#like there's so much potential there but unfortunately they didn't catch my attention first | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dimonds456 · 8 months

Text

Undertale is 8 years old today, and Papyrus is still one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and definitely the one that's still the most important to me. Thank you, Toby Fox, for everything.

Time to get sentimental.

I was in middle school when Undertale came out. I wasn't there for the release, but I was there before the new year, around November.

At the time, I was in the worst mental state I have ever been in. I was deep, deep in the depths of depression, and no one in my family believed me when I told them that, since I had always been the "dramatic child". Attention-seeking. My brother was still very young at the time, too, so y'know.

To put it bluntly, my life was in danger from my own mind. Without saying the word, you can probably guess what I mean. I was alone, when I tried to reach out for help I was either denied or made fun of, and I was getting increasingly worse.

Then Undertale came into my life.

I loved it instantly, watching Jack play through the game and then quickly convincing my parents to buy it for me once I got to the end of his pacifist route. And playing it myself took weeks, since I wasn't good at games and the bullet hell format was torture, but finally making it to the end and getting to hug Asriel for myself marked a change in my life's trajectory.

See, I did not have the courage to play through the genocide route on my own, instead watching Lets Plays and YouTubers React compilations. I remember latching onto Flowey and Chara immediately (and I was in the camp of thinking Chara was good until the fandom made me second-guess myself, unfortunately). I remember getting upset at Undyne's death and feeling awful at Sans'. And I knew what the game was trying to tell me, I picked up on the themes of love and mercy.

But that's not the part that stood out the most to me. That, instead, goes to Papyrus' death in the genocide route.

"W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING. ST... STILL, I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER, EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I... I PROMISE."

This single quote saved my life. I say that without exaggeration.

Whenever I was struggling in school, I'd ask myself what Papyrus would tell me if he were there. And then he'd comfort me. Lift me up. Encourage me. Told me I wasn't the terrible person I thought I was, and even if I was that person, I had the potential and capability of change. I could do better. BE better. Help others do better.

So I did. I used that energy to pull myself out of my depression (by myself, btw. no one came to help me except one (1) teacher, who finally convinced my parents something was wrong with me, and even then they didn't really do much to help so). I put forth a persona of kindness, one that I embodied more and more as the months and eventually years went on.

To this day, I still try to be like Papyrus.

He's not perfect, far from it, but he also acknowledges his flaws while lifting himself and others up despite them. He loves himself, and uses that self-love to help other people, which is something I still desperately want to embody.

Papyrus' encouragement was the one thing I had to cling to when I was deep underwater, and he brought me up high enough that I could start swimming on my own again.

Was it silly? Yeah. Was it cringy? Maybe at the time. Do I regret it? Hell no.

When I fell, Paps was there to catch me, even if it was just from my own imagination. But if he could help me out that much simply by existing and leading by example, then goddamnit, there's hope. Hope I cling to every day.

Thank you, Papyrus. I owe you my life.

Thank you, Toby Fox, for creating Undertale in general. The whole game helped me out to many, many extensions (like telling me lesbians and trans people exist lol), but I can't emphesize enough just how much it's helped others, too. Just how sincere the game is. Hopeful. I look at Undertale today and I see a better future. Thank you.

And thanks for reading. Surely this isn't the first story you've heard like this, as Undertale is just one of those games that touched a lot of people, so I appreciate you giving it the read. Undertale means a lot to me, and it always will.

We can all do a little better, even if we don't think so. I promise.

#papyrus #undertale #undertale papyrus #papyrus undertale #undertale 8th anniversary #happy birthday undertale #dimond speaks #dimonds456 art

39 notes · View notes

inkabelledesigns · 6 months

Note

Made-Up fic title: Look for the light

Oooh this has some great potential! Thank you Lucky!

My first instinct for this one is a Projectionist fic, since y'know, we have the literal light for him, but I also want it to get metaphorical with an inner light. Malice is walking around in the darkness, trying to harvest some hearts and parts for herself (I mean she had to do some things before Henry showed up, right?). She ends up in the lair of the Projectionist. There is ink straight up to your ankles, it's gross to slosh through and makes too much noise, no matter how quiet you try to be. And unfortunately, our angel attracts his attention and ends up running for her life, screaming. But that's not all she's attracted. The ink demon isn't done with her, he's still vengeful, upset she came out so well and all the more eager to rip that away from her, shred her little face even more than he already has. And the Projectionist, well, he doesn't like the ink demon being in his territory, and as we know, he's not afraid to fist fight him.

He sees Alice on the ground, struggling to crawl backwards away from this creature, and for just a sliver of a moment, he sees not Alice, but Susie deep down. Someone who was once a light in the studio. They were friends once. She made him laugh, she lit up the whole room with her energy. He sees there is some light again. And with that moment of clarity, he goes and fights off the ink demon. Perhaps this is an earlier cycle, before Henry came into the picture, and the Projectionist has something he didn't before. Perhaps the reel lodged in his shoulder is The End, and he banishes the demon away. And as the world fades and starts anew, flickering like a film reel, the angel that was once Susie Campbell looks at not the Projectionist, but Norman, and he smiles. "You're safe now angel. Try tah stay outta trouble, ya hear?" Alice is left crying when she wakes up in the cycle again, not sure why she's so heartbroken. Was it all just another nightmare, or was it real?

Alternatively, I think this works well for a BATDR fic with Henry, though my take is a bit unorthodox. Henry has gone through this cycle so many times, he knows that it is hopeless. It will never get better. And now that Wilson has entered the cycle with his Keepers and struck him down, terrorized its citizens in pursuit of control and vanquishing the ink demon, he is feeling more hopeless than ever. So instead of walking through the tunnel to get back to the surface, he stays in the depths of the ink, surrounded by voices who cry out in pain. He is numb. He can't do anything to save them, he just wants to rest. He can feel himself sinking deeper, fading away into nothing, no longer having to keep it all together.

But a voice calls out to him. It asks him questions. Asks him to please answer, please come back up. It's awfully dark and cold down there, he'll catch a cold if he stays too long. That gets him to chuckle a little. He asks the voice why it cares. And it answers back childishly, why wouldn't it? Getting a cold is no fun. They can't play if he's sick, and surely he would like to play, wouldn't he? Henry says he hasn't played anything in a long time, there is no time for games when he is fighting for his life. The voice says that the wolf would beg to differ. Henry has some recognition. The voice knows Boris, his Boris, the Boris who protected him. The Boris who was kind when the entire world was awful and cruel. The Boris who played cards with him in the safehouse. His Boris. His buddy. The voice reaches out. Henry follows. He follows their light until he reaches the surface. They're right, he has to keep going, he has to keep fighting. He has to try. If not for him, then for Boris. He makes it to the surface, and reformed from the ink, he sees the bright, golden eyes of a lost one with a big bow on her top. She introduces herself as Heidi. She and Boris are playing hide and seek. Would you please help her find him Henry? He's a little too good at hiding. And so they go off to find Boris. Henry's heart is touched by Heidi's playful nature, yearning to see his own daughter again back home. He is grateful for her light, she saved him when he needed it most.

Wanna send me a title and see what fanfic I would write with it? Come on over to my askbox!

#fic prompt #askbox #BATDR #batim #projectionist #alice angel #twisted alice #malice angel #susie campbell #norman polk #ink demon #henry stein #heidi #boris the wolf #bendy fanfic

12 notes · View notes

jvstheworld · 8 months

Text

The Buffy Re-watch: S2E11 (part 1)

Ted

So I'm putting a Trigger/Content Warning here, just in case. Watching this episode back has made me think about Ted in a way that I didn't know about when first viewing and now due to personal experiences and the more frequent discussions of manipulative and abusive relationships being talked about on the internet has made me see this episode in a new light.

The Captain and Tennille? That's a throw back.

Buffy catching her mum kissing another guy. Awkward. Parents dating is awkward, having gone through it when my own dad started dating again. I was genuinely happy that he was because it meant that he was doing better mentally to be able to open himself up to new people. But having some stranger appear in you life and say they are dating your parent is still weird.

The late John Ritter. I actually don't know his work too well. His shows didn't get much air time here in the UK when I was growing up, as far as I am aware. This is the only thing I know him from. From what I have heard he was a good guy and very much missed.

I get why Buffy is a bit standoffish. Her parents divorced and she is wary about someone new coming into their lives that could potentially leave like her dad did. She doesn't want herself and especially her mum to go through that hurt again. She is more supportive in season 5, but that's after some maturing and realising that her mum deserves to be happy and to be loved. Also more time, the divorce was still pretty recent at this point, by season 5 the divorce was not as fresh and both Joyce and Buffy had moved on from it. Though still not a great first impression.

Take your anger out on the vampires Buffy. Even Giles is feeling sorry for them when Buffy is pissed off.

Is it fair to say that Buffy has separation anxiety when it comes to her mum in this episode? That is also present when Dawn joins the show in season 5? There is a certain amount of jealously involved with people getting most of her mum's time and she isn't the centre of attention. It could be that, but there could be more.

Okay, if Ted wasn't evil, as he turns out to be, then he would be doing some good by trying to get along with Buffy's friends and including them in social outings. But since he is evil, it falls more on the sided of manipulation to keep Buffy from noticing something is off, so then he can get closer to Joyce without raising suspicion. With Buffy being the only one feeling something is off with him, and everyone else not seeing it and believing he is just a normal person, makes Buffy look bad and is less likely to be believed later on when he becomes violent. Right now, all Joyce, Willow and Xander see is a nice man trying to build a relationship with a group of people. This is common for people who are manipulative to do, present one side of themselves to the public and be nice and friendly and charming, when behind closed doors, they are the opposite. If anyone speaks out against them, they won't be so easily believed because everyone else just sees the persona that is presented. And it's hard to break through other people's perceptions of others, unless presented with irrefutable evidence. I speak from personal experience unfortunately.

Jenny needs some time and space away from Giles. He rightfully feels guilty for what happened to her and misses her.

Buffy ranting to Angel about Ted. She just misses her old family unit, and needs someone to listen to her about her concerns.

Never played mini golf, don't plan on it any time soon.

Ted prying into Buffy's school life does feel very invasive at this stage.

And there Buffy's concerns are founded to her and the viewer. Ted is abusive, at the moment it is just verbal, but later it does become physical, and it's a quick escalation. Not much time passes in the show between the scene at the mini golf place and what happens in Buffy's room. Only about 48 hours. But Joyce doesn't notice it because Ted has his persona down. Joyce literally laughs off what Buffy tells her and tells her she is lying, because Ted told a convincing and contradictory story. Also the drugged food is helping him get away with it.

Never seen Stepford Wives, probably should at some point but I do understand the reference that Buffy is making and it is apt.

Ted's nickname is 'The Machine' and he has a wedding planned for two months time. More red flags.

the Buffy notices that the photo on Ted's desk is the one from the fridge that we see at the beginning of the episode.

I'm going to leave it here. I didn't realise just how dark this episode feels when you are able to identify the tactics Ted is using to manipulate Joyce and isolate Buffy. Leaving the twist out of it for a second and it feels too real.

#buffy the vampire slayer #buffy summers #rupert giles #willow rosenberg #xander harris #btvs s2 #buffy rewatch #tv show thoughts

9 notes · View notes

theatre-of-the-mind · 3 months

Text

Beginnings: 1-4

>> LOADING SCENE...

Now on the school grounds, Midnight decides to scope it out. There's a tall tree in the corner that looks climbable - a potential escape route. The perimeter walls are too tall to climb over, but the fence looks promising. They must really trust these kids that they'll keep away from it, it almost looks too easy to climb over. It's barely taller than him.

The school building itself isn't too big - Midnight was expecting something a lot bigger, from the impression Lumine gave him. This can't be all of it, surely.

He's forcefully dragged out of his thoughts when someone catches his attention. Someone new has joined the scene. Enter Theodore.

He's the same height as Midnight - well, maybe a bit taller - and is bright yellow-orange in colour. They briefly make eye contact, and— oh no he's coming closer—

"Hi! is it your first day here?"

"Uh... yeah. Yours too?"

"Mhm! How come you're so early? Too excited to wait?"

"I... just... wanted to take a look around first..."

"Oh, that's smart. I'd want to know all the best hiding spots too. I've heard some people can be mean to the new kids, so it'd be useful to have somewhere to run away to!"

"That's not why I..."

Does he think this is a game? Does he not know just how serious this is? If someone finds out about Midnight's magic he'll need to find a way out quickly. But, then again, this kid doesn't have his problem.

"I'm Theo by the way! Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise. I'm Midnight."

And with that, Midnight ends the conversation and continues his survey of the grounds. Just how tall is that tree? Is it climbable? How long would it take to—

"So uhh... have you found any cool places yet?"

Why won't he leave him alone? Didn't Midnight make it clear he doesn't want to talk right now? This is way more important. Friendship-making comes later in the plan.

"No, not yet."

Although...

"What do you know about the edge of the island? What's down there?"

"Beyond the fence? Uhh.. I don't know, I've been told by my parents not to go near it, it might be something scary..."

Midnight makes a bee-line straight to the far end of the playground.

"Hey!—"

It's the same as before, just a sheer drop a few feet after the fence. He climbs up just high enough to peek over the top—

"What are you doing?! We were told not to go near it! It could be dangerous!"

"But doesn't that just make you want to explore even more?"

"... No? Midnight! You should really get down, what if you fall?! There're no adults around!"

And that’s a good thing.

By now Midnight has climbed to the top and is balancing his way to the end of the fence, towards the corner. He briefly glances at Theo who follows on the ground beside him - he looks worried. But Midnight is glad Theo didn't try to pull him back down, or try to forcefully stop him from what he's doing. He may not be so bad after all.

Unfortunately, Midnight finds that even once on top of the fence, the perimeter walls are still too tall to climb over. Looks like the tree is the only option for now.

He jumps back down, much to the relief of Theo, and takes one last look around this corner of the grounds. Before heading back to the tree, something catches his attention.

There's a tiny gap between the wall and the end of the fence, and he might just be able to squeeze through. But just as he's midway—

(/safe)

What perfect timing. (/s)

The playground is now much fuller than Midnight had realised, and Theo is nowhere to be seen.

[@]:

Wow! I didn't know this thing had sound! How does that even work?

[*]:

Well... think of it like this. After hearing a sound, you can replicate it in your mind using your imagination, right? Given that we have access to Midnight's thoughts, it would make sense we can perceive his auditory imagination also.

[@]:

Okay... so how come we heard the school bells and not any dialogue?

[*]:

I did mention before the beginning that this medium isn't exactly perfect. I told you it needs more time, yet you insisted—

[@]:

Yeah yeah, whatever.

>> END OF SCENE IV.

[Prev] [Next] [Chapter Index]

#woah! multimedia! might use more sound in the future #trying a different format this time #artists on tumblr #digital art #writers on tumblr #art #original art #writing #creative writing #original story #story #oc #oc art

2 notes · View notes

minniethemoocherda · 7 months

Text

Iridescent: Chapter 6

Summary: When Jazz is promoted to Head of Special Operations, the last thing he expected was to have to work with a face from his past.

Ao3

FF.net

If there was one thing Jazz regretted about becoming Head of Special Operations, it was the paperwork.

It had never been his favourite aspect of the job and now he had at least ten times the amount that he'd had to do when he was just a field agent.

Honestly how anyone in command had time to breathe after they'd finished all their paperwork, was beyond him.

And in the time between Blackout's death and Jazz assuming command, the amount of overdue reports and mission briefs had piled up. Literally. Jazz couldn't even see out from behind the desk thanks to the mountain of datafiles stacked on top of it.

It was odd to be sitting on the other side of Blackout's old desk. But Jazz was going to have to start using eventually so he might as well get it over and done with.

Plus he could use a distraction after yesterday.

Jazz started with the simple stuff first. Catching up with status of the rest of Spec Ops, most of which he was already familiar with. Sliverstreak had recently been loaned to their MacCadams base. Hound was still tailing Lockdown. And of course Mirage had been called back from their mission early.

The only name that Jazz didn't recognise was Bluestreak, a sniper who's been tasked with the elimination of a Decepticon scientist. Judging by her appearance, this Bluestreak couldn't have been much older than Bumblebee. She must've joined the Autobots as soon as she had gotten her final upgrades. Jazz hoped the young bot could handle the mission they'd been given. It looked like the cons had been trying to create synthetic energon again. Unsurprisingly Optimus and Ratchet had voted against the mission, stating that the creation of synthetic energon would be beneficial to their species as a whole especially as they were rapidly running out of the real stuff. But they had been outvoted which Jazz couldn't but felt bad for agreeing with as leaving the Decepticons to create a potentially unlimited supply of fuel and power would practically guarantee the Autobots to loose the war, even if it could be detrimental to the survival of their race. Anyway, Jazz would find out soon enough as the bot was scheduled to be coming home soon.

After that, the reports got a lot more boring. Mostly just repeats of what they'd gone over in the few meetings he'd been too.

Jazz had always struggled with paying attention to anything written down. And he really didn't want his mind to wonder.

So he hooked the data pads up to his desk computer, configuring them with an app, that he was forever grateful to Blaster for making him long ago, that would read the reports out loud.

The voice was a bit robotic and would stumble over abbreviations or call signs but it did its job. And Jazz no longer wanted to bang his head into his desk.

It would still take a long time to get through all of the reports though, so Jazz caught up with the leg stretches he'd been neglecting to do before moving onto some training katas.

Six hours later Mirage would find him sitting upside-down on the couch, fiddling an old piece of scrap into the shape of a crystal-tree whilst a disembodied voice proclaimed the reasons why the twins were no longer allowed within one hundred meters of the med bay.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mirage asked with a raised optic ridge from where he stood in the doorway.

"Only the desire to offline myself from boredom." Jazz replied, putting the sculpture to one side before allowing himself to collapse off the sofa into a heap in the floor. "Have you come to put me out of my misery?"

"Unfortunately not. Our communications expert has been trying to call you for the past hour, so he sent me to check up on you."

"Everything okay?" Jazz asked, dragging himself off the floor and onto the chair behind his desk so that if someone barged in demanding their overdue paper work at least he'd have some sense of decorum.

"Yeah, Blaster was just wondering what day he should book a babysitter for Bumblebee's final upgrade party." Mirage said, crossing his legs as he sat down in the chair in front of him.

Jazz groaned, dropping his head onto the desk with a thunk. Between everything else that had happened, he hadn't had anytime to dedicate to keeping up team morale.

"Can't you plan the party for me mech?" Jazz asked, looking back up with his best cyper pup eyes.

"You do know that the last party I planned was a five course gala right?" Mirage replied.

"Just ask Blaster to sort out the basics and I'll add some special Jazz touches later!"

"I can ask."

"Thanks mech! If I don't get these reports done then Prowl might actually kill me!"

"I assume the mission was a sucess then?" Mirage deadpanned.

"Urghh no! I've tried everything! But the guy still hates my guts!" Which yeah Prowl was far from Jazz's favourite person either right now but even if he didn't like Prowl he still wanted the former enforcer to like him! Rung would probably have a field day psychoanalysing him if he ever bothered to show up for his long overdue psyche evaluation. But Jazz already knew what his problem was so there wasn't any point bothering the ship psychiatrist when there were other who needed their help more.

"Look sometimes people don't want to be your friend and most of the time it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. And you've just got to accept that." Mirage told him, the royal tone of indignance that he'd been raised to speak in failing to hide the hurt he'd been through.

Jazz winced with an apologetic smile. He should've realised this would be a bit of a soar subject for Mirage. When the former aristocrat first joined the Autobots there weren't too many rushing to be his friend and an outlier ability of turning invisible didn't exactly help to build trust either. It had gotten better now, mostly thanks to Jazz integrating him into parties and rec room drama. Now the only person who treated Mirage with an suspicion was Cliffjumper still didn't entirely trust him after the whole pretending to go traitor for a mission fiasco.

"Fair point. Doesn't mean he had to break my electro-base though."

"HE WHAT?!"

Jazz nearly jumped out of his seat at Mirage's reaction. His friend was always so composed, it was part of what made him such a great spy. Jazz could count on one hand the amount of time's he'd seen Mirage loose his cool. Well, he guessed it was on two hands now.

"That's not turning you down, that's being an arsehole." Mirage continued.

"Hey its no big deal. Its just a stupid intrument." Jazz shrugged attempting to act nonchalant. Which was pointless as Mirage was one of the few bots who knew him well enough to see through it.

The next thing he knew, Mirage was up on his feet and marching for the exit.

Jazz had to vault over his desk to catch up with him.

"Woah mech where do you think ya going?" Jazz asked, blocking the door.

"To give Prowl a peice of my mind." Mirage replied, that regal voice of his cold with anger.

Jazz let him pass, knowing that whilst if it came down to it, he could beat Mirage in a fight. But that even if he won that match that wouldn't stop the spy from tracking down his prey. Because if there was one thing that outweighed Mirage's strength of composure, it was his loyalty.

A/N: Yeah so I've switched Bluestreak's gender to a girl and as you can probably tell I've also done with some of the other characters too. I just felt as if I had so few female characters in this story and I thought this would be a good way to add some more. But let me know how you guys feel about it! Xxxxxxx

#jazzprowl #prowljazz #jazz #transformers #prowl #autobot jazz #transformers jazz #mirage #bluestreak #silverstreak #cliffjumper #hound #lockdown #jazz x prowl #iridescent #maccadam #blaster #bumblebee

6 notes · View notes

hitomisuzuya · 1 year

Note

Hello! Happy valentines day! I hope your day is going well! I've been very nervous on talking to others on this app but I loved your stories so much and I really look up to you, so much that I wanted to show you a concept I've written! I'm kinda proud for once and gathered the courage to come show! This is my primarily leaned Venti/Barbatos x (unknown archon) reader! Right now I only have a little bit but I plan to make more if you like it!

Y/N was reborn as the Archon of Death and Decay, however they did not have a ceremony for this, they had died long before the destruction of Khaenri'ah and reborn. Due to the over all belief in the area they kept their power and abilities hidden all the while secretly learning how to use it.

The other Archons had no idea they existed and they preferred it that way, after all they just wanted to live as a human would.

Their abilities included a special vision of a black gooey liquid known as black blood, it was what's left of decaying bodies and can be manipulated into weapons and even into dead creatures, all creatures of course being half rotten corpses, however don't think they don't have strength, without the ability to feel pain or emotions these creatures can swiftly act better then living.

Y/N had noticed other Archons watching over Khaenri'ah and had a rising suspicion that unfortunately came true on the day of the attack, they couldn't keep their secret anymore and knew many would be disappointed but they couldn't let these gods destroy their home.

Morax attacked Y/N without care, not knowing anything only to he surprised by the strange and sudden vision power deflecting his own, the black goo on his hands left over from the attack turned acidic, decaying his flesh at a fast rate,causing the Archon of Geo to hiss catching Barbatos attention. The two look down at what they thought was just another godless human to see a hidden Archon with a whole new vision, one that held quite the potential.

Y/N using their ability to summon the undead to fight with them, giving them yet another chance to redeem their city, their home.

The two Archons knew this battle would become more then they planned, they had to think, for a moment their strategies for this, with Morax thinking on ways to eliminate such an appointment without much knowledge to their existence or power, Barbatos' attention was more towards a playful yet surprisingly lusty look, a new Archon with no knowledge, a vulnerable new pawn, a new muse. He wanted the new Archon as his own pet, being faster then the rest he believes he can easily avoid the attacks and keep them for himself, why destroy such an inspiring Archon when they can be useful in other ways?

Barbatos was curious of the new Archon's powers and was eager to take his first taste.

Barbatos decided to play with this new Archon, they were interesting but too young to understand the true threat posed to them by their gods, this is perfect for him to use them to further his cause.

Flying towards them and able to quickly dodge and move past any attacks using his Anemo winds he was able to get right up and close to them before they could react. His face only inches away he swiftly pinned them down to the ground, at this point the undead fighters that was distracted by Morax dissolved back into a dark puddle without the god controlling them, now more focused on how this Archon got so close.

A downfall for Y/N is that they didn't study or care for the other Archons so they couldn't have known Barbatos or Moraxs abilities.

The Anemo Archon had a huge dark grin as he leaned close "My what a new cute muse I have for myself, do tell me what they call you and what that ability you have is~! " he didn't seem to care he was pretty much body against body and in range to be attacked, though he knows he has Y/N captured for now, captured in shock, curiosity and confusion. Another theory to the Bard is that maybe the blood also effects them, and that's why they haven't attacked, boldly stepping over lines and testing limits is what he lives for.

"Hmm?" He hummed, enjoying the lack of verbal response he continues to talk. "What are you called? Do you speak? " Y/N remained silent he smirked. "Don't worry little muse I'll make you talk soon enough" his blue and green like eyes shined in the dark chaos around them, he started to sing an unknown tune, Y/N didn't have time to react as they felt their body become tired, feeling limp and helpless to the other. As they started to fall unconscious they heard the Anemo Archon speak with his hand on their face "I can't wait to play with you , my muse."

As darkness overcame them, the last thing they heard was the laughing of the Archon before they faded out.

---x---

I hope you like it! I made it while listening to this playlist I even had it in the comments for a bit 😅https://youtu.be/GdKrYySZjbU

This is is a home run. The way you wrote Venti sent chills up my spine. Please, continue to nurture this idea. I love blood manipulation as a power. If you ever need to bounce ideas off of someone, I'll gladly listen to them and help if you need it😌

17 notes · View notes

dk-wren · 1 year

Text

Happy May the Fourth Be With You!

Wanted to do something for MTFBWY, but didn't have much time to prepare anything.

Given Star Wars was one of the first fandoms I became a part of, and Spy x Family is one of my top fandoms now, I decided to share a wip/look into some of the ideas I've been coming up with for a Star Wars x Spy x Family AU (which I hope to turn into a fic at some point) for today!

Setting: During Original Trilogy, some city-like planet that is fairly populated (perhaps like Naboo or Coruscant, at the least a capital city like on Lothal)

Twilight/Loid: Member of the Rebellion

Andor or Fulcrum -esque role in the Rebellion

Man of 1000 faces = potential shape shifter (Clawdite)?

Grew up on a more rural planet, not quite Outer Rim but not in the center of the galaxy. His home planet had some action during the Clone Wars, but nothing too drastic or destructive. But when the Empire ascends to power, Twilight’s planet becomes one of the first to be taken over by the Empire, causing Twilight’s town or village to be the site of one of the battles. This battle unfortunately destroys Twilight’s home, town, and the life he knows. After this battle and as the Empire continues to take over his home planet (and elsewhere across the galaxy), Twilight originally is just on the run and trying to avoid war/violence, but not necessarily running from Empire capture. Because of the planet’s proximity to Empire activity, it takes some time for the Rebellion to reach Twilight’s home planet. When the Rebellion does arrive, he joins them. Additionally, because Twilight had yet to really do anything that would draw the Empire’s attention, it is quite easy for him to get off world. Furthermore, because Twilight has yet to really have any presence yet under the eye of the Empire, he is originally assigned to do undercover/infiltration missions all throughout the galaxy.

Anya: Force-sensitive child (likely not a Youngling)

Baby Anya's parents noticed that she started developing a connection to the Force or was force sensitive. Taken away from family by Empire, but perhaps showed more promise than other force-sensitive children so was slowly trained and observed with the hope she will grow to become an Inquisitor. Also, taken at such a young age, has no memories of who her parents were, what they looked like, or even what planet she is from. After a few years of being under the Empire’s control, Anya eventually escapes. The Inquisitors or officers given the task of finding Anya decide not to completely follow through though since she is still so little and they do not think she will be able to last more than a few days on her own. So they think to themselves, why waste the effort. But of course, Anya does survive on her own for some time on a backworld, Outer Rim planet.

Yor: Bounty Hunter

Lives on one of the planets that is located in the Core Worlds, meaning a bustling hub for Empire activity. Yor has lived there her entire life, with her parents being Senators during the Republic Era. After the Empire’s ascent, her parents retained their power and diplomatic status. However, during a business (diplomatic) trip to a planet in the Outer Rim, Yor’s parents are caught and killed in an attack. Because of her parents’ status/wealth left for their children, Yor was able to maintain her and Yuri’s home, allowing them to stay in their childhood house. When she became old enough, the Empire offered Yor a position being a secretary for them. She accepted, but at some point, realizing how expensive it is to live on a Core Planet, decides to do some bounty hunting in her free time. From the beginning of her bounty hunting career, she delivers consistent and efficient results, which causes Yor to catch the attention of a bounty hunters guild. They invite her to join, promising a steady stream of work and high pay.

#may the fourth be with you #may the 4th be with you #star wars #Star Wars au #spy x family #spy x family au #wip

2 notes · View notes

overobsessedfanboy23 · 2 years

Text

I Finished 5Ds (OLD, SUB AND ONLY BASED ON FORTUNE CUP AND DARK SIGNERS)

Well, I finished the Dark Signer arc that is. I mentioned a while ago that I had no interest in watching the rest of 5Ds but would officially decide whether or not I would skip it once I finished the Dark Signers arc and well… I’ve made my choice. These first two seasons are actually able to stand on their own as a complete story, kind of like Zexal 1. However, that definitely had more solid hints of what would come in Zexal 2. Meanwhile, the only thing these seasons of 5Ds really leave up in the air is the status of Jack and Carly’s relationship, one of the few things I was deeply invested in that I know the second half shits all over so I really don’t see a point in watching it. I might watch it later but since a lot of people seem to consider the first two seasons separately from the last three seasons of 5Ds, and the series was originally going to end with the Dark Signers arc from what I understand, I figured it would be okay to at least put off watching the second half for now, as I really want to watch the newer shows. Maybe if I’m starved for Yugioh content sometime or the rest of 5Ds catches my attention I’ll pick it up again but for now, I’ll give my overview of this first half.

So into the meat of things: I hate to say that this is the first Yugioh series that I was overall disappointed with. Not the ending, the ending is mostly fine (besides Carly forgetting everything, which was definitely just to set up her joke character status in the later seasons), this series as a whole just didn't grab me as much as the other ones did. Even when the main story started, I didn’t feel as invested as I felt I should have, because I wasn’t very attached to most of the characters. I found myself not caring much when Yusei was in life threatening situations because a) I knew he didn’t lose a single duel in his whole series and b) I just didn’t like him very much. Sure, I didn’t like Yugi or the Pharaoh from the original much at first either but that show was just more… well, fun to watch, even in its early episodes when not much was going on. 5Ds wasn’t fun. Not until the introductions of people like the twins and Carly. I watch Yugioh because it’s fun and silly so maybe the dramatic tone/genre shift threw me off a bit. I will admit the story overall is well written. It’s set up early on and has a nice flow to it, like even if the pacing lags a bit at times, there’s faith that it’s building up to something epic. However, some of the plot beats were… well, frustrating.

The second duels of both Aki vs Yusei and Aki vs Misty are good examples of this. Aki was a character I overall loved but they really squandered her potential in these duels, her final two duels besides some mild involvement in the finale by the way. The Yusei one that involved her being forced to forgive her abusive parents and being told she's wrong for not wanting to reconnect with people who hurt her is something I've discussed in length but to put it simply, the framing of that duel sends a toxic message and was a bothersome conclusion to an otherwise brilliant arc. It brought the whole thing down a bit in my mind, which really sucks.

Then her second Misty duel barely involved Aki, the real Aki, at all. The idea of Aki coming to terms with the horrible things she did in her past, realising her actions hurt and even killed people, was a great idea. Unfortunately, the responsibility is immediately taken off of Aki with Divine's return: mind controlling her to be the way she was before and admitting that he killed Misty's brother, who Misty and Aki both believed Aki killed. Misty turns her vengeance on Divine and Aki gets off scott free. Yes Aki was 100% a victim of Divine’s manipulation and couldn’t fully control her powers but that is the understanding the characters should’ve come to at the end of the duel. How much harder would it have been for Misty to see Divine controlling Aki and realising that he was the reason Aki killed her brother? Or just not have Divine there at all because he suffered the exact same fall that killed Carly so him being alive makes absolutely not sense whatsoever.

But no, Aki and Carly can’t have consequences for their actions. I know murder is a big deal and all but neither of them were in full control of their actions during the murders they seemed to have committed, the narrative straight up tells us this. Aki didn’t even know she killed people, she lost control of her powers in something the narrative literally calls an accident. Meanwhile Carly accidentally became a dark signer, the power of which has been shown to change the way their host thinks and even completely control them at times. When Carly regained awareness, she couldn’t remember what she’d done and then when she found out, she was horrified that she’d just killed someone and broke down crying, despite him killing her first.

So erasing these deaths does nothing but take away from the impact. It doesn’t destroy the plot but it does cheapen it a bit to me.

What does destroy bigger chunks of the plot to me is Yusei.

Okay, I’m gonna try to tread carefully here, because I know Yusei is a fan favourite. I don’t think he’s a bad character but honestly, there are times in the show where I absolutely cannot stand him and want to punt him across a room. I already mentioned him pushing Aki to forgive her abusive parents, something he has absolutely no right to be doing as he’s only heard about the situation from the ABUSER’S PERSPECTIVE.

Okay, I have to sidetrack for a second because this gets worse the more I think about it: please for the love of god don’t ever tell a victim of abuse that they’re bad for not forgiving their abusers. That should never be an obligation, even if the abuser expresses regret, because that could easily be them faking their emotions to take control of the victim again. We know that wasn’t the case with Aki’s parents but Yusei had no way of knowing that and Yusei had no right to even speak about this situation, not to mention being as involved as he was in it. And this isn’t the only time he does crap like this. There’s also Bommer. He thinks the Signers killed his entire family and destroyed his village and Yusei’s response is basically “bro you gotta chill” then he never thinks about it again until Bommer pops up again AS A DARK SIGNER.

Characters express very justified anger throughout this series and Yusei shuts it down with his bullshit friendship talk, even to characters he has absolutely no connection to. He acts like he has the moral high ground over everyone he meets and the show frames him as the good guy in these situations. He’s framed as always right in every situation he’s in, and the very real flaws he has are never treated like flaws by the narrative. Yusei never grew or changed and according to the narrative, he never had to. Maybe this is different in the second half. Like I said, I can only judge the first half as all I know about the second half are some rumours and I’ve heard no rumours about Yusei in part two (besides him and Aki being almost confirmed?) but I can pretty confidently say that in the first two seasons (which was originally all 5Ds was going to be), Yusei is not a good character. One bad character doesn’t destroy a show but if the character you don’t like is the main focus of the show, you’re not gonna have a good time.

Also, this isn’t a knock against 5Ds itself, but it was such a prevalent issue I feel the need to bring it up: Crunchyroll, what the fuck is going on with these subtitles?

There’s so many typos and weird phrasings and so many wordings that don’t make sense and it actually takes away from the story. The Zexal fansub I watched did a better job than this and the other official subs on this same website, GX and Arc V, didn’t have this many issues.

Anyways, I want to make it clear that I don’t hate 5Ds. Trust me, if I saw no merit in it, I wouldn’t have stuck with it as long as I did. Like I said, the story does flow well (besides the social inequity/poverty issues in Satelite being mostly ignored in the second season and eventually resolved by a fucking bridge) and honestly, this animation is peak. I make fun of the CG blending in every show post GX but really, 5Ds doesn’t use that much compared to Zexal and Arc V and it doesn’t look awful like some of the early Zexal animation did. *shudders* Also, I do like a handful of the characters. The twins, Leo and Luna, Lua and Luca, Rua and Ruka, Lua and Luka, who knows what their names are. They’re fun characters. I don’t care for Luna’s spirit world shenanigans but she and Leo are good as characters. I also love Crow, which was to be expected after how much I latched onto him in Arc V. And then there’s the three characters that were basically my reasons for watching this show: Aki, Carly, and Jack. While Aki’s potential was squandered somewhat, I still found her narrative very relatable and tragic. She’s also really really really hot. I mean look at her, oh my god.

Carly and Jack meanwhile never went downhill at any point WITHIN THE FIRST HALF. *glares at the rumours I’ve heard about part 2* Carly was adorable and sweet and pure and oh my god her turning into a literal demon was such a gut punch and in my opinion, Jack was the character who developed the most in my opinion. His personality is a little too similar to Kaiba but his story is its own and holy shit he and Carly are adorable. I’d love to write something about them if I have time.

Overall, 5Ds is an okay show. I wouldn’t have watched as much of it as I did if it weren’t Yugioh but I’m glad I watched what I did. It drags a lot but the good things, Aki, Jack, and Carly’s stories, are honestly downright great and were worth the journey. I wish the rest were as good as they are so I could see this show as the masterpiece everyone else sees it as.

14 notes · View notes

5sosfanfictioncatalogue · 5 months

Text

Bullying Masterlist

a little extra credit never hurt anybody - @sup3rbloom (haveufoundwhaturlookingfor) michael/ashton T, 4k

Summary: Michael and Ashton used to be best friends when they were younger, unfortunately Michael ditches Ashton for popularity when they get older. Things change when Ashton gets offered extra credit to tutor a failing student. That student so happens to be Michael Clifford.

Have Faith In This Fragile World (ao3) - SilentlyFighting michael/calum, luke/ashton N/R, 19k

Summary: Michael Clifford is well known in his school, not for being popular, far from it, he is the nerd. The goody-two-shoes hasn't had the best past but his peers do not know this and a couple of the football team decide that he is their next target. A mysterious group of boys make an appearance, saving him multiple times, and when Michael runs out of money to buy food, they even find ways to get him food.

The boys do not scare him that much but they certainly catch his attention. Michael learns the names of two of the boys but the leader is set to keep his identity a secret. But, when Michael has another run in with the football team and they use him as bait, will the boys identity reveal itself?

It must be Magic (ao3) - tigerlily_sunshine michael/calum, luke/ashton T, 120k

Summary: It’s only Calum’s words playing on repeat in his mind, "Michael’s my friend," that keeps Michael firmly planted in place. He doesn’t quite believe them. He hasn’t really spoken to Calum since the first few months of their first year at Hogwarts when they finally realized what everybody’d been telling them all along: Slytherins can’t be friends with other houses.

(In which Michael is a friendless Slytherin who doesn't really belong anywhere, but Calum is bound and determined to prove him otherwise.)

Kiss Me Like Nobody's Watching (ao3) - simplecharli luke/ashton N/R, 24k

Summary: Luke is bullied at his high school. Enter Ashton, a guy he met at a bar and who he didn't know was going to be his new teacher. Complications and heartbreak ensue. Will they be able to get through it?

Little lines that write your face (ao3) - cthink michael/calum G, 1k

Summary: Michael thought he was beautiful, with his papery leather books filled with scrawled ink lettering, carving words of magnificence into delicate pages.

Unfortunately, not everyone else did.

Love Story (ao3) - no_clue_who luke/ashton, michael/calum, kaykay/sierra T, 17k

Summary: Luke met Ashton the day before his 6th birthday.

Luke got his first mark on his 6th birthday.

Or childhood best friend soulmate au.

Maelstrom (ao3) - merlypops luke/ashton, michael/calum E, 225k

Summary: Ashton is struggling, Luke is hiding, and Michael and Calum just want to make things work. (And maybe Ashton and Luke fall in love too. Maybe.)

never know what you've got until it's gone (ao3) - haveufoundwhaturlookingfor Calum/Ashton, Michael/Luke G, 10k

Summary: Ashton's had the biggest crush on Calum Hood since forever. Luke knew this. He only had the best of intentions when he brought up Ashton's crush to Calum. He never thought about Ashton potentially finding out.

Protector (ao3) - starstruk97 luke/ashton M, 4k

Summary: There are certain rules that come with being the eldest of your group of friends, the number one rule being: Always protect your younger friends.

" From then on, Luke joined the group, and I had someone to protect and look after. Someone to teach and guide. A baby ‘brother’. And it was my favourite thing in the world. Still is. I don’t care how many fist fights, detentions, suspensions and groundings I have received for standing up for him, I don’t and never will regret any of them because each one of them saved my little bro some kind of pain. "

Purple bruises, faded scars and fresh cuts (ao3) - Unholy michael/ashton, luke/calum, luke/ashton E, 140k

Summary: Or a soulmate au where everyone gets their soulmate’s injuries on their own body and Michael is worried sick about his.

someone to stay (ao3) - lukeyboy Luke/Ashton M, 5k

Summary: cliche high school au where ashton is the social outcast in school, and luke is the most popular guy in school, captain of the football team and adored by everyone. their paths cross when luke finds ashton crying on the corridor floor.

The Blue Eyed Alpha (ao3) - ICantReadEnoughFanFiction michael/luke, michael/calum/ashton N/R, 30k

Summary: Michael just moved to a new town and his old friends are brought back into his life. Calum and Ashton, Alphas. Everything is fine, Ash and Cal tell Mikey they want to mate when they graduate and all their parents give their blessings, until Luke walks into the picture. Luke is like the switch in Michael's life. Both his parents leave for a few months, Michael's Alphas are lying and leave. Michael is alone and for months, until university that is. Michael finally lets Luke past his walls and slowly falls in love.

The Colour Of Our Mood (ao3) - Maluminspace calum/ashton G, 7k

Summary: Ashton's tutoring the current Hogwarts golden boy in charms but ends up getting more than house points out of it.

the light in your eyes (ao3) - orphan_account michael/calum, michael/luke, luke/ashton N/R, 137k

Summary: In general, Calum just owned a lot of pretty things, and he used to get picked on a lot for it. People would call him out for wearing make-up back when he had just turned thirteen, and then proceed to laugh and beat the shit out of him. Michael was always there, though, and his scrawny little ass would pound those douche bag’s faces in whenever one of them had dared to lay a finger on his best friend. Or at least, he tried. Michael had his fair share of losses in his every-day battles against douche bagery. It never stopped him, though. Especially when all of those ‘straight’ ‘men’ turned their abuse from not only physical, but to sexual and mental as well, sexual being the most reoccurring theme. Especially not then.

Or the one where Calum is beautiful and beaten, Michael is in love with his best friend, Luke is lost, and Ashton just wants everyone to be happy.

there for you - @sup3rbloom (haveufoundwhaturlookingfor) luke/ashton, michael/calum T, 3k

Summary: Luke has been transferred to countless high schools due to the constant bullying. Finally, Luke lands in a high school where he gets to be with Ashton. He thinks it will be better for him, but he underestimated how popular Ashton really is.

Two is Better Than One (ao3) - Monorchism michael/luke G, 1k

Summary: The way Michael saw it, everybody was born with a certain amount of possessiveness in them that they got to distribute evenly throughout all their friends and family. However, Michael only had one friend, and he was an only child whose family (aside from his parents, of course) all lived too far to ever visit. So all of Michael's designated clingy-ness got deposited into Calum. Calum, who broke tradition with Michael to hang out with Luke Hemmings.

every other high school muke fic ever

#5sosfanfictioncatalogue #5sos fanfic #5sos #5 seconds of summer #bullying #bullying masterlist #masterlists

1 note · View note

maestra-maria · 6 months

Text

Digital archives as time capsules and mirrors for youth

When I look at family photographs taken before I was born, I feel small yet seen. I didn't get to see these photographs until a few years ago because they were all in Mexico, stored in my grandmas' archives. That's something many immigrants go through but don't talk about -- the photos we leave behind in our home countries and forget about even. For children of immigrants, seeing those photos of our parents, our aunts, uncles, grandparents and nameless relatives, can be a very emotional and even identity-shaping experience. We get to see pieces of ourselves in these photos and most importantly, if we are lucky enough to be able to have conversations with our elders about these photos, we can learn so much about our family and culture.

When I became a teacher in my hometown, I wanted to create lessons for my students that would shed light on some of their history. As a teacher in a Title 1 school with predominantly Latinx students, it was my priority to have my fifth grade students see themselves reflected in our lessons. Because our printed curriculum had no stories that would allow for us to explore our identities in a meaningful way, I had to resort to digital archives. Digital archives are wonderful, rich reservoirs of history that can help students create meaning in a way that printed curriculum simply cannot.

One archive that can be used in a school setting is the National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/education). This archive has many resources with primary source documents that can give students a first-hand look at what life was like before us. Archives like this can be used in conjunction to social studies or history curriculum, in fact many schools already use these as part of the curriculum. However, the focus on using them for identity exploration seems to me as equally important. Unfortunately, the History/Social Studies state standards (for AZ at least) do not allow for the exploration of identity as much as I think is important for kids to have.

With digital archives, and with the plethora of photos and documents available, it is also interesting to give kids the opportunity to explore the digital archive on their own before discussing or analyzing anything as a class. It is interesting to allow them to dive into the material on their own and starting the exploration without any restraints or questions that can lead them to where we as educators want them to go. They should allow the archive to lead them to wherever they need to go as they are exploring the photos and topics that they are interested in, and that they potentially see themselves reflected in.

Another term for digital archives is also a digital library. While I don't think it is the same experience as visiting a physical library, and we should encourage and invite students to visit their local library, a digital library offers students the opportunity to explore niche interests and practice digital research skills as well. The Digital Public Library of America (https://dp.la/) has many resources like photos, videos, newspapers, and other primary source documents. They organize their website by topic which gives kids guidance and can allow them to explore their own niche interests and points of potential identity markers.

Because archives can be saturated with many different photos and topics, it is important to also provide some guidance to students to help them find a path. Potential questions can be:

Pick 3 topics or specific photos that catch your attention.

What are the reasons why you decided to focus on these photos/topics?

What are the people doing? What is happening in the photo?

What are some questions you have about the photo or the people?

How long ago was this photo taken? Where was it taken?

The questions on identity can then be discussed as a class. Some potential questions can be:

What are some things you have in common with the people in the photos or the topic you chose?

Is there anything you already know about this topic?

If you could have a conversation with the people/person in the photo, what would you ask and talk about with them?

Here is a list of archives that you can pick from to have students begin exploring photos and topics that can help them with their identity exploration:

NY Times Archive

Veteranas y Rucas

ASU Community Driven Archives

Middle East Archive

You might find that after kids look at digital archives, they might also be interested in creating their own class digital archive. You can work together to create a class blog where students post photos and other materials like perhaps even social media posts or text messages that are meaningful to them and their identities. You can explore together what it means to create a digital archive and the implications of having a place in the digital world that holds many memories and meanings to us. Creating their own digital archive can help us see how our identities may intersect and also how the items we choose to add to the archive make us unique.

#teaching #digital archives #identity #education

1 note · View note

venus-flame · 1 year

Text

well, out of the blue, someone contacted me from grade school that I haven't seen in over 15 years and was never even friends with, really. he was the funny popular athletic guy, always hanging out with the popular girls. I thought he was just adding me on fb out of curiosity due to having shared childhood experiences, as one is wont to do. whenever this happens I hope they contact me to actually catch up and say hello, but they never do. this time, I was wrong!

he told me he always thought I was cute but never said anything. HAHAHA. I still don't know if I believe him, and am skeptical that he's just saying this to get in my pants. I am VERY wary of all male attention after what I have experienced, so it may take a lot for me to be convinced if he is genuine. If it's true though, I almost can't believe it still. he was popular and I was quiet and weird. but, I guess it's possible.

he asked me if I thought he was cute. I can't quite remember if I did, but perhaps I did. to be honest I think I did think he was cute but I didn't allow myself to dwell on it because it would be highly taboo for me to like this person due to my family's, well, racism......which is a whole other issue and I hate it

he asked me for pictures but I playfully declined. he can look through my facebook pictures. admittedly there are not a lot of recent pics of me on fb, especially "full body" but oh well for him. he asked me if I still look the same before that, like lmao I'm not 13 anymore so no????? I am a voluminous lady, so in my mind this question becomes "are you fat and ugly now?" and a filter for whether I'm worth his time as a potential sexual partner. I don't like it. but I do acknowledge that he could be genuinely curious and I am reading into the question too much. SKEPTICAL. there is also a part of me that wants to be confident and happily share photos of myself. and another part that immediately rejects spending the energy it takes to accommodate the request of a man I don't have any type of relationship with.

we're supposed to get coffee sometime over the next 2 weeks. I told him to let me know when and where - he can do that work since he wants to see me so badly. I'm still not sure he'll follow through, but maybe he will. he was dodging my questions about places he likes to get coffee. so I'm not sure he even drinks coffee LOL

I basically never entertain guys around my age. I have always been with or wanted to be with older men. unfortunately that started when I was 14 :melty face:

I've been wanting to dip my toe into the dating world for a while but never put any effort into it. I recognize that it's highly triggering for me and I have a LOT of inner work to do before I might feel closer to "ready" for a new relationship. HOWEVER: I also know that healing from relationship trauma happens largely via safe relationships and that is something I want to be more open to. I'm not going to heal my trust issues if I never give myself the opportunity to trust someone trustworthy again, for instance. I'm never going to heal my avoidance of intimacy if I never let myself experience intimacy again. duh, but I have to remind myself.

at first I was not a fan of the conversation, but it hasn't gotten any worse and is pretty casual and neutral at the moment. I am surprisingly neither scared nor giddy about the situation. I also surprisingly hope we do get coffee. I think it would be a great opportunity to expose myself to male attention/interaction and have a sort of practice date where I can just be myself, with absolutely nothing at stake. because this isn't someone I'm already invested in or crushing on. he IS very cute, well dressed, and successful tho, according to facebook. which is hawt.

my thing is, I am like 90% sure I'm "demisexual" which idk if I need that label but it does describe how I feel about sex. sex, I could take it or leave it. I can give myself orgasms just fine. the idea being with a partner who prioritizes sex much more than me is uncomfortable. I think a lot of my hesitancy toward sex comes from my religious and social upbringing, as well as my experiences with sexual coercion and harassment, which is unfortunate. I don't want my body image to get in the way of my pleasure either. so part of me just wants to avoid it altogether. but another part of me truly does require some sense of trust, mutual respect, emotional connection, and the desire for more than a purely/mostly physical relationship, in order for me to be comfortable with the idea of having sex with someone. I do like sex when I feel completely comfortable with the person and know they aren't using me. THAT is a challenge after my shitty experiences.

so anyway, I am looking forward to this opportunity and hope it goes well. if it goes well, however, that will be very strange and I'll have a new set of challenges to work with.

0 notes

wildwood-reader · 1 year

Text

Reading Update #5

October 30, 2022

Recently Finished

BOOKS

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Edition: Paperback

Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Final Thoughts: I don't think it captivated me as much as Vol. 1 did, which is probably why I paused it for so long before finishing it, but overall it was still really fun and I'm looking forward to continuing it.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (& The Bottle Imp) by Robert Louis Stevenson

Edition: Paperback

Final Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Final Thoughts: This was very short, so I read it within a couple of days. I don't know why, but there's just something very relaxing about the way classics are written, at least for me. I feel like the story didn't utilize its full potential, which is a shame, really, because I think this could have been a great longer book. But what we got was nice to read with a little bit of mystery, which was nice. Since this was my first time reading it after only having seen depictions of Mr Hyde in movies such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I was surprised to find out what the original Mr Hyde was really supposed to look like, which is basically the opposite of what I've seen thus far.

As for the novelette(?) The Bottle Imp that was also included in my edition, the story was a very interesting one. The idea of a bottle that can fulfill all your wishes but that will drag you to hell basically if you still own it when you die, so your only choice is to sell it for a lower price than the one you bought it for was very fascinating to me. Since I am not an indigenous person of Hawai'i, I can't speak for how well the representation was handled, all I can say is that while I enjoyed the story, some things did rub me the wrong way a little bit.

FANFICTION

The Black Mist House (Series) by Bang Bang Keef Keef

Fandom: Voltron Legendary Defender

Kudos: Part 1 ✅️ Part 2 ✅️

Final Thoughts: We finally read Part 2 of the series and it was really fun. The mystery and the unsettling things that were happening were engaging and kept me curious as to how the story would play out in the end. I enjoyed it.

Bella Goes to Therapy by Bouncey

Fandom: The Twilight Saga

Kudos: ✅️

Final Thoughts: I don't know why really, but this week I had the urge to read a fic about Bella going to therapy during Edward's absence in New Moon, and it delivered what I was looking for on almost all fronts. We got some delving into her relationship with Edward and the rest of the Cullens, and how it affected her life (minus explaining that they're vampires, of course), and a confrontation with Edward at the end, so yay for that.

Currently Reading

BOOKS

Marked by Kim Richardson

Edition: ebook

Progress: 38%

Current Rating: ⭐️⭐️.75

Thoughts: The writing is only okay but the story hasn't lost my interest yet, so we'll see how it goes. I like the silly parts of it.

FANFICTION

Fall of the Crimson Flower by AkatsukiShin (in artistic collaboration with brilcrist)

Fandom: Word of Honor

Progress: Chapter 2.5/6/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 4.5

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Okay, this is getting ridiculous, Jen, it's really time to catch up. 🥲

Heaven Has A Road But No One Walks It by Silvestris

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 48/48/?

Up-to-date? Yes

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Ooh, there was so much good stuff in the new chapter, I had such a great time. 😋

This is it for last and current reads. DNFs and my backlog are under the cut. 😶‍🌫️

DNF'd¹

BOOKS

Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm A Supervillain by Richard Roberts

Edition: ebook

Stopped reading at: 2%

DNF'd because: I couldn't even finish the first chapter. Maybe it's because I've been out of school, especially high school age, for a long time, but the descriptions of the MC's school day were just so boring. The writing was fine, but very mediocre and didn't hold my attention, so unfortunately, this was a no from me. Pity, since the premise sounded really good.

Witch for Hire by N.E. Conneely

Edition: ebook

Stopped reading at: 7%

DNF'd because: With this one, I actually made an effort to finish the first chapter, but I wished it were over almost the entire time I was reading. 🥲 The idea of a modern magical society with witches, vampires, trolls and other creatures as well as normal humans is really cool, but the writing is mediocre at best, unfortunately. I found myself repeatedly groaning, so this one's another no from me.

Alone by Robert J. Crane

Edition: ebook

Stopped reading at: 2%

DNF'd because: The first paragraph actually wasn't bad, but then it went downhill really fast. Next.

¹ I should explain that at the moment, I'm going through my ebook library which has mostly books in it that I've owned for 7+ years and still not read. I try to read the first chapter and then decide if I want to continue it or not. I doubt that the majority of them still captivate me the same way as their premises did when I bought them, so there's probably gonna be a lot of DNF'ing 🙈 I've also dropped more books after reading their synopses and realizing that they're not even appealing enough for me to start reading them anymore. 😶‍🌫️

BACKLOG²

BOOKS

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Edition: Paperback

Progress: Page 102/341

Current Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thoughts: This is a buddy read with my bestie, and right now it just doesn't fit the autumn vibe. We'll probably pick it back up some time after Halloween.

FANFICTION

Red Azalea by CeNedraRiva

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 112/135/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 23

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: The stars are still not aligned for me to continue it just yet, but I'm really excited for everything that's coming. 👻

Setting Fire To Our Insides by StarsAlignNomore

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Chapter 14/22/?

Up-to-date? No

Chapters Behind: 8

Kudos: ✅️

Thoughts: Y'know what, I think I will be ready to continue it soon; it fits my vibe hunger just enough, so we'll see. 😋

Impossible Life (Series) by Comfect

Fandom: The Untamed

Progress: Part 1/3

Finished Reading? No

Parts Behind: 2

Kudos: Part 1 ✅️

Thoughts: Not sure yet when I'll continue this, but I'm looking forward to Part 2.

*Backlog refers to books and fic that I've started reading but have since put on hold due to various reasons

#jengupdates #books #fanfiction #reading #booklr

1 note · View note

nanakah · 3 years

Text

hot take: life's difficult for tsunderes (the long version)

Behold, here is the long version of my "life's hard when you're both tsundere" Ishimiko posts.

So I've been talking it over with a friend (*waves at @miko-ishi *) and we concluded, given Aka's old interviews and the lack of an OVERLY TALKATIVE narrator for the Ishimiko side of the story, that it's very likely if there are ever complaints about the pairing's pacing or its existence in general, Aka could simply go "read again lol".

That said...

Today's hot take is: Ishigami and Miko are both spiteful tsunderes. HOWEVER the suble catch is - Ishigami was actually receptive to being nicer to Miko at first when she joins the stuco, then discreetly begun to retaliate her micro-agressions when his attempts at being kind to her backfired.

TL;DR: You both have wanted the same thing, you know...

I didn't notice it the first time I read the manga and honestly believed Miko's words during Christmas to be true and thought "yeah, surely if he had been nicer you'd have reciprocated too". Then the more I re-read it, the more I realized that wasn't quite the case.

Bottom line is, both are dumbasses.

(lots of fun rambling ahead)

IMO The last straw for Ishigami was Miko not being able to say a single good thing about him during the Operation Friendship game (chapter 103) when asked about it.

He was actually vulnerable there/being patient with her attacks up until that chapter and admitted to having observed her when asked by Osaragi (Saying Miko's serious, smart, honest), but then she publicy berates him once again (and not because she COULDN'T think of a compliment - think about it, she had his cooking not even 10 chapters prior. She was just so socially stunted she couldn't realize how much it would have been good for her there to let go of her pride, shame and grudges to seriously let him know how much she wished they could be like they used to in middle school again and that she's always believed his potential. )

And then we know what happens next. The very first swallow's cowrie chapter. They still are always around each other after that, but now unfortunately for Miko, Ishigami is attempting to move on by redirecting all the love he's dying to shower someone to senpai. Just as she was beginning to warm up to him, which culminates at the Culture Festival after he "confesses" to Tsubame and accidentaly draws her close attention on him for the following 3 months. WONDERFUL.

Their strenght AND their downfall is communication. Because they have no filter and understand the other very well they can make huge leaps in being closer (they have no sense of boundaries, to outsiders it surely often seems like they're more than just friends) through that "honesty", but that ALSO means they're not honest enough on the positive and vulnerable side of their feelings.

Some of their apparent "honesty" is actually just unfiltered anger or frustration. Being honest or truthful doesn't always mean saying everything in your mind. It's natural and human to have selfish or mean thoughts you shouldn't voice to a loved one.

Take their dance argument as an example of two tsundere's being stubborn in motion and making a problem harder than it should.

They aren't actually being that petty or either of them are wrong! They're just approaching it the wrong way! Looking for "right" and "wrong" in an argument for relationships is the wrong thing to do, it should be about reaching a compromise. Consider what is likely REALLY going on in their minds:

Miko's mind, probably: I dressed up just for you and was looking forward to seeing you look handsome! I know for sure you thought your previous crush was incredibly beautiful, but I'm insecure if I can live up to your likes and expectations! I have even worn my hair down and a more form fitting dress than I usually ever do! You dressed up even for the Christmas party! Don't you care about me or looking good for me? How come you invited me but put no effort? Do you not want to be here? You are SUPPOSED to dress up in a place like this!

Ishigami's mind, probably: I looked up the dress code because I CARE about being here and didn't want to embarass YOU or make a fool of myself by overdressing! What if I accidentally made a fool of you by showing overly dressed up and nice and you didn't? It's just a social dance event and not prom or a wedding. I had no idea you'd actually go out of your way to look pretty for me because I'm just some loser who invited you last minute and up to this point you never seemed like you'd put effort for me in particular. I thought you hated my guts for real 5 chapters ago. I couldn't even show up to this party out of embarassment and social anxiety last year. I'm scared of messing up with you because I care for you and it took a lot of guts to even show up in public by your side because YOU are actually pretty/accomplished academically and I've been an outcast loser all this time. I can't make it that obvious I'm lowering my guard to you.

Think I'm exaggerating or this is all headcanon? It's not hard to provide reasonable backup to any of the things I extrapolated about them.

And the only real problem there? Both were too distracted in their heads by "tee hee I got the invite" and never discussed the details. A single "Are you dressing formaly for it?", "Yes", "Cool, so will I" would have avoided it. But that's the thing Aka is showing, some mind games are good and fun and necessary for a relationship, but communication is key.

They're still learning to express their sweeter and more vunerable side ("DERE") to each other. It's particularly hard for them because they have both been VERY wounded from being sweet and vulnerable, both by each other and by other people.

Being openly sweet means rejection hurts tenfold, so they're extremely cautious about being too understanding, too caring, speaking their mind, etc, because IN THAT CASE, not having your expectations met means hurting.

Considering the moment they start being closer again in high school, at the stuco, is Miko at fault for Ishigami becoming more agressive towards her? She is, actually LOL.

Does that mean I'm saying it's all on that Miko their relationship soured? Of course not. Ishigami handled their last meeting before his suspension badly and neither side ever apologized for it.

There's also the fact Ishigami is KNOWN FROM HIS INTRODUCTION to often be bad at delivering the proper tone for his advices/comments and being often as preachy as Miko. He is well meaning, but he accidentaly sounds condescending to her, which makes her even more defensive:

If he also weren't so silly/spiteful/delusional about wanting no reward and just admited to caring about her a lot ("hey your earbuds' sound was leaking and I didn't want you to be embarassed by me or others. Sorry I failed." would have sufficed. BUT NOPE. BE ANGRY ALL BY YOURSELF THAT SHE DOESN'T APPRECIATE YOU FOR YOUR ~SECRET~ ACTS OF HELP AND BENEVOLENCE AND/ WORD IT THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE BECAUSE YOU'RE SEETHING) things would have been much, much easier.

That fundamental misunderstanding is the reason the "I wish you were nice to me like you are to Tsubame" scene exists.

Miko has no idea he was being jealous/overprotective of her out of a repressed/badly manifested affection. She doesn't know just how stupidly awkward he can be voicing his opinions. She honestly thinks he was being condescending to her, while in his own way, he WAS trying to actively get closer to her and shower her with attention.

Miko was agressive to Ishigami upon joining the stuco as a defense mechanism. Both have been misunderstanding each other's best intentions.

Ishigami had been incredibly rude to her the last time she tried reaching out to him at the LOWEST TIME OF HER LIFE (remember how she says the Sutera SAVED her), and up until that point it's implied their interactions in high school weren't super friendly either (it was the cop and criminal act and her calling him a delinquent even, and time will tell whether he was doing that in purpose to keep her talking to him IN ANY SORT OF WAY AT ALL instead of indifference if Aka ever graces us with another flashback)

So yes, it's interesting that the dance lampshaded how they still are fighting over smaller issues. They're working it out, otherwise having them discuss their DEEP ROOTED TRAUMA would be too much of a leap writing-wise. And I do expect them to bicker forever - but just get better and better at solving their problems in meaningful ways over time.

Their relationship got as damaged as it did because both dumb tsunderes were too immature at first to admit to their faces how deeply they have cared for each other and actually put effort into it to this day.

If they had supported/believed in each other OPENLY from the start and apologized for the note they left off on middle school, they'd have reached an understanding far earlier. They STILL haven't talked it over as of like RIGHT NOW (ch 240+)

Tsubame was the much needed element of chaos that changed the status quo between them, because then Ishigami had an outlet for his positive feelings and could deal with Miko's small "rejections" better, meanwhile Miko kept getting mostly the spiteful side of his feelings for her.

If they couldn't grow by themselves, Tsubame was indeed the needed third element to challenge their previous certainties and develop the best of them. Her role in the story is largely transformative for Ishigami and Miko, Aka never dwells too long on her aspirations or thoughts as a character. She is a plot device, but I promise I say this in a kind and not derogatory tone - she is a nicely fleshed out one.

( it's always entertaining to remember Maki could smell the triangle shenanigans and the stench of unhappy tsunderes from miles)

It's obvious senpai's influence helps Ishigami go down the road of self improvement and care even when it's not all about "earning the girl" anymore (post rejection he handled it surprisingly well and found out he can ENJOY taking care of himself). But I don't think we acknowledge enough she was a positive influence on Miko, too. A lesser discussed detail is that Miko's line picture has always been that of a small bird and te keychain that ends in her hands via Ishigami at the CF was originally from Tsubame. They have a link between them, and Tsubame even when jealous or worried about Miko as competition, never mistreats her and is always kind.

Their love triangle is one of the most benevolent I've seen in romance manga. Tsubame is genuinely nice to Miko and Miko, even when she's jealous or hurt or going insane from not having her feelings "returned", doesn't resort to berating or harming her. Tsubame is someone Miko can afford to learn from because she is an influential and successful leader to students in the opposite end of Miko's initial rule/justice enforcing method: kindness and support, rather than overt authority. A smile instead of a scorn.

oho, you see that left eye? AND THAT LYING BITCH SAYING HE DOESN'T HOPE FOR RETRIBUTION, JUST LIKE MIKO DOES. BUT THEY DO HOPE FOR IT, AND THAT'S WHAT GENERATES THEIR FRUSTRATION.

That's right, in an alternate universe you can solve their whole arc in two volumes or less. I'm certain Ishigami has been at the point we see him in chapter 238 for a while LOL

Sometimes we joke around Miko was the one digging her own grave for Christmas and yep, that she did. It goes both ways though - once she begins thawing CONSIDERABLY to Ishigami and getting all shoujo bubbles on him, he is getting "invested in his investment" on his shallow crush on Tsubame and steels himself for any progress with Miko.

That's likely why he's so mad when she acts suggestive while her arms broken. Notice he's never actually mad to buy her stuff or carry her things and such, no matter what he says (remember he too is a tsundere). But the minute Miko plays it up and goes "aaaaah~" or "you'll feed me won't you?" he gets super aggravated in a "god stop leading me on, I'm already putting my time and energy elsewhere now" way.

This one gets a bit lost in translation, but even his reaction in the "I love you" game around that time is very telling of his soft spot for Miko.

A curious detail is that while Chika uses "Aishiteru" for Miko to surprise her and "Suki" to Ishigami, Ishigami uses "suki" for Chika and "Aishiteru" to Miko only. And the catch here is that her response is completely nonchalant. She barely says a "like" and he still reacts in shambles. That little approval of hers gets him nearly as nervous as Chika's elaborate trick to say a "Suki".

Also, his reaction in Valentine's? Please. He's over the moon happy about her "giri"/friendship chocolate, no other chocolate made him nearly as radiant.

(they're way too cute, I just can't deal with them)

Yeah, it was never about him, really. If there is a single thing Osaragi was right about, it's Miko having bad timing.

The whole time it was about Miko being the real "impossible girl" in Ishigami's eyes.

That's why Chika asking Ishigami "What about Miko-chan?" in 206 is just a horrible misunderstanding on Miko's end. It's not like "there's no way that would happen" because of him, he thinks it's her who could never look his way...until NOW.

You almost had it the speedrun way, Miko-chan! Almost.

JUST ROMCOM THINGS.

so FROM NOW ON, whenever someone goes"BuT IsHiGaMi FeLl FOR mIkO sO sUddEnLy AFteR thE ConSole Chapter" I hope you remember my ramblings and think "nope, it's just that Miko finally raised her dere stat enough. Read the manga again with that in mind".

tl;dr: Humor aside, Miko and Ishigami have always been super compatible and would naturally have grown closer romantically anytime if they interacted for long enough, they just were hopelessly immature and victims of their circunstances.

Now to pray we have at least a minimum of 20 chapters left and at least some decent screentime in store for them. I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED FOR FLIRTY ISHIMIKO OR FOR THEM TO FIGHT WITH OVERT UST. PLEASE AKA FUEL THIS OFFICE LADY'S DREAMS

#long post #ishimiko #meta #overanalyzing #THEY ARE SO CUTE LOL #im very much into tsunderextsundere yes #but if the dere and tsun dont allign for each part #this is what you get yes #Aka I need to talk I want 2 volumes of them #plz ill pay you #sorry for cluttering the tag i have a migthy need to babble #i gave up proof-reading but pray it's readable #ishimiko spoilers #PHEW now i have nothing more to add unless we see more of them....probably #like my disclaimer for the tl;dr says i'm calling them tsunderes to sum it up but #it's in no way just because of it LOL #if my pages and pages of meta are any indication #they're victims of their imaturity and circunstamces

35 notes · View notes

serendipityjxmn · 3 years

Text

Mr. President

Chapter 23

TW: Brief smut

Words Count: 2.5k

Link to Masterlist

Link to Chapter 24

“I can’t believe I’m engaged now. Can you believe it? A whole week before he kept annoying me and all of a sudden he brought me a ring.” Irene rolls her eyes. The two of you met for lunch nearby the company. You haven’t seen her in a while and it feels nice to catch up with everything. Irene is one of the few of the very little friends you have.

Her longtime boyfriend had finally proposed to her. You almost scream finally when Irene broke the news to you. You genuinely feel happy for her.

“So, guess that’s it for today’s catch up session.” She grins at you.

“Um.. actually do you mind if I come up for a moment?”

“Uh duh~ of course not! You miss him already?” She teases.

You try to stifle a smile. “A little bit.” You do miss him a little.

When you reach your old desk, Irene excuses herself to the restroom. Feeling excited, you head towards Jimin’s room. But that feeling dampens quickly when he’s nowhere to be seen. Pouting, you head back to your old station.

You’re about to text him about his whereabouts when you see him comes with a woman next to him. They stand not far from where you are but you don’t think they notice since you’re slightly hidden behind the wall.

They stand there for a moment as they talk and you wonder who the woman is. You don’t think you’ve encountered her before back when you’re still working here.

They laugh about something and she briefly touches your husband’s arm. If Jimin’s somehow uncomfortable with that, he’d done a perfect job hiding it. You feel your inside boiling, perhaps just a little.

While they’re still talking, you head into Jimin’s office. Storming into the room, you huff, feeling furious.

But then something catches your eye.

Taking a few step towards Jimin’s table, you notice the name plaque with his name written on it, the one you made. Drawn to it, you move closer and reaches for it, heart fluttering a little.

And then you notice the picture frame next to it. It looks strangely familiar so you move around the table and there’s no mistaking that it’s the portrait you made. The portrait looks so out of place in his sleek and modern office that you suddenly feel like laughing.

The picture next to it does a little something to your heart. It’s your wedding picture but it’s just you, smiling brightly.

How are you supposed to be mad at him when he does this?

You pout.

And then suddenly the door opens. Jimin enters and immediately sees you but he only frowns for a moment before gesturing the woman in.

Your eyes narrow slightly.

It would all be fine, really, because you’re a professional, only if she keeps her hands off your husband.

Jimin then gestures her to sit across him. She bows, her neck a tad bit too exposed. You notice Jimin looking away for a split second, working hard to hide his uncomfortable expression.

The way her skirt is too short and the way she crosses her legs, you can see through it all.

Well, Mrs. Park to the rescue.

Biting your lips, you walk over. She finally notices your presence when you come near. You hold a hand out to her.

“You are..?” She asks.

“I’m Mrs. Park.”

For a fleeting second, you see her face registers surprise as she shakes your hand. “Nice meeting you, Mrs. Park. I’m Jinah.”

Jimin’s arm snakes around your waist as you take your place beside him.

“And you’re here for..?” You ask.

“Oh, I’m here to discuss about a new publishing project that us as Glory Publishing is currently positively reviewing. You might be aware that Mr. Park is planning to acquire Glory Publishing.”

Oh, you knew about this one. Jimin told you this before. His company had been looking for potential publishing companies to branch out and Glory Publishing is one of them. But they didn't make the cut. Yet here they are trying to convince Jimin that they're looking at the next big project.

Your husband has made it clear that their company didn't make the cut but they're very persistent. You briefly wonder why he still accepts appointments with their party. Perhaps out of goodwill.

You clear your throat. "I thought our representatives had made it clear on this issue. Your company has issues with ethical problems and we’re doing our best to avoid future problems.” Perhaps your confidence is boosted a little with Jimin playing with your hair behind you.

Jinah seems flustered, perhaps not expecting you to address the issue. She tries to have a look at your husband but you immediately covered him.

And he just grins behind you, lips caressing your hair because he swears he loves you so much when you’re protecting him like this.

“If you don’t have anything else,” you look at your watch, “unfortunately the time is up. I have to ask you to leave because my husband is very booked and busy. If there’s any further issue, I hope you can contact our representatives instead.” You hold a hand out to her and she takes it, although her expression is furious. Without another word, she storms out.

As soon as she left, you let out a relieved sigh, suddenly not believing you just did that. Jimin tries to stifle a smile at your reaction. You got up and move towards Jimin’s desk and he follows you from behind.

“I have a very good secretary it seems.” He whispers to your ears, making you gasp. He then stands in front of you.

You gulp. Too close, too close.

He sits on the edge of his desk. “And how should I reward you for that?” He smiles.

Suddenly, he pulls you onto his lap and you let out a squeak.

His eyes fell to your lips and it looks so, so dangerous.

Oh no. “Jimin, it’s the office.”

“So?”

“You can’t do anything to me.” You try to run.

“It’s my company.” He catches your wrist effortlessly.

Your eyes widen. “It’s gross.”

He quirks one eyebrow. And you catch his off guard moment to run away. Pretty sure your husband’s laughing at you now.

A grin appears on your lips when you’re reminded of that evening’s event. Jimin really has a gift of making your heart rate spike up. You have no idea how to handle when your husband’s being flirty. You’re in the kitchen, having just finished washing the dishes. You set to make a cup of coffee for Jimin and then heads to his study. You softly knock before entering to see him talking through a phone call. He glances up upon your entrance and mouths a thank you as you put the cup down in front of him.

You look around his study for several moments, briefly remembering the first time you’re in here and your husband has just come up with the marriage contract with you. You smile fondly at the memory. It feels so long since then. And look at where the two of you are now.

You’re just about to dismiss yourself when something catches your attention.

Something’s weird.

You think as you stop and stare at the vast painting before you. It looks strangely familiar. You think hard for a while but is still unable to remember the source so you resolve to thinking that perhaps it’s been hung there from the start.

“You remember this painting?” Jimin suddenly asks as he comes to stand beside you.

And suddenly it all clicks in your head. It’s the painting you both saw at the art exhibition. The Isle of Sorrow.

You feel like you’re in a sort of treasure hunt today with everything that you found.

“I bought it the day we saw..” he says carefully.

Your heart starts to race. “I didn’t wanna scare you.. so I kept it hidden.. I didn’t know why I bought it back then.” He laughs at himself then smiles sheepishly. “Perhaps I was already in love..”

You don’t think you can control the pace of your heart anymore.

Especially not when his face is inching closer and closer to you, closing the proximity between the two of you.

And then he takes your lips by surprise although you’ve been anticipating it. It’s slow and languid but it’s enough to suck the air out of you. You think you’ll always marvel by how soft his lips are against yours. When he pulls back, you’re all sorts of breathless.

“Y/N.” He says firmly.

You look up at him expectantly.

He takes a deep breath and looks at you straight in the eye.

“I love you.”

It takes a moment for your brain to process and to make sure you didn’t mishear it. And your eyes water immediately.

“I think I’ve fallen for you since back then.. even before.. you said you love me. But I wasn’t sure what it was back then and I tried so hard to deny what I was feeling.. you were constantly on my mind.. I keep on worrying when you’re not in front of me, I feel so angry even at the thought of another guy touching you, I want to destroy anything or everything that hurts you the slightest.. including me.. because I know I’m the one that hurts you the most.. and it almost cost your life.. for me to realize that I burn for you.. my day and my nights.. that I’m actually in love with you.”

And the tears run down your cheeks. It’s all so overwhelming and something that you can’t describe because you’ve been waiting for so long for him to reciprocate your feelings and then he finally says the words but you both had been through so much and it just somehows feels like a very long journey.

A tear escapes Jimin’s eyes too but he’s quick to inhale a breath and recomposes himself. He then wipes your tears and gives you a moment to recompose.

“There’s something I want to do.” he says, eyes staring at you seriously. “I.. I know I’m a lot to put up with.. and I know I’ve done.. worse things. But I want to do this.. I want to be.. with you.”

And suddenly he takes out something from his right pocket and kneels down in front of you. You gasp as you watch him with widening eyes.

“I promise to love you, cherish you, honor you, and to hold your hands always in times of good and bad. I vow to stay faithful, loyal and honest till we both grow old. Will you... start this marriage anew.. with me?”

Your heart beats even faster, tears almost threatening again when you realize he’s reciting the wedding vow six months ago, except that this time it is full of sincerity.

And your heart continues to thunder against your chest when he opens the small velvet box, a ring with a simple crystal centrepiece encased in it.

And it suddenly dawns to you that he’s the only man that you’ll ever love in your life.

So you nod. With your eyes glistening in tears.

Jimin gives you a full smile. And then he takes the ring out and gently put it on your fourth finger. That’s when you realize he already puts his on, one that matches yours on his finger too.

When he raises to his feet, you don’t waste another second to pull him into a hug.

You love him.. with all your heart. Is all you could think.

When you both pull back, he looks at you fondly.

“I just thought that you deserve a proper proposal..” he grabs your hand and guides you to his study desk. You watch in confusion for a second as he bents down to pick up something from behind the desk and your eyes widen when you see a bouquet of red roses. “Hearts..” he says as his finger points to his heart, “and flowers.” He hands you the bouquet.

He smiles as you remain speechless.

“I.. honestly I’ve had this for a long time, ever since you’re still in the hospital.. and I tried to find the right time but I don’t know.. I gave up trying to find the right time because I think there’s no such thing as the right time.. but I want to do this..”

You raise your fingers to cup his chin tenderly. “It’s.. perfect.”

You watch as his eyes lit up from your words. And then his face inches closer. You know he’s about to kiss you again but this time, you’re ready.

Your eyes flutter close as his lips finally meet yours and it’s as if your lips are made for him when they moulded perfectly against his.

He tilts his head slightly and this time he pulls you even closer. His lips presses against yours more deeply, drawing a whimper from your throat, a sound that causes him to grunt.

The kiss escalates quickly, growing more and more intense, making your feet curl against the plush carpet.

His hands move downwards from your neck towards your shoulder. And when one of his hand brushes against your breast, you let out a squeak in surprise.

Jimin pulls away immediately, eyes finding yours. His expression concerned, perhaps wondering if he’s gone too far from your comfort zone.

“I’m sorry.” He says quickly, still a little out of breath.

You bite your bottom lip. You don’t want him to stop. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just.. I’m not used.. I’m.. I’ve never.. I’ve never done this before..”

He looks at you softly. “I know. And I promised you to take it slow. So I’m not gonna do anything you’re uncomfortable with. Okay?”

You nod. He smiles and releases you and suddenly you’re afraid he’ll go away so you grab his shirt quickly.

He raises his brow at you.

“We.. we can.. we can continue.. to kiss..” you say and you feel like you’re going to die from embarassment.

Jimin smiles wickedly, almost wanting to clutch his heart physically because he finds you too adorable. “Wow okay. Kiss me then.” He says playfully.

You look up at him, eyes round in determination and he finds it so adorable it takes everything in him not to initiate the kiss first.

Closing the proximity, you tiptoe slightly and press your lips firmly against his.

You feel him smiling against your lips and you can’t help but smile too. This time, you try to take control.

Your fingers card his hair as you pull him tight against you, deepening the kiss. A moan escapes his mouth and you’ve never heard something sound so sinful before.

It almost kind of sparks something carnal deep inside you.

And then your hands are on his chest, deftly unbuttoning his shirt. His hands are on each side of your waist, palms flat against your skin, not making any move to explore anymore and you want to change that.

You want him to know that you’re ready.

So you press yourself against him and practically grinds against him, making him groan.

“Baby-” he says but you cut him by taking his lips again. Tongue fervently exploring his mouth.

“Jimin-” you call him, breathless. “Take me to bed, please.”

A/N: *fanning myself* im actually blushing aaaaaa yall know what's coming in the next chapter ;)))

on the side note, I am having mixed feeling right now. I can’t wait for this story to end and show it to you guys but at the same time I’m sad that it’s coming to an end because there’s really not much chapter left 🥺

Buy me a cup of coffee here! 💜

Link to Chapter 24

Posted on 210607 9:00PM

#serendipityjxmn #serendipityjxmnmrpresident #mrpresident #mr president #bts fic #bts au #bts smut #jimin au #park jimin #parkjimin #kpop fic #jimin smut #jimin ceo #jimin mafia #bts mafia #jimin x reader

121 notes · View notes

slashbitch2 · 3 years

Text

Extra Complications PT3

Previous Chapter

"Don't bother coming back into work tomorrow."

Her words had been replaying in your mind since the final encounter, bouncing round like a taunting echo. It'd only been a week since you'd stopped working at Alchemex, yet had felt like a lifetime of boredom and fatigue. With no job or persistent villain to chase after, if you could even call Liv a villain anymore, there was no reason to get out of bed in the morning, nothing to stop you from moping around your apartment. The days blended into what felt like one long sick day, disregarding the occasional break to rescue a cat stuck in a tree.

Although, your only sickness was of the mind. Whenever you attempted to get some rest, your thoughts would inevitably drift to Liv; the cold, distanced tone to her voice, the look of betrayal in her eyes, how empty the week had felt without her. By the third night plagued with insomnia, you were starting to accept that your feelings towards her may be more than a simple crush. On the eighth night, you decided you ought to do something about it and began to formulate a plan.

Entering the building like you were still an employee would be almost impossible since anyone who left their job was rarely welcomed back with open arms. It'd also be better to avoid the security and CCTV cameras, which you'd learnt used face recognition technology. And finally, locating a security card would pose a potential problem, as walking round the facility until you happened to stumble across a janitor to steal from was unfortunately no longer a possibility. So, what was the solution to all your problems? Vents.

Which is how you found yourself scouring over blueprints like a cliched protagonist from a bygone age movie, but at least the irony hadn't escaped you, and thankfully laboratories generally required a great deal of ventilation, so you had multiple routes memorised by the time the bus had arrived at Alchemex. You'd spent the entire journey on edge, fearful that any fellow passenger might accost you for looking so suspicious. But apparently an agitated figure buried beneath a pile of blueprints wearing a spider-suit underneath a jumper was normal enough to be ignored.

Nonetheless, stepping onto the concrete ground of the car park was a relief which inspired a tad more optimism. Moreover, leaving the burdening stacks of blueprints behind further alleviated some of your anxiety. It felt like a final confirmation that this was your one and only chance, and you weren't about to mess it up. Even as the building loomed over you casting a shadow of uncertainty, nothing could discourage your determination.

There was the remarkable sense that you didn't belong here, though it was a familiar sensation. One that persuaded you to tug the mask over your head before darting toward the edge of the car park. It was your belief that as long as you stuck to the outskirts of the facility, few would pay you any attention while you were out in the open. Therefore allowing you to manoeuvre into position and take the quickest passage straight to Liv's office. Which is exactly what you did.

The first stretch of the vent system was a straight drop, a narrow plunge that went on for longer than anticipated. Like a slide with no angle of inclination and a lot less fun. You hit the metal base with an ungraceful clang, certain that your legs would've buckled upon impact had it not been for the lack of space to do so. Overall an uncomfortable start. The remainder of the journey was a lot of crawling and muscle cramps, your only incentive being the occasional grate to peer down which reassured you that your destination was drawing nearer. Everything was going to plan.

Until you heard her.

Olivia's voice rung clear as if from a dream. It stood out from the general ruckus, initially leading you to believe you were hallucinating, that it was some kind of audible mirage. Yet you refocused your senses and it didn't go away. She was almost directly below you, separated simply by a thin layer of metal. With renewed ambition, you crawled toward the nearest grate as quickly and quietly as possible, frantically lowering your head to find the perfect angle, all just to catch a glimpse of her.

"What do you mean the program hasn't worked?" Liv pinched the bridge of her nose, her words laced with an an uncharacteristic anger. You'd never known her to be an irritable person, she loved her job and every challenge that came with it. Was she uptight? Sure. Passionate? Undeniably. But never angry.

"I've tried rerunning and rewriting parts of the code. And it just doesn't work!" Some poor employee (Mark, if you remembered correctly) was fighting for his dignity below. You could see he was flushing, wildly flailing his hands around as he tried to justify his mistake.

"You've rewritten part of it?!" She repeated, volume rising in frustration.

"I- I thought I knew how to fix it."

"I told you not to mess with my work." She growled, stepping closer.

"With all due respect," He didn't back down, clearly caught off guard and unsure how to deal with an irritated Liv. "it's actually Y/N's work."

Upon hearing your name, you ducked out of view as if you'd been seen. Although, it was evident that this was not the case, so slowly you edged forward to peer down at them once more.

Liv's face had dropped at the mention of your name. But by the time you'd settled back in place, anger was already seeping into her expression, then was suddenly smoothed into disturbingly sweet smile. "Well, Y/N isn't here anymore. So I suggest you keep your incompetent hands off of things you don't understand."

Judging by her vague wording, you guessed she hadn't told anyone the real reason you'd been fired. A fond appreciation flooded your mind. Despite everything that had happened, she still respected your secret enough to keep it. You begun to consider that maybe Liv cared about you as much as you did her. Why else would she lie on your behalf?

Mark muttered an ashamed. "Ok." Then left to try and atone for his mistake.

Liv stayed where she was for another minute before taking a deep breath, shaking off her annoyance, and setting a determined path. You assumed she was heading for her office and were about to follow, but then paused. Was this really the best time for a reunion? She obviously wasn't in the best mood, and if you had to guess, it was likely due to your betrayal. Was it too soon to reappear in her life? You'd arrived here with the intention to apologise and make amends, however, you had no idea how Liv would react or what would happen after. If there would even be an after. She could attack you on first sight for all you knew.

No. You'd come too far to turn around now. You continued along the vent before you could overthink the decision. It would be foolish to turn around now: the end was in sight, and rapidly growing closer.

Reaching the final grate, you were greeted with the familiar yet new aerial view of Liv's office. It'd remained mainly the same since your departure. She hadn't even bothered to remove your lab coat, which was still carelessly thrown over the chair you'd frequented everyday. And Liv herself hadn't changed much either, disregarding the seemingly permanent anger lines upon her face. She was sitting at her desk, head in hand, mindlessly flipping through a folder. It occurred to you at that moment that she didn't look irritated, rather sad. Another unexpected emotion for her to display.

After a minute, she sighed, tossing the papers to one side and bringing her other hand up to crash forward into. She looked defeated, seeing her this way felt wrong. You honestly preferred the anger because it showed she'd maintained at least some of her usual intensity.

You sighed. It was time to fix this. With unsteady hands you delicately unscrewed the bolts holding the grate in place, careful to make as little noise as possible. It was as you were removing the final screw that you realised something: you had no idea what to say to her. No planned speech or prepared apology, you'd resigned to hoping for a spontaneous burst of thoughtfulness in the moment. You sat there for a minute, fidgeting with one of the screws while attempting to come up with what you would say. Should you start by apologising for breaking in, or for lying to her, or for applying to the job in the first place? You had a lot of things to apologise for.

And unfortunately, the chance to think it through any further was taken from you as the screw slipped out of your hand. You gasped watching it fall, hitting the ground with an faint thud. Although quiet enough for most people to ignore, you knew Liv was too thorough to not investigate. And as expected, following your sharp intake of breath was the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, then footsteps gradually approaching.

Liv appeared below you, bending down to inspect the screw before glancing up. Her eyes locked with yours through the mask and widened in shock.

"Hey." The casual tone to your voice sounded forced and you grimaced. But rather than dwelling on it, you dropped from the exposed hiding place and pulled off your mask. You smiled awkwardly, eyes scanning and overanalysing her reaction.

Liv stepped back to lean on the desk for support. Her mouth was agape, but otherwise her face was worryingly blank.

"If this is a bad time I can come back later."

Still no response. The room was drowning in a tense silence.

"Well, actually I probably can't come back." With no social cues to interact with, you began to ramble aimlessly. "I'm guessing you'll find a way to patch that particular security breach." You gestured up to the gap in the ceiling and laughed lightly. "Sorry about that. I didn't know how else to-"

You're cut off as Liv moves impossibly fast, grabbing your shoulders and shoving you backwards against the wall. A thousand different thoughts run through your mind at once, all wondering what she's about to do. The majority are focused on the possibility that she's going to hurt you in some way, although, even if she did have the intention to cause harm, you wouldn't fight back. You were tired of conflict, especially when it involved Liv.

She was standing close, breathing heavily and saying nothing. You couldn't help but let your eyes flicker down to her lips, the temptation to kiss her becoming increasingly vehement. So instead you forced your attention up to her eyes, which held an air of confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Her voice was deep, full of unvoiced emotions.

You licked your lips, glancing at her mouth one last time. "I came here to apologise. I didn't mean for any of this to go so far."

"You're lying." She backed away slightly and you immediately missed the proximity.

"I'm not! I just-" You stuttered, then admitted in a quieter voice. "I never meant to hurt you."

She inhaled shakily and swallowed, your eyes tracing the movement of her throat. "And?"

"And because I care about you too much to let you think I did any of this on purpose." You lowered your head, her invasive glare becoming overwhelming.

Soft fingers firmly gripped your chin, compelling you to look up. Her eyes displayed distrust, confusion which you suddenly feel the need to wipe away. You wanted to make your affection for her clear, but found yourself annoyingly speechless. All the recurring thoughts and confined confessions that had been plaguing you for a week suddenly gone from your mind. You were infuriatingly at a loss for words. Although, the warmth of her fingers against your skin reminded you that actions speak louder than words.

You leant in slowly, giving her sufficient time to stop you. She didn't move so you kissed her lightly at first, searingly next. Your arm shifted to wrap around her back tentatively and she moaned faintly in response. Although, it wasn't until you allowed her to take control that any remaining anger dissipated. At that point the kiss became bruising, her hold on you tightening as a wave of shared desperation rolled over the both of you. Before the desperation could reach its peak, however, you separated from her.

Liv was almost panting, her cheeks tinged pink and hair a mess. She promptly attempted to kiss you again, though you dodged the advance and she whined. Her mouth latched onto your neck, sucking at the skin there.

Your head fell back against the wall, dizzy from lust. "Does this mean I can have my job back?" You quipped, running a hand through your hair.

"Depends." She murmured in between kisses. "Do you have anymore secrets?"

"None that I can think of." You smiled, the prospect of returning to what you'd come to consider as normality was an appealing one. Of course there were things you would need to work through with Liv, and many, many extra complications alongside having a relationship with your boss. But nothing easy was ever worthwhile, and Liv was living proof of that.

"Alright. You're hired."

#olivia octavius x reader

101 notes · View notes