#dots included so this doesn't show up in any other tags

[greenbeany]

Ok today I'm fully committing to being a Wilbu.rian and Love.njoyer because Rans fandom are seemingly all absolutely crazy wdym 'they have to start a wholeass charity to apologize'

#also quit mc/c? #idk if he still likes the game and thats on him but its crazy forcing him to wuit #bc of a player or two they don't like #tu.bbo has made his position on sa.pnap clear and he still plays and has a great time #im just saying #he's twenty now #he's had a platform since he was sixteen #every opinion he's formed since becoming an adult has had to be scrutinized to hell #if he did something that really affected you that badly you can stop watching and vague talk him on Tumblr like i do for 🟢 #making him apologize in a one hour stream because his Tumblr post wasnt good enough #and start a NONPROFIT #when he already gives away 100% of his stream profits??? #fucking crazy #dots included so this doesn't show up in any other tags #ranboo #fandom crit

[bokutizer]

more of dada's so pwetty pweaseeee 🥺

dada’s pwetty! pt.2 

Includes : Kuroo, Bokuto Summary : Just a few daughters being enchanted by their dadas' looks Tags : fem!reader, fluff, domestic bliss A/n : I don't like the way Bokuto's turned out but... anyways. pt. 1

Whether it is a conversation between you and KUROO, the talking pigs on the TV or any other source that can show your two year old daughter the vast ocean of vocabulary: she loves parroting words that catch her attention. A habit that she has only recently picked up and that makes her jump and dance around your house, repeating the newly learned word like a broken record tape.  Today's word is sponsored by the elderly lady next door who told the two year old that her polka dotted dress was very "pretty", when you two came back from a walk to the nearby park a few hours ago. Since then, you don't think there is a single thing in the household that she has not baptized as "pwetty!". Actually, there is something. Or rather someone. Someone who has been rotting in his home office all day long, writing and answering emails, and attending one video conference after the other because of an important upcoming sports event.

The creaking door of his office catches Kuroo's attention and he immediately feels a little wave of serotonin flow through him at the sight of his little girl. Her dark pigtails swing back and forth as she skips over to him with a bright smile on her face. "Hey there, sweetheart." Kuroo coos after having silenced his microphone, pulling her up on his lap. "Daddy's almost finished, and then we can have dinner togeth-" "Dada's pwetty!" her cheerful and loud voice interrupts him. Her dada is clearly taken aback, but lets out a breathy chuckle once he lets her words sink in. "Is he now?" he playfully taps her nose with his forefinger before readjusting her on his lap to press a wet smooch against her cheek. "Well, I think you are way, way, wayyy prettier than your dada." Both of them keep giggling and fooling around until they hear someone clear their throat.  "I think we should end this call here. I'll email you further details." Kuroo hears one of his colleagues speak, and when he dares to look over to his screen, he notices how somehow all of them are... smiling? Some of them even wave which your daughter happily reciprocates. And upon further inspection, Kuroo notices a little detail that makes him smile bashfully before ending the call.  He could swear he turned the microphone off?

Your daughter is a ray of sunshine, obviously taking after BOKUTO. She's a curious child, loves exploring the world especially when she knows that her parents are right behind her, supporting her through every teeny tiny step of hers. Now, when it comes to her looks she's a carbon copy of you, but her personality? The way she interacts with others, how she perceives people's feelings, how she handles her own emotions (she doesn't know how to handle them)- Yep, she's definitely Koutarou's offspring.

It's a quiet Sunday evening, with you enjoying a warm bath and your husband and daughter sitting on the floor and playing in her room. Various glittery hair clips and pink bows adorn the volleyball player’s peppered hair, and while he’s sure that he must look awfully ridiculous right now, the excited and self-sufficient grin that his daughter is offering him right now is definitely more than worth it. “And- it’s done!” she beams, finishing the look with a final butterfly-shaped clip to get her dad’s bangs out of his face. “Daddy, you look like a mermaid!” Bokuto gasps, his excited expression mirroring that of his daughter when he catches a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window. “You’re so pretty!”  “No.” he smiles brightly, his chest feeling so full of love for this little bundle of joy. “You’re pretty.”

A giggle sounds through the room when he leans over to tickle her before hoisting her up in his arms. “No, you’re pretty.” your daughter counters, her voice a tad more serious than before.  “No, you.” Her nose scrunches irritatedly when her dad boops it, not minding how seriously she’s taking their discussion. “No, you!” And after countless back and forth, Bokuto’s eyes widen when she starts sniffling and her lower lip trembling.  “Okay, okay, daddy’s pretty! I’m pretty, yeah?” he embraces her tighter while panically looking around the room as if seeking your help, knowing very well that you’re probably still in the bathroom. “No crying, pumpkin, ‘kay?”  And while cradling her against him, lightly swaying from side to side, and watching his little girl’s drooping eyes, it’s obvious, and he has to admit also a little funny, that her distress was clearly caused by exhaustion. Though, he still believes that she’s the pretty one out of the both of them, even with her puffy eyes and snot running out of her nose, staining his shirt. 

#this has been sitting so long in my drafts help #kuroo tetsurou #kuroo x reader #hq kuroo #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo testuro #kuroo haikyuu #haikyuu kuroo #kuroo fluff #kuroo drabble #haikyuu bokuto #koutarou bokuto #bokuto #hq bokuto #bokuto x reader #bokuto koutarou #bokuto fluff #bokuto kōtarō #bokuto drabble

[bteezxyewriter12]

Love

Pairing- Jungkook x Named Reader

Word count- 2.6k

Includes- Tattoo appreciation, so much fluff, riding, love making, multiple orgasms

Tag List- @mingtina @jaxxmine @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa

@borntowalkaway @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi @seokwoosmole

Masterlists- check out for more fics

📝Masterlists 📝BTS Masterlist 📝Jungkook Masterlist

She opens her eyes, feeling his arm around her, his hand over hers, their fingers intertwined, his body against hers

She smiles as she hears his soft snores, his forehead against her neck

She doesn't move because she doesn't want to wake him up

When she went to sleep, it was 1 AM and he still wasn't back yet

She knows they're practicing a lot for the show in Busan coming up and it runs late

She was dead tired and didn't hear him come in or feel him come into bed

His arm keeps her against him and she feels so safe in his arms

Looking down at his arm, she takes in the pretty colors of his tattoos

She likes body art but she's too afraid of needles to get any tattoos herself

She loves his though, loves spending time looking at them, tracing the lines, touching his soft skin

Lifting her other hand she slowly moves her fingers along the black snake near his wrist, then moving along the words "the sun shines", which is the only part of that sentence, "Make hay while the sun shines", visible to her at the moment

She moves to the tiger lily, tracing the lines on the tattoo, his skin trembling under her fingertips

She loves the details, the rich orange color, the tiny brown dots, the stalks in the center of the flower

It's so pretty

Her fingers move over the large PLEA for the phrase "Please love me" under his tiger lily

That's all she can reach without pulling his arm and waking him up so she turns her attention to his hand and finger tattoos

Her fingers run gently over the 0613, tracing the numbers that are below his thumb

She moves to his ARMY knuckle tattoos, his heart one, the crown, the ARMY symbol and the J, softly touching

Bringing their hands closer, she kisses the back of his hand, her lips moving along each tattoo

"Mmm baby", he whispers

She freezes, not wanting to wake him up more

She really wants him to sleep and get the rest he needs before he has to get up and practice again

"You awake baby?", he asks, sleepily

"Yeah", she says softly

He presses a kiss to her shoulder, "Are you hungry? Do you wanna get food?"

"You don't have to wake up Kookie. You're tired, you should sleep more"

"No baby, I want to be with you"

She gently turns around in his arms facing him, his eyes cracking open

"You're exhausted", she says

"Not for you", he replies, smiling lazily, wrapping his other arm around her to keep her against him

He brings his other hand up, tucking hair behind her ear

He is fucking ethereal, especially when he just wakes up

His long black hair wild around the pillow, an easy smile on his face, his doe eyes big and not quite awake yet

She loves him so much and she wants to tell him but she's scared

She doesn't know if he takes this relationship as seriously as she does

After all he's everything, he's Jungkook and she's nobody

"I'm sorry for waking you up", she whispers, feeling so bad

"It's ok baby. Don't be sorry", he says, "I like waking up to you kissing me"

Her cheeks heat up and she knows she's blushing

He knows how much she likes his tattoos, how much she loves touching them

How turned on she gets by them

And he's been teasing her about that every chance he can through the close to a year they've been together

"You know I love your kisses right baby?"

She nods, getting shy

He makes her blush so easily, makes her stumble her words, act like a total dumbass while he's all charming, smooth and cool

"I felt you touching me. Were you looking at my tattoos again?"

Biting her lip, she nods

"Aww baby girl", he chuckles, "You can look at them anytime you want"

He always says that and she low-key thinks he absolutely loves it

He does

He loves feeling her fingers on his skin, loves the admiration in her eyes when she stares at them, loves the kisses she gives them

He loves her

Everything single thing about her he fucking adores

He's fallen head over heels in love and he's dying to tell her

He's just looking for the right time

Her fingers absentmindedly move along his tattooed arm, sending shivers up his arm

"Do you want to keep looking?", he asks

She nods

"Ok baby"

Her gorgeous brown eyes move to his arm and he holds his breath as they move on his body art

She runs her fingers along the microphone, then moves down the phrase "Rather be dead than cool"

That leads her to the skeleton rock hand, her lips pressing kisses to the tattoos after touching them

He bites his lip as he watches her turn his arm, her soft lips on the tiger lily, moving up to the sun, blue clouds and the word "quit"

Pulling away, she gently pushes him to his back, her hands moving under his shirt, slowly pushing it up

He eagerly helps her take his shirt off, letting her drop it to the floor

As his back hits the bed, she takes his wrist, holding his hand up and kissing the tattoos on the back of his forearm

She traces the words of his "Bullet proof" tattoos, saying, "So pretty. The color is so vibrant

She loved the eye that was there before but he wanted to cover it up because he said a lot of people didn't like it and his idea of it was so-so

She didn't think he should cover it up because of what people said about it, especially if he liked it but she didn't want to tell him what to do

He ended up covering it and the cover up tattoos just as beautiful and she loves it too

Her fingers move in a circle, around his clock tattoo that depicts his birth time

"One of my favorites", she says before she kisses it

He knows that, the microphone, the tiger lily and the J on his ring finger are her favorite tattoos of his

She moves kisses up his arm, leaning over him, giving each tattoo it's own attention with her touch and kisses

He feels so good, loved and accepted

She trails kisses to his shoulder, her lips moving along his collarbone, his breathing getting shorter

Pressing a kiss to his neck, he moans softly, loving the feel of her incredibly soft lips against him

Her hands move from his arm to his neck, her lips finally crashing into his

He kisses her desperately, as he waited for her to finish kissing his tattoos so he could finally have her lips against his

He falls into her kiss, his tongue meeting hers and playing, while his hands move under her shirt

He loves kissing her, always dying to have her lips against his

She feels the same, craving his kisses, falling into heaven every time they kiss

His fingers move along the skin of her back, shivers running along her spine

As they kiss, he pulls her shirt up, her arms moving out of the sleeves

They separate for the nanosecond it takes for her shirt to go over her head, their lips instantly against each others again

He can't wait, his hands pulling her shorts and panties down

He needs her now

She helps him get her clothes off, her mouth against his as she pulls down his boxers

He kicks them off, then helps her straddle him

She holds up his big dick, sitting on his head, pushing herself down on him

He places his hands on her hips, helping her down his shaft

"Oh god", he moans, while she whimpers his name

His cock is huge, thick, spreading her open so pleasurably

They're a snug fit, him completely filling her up with no room to spare, her cunt so tight around him

Pulsing so hard, so fast

"Kiss me", he asks, her mouth right against his

Just at that moment, she slips up his dick and bounces down, bottoming him out

Pleasure hits both of them hard as she continues to bounce up and down his cock, his head hitting her spot, making stars blast in her eye

His hands grip her behind, holding on and helping her move on him

She's so wet, he feels it drenching him and his lap

She moans in his mouth when he snaps his hips up, thrusting into her just as she comes down

His cock glides in so much deeper than before, her pussy clenching his thickness hard

"Fuck baby", he groans as they continue to move together, the loud pornographic sound of her sopping cunt taking him in mixing with the sound of their skin hitting each other reverberating off the walls of her room

"God, you're so wet for me", he breathes as she buries her face in his neck, "I can feel you creaming my dick so fucking much"

"I can't help it", she murmurs, "You feel too good baby"

"Me? You feel amazing baby girl. Love being inside you"

"Mmm", she whimpers

"Do you like having me buried deep inside you?"

"Love it Kookie", she answers, pressing kiss after kiss to his neck, her fingers winding in his long hair, holding on

The continuous stimulation of his head against her spot is driving her crazy, making her cunt squeeze the life from his cock as she gets closer to coming

He moves her up and down faster, chasing her orgasm

Not his

Hers

Hers feels out of this world and he craves that pleasure all the fucking time

"So close baby", he urges, "You're right there. Won't you cum for me?"

"Kookie", she whines, bouncing harder on him, the pleasure turning her brain off

"Please baby. I want to feel it. I fucking love when you cum on my cock baby girl. It feels so fucking good. Want it so bad", he pleads

They move together, smashing her spot and he feels the unbelievable pleasure as she cums

"Jungkook!", she cries in his neck, bliss taking over her, throbbing so hard around his cock, drenching him in cum

Her body shakes against his as his arms wrap around her, continuing to thrust into her to fuck her through it

"Good girl", he praises, "You feel so fucking good baby"

As soon as she finishes, he rolls them over, getting her under him

She looks up at him, a soft smile on her face, her fingers softly playing with the hair at the back of his head

She's so beautiful and he can't hold back

He gently touches her cheek, "I love you"

He doesn't understand the shock in her eyes because he thinks he's been obvious about how he feels about her

He always needs to be around her, is always touching her, whether it's holding her hand, keeping his hand on her leg, his arm around her

He's always staring at her, it's so hard to get his eyes to move off of her

His members can attest to that, having to call his name over and over to get his attention when she's around

But maybe it hasn't been obvious to her

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, she's so surprised but also so happy

She hoped he loves her but she didn't want to assume

But he does and she's so grateful to have his love

"I love you Jungkook", she says softly, "I love you so much"

A gorgeous smile bursts on his face

She loves him

He hasn't felt this ecstatic in awhile

"Yeah baby?", he asks

She nods, "Yeah"

"I love you so much Jo", he says, looking down at his baby smiling at him

He leans down, his lips pressing against her soft ones

As they fall into each other's kiss, he moves her legs around his waist, sliding back into her easily

His arms move around her, holding her to him as his hips move, slowly thrusting into her

Pleasure runs up his spine feeling her pussy opening for him, taking him in, hugging him tightly

She shivers as she feels his rock hard cock slide into her, his tip brushing against her spot

Her body arches into him, his skin against hers, both of them loving the feel of each other

He kisses her deeply, loving how he can feel every little move, every little breath she makes

Her hands slowly run up and down his muscular back, his muscles moving as he softly moves into her

She loves feeling that and he loves feeling her hands on him

They're so small, her fingers so thin but they cause fire to burst in every area they touch, making his skin tremble under them

This hasn't ever happened with anyone else but her and he's glad for it

He only ever wants to feel this way with her

She moves her hips up, meeting his thrusts, both of them moving slowly, arms around each other, lips still locked together

They both know they're making love to each other and it's absolutely perfect

He feels her getting closer, pulsing harder and she knows he's close by the way his cock is throbbing inside her

"Baby", she whimpers, clinging onto him, "I love you"

He moans hearing her words, words that he will never get tired of hearing

"I love you", he answers, the ecstasy too much, "I love you so much"

He crashes his lips to hers as his orgasm washes over him, spilling inside her

His cock throbbing and his warm cum filling her sets her off and she moans loudly against his lips while she orgasms

The pleasure from her orgasm feels so good and prolongs his

"Fuck Joanne, god. So good", he murmurs as she calls his name over and over

Slowly the bliss leaves them as they still cling onto each other

She nuzzles into his neck, kissing his skin softly while he hugs her tightly, his fingers running in her hair

"My baby", he says softly, "I love you"

He can't stop saying the words now that he said them and he never plans on stopping

"I love you Jungkook", she responds, "Always baby"

"Always", he repeats

He kisses her then moves off her, laying next to her, pulling her into his arms

She cuddles into him, feeling so safe and loved in his arms

"Do you wanna get up baby?", he asks, his fingers playing with her long hair

"Uh uh", she says, shaking her head, moving as closer to him as she can, her eyes closing

He laughs, "No? You want to stay in bed?"

She nods, holding him tightly, "Wanna stay with my Kookie"

He grins widely, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. You need to sleep more and you're putting me to sleep right now"

"Am I?", he teases

"Yeah baby. You know playing with my hair puts me to sleep"

"I know baby", he chuckles, kissing her forehead

"Do you want to sleep?"

"I can sleep more", he yawns

"Good. Kiss me and go back to sleep"

"Yes ma'am", he says, pressing his lips to hers

She kisses her Kookie, loving the feel of his soft lips against hers

Reluctantly they pull away, her head on his chest, snuggling into each other under the covers

"I love you", she says

"I love you", he answers

He closes his eyes, his fingers continuing to play with her hair as she closes her eyes, falling asleep to his heartbeat

#jeon jungkook fanfic #bts jungkook fanfic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fluff #jeon jungkook smut #bts jungkook smut #jungkook smut #bts fanfic #bts smut

[amelikos]

Some character notes and episode notes for HZ044, writing them down for future reference.

Friede went to check the strange tower on the isolated island, and he eventually saw Spinel and his Pokemon there. He goes back to the ship and calls for a meeting. Different from how he reacted in HZ014 when he followed Spinel's Rarecoil and fell in his trap (and didn't mention it to the crew afterwards). This time, he is sharing all the information he has instead of rushing directly into things.

Back on the ship, Friede shows the footage he got and Liko recognizes Spinel as the one who stole her pendant and mentions that Sango (she used her name) said they were going to summon Rayquaza, so Friede assumes they actually have a way to do it (maybe by using a machine or something). Dot offers to make a shutdown program that works on any machine and mentions that she cannot forgive "that guy" (referring to Spinel). Liked that they still included their kind of rivalry, given that Spinel's introduction arc overlapped with Dot coming out of her room and getting Kuwassu as a partner. Dot got tricked multiple times by Spinel, and she wants to be involved this time too, because it's personal for her.

Friede suggests using a boat to get to the island because going by ship or on Lizardon would immediately give him away. Liko and Roy want to tag along as well. Friede is about to refuse because it's dangerous but doesn't finish his sentence once he sees how determined they both look and eventually accepts. I really like that they keep emphasizing that things are dangerous, makes things feel grounded.

Liko and Roy eventually go to the island and go through a forest to get to the tower, along with Friede and Landau. There are wild Pokemon who don't seem used to humans and they try not to stand out by not making any noise. Eventually they get to the tower and Friede warns Liko and Roy to be careful. The door was open, which makes Friede suspect something is wrong but he still goes inside and ends up being locked there. Friede tells Liko and Roy that they should go ahead without him. Liko and Roy are both worried but Landau tells them to believe in Friede and continue onwards. Liko takes a deep breath to regain her composure and they all decide to look for where Rayquaza might appear. Love the small moments with Liko being worried and her just taking a moment to breathe to calm herself down, it feels real.

Spinel and Friede get to interact face to face for the first time. Friede recognized his voice and referred to him by the words he used back in HZ014, and Spinel calls him by his name and professor status. Spinel revealed that the place was built just to imprison Friede. I just like the implications that he did all of that just to trap Friede and isolate him from the others and that he was going to wait for him there, which implies that he acknowledges him as a threat and wants to delay him. Love how cunning Spinel is in general, his strategies involve some kind of deception and distraction, isolating his opponents and luring them away, which he did with both Friede and Liko in HZ014.

Somewhere else, Sango is skeptical and asks Agate if their plan will really attract Rayquaza. She also wonders where Amethio is and calls him "bocchan" (very important lore, thank you Sango for the casual reveal). Agate says that they'll execute the plan without him and that it was Spinel's idea. Sango says it's a shame he's missing out and adds that Spinel hates Amethio. Onyx tells her to stop blabbering and to get back in position, which annoys Sango but she does it anyway. Onyx shakes her head at her www He really has to put up with a lot with her (but he still cares).

As an aside, Sango's words about Spinel hating Amethio were interesting... I wonder how much of that is true. Spinel usually keeps a lot of information to himself, so the fact that his supposed dislike for Amethio was so apparent that even Sango saw it? Maybe he doesn't care about hiding it, maybe he can't hide it because Amethio irritates him that much? Maybe he feels like that because Amethio is too honest and straightforward in his approach, which is very different from how Spinel acts? I think that for someone like Spinel, being anything else than "indifferent" towards someone is a feat, so Amethio is "special" on some level... (Spinel finds very few people "fascinating" so far, we know Liko being the key to something had him intrigued, and he's also interested in Friede) He did keep up with Amethio's training and observed it back in HZ034, and last time they both interacted, Amethio did agree with Spinel in HZ027... So I wonder what's up with Spinel potentially hating Amethio, and why he may feel that way in the first place.

Back in the tower, Spinel talks about the device he made. Basically a resonance generator which recreates the energy Terapagos emits when calling to Rayquaza. Friede wonders if the Explorers can beat Rayquaza, to which Spinel says that three skilled Explorers are on the job, so they might be able to do something. Friede says that Spinel didn't strike him as the type to rely on others, but Spinel says he is just using them. Very good banter and back and forth here, I love how we get a view of how Friede considers Spinel and how methodical and calculating Spinel is too.

Friede and Spinel are about to battle, when Friede realizes he can't use Lizardon in that confined space (which is also why Spinel lured him there). He decides to send Cap to battle, and Spinel wonders if he is being underestimated (just like Amethio back in HZ002, and Friede remembered Amethio said the same thing). Blacky going full out in battle was great to see, and Spinel's battle style was interesting! Blacky knowing Reflect (a move reducing damage) says a lot about Spinel's relationship with his Pokemon too. We got a small exchange between Friede and Cap during the battle, when Cap shows him the small crack made on the and lets him know they should use this to escape.

Back to Liko and Roy, they are looking for the Explorers and Terapagos reacts to something. They can all feel Rayquaza is about to appear and it does eventually happen. (The BGM used between 12:10 and 12:20 was great and I hope it ends up in the OST if there is ever one)

Nanjamo was shown briefly livestreaming, so I wonder if she'll catch footage of Rayquaza.. Liko, Roy and Landau head to where Rayquaza is, while the Explorers start attacking him. Rayquaza was shown reacting to the sound similar to Terapagos and it felt like he stopped an attack after hearing it, I feel like this showed Rayquaza's soft side in a way? Rayquaza appeared after hearing "Terapagos" calling out to him and stopped whatever he was about to do upon hearing that sound again, so he is definitely not indifferent to Terapagos's cries.

Meanwhile, Dot announces that she finished the shutdown program but needs to get close to the device to activate it. She seems hesitant at first, and Murdock suggests doing it instead of her because he is worried about her being in danger. However, Dot says she will do it because Liko and Roy are fighting too and she is inspired to do the same to be on the same level as them. While Murdock is still worried, he is both proud and supportive of her wishes and says he'll lead her there. (Dot really grew to appreciate her friends and is pushed to act, be braver, and go out of her comfort zone thanks to them. Her development these past episodes has been great to witness.)

Back to Friede vs Spinel, they keep battling and Friede eventually manages to use Spinel's moves against him and break the wall to run away. Their VAs were really good in that scene btw (loved the way Spinel said いかさま whenever he ordered that move, and the way Friede said "sorry, I broke the place~" was a bit too much... weirdly teasy-sounding too in a way, which I loved.. Makoto Furukawa and Yashiro Taku are just great fits for their characters and their acting elevates literally any scene they are in). Either way, Friede leaves and Spinel considers him interesting now and wants to play with him some more~ So he potentially got himself a new obsession and wants to know more about Friede. I hope their dynamics will be expanded upon in the future because they are intriguing (and quite similar in some ways? Given that they both enjoy researching in some ways).

Two other things I loved was the non-conclusive aspect of the battle and Blacky's reaction. I love that HZ keeps showing non-conclusive battles because they tell a kind of story too, and that Friede doesn't finish battles if he doesn't need to. The context of each battle he takes part in is always very different (which is why it's interesting when he does engage Amethio in battle and gets into them a lot, but that's another story), and the story doesn't force battles to keep going for the sake of it. It's not cowardly to prioritize other things and HZ shows that the protag and hero side can run away. Running away or using distractions aren't only things antagonists or enemies do, and there is no moral judgement made about it, which I honestly appreciate.

Blacky's reaction was also interesting because as Friede and Cap left, I think she was growling? Which potentially shows that she may have wanted to finish the battle and knew she had the upper hand (darkness being her element too, being trapped in there was convenient) and was confident about her skills. Yet, back in HZ016, Blacky immediately wanted to back off once Oliva came out so she knew about the potential danger then. I think it shows Blacky doesn't overestimate her abilities (backing away from a confrontation that might be too dangerous, and knowing when things are in her and Spinel's favor).

Back to Rayquaza, Liko and Roy do what they can to stop the Explorers. Roy thought of using Stomping Tantrum to make Agate lose her balance (quick thinking on his part!), and called Kaiden to repel Agate's Ultra Ball. (I hope we see Kaiden more in chapter 3 because his appearance here was short and quick)

Dot eventually jumps into the scene in her Gurumin costume and manages to disable the device by connecting her Rotom Phone to it, thanks to Kuwassu and Kanuchan's help. That's the first victory Dot had against Spinel in a way, since she could interfere with his plan somehow (I do hope there is more to their rivalry in the future, still). Kanuchan eventually starts crying since the whole situation was scary for her, so Dot comforts her and calls her back to her Pokeball. Liko and Roy praise Dot for her feat, so Dot hides her face with her again before accepting their compliments. (It was cute. She clearly was happy about their words but she was still a bit embarassed.)

Eventually, Rayquaza breaks free from the ice and salt crystals. Agate starts getting visibly worried (I liked seeing another side of her since she is usually so composed and seems like the most levelheaded of the Explorers compared to the others.. she also got worried for Sango later on). Rayquaza launches Draco Meteor which hits a bunch of stuff in the area. Sango snaps and charges towards Rayquaza to use Self-Destruct (I love her battle style and how unhinged she is). The move manages to hurt Rayquaza and sends him crashing into the Brave Asagi. While Orio, Murdock, Mollie and the other Pokemon are still on the ship. Liko and the others are horrified. (Friede's expression, particularly, was good at the end.)

Anyway, great episode! I missed Kureha Matsuzawa's writing (last ep he wrote was HZ032 with Lapras joining Liko and the others, and Lucius flashback).

#hz044 #character notes #episode notes

[tapwrites]

Commas & Structural Punctuation

Commas can be a little hard to get your head around, as a writer. They are used for many different things to structure a sentence, so unless you're thinking about that structure, you can end up with commas all over the place.

Let's go over how commas affect the structure of a sentence, and how this relates to other punctuation...

The most obvious is to indicate an "aside" as I call it. When you use two commas, like this, what is happening to the text between the commas? It's almost like using brackets (like this) to whisper something related to the sentence in the middle of it.

The comma can also mark a continuation of the sentence in a slightly new direction, tagged onto the end like this. This is similar to a colon: which adds more information to what was said so far.

However, it can also be used after the introduction to a sentence like this.

An em-dash (or long dash) can be used the same way—as an aside—in the middle or end of the sentence. It may be easier while writing to use two dashes--which are easier to type--and then go back and swap them out before printing.

"The em-dash can also be used to show something—" "Being interrupted by something else."

For example, when dialogue or narration is stopped short by some event, or another person speaking over them.

A list of items can be separated by commas such as item 1, item 2, and item 3. The comma before the final item and the "and" is called the oxford comma, after the Oxford Style' Guide's recommendation to use it. Some writers avoid that, which is recommended by the Associated Press Style. As long as it doesn't confuse the reader, you can do whatever feels natural to you.

A semi-colon is something different altogether; it joins on another complete sentence to the first that's related to it. As opposed to the colon or comma: which joins on a continuance to the sentence that's related to it.

A "full stop," or "period," leaves two sentences separate from one another. The sentences might be closely linked. They may even continue the same thought, really--like that one did.

That said, depending on your writing style or the way a character speaks, the rules about "complete sentences" can be pretty loose and casual. As long as it's not confusing, and an "incomplete sentence" continues a complete one, you should be okay.

Dialogue may contain a complete sentence, which would normally end with a full-stop. But if the sentence in general continues—with a dialogue tag indicating the speaker, for example— When a full-stop would be used at the end of a sentence as part of dialogue, but the s

"The time is six thirty-two," said the clock.

Read more about sentences here: Breaking Paragraphs and Splitting Sentences.

And an ellipsis (or "dot dot dot") lets something trail off… And maybe get picked up again later. Or to denote a pause. This is most common in dialogue, though you may choose to use it here and there in narration too if that's your style.

Just be careful to not just throw it in all over the place. A full-stop is a pause too. And a comma can be a pause. Be sure to use it when it's necessary to add to what the reader understands from the text. Use it when it adds to the story, not just any time someone takes a breath.

However, these different ways of using the comma can be confusing. The comma can be used for many things, things other punctuation can do just fine, including asides, lists, and related ideas, but also to join on new thoughts, like this. Now... how do you think that sentence was structured?

Main sentence: "The comma can be used for many things"

Aside: "things other punctuation can do just fine"

New direction: "including" a list:

"asides"

New item: "lists"

New item: "related ideas"

New direction: "but also to join on new thoughts"

Aside for the second part: "like this."

And how easy was it to figure out how it was structured as you read it? The reader doesn't know ahead of time what the structure is going to be, so they will rely on context clues to read the commas—which may be incorrect or misleading.

"The comma can be used for many things" (the main sentence). Then a comma, most commonly used to have an aside/new direction to the sentence.

"things other punctuation can do just fine". This could be an item list in theory, or maybe more likely it's an aside from the first part. This isn't completely clear, though.

"including asides". Another comma. This could end the aside and go back to the main sentence; or maybe "asides" is the first item in a list, and we're going onto a second comma.

"lists". With another comma. As that was so short, this is probably a list item, and the comma indicates it'll be followed by another item. So then "asides" was actually the first item of this list! If we guessed wrong, we've got to restructure the sentence in our minds.

"related ideas". Another comma, so this is probably going to followed by another item and the list will continue.

"but also to join on new thoughts". It doesn't really fit with the list, as this is a contradictory "but" phrase. Although this new comma could mean another item is coming, so maybe this is part of the list?

"like this." Ah, so that looks a lot like a simple aside tagged onto the previous "but" phrase. So the list wasn't continued after all.

It's kind of hard to reason about when you go word by word, comma by comma, isn't it? Your brain works fast, but it still has to do that processing. And still has to re-structure things if it went down the wrong route. This kind of thing is why sometimes you need to re-read a sentence once or twice; your brain got a bit lost in how it was structured in the first place.

This is why those other structural punctuation marks exist; to let us more explicitly structure the sentence without ambiguity. If we go full-on with using those instead, the sentence could look like this:

The comma can be used for many things (things other punctuation can do just fine), including: asides, lists, and related ideas—but also to join on new thoughts, like this.

Which can come off as more "formal" in style, as if written in a business document. But that's because it's explicit about its meaning.

And notice, I still used commas. But now, they are used within clearly marked out areas, so their meaning is clear. The one after "asides" is between the semi-colon and em-dash, and it's quite easy to see that the commas in that part are separating items. Whereas the one used before "like this" at the end is within a section between the em-dash and full-stop. And through the context you can pick up that it's a little aside.

For a more casual style, such as writing fiction, you don't need to use this explicit punctuation everywhere. Commas are just fine. Just be mindful of keeping it clear what they're doing, so the reader doesn't have to spend time and energy figuring it out.

#comma #punctuation #grammar #sentence structure #writing #ellipsis #ellipses #colon #semi-colon #full-stop #period

[todayisafridaynight]

It's been wonderful being able to talk about these things for me too! I haven't really had the opportunity since Y7 came out, so I'm positively buzzing. And no worries about the tone of your post about Daigo's article haha, I appreciate it when issues are pointed that I might've missed otherwise since that's at least something actionable.

But I'm obviously not going to stop anyone from venting frustrations with the wiki or with Fandom as a platform; I frequently find myself frustrated too! It's one of the things that keeps people editing the wiki. I'm honestly fine with whatever as long as it's not accusing us of being fujoshi for the billionth time lol, but for better or worse I do like to clarify what we're trying to do if there's any confusion.

Speaking of, Mine's relationship tags are kind of a funny story! So a lot of them have these dotted underlines and question marks, right? You're supposed to be able to hover over underlined terms to see a short definition (on desktop) and click the question mark to see an article with all the definitions on mobile, since hover actions aren't possible on a touchscreen.

But since the article was and still is under construction, Fandom doesn't show the link to logged-out users. So I had no idea it just looks like we're saying the tag is ambiguous lol. It's up now though, so it's hopefully easier to understand what we're trying to do!

I just found it funny I specifically added that feature to reduce confusion. Half the grief we get over Mine's "romantic interest" tag is because people assume we're saying it's mutual (we chose the term to try and avoid the "mutual" connotations of "love interest," but I guess that didn't work out). I also thought it might help with somewhat esoteric tags like "co-parent" (which was put in place for Jo and Arakawa and then I kept thinking of others) and "surrogate son." Turns out it's tough to boil complex relationships down to one term!

I definitely have SO many questions about New Year's Day and I probably always will; for the space of only one night, it's a huge blank. I certainly do have to wonder if shipping Masato off to America was decided then and there. There's a lot that could possibly be expanded on in RGGO (further interactions between Arakawa and Jo included lol), so I've got hope for that too now that we're back to random events. I'd be really interested to see how you'd portray it someday!

Talking about Nakai and Tsutsumi reminded me, Nakai mentioned he read the whole script in a day so he "wouldn't do a disservice to Arakawa or Sawashiro's characters." That kind of stuck out to me precisely because there are so few scenes between them compared to like, Arakawa and Ichi, and they're all relatively low-impact in comparison.

Of course, it could be marketing on account of him and Tsutsumi getting to co-star again, or the scenes could simply have stood out to him more for that reason, or he could've had a different impression of the ratios having read the script rather than played the game. But the part of me that makes me want to go Off The Deep End speculating is kind of wondering if there were other scenes planned?

And absolutely! I'm not able to reblog often because the post editor's been crashing whenever I try to tag my posts, but I hope you know I love your work and I'll support pretty much anything you put out! I'm very excited to share my findings as well.

A lot of it's to do with Mine's relationship to Western culture vs. Japanese culture (his "westabooism," basically), so that's specific to him, but there a lot of interesting concepts and theories in Japanese psychology regarding familial bonds, met and unmet emotional needs. They work as an explanation for his probable feelings of alienation from Japanese culture, but I feel they would make for an interesting lens to examine the Arakawas through as well.

I actually hadn't ever considered the similarity with regard to Mine and Jo's dads, but that makes so much sense! If I were to take it a step further, I think feelings of "abandonment" by their fathers have had long-lasting effects on both them and Masato. Jo we've been talking about, his father was technically still "there," but he wasn't in his corner, which feels much the same as abandonment to a child.

I think Mine's internalized a lot of the same feelings even though his father never meant to abandon him (I guess Jo's may not have, necessarily; alcoholism can destroy a family whether the individual wants that to happen or not). Like, unfairness, displacement, lack of control, the loss of the only support you have and so on. I think dwelling on that is what sent Mine's mental state spiraling, and what made it imperative to just believe Daigo was "dead" to try and move on as soon as possible. He didn't want to be hurt the same way again.

It's also probably what he was projecting in his ridiculous villain speech during The Orphanage Scene; the reason offering kids support in the way Kiryu does is a form of "victimization" in his eyes, at that moment, is because that support can be ripped away from you at any time. The scene is kind of hilarious to me because it's like, "okay we need Mine to have a kick-the-dog moment, his actions have been too understandable," but I do get it from that angle.

Similarly, I think those feelings of abandonment are why Arakawa faces the brunt of Aoki's abuse, because it's like, "YOUR negligence is why I had to go through all of that." So I get why Jo, like your sister, wouldn't want the finger pointed at him, but at the same time… damn. Perhaps if Arakawa had never had that talk with Masato, things might've been different. I get the impression he wouldn't be able to endure keeping things to himself for as long as Jo, though, given things like the letter he sent Ichi in prison.

Oh, yeah, Jo is CRAZY protective of Masato too! "If anything happens to him, killing you a thousand times would be insufficient!" I think part of his overreaction to having Masato's money is also that if Ichi can't listen to orders that fundamental, who's to say he listened to the orders to keep Masato safe? I guess if you see Ichiban as incompetent to the point of almost being a malicious actor, you might think that.

I'm sooo so glad you've noticed the rest of those similarities haha, I've been rotating them around in my brain like a cube for ages. A Venn diagram would be so fun to see! That's such an insightful look at the differences between Mine and Jo's offices too. I was a little confused about the placement of the social spaces, or even that they're there, but if you look at it as clearly separate from his personal spaces, it does make sense.

Also, not to harp on the books in the offices too much, but I compared the textures a little earlier. Mine's are basically all (very expensive) encyclopedias and language phrasebooks in English, Italian, French, and German, in contrast to Jo's discrete hardcovers and series of art history books. They're probably all stock assets lol, but I think they're surprisingly good fits; Mine dumping considerable time, money, and energy into his fascination with Western culture and Jo being the type to not want people to know what he's reading totally works for me.

But yes! It's kind of funny, because Yokoyama wasn't much of a Mine fan in his early days, but I hope he and the others keep on writing characters like him. I think of it as Mine's "legacy" in a series where past characters aren't acknowledged too often; the most I can recall are that Hakuho mention in 4 and the fencing around the Touto roof perimeter.

Speaking of, I love Mine's missed shots in the finale specifically because he's an excellent marksman in his Okinawa character story. Why? How? Who Knows, He's Perfect. (Probably not as good of a shot as Daigo though lol)

And yeahhh, there are other interviews, but it ain't the same! It was the most in-depth one I know of. I think this is one of the only remnants, and I shall entrust it to you.

But yes, exactly! And I'm also glad Y7 introduced more people to them (myself included), Tsutsumi's my favorite actor of all time and Nakai's brilliant. They make a great combi! Of the things I've seen where they co-star, I think Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP are both solid; the latter is a special for a longer show, but I honestly didn't even notice lol. Musashi I wasn't personally able to get through even though I've read the book, so I'm not sure how it plays out between them.

Also I DIDN'T KNOW TORU DIED IN PURE??? That came out of nowhere oh my god T___T But if you're ever looking for anything rare, feel free to ask! I might know a guy (gender neutral) with a stash, Fly, Daddy, Fly included.

OH MAN MINE'S WIKI ENTRY I've definitely made my opinions about it known, but now knowing the truth behind it it's kind of funny and still so unfortunate. I'd almost want to recommend a section dedicated to the topic since it's such an integral part of his character, though I also understand wanting to keep the wiki strictly to factual information and to exclude speculation (or "speculation" anyhow- it's definitely more of a concrete situation, especially going off of the information provided in your pinned post on the topic. If anything, that sort of information would belong to the "Trivia" tab wouldn't it- but again, it's such a deep situation it can't really be summarized in one or two sentences) and the topic being too niche to have a page dedicated to it. It's nice to know that the subject isn't trying to be brushed under the rug though and it's just a matter of awkward formatting/incomplete work!

Furthermore on The New Years Event, I would LOVE RGGO to expand on the topic since they've been so liberal with the stories they make and the depth those stories add to the characters. Honestly, I was expecting Masato's card to have that as its accompanying character story, so it's unfortunate that he doesn't get it or any story as far as I'm aware (or maybe he does have one and my poor pull luck has just prevented me from getting the card to find out myself, but I've looked as much as I could and couldn't find an upload of it). Oh well, I guess it's the old "if you want something done you gotta do it yourself-" not that anything I could make could ever be up to scratch, so I'm glad I do have people interested in what I have in mind :)

About Nakai, I wouldn't feel wrong trying to accredit his comment to a time before he knew the full plot or saw the full game and was just debriefed on the general story/character relationships, and I also wouldn't put it past RGG to have deleted scenes/ideas (if those do exist, RGG please let me in your vault I'd like to take a peak...)!

The psychology of Mine is another topic I've been wanting to officially tackle for a while now, so I'm glad I have this chance to share some of what I have mental bullet points for.

Moreover, Mine's dad and how he "left" Mine undeniably impacted him significantly beyond physically leaving him alone, and it definitely manifests in The Orphanage Scene and his idea that killing Daigo would be "putting him out of his misery". In those instances, he sees Daigo and the orphans as victims of an unfair reality, Daigo being comatose, and the orphans having the endure the struggles of being orphans (and that added-on, projected anxiety that their comfortable lives now could vanish at any second like it did for Mine). Mine's mustache-twirling villainy is funny for its absurdity, but I also genuinely appreciate it since it lets us peak into his warps philosophy better. It doesn't justify his actions by any means, but it explains to us why he can justify his actions as from a place of love or pity as opposed to thoughtless evil.

To add on, Mine's relationship with his father, from what we're allowed to gather, was healthy and positive. Because of their positive relationship, the removal of such adds credence as to why Mine's desperate to get that love again. It especially makes sense considering Japan's horrendous attitude and negligence towards orphaned children that was even demonstrated during Mine's childhood while his father was alive.

And as an inverse aside, Jo's relationship with his dad was toxic, whether it was due to blatant abuse or combined negligence. It's fair to assume that Jo never got to experience genuine, secure love growing up, so as a result, it's not something he actively seeks out. He's been without it long enough that it's not something he necessarily craves like Mine who used to have it until it was taken from him.

Masato certainly makes it clear he felt isolated despite the efforts Jo and Arakawa repeatedly went through for him, and it's apparent it's an unfortunate side affect of internalized ableism. It definitely doesn't help anyone's case that Masato had seemingly been informed of the night of his birthday's events (from Arakawa's point of view, obviously), and it's clear that knowledge gives ammunition as to why he resents him.

You're right on Jo potentially seeing Ichi as a bad actor, it's not as if he has disdain for him for no reason! Like even if Ichiban hadn't taken Masato's money the way Jo could have imagined, the idea that Ichi can't be responsible in one avenue can easily lead back to Ichi having the potential to look after Masato, especially when he seems to be the one who predominately looks after him when he's tasked to.

I've already got my program open to make my little chart and have my reference pictures ready, so hopefully I can have that silly thing out soon haha- I'm glad you're interested in seeing it, and I hope other people will like to see it too! Jo and Mine really are my favorite antagonists, so it's funny (and I guess not surprising) that they have parallels to them.

To add on to that though, I think it's fun to look at the extra details, no matter how small; I'm probably more happy than I should be that you looked at their office's books, but I can't help be a fan of the details you found (whether they're generic models or not, I'm running with them- I've done more with less before lmao)! Mine having language books is definitely in-line with his interests, but Jo having art history books is weirdly endearing (and dare I say another point for "these are the same picture" comparing it to Mine's own love for art). Jo being so private to the point of blocking out the binds of the books he owns is so accurate to him and his secrecy, and the concept that he likes to read about art in his spare time is a new favorite concept for me.

Mine really isn't acknowledged much after 4; in comparison to Ryuji and Nishiki, he's remembered throughout the series the least (you can argue the same for Ryuji, but considering he gets a whole new life in Dead Souls, I think it's fair to say that makes up for the mainline series forgetting about him. Though I guess the same could be Mine getting a prominent role as Hijikata in Ishin... Definitely not as cool of a spot as to be a playable protagonist with a machine gun arm if I'm honest). In that, it's great that his likelihood can exist in future characters, and I hope they continue the trend of phenomenal antagonists in LaD8 and onward!

I'm eternally grateful for this frame you've gifted me thank you so much- Nakai's smile is such a blessing honestly, I'm glad if anything survived from the interview it can be this shot at least.

I've got Princess Toyotomi and Hero SP added to my watch list, DEFINITELY something I'll be excited to check out as a reward once I have all my important business taken care of this week! Honestly, I haven't seen Musashi either: while I was looking through their filmography I saw it was a project they did, but I've always been bad at watching long series so I didn't take the time to see their performance together.

For things I have seen though... yeah he dies SORRY IF THAT WAS HOW YOU FOUND OUT </3</3 Honestly I didn't expect myself to love the series as much as I did (admittedly it was predominately because of the leads and their relationship), but when it happened I was both- dare I say crushed- a little humored a little funny in a dark-comedy way.

And if you do have access to harder-to-get films, I'd absolutely be interested in hearing about it. One of Nakai's movies Good Morning Show has been haunting me for weeks: it sounds like such a fun movie yet I can't find it anywhere </3

#long post #fave #i have to fave these now because i be putting my essay notes in these OOPSIE #snap chats #the state of the arakawas is probably one of my favorite things to explain to people BECAUSE its so complicated #i showed my sister the ending of Y7 despite her not knowing anything about the series since i was talking about how upset it made me #and i tried to explain the whole family situation since it was relevent #just... yeah so the guy in blue was put in a locker by his dad and then he got saved by another guy #and he did that because he thought the guy in blue was his kid- who is actually the guy in red #because /his/ mom put him in a locker because of yakuza business and she couldnt take care of him #but now dad-who-put-a-baby-in-a-locker came back so now he co-parents alongside the guy who took his baby #but theyre not together they just. raise 'their' kid but the other guy doesn't know that his co-parent is the /actual/ dad #i know i already made a parody of it but it genuinely has the set up to some goofy slice-of-life manga i love it ☠️☠️ #its SO funny to try to explain its easy to understand if you put it down on paper or write it out but to verbally do it 😭☠️☠️ #moving on tho i'd love to know more about that japanese psychology bit #im asian myself and tho obviously not all asian cultures are the same they overlap #so im curious to see if i can recognize any of the issues i notice in my own culture with that which can be applied to the arakawas + mine #the bit on his western idolization is something im interested in too ! esp based on the books in his office it could be an interestin topic #man i just keep looking at that interview picture and it really does have the energy of a proud dad and his son #maybe thats just because nakai's smile reminds me of my dads #but yes yes thank you again for writing it ! i know i keep saying it but i cant stress how nice it is to take this extensively #especially because not only do i learn a bit more and learn some details i missed but it also helps me expand my own thoughts #that i hope to make into bigger posts #on that note though i have one more quick post to make after this one then i have to tend to some of that Important Business.. #and thank you for being a supporter of me and my work ! sometimes i get a bit self conscious about it #i know i post a lot too and i never expect people to interact with my things so im grateful for the knowledge you enjoy it !

[astrxlis-archive]

note – i queued this to 11:30pm my time; it’s my birthday today (oct 8), and xingqiu’s is tomorrow, and i’ve had this idea for a while now. this is mostly self-indulgent because my birthday is a sensitive topic for me. take this in whatever light you wish - i just wanted something soft. i don't care if this doesn't show in the tags. sections in italics are memories. not proof-read.

word count – 1.2k

october nights are always cold in qingce village. the countryside is humid thanks to the nearby bodies of water and waterfalls; the plantation soil is wet, adding to the cold feeling, and the wind is chilly, seeping into your bones.

you cradle your coat closer to your body, shivering as a breeze messes with your hair and clothes. what an unfortunate time to not have a pyro vision, you think, adjusting yourself better on the roof of the village’s community center building.

it was nearing midnight, if the moon’s position in the sky was anything to go by. had you been in liyue harbor, you’d probably be in the same spot as usual; this year, however, you’d been hired by granny ruoxin to keep a lookout for the unusual increase of treasure hoarder activity in the area, and to protect the village if necessary.

maybe you should’ve brought a xiao lantern with you, if only for sentimental value.

when you moved to liyue harbor two years ago, you had, against all odds, struck a weird sort of friendship with the heir of the feiyun commerce guild. your line of work mostly involved odd jobs here and there, fighting for whoever paid you enough mora, and xingqiu had jumped on the opportunity to test his skills against you. being a little older and more experienced than him proved to be an advantage at first, but he’s a fast learner, and soon your matches were ending in draws more often than not.

you also shared a love for books and writing, bonding over plot holes and novel ideas; it didn’t take long for you to be included in his poetry battles against hu tao, quietly sitting beside chongyun as he acted as judge.

finding out you shared close birthdays was a pleasant surprise.

on your first birthday in the city, you bought yourself a treat near sunset and walked up all the way to bubu’s pharmacy so you could sit on the railing and watch the city lights and dwindling movement below. xingqiu had startled you not long after, jokingly asking if there were any special occasions for the treat, ending up with you sheepishly admitting it was your birthday. he looked at you, momentarily stunned, then smiled devilishly, a glint in his amber eyes.

“meet me in the valley of mt. tianheng near midnight - the one that overlooks the harbor.”

he’d been waiting for you with two xiao lanterns. the both of you sat quietly next to each other by the edge of the valley, feet dangling in the air as you lit one of the lanterns and lifted it up, slowly watching it drift away into the night sky.

“happy birthday.”

“thank you.” you smiled, then nodded at the second lantern that sat between you. “what’s this one for?”

“oh, my birthday is on the ninth.”

you hum, gaze tiredly drifting back to your floating lantern, now a mere dot against the starry canvas.

“maybe you should lit it, then. i’m pretty sure it’s past midnight.”

xingqiu laughed quietly beside you, and pretty soon his own lantern was floating away in a similar path yours had taken. you had turned your head to take in the boy beside you; an unexpected friend.

“happy birthday, xingqiu.”

on your second birthday in liyue harbor, xinqiu ran into you as you were walking past the feiyun commerce guild at noon.

“same place, same time?” he’d asked, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d have said he sounded hopeful. you were late to complete your own commision, and xu had been looking at the both of you funny, so all you could do was smile and nod before running off.

in addition to the xiao lanterns, the boy had also brought a small blanket. it had been a chilly day, with an even colder, but the stars were shining brightly, and you sat pressed together, sharing warmth beneath the blanket that hung on both your shoulders.

following last year’s steps, you lit one of the lanterns first, watching it drift away lazily, and then xingqiu lit the remaining one. the silence was comfortable; simply enjoying each others’ presence.

after a while, you had elbowed him softly on the ribs, humor in your voice.

“seventeen, huh?”

he groaned.

“yes, my liege.”

“ew, don’t call me that.” you complained, earning a little laugh from him. “is there anything you wanna do today?”

“i hope i can spend some time with my friends.”

you grew quiet at that. then, gently, intertwined your hand with his and squeezed.

“happy birthday, xingqiu.”

you had broken the news to him two weeks before your birthday.

“sorry – i didn’t want to break our tradition so suddenly, but i can’t–”

xingqiu had called your name, effectively silencing your apology. he smiled, placing a hand on your shoulder, grip comforting and familiar.

“it’s alright, my liege. we can always do a symbolic lantern release later.” he removed his hand, holding both of them behind his back. “when do you leave?”

“tomorrow.”

he nodded.

“well then. shall we spar?”

distant movement catches your eyes and you latch onto it like a hawk. the moon can only provide so much light, and you watch as a figure comes closer and closer by the bridges – only one? is it bait? you can’t tell, but you prepare yourself for a fight nonetheless, ready to jump off the roof in a heartbeat.

what you hadn’t prepared for was xingqiu.

he’s in his usual attire, a backpack slung on one shoulder, with two unlit xiao lanterns in hand. he waves once he’s close enough and tells you to stay where you are, and you’re too stunned to do anything other than nod, still processing the fact that xingqiu came all the way from liyue harbor – just to release lanterns?

next thing you know, he’s sitting next to you, decidedly amused.

“good evening, my liege. beautiful night, isn’t it?”

“please tell me you didn’t walk all the way here from the harbor.”

“perhaps.”

you groan, pressing your face into your hands.

“fucking hell, xingqiu.”

he laughs, scooting closer until your sides are pressed together, and then wraps an arm around you. his cold skin against your barely warm one makes you look up.

“i’m joking. i ran into the traveler earlier today, and they had a commission nearby, so they brought me along through a teleport waypoint. they’ll be waiting for me.”

“oh.” he squeezes your shoulder and moves to rummage through his backpack, revealing the same blanket from last time. “good. but you didn’t have to come all this way, you know?”

he drapes the blanket over both your shoulders, offering a small reprieve from the cold air.

“i know. i wanted to.”

with a sigh, you put your hand in front of him.

“hand me a lantern.”

“gladly!”

you light it up, with xingqiu’s attentive gaze on your movements, but you hesitate before releasing it. you look at the lantern in your hands, then at the boy beside you, amber eyes soft in the muted light.

“let’s release them together.”

“ah– sure. let me–”

he scrambles to light up his own, and you both count down from three before releasing them into the night sky of qingce village; the stars are brighter, and it’s easier to lose sight of them once the float far enough, yellow lights flickering amisdt white.

the silence is peaceful, and you rest your head against xingqiu’s, his arm around the small of your back underneath the blanket, both of you with knees drawn up against your chests. you touch one of his knees with the tip of your fingers.

“happy birthday.”

the fondness in his voice is unmistakable.

“happy birthday.”

#xingqiu x you #xingqiu x reader #xingqiu x y/n #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact x you #genshin impact x y/n #genshin x reader #genshin x y/n #genshin x you #—fox writes #—fox vent writes

[advokatus]

what does your muse smell like?

Alois' smell is faint. He rarely uses a strong perfume unless there's an important event where he needs to attract people's gaze. He opts for a subtle splash of earthy fragrances like musk, but it'll come from the soap, deodorant, or aftershave he's applying. He never leaves home without a shower, so any smell you can catch on him will feel fresh.

what do your muse’s hands feel like? 

Pretty warm. He's constantly drinking warm beverages, including his water. He believes it helps with blood circulation, so his extremities aren't cold to the touch unless there's harsh weather. Alois also applies oil to his cuticles because he hates typing on his keyboard and being distracted by the chalky look of a dry nailbed, resulting in a soft and moisturized hand.

what does your muse usually eat in a day? 

Alois is originally from Germany. His meals usually include potatoes prepared in different ways. It's likely to see them during breakfast with some sausages. But he's traveled around the world and has picked one or two dishes from most countries, as well as some tips for food digestion. During lunchtime, he will have some kind of vegetarian soup before his meal. Lastly, during dinner, he eats lighter. Sometimes is just fruit juice.

He doesn't snack frequently, but it's dried fruits or nuts if he does. He would never touch candy or chips.

does your muse have a good singing voice? 

Alois sings fine. He was part of the school choir but didn't give it much thought. His range isn't the widest, but sure, invite him to a karaoke night.

does your muse have any bad habits or nervous ticks? 

When he's writing and takes a second to think, he cracks each finger of his hand with his thumb and then his thumb with his fingers (I hope it makes sense!) He's also extremely pale, so it's not uncommon to see his skin flushing from emotions like embarrassment or anger or from laughing really hard. When he reads, he places his leg on top of the other, and his feet bounce unless it's a boring book.

If he's frustrated, he clips his bangs to the top of his head.

He consumes LSD recreationally from time to time. Usually, to celebrate achievements.

what does your muse usually look like / wear? 

He is dressed most of the time formally. It's always a suit, in the grey-beige scale. He doesn't shy away from patterns but stays away from animal prints or dots. On days when it is too hot, he could wear a dark and loose shirt that looks splendid with fitted pants of a lighter color.

Alois' closet is always matching; there aren't items that don't have their pair. His pajamas and his sportswear are a set.

is your muse affectionate? how much? how so? 

He is. Alois enjoys physical contact. If your relationship with him is one of business, he'll find ways to shake hands and pat your shoulders. If your relationship is of another nature, you'll receive hugs if you want them, compliments, and presents. He likes to make sure people he cares about know that they are, in fact, cared for and appreciated. Of course, when boundaries are drawn, he will retrieve the affection but would ask how he could show up for you.

what position does your muse sleep in? 

Bent on his desk. He sleeps on his back. It's usually around 7 hours and doesn't tend to move much. He snores slightly, so sometimes, he needs to stand up in the middle of the night for a glass of water.

could you hear your muse in the hallway from another room?

No. Never. He's german. He doesn't want the cops constantly knocking at his door because the neighbors are upset. Being quiet is really something he grew up with in his culture, and now is an excellent asset to cover his murder identity.

It's always the quiet ones, but no one ever really blames the quiet ones.

tagged by: @lured-into-wonderland (ty! It helped a lot)

tagging: whoever wants to do this, I know we had a round of this dash game a while ago.

#❝ entertainmet ❞

[normal-thoughts-official]

Starting out with image descriptions: formatting

Plain text: "Starting out with image descriptions: formatting" in title text. end PT

Continuing my series about accessibility, I have decided to explain how an ID should be put in a post. I see a lot of people in here who already do image descriptions but aren't sure how to properly format them, or who format them in a way that isn't accessible. I decided to make a post to explain the basics on how to make IDs.

This won't explain what to write when you're making IDs; just how to properly put your ID in the post in a way that is accessible. For more resources on IDs, you can go to my "accessibility" and "reference" tags.

1. Text ID vs Alt Text

Plain text: Small title text saying, "1. Text ID vs Alt Text". end PT

A text ID is an ID you write on the body of the post, visible to everyone. Alt text, on the other hand, is an ID you code in along with the image, so it isn't visible for people with screenreaders, but people with it can click on the image and get that ID read out loud.

Tumblr offers the possibility to add alt text to your images, if you click on the three dots that appear on the corner of the image on mobile. Except... Oops, it doesn't always work

As with many Tumblr features, Tumblr alt text is known to glitch, and the entire alt text might disappear or not be available to users without the O.P necessarily knowing. The reasons for this range from "the post was edited later" to "reblogs ate the alt text" to "damned if I know". So, it is unreliable, and that alone is a reason why it should not be used

There are, however, other important reasons! Namely, that alt text isn't actually accessible to a lot of visually impaired people. This is because alt text can only be accessible via a screenreader, since the ID will only be available in the post's code. And not every visually impaired person uses a screenreader, including blind people

There are other accessibility features that legally blind and visually impaired people use, such as: bigger text, bigger display, high contrast text, the enhance button, color correction, and more. These people still need IDs (including of screenshots of text! They need these accessibility features to see text, so if you post a screenshot of regular text, they can't read it), but cannot see them if you only put it on alt text

Not to mention that some blind people cannot use a screenreader even if they preferred that to other accessibility features, because they are Deafblind, have auditory processing disorder, or simply cannot listen to something at the moment for whatever reason

Tumblr is working on a feature that allows alt text to show up in the body of the post so people can read it normally, but while it isn't available to everyone, alt text is not accessible. It is not accessible to Deafblind people, people with APD, and people who prefer not to use screenreaders, which is a choice they have the right to make. Therefore, using it is not a good accessibility practice and using plain text IDs is preferable

There is also an important argument, which is that alt text is designed to be invisible to sighted folks, and that in itself is problematic because it discourages people to think about accessibility, recognize when something is or isn't accessible, and start incorporating accessibility practices into their lives. I am a strong supporter of this argument, which is another reason why I don't think I'll ever advocate for alt text. This part, however, isn't a consensus. The other parts are

2. Placement of the ID

Plain text: Small title font that reads, "2. Placement of the ID". End PT

Imagine that Tumblr's newest glitch is that any images added to a post end up at the bottom. So you see a text post that makes use of several images, but every time there is an image in the middle, you just get text that says "image" and you have to scroll down, find the image in question, then scroll back up

This is the experience you are giving blind and visually impaired people when you leave your IDs at the bottom of the post

Folks, when you add an image (or more) to a text post, you don't put it in a random place, do you? You put it in the ideal place for someone to comprehend your text. There is a logical, comprehensible sequence between text and image, and the image is right where it's supposed to be

Therefore, it is also where the ID should be

Please understand me clearly: an ID is their user's image. It substitutes the image for them. When you are writing one, it is helpful to ask yourself, "what would this look like if there was no image, only the ID?". Because that's what it's effectively like for people who need IDs

If the ID is anywhere that is not directly over or under the image, it's in the wrong place. If a place is where the image should be, then it's also where the ID should be

And yes, this includes when you post an image post with just a one-line caption underneath. Most of the time, the caption doesn't make sense without knowledge of the image. If you didn't post the caption before the image, there's no reason to put the caption before the ID

3. About "ID" and "End ID"

Plain text: Small title font reading "3. About 'ID' and 'End ID'." End PT

I occasionally see people posting IDs without the "ID" and "End ID" at the beginning and end, so I thought it'd be helpful to explain why they are needed.

Without the "ID" at the beginning, someone who can't see your image will not be able to tell that the image is described, and will assume that what you are posting is a caption. Then they will probably skip it, or at least believe they are missing the image's information

There is really no other way to make it obvious that what you are about to post is an image description. And a lot of the time, even reading the ID won't make it obvious that it's an ID if you can't already see the image. This is particularly true when the image in question is a screenshot of text and the ID is just a transcription without information that it's a transcription. Someone who sees that and can't see the image will assume that it's your own caption to the image, which could be literally anything

Similarly, the "End ID" is important for the person to know where the ID ends and the poster's caption or commentary begins. Again, there is no way for them to know otherwise. Not even the paragraph break, because some IDs are longer than a paragraph, especially if it's an image with lots of information, such as an infographic or spreadsheet

Using brackets [] instead of the "ID" and "End ID" is NOT ["not" in caps and bold] an appropriate substitution, because brackets are a form of punctuation, and therefore, screenreaders will just read them as a pause. A pause which they would already have because of the paragraph breaks. So, for screenreader users, they offer absolutely no differentiation

Note: "ID" stands for "Image Description", not "Identification". So you don't need to say "Image ID", as that would be "Image Image Description". That's not a cardinal sin that deeply affects your accessibility or anything, but it's good to know. I was saying "Image ID" for like a year before I realized that and I felt really stupid afterwards, so I thought you'd like to know

4. Formatted text

Plain text: Small title font that says, "Formatted text". End PT

I see a lot of people posting their IDs in formatted text (usually tiny text or italics, but occasionally bold, colored text, and others). You should not have your ID in any kind of formatted text

Why? Because most forms of formatted text are unreadable to at least some people with visual impairments, if not all of them. This will generally not be a problem for screenreader users unless you use all caps, stylized fonts, or embedded links. But they will be a problem to users who don't have screenreaders, which, as we've seen before, make up a significant amount of ID users

Legally blind or visually impaired users who don't use screenreaders generally rely on bigger text/display as an accessibility feature. This means that they set their phone to make text bigger for them. If you put your ID in tiny text, you are making the text small all over again. So they won't be able to read it, and your ID will be useless

I have my phone's text and display set to biggest, and Tumblr tiny text looks roughly the same size in that mode as Tumblr regular size in regular mode. That is not big enough for lots of visually impaired people to read; if it was, they wouldn't have their phones set to make text bigger

Similarly, italics make the text look thinner, which is harder for a lot of visually impaired people to read. Bold makes the letters get easily smushed together, which is also hard for some to read. Colored text has a lower contrast, which will also be harder for them to read. Not to mention visually impaired people might have other conditions that affect reading such as color blindness or dyslexia

This is specially harmful if it's long chunks of text. I've seen some people who will put everything that was directly transcribed from the image in bold or italics, and I've even done it myself for a brief period. Please don't do this! It is very hard for a lot of people to read

Every time you mess with formatting on your text, you are basically annulling someone else's accessibility features display. And since Tumblr does not allow users to turn those settings on or off, this is an accessibility issue

Note: not everyone will be negatively impacted by the use of these. Some people even find them helpful, especially if it's to signify key words. But again, since it's impossible to turn it on or off, the best way to do an ID is without formatting, a.k.a in plain text. The exception to this is BlockQuote (a.k.a idented text) and bullet points

To find out more about plain text, you can check out the other post I made about it on the link below

Link

"Do I need to put the ID between brackets?"

Plain text: Small title font reading, "Do I need to put the ID between brackets?". End PT

You might have noticed that most people post IDs between brackets, like this: [ID: A pig wearing a baseball hat. End ID]. This might be the most common way of formatting it

It is not, however, necessary. As far as I know, people do this so people who don't need the IDs can easily know where it begins and ends, and skip them. They do not serve any accessibility purpose

Personally I don't use them, and if I want to have a visual cue to show where the ID begins and ends, I put it in BlockQuote. This is not necessary either, although it might help some people with dyslexia and ADHD better organize the contents of the post. It is fine to do, though, as long as it doesn't substitute the "ID" and "End ID"

And that's all, folks! Thanks once again for reading this long post, and I hope it was helpful

TLDR

Plain text: small title font reading "TLDR". End PT

You should make your IDs in text, directly under or over the image, with the "ID" and "End ID" at the beginning and end, and without italics, bold, or tiny text. Using brackets isn't necessary but it's okay

#accessibility #image descriptions #reference #resources #how to make ids #has plain text #has tldr #long post

[dilucids]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤCelebrity crush, Genshin boys idol! au

admitting you're their celebrity crush and their reaction to your reaction

includes: kaeya, diluc, zhongli and xiao

( can't stop thinking about idol! au genshin. any type of celebrity but it's hinted that you're a singer in xiao's. )

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 KAEYA ALBERICH ━━ FROSTWIND SWORDSMAN 〕

━━ this man is sooooo fucking slick with it.

━━ he'll slyly bring it up in an interview or a live with a smirk on his face and then act as if it never happened when someone questions him.

━━ his members just stares at him when he brings you up, knowing, that beneath that sly persona and nonchalant act, there was millions pounds worth of fan merchandise in his room.

━━ he would evade the subject and if it's an interview, the host would have to pry answers from his members instead as he sits there proudly with a smile on his face as his members tell his fan behaviour instead of him.

━━ in a live, he would somehow convince his fans they were hallucinating but someone would post the clip and everyone would just go ballistic, it'd be one of those "top ten things i can't believe kaeya managed to get away with: gaslighting his fans into believing they were crazy."

"Who's your favourite celebrity?" Kaeya reads out from the comments passing quickly through his Instagram live, he pretends to think. A smile forms on his face when he 'decides' on an answer, "probably [Name]."

He watches the comments speed through even quicker before changing the subject, dropping the matter as if it never happened. His fans are all freaking out though, wanting to get more details on his crush on the celebrity but Kaeya ignores all comments about the subject. They never die down though, only ending when Kaeya himself ends the live.

━━ you may have ended on the same show some time after him and the host brings it up ( 100% planned for views ).

━━ it makes you smile because you've already been informed about this topic by your fans and kaeya's.

━━ you'd end up thanking kaeya for the support and say that you've also been lowkey a fan of his group but you've never openly stated that to anyone.

━━ his fans and your fans immediately get to work and start tagging kaeya's insta/twitter, group and personal, under the clip of you shyly admitting you're a fan of his also and he goes mental.

━━ probably sits there watching the entire interview with a huge smile on his face, and it doesn't leave, not even after he finishes the interview ( bonus: diluc is very disturbed ).

━━ HUGE ego boost for the rest of the day. kaeya's normally very confident but he's extra confident, like starts strutting around like he's the shit and even had the balls to nod his head at diluc as if to say "what's up" with the largest shit eating grin on his face.

━━ diluc definitely thought he was picking a fight.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 DILUC RAGNVINDR ━━ DARKNIGHT HERO 〕

━━ more likely to come from one of his members than him.

━━ or he'd be very smooth with it, and brings it up rather subtly. it'd be a small "oh, i ingest their content and enjoy it" and he'd just continue about his day

━━ and his fans will still go insane because diluc actually enjoying something seems weird, especially another celebrity's work

━━ this would obviously reach you, who was an open fan of his group, and you'd freak out when you see it but wouldn't bring it up because he only said he enjoyed your work, not he was a fan.

━━ would definitely get questioned if he was being interviewed on a talk show, he wouldn't evade the question.

━━ he doesn't really see a point in lying, so he simply shrugs and tells the host that he is a fan and owns some merchandise.

"Diluc, a few fans are curious about your statement the other day," the host redirects the questions to Diluc, who raises an eyebrow. "Is it true that you're a fan of [Name]?"

The question makes his heart pick up a little, he leans back on his chair and clears his throat, composing himself before nodding. "I am a fan," the host seems happy by his response. The conversation continues to steer in this direction, asking Diluc if he had attended any fan meetings or merchandise, how he would feel if you two collaborated for a project and then finally ending once the host asks other members if they were fans of anyone.

━━ he thinks nothing of it, continuing with his day as usual but when he gets mentioned by your twitter? the man loses his shit.

━━ he sits there staring at his screen like he was hallucinating and literally tunes everything else out, staring at your little: "i'd love to work with you too!" message with a small smiley face at the end.

━━ he checks the account multiple times just in case it was one of his fans trolling him but clicking on the @ takes him back to your account so he gives in at some point

━━ he types out a normal, professional "thank you, i hope a time comes when we can collaborate" and "i look forward to more of your works" but he's still losing his shit.

━━ stays in his mind for at least a week.

━━ fans always bring up the fact that y'all never did end up collaborating.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 ZHONGLI ━━ VAGO MUNDO 〕

━━ the public is very aware.

━━ he's never made an attempt to hide how he is a fan, not even the massive poster in his room or the little keychain that he hangs on his bag nor the red eyeliner belonging to a makeup brand that you became a brand embassador for, also now one of his favourite brands.

━━ so no one is really surprised when he talks about you or your upcoming work, what is kinda surprising is when he straight up says that he says you're his ideal type.

━━ not because it's shocking that you'd be anyone's ideal type but because they didn't expect the out of the blue question from host and it's even more mind boggling when the man doesn't even stutter nor even think before just saying your name.

━━ members are sat beside him literally losing their shit in both negative ( scandals and shit ) and positive ( it's fucking hilarious ) ways as he just blinks.

━━ he doesn't even look the slightest bit worried as he stares dead straight through the host's head.

━━ obviously scandals emerge, there are positive and negative reactions. some people suddenly realise how good you two would look together and others are mad you "stole" their man because we have delulus in all fandoms.

"So Zhongli," the host starts before clearing his throat, obviously a tad uncomfortable under the eldest member's sudden gaze, "who is your ideal type?" The members also seem curious, as they stop their interactions, staring over at their unusually emotionless member.

One member laughs, waving the question off as a joke and as a way to avoid any possible scandals, knowing that Zhongli wouldn't filter his words due to his lacking understanding of social cues. "C'mon, there's no way that he has an id━━"

"If I had to say, then [Name] suits my preferences." The member who tried to wave it off blinks, staring at Zhongli like he just murdered someone and other members laugh. The host seems pleasantly surprised, peering at the camera with a raised eyebrow and a certain look on his face. The entire studio never gets over it.

━━ it's brought to your attention on twitter because twitter is usually where shit goes down.

━━ you've always been aware that zhongli has been a fan but you've never been able to speak up about it due to your management.

━━ luckily for you, your contract with your previous strict company had ended just a while ago and under your new management, you were more free to do whatever you wanted.

━━ so obviously, you quote tweet the video, tag his account and say in a jokingly way that he should take you out on a date first.

━━ he doesn't publicly reply to your tweet because he already got in trouble with his management for answering such a risky question anyways and your tweet is a little too suggestive.

━━ but he also wants you to know he has seen the tweet. so his solution? to slip into your dms.

━━ and all of a sudden, the next time you're both seen together, you're besties? so people started connecting dots and shit, were they good at connecting them. moral of the story: never underestimate zhongli fans because collectively, they may be able to beat zhongli in an iq test.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 XIAO ━━ CONQUEROR OF DEMONS 〕

━━ best believe this man got death threated or held at gunpoint into admitting you're his celebrity crush.

━━ or he didn't do it at all and his members confessed for him just to tease him.

━━ happens on a group live, members are just vibing.

━━ xiao is sat in the back somewhere, scrolling through his phone with his earphones in so he doesn't notice his members shifting the camera to him or jumps onto him whilst holding the camera.

━━ when he does notice though, he takes out his earbud and your song just blARES through his earphone and it's fucking loud.

━━ he immediately turns it down but his fellow member already has this shit eating grin on his face and jumps onto xiao, successfully grabbing his phone and showing the live of 100k+ people.

━━ his homescreen is one of those "boyfriend/girlfriend/partner material" lockscreens of you and it shows that your song had been playing.

━━ xiao literally attacks his members and grabs his phone back, walking off to escape the embarrassment but can hear the echoing laughter as he walks down the hallway and slams his door closed.

Xiao lets out a sudden 'oompf' when his members glomps right ontop of him, grinning widely as they held up a camera to show off themselves and Xiao. Glancing at the camera, Xiao takes off an earbud, freezing when a loud upbeat tune echoes throughout the open area. Xiao ignores the feeling of his face heating up and turns down the song, ignoring the obvious gleeful stare of his member.

Almost on instinct, he moves his phone away but curse his parents for their genes because all it takes is a little stretching for his member to have his greasy fingers all over his phone, ripping it out of his hands and immediately running away to shield themselves from the wrath of all 5" and a bit of Xiao. When they deem it safe, they click on the home button of the screen, grinning amused at the homescreen.

"Look at fanboy Xiao!" And just like that, Xiao's cold demeanour had been shatteres infront of a plethora of people.

━━ you find it one of the most endearing things ever.

━━ literally how could you not? you find pride in yourself to have such a popular member of an idol group enjoy your work and it helps gain a little more confidence in yourself.

━━ it's brought up on a talk show kinda casually where the host is one of your friends so they are slightly teasing you for it all the whilst remaining on the professional side.

━━ and it's obvious to say that you're embarrassed by the way you chuckle and mess with your fingers and hair, but you hold yourself together anyways and manage a sweet "thank you for the support" to xiao when the host asks if you wanted to say something in case he was watching.

━━ and the very next day, on xiao's official instagram, he has a signed album and poster of yours, tagged and everything.

#genshin scenarios #genshin #genshin impact #genshin headcanons #genshin x gender neutral reader #genshin x reader #genshin xiao #genshin kaeya #genshin zhongli #genshin diluc #xiao x reader #zhongli x reader #kaeya x reader #diluc x reader

[hepalien]

Ao3 Tips and Tricks

So I thought I would make a post about some cool stuff you can do with Ao3 and userscripts, and some tips I’ve learned from setting them up for myself! I promise it's not hard, though this is a lot of info. I'm happy to help if I can.

What You’ll Need:

First, you will need the Tampermonkey extension for your browser (depending on what browser you use, Greasemonkey is the equivalent). On Android, you can even run Chrome extensions on mobile with Kiwi Browser! It is easiest to configure the scripts on your desktop and then sync to mobile with Tampermonkey’s cloud sync feature or by exporting the configured scripts and importing in your mobile browser (I will explain how to do this later in the post). If you use any of the tweaks I outline below, be sure to backup your scripts in case your settings are lost.

Once you have Tampermonkey installed, you can get scripts from GreasyFork. The inimitable @flamebyrd also has some great scripts and bookmarklets and has been incredibly helpful while I figured all this out.

Find a script that looks interesting, click on it, and then click “install this script.” Pretty straightforward. Once you have it installed, you can go to Tampermonkey to configure it (only necessary for some scripts) by clicking on the Tampermonkey extension icon in your browser (under the three dot menu in Kiwi) and clicking “dashboard”, then clicking the edit icon next to the script you want to configure. When you’re done, click File->Save.

Scripts and instructions under the cut

Some of my favorites:

Flamebyrd’s Incomplete Works script - fades out WIPs on works listings, and displays the work stats (wordcount, chapters, etc) in red on single works to make it more obvious that they’re WIPs as you’re browsing:

Flamebyrd’s Ao3 to Pinboard bookmarklet/script - if you click the bookmarklet while on a work’s page, it opens the Pinboard save screen and prefills the title, tags, description, word count, etc, and adds ?view_full_work=true&view_adult=true to the URL so Pinboard’s archiver will archive the complete work and not the adult content warning screen (note that Pinboard still cannot correctly archive works locked to Ao3 users, so you may want to download them as a backup. I’ve asked him about fixing that.), based on your selections when configuring the bookmarklet on the linked page. If you use the userscript, it adds a button to the works listings page so you don’t even have to open the work to save it:

I tweaked this script so that it only grabs the first pairing tag, since I don’t typically care about secondary pairings and they were clogging up my Pinboard tags. It’s a simple fix (though I know nothing about coding so I had to do some googling and inspect-sourcing; kinda proud of myself tbh):

Just change this part of the script

if ( options.relationship_include ) {

- $(".relationships a.tag", $work).each(function () {

To this

if ( options.relationship_include ) {

- $(".relationships a.tag:first", $work).each(function () {

I also found this cool mobile-optimized Pinboard bookmarklet called Pincushion and combined it with Flamebyrd’s script. Everything works except the auto-tagging, but I’ve reached out on GitHub to see if he can help (according to Flamebyrd, there’s no tag field ID attribute to map to). However, this bookmarklet has tagging autocomplete features that make it easy to tag manually. For example, if you type “steve 21st” it will suggest “steverogersvsthe21stcentury” rather than having to type out “steverogersvs…” in order for it to autocomplete like it does on the regular Pinboard bookmarklet. I actually have two buttons set up (which you can see in the next screenshot) - Flamebyrd's to quickly grab the tags and close without me having to do anything, and then the Pincushion one to quickly edit the tags. If anyone's interested, I can explain how to do that.

To combine Pincushion with Flamebyrd’s script (so it works from the Ao3 works listings page as mentioned above), simply change this part of Flamebyrd’s script:

t = t.split(" ").join( options.space_replacement );

var pb_url = "https://pinboard.in/add?url=" + encodeURIComponent(q) + "&description=" + encodeURIComponent(d) + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(p) + "&tags=" + encodeURIComponent(t);

void(open(pb_url, "Pinboard", "toolbar=no,width=700,height=350"));

To this

t = t.split(" ").join( options.space_replacement );

var pb_url = "https://rossshannon.github.io/pincushion/?user=YOURUSERNAME&token=YOURAPITOKEN&url=" + encodeURIComponent(q) + "&description=" + encodeURIComponent(d) + "&title=" + encodeURIComponent(p) + "&tags=" + encodeURIComponent(t);

void(open(pb_url, "Pinboard", "toolbar=yes,width=600,height=700,left=50,top=50"));

You’ll need to get your API Token from your Pinboard account and plug it in where it says YOURUSERNAME and YOURAPITOKEN (number part only) above.

FanFictionNavigator - mark fics as Like/Dislike/Mark/InLibrary, highlight with colors based on which option you select, hide/show based on category, like/dislike author and highlight with color. Only you will see how you've marked things.

You can tweak the colors for the highlighting by configuring the script (I find the default colors make the text hard to read because I use the Reversi skin on Ao3 for white-ish text on a gray background). I also changed it so that when I click “hide likes” it only hides liked fics and not liked authors (i.e. hides fics I’ve read, but not unread fics by authors I like), changed the color of the like/dislike/etc links to match the highlighting color and to show up better, and changed the way it highlights authors (I think the default is bold/strikethrough which doesn't really catch my eye. I changed it to highlight the author name in red/green):

Here are my configured scripts if you’d like to use them instead of tweaking yourself (you need to install both):

FanFictionNavigator

FanFictionNavigator - Colors

Note: Your settings for this script will sync via Tampermonkey but not your data (i.e. fics you’ve liked/marked/etc). If you ever switch between browsers, you’ll need to go to your Ao3 Dashboard and click FFNOptions, export your data, then go through the same process to import it into the new browser.

AO3: Kudosed and seen history - highlight or hide works you kudosed/bookmarked/marked as seen. If you want to use this with FanFictionNavigator, you’ll need to turn off “highlight bookmarks” from the settings under the “Seen Works” dropdown that gets added to your Ao3 navbar or FFN’s colors won’t show. Again, data doesn’t sync between browsers but you can copy it from the dropdown settings. However, it pulls your kudosed and bookmarked fics from Ao3 itself, so that will always show. It's just seen/skipped that doesn't sync:

Ao3 download buttons - adds a download button to the works listings page so you don’t have to open the fic to download it. However, it also doesn’t play nicely with FFN’s colors, so I’m using AO3 Review + Last Chapter Shortcut + Kudos-sortable Bookmarks script which also has a download button that works with FFN (a small down arrow next to the author name). The download button doesn’t work as-is from that link, so here’s my tweaked version based off of this comment. You can configure what format you want it to download by default in the script. There’s also a tweak in the comments to fix kudos-sorting, but it overloads Ao3 and you get a “retry later” error for a few minutes when you try to open Ao3, so I don’t recommend it. I don’t know if any of the other functionalities of the script work because I don’t use them, but it looks like there are tweak suggestions in other comments you can try:

I was using Ao3 Replace Words to replace words in fics that bug me but I realized it wasn’t working on mobile, so I’m using zensurf instead which is not Ao3-specific but works basically the same way. If you want to limit it to just Ao3 (so it doesn’t change words on non-fic sites), just add this

// @include http://archiveofourown.org/*

// @include https://archiveofourown.org/*

Above this line

// ==/UserScript==

(function() {

You can // @include other fic sites like ffnet that way too.

AO3: Links to Last Chapter and Entire Works does what it says on the tin, but the creator was kind enough to give me a code snippet to add that makes the “E” (for Entire Work) appear next to all works and add ?view_full_work=true&view_adult=true to the work URL so that I can easily right-click and share to Instapaper and have it be saved correctly (not just the first chapter but the whole work + not the content warning screen for NR/M/E works). Here is the script with this tweak applied:

I think those are the only ones that I’ve done special tweaks for. Here are some others that I find useful that either don’t require any configuration, or should be pretty straightforward to configure and are explained on the script page.

AO3 author+tags quick-search - doesn’t require configuration

Generates quick links from AO3 fics to more by the same author in the same fandom (or character/pairing/any other tag):

Remove leading spaces in AO3 - doesn’t require config

Removes the leading indents for paragraphs in AO3 works.

Ao3 Only Show Primary Pairing - you have to enter the pairings you want in the script, and you can change how early in the sequence they must appear before the work is hidden. Also works with character tags.

Hides works where specified pairing isn't the first listed. Hidden works show a placeholder that you can click to unhide:

AO3: highlight tags - have to enter the tags you want highlighted, as well as the color you want. It matches case so you may have to enter both “Dog” and “dog”, for example.

Configure tags to be highlighted with different colors. This makes a tag more obvious to your eye when browsing. I use it to highlight things I’m wary of in red so I don’t miss them and start reading a fic I might not want.

AO3: Tag Hider - configure how many tags you want to see before it hides them

Hide tags automatically when there are too many tags. Add hide/show tags button to browsing page and reading page.

AO3 Remove Double-Spacing - no config

Removes awkward double spaces between paragraphs on AO3. Doesn’t smush together paragraphs that have a single line break - it leaves those alone.

ao3 series collapser - no config

Collapse works that are later than part 1 of a series. Leaves a placeholder so you can uncollapse if you want to see it.

AO3 Blocker - no config, but you enter what you want to block from the added navbar dropdown in Ao3

Fork of ao3 savior; blocks works based on certain conditions. I find this simpler to use than Ao3 savior.

FYI there are also style scripts for Pinboard on greasyfork and userstyles.org (this site is slow af for some reason, so be patient while it loads). I use show unread bookmarks more clearly and Modern Pinboard Style (basically a dark mode). Neither require config unless you just want to tweak the settings to your liking. To install to Tampermonkey from userstyles, scroll down to “Install style as userscript”.

I also use these extensions in Kiwi:

Ao3rdr - Adds a star rating system (pictured in some of the screenshots above) to Ao3 works that only you can see. This one will sync your data between devices if you use the cloud sync option, which I recommend so you don’t lose your data if something happens to your device or browser.

Dark Reader - not really necessary for Ao3 if you use Reversi skin, but does make all browser pages dark mode if you want it on sites other than Ao3.

Speaking of Ao3 skins, I have another one set up in conjunction with Reversi that shows all the fandoms on a user’s profile, rather than having to click “expand”:

Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I found this. To set it up yourself, go to your Ao3 -> Dashboard -> Skins -> Create Site Skin, fill in the Title (has to be unique), and paste the code below in the CSS box:

#user-fandoms ol.index {

padding-bottom: 0;

text-align: center;

}

#user-fandoms ol.index li {

display: inline;

margin-right: .5em;

line-height: 2.15em;

}

#user-fandoms ol#fandom_full_list {

padding-top: 0;

padding-bottom: 1.5em;

display: block !important;

}

#user-fandoms p.actions {

display: none;

}

Then hit Submit -> Use. There are ways to hide or highlight various elements (ships, characters, blurbs, work stats, etc) on a works listing page using skins on Ao3. This is getting long so I’m not going to go into that, but I’m happy to help if you want to try it. It’s very easy.

Once you have everything configured on Tampermonkey on your desktop, you can migrate it to your mobile device in one of two ways:

Option 1: Go to Tampermonkey settings and change Config Mode to Advanced

Go down to Script Sync and select your preferred cloud service and save

It will ask you to log in to said cloud service

Install Tampermonkey in Kiwi and do the same thing

Wait for it to sync (this can be slow)

It should sync any changes you make moving forward, but again, it’s slow

Option 2: go to Utilities and check all 3 checkboxes under general (include script storage, include Tampermonkey settings, include external script resources)

Either export to your preferred cloud service or

Export as a zip file, move it to your mobile device, go to this same screen and import

I would recommend exporting as a zip for a backup even if you don’t use it to migrate your scripts

You can unzip and upload individual script files (.js) on this page if you ever need to reinstall a single script with your settings instead of all of them

Let me know if you run into any issues and I can try to help! The script writers are also super nice and helpful if you reach out to them. Yay fandom!

#ao3 #archive of our own #fanfiction #ao3 resources #fandom #fanfic #tech #Tampermonkey #userscripts #ao3 tips #musette22 #I hope you don't mind that I used you for the 'liked author' example ^_^ #ditto voluptuous_panic #y'all should read art nouveau it's so good

[heathtrash]

call for tww colouring zine submissions!

we were discussing the official tww colouring book on discord and how devastating it was that there is only one single page for hecate hardbroom (and one of constance hardbroom) - and not only that, but the single frame they chose to immortalise from miss softbroom was the magic council scene with ursula hallow and unnamed magic council lady?? an actual crime.

i'm fully confident that we as a fandom can come up with something much better to right this awful wrong!

what we're looking for - b&w lineart suitable for colouring. any tww characters, consenting adult ships, or any other tww-related designs (e.g. backgrounds, quotations, or just cool tww-y patterns)! tracings from stills of the shows are fine, but definitely not tracings of other artists' work, including jill murphy's original art. the art definitely doesn't have to be brand new for the zine, but new art is always so appreciated in this small fandom! if you're not sure about what to draw, try a prompt! all abilities welcome.

submission - please email your high quality image files (up to 4, but let us know if you have more in case of low turnout) to twwzine [at] gmail [dot] com by 1st August 2021, along with your name/social media @ that you would like to be included, or optional title. please mention if you want your submissions to be next to each other or next to another artist's (with their permission)

the zine will be available as a digital print booklet in multiple sizes suitable for you to print at home by 14th August free of charge. all artists' details provided will be displayed prominently on the page in case people would like to share their colouring of your work, and everyone will be advised to tag the original artist.

if you'd like to get involved in the design of the zine or in any other capacity, please hop into our discord! (details on how to join here)

please reblog for wider reach!

#tww zine #the worst witch #hecate hardbroom #tww fanart

[athys-obelia]

summary: no one's evil au lmfaooo but make it pt. 2

character/s: anastacius de alger obelia, claude de alger obelia, athanasia de alger obelia, jennette de alger obelia

and here's part 1 <3

oh my god okay. okay. so.

ana, claude, athy and jennette - they go on a LOT of vacations

claude complains every single time but anastacius pulls his trump card and sends athy and jettie BOTH after him

u think he's strong enough to say no after that? lmao jokes

and their vacations always go this way:

jennette: isn't this scenery just gorgeous, uncle

claude: indeed it is. and...quiet

jennette: ...too quiet

[cut to anastacius in the distance, fighting a bear as athy cheers him on]

athy + anastacius, hands down the most chaotic pairing yes i will not be taking criticism

they have tea in ana's palace everyday, just the two of them, they're so poised and picture perfect through the entire thing everyone thinks it's just the emperor giving profound advice to his heir

it's actually them deadass scheming,,, ana has no qualms discussing everything from court gossip to military tactics, both of which she's so on top of all the time

if anyone shit talks jennette or claude, this tea party is where their slow and agonizing demise is planned out to the dot

[true story - count sivan once made the fatal mistake of expressing his favour for athy as the next empress, dissing jennette by comparing her to athy sm which inevitably sparked a debate that ranked the princesses. a week after athy's sources informed her of the kindling behind this new debate, the count's sudden divorce became the talk of the town, and the man's business faced bankruptcy all of a sudden. the sivans still haven't recovered.)

athy n jennette were actually allowed to visit kiel in arlanta a few times, except it was too dark at their first arrival, postponing the meeting to the next morning

buttt then jettie can't sleep and she decides on a midnight snack run (their hotel doesn't really have the maids the palace does, but oh well. she's left the palace w lucas n athy plenty of times)

felix tags along btw, he knows this trip is important to the girls since they're leaving the palace without their Overprotective Papas™ for the first time and want some sense of independence, but... she's just so smol n he couldn't bear it if anything happens so he just shadows her

she totally knows he's there

n e ways so there's a juice place right beside their hotel which she aims for, but when jennette reaches it, it's closed

and out of nowhere, a voice addresses her - "hey you, do you come here a lot?" she nearly jumps out of her skin at the brunette, relaxing when she sees he's literally a kid around her age and not a murderer lmfaoo "me neither," he continues without waiting for her, pouting at the closed sign, before he asks for her name and whether she's new in arlanta

she confirms that yes, she's only visiting, and refuses to tell the stranger her name, still feeling strange at being addressed as 'you' for the first time (well, minus lucas, but he was like her brother and had the emotional capacity of a teaspoon, so)

he eyes her. "you're so weird. i've never seen a girl out so late before, and alone too. are you stupid?"

(felix has his sword out at this point)

she's flushing now and has no idea why she's still out here, but then this stranger kid apparently senses her mood and tells her the best ice cream store in arlanta is not too far away

(he also explains he knows someone who's starts doing weird things when she's hungry as well, and tries to defend that ice cream is actually a healthy midnight snack, "you can just take a healthy flavour like strawberry or mango, mangos are healthy,,right"💀️💀)

so jettie has travelled all the way from obelia, she loves her papa but he would have a heart attack if he found out she was ever awake this late?? yeah bc she's never getting this chance again, jennette accepts the offer

the stranger boy seems to be taking the whole "i'm not telling you my name," thing like a joke, and asks what he should call her since 'you' was getting boring

she goes with "lady j" and like a knight, the boy becomes "sir c"

(felix is on the verge of committing a crime - the princesses can only have one knight, after all)

they walk as the the boy navigates the streets in the dark, and she asks whether he's from the academy, seeing his uniform

"of course i am! you could probably tell bc i look so smart, right?"

she snorts. "yeah, that."

she also comes to know that this guy,,,well he might as well be a tourist? she's out here asking stuff like "oh where's the statue of lady alphia?" or "aren't we really close to the museum where they keep the first emperor's sword?" and he goes "lady do i look like your brochure?? but if you turn right from here there's a cool arcade and across the street from there is the best street food vendor you'll ever eat from."

well at least mans had his priorities straight 😌

"so can you take this off?" he asks, pointing towards her dress once they've neared the store

um???????? sir tf????????????

anyways jettie has been living with lucas n her dad farr too long to not take this the wrong way?? "...no?"

the boy raises an eyebrow "look, it looks like an expensive cloak but i promise i'll return it, alright? i gotta hide my uniform."

ohhhhhhh. 😳.

so she unfastens the cloak and because he's kinda just staring at it cluelessly (he can't even tie his shoelaces fight me), jennette sighs and moves the clothing over his shoulder, fastening it in place at his neck

he's literally a tomato when she looks back up and realises that yes, we are way too close rn

bc she's ana's daughter, jennette by default cannot function when she's flustered. so she kinda stumbles backwards like a fish out of water (years of princess training n etiquette? where art thou??) and 'sir c' has to grab her forearm so she doesn't bump into the pillar behind her smfh

the shopkeep is definitely suspicious of this pair that's definitely too young to be out so late, but chalks it down to his sleeplessness

they escape the store with the ice cream before the shopkeep can ask any questions, and 'sir c' escorts jennette back to her hotel. he climbs onto the roof of the building, helping her up as well

(felix wishes he had a magic stone to capture this moment, this is the first time he's seen jennette become such fast friends with someone)

she stands on the roof (it hurts her butt so she doesn't wanna sit)

"my sister would be so jealous right now," jennette murmurs, "she told me her ideal first date would be either a picnic or something like a moonlit walk. we're having like a moonlit picnic."

it's silent for a few seconds the boy speaks up, "is this a date?"

oh-

oh.

"i mean- i didn't- i don't- uh."

give her some time lmfao she's loading

"i don't really mind that," he tells her, and she thinks she might just walk off the roof in her embarrassment - who just says something like that?? "you're probably feeling really lucky right now, right?"

jennette: ✊😔

he does look pretty in the moonlight, she admits to herself, listening as he excitedly tells her about his siblings at home and how she should send an offering to the gods since they gave her the good fortune to be on a date with the most good looking one of all four of them

in turn, she tells him about how she spent her childhood away from her amazing dad and had gotten closer to him recently, about her sharp-witted uncle, her sister and friends

(the 'friends' section includes felix and he's melting)

she smiles - it's almost as if, at finding out he treasures his family just as much as she does, they've gotten a bit closer

and he tries to listen. jennette had guessed that his temperament was somewhat like her dad's - her dad didn't know how to listen, always making his opinion known before anything else, though she supposes as emperor he could do that

'sir c', on the other hand, tried his best, his blue eyes focused on her as he almost burst from the unsaid words he was holding back, trying to let her finish. the sight was an odd mix of sad and insanely adorable that she couldn't help but let him tell her about everything he couldn't hold in

sensing she could pass out from her exhaustion nearly half an hour later, and 'sir c' escorts her to her window and helps her sneak in bc "what sort of knight would i be otherwise?!"

(felix can't stop shaking the entire night)

the next morning, jennette's heart is pounding as kiel shows her, athy and felix across campus - the chance is low, but still...

"ezekiel!" comes a voice, and the four watch as a turquoise haired boy waves down the alpheus heir "are these the guests you mentioned?"

kiel introduces the trio to johannes vastia before asking, "where's cabel?"

"at the training grounds, he asked if you could bring everyone there so he could show them around there."

"... they're my guests though?"

athy is quick to befriend johannes (i mean she and his sister are practically the same person, so) and at the grounds, jennette's blood runs cold

(so does felix's)

the brunette doesn't notice her at first, arguing with johannes about something as kiel introduces him as cabel ernst

jennette is hyperventilating?? actually back up is this girl even breathing??

cabel ernst from kiel's letters? the 'loud and obnoxious cabel ernst', who gradually turned into 'my acquaintance cabel ernst', then 'hardworking, passionate cabel ernst', and finally 'my friend cabel'?

she'd actually rather admired this slow build of respect between her friend and the ernst boy, and had even expressed her interest to meet him

"this is the first daughter of his highness prince claude de alger obelia, princess athanasia-" cabel mock salutes the princess before his mouth forms an 'o' and he remembers to bow, "-and here's the emperor's only daughter, her highness princess je-"

andddd his eyes widen comically "-hey, lady, it's you?"

yeah jettie is on the brink of literal death - her entire face reddens as this...cabel, grins at her

she watches as he glances behind her, "and you're the guy who was following us - sup?"

felix flinches "...you knew...?"

cabel shrugs. "i mean you do kinda suck ass at the whole subtle thing."

"don't say it like that," jennette retorts, "felix was trying his best."

"princess 😭😭 you knew as well?"

"uhhhh no?"

athy + kiel in a corner: 👁️👄👁️

they watch as cabel's eyes widen all of a sudden and he just,,,runs away

...🐦...🐦...🐦...

yeah well anyway he comes rushing back a few minutes later, a piece of cloth in his hand "...*huff* here *huff*...you go."

athy totally flips out "jennette is that your CLOAK???!??"

"uhhhhh no?"

"um do you realise uncle would literally wage war at this."

and as if it would make everything better,

"i washed it," cabel offers with a grin

"you didn't," the vastia heir deadpans

"i mean, johan helped a little bit."

kiel smiles murderously at the pair. "johan, did you know cabel took the princess out?"

"wait, you're a PRINCESS??"

your honour they aren't very smart

so the group orders some coffee (milk for cabel smfh) to find out what happened, cabel mentions "date" and everything goes to shit again lmfao

kiel and felix scheme against poor cabel while athy n johan get over that stage pretty quick ("listen. MY sister will be living with ME after the marriage and if your friend wants to be with her he'll have to come with us to obelia." and johan's just like "fine by me ✌️😊") and start planning the wedding

cabel + jennette dip n sneak out of the academy again to get the juice they couldn't the night before bc shit is getting awkward here

on another note, our uncle cius' musical intelligence is actually very high - he can probably play more instruments than i can name tbh, but he feels most comfortable singing and i shit you not, this man has straight up an angel's voice

(didn't like singing in front of others coz he was secretly a nerd and only knew old love songs with deep lyrics, athy found out and educated him)

jennette tends to have nightmares often, most often regarding their family - she's seen her father murder her uncle for the throne, and vice versa, athy admitting her affections towards jennette were a front to get the position of crown princess, her uncle killing her to solidify athy's claim, etc - her family is her everything, so despite however many times these horrible scenes play before her, she's left sobbing uncontrollably

and on these nights, she leaves for her father's room, who holds her close and sings her to sleep

also lucas n jennette are like sibling duo# 1,,, jettie is an active lucathy shipper even though he denies it sm - like their dynamic is just peaceful walks in the gardens as she watches the plants n lucas shi talks the nobility and kiel

claude and athy have a thing for each other's sleeping on each other? idk it's weird

athy once fell asleep on the couch while reading with him, and claude moved her head onto his lap so she wouldn't be uncomfy sitting - well, she woke up to his hand absentmindedly raking through her hair and it was just so soothing that whenever she's tired and he's working or reading, she just plops her head on his lap and zzzz

and claude wondered what was up with that, so she proposed they switch roles and he felt so awkward trying to lay down in front of her lmao

obviously athy noticed and she just started reading, thinking he might be more comfortable if her attention isn't on him completely - she ended up reading out loud while playing with his collar and he just,,,passed out

also anastacius has definitely pulled jennette aside regarding the issue of his heir at some point - she had been hesitant at first before admitting she wouldn't like to be the empress at all

i know we'd all love to see empress!jettie and her sister duchess!athy ruling the court, but i really really really can't see her wanting the title?

so thus start athy's empress lessons, but holy shit her teacher is mean

like this man makes me want to bash his face in?? so he doesn't like the idea of athy becoming empress over jennette at all, all bc of both hers and claude's mothers being commoners

he has one of those long ass sticks that you use in presentation to point at stuff?? idk but basically mans has athy name every region, its lords and their vassals during their first lesson

the first time she gets one wrong, she's too shocked as the stick meets the delicate skin of her forearm to react

now the thing is, wmmap!athy would probably stand up against this bc her dad is the emperor and she's his only heir, but i imagine with anastacius' social nature he holds many parties / balls where she's probably heard claude's mom + diana slander and it wouldn't be unreasonable for her to be self conscious abt it (now she's the emperor's heir while jennette, 100% royal + noble blood, is right there which probably makes her feel even less legitimate)

so she endures it, the light marks on her arms as well as the taunts of his she's too smart to not understand - perhaps this is the price to be accepted in jennette's place?

and honestly, no one really notices until at breakfast a few weeks in, where jennette mentions how her dresses are still so modest when sleeveless dresses were more in fashion - ana is suspicious because athy is always on top of these things, societal trends and such, and claude is sus from the way she hesitates slightly in her answer, "i haven't had the time lately, i suppose"

the lesson after focuses on ettiquete since everyone knows she's good at politics and such already, but now tears of frustration are pooling in her eyes because what the hell?? this guy had made an opinion of her long before he even met her, so anything she did would be wrong in his eyes

he gives her a sinister smile, "tired, princess?"

"no," she insists, keeping her voice level. he's about to spout some other nonsense, when anastacius enters the room, taking a seat across from her

anastacius watches quietly as athy answers the teacher's questions in her "public" voice. he watches as her usually cheery disposition is replaced by something far more...dead, despite the front she puts on for him. he's soundless as she hesitates in her answers where she normally would've been louder, more confident. he stops watching in silence when his niece flinches at the sight of the stick

oh.

he interrupts her lesson, not missing the way she winces almost imperceptibly when he grabs ahold of her arm, announcing, "we're going."

he just- it's just that that was the moment he knew for sure - the sight of his niece emotionally disheveled for the first time reminds him too much of how his own brother had once been, and he'd... he'd promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family anymore

he ends up taking her to the port with some of his advisors to welcome some royal guests, insisting that she would learn better from experience rather than books - but the guest delegation gets so boring that he sneaks her out of the meeting n they end up in the streets

now athy has no idea where they are, but apparently her uncle does?? ana has his hand on her head as he navigates the streets of the capitol as if he comes here everyday, using magic to casually disguise the two of them

in the meantime?

felix is at the port trying to cover for them smfh, he makes up this huge story about how the great wise emperor wanted to familiarize his heir with the locals, understand her subjects, yada yada

back at the palace prince claude is currently dragging a man by his collar and only upon jennette's insistence does he throw him in prison rather than literally kill him

(jettie visits him later in prison to give the guy a piece of her mind, after felix's visit he's sporting a few noticable bruises and the prisoner is practically unrecognizable once lucas visits)

back to athy + ana, they end up stuffing themselves with some super good street food as anastacius confesses that yes, he has definitely been sneaking out of the palace ever since he was a lil kid

athy almost mentions that she, lucas n jettie sneak out too but that might give him a heart attack, so

"it's so pretty, uncle cius," she says, gesturing towards the necklace he holds up. once he's paid for it, anastacius fists the necklace, opening it to reveal the jewel pendant - now imbued with his magic and replaced with gold lettering of the word athanasia

and she realises that yes, that's what both him and her dad have called her all her life, haven't they?

"you're my heir, athanasia," he uncle tells her with a small smile, "i am proud of that."

getting teary, she tells him, "i'm really proud of you too, uncle cius," triggering a very flustered + blushy anastacius

this mans craves validation - not from the sycophantic nobility, or the obsequious concubines he'd dismissed all those years ago, but from the family he thought he'd neither have nor deserve

and just the acknowledgement is so large for athy - he wants her as his heir, not because she's his niece, but bc he trusts her to look after his hard work after him??? - yeah she's totally bawling her eyes out

anastacius magics her a handkerchief but my mans magic isn't that strong?? lmao he's used up so much by now that the 'handkerchief' turns out to be some scratchy tissues

awkward amirite

nope! athy laughs at that, offering him a sip of her drink as she magics another straw and a proper handkerchief lmfaoo

n e ways so when they return, everyone's shocked to learn that the crown heir, princess athanasia will actually be joining the official circles as anastacius' temporary aid - he doesn't wanna entrust her to anyone but family, and decides that the best way to learn is by his side

(she's so confused bc lucas doesn't normally bat an eyelash when she wears the prettiest gowns, but he deadass can't look her in the eyes when she's in her aid uniform - it's more like a suit than it is a dress)

yes lucas women in suits >>>>>

everyone is STUNNED when at dinner, claude proposes they leave on vacation??

anastacius is just not having it?? like no, this is not my brother, and he throws a grape at claude to check if it's a clone or sum (¿¿how does that work??)

anyays so he ain't no felix, ana's aim is ass and it hits jettie instead

mans nearly gets on his knees to apologise

long story short everyone preps for vacation, but by some aCCiDeNt claude n athy end up at a different destination than jettie n ana, when she suggests returning to the palace to regroup, mans deadass sulks

"so you wouldn't like to spend this time with your father, despite barely visiting my office for weeks?"

o-oh

so at their return, the nobility starts pestering everyone that the princesses aren't independent enough, yada yada idc so to quell this annoyance, to the girls' joy, they get to move into emerald palace together, while claude and ana stay in the ruby and main palaces respectively

literally emerald palace becomes such a cool place to be in since it's the residence of the only decent people in this family, the brothers spend hours going through the requests of maids who want to be transferred

it's such a busy time because of athy joining the court and jettie starting her studies as well - naturally, since she isn't becoming empress, she'll be getting the duchy claude + athy were to be given in the beginning

speaking of futures, jettie's interest in plants and cooking has definitely branched out into herbs

claude notices her tending to a small garden during his visit to athy and even gives her a few tips (he had been studying medical since he was a kid, and picked it up again when athy was born and the empire stablised somewhat)

this soon becomes a routinely thing, and he actually starts reading up on some herbs and even orders a few for her prospering garden

after a month of her learning from books, claude proposes adding a medic as one of her teachers, and turns out his hunch was right?? she's excelling at medicine and they keep it between themselves for the time being

it doesn't last long though, bc they're on a hunting trip when ana injures his leg

and !! this girl istg, she gets to cleaning and wrapping the wound without blinking an eye, as if it's the most natural thing ever, and claude is just smirking while athy and anastacius and literally everyone else: 🌟💞✨jettie✨💞🌟

literal tears coming out of anastacius' eyes "how come my daughter is smarter than me😭💅"

claude: that's not a very high standard, brother

anastacius: ✨suddenly i'm an only child✨

behold, the people in charge of running an empire everyone 👏👏👏

even though jennette is claude's (unofficial) student and athy is her uncle's heir, they both ask their dads to the debutante

yes athy does dance with lucas, anastacius sent him an invitation even though he wasn't a noble (he's an active match maker 😌) and nobody dared question the emperor's special guest

at the end of the night, kiel gives jettie a letter from arlanta - it's an invitation to the academy during holidays, from a certain brunette

when she brings up the subject, felix lets out a squeak and literally everyone goes silent 😭😭

athy n kiel are just out here DARING him to spill them beans

but anastacius takes on look at his excited lil kid and decides that yups, she's going to get everything she wants

a/n: i literally don't know how many parts this should have lmaoo but y'all made it this far!! thanks for reading i hope you liked it<3

#non dysfunctional family!au #or ana decides to stop being a shithead!au #functional family!au ?? #wmmap #sbapod #who made me a princess #suddenly became a princess one day #anastacius de alger obelia #claude de alger obelia #athanasia de alger obelia #felix robane #lucas #jennette magrita #jeannette magrita #kiel alpheus #ezekiel alpheus #beware of the brothers #cabel ernst #johannes vastia

[anchoviesinthenightsky]

As promised, here's a preview of my new fic (coming out 9.26)

*Two notes before you read. This is a Luca/Alberto fic, but Alberto doesn't show up in the preview. He will be in the chapters uploaded on Sunday.

Additionally, my initial idea for this fic was "what if a character fake-dated two people. but only one of the relationships was actually fake? Bet that would be confusing for that character"... insert Luca. So know that's part of the story.

[fic announcement here]

[read more snippets here]

preview below cut. length: 1285 words

tags: no archive warnings apply, luca/alberto, giulia/female oc, fake dating, aged up [Luca (25), Giulia (25), Alberto (26)]

In Luca’s opinion, there was an unwritten pact between childhood friends that dictated the ways of maintaining those friendships far into adulthood. This included guidelines like never forget a birthday, be there to listen when they need someone, and when getting them flowers, the flowers should be in their favorite color. The most important rule, though, was to go along with their haphazard plans when they’ve dug themselves into a whole.

Which Giulia had.

Which was also why Luca found himself walking down the hallway of his old Genova high school, on the last day of classes with a bouquet of orange flowers and a box of chocolates under his arm. He nodded as he passed the other science teachers in Giulia’s hallway. He didn’t know most of their names, and he didn’t particularly care to.

Giulia’s room was decorated with vintage constellation posters that clashed with the modern-day Principles of Physics posters. Giulia was crouched over her desk, scribbling notes onto a piece of paper. Luca plastered a smile on his face, ready to put on a performance.

He cleared his voice and spoke loud enough for the teachers in the hallway to hear. “Congrats on another successful year, sweetie.”

The words felt blocky and bitter in his mouth. Only Giulia could see his face as he cringed at them.

“Oh honey, what a lovely surprise!” Giulia exclaimed. She mimed excitement, glancing over Luca’s shoulders at someone.

Luca turned to see who. One of Giulia’s coworkers was standing outside the door, glaring at Luca.

“Sorry for interrupting,” He said in a tone that sounded not the least bit sorry. “I was hoping to steal Giulia for a moment.”

“What for, Eugenio?” Giulia asked. She adjusted the handkerchief in her hair, tightening it.

“I wanted to get a second opinion on something.”

“Oh. Well, I’m busy right now,” Giulia said as she walked to her classroom door. “But I think Mr. Bianco is still in the building. I’m sure he could help you.”

“I was hoping for your opinion, specifically,” Eugenio pushed.

“I’m sure Mr. Bianco can help. I need to catch up with my boyfriend.” Giulia flashed a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and started to close her classroom door. “See you next school year.”

She shut the door the rest of the way.

“Lock it.” Luca mouthed.

Giulia shook her head.

“Just in case.” He whispered.

Giulia rolled her eyes and locked the door. As she walked back to her desk, the doorknob jiggled as someone tried to open it from the other side.

“Told you,” Luca whispered. “That guy is a grade-A asshole.”

“He really is.”

“I can’t believe he still works here.”

“Yeah, well HR didn’t particularly do anything with my complaints about him repeatedly asking me out and not taking no as an answer.”

“You could tell him you’re a lesbian,” Luca suggested.

“Absolutely not.” Giulia pressed her pen hard enough as she signed her name that the paper tore. She sighed and smoothed the tear and reached for a piece of tape. “Either he won’t care and keep asking me out, or he’d be a creep about it.”

“You could tell him you’re dating someone.” Luca said, thinking of the woman Giulia had been seeing for the better part of the last two years.

“I am telling him that I’m dating someone.” Giulia said, giving Luca a pointed look.

“Oh right.” Luca said sheepishly. He looked down at the bouquet in his hand. “These are for you, by the way.”

He set them on the desk by Giulia. She picked them up and sniffed one of the lilies. “They’re lovely. Thank you, Luca.”

“No problem.”

Giulia eyed the box of chocolate in Luca’s hand.

“Oh, these are for me,” Luca said with a smirk. “But I guess you can have some.”

Giulia laughed, genuine and bright. “You’re too kind.”

“I do my best.” Luca grinned back. He opened the box and handed it to her to pick the first one. “Do you and Rosina have any plans?”

“We’re going down to harbor to get lunch and drink wine.” She selected one of the chocolates with a pink swirl on top.

“That sounds like a great time.” Luca said. He plucked what he hoped was a coconut flavored truffle out of the box.

“What about you?”

“Packing.” Luca bit into the chocolate, and scrunched his nose at the taste. It was caramel.

“The coconut one has the white dot,” Giulia said.

“Oh right,” Luca popped the rest of the caramel one in his mouth and took the coconut chocolate. “Are you packed yet?”

“I did it last night,” Giulia took a bite out of her chocolate. “I’m surprised you didn’t. Normally you’re packed a week before we head back to Portorosso.”

“Well, you know. It was the last week of school. I had classes to prepare for.”

“For third graders? What do they even learn the last week of school?”

“Not much, but I had a lot of parties.” Luca grinned.

“That sounds like fun.”

“If you like a bunch of screaming nine-year-olds, who have had too much sugar.”

“I do not.” Giulia said. “That’s why I teach high school.”

“You’re missing out.” Luca bit into his second chocolate. “You’re right this one is coconut.”

“Told ya.”

Luca rolled his eyes and changed the topic. “Hard to believe we’ve been teaching for two years.”

“I know right? I still feel like I’m a kid sometimes.”

“Me too! Except then I look at actual kids, and it’s like ‘wow you are so young.’” Luca said.

“They are so young!”

“I know!”

“When did we get old?”

“We’re not even that old yet!” Luca said animatedly. “We’re only 25.”

“Imagine what it’ll be like when we’re 70.”

“I can barely even imagine what 28 looks like.” Luca laughed. “God, and the kids think we’re old. One of my third graders told me today that he hoped I was still alive next year so that he could wave at me in the hallway.”

“Geez.”

“I know!Apparently, I look like I have a foot in the grave.”

“You don’t even have any gray hairs yet.”

“Maybe after another year of teaching,” Luca joked.

“Don’t I know it. I found a gray hair last week, and I considered quitting on the spot.” Giulia said.

“Would you ever actually quit teaching?” Luca asked.

“Nah,” Giulia answered immediately. “I love it too much.”

Luca nodded. “You’re good at it too.”

“I am,” Giulia smiled. “What about you?”

“I don’t know,” Luca leaned against a desk. “Maybe not in Genova.”

“Oh?” Giulia turned to look fully at him. “Where would you want to teach?”

“No idea,” Luca answered honestly. “I’ll just stay here until I figure that out, I guess.”

“Mm.”

Luca waited for Giulia to say more, but if she had any thoughts, she kept them to herself. Luca pushed himself off the table.

“Well,” Luca said. “Can I walk you out? I’m sure Rosina is waiting.”

“I’m sure she is,” Giulia laughed. She shoved the last few papers from her desk into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Luca offered his hand and Giulia took it.

“This won’t be forever,” Giulia said as she unlocked the classroom door. “you know that right?”

“What? Us doing this?”

“Yeah,” Giulia paused with her hand on the door. “I know it’d been rough on you.”

“It has not been rough on me.”

“I heard you had to turn down one of the first-grade teachers when she asked you out.”

“I probably would have turned her down anyway,” Luca said, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t have time to think about dating.”

“Do you not have the time, or do you just not want to?” Giulia asked as she opened the door.

“Both,” Luca answered.

"Or maybe there's someone else?" Giulia gave him a sly smile.

Luca shook his head. "I'm just busy. That's all."

Giulia gave him a look but didn’t push any further.

#luca fanfic #luberto fanfic #we'll chase the moon tonight #hang the moon wip #my writing

[kimmycup]

I posted 23 503 times in 2021

99 posts created (0%)

23404 posts reblogged (100%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 236.4 posts.

I added 635 tags in 2021

#loki spoilers - 404 posts

#fatws spoilers - 102 posts

#tfatws spoilers - 28 posts

#loki series - 21 posts

#loki - 19 posts

#fatws - 17 posts

#loki show - 12 posts

#baby - 11 posts

#i love it - 11 posts

#tfatws - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Hi, I'm Kimmycup and I'm offering Loki rare pair fic for @marveltrumpshate this year!

Here's a few prompts I had lying around that are examples of what I can write for you for the low price of 10$ or more donated to a charity organization!

The prompts are just ideas in case you have none but I can also write what you want, including ships not on this list (all by Lokius and Sylki, since this is RARE pair auction, but poly with them is fine).

You can find my auction here. Bidding begins on Sunday!

You can also find a Loki themed candle with a necklace here, bid starting at 25$.

All of my auctions can be found here, also including a Marvel one customized to your choice.

31 notes • Posted 2021-10-10 19:15:42 GMT

#4

Iron Husbands MTH 2021 Podbid

Rhodey and Tony have been secretly married for a while but keep it quiet because of DADT and Tony's public profile. The night of the award ceremony in IM1, Tony is just really bummed he can't celebrate with Rhodey so they argue. That's why Rhodey doesn't go in the funvee. Tony gets taken, Rhodey does too but neither of them knows. When Yinsen asks Tony about family, he tells him about not knowing if Rhodey is alive and their last conversation being an argument. Rhodey is only brought in when they do that torture threat scene with the hot coal. He is left with tony and Yinsen after that and cries to Tony that he lost his ring. Tony makes both iron man and war machine. Rhodey saves Yinsen. A few months or years after that they come back to the caves to find closure and the lost ring.

Do you love IronHusbands? Do you love canon divergence? Would you like to read the fic I described above and help children in need? Then this is the podbid for you!

Marvel Trumps Hate is an annual auction where fans donate to charity and create fantastic fanworks. Podbids are what happens when more fans pool their funds together to donate more!

To join the podbid, message me on tumblr or Discord kimmycup#8137 with how much money you want to put in.

32 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 22:25:43 GMT

#3

How to merge a whole ao3 series into one file easily: a guide

NMaybe you're like me, and if you are, you love reading fic by downloading it, and you love a good series but you do NOT love downloading all files separately and keeping track of the order. Or maybe you know a merge website, but you still don't like having to download them all and the site sometimes messes the order.

And then there is a series with triple digits of fic and you just don't want to to bother.

Well, I HAVE A TREAT FOR YOU!

This guide will show you not only how to merge a series, but also how to download all works from a tag, all works from one author, or collection! Basically from any ao3 page that has multiple fics.

First, you need to download Calibre. I know, I know, you don't like anything that uses external programs - but trust me. It's worth it. You'll get the hang of using it and it will save you time.

Now, here's a link to an ao3 FAQ page were you can learn what to do next, because ao3 is a friend and gives us useful tips but our lazy asses never bothered to read the help section. I suggest you bookmark this link because it has a ton of other useful tips.

And this is a link with the full tutorial. You will need to install two plug ins, but basically only use one. Now here, if you run into any trouble, pay attention, because I had to change some things up.

If you downloaded the plug ins, but don't know where they are - on the bar at the top, click the three dots on the right and they will appear.

5. The link mentions that you just need to click the FanFicFare plug in. In my case, that didn't work. I had to click the arrow to open the plug in menu, and choose "Get story URLs from Web Page".

6. Now you continue doing everything as in the tutorial, and you get your merged series. The only problem you have now is that it's epub. So first, you have to convert it! And you don't need to download it to that. Just right click on your story, and choose convert.

When you do that, a box will appear and it will allow you, in the top right corner, to choose the format you wish to convert it into. PDF, mobi, docx, anything you wish.

Then just click OK and you're done! Your calibre now has the format you need. So how do you download it?

7. Now, of course, you need to download the file, because you don't want to read it in Calibre. And that's just as easy to do! Just right click the file again (or do so in step 6, if you want epub file), and pick Save to disc option! Then choose your folder of choice.

Calibre will create an author folder inside that folder, and in that author folder, a fic folder, and there you will have the files, ready to read or send to your ebook reader!

Happy reading!

34 notes • Posted 2021-11-02 12:32:18 GMT

#2

Fanfic side of tumblr, help.

I am looking for an older post on livejournal that was a gay man analysing how realistic most smut writing was (not at all) and it had a really nice bit about fingering being not that important for prep but fun as a sex act on its own.

I can't seem to find a link. Anyone has it?

60 notes • Posted 2021-08-04 11:46:05 GMT

#1

hey, Loki-multi-shipper-central! Thought I had: So Tony has his own Loki but what if Pepper gets her own Loki who doesn't like being called a Loki and suddenly Pepper _understands_. Sylvie definitely is Pepper's type in the "broken, wounded, needs care" category ;D

FROSTIRON AND PEPPER/SYLVIE?!

OH MY GOD THIS IS GOOD. And Tony keeps teasing Pepper using all the arguements she did when he got himself a Loki and arguably they're even more true now because Sylvie's slightly more feral...

@rabentochter COME SEE THIS.

106 notes • Posted 2021-08-03 19:16:08 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #I am 100% that bitch that just reblogs without any tags all day

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Forty-One

Table of Content or Part Forty

Read here on wattpad.

Words: 3.2k

Warning(s): Explicit language, minor sexual situations, drug abuse, drug over dose

A/N: Had to cut this chapter in half because tumblr was being sketchy w the length of it for some reason. Anyway, second half will be up asap but I'm about to pass tf out. Also, this chapter was gonna have some smut but I put it in with the second half instead because the vibe didn't mesh well with it included in this one. Have a good night, update coming tomorrow/late tonight (Jan. 3). Goodnight!!

Tag List: @unknownoblivion @sinningsixx @edwardtriggerhandzz @lemmyjelly @haileynicoleseavey17 @cierrasixx19 @oskea93 @mgkobsessed @vamprlestat @sharon6713 @itsametaphordarling @miriampraez @allie-mcginn @rebeccaphillips14 @nicholeh7 @fandomshit6000 @lilmou5ie @tamedhearts @divaanya @kingbouji3 @evrsncnewyork @6ixx6ixx @ratedrkohardychick91 @floregrohlssard @oldschoolimagineblog @thanks2pete @abaldboi @swoopygorl @justjodeye @liith-ium @caos18blog @ytwahsog @shamlessobsessions @scarecrowmax @toadspleen @random-internet-user-4471 @solohqrry @loveofmyloif @sparxx27 @kaitieskidmore1 @xpoisonousrosesx @cruecifymesixx @ijustwanttokiss70srogertaylor @emmaelizabeth2014 @meetthesixxter @sixxsixxsexx @sublimeprincesswasteland @arianareirg @girlnight-terror @mcnibberachi

LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED

I can't help but laugh a little as Nikki presses kisses up and down my neck, bottle of Jack in one hand, part of my ass in the other as our car takes the both of us through London.

Valentine's Day, 1986, started out as one of the best Valentine's Days we'd spent together.

Nikki's mood wasn't too good or too bad, it was a tolerant neutral, I suppose it's because we hadn't done much talking at all.

He'd woken me up with his tongue between my legs and it stayed that way until I had soaked the sheets and was practically begging him to give me a break because I couldn't take it anymore.

Then we proceeded to screw around, then got ready to leave to meet everyone at the Hammersmith Odeon where they were due to play that night.

"How much longer?" I ask him, pulling away from a tongue filled, lust fueled kiss, referring to the time left before we get where we're going.

"Like, ten minutes, maybe." He tells me.

My hand reaches between us, rubbing over the obvious bulge in his pants, before he reads my mind.

After our quicky, I'm pulling my panties back on while he's pulling his gear from his boot.

I just let out a breath.

"Nikki--"

"--I'm fucked on blow right now, Viv. I gotta get myself leveled out." He tells me.

I just nod a little, not bothering to argue.

Once we arrive, Fred's meeting us in the back to escort us inside as fans are already crowding around the front entrance.

Nikki's grabbing at my hand once we get out, as he and Fred start talking.

"And there's a surprise for you." Fred tells me as we walk in.

I furrow my brows before he's nodding to our left.

I see the massive, teased, blonde hair and flashy clothing and I'm leaving Nikki's side before I can help myself.

Mike's just as happy to see me and I am to see him, the both of us hugging each other tightly before pulling away to examine each other with wide smiles.

He looks incredible.

He's glowing.

He's gained back the weight he lost dramatically after Razzle died, and it's so obvious that he hasn't touched a drink or Drug in months.

He looks at peace.

"You look great." I tell him, looking him up and down.

"I feel great." He replies. "You look..." He starts, examining me similarly.

I look like I've been dragged through hell.

"Like shit." I finish for him and he rolls his eyes.

"Beautiful, Vivian. You've always been beautiful." He argues.

The shining of a silver band around his left ring finger catches my eye, despite multiple rings decorating his hands.

"Now, I've heard about this." I take his hand and look at the wedding band and he gets giddy. "But I have yet to even see her."

He's pulling his wallet out of his pocket and pulling a picture out, showing me a photo of a woman with dark hair, arched brows, who's no-bullshit demeanor is practically jumping out of the picture.

Jude Wilder had been working at CBS when she'd met Michael while working on Hanoi Rocks' project called "Two Steps From The Move."

She was nine years older than him, but that didn't surprise me. Michael's always been nine years ahead of everyone else in maturity, and they were perfect for each other.

They got married in 1985, and were inseparable.

When she died in 2001, after suffering an intracranial hemorrhage, Michael sunk into the excruciatingly low place he sunk to when Razzle died. But in true Mike Monroe fashion, he didn't allow himself to be down very long, threw the drugs out, and was remarried to a gorgeous, sweet, ball of light named Johanna by mid-2003.

"She's gorgeous, Michael." I tell him in admiration, although I know he's never necessarily been into looks as much as he's after a good personality and clear head.

"Thank you. She'll love to hear that." He chuckles, tucking the picture back into his wallet. "Have you seen the other guys here?" He asks me and I raise my brows.

He motions behind me and I see Andy, Sami, and Nasty, talking to Tommy and Nikki.

Nikki beckons for me and I go to them, trying not to be overly motherly upon seeing them, the three of us sharing the same exchange Michael and I did.

Tight hugs, and an invisible thankfulness that they're in a more positive headspace than the last time I saw them.

Well, except one.

Andy's still on heroin. It doesn't take me two seconds to pick up on it and I can tell it's gonna be a priority to keep him and Nikki separated after the show.

I don't need them fueling the fire under each other's spoons.

Sami and Nasty look better than the last time I saw them, which is amazing.

I'm surprised any of the guys want anything to do with us after the thick of their grieving.

"Are you staying for the show?" I ask Andy.

"Absolutely." Andy states, pointing at Nikki. "And I'm showing him around when it's all over."

A protective chord is struck in me, and I'm finding myself having to pull back on the reins before I offend Andy.

Nikki seems to agree, before I shit all over it.

"It's Valentine's Day." I cut in. "I was hoping we could hang out." I look to Nikki.

"You can come with us, babe." He suggests and I try to hide my true emotions about it, but Michael sees through it.

"Oh, c'mon, Nikki. It's Valentines Day." He interjects, picking up on my concern of Andy and Nikki out on the town, binging.

Nikki's pulling a handful of bills out of his pocket before handing it to Michael.

"You take her out, then." He tells him casually, and Michael looks at me, caught off guard, able tell this isn't the first time Nikki's acted like this towards me and it's as if he's saying, "he's like this now?"

"Guys, c'mon, you gotta get dressed." Doc pulls at Nikki and Tommy.

The show goes smoothly, despite a few hiccups and—as predicted—Andy and Nikki are thick as thieves.

I help Nikki get his white and black polka dotted suit off, before he's pulling on his tshirt and jeans, pulling his boots on.

Before I head for the door when he's dressed, he's grasping at my hand and stopping me.

"What is it?" I ask, raising my brows.

"C'mere." He tugs me to him and I chuckle a little. 

"What is it?" I repeat, grinning, and he leans down and presses his lips to mine, sweetly.

"I really wish you would come with me tonight." He tucks some of my hair behind my ear and I shake my head a little.

"Nah, I'll just hangout with Mike."

"No, I wanna hangout with you." He argues lightly.

"You and Andy are gonna be doing things I'm not into." I point out.

"Like what?" He asks.

"You know what." I reply.

"Alright, how about you and Mike come with us so you aren't by yourself?"

"How about you just don't touch heroin?" I suggest and his smile falters, his jaw rolling. I don't even let him say anything else.

I kiss him one last time before trying to sweep whatever argument is brewing, under the rug.

"I'll see you when you get back tonight, Nikki, okay?" I ask and he sighs out.

"Whatever, Viv." He mumbles as I step out.

I find Mike and Tommy telling Nasty and Sami "goodbye", and I step to them, glancing around for Vince, who isn't anywhere to be seen.

It's obvious he's keeping his distance.

"Leaving already?" I ask the two dark haired boys.

"Got to get back home for a bit. We'll see you around, eventually." Nasty tells me, grinning as he squeezes my hand assuringly.

"I'll be meeting Mike back in the states in about a month." Sami adds. "We'll he sure to stop by."

"Okay." I nod, smiling at the both of them. "Be careful, I'll see you later." I them.

"See you, man." Mike tells the two of them, hugging the both of them.

"Big plans tonight, Viv?" Tommy nudges me and I point my thumb in Mike's direction. "What about Nikki?"

"He's married to Andy's dealer tonight." I reply and Mike raises his brows, not saying a word, and Tommy seems like he doesn't quite know how to respond.

"We're outta here!" Andy exclaims, he and Nikki stepping to the exit with Fred escorting them out to their car.

"He's really not spending tonight with you?" Tommy asks me, disappointed, and I raise my brows.

"Are you surprised?"

"..." He says everything with a single look and I nod.

"Exactly." I scoff, going to the dressing room to grab my purse.

Once I get back, Fred is waiting for Mike and I.

"Press talks." Fred warns us right before we step outside.

The paps aren't horrid here like in America, but there's enough here to spin a narrative if they choose.

"So does bullshit." I reply as he opens the car door and I slide in with Mike following me.

"Be careful, guys. I'll see you later, Viv." Fred tells me and I nod before he shuts the door.

Michael looks at me with a smile.

"What now?" He asks me and I shake my head a little.

"Food." I tell him. "And a lot of it."

Although I would have loved to spend the day of love with my husband, spending it with Michael Monroe while stuffing my face with London's very best take-out, was nice.

But there was someone who upstaged Nikki, aside from Mike.

I step into the hotel after dinner with Michael and his wife, carrying my heels in my hands because my feet are killing me, ready to go to sleep.

"Mrs. Sixx, there was a delivery made to your room by your management earlier." The woman at the front desk tells me as I walk by to the elevator.

"Alright, thank you." I reply.

When I get to my room, I unlock the door and I'm met with a large bouquet of classic red roses.

I furrow my brows, knowing they can't be from Nikki, but already know who they can be from when I see two little plastic water guns tucked into the flowers, a bottle of Pepsi and a bag of gummy worms beside them.

I pick up the card and nearly start crying.

"We miss you! Happy V-Day, V!

Love, more than Jack and Marlboro (or Pepsi and gummy worms), Tansy, Steven, Axl, Izzy, Slash, and Duff."

It's etched in Doc's handwriting, and I chuckle at the thought of Doc on the phone with Tansy while she dictates what he writes on a card for flowers she probably begged him to get me before the show ended tonight.

I keep myself from crying, a strong sense of homesickness washing over me.

I pick up the phone, trying to calculate the time difference.

It's 2:00am here, which means it's only 6:00pm in L.A.

I'm dialing their apartment—damning the overseas charge that I know will be billed to us—knowing they're probably getting ready to go out or head to a club for a gig.

"Yo." I hear Steven's voice on the other line.

"Hey, Steven, it's Viv."

"Viv?" He asks excitedly. "Aye, Viv's on the phone!" I hear him say, hearing indistinguishable sentences in the back ground.

"Yeah, I just called to let you guys know I just got back to my room and saw the flowers." I explain, fumbling with the phone chord, sitting down on the bed.

"Do you like 'em?" He asks me and I nod to myself.

"Yes, they're beautiful." I reply.

"Well, Tansy mentioned getting you something for Valentine's Day and she and Duff called the guys' manager and told him some stuff you'd like." He informs me.

"I-Is Duff there?" I ask.

"Uhh, yeah, gimme a second." He tells me. "Duff! Man, it's Viv!" He calls into the apartment. "He's comin', baby." He assures me. "Alright, here he is."

"Bye, I love you." I tell him.

"I love you, too." He replies as I hear the phone being handed off.

"Hello?" Duff answers and I rub my lips together.

"Hey, I know you're probably busy so I wasn't gonna keep you long, I just wanted to say 'thank you' for the flowers and the junkfood I really shouldn't be eating but I'm going to eat anyway." I state and he chuckles.

"I'm just waiting on the guys, and I thought about Coke and potatoe chips but I knew that would be kinda mean so I played it safe." He informs me.

"You don't have a mean bone in your body, Duff." I point out. "Oh, guess who I ate dinner with tonight?"

"Nikki?" He asks and I scoff.

"That's an entire conversation on it's own." I reply. "Michael Monroe and his lovely wife, Jude, took me out to dinner."

"You can't just say it that casually, Viv." He tells me. "You gotta cry tears of joy or something, holy shit."

"Well, I suggest you learn how to keep your cool because him and Sami Yaffa will be visiting L.A. soon and I will be introducing you and the guys, if you're interested."

"Shut up." He says it in disbelief and I smile.

"Guns N' Roses came up during dinner and I may or may not have bragged about one W.Axl Rose, Steven Adler, Izzy Stradlin, Slash Hudson, and Duff McKagan and piqued his interest."

"Shut up!" He says it louder. "Viv, I know it's not a big deal to you because he's one of your friends but...holy shit, Sixx, you didn't have to do that."

"I did, Duff. You guys deserve it." I argue. "You deserve it."

"I fucking love you." He tells me, genuinely. "And I'm not just saying that because you did something nice, like, I can't say 'thank you' enough or tell you how much I love you for being just as enthusiastic as we are and believing in us as much as you have for the past year."

"You guys are great people, Duff. And God's given the five of you incredible musical gifts. It's against my religion not to help expose those gifts to the rest of the world and I know you guys can do it, as much as you guys know you can."

"Thank you, Viv." He tells me again. "And where's Nikki at?" He asks me and I close my eyes for a second, not wanting to say something that will put a damper on his mood.

"He wasn't feeling well so he came back to the hotel while the three of us went to dinner. But he's feeling better now and he's in the shower so we'll spend some time together when he's out." I lie.

"Okay, good. The guys are about ready to go, now, so I'm gonna let you go." He tells me.

"Alright, have fun." I reply, trying to force back tears. "And tell the guys I said 'hey' and that I miss them." I add.

"I will, Viv. Goodnight. I love you." He states, and a tear topples over my lashline, pretending, just for a moment, I'm hearing those words from Nikki.

A sad, broken smile cracks at my lips.

"I love you, too, Duff." I reply. "Goodnight."

I hang up, stepping to the bathroom to take off my makeup and get a shower.

By the time I get out of the shower, I'm so tired my mind practically shuts down the second my head hits the pillow. 

Typically I wouldn't be able to sleep due to being alone, however, I'm not technically alone. 

A loud, startling bang rattles at my door, and I jerk awake, confused for a moment. I glance at the clock, seeing it's only 3:30am, and I roll my eyes, knowing it's Nikki and he probably left his key somewhere.

Without even looking in the peep-hole, I open the door to see a frantic, panicking Andy.

Before this continues, I need to clarify that I understand it isn't anyone else's fault that Nikki did drugs. He had his struggles and demons all without anyone offering him anything to shoot up, snort, swallow down, or drink. He could have easily said "no" to these things, but for some reason just couldn't.

But back then, I knew people knew he couldn't help himself. So no one who could have been considered an enabler was off limits. And Andy was an enabler.

All it takes is for him to say the words "Nikki's in bad trouble" and my face twists, tears toppling from my eyes, an entire wave of emotions rocking through my body, before I'm throwing both of my fists at him.

"Vivian!" He's screaming repeatedly as I'm yelling out nonsense at him, sobbing, weakly hitting him.

Once I've gotten calmed down in a couple minutes, Andy's grabbing at my shoulders, his cheek bleeding from my ring cutting him.

"Get your head clear." He practically has to pull me together for myself.

I'm running down the street from the hotel as fast as my bare feet can take me, Andy leading me to the run-down apartment he and Nikki were hanging out at. 

I walk into to this rat holding a baseball bat of Nikki, about to hit him.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Andy barks at him as I snatch the bat from his hands.

I'm about to hit him with it instead, but Andy's grabbing at me. "Viv, keep your head clear." He tells me again, pulling the bat from my hands and I glare into the sunken in eyes of the stranger, silently promising he'll get his when I get my blue husband awake.

I'm overwhelmed and feel defeated at the sight of him.

Blue, soaking wet from being wet down in an attempt to be woken up, and the deterioration of his body from his use is even more evident in his current state. 

Andy is screaming at the guy for hitting him with a bat instead of continuing to give him mouth to mouth and pumping his chest like Andy had been doing before he came and got me. 

I start CPR, trying to keep my shit together, but I obviously fail.

My stomach cramps like shards of glass are scraping at me. Except it's not my stomach, it's my uterus. 

"Andy." I cry out, keeping my hands on Nikki's chest, but the Finnish rockstar keeps yelling back and forth with the dealer. "Andy." I repeat, louder, but he still doesn't hear me. "Andy!" I'm pleading in a holler, catching his attention. "I-I can't do this, I'm sick, just call an ambulance!" I beg and Andy heads to the phone hanging on the wall. 

"No!" The living dead-rat argues roughly, fear in his pinned eyes as he practically snatches the phone off the wall, refusing to hand it to Andy.

"My husband is dying if not already dead! He needs help!" I argue, sweat beginning to perspire thinly on my skin, my own pain intensifies, my vision starting to blur slightly as I feel hot liquid rush from between my bare legs, and I'm blacking out along with Nikki. 

#nikki sixx #vince neil #tommy lee #mötley crüe #the dirt #gateway drug