sees elspeth and james as the beholders of his perceived security, and he sees saltburn as a way to escape from his lack of privilege and his lack of stability in america. boom. bam. pow.

#farleigh start #saltburn #saltburn 2023 #i love making it a race thing #took multiethnic lit and racial sociology this quarter #critical race theory is my weapon of choice at any given moment #“erm actually” #the “i love making it a race thing” is a jest #white people b making it a race thing without even knowing it #like hello ur the one who fucking started it #womp womp on GOD on griddy #i tried to explain to someone that i related to farleigh because i'm also half white and my white family is painful to exist around #and this mf said “erm u actually relate to him cuz ur a horrible person and so is he” #hello what #i'm not doing what farleigh is doing like obv i don't live in a fucking castle #but the girls that get it get it #i'm incapable of shutting up #ever #actually #yabbering on at 1am #talking to the voices in my head #the voices r saying “farleigh start u will always be famous”

[cool-fancier]

Cherries of Mystery

Synopsis: Fans were left in a state of speculation as you and Bada subtly hinted to your relationship on Instagram with cryptic cherry-themed posts. You two took joy in the anticipation as fans analysed every aspect, knowing that the cherry symbols meant for your humble and wonderful love for one another.

Even the slightest actions can excite fans in the world of social media and K-pop idols. Keeping your relationship a secret had become somewhat of an art form for you, a famous K-pop idol, and Bada, her equally famous choreographer and secret girlfriend.

You made the choice to have some fun one nice afternoon by subtly hinting at their relationship on Instagram. You uploaded a picture of yourself with a sneaky, amusing grin on your lips and said, "Lips taste like cherry." You and Bada were making a small inside joke, so it was meant to be mysterious.

Bada, who was aware of the situation, couldn't help but chuckle when she read your post. She made the decision to join in and start her own rumour. Bada took a photo of herself with a cherry-flavored lip balm, the brightly coloured container shining in the dim light. With the caption "Trying out some new lip products today! 🍒💄  #CherryKiss #NewFavorites," she posted the photo to Instagram.

Fans started making connections in only a few minutes. Comments began to flood in on both of their posts.

@Y/NLoveNotes:"Did anyone else notice that they both posted something about cherries today? 👀"

@BadaDanceLovers: "I smell a conspiracy here! 🕵️‍♀️"

@DancingLovebirds: "OMG, my shipper heart can't take this. Are they trying to tell us something?"

@BadaxY/NAdmirers:"I'm convinced there's more to this cherry story! spill the tea, queens!"

As fans examined every aspect of the posts in an effort to figure out the secret message, the interest and excitement reached an all-time high. Even if it was vague, the cherry symbolism was enough to spark their imaginations. It was a clever method for you and Bada to tease fans without drawing attention to your relationship.

The cherry-themed mystery held fans attention throughout the day on social media pages. They investigated Bada's and your posts more and more, getting more and more engrossed in the puzzle.

@BadaEnthusiasts:"Okay, hear me out. What if 'lips taste like cherry' means they've been kissing? 👄🍒"

@BadaSecretAdmirers:"I see you with that theory, but what about Bada's lip balm pic? Is she hinting that she tasted cherries too?"

@Y/NMagicFans:"This is like a K-pop Da Vinci Code. I'm invested!"

You and Bada, meantime, found the fan theories and the amount of attention their posts were getting to be very amusing. You had a nice laugh over the situation in a private.

You: "Babe, it seems like they've onto us. The cherry game is strong."

"Haha, we're turning into quite the mystery queens," said Bada.

You: "But seriously, I really like how they're enjoying themselves. And they have no idea how much fun we're having too!"

Bada: "Our secret is safe, and they're none the wiser."

The mystery behind your and Bada's cherry-themed social media posts only grew as the days went by. Fans couldn't resist acting as amateur investigators in an effort to unravel the meaning of these cryptic messages.

@Badaismine:"Okay, guys, new theory! What if they're just messing with us? Maybe there's no hidden meaning at all!"

@Y/Nwife:"But why the sudden cherry obsession? There's gotta be something more."

@Bada_isY/nwife:"I heard they're working on a new project together. Maybe it's related?"

The speculation ranged from the plausible to the utterly fantastical, and you and Bada couldn't help but smile at the frenzy you had unintentionally created.

You say, "Babe, our cherry posts are the talk of the town!"

Bada: "I find it unbelievable that they are still trying to solve it. It's just too much fun."

You: "Should we drop a hint for them? Or do we let them keep guessing?"

Bada: "Let's keep the mystery alive a bit longer. We'll watch to see how inventive they can be."

And so, the cherry-themed mystery continued to swirl in the K-pop fandom. Every aspect of your and Bada's posts relating to cherries was argued, theorised about, and examined by fans. Was it a humorous tease, a sign of their secret love, or just a joke between them?

The cherry saga was not resolved as the weeks passed. The real significance of those cherry posts may never be revealed to the public, but Bada and You understood that they stood for your love, which was sweet and unassuming like the cherries yourself. That was ultimately all that mattered to you both.

#bada lee x reader #bada lee #swf2 #swf2 x reader #bebe #bada lee fanfic #bada lee x oc #bada lee x y/n #street woman fighter 2 #street woman fighter x reader

[cleos-cafe]

Obey me! Brothers with a MC who is overworked (pt.1)

Welcome back! I hope you are having a good day, please enjoy the content dear reader.

Pt. 1 (you're here) | Pt. 2 (soon)

-Sincerely with much love Dahlia★.

Summary: The exams season is just around the corner at RAD and this time you plan to give your best (as you usually do). So you decide to study one night with the "cramming*" method. Clearly this leaves consequences on your sleep schedule and so on. How would the brothers react to find you in this situation?

TW: mentions of lack of sleep, skipping meals, poor mental and physical care, stress overload, small mention of academic validation in some parts. Please stop reading if any of the topics make you uncomfortable.

Dictionary:

Cramming: the practice of working intensively to absorb large volumes of information in short amounts of time. It is often done by students in preparation for upcoming exams, especially just before them.

༶•┈┈⛧┈♛༶•┈┈⛧┈♛༶•┈┈⛧┈♛༶•┈┈⛧┈♛༶•┈┈⛧┈♛

Lucifer

Everything had started off simple, Lucifer decided to check for you at night as he used to do to make sure his brothers didn't leave the house late at night.

He knew that you had been making an effort to study and although on several occasions he praised you for your commitment, he was also worried that you were taking it to extremes.

Which was an accurate suspicion when he saw the light in your room still on, he simply sighed and went into your room.

His original plan was just to ask you to stop what you were doing and go to bed.

But the moment he noticed how you were biting your nails while you were anxiously moving your leg and trying to write clearly, he changed his plans.

The first thing he noticed was that you had headphones on, those headphones were given to you by Levi so they had sound cancellation.

Slowly he approached you and took off those headphones carefully, trying not to scare you in the process, then he put them aside and leaned towards you.

"MC you should go to sleep, I know you are anxious about the exams, but you need to rest properly if you want to give it your all, how about you collect your books and study material while I prepare some tea for you?"

Trust me, after that he will make sure you rest.

If you didn't get sleepy after you had that tea Lucifer started talking about how it was bad for you about exerting yourself (even though he does the same thing).

If you even mention that he does the same thing you'll get a look from Lucifer.

But you're right! Although your comment only made Lucifer start a lecture about how you being human makes your body incapable of sustaining a hard workload unlike him.

Hey, at least you're already asleep after listening to him talk for a long time.

After that encounter Lucifer somehow becomes more gentle with you, doesn't push you as much with some things and checks on you more often. He even brings you a snack or two from time to time.

"Remember that you are part of the family, we care about you a lot and I worry about seeing you neglecting yourself by overworking yourself and while I'm proud to know that you take things seriously I don't want you to hurt yourself in the process either. If you think I can help you with anything feel free to come find me, I'm available to you anytime."

Mammon

He would probably be the first one to notice something is wrong with you.

Usually hangs a lot around you and, now that you suddenly seemed to be occupied was pretty shocking for him.

He was making his way to your room since he wanted to spend some time with you (leave the man alone, he misses you).

Once he barges (it's that how it's spelled?-) into your room, he's surprised to see you biting your nails and almost pulling your hair.

Okay he may not be as gentle as Lucifer, literally rushing to you and grabbing both of your hands.

"Hey! Wat'cha think ya doing human?! Get yo hands out of your hair right now!"

Literally panicked the moment he smelled blood.

(Yeah the demons can smell blood, you can't change my mind).

Literally took car of you afterwards, he took he's time wrapping your fingers in band aids.

I think he would've take his time combing (again is it spelled like that? ಥ_ಥ) your hair carefully, even asked Asmo to let him borrow some products that could help with your scalp and hair.

After that incident he's a lot more aware of how much time you spend studying.

Will drag you outside or to you bed, he'll make you take a brake once in a while.

"I know ya' worried about exams and stuff and, even if I can't exactly help you with it.... It's important ya' take some breaks, k? So don't go worrying The Great Mammon like and take some breaks will ya?!"

Leviathan

He was one of the few who knew you were gonna study a lot.

After all you told him you were gonna have a break from your weekly hang out plays since you wanted to study.

He was kinda sad but he didn't tell you, since after all he knew your grades were important.

(Bc literally, you're and exchange student. It's supposed to be your duty to have good grades for the program)

Although that didn't mean he couldn't be in the same room with you right?

But of course, who would like to have just some company of a yucky otaku like him, right?

Well you do.

To summarize it, he knew about you stu(dying)but it took him a whole time actually do something about it.

After asking if you wanted to have him in your room (which you obviously said yes), he got his console and walked towards your room.

Did you forget about him coming to your room? Yes-

He was pretty shocked (not in a good way actually-) once he saw 1st his fast you were chugging that D- Energy and 2nd the amount of empty cans around the floor and desk.

"H-hey! Stop drinking it right now! Do you know how harmul that is?!"

Actually worried sick about you.

Did he have the same habit? Yes he does. Is he more worried about you then himself? Double yes.

He's very much aware of how harmul is a ton of caffeine in your body.

And after he forced you to take a break he starts rambling about how a lot of D- Energy can affect you.

He makes sure to be in the same room as you when studying after that.

The moment he sees you taking a bunch of D- Energy or sees how much you're stressing yourself, he steps in and makes you have a break but playing with you.

"I know this isn't something I usually say- but I'm worried about you okay? And I don't want you to be in so much stress so- if it's anything I can help you with, I'll do it okay? Ejem- n-now there's a few new features added to MonokeLand! Y-you wanna see them?"

#obey me mc #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me brothers #obey me luci x reader #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me mammon x reader #obey me leviathan #obey me levi x reader #omswd headcanons #obey me hcs #dahlia's library

[tyrant-tales]

Shut Up!

Hiiii! I wrote a little something. I kind of rushed it at the end, but here's some 4ggravate for yall. I didn't realize how much my lee cyno biased came out in this, so I hope you like lee Cyno!

I would put lee and ler buuut: Everybody is a switch in this.

Words: 1.8k

Warnings: nothing really, just tickles below the cut. If I need to add something, let me know.

Enjoy!(:

♡~~~♡~~~♡

Tighnari sat across the table, running his hand through his hair, "Why do I hang out with you both?"

Cyno, head in his hands, just laughed, "Because they force us"

"But they dont?"

"It feels like they do."

Tighnari sighed, and fought the urge to slap Alhaitham and Kaveh to the next planet over. He shook his head and continued his game of TCG with Cyno for the next couple minutes. Cyno, of course, won and Tighnari quickly got tired of rematches, as well as the insane amount of bickering between Alhaitham and Kaveh. Speaking of those two, Kaveh had his finger in Alhaithaims chest and was yelling at him for something. The scribe just watched without flinching.

"Seriously, what is your problem, Kaveh?" Alhaitham managed between said man's tangen.

"My problem is you!"

"What did I even do?"

"You took both keys yesterday, and I'm quite sure you would've again today had I not gone with you!"

"I would not have. You're being dramatic."

"I am not!"

"Oh my archon, can you both STOP?"

All heads shot to Tighnari, not expecting the sudden yelling from the usually quiet forest ranger.

"Sorry, excuse my yelling. Why do you live together if you fight so much?"

"We don't fight that much." Kaveh defended.

"Yes we do."

And so began more arguing.

Tighnari looked like he needed sleep, but he glanced towards Cyno.

"How do you think we could get them to shut up?" 

Cyno thought for a second, then he lit up brighter than the sun.

"Do you remember the method Candace uses on villagers when they get too worked up?"

"Oh you mean the one I use on you everytime you visit?"

"I was trying to avoid that example, but yes."

Cyno turned away, seemingly grown red. Tighnari thought about it for a second. It might work. He'd pay for it later, but it would work.

"Okay, you wanna help?"

Cyno nodded, a smirk growing on his face.

Kaveh was still talking at Alhaitham when Tighnari walked behind him. Alhaitham noticed, but didn't say anything, he just smiled as he realized what Nari was doing. Cyno, however, was not in Alhaithams vision, so that was scary. Before he could react to this, though, both Kaveh and him crumpled to the floor as Cyno and Tighnari took action.

"Whahahat?" Kaveh turned his head to see tighnaris grinning features, then he panicked further as he realized what was happening. Tighnari was scribbling the length of Kavehs torso, and it was unbearable. Tighnari made sure to linger at the blonde's hip bone longer than the rest. He looked at Alhaitham, only to find he was not in a better situation.

"C-cynoho…" He gritted his teeth, trying to avoid the laughter bubbling in his throat, because of the merciless fingers on his sides.

"Yes, Alhaitham?" Cynos smug smirk grew wider as he switched to digging into Alhaithams upper ribs. 

"Nohoho!"

"Yes!"

Tighnari had Kaveh sitting basically in his lap on the floor, and was attacking the blondes sides, switching between scribbling, squeezing, and poking.

"Whyhehe ahare yohohou soho cruhuhuel?" Kaveh squirmed, twisting left to right to try and escaped Tighnari and his cruel shut-up method.

"Why can't you stop arguing  with Haitham?"

"Behecause he suhuhucks!"

"Mhm. When you both promise to stop arguing, me and Cyno will stop our 'attack', until then, you can suffer like I did."

"Thahats nohot fahair!"

"Sure it is! Now I've heard enough talking from you, why don't you just laugh for me?"

That was the last thing Kaveh heard before the fox boy drilled into his hips without warning. This resulted in a high pitched scream, then drowning everything else out with his laugh. 

Cyno had heard Tighnari and Kavehs little conversation, and decided to let Alhaitham know the same thing. He was also partly afraid that Alhaitham would gain his strength back, so he quickly followed Nari's lead.

"Yknow, Nari is right. You argue too much. When you both apologized we'll let you go. Soooo you get to laugh for right now."

"Ihi dohohont stahart it! Kahaveh dohoes! Wait NOHO-!"

Alhaitham quickly shut up as Cyno targeted his underarms. Scribbling, clawing, massaging, drilling, anything it took to get him to shush. He all but screamed, then fell into his low laughter. He started to forget how this started. The only thing he remembers is letting Cyno take him down. He doesn't know why, but for some reason, he wanted this.

"Let's see…. Here? Or here? Maybe here?" Tighnari practically sang as he jumped around Kavehs torso. Ribs, side, stomach, hips, back to sides and all over again. Kaveh couldn't take it, he needed Alhaitham to apologize, but he remembered he hadn't done so either. So he tried.

"Tihihigh- TIGHNARI Ihim SOHOHORRY pleheahase!! I CAHAHANT!"

"Oho, one down, one to go. How about it, cyno? Did he apologize yet?

"Okay, you tease alot more under these circumstances."

"That is besides the point, dear."

"Fine. No. He's to stubborn for that."

"That is true. Oh well, Kaveh will just have to suffer."

"I suppose so."

Cyno shuddered, knowing all too well what Kaveh was dealing with. Cyno had fallen under Tighnari's mercy before, and he was mean when he wanted to be. And that's clearly what he wanted now, as he was not giving poor Kaveh the light of day. Nevertheless, Cyno took a breath and continued working on his end of the stick. 

"Now, Alhaitham, are you willing to apologize now that you know your dear ol' senior did?"

"Noho! Ihi dihidnt dohoho ahanything!"

"Suit yourself, then!" 

With that, Cyno did all he could to weaken the man he was Tickling. He was scared for when he and Kaveh decided to take revenge, but that was later Cynos' problem, not Cynos' current problem. Right now, he had to focus on keeping Alhaitham down and not fighting back.

But he didn't seem to be fighting either way.

Only a few minutes later did Cyno hear Alhaitham screaming apologies when he reached a particularly sensitive rib that had an also pretty sensitive muscle right next to it.

"Ohohoh my archohons, that was cruel." Kaveh complained as he mustered up the most adorable upset look Alhaitham knew all too well.

"Maybe if you didn't start arguments so much we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Both of you please stop talking before this starts all over again." Cyno and Tighnari rushed out in fear of more bickering.

"You know what, I think I have something we can agree on, Kaveh."

"And that is, Alhaitham?"

"Revenge."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

They both turned towards the two people behind them, Alhaitham to Cyno and Kaveh to Tighnari. Both of the ladders stepped back in wide-eye panic before Kaveh and Alhaitham pounced, tackling them to the ground.

"Waitwaitwaitwait hold on! We can talk about this! No need to do anything rash…" Tighnari panicked. Cyno followed his plea.

"Yeah! You don't need to do this! It was only to get you to stop arguing!"

"Ah, yes. Well, it worked, and we found something to agree on." Alhaitham had managed to fight Cyno to the ground and got his hands pinned under his knees. 

"Yes, and that something is revenge." Kaveh had seemed to follow Alhaithams lead, pinning Tighnari and his arms.

"But-"

"Shush. Now what was it you said? Oh yes, I've heard enough talking from you, why don't you laugh for me?"

With that, Kaveh began scribbling across Tighnaris ribs, and laughing at the choked squeal from the man.

"Well said, Kaveh. Why don't you do the same, Cyno?"

Then Alhaitham also started his 'torment' by squeezing all around Cyno's stomach. He also chuckled at the uncharacteristic screech from the Matra.

"No need to be so loud, the entirety of Sumeru doesn't need to know that you're being tickled. Honestly, it's like you want them to know. Hm, I wonder what they'd think; the great Cyno, General Mahamatra, ticklish."

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!"

"Awe, can't you take a little teasing? Cute."

Tighnari really wasn't in a better position. In fact, it may have been worse.

"Hm, being a forest ranger is really dangerous." He paused to gasp dramatically, "What if you're missing ribs! I should count to make sure they're all still there!"

"NOHO Ihi hahave ahall of my rihihibs!"

"Oh, I don't know, Nari. I really should just make sure. Okay ready?"

He placed his hand under Tighnaris shirt and on his bottom rib.

"NONONONOHOHOOO!"

"Okay, one… two… three… four…"

"SHUHUT UHUP KAVEH IHI SWEHEAR TO THE ARCHONS SHUHUHUSH!"

"Oh, you made me lose count! Be more quiet, and don't squirm as much! Okay, let's try again, one…"

"NOHO!"

"Five… six… wow you're doing really good. Oh what number was I at? Alhaitham, do you remember?"

"Hm… no I do not seem to recall. Ack! Cyno don't kick me!"

"SIHIHIX! YOU SAHAY SEHEVEHEN NOHOW!"

"Awe, you were counting too? You must enjoy this!"

"SHUHUSH!"

"How do I know you're not lying though? May as well start over! One…"

Tighnari groaned through crazed laughter.

"Woah Cyno, how did I not know you were this ticklish? Honestly, isn't this dangerous? Especially when your outfit reveals so much. If any enemies ever figured this out you'd be done for!"

"SHUHUT UHUP!"

"That isn't very nice. How about you say sorry for that?"

"Nohoho!"

"Fine then."

Alhaitham shot his hands up to Cynos' underarms, making sure to drag his uneven nails up the others torso on the way.

"WAITWAIT IM SORRY NOHOHOHO!"

"Hmph. I'm still going to stay here for a bit."

"PLEASEHE! IHIM SOHOHORRY!"

"Nope. Still not moving."

"Ten… eleven… twelve… oh. You have all your ribs! Good!"

Kaveh slowed down and showed some remorse for the screaming fox under him. Once Tighnari caught his breath, Kaveh smiled.

"Alright, I think you've had enough."

And Kaveh rolled off him. Tighnari immediately curled into a ball, his tail thumping on and off the floor, and his breathy giggles slowing down.

"You okay?"

"Yeheah. Woah, you're mean."

"I know."

Alhaitham then noticed that Kaveh had stopped, so he figured he would too, deciding against slowing down, he went for a final blow instead.

"Alright Cyno, are you ready?"

"Fohor whahat?"

Alhaitham took a deep breath, and despite what you'd expect:

"PBBFFFTT!"

Cyno all but screeched, then he fell silent as he banged on the grey-haired man's head with his fist. When said man finally let up after blowing raspberry after raspberry, cyno fell limp and breathed heavily while the other 3 just watched him. When he calmed down, Alhaitham got off and sat in his chair at the abandoned table. Cyno just laid there. Tighnari eventually got up and offered a hand to him, which he took, and all four of them continued on. Except this time, there was no arguing. Just laughter, and possibly a little too much wine for Kaveh.

#tickle content #genshin impact #cyno #tighnari #kaveh #alhaitham #cynonari #cynari #kavehathaim #like no one cares #but yknow #lee!kaveh #lee!alhaitham #lee!cyno #lee!tighnari #ler!kaveh #ler!Alhaitham #ler!cyno #ler!tighnari

[nancygillianmvp]

fic pride friday

Rules: Post your favorite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

thank you for the tag @lemonlyman-dotcom i'm using this to try and be kinder to myself in how i think about my own writing

strays (5 + 1 of TK attempting to bring home a 'pet' from a call, Nancy POV)

“Carlos has been talking about maybe getting a cat…” TK muses. Here we go again , Nancy thinks.  There’s no mistaking the look on her partner’s face; she’s seen it more times than she can count—he wants to take this wild animal home. She knows his heart is in the right place, but the sooner Carlos relents and lets him get a cat—or a fish, or a hamster even, any kind of pet—the better as far as she’s concerned because talking him out of bringing home new ‘pets’ every week gets exhausting. “Dude, stop, don’t even say it.”  “You can’t possibly know what I was going to say.” “I know you, TK. You were going to suggest that murder mittens over there might be a good cat for you and Carlos to adopt, but the answer is no.” “Murder mittens? Look at him, Nancy—he’s just a little baby.” TK says, gazing longingly across the room at the tiger cub. “TK, I can’t believe we even need to have this conversation. You can’t raise a tiger in a downtown apartment. Tigers aren’t pets, or did you forget why we ended up here in the first place?" “Oh, but look at him. He’s only a baby. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.” “This week, he’s a baby, sure. But do you know what babies do, TK? They grow up, and then you will be the one calling 911 because your 200-pound murder kitty went for the jugular, and when that happens, I’m not coming to save your ass, dude.”

nothing a kiss better can't fix (soft tarlos)

“Seriously, it’s nothing, TK,” Carlos says as he leans against the back of the 126 ambulance with his worried fiancé methodically checking him over.  “It’s not nothing, Carlos. You’re bleeding .” TK tells him, trying to gently guide him towards the stretcher. “Now, will you please sit down and let me treat you?” “I’m okay, TK. Breathe,” Carlos says, taking his fiancé’s hand. “This is nothing a kiss better can’t fix.”  “Is a kiss better for a certain flu-riddled fiancé of yours, perhaps exactly how you ended up in this situation, dude?” Nancy asks with a raised eyebrow and a laugh. “First of all, I’m not ‘flu riddled’,” TK tells her, putting dramatic air quotes around his words. “And second, how do you know about that?”  “When are you going to just admit I know everything,” Nancy tells him with a grin before adding. “Also, you’re both, like, hella predictable.”

sugar, butter, flour (5 + 1 TK and Gwyn baking)

His father and Carlos have always assured him that Jonah will know her through him, but as they stand in the kitchen, he wonders how he can ever live up to the task. TK is uncomfortably aware of the ache of grief in his chest alongside a sharp streak of guilt. Guilt that he got 28 years of her love but spent so many of them pushing it away, too deep in the spiral of addiction to accept it. Those were years Jonah will never get, and TK wasted them.

and again (nancymarjan)

And then before she can dwell on it any further, the countdown hits midnight, the fireworks start in the distance, and Marjan kisses her. It’s like nothing she’s ever felt before, and while Nancy has never been a believer in destiny or soulmates, right now, at this moment, it’s undeniable that Marjan is her soulmate. 

when everythings made to be broken (introspective carlos/a 4x01 coda)

He takes a deep breath and silently tells himself, “You can do this,” and suddenly, he’s nineteen again and doing whatever he can to be a good son and live up to expectations. He’s standing at the altar trying to convince himself he can do this, that somehow he’ll be able to love her like he’s supposed to—like God wants him to—because his parents need him to, his family needs him to. He’s silently praying that, in time, he’ll be able to love like she deserves. She’s his best friend, and he can learn to love her like this, surely—he owes her that. But it doesn’t work out—despite his best efforts, he can’t love her the way she deserves, so he moves out, and she starts dating again, and he’s ready to drown in his shame. And then she disappears, and as the months drag on without a single credible lead, he goes through all the stages. 

no pressure tagging

@fallout-mars @paperstorm @literateowl

@reyesstrand @welcometololaland

#tag game #fic pride friday #my writing #CW: grief #cw: canon character death #CW: mentions of addiction #can you tell my favourite thing to write is tk and nancy bantering

[grimoire-of-geekery]

What is your advice for someone who can read tarot relatively okay for other people but is trash when it comes to reading for themself? (Cards dont make sense and literally every card is reversed despite careful shuffling to get a healthy mix of both upright and reversed cards)

*hugs* I know that frustration all too well.

Ok, so here are some things I say to everyone where tarot reading is concerned:

It's not just what the cards say, it's what they don't say. A tarot deck works by representing the whole world and all of the various turns and twists of fate people can experience. When Death shows up, but not the Ten of Swords, that's because you're dealing with Death, but not in the form of an ending. Likewise, if the Three of Coins appears and not the Eight, then your experience will reflect financial growth and demonstration of your mastery, rather than the learning of that skillset.

For this reason, I encourage diviners to adopt a different method for reading inversions than "the bad version of this card" or "the opposite." For the latter, there's already a card in the deck for any "opposite" meaning you could come up with. For the former... every card can be bad or good in the right circumstance. For myself, I use a method where the inverted cards are signs that the querent will have difficulty understanding that card, and I should take pains to carefully explain that one, pointing out nuances that might be missed. Generally it means the card is "shadowed," or their own beliefs and views obstruct the truth. Another really good one I read recently is the idea of an upright card being "invoked" and an inverted card being "banished," which is a very interesting perspective. I like the idea of "this card is departing from you, or taking its blessing/curse/experience away."

Those two things I say to everyone, just to clear space. The first really specific piece of advice I'd give to you if you're having trouble reading for yourself is do not add cards. Read what's already there. Take a picture of it, note everything in a journal, and look at it periodically. Focus not on what your feeling is, but what the card means. Do research, look it up in books, especially your own writings on the card if you have them. Seriously, adding too many cards makes the reading even harder to read. "Clarification" cards are a joke.

In addition, check your spread. The spreads we use are how we talk to the world and ask for information. Make sure that when you lay those cards in that pattern, you actually want the information the spread can offer. If you're looking for advice, don't ask a spread that's solely about prediction, that sort of thing.

I'd also suggest you take a look at the deck and see if it really expresses how you experience the world, and then I'd do divination that has nothing to do with your wishes for a while, to see if it can accurately relate the world to you. I wanna be specific here- what I'm talking about here is not how you wish the world was, but rather how you experience the world as it is. The deck is meant to reflect the world as it is, and reveal its secrets to you, and if the deck isn't doing that for you in your readings, you may need to use a different deck, or maybe even a different divination method at all.

If all your cards are coming up inverted all the time, that's a sign. The deck is specifically speaking to you and saying something to you. If it were my own deck, that would be a message that "you ain't gonna get it, so you may as well stop asking." I can't say what that omen means for you, but I would consider it a big one, maybe a step or two above "stalker" cards, and just below the significance of a reading that's more than 80% one suit. If that's the case, I'd ask your cards what they're trying to tell you that you're not getting, and record the answers. For myself, I use three-card combinations for those kinds of specific questions.

If you wanna reach out and talk to me more in depth, I'm definitely available if you wanna come off anon and have a conversation, or you can just send a few more anon asks if that's your comfort level. I hope I helped, one way or another. *hugs*

[writingquestionsanswered]

I've had an idea a couple of times of doing that one trope where a character speaks gibberish or some kind of alien language, but the rest of the cast are able to understand them. Thing is, I don't exactly know how I'd execute something like this without interrupting the story with the characters that do understand them having to do a translation for the reader. Do you have any advice on how to execute something like this?

Characters Understand Gibberish-Speaker

TV Tropes defines this as the Intelligible Unintelligible character, and one of the examples they give is from the web novel, There is no Epic Loot here, Only Puns. by stewart92. TV Tropes provides this example of the main character, Delta, talking to a character called Waddles the Duck:

"Quack." "I don’t think I can agree to have them all on fire or dripping with acid," Delta said slowly. “Quack.” "I mean, that isn’t too bad, but I think an electrical storm moving between the knives might upset the fish. It might hurt them," she pointed out. "Quack… quack." Delta brightened and clapped her hands. "I can do that!"

In the example, you can see that stewart92 does do a little bit of translating for the reader, but why it works is it's not a direct translation. It's more reaction that provides context to whatever it was Waddles said. And in the last sentence of the example, there is no translation, but I suspect whatever happens next provides the context for what Waddles suggested. Both of these methods feel natural, so they don't interrupt the narrative like a direct translation would.

Another example would be the character Boomhauer in the TV show King of the Hill. Quite often, he'll let out his string of unintelligible "dang-old"-punctuated dialogue which the other characters can understand, and instead of directly translating what he said, they react to it as you would any other dialogue. There's context in the natural response. So, Hank, for example, might respond by to Boomhauer's gibberish by saying something like, "Now, wait just a got-dang minute, Boomhauer. I'm not about to let you let Bill take the fall for this. You're at fault as much as he is." We don't know exactly what Boomhauer said, but we know it had something to do with wanting to let Bill take the blame for something he was equally involved in. That's all we need to know. The word for word doesn't matter, and since Hank's response feels natural, it doesn't take us out of the moment with a translation. So, that's what you're looking to do as well.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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#writing tips #writing help #writing advice #wqaadvice

[genericpuff]

Hey when im writing a story how to talk about the lore without exposition dumping and why is exposition dumping a bad thing?

Ouu, fun writing question!

There's no easy single answer to just "avoid" exposition. In some cases, exposition dumping isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be used improperly, like any other writing device. Really, your goal isn't necessarily to outright avoid exposition, but to find a way to naturally implement it into the story without grinding the pacing to a halt or creating confusion for your reader.

To name a few methods to implement exposition naturally:

You can have a main character act as the "surrogate" for the audience. Good examples of this are Harry Potter or Final Fantasy X - both of which are plots that involve the main character entering a world that is not their own and having to learn about that world through their own experiences. Now, you do have to be careful with this as, in the case of Harry Potter, using a character PURELY as a surrogate for the audience like that can result in the character themselves having little personality. Harry Potter himself is one such example, in the beginning we find out so much about the wizarding world through him that we never really get to know him. That's why I include FFX as another example - Tidus is a character who has his own personality, his own motives, his own quirks, while being a stranger in Spira who doesn't know how their world works, but they use that to the advantage of his character writing by making him this sorta doofy dumbass who doesn't take things quite as seriously as the people of Spira do (such as the religion of Yevon) but as such, is able to identify all the problems Spira is suffering from specifically BECAUSE he's an outsider looking in and hasn't been brainwashed like everyone else who grew up in that world.

If you don't have a main character who's new to the world, then you have to find ways to naturally implement exposition. Thing is, if your character and the people around them are familiar with the world they inhabit, why would they describe their world at length to one another? This is where a lot of poorly handled exposition dumping happens especially from writers just starting out. They'll have their characters explain things to each other that they really shouldn't have to have explained to them, and as such it can make it feel really clunky and wordy (and makes the dialogue feel unnatural). You can use shortcuts around this, such as taglines like "Did you forget? Xyz..." or "How can you still be confused, it's xyz..." but those are still tricks that can be overused or feel ham-fisted if not used properly, it really only works if the character who it's being explained to is "out of touch" or if there's reason for them to not be privy to the information being explained to them.

As much as your readers will need things explained to them, don't treat your readers like they're stupid - half the fun of experiencing a story is the discovery process. Not everything needs to be spelled out to your readers, some things can just exist and not have to be explained. The only time explanations should be made is if it's absolutely necessary to your plot, otherwise, having something just be in the background or mentioned casually is more than good enough. To go back to the FF X example, Tidus doesn't need blitzball to be explained to him, it's the one familiarity he has in Spira. Therefore, there's zero reason to have Wakka explain blitzball to Tidus as a way to explain it to the audience. Instead, we get an opening cutscene that shows us enough of what blitzball is for us to understand that it's a sport, and later on we get dialogue from Tidus explaining how he's living in his father's shadow and how his dad had this crazy move that he would never teach him and that back in Zanarkand, Tidus was the "star player". We, the audience, can infer enough from what we've been shown that blitzball is a sport in this world, we do not need it to be explained deeper than that, not until we learn the rules of how to play blitzball through the minigame itself, and still those rules aren't that important in the grand scheme of the plot, it's just a strong part of Tidus' characterization and the one thing tying him to the world of Spira when he washes onto its shores. Blitzball is the first thing we see him do in the game and it's the first thing that introduces him to the world of Spira.

To go on a bit of a tangent, I feel like this is where a lot of fantasy writers in particular tend to struggle. While romances will focus more on the characters and thus not be victim to exposition dumping quite as often (though they can be victim to some... very outdated or otherwise toxic tropes) more detail-oriented genres like fantasy and sci-fi can really tend to get lost in the trees. I've beta-read so many fantasy books that have opened with pages upon pages of world information, from languages the creator invented to the different calendars of the different regions to the races and species and yadda yadda it's literally the worst thing you can open your fantasy novel first because it's quite literally putting the cart before the horse. They get so washed up in the details because they forget their audience is there to read a story, not do homework on fictional dialects and food preparation methods. I feel like this is especially a problem for writers who read books like Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire and see all the supplemental material, but seem to miss the point that the supplemental material came later, Tolkien didn't start by writing The Silmarillion, he started with The Hobbit which was a simple story of friendship and comradery meant for children. Only later as his audience grew more connected to the characters and the world they inhabited was he able to release the supplemental stuff because the people those details were meant for were already invested in the story. You have to get people invested first, then give them the details, and that starts with a simple idea.

Anyways, all that aside, the best way to see good exposition is to just go read books, watch movies, expose yourself to stories that handle exposition in their own way. Again, it's not a bad thing to have to dump information on people, but you gotta find a way to do it that won't overwhelm your reader or bore them before they've even gotten hooked. Start small and branch out from there. Write the details as they pertain to the characters who would be privy to them. Don't underestimate the intuitiveness of your readers, reading and writing is equal parts communication and discovery.

#ama #ask me anything #anon ask me anything #anon ama #writing tips

[alternatefandom]

Right, so I (ariciabetelguese, on my main) was having a discussion with @addictofanimation on Alhaitham's actions towards Kaveh, but I don't wish to clog moonilit's notes further. So I invite you to continue our talk here, shall we?

First, allow me straighten out a misperception: I never claimed that Alhaitham doesn't care about Kaveh. I've stated that he does care, in an inept way ("he's clearly trying his best from his limited perspective, so kudos for that, I guess?"). But I still think what Alhaitham did was borderline cruel, and this is where I'm coming from.

In my youth, I was a lot like Alhaitham. Half the fandom cleanly pegged him an INTJ, and I am, too. He values rationality and knowledge, and so do I. He's practical and pragmatic; so am I. His insight can cut people to the quick, causing him to conflict with people; so had mine. Nobody liked to go up against me, and truth be told, I was perfectly content that way.

Alhaitham said he is not a leader. I agree. Here's where we differ: Alhaitham is not interested in exploring that, while I was.

So out of curiosity, I led people, despite hating every second of it. Here is what I found: 'tough love' as you called it only works if you can make sure the person was picked up afterwards. Pain is a great teacher, but only if you're treated after. Otherwise, there's a big possibility that the other person will actually be set back in their journey of healing, and if you get yourself cut off, there's really not much you can do to fix that.

And until the Palace of Alcazarzaray was built, Alhaitham was never there to pick up Kaveh, nor was he there to make sure that someone else did. I'm not even sure if he tried to apologize; was there a lore bit I missed somewhere? After all, to this day, he still takes digs at Kaveh's very ideals, the things he prided himself on, although people still disagree on whether or not Kaveh takes these digs seriously. Regardless, I don't think much of Alhaitham's methods, and seeing as Kaveh remained a stubborn idealist who literally gave up everything for Dori's palace, we can see that his methods didn't work out all that well, either, so... yeah.

When you are your own worst enemy, it takes a friend/family being real with you to snap you out of it. The best way to tackle illogic actions/thoughts is with logic and reality. Alhaitham didn't let Kaveh believe a lie (that it was somehow his fault) and used logic against it.

And yet.

Alhaitham had seen through the reality that he had never been able to face, causing him to feel reality's bite for the first time, a feeling that made Kaveh steadfastly declare that he regretted making friends with this all-too-intelligent person.

Kaveh already knows. He didn't even waste a second denying Alhaitham's words because deep down, he already knew. He was simply not ready to face it; he didn't know how to do so. To reiterate: as a whole, it's not a logical trauma, so it's not so easily solved with facts and logic. If it was, a brilliant engineer like Kaveh would've solved it easily.

What Alhaitham did was like telling a depressed person that they have no reason to be sad because they have too much to be grateful for in life. Detangling an illogical trauma is not that simple. Does that mean Kaveh was too sensitive? I guess, in the same vein of people who's just been wounded are too sensitive, geeze, why did you shout when I poured alcohol over your wound? After all, alcohol is good at cleaning wounds, no? What I did was a good thing!

Once again. I'm not saying that Alhaitham doesn't care about Kaveh, or that he wasn't trying to help. I'm saying he's incredibly inept at caring, and he ended up hurting more than helping during their fight. But then again, he was still young and inexperienced at the time, so I won't blame him too much for it. In the end, I agree that his friendship with Kaveh could be somewhat beneficial; both of them could learn from the other's example. After all, they're each other's reflection :)

#ari's rambles #alright getting a bit personal here #not part of the discussion #just a personal reflection #i'm harsher on alhaitham because he's too much like me #and because a lot of people idealize his flawed actions and perspectives #without realizing that those flaws *are* there #Kaveh's flaws may be way more obvious story-wise #but they're still mirrors. two extremes in opposing ways. #go too far in one direction and you will fall

[burstofastar]

Tekken — Random thoughts

Okay, but Nina and Jin in Tekken 6? I simply love them. Tekken 6 gave (not just me but some other people too) the foundation for an amazing ship.

A respectful relationship that started with work, and the Scenario Campaign showed their closeness and confidence, without losing their professionalism and focus on Jin's goal.

Story-wise, Tekken 6 is… interesting, to say the least. I don't know, I still have mixed feelings about the direction they gave Jin's development and what he was like since Tekken 3.

I can't say that I like that in Tekken 6 he became a war criminal and did such aberrations, when Azazel's problem could have been addressed in another way; because actually, I don't like it at all.

But on the other hand, I don't totally hate the concept itself. I just find it a little hard to digest.

What I can save (or at least try to) is that, from a personal opinion, I don't think he did it because it's the destiny of bearers of Mishima blood to be corrupted. Because, in fact, I don't think Jin was corrupted by having Mishima blood or by the influence of the Devil Gene.

I think he did everything out of his conscience. A twisted, fucked up and terrible way of doing things, but by conscience at the end. Because if we go to the fact, he always struggled and fought against the influence of the curse, and tried to keep it at bay as much as he could (in despite of his T3 and T4 endings, in T5 vs. Hwoarang, in T7 in the desert)… well, in the end of Scenario Campaign we could see how Jin consciously used the power of the Devil Gene (without turning into Devil) to defeat Azazel.

It's a bummer that they "ruined" Jin like that, but it was an interesting chapter in Tekken history.

Anyway, before starting to wander more than necessary… I know that Tekken: Blood Vengeance and the Tekken Comic by Titan Comics aren't canon either, but Nina and Jin roles in each one are a good addition for this dreamy ship (especially in the comics).

And no, my point isn't that the base of the ship has to be that the woman has to do the whole work and being his support 24/7 (a thing that usually happens in the Japanese culture: the female character being just a bland sidekick with no depth and the protagonist's love interest; just as in mostly of shonens, for example), or because it's just the job she was hired for… But because both of them could relate to each other: both suffering child abuse from a close family member, both having family members they dislike, both having lost a family member they loved, both having suffered and survived Ogre's attack, and both having a mostly lonely path in life… because they know they're not the best company and their methods are very questionable.

Feelings aren't part of their lifestyle and not allowing themselves to open their hearts (because having feelings means their goals be compromised), is a fact. And it's a fact that a ship like this will never happen in canon, yet I always loved their genuine mutual trust and respect. It's far away from the Japanese culture's typical cliché of the badass lonely boy and the cute submissive girl who has a huge crush on him, is ghosted during most of the series and wants to "save" him but just meddles, resulting annoying most of times. It reminds me to someone… Wait!!

Alright, speaking more seriously now… Tekken 6 turned 14 years some days ago (especifically for PS3 and XBox, on October 30th), and this was a good opportunity to talk about an underestimated and unapreciated OTP.

I'm very intrigued about what's going to happen in Tekken 8, and the path of both of them when Bamco already revealed the roster's bios. Nina working for Kazuya doesn't make sense if we take into account her relationship with Jin during Tekken 6, the fact that she failed on purpose for Lars and Lee to protect Jin from Heihachi and... taking as bonus the non-canonical comics and BV.

Possibly developers will take the path of Street Fighter x Tekken's story? Nina working with Kazuya but undercover, for Jin's instructions? Because no one can deny how amazing was Jin trusting someone since the beginning, spending time with that someone and being able to share thoughts... even if it's just professionaly.

P.s.: I feel the luckiest guy alive, since I have the privilege of writing this wonderful ship on Twitter... I mean, X. My dearest friend @carade0jete and I roleplay as Nina and Jin, respectively, since almost five years. An amazing journey that still goes on and will last until that app is either ruined or closed by El*n M*sk. Love you, bb. ♥️✨

#tekken #tekken 6 #tekken 8 #nina williams #jin kazama #nina x jin #jin x nina #random thoughts

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

You know, I was wondering this for months now. Considering Yosano’s painful backstory, how do you think she felt about dazai’s suicide mania. Seriously, it’s all he talks about.

This is really interesting anon. I'm not sure if they interact much to be honest. I'm trying hard to think of a moment they actually talk... well, we do know she's at the core of the plan to revive him if he ever does die, and she absolutely would've been a part of that discussion so I think it's a given that she's looking out for him at least a little, in her own way. I would say, given her reaction to Kajii's obsession with death and her typical blunt demeanor, she probably thinks Dazai's fixation on suicide is uh... pretty stupid. But at the same time, the life he's threatening there is his own, so I like to think there was some brief concern at the beginning.

See, I think for the very reasons I'd love to see them interact (history with Mori, unfortunate commonalities with Mori they probably don't like, similar defense mechanisms of projecting an image to avoid uncomfortable questions or people getting too close - one, mischievous and lazy, and the other, highly respected and slightly sadistic)... I think this is exactly why they probably don't.

See, I don't think Dazai knows Yosano's history. He doesn't have a way of knowing it, and it's kind of the Agency's best kept secret - Fukuzawa and Ranpo are the only ones who appear to know. However, Dazai's countenance is such that he immediately had Fukuzawa telling Kunikida to just shoot him if he proves to be a threat lmao, and given a lot else in the series, I just assume that to those who aren't Atsushi or random people who get the filter of dialed-up charm Dazai, that the man just gives off supremely bad vibes. I feel like, if anything, Yosano was probably on alert around him for a bit. Dazai operates a lot like Mori, after all, and I doubt that would've gotten past her.

Also their defense mechanisms are the same. Like. They actually have some really fascinating commonalities. I love the part where Yosano grabs Atsushi's leg to examine it in her first focal chapter. I know that sounds weird but, just look.

Up until this point, all we know about Yosano is that she takes no crap from stupid people (especially stupid guys), is a doctor whose methods are... questionable, and apparently everyone in the Agency respects her but is also terrified of her. But this scene shows us something else: she's incredibly analytical. Her medical knowledge allows her to tell how Atsushi's ability is working in an instant, but when asked about it, she goes back to "shame I couldn't treat you", which is more in line with her "terrifying doctor" image she's built up. She deflects anything other than this image, is what I'm trying to say. It reminds me a lot of when Dazai gets serious then flips it so it seems like the moment was just him being silly and goofy.

Anyways, their defense mechanisms are similar in that they both build up carefully crafted images to avoid questions and vulnerability - Yosano by making herself more threatening and Dazai by making himself less threatening - so yeah, I don't think any interactions would have them being anything but being super roundabout and cordially pleasant with each other (much as I think there is some mutual respect there between them... I love the bit where Yosano is about to go full feral on the guy who hurt the cafe owner and Dazai's full-on smirking about it like "ohoho you screwed up big time lol").

As for the whole suicide thing, I know it can be uncomfortable the way the Agency brushes off his attempts, but I honestly think that Dazai's attempts are not actually serious (I firmly believe he is not actively trying to die anymore, even if he is still passively suicidal and genuinely depressed - he does it because it's a part of his nonthreatening yet disconcerting image, and also because it's likely a habit at this point), and that they probably have tried to speak with him about it at one point but it didn't go anywhere (because Dazai would never have an honest conversation about something like that...) so they settled for making a plan in case something did end up happening to him. From the wording in 55 Minutes, I thought it seemed pretty strongly implied that this plan was created less out of the potential for Dazai getting hurt on a mission than in the case of if he should ever hurt himself.

See, what I'd be interested to know is if Dazai made the terrible error in judgement of attempting to flirt with Yosano on introduction. ...I bet that went well.

#i think this kind of semi-became the start of a yosano analysis... whoops #i hope this actually answered the ask #thanks for the ask! #bsd #bsd yosano #bsd dazai #i'm not tagging this with suicide mentions given that it's nothing that isn't shown in the series already (so I expect you're ok with it) #but if you want a tag to filter it out just let me know #storyrambles

[yurrfttboyy]

This is Mike, my big brother, and our dad owns a construction company. He works long hours and is often away, so my brother and I spend most of our time alone in the house. My brother has always been the strong, masculine one and I’ve always been dwarfed by his shadow. When I was 16, I asked him how to to become big and strong like he is, and he told me his “secret”. He gave me a strange looking metal contraption and told me I have to lock it on my wiener for a few months and work out a lot, swearing in all seriousness that this was how he became strong. I believed him, and let him put it on, boy was I stupid or what? As days went on, I started to express concerns about this odd method, but my brother continued to reassure me to leave it on. He told me that in exchange for helping me, I’d be required to keep his bedroom clean from here on out and I would also be responsible for doing all of his laundry. After 3 months I finally asked him when I can take it off, telling him it had been 3 months (as I was clearly the only one counting) and that it didn’t work. He then explained to me, “if it didn’t work in 3 months then it isn’t going to”. I asked him if he could take it off then, since it wouldn’t work, and that’s when he decided I was old enough to have ‘the talk’.

“You see baby brother, you’re in a special predicament. You aren’t very strong, you’ve never had a girlfriend, and everyone at school says you’re gay. It looks to me like you aren’t going to really have much of a use for that thing between your legs, but let’s take a look at ways you have improved. Look at my bedroom, remember how it used to look?” He gestures for me to look around, and he was right, his bedroom was completely different now that I had taken over the cleaning. “And look at my closet, it used to be full of random dirty clothes, but now all my clothes are clean and smell fresh” he continued, giving me a playful head rub. “See, you may not have become big and strong like me, but you have grown.” He pointed out, and that made me start to think. I felt really good about the way his room looked and how happy he was to have fresh clean clothes. His talk was making me feel better for sure.

“But now that I’ve grown, can’t we take the cage off and let me continue to progress?” I asked, ready to beat off like every other teenage boy!!

“Did my room look like this when you were unlocked before? Did you feel the satisfaction that you do now?” He asked, and I had to slump my head in defeat, knowing the answer to both questions was ‘no’

“See, the cage is helping you to improve. I don’t think we should take it off, In fact I think we need to give you some more responsibility, to continue your growth and make you even better” he encouraged, making me truly believe he had my best interest at heart. I nodded my head and agreed. “So you want more responsibility? If so kneel down on the ground in front of me and say ‘yes, sir, what else may I do for you’, and say it with sincerity.” He coached and I followed along, kneeling down and asking him the absurd question.

“Good boy.” My whole head went numb and a tingle shot down my back, I couldn’t believe the way those words made me feel. “Now, your big brother works hard on these feet every single day. In addition to doing my laundry and all of the cleaning, I am also going to need you to start spending at least 1 hour each day massaging and worshipping my feet. We will start out with massages, but eventually we will progress into oral massages and toe sucking. Don’t worry, I won’t rush you into it, we’re going to start with a nice rub. That’s it, and make sure you are getting close and smelling them too, it’s a crucial component to your training that you memorize the smell and always welcome it into your nose. I know they stink, but I promise you’ll like it if you just keep smelling and keep focusing on being a better person for your big brother.”

How lucky I am to have a big brother who really takes the time to teach me life lessons and always wants the best for me!

[lunchables--official]

Gordon is notably characterized by his obnoxious and deeply uncool behavior but he's also defined by an incredible earnestness and desire for things to be taken seriously . And Benrey, on the other hand, is obnoxious too but for the exact opposite reasons-- devaluing things that, by Gordon's standards, should be taken seriously (such as murder) while playing up the absurdity and inconsistent application of rules in general (and also acting like a fucking third grader).

In that way the two of them have a lot in common, but with that one major caveat of seriousness . Really, they're both pretty earnest, and they both just wanna make jokes n have fun-- Gordon wants to be a justin.tv streamer and he talks to himself like an anime protagonist (GORDON SPRINT!!) and Benrey's whole thing is having his day ruined bc he couldn't play games with his friends . But Benrey also knows treating the game like it's real is idiotic, while Gordon can't help but treat it as if it were (and Scorpy Socpens n Wayne R. TV use this for some extremely good comedy).

In addition to THAT, you have Coomer, who, over the course of the webseries, realizes his life is a lie and his world is fake - subsequently becoming more lucid, serious, and aloof. His character arc brings up the question of What Does It Truly Mean, To Be Alive? (a tried and true story point !) They're all functioning on different understandings of their world-- they all understand nothing matters, but Coomer is just now realizing, and Benrey's always known it, and Gordon method acts so hard that he almost forgets it.

With that context HLVRAI becomes an argument on existential nihilism -- Coomer presents the question "nothing is real so is living this life valuable?" and Benry's response is essentially "no- if nothing matters then why care ? Do whatever you want forever ." And Gordon's is "of COURSE it's valuable, fuck you, this may not matter but I can care and try and hope and LIVE, BABY!!! leave me and my magmar plush OUTTA THIS!!" Quite a 4chan vs Tumblr argume(I am shot and killed)

But even though I describe Gordon as v earnest and sincere, it's not enitrely accurate, bc while he has a lot of Genuine Expressions of Emotion, he also seems to use anger to mask laughter ("if i had a knife i would gut you" said with an audible smile). Makes him seem less genuine and more like he's playing up the reactivity, but you still get a rly potent feeling that these are people he enjoys being around, and I'm sure that's also just Wayne R. TV playing gmod with his friends bleeding through .

Coomer's obviously the MOST sincere, he has literally the only lines that are SUPPOSED to be taken seriously. And Benrey may not be very sincere, but he IS (in Wayne R TV's words) the most sentimental, which is REALLY weird. He's constantly talking bullshit, but Scorpy Socpens still gives him these moments where it seems like he might actually care ("we should turn back.. we're going further . into HELL" and "why are we here? ..what happened to your arm?!") LIKE!! he and the others are all entertainers, they're all supposed to make you laugh (except for Dr. Coomer at one point), but Benrey especially, as he's this manifestation of insincerity and irony and absurdity--and yet?? some semblance of motivation??

If hlvrai is an argument on nihilism, then it's ALSO about how what makes life worth living is the people around you actually . Because of benrey's "nothing matters" mentality he gains Gordon's ire and subsequently becomes the antagonist as his stupid shenanigans are reframed as actively hindering the group (even though yeah EVERYONE gets in the way of everything all the time). Thus he becomes the Big Bad even though he's really just, not cut out for it . he knows his actions don't have meaningful consequences, but that sentimentality inevitably slips out, and yeah, his whole purpose is to be funny. you can't be funny to yourself now that's just embarrassing. he has the powers to shapeshift and time travel but he only does it when it's relevant to Gordon. i am constantly thinking about how he says "it replenishes your electronics" in this calm, mellow voice like he's got nothing to worry about and is just enjoying the moment . he just wants to play games with people, man!!!

and even though Gordon is so SO fucking uncool, he's allowed to be because he actually gives a shit!! even though they're both annoying, Benrey is the one who becomes the villain because of how detached he is. Gordon can stumble over his words and be clumsy as hell but he cares so deeply-- about the others, about putting on a show-- that his embarrassing attempts at being the hotshot hero of the story don't detract from his value. yeah this world isn't real but my friends are. yeah nothing matters but we can still try to help each other out. you are supposed to care!!! bitch

#[COUGHS AND HACKS VIOLENTLY] #hlvrai #half-life vr but the ai is self-aware #media analysis #txt #nonsense

[sflow-er]

In honour of International Asexuality Day, I present to you...

Some ace Henry “proof”

aka. shaky screenshots with even shakier interpretations! 🖤🩶🤍💜

Don’t take this too seriously, I’m sure it won’t be confirmed in the show and I know most people regard him as an allo! It’s just a personal headcanon that delights and comforts me. 

So as you may know, I’ve been on the ace Henry train since S1. Back when many people saw sexual attraction between him and Stella in the exam scene, I just...couldn’t. I’m not blind to SA by any means and I seldom hc characters as ace, but I just got a vibe from him.

Like, is this really supposed to be SA?

Because to me, these just read as “I see what you’re doing and I applaud your hustle” and "okay that’s me told” when Stella flips him off / hints that he’s creeping on her. (Again, I don’t mind if you see them differently!)

So what if we just accept that as a headcanon and run with it? What else could we interpret as “proof” of Henry possibly being on the ace spectrum? More screenshots etc. under the cut.

Well, we can also read further into his lack of interest in the sex part of the video scandal. Here he is, talking about how Wille and Simon got together and being an oblivious sweetheart to Wille, while everyone else is eagerly talking about them having sex and being filmed at it:

Moving on to S2 - where it’s very easy to cast asexuality as the reason he acts the way he does when something related to sex comes up. Aces being awkward about sex is a tired stereotype, but as it’s not our only “proof” in Henry’s case, I don’t see any harm in letting it count in our favour.

He already sounds and looks a bit awkward referring to the video in S2EP1 (obviously it’s because Wille is there, but we can easily hc it as both), but it’s his part in the whole Wille and Felice saga that truly makes him uncomfortable.

He looked like this interrupting Wilmon in the locker room even though they weren’t doing anything...

...but that was nothing compared to his awkwardness when he barged in on Wille and Felice making out. It’s hard to get a screenshot of his best expressions, but he almost looks like he totally forgot that sex was even a thing and he’s got absolutely no idea what to do or say now.

(Also, isn’t that a nice explanation for him being rattled enough to whine to his bestie Walter about this moment, even though he should definitely know that Walter is a massive gossip?)

The next morning, he is the very opposite of excited when Vincent puts him on the spot. Again, it’s because Wille is there, but we can easily hc it as him also thinking ‘ugh I forgot that everyone thinks hookups are the most interesting thing in the world and now they obviously want me to tell the story again’:

And then there’s his next scene.

S2 seems to confirm that Henry isn’t aromantic, as he is writing a sonnet to someone. After having already hc’d him as a romantic ace, I was incredibly nervous to see his reaction to Vincent’s hilariously serious advice to send a photo instead of a letter - which by the way makes me wonder which method Vincent used on his own date - but then I got this gem:

He looks so done, haha. With Vincent or the allos? Why not both!

(Also, the sonnet thing doesn’t rule out him being somewhere on the aro spectrum. Demiromantic, perhaps? The book report scene where he just doesn’t get how anyone could be in love with a person they haven’t even talked to could certainly be interpreted to support that.)

So are you convinced yet?

What’s that? You’re pretty sure it was Henry kissing the girl in the corridor in S1? Well, even if it was him, we could chalk that up to experimentation (or sex favourability), and I genuinely don’t think it was. The boy’s hair is way too long at the back and also looks a bit different at the front compared to Henry’s hair in S1, and there are several other boys with similar haircuts. There’s no reason we can’t interpret it as being one of them. (I had included a screenshot of this too but tumblr didn’t like it for some reason.)

So, keep on headcanoning! Whether it’s Henry who gives you a vibe or some other character.

Happy International Asexuality Day!

#young royals #henry young royals #henry yr #asexuality #aspec henry #ace henry #international asexuality day #ace headcanons #🖤🩶🤍💜 #to reiterate: this is just a hc! #so if you disagree - just live and let live #(okay so apparently tumblr thinks this post has 'mature content' somehow) #(i've added a community label but it's literally a post about hc'ing henry as asexual) #(i have no idea what this supposed 'mature content' is)