#or even messages might be fine. something about the ask format just gives me anxiety sometimes lmao

[poetrysmackdown]

some informal thoughts

hello! hope the holiday season has been kind to all of you. and i hope all my jewish followers had a lovely hanukkah! anyways, since i said a few months ago that i’d pick poetry smackdown back up sometime around this time of year, i thought i should make a post. the gist of it is that i’m still quite busy, i have a break that’s about three weeks shorter than I was planning on, and i don’t currently have the mental bandwidth required to read, contemplate, and sort through poem submissions in a way that does justice to them, even if i were to recruit some friends to help out. since running a tournament format requires at least five weeks of continued engagement once it’s underway, and since i’m not at capacity to offer that right now due to the change in my schedule, i’m gonna have to bow out for now. sad bc i was looking forward to it!

my hope is that i’ll have some more time over the summer to hunker down with it, in which case you’ll be hearing from me. it’ll frankly depend on the kind of job i land in for the summer, but i find that my unemployed spirit can typically keep me doing stupid shit regardless of workload...to a point. i don’t want to make any promises because i don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up just to let them down again LOL. i do admit the amount of exposure the first tournament got has made me feel like more of a perfectionist this time around, doubly because i don’t feel that i’m very suited to being a public online presence (even a relatively quite small one)—i’m bad enough at responding to emails for my own real life responsibilities, let alone tumblr asks for the silly responsibilities i invent for myself lol. that’s not to say i no longer want to do it, or i don’t enjoy it, or even that i don’t feel capable of making a really interesting bracket—just that if i am working to put something new together, and if people are taking the time to submit poems they care about, then i don’t want to half-ass it.

my second admission is something like this. I made the original bracket as a celebration of poetry and our relationships to it. yes it was silly and competitive, and the poems were very tumblr, but still, celebration was the intention—I wanted to have conversations about poetry. I stand by the bracket format as a fun and valuable way to foster conversations about poetry, but truthfully, the poems i’m wanting to have conversations about right now—the poems that we should be talking about right now—are ones that i'm not comfortable putting in a bracket. I reblogged The Baffler’s Poems from Palestine collection on here earlier, and Najwan Darwish’s “Who Remembers The Armenians?”, which I still often find repeating through my head when I'm traveling from one place to another, walking home or riding the bus. I came across this beautiful thread recently where people have been translating Dr. Refaat Alareer’s “If I Must Die” into their own languages (this just makes my translator's heart sing!!!!!!). @havingapoemwithyou has been posting some great poems from and for Palestine as well—check out their tag here.

There's always more to add, and I'll be posting more on here as I come across it, but that's what I feel anyone should be focusing on right now when it comes to poetry. i think poetry can be an escape but it should never be a distraction. does that make sense? i wouldn't be against doing a one-off poll here or there, but it feels weird to be making a tournament for poetry right now, or anytime soon. i feel like what free time i have right now is still best utilized helping my friends with organizing in the real world. and god, a bit off-topic but while I'm talking, fuck poetry foundation—I have so much respect for all the poets keeping up the boycott, because while i think it's a simple decision, it's not always an easy one (Aurielle Lucier discussed that here).

anyways, if you read all of this, thank you for your time!! I could go on and on, but really this was just meant to be a message telling y'all that there won't be another tournament for a while lol. even so i'll be trying to use this small silly platform as best i can until palestine is free because that's the absolute least i can do.

#not a poll #also i'm closing my ask box for now because i know i don't have the bandwidth to answer anything rn. sorry :( #but feel free to reply here with your thoughts and any resources and i'll do my best to respond #or even messages might be fine. something about the ask format just gives me anxiety sometimes lmao #cannot stress this enough i am so so so bad at responding to things #even when i want to or enjoy doing it

[townofcadence]

Rules

-I am tracking the tag townofcadence!

-This is an in-character rp and ask blog for my OCs, with a focus on Artair as my main! Please don't take my OCs designs or adopt them as a muse for yourself, unless you have my explicit permission (though a writing gift for me would be entirely fine!)

-My social anxiety is really bad-- if I follow you, I definitely want to interact! But also, I really struggle to initiate conversation. If a person reaches out I'll happily interact with them though; I'm kind of a social-vampire, and feeling invited in helps a lot. On the other hand, once I'm spoken to, I talk a LOT, so I apologize in advance and hope it isn't too overwhelming. Feel free to tell me to tone it down!

-I think communication is vital to a hobby like this. If you have a question or issue, please let me know! Also, If I do something insensitive or hurtful, please let me know and I'll try to do better next time. Also, this blog does not condone any bigotry, and I refuse to write anything depicting incest or pedophilia.

- I’ve been writing Artair for years, so Artair has a lot of background history that might get alluded to, but not actively explained. If you have questions, feel free to throw them my way and I’ll answer what I can!

-I am 25+, and may do mature threads (I'm not sure yet though, if i will. I may choose to stick to fade to black and leave anything salacious to other spaces). If I do anything sexual, I will tag it and put it under a read-more. It will be tagged ‘NSFT’ and ‘Not Safe For Tumblr’. I will try to use community labels too, though I have not done so before so forgive me if I have trouble !

-I likely am going to be selective in what I rp. I will answer asks and reply to things from anyone, so feel free to send in! But while I want to interact, I also only have so much energy. I have the right to refuse to answer RPs or starters or asks.

-I am also chronically ill in a few different ways, so sometimes I will disappear to recover or not have much energy. I have no problem waiting for replies to rp or messages, and I hope we can be patient with each other as needed to have a fun time. Take your time, and I'll get to you as soon as I'm able, too.

-No autohitting, godmodding, or metagaming. If you want something to happen specifically, talk to me and we can work out why or how.

- I will always give at least a paragraphs or two in an rp response but even if you give me several pages, my reply may be succinct. I'm trying to be better about not putting filler in a reply just to match lengths. I also don't really enjoy backtracking dialogue in a thread, since it gets confusing really fast. I totally get wanting to respond to everything, but doing so to every talking point ends up with the muses having like six differing conversations at once. So I might skip things I want to respond to, to avoid that, and my replies may be smaller to keep the flow of interactions smoother. Hopefully I'll give my partner enough to work with. If not, let me know!

-Please understand that if you DO rp with me, I do not ship characters unless it develops naturally. If something happens, it happens, but I refuse to pair anyone unless the muse legitimately develops feelings over their interactions. Those actions do not need to be written necessarily, and do not need to be on Tumblr, but they need to happen first. I feel it’s only safe to let people know, since some muns are looking to ship as their primary goal.

-All Icons I use I either have permission from the artist to use, or made myself! All Icons will be tagged specifically with the artist on the posts they occupy. I will likely use icons sometimes as I begin to amass them, but I don't expect anyone to use them to write with me. I also don't format my posts except for fun on rare occasions where it feels fitting. I don't expect anyone to match my format, and I hope my simplicity won't be an issue for anyone.

-I am a person who deeply enjoys horror threads and dark themes, so please be aware there will be threads and art/writing containing that on this blog.

-Anything triggering or issue causing I will try to tag. The format for tagging will be ‘#cw *insert trigger here*’. Example being #cw injury. I will try to be consistent! Please feel free to ask me if I need to tag anything!

If you read through this, then thank you very much! I hope to interact with you soon, and if not, then I hope your day is great and I appreciate you looking at my blog! If you want to break the ice, you can send me the password '*Gives the Trimst a scritch*'!

#mobilefriendly #Rules

[mad-twience]

Hey there! This is my rules/about page, please consider reading it before roleplaying with me! The stuff in bold is the most important if you can only skim it at the moment, but if that’s the case then I’d appreciate it if you could come back and read it in full later!

About:

Hi! First, just a little bit about me. You can call me Pixel or Nick, my pronouns are he/they and I’m 23 years old. My main/non-RP account is @fruitypieq and I also have a blog for OOC RP stuff over at @fruitypie-ooc.

I don’t really do much outside of Tumblr but I do run multiple blogs and life is super stressful at the moment, so I get burnt out a lot unfortunately. My replies may take a while but I will always do my best to reply as soon as possible!

I also have very bad memory issues due to a concussion a few years ago, so I might struggle to remember things! Please be patient with me, I am trying <3

Also I’m usually down for OOC chat in DMs whether it’s plotting or just general MLP talk, so feel free to shoot me a message if you wanna!

I do try to cut my RP posts down but I’m on mobile and formatting is a nightmare 💖

Rules/Guidelines:

- Please don’t constantly remind me of an RP - if you’ve replied then I’ve probably seen it and I’m working on getting to it. I get overwhelmed easily and being reminded of RPs constantly only adds to that and makes me less likely to be able to reply to our RP at all. Please give me at least 2 to 3 days before tagging me or giving me a reminder!

- If you don’t want to interact with me, please just hard block me. I will never remember who’s soft blocked me even if you tell me, so it’s better to just outright block me so I don’t accidentally make the mistake of following you again.

- I don’t do smut RP! Not even in PMs! That being said I will do gore type RPs and the like, as my Twilight is a mad scientist who does pretty cruel experiments.

- No godmodding. This means no taking control of my characters and saying what they’re doing/how they’re feeling/etc.

- I also do not RP in PMs unless you’re a personal friend that I know very well. Otherwise, I’ll only RP on the blog itself.

- Please don’t ask for my Discord unless we’ve been RPing on here for a while, I prefer to RP on Tumblr in general rather than Discord so I’d rather not give it out to just anyone.

- I will try to remember to trigger tag anything I see fit, but if you have a specific trigger you need me to tag please let me know! I’ll always tag them as tw followed by the trigger (example: #tw gore)

- I’m not mutuals only! If you’re following me I probably meant to follow you back and just forgot, or there may be some other reason why I’m not. But I’m completely fine with RPing with non-mutuals! That being said I do have anxiety about messaging someone first so it may take me a bit of courage to finally message you, mutual or not, so if you’re feeling braver than me feel free to inbox me any time!

- I’m not very selective, but please try to have at least one to two sentences in your reply! Preferably at least one paragraph. It’s really hard to reply to something or progress the plot when you’re only giving me one word or a super short sentence as a reply every time.

- Sending me random starters is ALWAYS welcome! Even if I haven’t reblogged or posted anything about starters, it’s always okay to just send me one or ask me if I could make us one. Random non-starter asks are also always fine and loved.

- I love crossovers! And OCs! Pretty much whoever your character is, I’m almost definitely willing to RP with them.

- I multi-ship and I’m also okay with polyam shipping as well, but Twilight isn’t really looking for a date and romance isn’t my favorite, so it might be difficult to get her to develop a crush on your muse unless it’s something we’ve already discussed. She does have a slight crush on Sunset Shimmer, however.

- Please remember muse ≠ mun, Twilight does some really messed up stuff that I do not agree with in the slightest. Me and Twilight do not share the same beliefs and it is really important to remember that.

I think that’s it! If I think of anything else I’ll make sure to update this. I’d rather not block anyone but I will if I have to, but I really just want us to have fun! I hope to RP with you soon!

(I’d appreciate if you could like this post if you’ve read the rules, but it’s not necessary!)

#rules #about #ooc

[ancientechos]

Emet-Selch/Arianna ♡ 11,755 words ♡ Butler AU

No headcanons just -- oh my god what is that word count. Some mild spice.

I ended up not splitting this, clearly, but it is available on AO3 in a chaptered format if that’s easier to read.

Playing With Fire

She’s not really looking forward to this...arrangement.

But Arianna supposes there isn’t much else she can do. Not with their current situation...

On her own, she would probably be just fine -- but she’s not on her own. So the fact of the matter is that she simply needs an extra avenue of income. Cleaning was something she could certainly do -- it had just been a matter of where.

She’d been a little shocked, truth be told, when she had received message back after contacting the email in the newspaper ad. She would have never expected the Selch estate to be interested in her application, of all things, but perhaps there were not that many coming in. She’d been called in for a trial of sorts, and presumably she would be contacted again later that evening or tomorrow morning if her conduct was acceptable. So long as she didn’t have to talk to anyone -- she thinks she can probably manage it.

She almost balks at the prospect of having to speak to someone at the gate, but Selch seems nothing if not accommodating; there’s a gentleman at the front who waves her over as she approaches.

“Are you Arianna Rowen?” he asks her, and she nods, pulling out her printed application and displaying it to him. Satisfied, the man shows her through the gate.

The walk to the large double doors is framed by a multitude of well-kept, pretty flowers and shrubs. And the door itself is ornate, impressive if not more than a little intimidating. With a mild, stiff smile, the man leads her into the bona fide mansion. Arianna finds herself on an ostentatious landing. There’s a large mirror, and a small desk with a few drawers, as well as a set of hangers for coats. Since she doesn’t have one today, she ignores them for now.

The white marble floors turn to dark carpets up the stairs. She’s lead up them, through an open area -- where the marble returns, but partially covered by a rug -- down a hall, where Arianna and her guide come to a small side-room.

“My name is Clover,” the man says after a moment. “There are a few uniforms you can choose from here. After you do so, I may show you to the rooms for your test.”

When he puts it that way, it sounds somewhat concerning -- 

But she gives a mild nod regardless, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her. Within are numerous uniforms for her to peruse. Some of them are quite pretty, though others are somewhat of a...questionable nature. She, of course, picks the most modest one.

Clover is brisk, showing her to the rooms for her “tests”. His instructions, however, leave much to be desired. Most of the time, it’s simply something along the lines of clean the room or deal with the clothes, but little else to indicate any catches that surely must exist if this is meant to be a “test”. Regardless, she’s good at doing what she’s told, in fact she prefers it because she doesn’t need to think about it. Aside from the anxiety of it being a trial of some kind...this is fine.

In the evening after returning home, she receives a new email from her supposed employer. She’s been hired. The next morning, the ad in the newspaper is gone.

________

All in all, her job is not necessarily difficult. She doesn’t work there everyday — perhaps the other days are facilitated by other maids? or he assumes there’s no need for a daily spritzing up? — bit when she does, it is far less...ridiculous than that trial. Which she supposes is the point.

What makes it easier is her penchant for drifting off. Arianna doesn’t hum or sing or speak to herself as she works; she’s utterly silent, perhaps even more so than if she were entirely present. Her eyes glaze over, lost in thought, moving on autopilot. She doesn’t miss much like this -- and if she does, it’s simply a matter of fixing it before she moves on to something else. She knows herself well enough to avoid anything unpleasant.

It’s several days — perhaps even a week — before she ever sees Emet Selch in the flesh. She’s enjoying a small lunch outside on the patio, listening to the birds, when he strides in from the gardens. She knows him only from a picture, but recognises him immediately.

Somewhat instinctively, she ducks her gaze away from him. She does not want to talk, or bother him, perhaps she shouldn’t even be here —

She misses his plate and glass until he sinks into a chair at another one of the small tables. Ah, perhaps she’d hoped he would simply leave without a word. But he is still here, even if he hasn’t said anything. Perhaps she shouldn’t be...

Fumbling with her small boxed lunch, she leaps to her feet, entire body tense as she prepares to slink away.

“Oh, I see how it is. You want to leave me all alone.”

Before she can, a voice — his voice —

She nearly jumps out of her skin, stopping stock still. Indecision and trepidation fills her, unsure how to proceed.

Very slowly, she turns to see him looking at her calmly. She blinks at him, tilting her head uncertainly. Is he serious? Is he joking...? She can’t quite tell, and she decides she doesn’t really want to find out by vexing him. So after a moment’s hesitation, she takes her seat again and nervously pulls at the wrapping about her sandwich.

He claps at her, his grin wry.

“Very good. I assume you’re miss Rowen, yes? Ah — I have your phone number from the application, I’ll just text you now...I’m afraid I don’t know sign.”

He taps at his phone upon the table. A few moments later, her own cellphone in her pocket gives a tiny buzz. Fishing it out, she sees a new message from an unknown number.

Nice uniform :’ )

— Is all it says.

One of her eyes twitch.

“Did you get it?” he asks rather unhelpfully and sounding all too innocent. Pursing her lips, Arianna taps out a message in response.

Is this Emet Selch?

That should be enough of a reply. And theoretically his phone should vibrate...if not, it might simply be a random spam text...

But his phone really does buzz in response to her query. She exhales quietly in relief as he gives a tiny laugh.

“Yes, it is me. Happy?”

-- Is she?

Yes?

She supposes answering otherwise might be bad...

“Oh, good. I hear you’re efficient. Even managed to clean up that mess in the office...you might be astounded to hear how many fail that test.” As he finishes, he finally takes a bite of his meal, which Arianna takes as a cue to start her own.

Thank you...

Picking at her sandwich, she absently hopes that he won’t talk anymore. Her time is limited, after all, and she’d rather use it for eating. He seems to get the nonverbal hint. He finishes before her, and leaves with nothing more than a lackadaisical wave.

________

Her interactions with him are awkward at best, vaguely concerning at worst. Concerning not because she dislikes him or is especially uncomfortable in any regard, but simply because she is not sure what to think of him. To be fair, this is her default opinion of many people. But he’s a little...different.

And not simply because she finds him at least somewhat intriguing.

Emet is only slightly intimidating on the off-chance that he does see her. He makes attempts to be polite, waits for her to respond, and generally isn’t bothersome aside from his growing attempts to poke at her. For whatever reason, he seems to find her reactions amusing.

She really wishes he wouldn’t.

On one of her breaks, she sits outside on the patio again, beneath one of the umbrellas for the shade, her book in her lap.

“Oh, good afternoon, miss Rowen.” She blinks in surprise, tilting her head up to look at him as he approaches with wide strides. He doesn’t wait for her to respond. “A quick question for you. Where did you find that book?”

The query catches her off-guard, and she furrows her eyebrows slightly. Is she not allowed to read...?

I brought it with me. It’s from home.

His eyebrows lift. “You brought it with you? Where did you keep it...? Your pocket?” His gaze drifts down to her apron, where there is indeed a pocket probably large enough to keep a book of average size there.

Arianna gives a slow nod.

The architect clicks his tongue. “You can just use the book room. Clover would have shown you where it was, right?” He taps his chin mildly. “Come to think of it, that was one of the ‘trials’ I gave you. To dust the bookshelves. Well, it’s at your leisure, if you would like. You aren’t the type to ruin books, after all.”

Her mouth opens, almost as if she wants to speak. In fact, she does.

She quickly shuts it, then shakes her head.

I couldn’t possibly. It’s not right. I couldn’t monopolise your things.

His laugh is short and sardonic as he reads the text message.

“You’re not monopolising it if I gave you permission, are you? Besides, it’ll be much more convenient than lugging a book around unnecessarily. I’m sure I have something there that will amuse you. Or is that why you don’t want to? Because you think you won’t like anything? That’s such a shame...” He trails off, sounding all too dejected as he averts his gaze, shoulders hunching even further.

Arianna has the distinct impression he is merely playing with her.

But still. He has a point...it would be easier.

Okay. Thank you.

She upturns her face from her phone to give him a brief, awkward smile, before looking away just as quickly.

I appreciate it.

When she looks at him again, he seems oddly still, as if he’s been vacant the entire time she’s written her gratitude.Then he seems to recall himself, clears his throat, averts his gaze as he leans his weight on one leg.

“It’s nothing.”

________ 

“We’re having a guest today,” is the first thing Emet says upon seeing her. A vague part of her wonders about the usage of we, but before she can ask, he’s continued barreling on. “I hope you won’t mind. He’s so dreadfully boring, and I need the entertainment.”

She wonders, faintly, if that’s all that she is, entertainment, but says nothing. He reaches one arm across her shoulders, pressing a palm to her shoulder blade and pulling her along with him. Despite her brief tensing at the initial touch, she has no real complaint.

“Do you know how to make tea?” he asks abruptly as he shows her into the currently empty lounge. “Specifically herbal ones. Or those fancy flowery ones. Carlin is quite fond of those.”

To say she’s a little surprised at the question is an understatement. How coincidental --

She helps -- and partially owns -- a small herbal shop with her parents. It doesn’t bring in much money...the reason for her having to take on this job. But if there is one thing Arianna knows how to make, it’s tea, and how to brew it depending on the components used.

Yes.

There’s a small amount of hesitation as she stares down at her phone screen.

“Really? Then -- ”

But even Emet pauses once he sees her writing something else.

I know about all sorts of teas, and herbs, and flowers.

His mouth curves sharply. “Really,” he repeats. “How very confident. Then you’ll be perfect for impressing him. Or at least keeping him satisfied.” The architect’s shoulders sag as he sighs heavily. “Hopefully it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

He clicks his teeth, claps his hands together.

“Well, no matter. I trust you to help me -- sit a moment.” He sinks into one of the red, plush sofas that flank the low coffee table, and gestures to the seat next to him. She perches there nervously, hands clasped together, though she looks him in the eye, and he smirks again.

“As I’ve said, he enjoys his tea. And unfortunately I must keep him entertained whilst being irrevocably bored...it’s for a business deal. I don’t think you’ll have to do much of anything other than serve tea and sit there looking pretty. Certainly don’t worry about talking to him. You’d find him boring, anyway.”

Absently, she wonders how he absolutely knows she would be bored of the man’s company, but supposes it must mean that is just how dull Carlin is.

“Now,” the architect continues, brushing at a bit of imaginary lint on his knee, “I suppose I should have asked you earlier, but do you know of any teas that, mmm...promote a relaxed mind?”

Ah...perhaps Emet wishes to push this in his favour through the oh so magical assistance of herbs. She averts her gaze for a moment, considering the question. She taps the screen of her phone before she writes out a list for him.

Helichrysum, lavender, ginger, and chamomile.

Whilst it likely wouldn’t be the magic broth he was hoping for, it would help with things a bit. And at the very least it would taste nice, especially with some sweetness.

I would need a bit of time to prepare it.

The man smirks. “Then consider that your work for today. I shall arrange for the ingredients for you, and you can make that tea for me. And sit with me while I have to keep Carlin company and convince him to buy something from me.”

So, a sales call. She recalls his other request.

How am I supposed to keep you entertained?

He shrugs. “I’ll finally have something nice to look at.”

Arianna tries to pretend no heat rises to her face. His comment had been too flippant to be serious.

True to his words, he has the ingredients she’d requested brought to her, and gives her free reign of the rather sizable kitchen to do what she needs. It’s nothing too complicated, but it’s good she has a few hours until the architect’s meeting.

Once the appointed time does roll around, she’s shown back to the lounge area, carrying a tray with two small teacups and a medium-sized kettle of her brew, as well as two small containers of sugar and honey. It’s not especially heavy, and she manages to place it upon the table without making a mess. She exhales a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

“Ah, excellent,” Emet begins, glancing toward her. “This is my maid, Arianna. She has some tea for us.”

She manages a vague smile in the other man -- Carlin’s -- direction. A dark-haired man dressed in a suit, like Emet, though perhaps not as well-fitted. His shirt rides up his wrists as he moves.

“Oh, a new one?” Carlin blinks at her with dark eyes. “I didn’t expect you to ever find someone else after the last made away with your watches.”

Emet’s laugh is sharp. “Not to worry, she’s not the thieving type...unless, I suppose, she’s after my heart. She’s quite adorable.”

At Arianna’s abject stare, he waves a hand plaintively. “It’s only a joke. Now, Carlin, how about you tell her how you like your tea? She doesn’t speak.”

“I was unaware you had such fancies, Selch.”

“What...? Oh, no, she genuinely cannot speak.” He sounds vaguely annoyed, a faint tapping of his foot that seems to indicate his patience thins. “How did you say you liked your tea sweetened again? I believe she’s brought us honey, and sugar.”

“And I was only joking as well.” Carlin glances toward her finally, and she cannot help but tense. “Sugar, please, two spoonfuls.”

The two men make lighthearted discussion as she pours and sweetens their teas (”Sugar for me, too, my dear,” Emet mutters distractedly). The aroma is pleasant and herby and earthy, makes her rather want a drink for herself. She places the first cup near their guest, then gives the second to Emet’s outstretched hands. When he sees her continue to stand near the table awkwardly, he gestures to the seat next to him.

“Well? Sit. If you like.”

Arianna feels equally as awkward sitting in their company, but he had asked initially, and so...she sits, apprehensive, hands clasped together.

“My, this is wonderful tea,” Carlin says abruptly, having sampled his beverage. “Where on earth did you buy it?”

“Arianna made it,” Emet says with a wide smirk. “I’d have to ask you to thank her.” His words sent another spike of anxiousness through her as she glances toward Carlin. The smile their guest gives her is warm.

“Thank you, miss Arianna. It truly is very nice.” She gives him a sickly smile and a vague nod-bow in return, her fingers curling tighter against each other. She’d daresay she might leave marks on her own skin. How she hates being put on the spot like this. “I might even have to steal her from you, Emet.”

“Oh, I think not.”

There’s laughter in the air, but she’s too caught up in her own head to notice the derision or iciness in it. Instead, she keeps her gaze trained steadily upon the table as she tries to imagine herself somewhere far away.

Perhaps it’s that desperate attempt at self-distraction that results in her downfall -- as she’s pouring Carlin’s second cup, her shaking hands spill the hot tea over the side of the cup, onto her other hand. The hot water touches to her fingers. Her jaw clenches as she drops the kettle; it clatters against the table but to her surprise does not break.

“Ah.” Emet makes a quiet sound; by reflex she glances at him as she clutches her hand. With a hurried, vague bow, she all but flies from the room, pain throbbing up her arm.

It shouldn’t be very bad, but it’ll get worse if she doesn’t get any water on it --

Hurrying into the nearest bathroom, she turns on the water and sticks her hand beneath the facet. The coldness is an immediate relief, but it can’t help with the incessant pounding in her chest and the guilt that settles upon her. She was supposed to be helping him -- instead all she’s done is made herself a laughingstock.

When the pain finally fades after she pulls her hand away, she supposes...she should go back. But she’s taken so awfully long, she wouldn’t be surprised if they’d already finished, or if Emet’s already so displeased with her that he simply doesn’t wish to see her in there again, or if perhaps he’s fired her.

But she’ll never find out if she doesn’t go back...

So with much trepidation, she slinks back toward the lounge.

“Welcome back, Arianna.” Emet doesn’t sound cross in the slightest; he merely smiles and gestures toward a third cup that hadn’t been there before. “Sit. Your tea.” He pushes it along the table, toward her. Her blood pressure and adrenaline spike -- visualising the cup falling over and spilling all its contents -- and she quickly reaches out to grab it. Miraculously, it manages not to spill on its very short journey.

Confused, but not ungrateful, she slowly sinks back onto the couch, sipping at her drink.

Arrangements had gone well, even in her absence, and even at her return. Even halfway through her daydreams, she hears as Emet clinches his business deal with Carlin, apparently self-satisfied.

________

“Texting the boyfriend?”

His voice startles her, and she looks up from her phone, blinking owlishly at the architect as he, once again, sees fit to approach her on her break.

Harass? Annoy? Those don’t quite fit, she supposes.

She’s sitting on the sofa in the book room, the novel she’d been reading earlier abandoned on her lap. She’d gotten a sudden fit of inspiration and simply had to write, a continuation for one of the stories on her laptop.

No...I don’t have one.

She’s not sure what prompts her to say this, but it feels important. She doesn’t have a boyfriend.

“No?” He sounds incredulous. “I find it hard to believe with how you were near-giggling at your screen.

-- He seems quite pushy today. Vaguely, she wonders why. And why it should even matter.

I don’t.

She hesitates, before tapping another message to him.

I was just writing.

She��d hoped this would throw him off, but it seems to only pique his interest further.

“Writing?” He’s not invited, but he sits down next to her, anyway. Reflexively, she shifts so as to make her phone less easy to see. “Are you a writer, Arianna?” He leans into her personal space, one arm laxly upon the back of the couch behind her, though for some reason she does not find that she minds overmuch.

I’m not a writer. I just like writing.

“Doesn’t that precisely make you one?”

I’m not even published. I don’t think I ever will be.

He sighs loudly. “Why? Do you think your stories are bad?” He doesn’t wait for a response. “I’m certain they aren’t. Besides, if you so enjoy writing them, then that certainly translates into your work. And others will be able to see it too, when they read. If you ever decide to publish.” His head tilts to the side as he regards her. “You should have more confidence in yourself.”

To say she would have expected him to ever give her some sort of heart to heart...would be a lie. She stares at him for a few long moments after his short speech, silent even as he stands and brushes imaginary lint from his knee.

“Well, I won’t bother you anymore.” He pauses, opens his mouth as if he wants to say more, then shuts it. He snaps his fingers, points at her -- and then makes some sort of motion with his hand.

It takes a moment for her to realise that he’s just signed at her.

A simple sign, the sign for good luck, but it takes her off guard simply because she would have never expected it from him, either. He doesn’t know sign language, after all. Which had to mean he had learnt...something, at least? Why...?

Why had he learnt it -- and such an oddly specific phrase such as that?

“What? Was my signing so good it leaves you completely speechless?” It seems her radio silence strikes a nerve -- his demanding voice catches at her. Is it just her, or can she detect the barest hint of concern in his voice?

Swallowing, she shakes her head, bringing her phone back to life as she hurries to reply to him.

No Yes, your signing was good. You are good. Thank you.

He smirks at the message, and gives her nothing more than a casual wave as he walks off.

________ 

Her employer continues to sign at her more and more often, little words here and there that catch her off-guard. She can’t tell whether she’s touched or simply astounded each and every time. She’s -- never met someone else who would just make the effort to learn sign for her. Not that she meets many people on a familiar basis, but...

She genuinely cannot speak.

She’d been too caught up in the moment to think it then, but she feels somewhat...guilty for what he had said. It’s true that Arianna does not speak, but cannot...is not entirely true.

And more and more, lately, she finds herself wishing to speak to him. Wishing that she had the courage to open her mouth and simply talk, as he does. And yet every time she considers it, she recalls what he had said, or he does one of his signs at her again, and she’s too overcome with emotion to try saying anything at all.

It’s probably somewhat sad that she’s closer to her employer than almost anyone else, to the point of desiring to let him hear her voice. But she would like him to. Hear her.

But wouldn’t he be cross once he found out she’d lied? He might even ask her to leave. Who knows, perhaps he prefers her not speaking, perhaps it makes things easier for him to fiddle with his phone whenever he’s around her...

At least even she can tell that thought is absurd.

But still. Knowing it doesn’t kill the thought.

Arianna can nevertheless not help the nervousness that rises up within her as she considers the idea. How would she even breach the subject? Just walk up to him and start talking? Should she text him first? Is this really something she should be thinking about so much? It probably is. But it should be so much simpler...

He’s not a friend of hers. So her thoughts are pointless. Perhaps it’s pointless to even...

“Arianna?”

She’s startled from her tumultuous thoughts by the voice of the very person she’d been thinking of. He peers at her over her shoulder, one hand raised in front of her as if he’d been waving it in her face. One eyebrow quirks. His champagne-coloured eyes seem amused.

“There you are. I was beginning to think you’d gone deaf, too.”

Oh. She must have spaced out as she was crossing the hallway. She...

Shaking her head, she quickly fishes out her phone. Pauses. She upturns her gaze to look at him again, blinking questioningly.  Her fingers tighten their grip upon her cellphone, and she can’t help but avert her gaze before she tries.

“D-d-did you need some...thing...?” Her voice is so painfully quiet and soft that she cannot help but think he hadn’t heard her. Or maybe hope he hadn’t. This was an idiotic idea anyway, she should have never --

“Hmm? No, I just -- what?” But his voice rings out loud and clear as it always does -- at least initially. He sounds absolutely shocked. “Did you just speak?”

She taps her fingers on the phone and shuts her eyes as she tries to control the veritable maelstrom of emotions threatening to keel her over. “Y-yes...?” Oh, this was a mistake, a mistake, she should have never --

“Then why didn’t you ever before?”

“Um....” Finally, she manages to look at him -- but his bemused, astonished face is too much for her. She finds the words she’d wanted to say are lost.

I am sorry. I just am nervous about speaking around strangers.

He doesn’t reply, and it even seems to take him a while to look at his phone. She’s not sure because she’s not looking at him.

“So we’re not strangers, are we? Does that make us friends?”

That question had been ringing around in her own head, too, but -- did that mean he entertained similar thoughts? Shyly, she manages to glance at him again. He’s still looking at her, and his gaze holds hers.

“I-if you...want...?” she manages after a moment. She can’t just say yes -- she’s not sure if he’s simply being flippant or if this is something he’s genuinely serious about. She can’t read his expression.

His mouth curves. “Then perhaps we are.”

________

Emet isn’t often in the lounge when she goes in to clean it, but she at least isn’t surprised seeing him. There is, however, another man within the room...and she had not been informed prior they would have any visitors. He has light brown hair, tied into a short ponytail, and an easy, carefree smile. And he looks far too at home as he stretches out on Emet’s couch, seemingly without a care in the world.

Arianna turns slowly toward her employer, making a simple gesture in the man’s direction and blinking up at Emet. It’s a simple word, the word for who, but she’s not certain he’ll get it. Thankfully, however, her non-verbal question seems to be completely understood.

“An annoyance,” is all Emet grumbles out. The man gives a loud guffaw, and Arianna’s pulse skyrockets as he swings himself over the back of the couch. Blessedly, he just barely manages to avoid smacking into one of the more expensive-looking vases on the table behind it.

“Is that really any way to treat your best friend?” the strange man asks, swinging an arm about Emet’s shoulders laxly. “I’m Hyth.” He directs a smile toward Arianna. “You are...?”

The question is somewhat surprising, though she fishes her phone out of her pocket regardless to type something up. Hyth must have made an inquiring gesture, since she hears Emet speak a moment later.

“She’s mute. She won’t talk to you, at any rate. Just wait.”

Hyth doesn’t seem to have a response -- at least not a verbal one. After a moment, Arianna finally holds her phone out for him to read, and he leans in.

My name is Arianna. It’s nice to meet you, Hyth.

“Arianna,” he repeats thoughtfully. “Right, he told me about you. It’s nice to meet you, too. Though I don’t want to exactly keep you from your duties, if I’m disturbing -- ”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Emet interrupts, waving a hand carelessly. “She doesn’t have much else to do today. I don’t mind. My friend should probably meet my other friend, anyway.”

A silence settles upon the room.

“A friend?” Hyth repeats in amazement. “You have a friend?” He smacks a hand to his chest. “You’re growing up, Emet. I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Oh, do shut up.”

Arianna has to lift a hand to touch her mouth, as if to stop the beginnings of a laugh from breaking through. She doesn’t notice the architect tilting his head at her.

“Hyth and I were about to get some lunch,” he addresses her, then pauses. “Would you like to come with us? You can change, of course. Perhaps you even should. If you’re going.”

He keeps shocking her. Perhaps she should just expect to be caught off-guard and not pay it any heed.

“You don’t have to.” Her silence is answered by a further assurance.

Would you really like me to come?

The architect shrugs his shoulders. “I won’t answer that, if you’re trying to get me to tell you to come. You have to decide that on your own.”

“Oh? Do you often tell her what to do, Emet?”

“You’re not helping.”

The exchange has Arianna fiddling with her phone uncertainly. Her green gaze flicks from her employer to his supposed best friend, and bites her lower lip hard before she looks back to her phone.

Then, I would like to go with you.

________

Their relationship (? is it one?) has felt more and more lax lately. She’s come to send him small snippets of her stories -- typically after he sends her a text complaining he’s bored. There are many of these.

He sends her many more texts in general lately, too. When he’s not at the house, he’ll find a way to talk to her regardless. Occasionally he chides her for responding when she theoretically shouldn’t even be on her phone -- but he’s never complained, past her initial fright that, maybe, he was serious and it was actually a test of some kind --

He just wants to talk. Which is fine. They are, Arianna supposes, friends, despite...everything.

Even in the evening, when she’s home, she’s taken to sending him a quick good night.

And he frequently complains of -- in his opinion -- nosy or irritating clients of his. She feels bad for occasionally laughing at what are most certainly not jokes, but she can’t help but find his typing amusing.

It’s rare for him to be around when she leaves for the night, but tonight she just so happens to bump into him as she exits the front door. Emet stops stock still.

“Oh? Going home?” Emet asks conversationally, not appearing to be in any sort of hurry. The air smells of cut grass and vaguely of his cologne.

“Yes. I -- I hope you had a good day,:” she says with a mild smile, brushing at a few strands of her dark hair on reflex.

“I suppose I did.” He seems to consider something. “I suppose I should praise you for all the work you’re doing for me.” There’s something vaguely awkward in his posture as he adjusts one of his cufflinks -- an ungainliness that swiftly disappears, replaced by an air of smugness. “Well, you’ve done a good job. You were a good girl today.”

She blinks rapidly in shock. It takes several seconds for what should be simply a flippant joke to sink in. It is nothing more than a simple joke, at least to him. There’s nothing to the words.

Then why on earth do they set her whole body abuzz, her face burning up as if aflame?

Slapping her palms to her face, she reels away from him, trying very hard to rationalise the travesty that just occurred. Even Emet looks shocked, and she’s not sure whether she’s relieved or feels even more mortified by this fact. It was just -- he just...

Ah, there must be something wrong with her.

Thus, she does the only sensible thing in this situation.

That is to say, she all but flies across the pavement to put the estate and him far behind her.

________

She is convinced.

He’s trying to drive her insane.

Or maybe it’s simply her overactive imagination. That could be it, too.

But that is a rather hard assumption to make when he makes a comment that his lunch had been good and says it in a very particular way as he waits for her reaction. What she hates most, however, is that a part of her is very expectant for him to say...something else.

She absolutely hates it.

He’s never going to say that again, nor should she ever want him to. She doesn’t even understand why she reacted so ridiculously, nor why it should ever matter to her. It doesn’t and it won’t. It’s not...it doesn’t mean anything.

But she’d like for him to say it again. And she hates that part of her.

She’s lost in thought again today as she dusts at the books and shelves in the book room, occasionally fluffing out her duster when necessary. Her mind weaves a story she’ll want to write down as quickly as possible before she forgets, a tale about a girl stuck in a tower  and the trials she goes through to escape.

“Good girl.”

That silky voice is most definitely not a part of her daydream.

Reeling back into the world of the living, she sucks in a sharp inhalation of breath, dropping the duster in her hand as she whirls to stare up at the man who had snuck up behind her.

He smirks as if he’d just won something, touches her rapidly flushing cheek with his fingers, then his entire palm. “How adorable. I knew you liked it.” His smugness only makes her more and more flustered as she attempts to regain her bearings. Though the moment she thinks she does, she loses them immediately when he cups her other cheek, too, and leans in to kiss her.

Her hands jump to his chest, though she doesn’t push him away. Instead, her fingers curve into his shirt; he pulls away momentarily, only to chase her with another, deeper kiss that has her mind spinning.

________

Later, when they’re tangled together in his silk sheets, Arianna stares at the ceiling as arguably rational thought returns to her.

Ah...she really is an easy lay, isn’t she. Just say the magic words and she’d hop right off into bed...

What should probably be an at least somewhat pleasant moment is summarily ruined by her twisting anxiety and self-disgust. She’s beginning to feel ill, like she wants to vomit.

Inhaling a shaky gasp, she moves to slide herself off of the bed. Emet snatches at her, pulling her back to blink up at her with a vaguely annoyed gaze.

“Where are you going?” he asks, narrowing golden eyes.

“I — ah...t-that is...” She has no idea how to answer him. Where is she going? Fumbling blankly, she trips over an explanation. “B-back to work...?”

It’s, at least, a somewhat better answer than simply leaving.

He gives her a slow, exceptionally expressive blink. He’s clearly unimpressed by her response.

“Why...? Hmm — that reminds me...your job is to clean, yes...?”

Now it’s her turn to give him a blank blink. “Y-yes?”

The bemused expression turns sharp, his mouth curving. His gaze rakes down her body, and she suddenly remembers she’s very much unclothed. “Then clean me instead.”

The disgust and unease dissipate all at once to be replaced by pure bewilderment, and for one confusing moment she’s left wondering if this was possibly at all on purpose. Shaking her head, she averts her gaze as a deep flush crosses her features.

“Th-that is — I — I-I’ll get a b-bath running, then...”

“Oh, really?” he purrs from his languid pose upon the bed. “That sounds wonderful.” He finally lets go of her, calmly folding his arms beneath his head. As he all but leers at her, she’s abruptly reminded of the fact that not only is she naked but she’s also offered to walk across to the restroom —

“S-stop looking at me,” she stammers, instinctively drawing her arms over her chest. “Please.” Added, after a moment’s thought.

“But there’s so much to look at.” Despite his statement, Emet doesn’t protest; instead, he rolls onto his side to face his back toward her.

She’s left to strew in thoughts of bewilderment and confusion as she stumbles into the bathroom, a bathrobe he’d told her she could borrow for the moment tossed over her shoulders. She’s been in here before — having cleaned it up — so it’s easy enough to find what she needs to get the bathtub in a state suitable for...bathing.

The architect is dosing when she goes to inform him the restroom is ready.

“Oh, good.” His voice is vaguely husky from sleep. “We can take a bath.”

The word gives her pause. “‘We’...?” she repeats uncertainly, sure she’d misheard or that he had misspoke.

“Yes,” he says pleasantly, flashing her a smile as he pushes himself off the bed. Arianna looks away discreetly, brushing her fingers through a few strands of her dark hair. Apparently he sees no need for a robe for himself. “There’s room enough for two, I should think.”

She almost gives in to the urge to look at him again, if only because for some reason she can’t quite tell if he’s playing with her or not.

“Oh, and,” he continues, snapping his fingers, “you don’t work here anymore.”

All at once, the feelings from earlier come crashing down on her. “Ah...” She feels sick. Of course she’d been right. Nothing more than —

“I can’t have my sweetheart working as a servant girl, can I?” One of his hands comes up to hook beneath her chin, pulling her to look up at him. She momentarily finds herself unable to breathe, mind similarly blank. The smirk he gives her feels vaguely fond. “Oh, but don’t worry. If you still want to be my maid that badly, we can always play in bed~.”

More than the burning sensation to her cheeks, she feels like she’s about to get whiplash. Pulling away from him, she slaps her hands to her face.

“Wh-wh-what are you...?” She stumbles uselessly over her words, not even sure what she wants to ask him. And she absolutely hates the tiny glimmer of hope that dares to peek its way out even as he laughs at her. “A-are you playing with me?” she finally manages to ask, simultaneously dreading and wanting the answer.

“Why on earth would I be playing with you right now?” Emet scoffs lightly. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was annoyed. “You may be adorable like this, but I think I’m not that cruel. I’m completely, utterly serious.” There’s a moment of silence, wherein she dares to look up at him again. It’s only then that he continues. “Well, if you want me to be serious, that is. If I was mistaken in my assumption you were interested in me in that way, I’d be ha — mm, that would be a lie, actually. Either way, if that turns out to be the case, we can put this behind us. Figuratively, and literally.” The man exhales a heavy sigh, as if the speech had exhausted him more so than any other activities they’d done together. “So? What is your answer, my dear?”

“I — ”

Just a few minutes ago, she’d thought he had seen her as nothing more than a quick bit of amusement. Perhaps, at the back of her mind, Arianna still thought that, but for the moment such assumptions were thrown to the wayside by the veritable roller coaster she’d just been on. — Though really, perhaps that was part of why she, unfortunately, liked him. Even as simply an employer...

But he wants her answer — as to whether they’re something more than that. Properly, not simply some sort of tryst.

Of course they’re not. She never wanted them to be something like that in the first place. And, maybe, neither did he?

Oh, but the thought of having to actually put that all into words...perhaps it makes her feel even more ill than just a few short minutes ago when she’d been convinced he merely saw her as a toy...

Biting her lower lip hard, the hyuran woman slowly lowers her hands from her face, tilting her head up to look at him once more. He’s simply...looking back at her, calmly. For once, there’s no smirk upon his face, nor any sort of trace of irony. He’s just...waiting.

Which only makes her remember that he expects her to speak...

“Ah...w-well...” Averting her gaze yet another time, she fidgets with the folds of the robe, trying to concentrate on the texture. Perhaps thinking of anything else will help her ground herself. Just. Anything.

Anything aside from what he’s asking her to say.

Swallowing nervously, she summons the courage to look up at him again. He’s calm, completely unobtrusive — he doesn’t even try to lean into her personal space. He’s just...waiting.

“Um, I...” She starts, trails off nervously, and finds herself looking away again. “You’re not — you’re not...wrong...” It’s somehow easier to speak when she’s not looking at him. “I am...i-inter...ested...” And her voice grows quieter and quieter with each syllable, until it dissipates entirely. She touches anxiously at her hair as she waits with bated breath for him to do...anything.

He gives a soft exhalation that seems a little like relief, his shoulders sagging. Perhaps he’d been holding his breath, too --

“Wonderful.” He sounds just a little tired. “In that case...” He clears his throat, putting a hand lightly upon her shoulder to coax her to look at him. Is it just her imagination or -- “Would you like to bathe with me...? I know I said ‘we’ would, but if you’d rather not, you can, of course, stay...here, if you like.”

Another question that has her reeling at the implications of answering it, and another moment he is, for once, not trying to get her to blush -- she’s doing that all on her own just fine.

This doesn’t take nearly that much long to think about, either.

“I-I...wouldn’t...mind...”

“Oh...” She can’t tell if he’s surprised or simply pleased. “Well then.” This time Emet does smirk, though there’s less of a bite to it than usual. He slides his arm about her shoulders and herds her along with him toward the bathroom, though he stops right outside the door. “That reminds me. There’s a gala in about...a week. Hyth’s thing -- he likes art. I wanted to ask if you’d come with me? As my date.”

The question gives her pause, looking up at him in bemusement. “I don’t think -- I’d really have anything to wear...? To something like...that, anyway...”

“It’s no matter.” He waves his other hand carelessly. “I can arrange for something. So. Will you come with me? There will...be a lot of people, unfortunately, but it’s not as if you have to talk to any of them. I’d simply enjoy your company, is all.” He looks as if he’s about to say more, though for some reason he seems to think better of it and bites his tongue.

“Then I -- then I don’t mind. I-I’d like to go with you.”

To her surprise, he leans down to press a chaste kiss to her temple that has scarlet creeping up her face.

“Thank you, my dear.”

________

There’s many...changes leading up to the gala. For starters, Emet weasels his way into meeting her parents...an appointment she isn’t sure she’s looking forward to or dreading. She at least hopes her parents approve...she still isn’t quite sure how to explain her current situation to them --

He doesn’t want her to clean or do any chores like she used to, other than, perhaps, cook, “if she’d like”. And, of course, he still requests she come around just as much, except this time to make herself at home.

“How refreshing to see you out of that uniform,” he muses aloud upon first seeing her in something else. “Though I think you’d look even better with that on my floor~.”

She’s not sure whether it’s good or not that she’s learning not to be taken so off-guard by such flippant comments.

He’s even hired a new maid, someone other than her, to wander around the place and clean up, just as she had. She doesn’t know much about the other hyuran woman; only that she seems about the same age, has brown hair reminiscent of Hyth’s, and doesn’t seem nearly as bothered by showing skin as Arianna is.

The woman, Alice, drags a vacuum down the hallway, visible and audible from Arianna’s perch in the book room. Her green eyes slide up from her novel to watch the woman absentmindedly.

And it makes her wonder -- was Emet only interested in her because she was a maid? There were some men like that, weren’t there? Interested in maids because of the thrill of some easily accessible fun. Something she’d given him so very easily.

Was it because she’d wandered into bed with him like some cheap --

“Darling.” Emet’s voice cuts through her thoughts like a knife. On autopilot, she reflexively smacks her book shut, somehow managing to not jump in her seat. He circles around the sofa to peer down at her curiously. One eyebrow quirks. “Something wrong?”

“I-I -- um -- ” Her green eyes flick from him, to Alice, moving her vacuuming to another room. “Nothing...”

“Hmm.” All he gives her for the moment is a quiet hum. She’s not sure he’s convinced. But he doesn’t ask. Instead, he pulls a nondescript white box out from one of his coat pockets. “Here. I got you something, for tonight.”

“Wha -- ” She stares at him for a moment in shock, her gaze flicking from the box, to his face, and back again. He looks entirely too pleased with himself. “For me...?”

“Yes, I did say that, didn’t I?” His lips quirk. “Are you going to take it, or shall I open it for you?”

She’s still shell-shocked, but before she can think better of it, she’s pushed the book off her lap and taken the box from him. Opening it reveals -- a delicate hair ornament. It’s a composition of small blue flowers and blue butterflies, some connected by fragile-looking chains of silver and gold, some links hanging down to lie within one’s hair while it’s worn. It’s one of -- perhaps the most pretty piece of jewelry she’s ever seen. Her brows furrow in vague concern, and she opens her mouth, about to speak; however, he shakes a finger in front of her face before she can do so.

“Please don’t ask me if it’s for you again,” he says, looking somewhat amused. “It is, entirely, for you, my dear. I do hope you like it. I saw it the other day, and -- it reminded me of you.”

Swallowing, Arianna clicks her mouth shut, turning the hairpiece over gently in her hands. She’s almost afraid to touch it too much lest she break it.

“Th-thank you -- it’s beautiful, but I -- can’t wear something l-like this...”

How much had it cost him? It looks expensive, and if he puts his mind to something, he isn’t the sort to do things in halves.

“Nonsense. You have hair, don’t you?” Emet reaches to lightly brush fingers through a curled strand. “Of course you can wear it.”

She bites her lower lip. “Y-you know what I mean...”

“I’m afraid not.”

Ah. He’s being stubborn, then.

Well, she supposes, so is she.

Swallowing, she gently places it back into its box. “I-it’s truly -- very beautiful -- thank you, Emet...” Putting the box onto the book beside her, she slowly stands up, brushing her hands nervously through her hair.

“You’re very welcome. I’m gla -- ”

For once, she surprises him when she musters the courage to lean up and give him a kiss on the cheek. Just before she glances away out of embarrassment, she’s able to see a pale hint of redness to his cheeks. Instead of responding, the man looks away, clearing his throat.

She’s at least glad he can lose his words, too -- 

“Now, ah, how about you go pick out a dress? I brought a few back for you.” But he’s far quicker at regaining his composure...so it seems. “I have a few other things I need to take care of before we go. Like the car, for instance.” He clears his throat, touching lightly at her hair again, before turning away. “Oh” -- he pauses just through the doorway -- “and I asked Alice to help you with your makeup. Do you mind?”

Ah --

If she’d used much makeup at all, she would have said “yes”...after all, simply because he had never seen her wearing it to work didn’t mean she didn’t wear it at all...

But he hadn’t been wrong in assuming (had he? or -- ) that she doesn’t wear it typically. So she simply shakes her head mutely.

“Excellent. Then you can talk to her after you’ve finished choosing something -- or tell me, and I’ll send her to you.”

________

In -- his bedroom? their bedroom...? Either way, that is where she finds several dresses arranged on a rack. Whatever likes to make its way out of his mouth when he talks, he’s certainly aware of her preferences. All the dresses are modestly cut and not overly flashy -- apart from one, though even this one she looks through. It’s pretty, even if not something she would choose to wear. In the end she picks out a blue somewhat shimmery dress, held up by straps, to match the hairpiece he’d given her.

She’s not really sure how she feels -- about the idea of Alice being in this room...there’s simply something about it that just rubs her the wrong way. As if anyone could simply go to his room and do what they had done...

Is that really how it is...?

No, he’d -- gotten these pretty things for her, surely that has to mean something.

Alice knocks on the door before entering, smiling at her as she brings in a small box of what is doubtless makeup supplies. Oh, no, this is going to be awkward...

She’s already finding herself wishing Emet were here to gab on and on about something, at least that would make her feel like she’s not being boring or intrusive.

“I’m here to do your makeup!” the other hyuran woman announces. “Take a seat.” There’s only one chair at the desk, so Arianna feels strange sitting there while the other woman stands, but she supposes there’s nothing else she can do about it --

Giving a quiet nod and a smile, she sits down as asked, and Alice stares at her face for a minute before rummaging through her tools. Then, seemingly satisfied with the arsenal she’s picked out, she starts to paint Arianna’s face with them.

A tiny part of her wonders if she’ll make her look like a clown. Or if the colours she’s picked are truly suitable to her and her dress -- covered by a small rectangle of dark fabric the woman had brought with her. But Emet had trusted this woman’s judgement, of all things, so...she supposes she must know what she’s doing.

Unless this is all some elaborate plan to make her look like a clown...

That ornament had been so very pretty, though.

“You and Mr. Selch make a very nice couple,” Alice says a few minutes into applying the colours to her face. The sudden comment -- combined with the amiability with which she says it -- takes the dark-haired woman completely by surprise. Her eyes widen as she stares at the woman calmly brushing rouge onto her cheekbones. She has -- no idea what to do -- and it’s not as if she can talk, she -- 

Does she really think so...?

Nervously, she tries to smile, and nod her head faintly in response -- this only has the other hyur clicking her tongue.

“Don’t move when I’m putting your makeup on, okay? Not even to smile.”

She has to resist the urge to nod her head again. Instead, she curls her fingers together in her lap as her face heats up in embarrassment. The minutes tick by as the woman continues her work, Arianna’s attempts to occupy herself with daydreams proving fruitless because all she can think about is what Alice had  said.

“There! We’re all done,” the woman announces as she clicks a pen shut. “Take a look. Do you like it?”

She feels somewhat apprehensive to look in the mirror, but she steels her nerves and does so anyway. What she sees there leaves her momentarily blank.

She looks -- pretty. And not outrageous or overstated at all...

She likes it.

Blinking -- and trying very hard to stop the ridiculous urge to cry -- she looks toward Alice again, smiling fervently in a way that she hopes conveys her appreciation. Right -- her phone -- quickly getting it, she writes a note, holding it out for the woman to look at. Alice beams at her.

“I’m glad you like it! I was a little worried since you don’t talk, but you’re actually really nice!” The compliment is somewhat backhanded, but she bulldozes on. “I’m sure Mr. Selch will love it! He asked me to take you down to the entrance when you’re ready.”

________

He is, indeed, waiting for them, in a freshly ironed and crisp pinstriped suit. The sight sends mild heat to her cheeks, and Arianna brushes nervously at her loose hair as she approaches.

For a moment, it feels like Alice might as well not be there. He seems to drink her in, admiring her in the dress she’d picked and the makeup she wore for this event.

“You look lovely,” he says after a moment, as if just remembering his voice. “But there’s one more thing...”

“Th -- ” Arianna starts, then stops, remembering Alice -- but when she looks around, the maid is nowhere to be found. When had she left? “Th...the...the hairpin?” she continues uncertainly, turning slowly in a circle before coming to face the man again.

He seems somewhat amused by the display. “I brought it.” He shows her the box on the small desk near the door.

After a moment’s hesitation, she trots over to pick it up, gently pulling the ornament out, before peering into the mirror to begin trying to put it on. However, he steps beside her, stopping her.

“Let me put it on for you.” Carefully taking it from her hands, Emet brushes her dark wavy hair away from her face as he fastens the pin to her hair. This accomplished, he takes her chin in his hand to tip her head up and to the side, narrowing his eyes as he gazes down at her. She can feel a flush rising to her cheeks -- can he see it with the makeup on? -- at this inspection, a strange fluttery sensation that has her unable to breathe as her mouth twists indecisively.

“Beautiful,” Emet says with a smirk in a way that makes her wonder if he’s referring to her or the hairpiece. But she’s momentarily lost her words and simply self-consciously touches at her cheek once he finally lets her go, though not without a chaste kiss. “Are you ready to go?” he asks calmly, holding out a hand toward her. With a shy nod, she takes it gently.

________

The limo ride to the party is airy and light. Emet talks, as he likes to, explaining the history or some such behind the gala, reminiscing about previous events -- and it’s genuinely interesting, hearing about the other interesting people he’s met.

She doesn’t even stop to think about how, perhaps, she is certainly not one of them. That’s how relaxed she is.

Ah, but, the moment he pulls her out of the car, his fingers closed firmly about her hand, and the tinted windows are no longer enough to dull the scene outside...

The house -- or mansion? -- all but nearly bursts with light. She might nearly mistake the evening for day with how brightly lit its decorations pulse. And the other people...

Even in her pretty blue dress and heels and the butterflies in her hair and the necklace of blue gems at her neck, Arianna starts to wonder if she’s underdressed. Surely she doesn’t look like any of them. Not even slightly comparable. And there’s so many people, and they’re just outside...

“You look beautiful,” Emet assures her, squeezing her hand lightly to call her attention to him. “They’ll be so jealous when they see you with me.” He sounds more than slightly pleased at the thought -- perhaps even smug -- as he tugs her along after him, past the small tables and dining guests. She tries very hard not to think about them, of about how they might be looking at her --

But, she thinks blankly, as Emet stops to talk to yet another person Arianna can almost not quite bring herself to look at, she realises...these people don’t know anything about her. Just like she doesn’t know anything about them...

Perhaps that’s a good thing. There’s no reason for them to assume anything about her...just like she can’t really assume -- or shouldn’t -- anything about them...

The thought is enough to calm her, somewhat.

The inside of the house is, paradoxically, darker than the outside; most of the lights seem to be reserved for the pieces of art on display.

Hyth has always liked art. Especially statues. He loves those -- so much that he demands artists display their works at his house. It’s a win-win, he says; advertisement, and he gets to oogle them.

There’s certainly a lot of statues. And paintings. Emet walks with her along most of them, murmuring facts about the artists in her ear, or critiquing those pieces he seems to have a distaste for or amusement in. No one attempts to talk to them, thankfully, and pressed to the architect’s side like this, she can almost imagine they’re all by themselves together.

Before long, they’ve wandered off to take a break at the tables -- a drink and a respite. There’s others here, too, and the fact they’re all merely standing around makes Arianna more anxious -- or dreadful of -- potential small talk. Emet engages one blonde woman before she can speak to him, and absentmindedly she tunes out their conversation in an attempt to gain a bearing on herself.

Carlin...

Wait, where had she heard that name before...?

Almost as if some completely hilarious twist of fate, a man catches Arianna’s eye. She notes a glimmer of recognition in his eyes that sends a sickly feeling into her stomach. Carlin -- Carlin, this is the man that had visited Emet’s estate before. The woman...his wife...?

“You’re the servant girl at Selch’s estate,”  Carlin says, just as she turns her face away. He speaks before she can attempt to remove herself from the situation.

“Was a servant girl,” Emet chimes in helpfully, snatching two champagne glasses from a passing waiter; he hands one to Arianna, who takes it mutely. “As you can see, I’ve brought her here as my date.” He sips at his drink. Arianna tries to, but for some reason the ill feeling grows too strong to be able to concentrate, much less think about sampling the flavour.

“I didn’t take you as one to fall for a gold digger, Emet.”

Ah — there it is. Whatever else Carlin says is drowned out by the roar crashing through her ears. She wants to vomit. She knew it was wrong to come here — to have ever entertained such thoughts at all. Carlin is right — she would have never been here, would never have even looked upon this dress or her hair ornament were it not for Emet. The butterflies feel heavy and bulky fastened in her hair now — her head feels so heavy. She would have ripped the accessory off were it not for the drink flute still clutched in her trembling hands.

Her eyes fill with tears, and she quickly looks away, staring firmly at the floor as she attempts to walk off. There’s no point in being here anymore. She doesn’t care where she goes so long as it’s somewhere far, far away —

But she can’t. Leave. Because for some reason, Emet takes it upon himself to keep her there. His grip upon her upper arm is firm as she’s pulled back next to him. She stumbles in her stupid heels and stares blankly at the crisp lines of his stupid suit. The drink sloshes up the glass walls and drips against her fingers. Shame and embarrassment collide with anger — just what is he doing? Does he want to humiliate her, too? Her throat closes up — even if she’d wanted to, she wouldn’t have been able to tell him off. At least not here. There’s nothing she can do. She’s just a useless gold digger, she wouldn’t have a thing right now if it weren’t for his help —

All at once, the sound of snapping fingers cuts through the noise in her head. All thoughts — stop.

“Oh, I remember now. It was, mm, a week ago I saw you last? Walking out of an exceptionally saucy club, if I must say so myself, a pretty little thing hanging off of your arm. Did you tell your wife about the lovely time you had at the hotel? Crystarium Nights, I believe it was...room 203. That hotel is mine, were you aware? — Oh, my apologies, she does know about this, doesn’t she? It would be quite awkward if she didn’t.”

It’s like he’s speaking in alien tongues. Arianna can’t quite understand or comprehend what he’s saying — none of it makes any sense to her. But Carlin’s face is ashen white, his wife’s slowly turning a furious shade of red bordering on purple.

“I also distinctly recall seeing you at the firm the other day,” Emet continues without missing a beat, his thumb rubbing smooth lines up and down the inside of Arianna’s arm. “If my ears don’t deceive me — and they don’t, I assure you — I remember you bringing up bankruptcy. Do you really have the money to be throwing around at places like this? Just one of these drinks must be a fortune to you. Your wife knows about that too, right? Don’t you, Rosa?”

Despite the devastating things he’s saying, Emet appears utterly nonchalant, taking another sip of his champagne. There’s a malicious, sharp curve to his lips as he stares at the two of them. Rosa Carlin glowers at her husband, her hold upon her own glass of wine white-knuckled.

“Is what he said true?” she demands, her blue eyes narrowing. All the man can do is sputter wordlessly for a moment -- she spills the rest of her drink down his front and walks off angrily.

Carlin stares off in the direction his wife left, then looks toward Emet and Arianna. His mouth opens, shuts, as if he wants to speak, though no words come out. There’s probably nothing he can say. Arianna’s own mind is still blank.

“Perhaps think before you speak next time, Carlin. You should know better than to yap when you have nothing to prove. Now...your very presence irritates me. Go stand slack-jawed elsewhere, would you?” With this final, utter dismissal, the architect finally turns all attention away from the gawping, soaked man. Sighing loudly, Emet uses his grip upon her to tug her toward the mostly empty table where he finally takes a seat.

“How exhausting...” He tilts his head to look at her oddly, in a way that makes her heart do weird flips in her chest. He puts his glass away, then lifts his free hand to touch upon her face; he lightly wipes away the tears she hadn’t even realised were there. Then he lets go of her entirely.

For some reason, that merely makes the lump in her throat grow.

He had -- very soundly told that man off...for her...? She can’t really think of any other reason for the tirade, except perhaps that he simply hadn’t been fond of Carlin...

Swallowing, the black-haired woman places her glass upon the table next to his. Gently, she takes one of his hands in both of hers. He looks up at her in what seems like surprise, peering at her through his fringe of white hair. With a faint, indecisive smile, Arianna shuffles closer to him and leans in; he leans toward her in return as she hovers her lips close to his ear.

“Thank you,” she manages to whisper in the quietest of tones.

For the moment, he does nothing but give a mild hum in response. Tugging gently, he tests her responsiveness before pulling her about him to sit on his lap. She perches somewhat warily on his knee, smoothing her skirt as he shifts positions to draw both his arms about her and rest his cheek on her shoulder. Normally something she wouldn’t -- even consider doing in public, strangely it makes her feel quite...content.

“Well, you are my good girl, aren’t you?” The abrupt murmur has her heart flipping yet again, though somehow the way he says it has her feeling weirdly warm and full of clouds. She lets him pull her even closer, leaning against him as she tries to pretend no one else is there.

Another sharp exhalation leaves the man as his arms tighten about her. “You don’t mind me taking a power nap, do you? Of course you don’t.”

“Going to sleep again?” Hyth’s laughing voice assails them as he strides past in an apparent hurry. “An insult that bruises straight to my very soul.” There’s no malice behind the words; in fact he seems to find this downright hilarious.

“Your party is boring,” Emet growls without even opening his eyes.

Arianna feels her lips curving in fondness; she runs her fingers through his hair gently as he settles again. Then she ducks her head to whisper to him once more.

“Don’t you want to leave, then...?”

This time, he does open his eyes — though only, it seems, to be able to grab a hold of one of her hands and play absentmindedly with her fingers.

“Hmm. I’d hoped to dance with you later, if you didn’t mind.” For some reason, he averts his gaze. She isn’t entirely sure in this lighting, but she thinks she can see the barest tinge of redness rising to his face. “Do you?”

For one who simply assumes or does what he wants either way, the question has her feeling oddly light. Smiling gently, she gives him a soft shake of her head.

“Truly?”

She nods, this time.

He’s silent for a moment, then smiles fondly at her.

“Then I suppose I shall have to make the most of my energy.” The smile turns into a wicked smirk. “Hyth’s favourite dance is salsa.”

When the comprehension dawns to her face, quickly followed by concern, he huffs a laugh.

“I’m only joking. You wouldn’t like a fast dance, I’m sure.”

With another final sigh, he presses his face back to her shoulder and holds her ever closer.

Next (nsfvv and literally plotless, proceed at own risk)

#final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #emet selch #emet selch x wol #emet selch x arianna #arianna rowen #arianna #hythlodaeus #fanfic #my writing #other verses #butler au #w: the dreamer and the architect #mine #stares blankly at the word count #im so sorry #no one is going to read this

[cryxmercy]

Backdraft || Mercy & Arthur

When: A couple of weeks before New Year’s Eve. Immediately following this. Where: Arthur’s office @ the University. Who: Mercy and @arthurjdrake

TW: one mention of preventing potential head trauma, but no actual head trauma; possible memory loss tw (for a few brief moments of confusion)

Sometimes the simplest solution is not the right one. 

By the time Mercy had driven the distance from the house to the University, she’d managed to pull her scattered thoughts into some small semblance of order. She could still feel the unsettling pins and needles sensation across the skin of her arm, and her anxiety thrummed like a swarm of angry bees, but the former had at least faded a bit as she’d distanced herself from the cause. For now at least.

She didn’t linger too long in the parking lot, but also tried not to look hurried as she made her way towards Arthur’s office. As always, she entered without knocking, except this time she closed and locked the door before settling heavily into the chair opposite his desk. Mercy sat there, legs crossed, foot shaking up and down as she worried her lip with her teeth. 

“How’s marking?” she asked after a bit, indicating the enormous pile of papers on his desk (and promptly avoiding the real reason for her visit). “Want some help?” 

Arthur reclined in the aged leather chair a crisp winter breeze stirring some of the coursework papers stacked in piles upon his desk. His eyes tracked back and forth across each line of text as he read, still and quiet save for the lo-fi music drifting out of a bluetooth speaker on the shelf. Occasionally the stillness was broken with a reach for his fourth freshly brewed cup of coffee, a sip before its return to the ornate coffee mat off to one side of the desk. 

The process was methodical, reading through the coursework before a second read through was taken with pen to paper marking addendums or eliminations of unnecessary or particularly insightful details. And then the tedious task of checking each citation list for formatting errors - the most boring part of the process admittedly.

It wasn’t surprising for Mercy to arrive unannounced and deposit herself in the chair opposite and Arthur didn’t look up initially though the click of the lock was different. A flicker of his eyes followed, a quick track from the door to Mercy and then back in a fraction of a second until he finished reading and set the paper aside. “Honestly I’m actually almost done with them,” it wasn’t entirely true but it was clear as day she was skirting around something. “I’m surprised you came down. I’m almost done for the day to be honest.”

Mercy wasn’t bothered when Arthur didn’t immediately look up from his marking. It wasn’t as if her presence was anything unusual at this point, even if her behavior was slightly out of the ordinary this time. His decline of her offer to help was acknowledged with a distracted hum instead of Mercy’s usual sarcasm or witty retort, and although the rest of what Arthur said wasn’t phrased as a question, they had known each other long enough to know when one was being asked.  

This time it was Mercy’s gaze that flickered towards Arthur before sliding over the papers on his desk, and then to the other neatly stacked piles of letters and correspondence that sat here and there. She even glanced towards the rubbish bin, but there was nothing that caught her eye. Best get on with it then. 

“A letter came for me today.” At first, it sounded like nothing unusual. Everyone received letters in the mail on occasion. It was the addendum to that statement that made all the difference. 

“A Black Letter.” 

Arthur knew it was simply a matter of time, he didn’t need to probe or ask to know that eventually an answer to why she was here would present itself. He waited, giving her time to process and search for the words she wanted to put together, and as expected it came not much later. A letter. Not all that strange but he was sure there would be something that set this mail apart. 

The scratch of his fountain pen stilled with the further clarification; a dark blot staining the paper as the ink bled out his hesitation. The stark proof of his conflicted thoughts and feelings towards this revelation laid bare. 

Firstly: relief over the simple fact he hadn’t received such a notification himself. Wasn’t apparently still bound to a contract he too had signed and agreed to.

Secondly: ire that Mercy was still beholden to a contract signed such a long period of time ago which was somehow being seen as something she was beholden to act upon. It was nonsensical and illogical and made his blood steam in his veins. 

The ink continued to run for several long moments before Arthur finally retracted the pen and set it aside, cracking his knuckles individually as he finally looked at Mercy across the desk. “What do they want?”

A small furrow appeared in Mercy’s brow as she watched the ink blot spread across the paper. Further proof that Arthur hadn’t received a letter of his own. If he had, he would have already been aware of the fact. So she knew he had to be relieved. Why wouldn’t he be? He was a different person now, wasn’t he? The man that had signed that contract so many years ago now had long since died and been reborn. Many times over. 

Unlike Mercy. Who was as she’d always been. And always would be. 

But even so… surely there was a statute of limitations on such a thing? Surely she wasn’t beholden to a contract signed nearly half a millennium ago. Surely there was some mistake. 

The ache in her arm told her otherwise. 

So Mercy waited as Arthur absorbed the information. All the while, a voice in her head whispered ‘See? It doesn’t matter what you do… or who you try to be… how you try to live… you will never find peace… you will never be free…’ 

Fingers pressed against her temple as she forced the voice into silence. As she did, Arthur asked his question, to which Mercy could only shake her head. “I don’t know. I didn’t touch it yet.” Her hand flexed. “I thought you might’ve-” But she stopped short, letting out a sharp huff of air. Mercy set her jaw, her next words coming far steadier than she herself felt. “But I don’t suppose you would’ve. That’s good. That’s-” She nodded once, flexed her hand again. “- good.” And it was. She wouldn’t wish this on Arthur. Not ever.  

A bit of silence followed, until finally Mercy seemed to deflate.

“I don’t want to read it. I don’t… want anything to do with it.” She looked up at him finally, her eyes full of shadows. “I’m tired, Ren. I’m just… so fucking tired…”

Absentmindedly Arthur started to lightly pull at the sleeve of his jumper, worrying the fabric in thought now that his pen was out of his hand. It was an old habit, one that seemed to transcend lifetimes. To fiddle with any one of the many little knick knacks scattered across his desk and failing that stretch the sleeves of his jumpers into paws when his brain started to work overtime.

His eyes fixed on the letter, wondering just what the contents might pertain to. What they would want after all this time. Surely their contracts were done. Null and void to the dusts of time. But apparently not. How many more times would this happen across their lives? Something from centuries past cropping up to haunt them with living nightmares. “No it isn’t,” the words came out sharper than intended and a scowl marred his expression “no it isn’t good. This” he punctuated jabbing a finger at the letter “isn’t fair.” 

The silence that followed was deafening and Arthur’s scowl only deepened the more he looked at the letter.

“Then we burn it. We get rid of it. No letter no message.” It wasn’t that simple. It never was, but he had to suggest it at least. 

Mercy’s eyes drifted to Arthur’s hands, watching the familiar habit with a mixture of fondness and worry. Her thoughts moved in the same vein as his: how many more times would their past come back to haunt them? How many years - how many lifetimes - would they have to live before they were allowed to simply… be? Obviously 400 years didn’t mean that particular quota. 

It wasn’t until Arthur spoke that Mercy looked up again. Her frown deepened, and for just a moment she wanted to explain that she’d meant it was good that he hadn’t received a letter as well. But Mercy knew Arthur was perfectly aware of what she’d meant. So his anger wasn’t surprising. Part of Mercy was even glad for it… needed it even. But only because it solidified what she already knew: that they would find a way through this. Together. 

“No. It’s not.” Mercy’s scowl grew to nearly match Arthur’s as she watched him stare at the letter. 

The suggestion of simply burning the damn thing gave Mercy pause. Had they tried that before? Gods it had been so long ago… But the letter was still sealed. So whatever ‘contract’ lay inside was still inactive. Perhaps with enough of the right sort of fire, they could be shot of it. 

“It’s worth a try,” Mercy said. Though it was never that simple, was it? “We should go home. The firepit on the back porch should work fine.” Mercy stood, knowing Arthur would never be able to concentrate on his marking now, and feeling a wash of guilt - and the stirring of old fears - that couldn’t be helped. “I’m sorry, Ren, I- I thought this was behind me. Behind us.” 

There was something to be said about his tactile nature, a need to always have something on his person to keep his hands occupied and distracted. On the occasions he didn’t have any such object or item to fiddle or fidget, his fingers often sought out other alternatives. Such as his jumper, though it was typically the rotating dial on his iron plated watch. Today in his distraction though the cotton stretched over his fingers as he proceeded to rub his scruff lined chin idly with his thumb. “No,” he agreed, echoing her own words in his contemplation of the scenario, “no it’s not.”

He released the sleeves with a final huff and leaned forwards, snagging the letter and bringing it up to study intensely while Mercy answered. Why couldn’t they burn it? Surely that would be enough. If the letter wasn’t opened. If it simply… ceased to be. Perhaps it would buy them time to figure out what they needed to do in the interim. “Don’t be sorry,” his eyes flickered up from the intense stare he was currently directing towards the letter, the intensity of his expression easing into something softer. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” 

Without another word his attention returned once again to the thick folded parchment, the wax seal pressed in to hold it shut and the intensity of his focus narrowed to a pinpoint. He imagined each particle of the paper vibrating at an infinite frequency beyond what the eye could see, gradually building in frequency. He thought of the countless firesides the two of them had sat beside, sometimes in jovial jest and others in sorrowful grief, the warmth of drink in their cups and laughter in the air. But each fire began with a spark and he willed that spark to ignite here. To burn the very paper in his hands.

What Arthur failed to notice was the creeping drop in temperature, the heat being drawn forth and consumed, much as stars are crushed in the void of space. Infinite and precise, but where typically a flame would spark, curling the edges of the paper into a burning cinder his brow furrowed. 

Nothing. 

No spark. 

Absolutely nothing. 

There were few things in the world that could unsettle Mercy quite so abruptly as a Black Letter. Once, it had been a means to an end. A way to serve a purpose. A way to put her unique ‘talents’ to good use. Or so she’d thought. So they’d both thought. Arthur had been there too, right alongside her. Looking for something to help make sense out of so many lifetimes come and gone. And they had done good things back then, thievery and subterfuge aside. They had saved lives in keeping what wasn’t meant for humans out of their hands. But the altruism had eventually turned to something else. Something greedy and wicked that she and Arthur had been bound to regardless of their personal feelings. 

But they had fulfilled their contracts centuries ago. The agency was long disbanded, and the other creatures they’d worked with were long dead, barring perhaps a scant few that had been fae or undead. It simply made no sense. 

Mercy was silent again as Arthur picked up the letter. She tensed, expecting something to happen, but the letter remained quiet. Only when his gaze softened as he turned it towards her did some of that tension ease. Her expression followed suit, softening the tightness around her eyes, but she remained standing once their decision had been made. 

She’d seen Arthur do this thousands of times, and it still never ceased to amaze her. Yet in the countless lifetimes they’d spent together, Mercy had never seen him call forth the flames… and fail. Until today. The thought rested on her tongue that perhaps the letter simply couldn’t be burned. That perhaps whoever was sending it knew Arthur was with her and that he would try to destroy the letter. Perhaps it was simply charmed against phoenix fire. 

But Mercy never got the chance. 

The air she sucked into her lungs burned. Not with fire, but with ice. Mercy frowned deeply at the sensation, but it was so sudden and so frigid that it set off a violent coughing spell that left Mercy gasping for air - both hands braced against Arthur’s desk - before her healing factor kicked in. “Arthur, what -” She coughed again, and her breath rose in a white cloud as the temperature continued to drop. “- what’s happening?”

It was sudden and without warning that the snap-frost hit; sucking the very essence of warmth from the room and layering the windows in a thin striated pattern of ice crystals. It was a blast of energy, too much for his body to cope with and where typically he might’ve been able to absorb it at present it was too much. The overload caused a wrack of shivers to shudder through his frame where he sat his senses fried from the force of sudden adjustment.

The soft flutter of paper falling through the air broke the silence, brushing the wooden floor and vanishing under the desk forgotten for the moment and rather unimportant by most accounts in the moment. These strange bouts of power fluctuations had been growing increasingly more sporadic, first around the house but now any attempt to summon a flame practically short-circuited him for several hours at a time leaving him weak and so very cold.

He shuddered unable to support himself even sitting as he was and half slipped out of the chair, a rag-doll without a spine. Dark eyes slipped shut, eyelashes fluttering in sync with the chatter of his teeth and the rattle of his fingers “I- I-” but nothing more came, dissolving in a short cloud of cold breath.

The sluggish attempt of his supernatural constitution did little to help while attempting to pull himself back into the chair, trying to kickstart an engine that had presently flooded itself. All Arthur could groan, in a deep, grating rasp is “fuck.” 

The black letter was all but forgotten as Mercy watched Arthur start to crumple under the magical blowback of whatever had just gone horribly wrong. Her own breath still rose in a white cloud, but her supernatural healing factor was quickly pushing back at the cold. The same should have happened to Arthur, faster than Mercy honestly, but to her horror, it didn’t. 

“Arthur- Woah! Hey…” She bolted around the desk, trying to catch him before he could crack his skull open. He was trembling so badly that for a moment Mercy thought he was having a seizure. “Sshhh, it’s alright… don’t try to talk...” Then his eyes started to close. “No… no, hey. Ren… Hey! Stay awake…” she said, taking his face in her hands. Gods above, but he was so cold. “Just… don’t move, okay? I’ve got you.” 

She held him close, trying to warm him as best she could until whatever the hell this was passed. She tucked his arms beneath her jacket and sweater as best as she could manage with Arthur barely able to help. Then she pressed her palms to the sides of Arthur’s neck, over the great arteries that pulsed just beneath his half-frozen skin, in an attempt to keep the blood flowing to his head warm. She was shivering a bit herself, but she was still far warmer than Arthur. Though for how long?

Having spent the majority of her 1200 years with Arthur, Mercy knew how to care for all manner of things that had afflicted him over the years. But this was a first. So Mercy was at a loss. Other than trying to keep him warm. She would have to call for help if this didn’t let up. But the list of people she trusted was short. It contained two, maybe three people. Thank the gods she’d locked the door earlier. The last thing they needed was someone walking in right now. Arthur groaned, and Mercy rubbed a hand down his back.

“Where does it hurt?” she asked gently, hoping to keep him focused on staying awake if nothing else.  

As a general rule of thumb, Arthur prided himself on his resilience. The ability to withstand bad things when they happened; riding them out until they reached the other side or at least long enough until a semblance of light shone through. Right now there was naught save the bone-deep chill that had shot through his body in an instant. One moment he could recall being sat at the desk and the next he’d felt so tired and then there was a voice. Familiar yet distant.

The hands felt like searing points of heat against his skin; which itself was covered in a sheen of cold sweat. Too hot. It was too hot and frantically he attempted to push her hands away, writhing and fighting between tremors of his muscles. 

Arthur could swear the room was closing in on him, the walls growing increasingly confined and constricting. Or maybe that was just his airway, it was hard to tell in the mounting panic that was sinking into his current state of consciousness. The air rushing in and out, faster and faster until his head began to spin, every frantic blink causing the room to shift first to an office, then a library, a bar and eventually a dark cell. The sudden shock to his system had him scrambling, reaching for whatever was nearest (Frey’s arm if he had any recollection or understanding in his panic).

Each breath felt more laboured than the last, struggling to fill his lungs as he clawed and gasped. Please. Please. Oh Gods make it stop.

Mercy didn’t understand. She didn’t understand any of it. Other than it was all wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. Only the scar on her hand throbbed and flared as it always did when Arthur was in distress, though the fact brought little comfort.  

She didn’t know her touch was hurting him, and could only assume that in his bleariness he was confused and frightened as he seemed to fight against her hold. But then as suddenly as he’d been trying to push her away, something shifted, and he was grasping for purchase instead. His clawing, scrambling hands seeking anything to hold onto, anything that would hold him steady as the world spun out of control and he started to panic. Sucking in lungfuls of air that would never be enough to satiate his shell-shocked body’s desperate need for oxygen. 

“Breathe, Aren…” Mercy said, holding onto him as best she could without making anything worse. “Breathe for me…” She clasped his hands and pressed them to her chest as she spoke, hoping the deliberately slow  rise and fall of her breathing would help him slow his own. “Breathe in…” Inhale. “Breathe out…” Exhale. Mercy would’ve used her power to try and influence his psychological state, but her Fury magic had never affected him. So she didn’t waste her energy. “Breathe in… breathe out… I’ve got you… you’re safe…” Mercy would repeat the mantra as long as she needed to. As long as it took to bring him back to right. 

The panic was instantaneous as shock began to set in, bewilderment at his own sheer inability to control himself. The room dropped several more degrees as Arthur’s body shuddered. He was left gasping to try and draw in much needed air while utterly unable to stabilise its core temperature that was steadily beginning to creep higher and higher steam rising in the cold air of the room before it would plummet just as quickly as a candle being snuffed out. “W-What’s g-going on?” 

In an instant he was plunged into the memories of a similar time of panic, an alternate dreamscape, a different time - in aid of a friend that had ultimately been for naught. For that friend was long since gone. Yet it was a time that he’d felt water for the very first time without pain, only to realise his inability to swim and almost drowned in the process.

So he clawed and grasped at the only anchor that existed in the moment, the only anchor that had ever existed across all of time until with time his mind began to quieten once more and the white noise began to fade into the rhythmic instructions of a familiar voice. 

Breathe in. 

Breathe out. 

Breathe. 

Several more minutes passed until the room gradually warmed, Arthur’s breathing growing calmer until he could turn his face into her arm. Another full minute came and went before he was wracked with another bout of shivers before weakly attempting to push himself back into a sitting position. “What happened?”

Mercy opened her mouth to tell him… something… anything… that might explain what was happening. But the truth was, Mercy had no idea. As long as they’d known one another, something like this had never happened. Was it the letter? Had trying to burn it caused some… critical disruption of Arthur’s magic? But no… there had been episodes of his powers malfunctioning - for lack of a better term - for a bit now. Whatever it was, it couldn’t continue indefinitely. Mercy’s breath shuddered as the temperature dropped again, but she ignored it. She would be alright, despite the way the cold made the few scars she had ache miserably. As for his question… “We’ll figure it out, I promise… but right now you have to try and breathe, okay?” 

The minutes seemed to stretch into hours until Arthur finally seemed to stabilize. When he was breathing normally again - or as close as he was likely to get at the moment - Mercy fell quiet. She stayed by his side, gently stroking his hair and then pressing a hand to his forehead to check his temperature when he shivered. When he tried to sit up, she gave him a bit of space, but kept a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Again, came his question. This time, Mercy was honest. “I don’t know. You tried to burn the letter, and then...” She frowned, but eventually relayed the short version of what had happened. 

“How d’you feel?” she asked, though it was clear he did not feel great. Not one bit. “Does anything hurt?”

Arthur blinked slowly, his head throbbing with each breath he took to fill his lungs and he rolled his tongue across his teeth, the parchment dry space of his mouth an uncomfortable sensation as he listened to Mercy talk. He wanted a drink and yet the very thought of having anything made him feel like his stomach would turn over on itself. There was little else he could do but sit and try to do as instructed.

“No,” he answered the question after a few moments of silence, his voice cracking when he chose to speak and he had to close his eyes for a moment to fight against the wave of sudden nausea that overcame him. “I-” he shivered again pulling his jacket tighter around his body “cold and sick.” Certainly not fit to stay here, eventually he opened his eyes looking tiredly at Freyja. “can we go home, please?”

Mercy frowned, unable to keep the concern from her expression. That nothing pained him was a small blessing at least. But the fact did nothing for the tight knot of fear that twisted in her gut. Or the helplessness she felt as Arthur shivered, his normally heated skin terrifyingly cold and pale. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him sick or hurt, but this was different. “Of course…” She took off her scarf and tucked it gently around his neck. “Of course we can go home.” 

As she buttoned his jacket so it wouldn’t slip loose, Mercy refused to think about what might happen if he had another episode like this. Or gods forbid… one that was worse. Instead, she turned all her attention to the here and now. To taking Arthur home and making him better. Everything else - the letter, Arthur’s marking, and the growing ache in Mercy’s arm - could wait.

~

#wickedswriting #chatzy #p: arthur #p: backdraft

[millllenniawrites]

millllennia’s frequently asked questions

Last Update: November 19 2021

Who the heck are you?

I’m Mack (though there’s a couple people on here that have called me Milli which I thought was adorable and that is also a perfectly fine thing to call me) I’m a full-time uni student from Canada that’s been writing on here since 2016. I use she/her pronouns usually but like really what is a gender. I used to be fanfiction-trashpile (which is still my user on ao3). 

Can I translate your work? 

Short answer: no. 

Long answer: still no, but it’s more complicated than that. No one has permission to repost or translate my work. Even if you message me and offer to give me credit, I will say no. If you want to create for fandom, you should do it yourself and I will stand by that. 

I welcome fanart, podfic, and fanfic of my fics, and I’d love if y’all would message me/send it to me/tag me in it so that I can hype you up! 

If you decide to write with my original characters (the Helix universe or Dear Love of Mine) I will ask that you give me credit for the characters, but I don’t mine anyone else writing them. The only canon content created for the Helix universe belongs to myself and vampy ( @vampirewithbedsidemanners) but even we write alternate universes of the Helixverse, so it’s totally okay for other people to do that too.

Why are you so darn specific about the style you write in? 

Okay so there are a few things about this that I’m really picky about: 

I never use y/n or any other derivatives of the term (y/e/c or the like). For me, it’s much harder to avoid using those kinds of stand-ins for terms, so I like to challenge myself by never ever using them. If the fic calls for the reader’s name to be directly said, I’ll just give the reader a last name (like in dear love of mine where the reader’s last name is Dean) 

(NOTE: this is not to say that people that use y/n are taking the easy road or whatever. it’s entirely a personal decision and writers that use it are still good. it’s just not for me)

All my sfw fics are completely body/gender neutral unless otherwise specified

All my nsfw fics are with an afab reader (because I only know my own biology and I’d hate to try to write something for another biology type and end up getting it wrong and just alienating everyone)

I’m specific about these things because I do not look like the skinny/blonde/straight-haired/blue-eyed/wattpad version of a reader in RI fanfic. It alienated me back when I read on that platform and I’d hate to make anyone feel like that. I’m still learning, and I’m not perfect, but I really want people who read my content to feel like they can actually be immersed in the story, no matter what they look like. 

That being said, I do not write readers from specific backgrounds/with specific features because I am whiter than white and that’s not my place (though I have reblogged some stuff that has specific readers so there definitely is some on my page! check out the recommended tag) 

My own personal tastes obviously affect my writing (because everyone writes from their own experiences) so there is often dancing/hair touching in my fics because I like that stuff. There will be warnings for basically anything that could alienate the reader including but not limited to: hair mentions, the reader getting picked up, the reader’s clothing being mentioned, and abnormal physical activity (dancing, swimming, etc). If you

Are requests open?

Requests for moments, headcanons, one-shots and drabbles are open! please send me headcanons i love hearing what y’all are thinking! with that being said, i reserve the right to not write or respond to requests that i don’t want to do because at the end of the day, this is my space and my writing makes me happy. 

What fandoms do you write for?

I am currently writing for:

Star Wars (literally any character including rebels/CW) 

James Bond (Craig era) 

Dune (I love the books and the film so I write based on both!) 

Marvel (including all movies and the Punisher)

But I will generally write for any content I have consumed in the last 2 years (so I'd be super down to write for mortal instruments/shadowhunters, for example, it might just take longer). If you request something I am not currently writing for, I will keep your request until I recirculate that fandom/character/concept because I am basically a garbage disposal for fandom. 

Do I need to give you plot details in my requests?

Requests can be as simple as “Fluff with Poe Dameron!!” but can be as complex as you would like. Some formats include:

dialogue prompts (ie. “I missed you” with Jace)

type of fic (ie. I would love some Billy Russo angst)

relationships with canon characters (ie. can you write some reader x kylo ren where the reader is Rey’s sister?)

any amount of plot details (ie. thanksgiving at the Weasley’s where you and Percy get stuck hand washing dishes)

Moments Collection prompt (ie. I read your Poe “The moment they first saw you” fic. Can you write one with Dani from Prodigal son?)

Headcanon prompt (ie. how do you think Poe finding out you’re alive after thinking he had lost you would go?) 

Or any combination!! I like writing what you guys want to see and challenging myself with your ideas. 

What “out of the box” ideas are you willing to write?

Many writers will not write the following, so I wanted to be clear that anything on this list can be requested and will be written without being altered (assuming it’s in my lane). If any of these things are used in a work, they will be listed in the Warnings category at the top of the post.

graphic descriptions of violence (including but not limited to: injury, torture, emergency surgery)

death (major characters and reader included. I just won’t write drowning for my own personal safety) 

homophobia 

nightmares/night terrors/forced dream sequence/drug trips/things like in spiderman: far from home before peter gets hit by a train 

lemon/smut/that kind of thing (but I’m very new to this so take it easy on me folks)

panic attacks

dubcon/noncon/dark fic 

I will also write the following things that are not “warning” related but not all writers will dabble in: 

alternate universe (though I usually prefer canon-compliant work) 

crossover content 

polyamorous relationships 

What don't you write?

I absolutely will not write: 

suggestive content with underaged characters (I’ll age them up)

the act of self-harm (I will write post-getting clean or talking about self-harm vaguely, but won’t write the action or witnessing the action for my own safety)

drowning/water boarding/violence involving water (I know, very specific, but I don’t write this for my own safety)

readers that deal with transphobia/racism (I am blessed to not have experienced either of these things and it’s absolutely not my place to think I can write about these struggles. I will however reblog content I find and enjoy because it is so important to talk about these things and bring awareness to these communities)

mental illness other than anxiety/depression/ptsd (outside of canon determined elements)

specific pronoun requests. all of my sfw work is gender neutral. the reader insert/imagine space has been historically very heteronormative and I want everyone to be able to enjoy my writing, no matter how they identify and which pronouns they use. if a fic is requested with pronouns, I will still write the request. it will just be gender neutral

real life people. non-negotiable. this makes me feel icky. no judgement to those that do it. I just won’t

abo!AUs. not my jam. 

magic AUs.

I hope this clears some stuff up! I’m looking forward to hearing from you guys! my inbox is always open so feel free to come chat! 

#Star Wars #Star Wars imagine #harry potter #Harry Potter imagine #marvel #marvel imagine #the punisher #the punisher imagine #avengers #avengers imagine #the mortal instruments #the mortal instruments imagine #tmi imagine #tmi fandom #shadowhunters #shadowhunters imagine #request #requests #fic request #fic requests #fanfic #fanfic requests #spn imagine #supernatural #supernatural imagine #Star Wars rebels #sw rebels #sw rebels imagine #clone wars #clone wars imagine

[bma-2020]

Okiedok here’s the delio. I have a list of all the blogs from the last six months who’s actively either responded to a meme i sent, responded to a message ive sent, replied to something regarding mally herself, has actually written with me, written a starter for me from my liking a starter call, has at least liked a starter i wrote for them to awknowedge it exists, all that jazz, i have a lot of open field so it’s not just a possible tumblr didnt let them no option anymore, because i send memes to everyone who posts them that i see. I reply to most peoples ooc posts. I like most starter calls I pass by. I try my darndest to actually interact bc i know how it feels to be ignored and its… i’ve been called one before so i’m using the word, thats fluffing cunty behavior, and honestly if you complain about not being interacted with but never even try when i try with you, ya being cunty, end of. I gotta list. That list only entails Mally because she’s who I care about the most. I’m probably gonna start instilling a new rule in all my blogs that if you ignore Mally and/or Darcy( @tasedandconfused ), since I would say they’re my two main blogs tho darcy gets ignored even more than mally does, probably bc i denied canon and left it entirely we know fandom hates that, if either of them is ignored then… Ya out of luck, I’m gonna unfollow you. I’m debating soft blocking everyone who ignored me on both of them but I don’t want to like be mean and deny the chance to eventually try again but at the same time i shouldnt feel bad for taking a stand and saying this is bullsheet, idk my anxiety says im awful for giving a fluff about myself but also i should give a fluff about myself probably, ive nearly died in the last three months, my brain almost exploded, i just had three root canals on one corner of my face, i have to potentially get surgery on my inner ear which i cant even afford, i dont got time to deal with only being used for like smut memes or like as a resource blog or utter bs like that, i dont got time for it. So new rules here. 1: If Mally or Darcy are not acknowledged, written with, responded to, viewed as more than just their fluffing bodies? ya dropped, im unfollowing, potentially soft blocking, which means blocking and unblocking for those not in the know, on all accounts I follow you on. Every single one. I know most of my muses are on sideblogs but despite not being able to send memes from sideblogs you can block people from sideblogs fun fact, i will do that if i have to. 2: I’m gonna be posting SCs, PCs, memes, etc. I like and respond to plotting calls, starter calls, i send memes, all of that. If I don’t get any response within.. I’m giving one week for people who don’t run on a queue and a month and a half to people on a queue based system, if i dont get anything within that time like at least an im being like ‘its posted’ or ‘its queued i wanted to let you know in case tumblrs a fluffbutt’ (i do this sometimes if i dont get even just a like on the starters i post so i at least know people saw it since i know tumblrs bs, i wait until the day they’re active to do so in case theyre busy yknow) basically i need acknowledgment at all. No you can’t claim this is abt follower count bc when you unfollow someone they inevitably unfollow you too, thats gonna drop my following, not as quickly as soft blocking would but i wanna be fair i guess, which leads to: 3: I’m basing this on your activity too, like if i like a think and you’re gone for a month after that its fine, im not gonna unfollow you unless you never come back or youre online and posting others just not mine because that tells me youre specifically ignoring me and im gonna drop you for that end of. I’m done with the bullsheet im done w the dillish behavior, i love friendship but if im giving and never receiving thats extremely one way and not gonna work. I check through my follow list weekly and i go back about five-10 pages on someones feed before i unfollow them to see their actual activity and see if theyre here or if its a q so. I’m thorough basically. 4: You dont have to be active with me on all your blogs, i mean i’d prefer it but thats hard as fluff so essentially if you have like five blogs and are just like trying w me on two or three thats fine. Ten blogs, four or five with at least a plot formed is cool. Multis just one muse is all I’d need. I’m not gonna unfollow the blogs youre not writing w me on if you at least write w me on some. Again, specifically Mally and/or Darcy. If you ignore both of them, we’re done. I havent been active on darcy because of being ignored and its a huge butt mess and im just tired i wanna use my babies, you don’t get to have my ‘better’ muses like i know a lot of ppl only follow me for my boys or my villains, you don’t get them if you ignore my baby. But, there is a limit there too. 5: If you never respond to a meme or thread even once with Mally or Darcy, or post a starter, i reply, its never replied to again after a month, I’m unfollowing and/or soft blocking for that too. Bc that means youre just raising my hopes to fluff with me or get someone else and honestly, youre even more cunty than than the people just flat out ignoring me if you do that. And this isnt a specific person, this is five of the people actually on my list. Yes, my list is also annotated with specifics again I was very thorough on this yesterday, I hyperfixated I’ll admit it, I’m in a fluffing depressionary bubble and being told to get over it because people want something they dont deserve to have to. I am a believer that people deserve good things but if youre purposefully being cunty… no you dont. 6: No I’m not releasing my list, maybe I will and I’ll omit the urls because I don’t want people being buttholes to each other too but otherwise, yall not seeing it im not giving a callout because… really thats just unnecessary here. I don’t think yall are toxic people or something i just think yall are unintentionally being cunty. And no I don’t mean everyone that follows me i mean the ppl that add up to what i’ve documented so far and fit the bill of butthat that i’ve shown, its behaviors yall gotta check before ya wreck. Yes there will be some people who have priority, everyone has those people, I write w kathryn on other platforms since she doesnt go on here as often but when Kathryn returns from war here (if she does cause she also agrees most ppl on this platform are cunty, i feel really bad saying that word so often but im gonna keep doing it i recently deleted an ask saying I was a huge cunt for not sending someone smut memes when I didn’t even follow them or know they existed so, again the travesty of this place is nutballers) same with owly, alex is here too, my most active partners are always going to be priority because theyre the ones who show the most interest and the most care. I understand that with others as well which is why I have the timeframe set up, because I want to be as open and shizz as possible while atill being firm i guess. I don’t want to have extreme double standards like its impossible for double standards not to exist at least a little bit but I want to avoid a golden chest full of them I guess. 7: I don’t have a seven rn, this was an even number and it bothered me. Seven is nust my warning that I’m bittery writing this on mobile so formatting is not real but i tried my dandest to make this look like something people might actually mind. I dont want to be butty, i dont want to be awful, i dont want to start drama or have drama but that shizz comes around anyways so i might as well make my space as okay for me as i can cause im supposed to avoid stress so my brain doesnt almost explode again, like again i almost fluffing died i dont need ppl fake being my friend or anything, i want stuff to be real and clear. I want to be happy to be on here again and have fun like i used to since my health is plummetting and I’m not allowed to go outside near plants by myself anymore because i welt up. I have plants outside my work place and im surrounded by chemicals all day long I’m welted from here to new york constantly and never comfortable in my own skin because of it and constantly see people online acting like these actual real problems are pretentious because ‘its an excuse’ when, im a fluffing sagittarius, do you know how much i want to magically be a millionaire so i can pay for friends and my own medical stuff and go on traveling and adventures, be outside probably not camping bc as a pagan i know thats a death sentence but like be outside, lay on grass, go back to swimming because i used to swim competitively and due to health reasons i can barely even go in a pool anymore because theres too much sunlight which, bit plot twist i know, im fluffing allergic to vitamin D and the rays of the sun, so go figure, attempts to be healthy kill me more, i also cant eat most plants and am constantly dying from just eating food, they dont know whats wrong with me. i cant fix it by going ve/gan for a month inf act i tried and it almost made my heart stop thanks society. These arent excuses these are the lives of disabled and diseased and to a lesser but still very real point, ethnic lives every fluffing day. This is real shit and its murder and online and gaming? It may be all I have soon since I can’t just go out and make new friends cause, again, I’d fluffing die. I get sick going to the mall or the movie theater, I miss theme parks so much but have to minimize it to weeks i dont have work so i dont get fired for having a welt while working in the beauty industry. I may have to get a degree online and change my field entirely because of my illness that nobody understands. People even make fun of it constantly online and I wish I could just drop online entirely because of how unbelievably ableist the entirety of the world is, i wish i could drop humans in general for their ableism, but i cant. I don’t have choices in most cases, but throwing away people who maybe purposefully maybe unintentionally thats why i’m giving you this warning and will be repeating this warning for awhile, this is where i have choice. I have to use what little choice I have in life while I can since everytime i go to movies or a concert or a theme park i almost die because of not having an immune system that functions or being in certain air qualities pr being near plants or unclean people, I may not have much time and I gotta do whats best for what little mental health I have, and if that means dropping people i care about and really want to write with and do things with but who ignore me then, i guess so be it.

#out. #illness cw #health cw #food mention #ive been writing this since noon and its now two pm so this is great #i’s usually put this under a read more but... maybe most people dont deserve a read more rn lol #their behavior will keep being awful if its not pointed out to them so #im done im gonna go welt up from hugging my cat and cry for a bit because i feel mean

[kg2hub]

Rules for mobile users

[[here’s a google doc for the updated list of rules, applicable for all my blogs]]

anything under this cut is from my outdated rules.

[rules updated: 08/15/2019]

–STUFF YOU SHOULD DO–

• No godmodding. No sending (implied or explicit) homophobic/transphobic/bigoted messages to me or my character either.

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least a week of no replies, though. In return, I usually give you a week too, unless otherwise specified in your own rules, until I remind you if it’s your turn to reply (or more often, I chicken out and trust that you’ll eventually respond/want to drop it and end up never bringing up that particular thread ever again). You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• If you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course. Personals will be hardblocked immediately, rp blogs will receive a warning.

• If you can trim your threads, please do! It’s fine if you can’t, though, because I will most likely trim the thread for you. If you don’t trim threads with other people, however, I’ll be less likely to follow you since I don’t like scrolling through long posts.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. If you post it somewhere, the least you can do is credit me by at least including a link to my blog or something. Bonus points if you ask me first before reposting my art, but I understand if you’re anxious because so am I :’)

• If any of your art is featured on my blog, as an icon or something and you don’t want me to use your art, please tell me!!! Message me privately or contact me in some way and please let me know that you want your art taken down. As a fellow artist, I understand wanting other people to not use your art (although I am personally fine with it as long as proper credit is given,) but if you’re more strict about it than I am, that’s totally okay too! Just let me know, and I’ll stop using your art immediately, will delete all icons I have of your art, as well as delete every single instance of your art being used on this blog.

• That being said, if you’re following me, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I’m ever doing anything bad

• You can reply to any of my open starters at any time! Even if they’re a year old! Even if other people have already replied to it! My open starters are open for a reason, and we don’t have to be mutuals for you to reply to them either :’)

—

–STUFF YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND–

• I am of age to do smut, but Ted is literally in kindergarten so that is a no for this blog! There might be occasional references to adult stuff, given the mature nature of the canon game, but that’s about it. No explicit smut in this house.

• This blog is not a spoiler-free one. I will not tag roleplays with spoilers, but anything else will be tagged with Kindergarten Spoilers

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw in general, minus smut. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me. It should be, considering the game this character is from. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w; Speaking of gore, you’re more than welcome to fight/harm/injure my muse to any extent! You don’t even have to ask! If you want to do a rp where he dies, however, please dm me first.

• I prefer not to roleplay with personals, unless you are someone I know from school or something like that. Personals in general are allowed to follow me too! However! Personals are not allowed to reblog roleplays, in character posts, or ooc posts especially if I say in the tags that I’m going to delete the post later. Only things that are tagged with my “musings” or “art tag” tags are okay to reblog. Headcanon posts are not okay to reblog unless I say otherwise.

• Like spamming is okay! I very occasionally lose roleplays, and getting lots of notes from likes are never a factor for that, for me personally. If I lose a roleplay, it’s mostly just because I forgot, so that’s really a “me” thing. I’m usually very good at keeping track of who I’m roleplaying with and how many ongoing threads I have, and I reply pretty consistently, so just remind me if I haven’t responded after a week or more days (as stated in one of the above rules)! And I like it when people like my posts! It lets me know that you like my blog and the stuff I post, and it makes me happy :’)

• If you are an OC, I will assume our muses have never met unless you plan ahead with me what their relationship is like.

• That being said, characters who have already interacted in canon will know each other. Unless the roleplay takes place in a different point of time and we are staging their first meeting, of course.

• Doubles are welcome to interact too! Although currently I don’t know of much other Ted roleplay blogs lmao. I’m also cool with interacting with and following duplicates of different characters than my own muse!

• This blog will not have mains. Ted will not have any specific version of a muse that he’ll talk about in threads, unless the thread is specifically about that one muse for some reason. For Kindergarten blogs, he will typically be the Ted in your muse’s timeline in serious roleplays, unless your muse is part of an AU/UA/canon-divergent universe, or there are things about your muse’s backstory that would contradict Ted being in your timeline naturally, or you talk about it with me beforehand.

• I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-5 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. Of course, in crack/online roleplays it’s fine but I’m okay with it in serious roleplays too. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays, thank you very much. Feel free to keep formatting your own posts though, because I think formatting looks really cool! I just don’t want to format my posts, however. I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words, and using icons.

• I tend to move roleplays from asks onto its own post. If I send you an ask meme and you answer it, I’ll respond by making a new post, tagging you, and linking to your reply.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get very anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you then chances are that I have definitely read them before following- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• I generally follow every rp blog that follows me, but I might not follow some people back for a few reasons. Some might be for the type of content you post on your blog, but I am still non-selective! I will roleplay with anyone who asks (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, you spam stuff that I don’t want to see on my dash, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, Briightskies, if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

—

–ABOUT THIS BLOG–

• This blog is OC, multiverse, and crossover friendly! I love OCs and have many of my own tbh, you’re all more than welcome to come rp with me!!

• I’ll also rp with fandoms I’m not into either, as long as you have a good about section for your character, which also indicates how you portray them (any headcanons or AUs you have that aren’t canon, or whether you portray them as canonly as possible, unless they’re OCs of course since a regular about page is a given) and I’ll probably look up other things about that fandom in its wiki if I don’t know what something is anyway.

• This blog is multiship and will only ship with other child muses! Kid crushes are adorable! I used to have many crushes as a child, and the game does depict children crushing on each other or outright ‘dating’. So any relationships my muse is involved in, are in different timelines unless specified. Poly relationships aren’t bad though, just saying. I ship pretty much anything unless it’s incest or if they’re children paired with someone a lot older. Because Ted is a child, he won’t really get intimate with his partners, but romantic stuff is okay.

• I also only ship with chemistry. My muses need to get to know yours first, so don’t get disappointed if he only sees you as a friend/acquaintance at first and has no intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with your muse. Give my muse reasons to care about your muse and let the feelings develop naturally, and don’t ever force your muse on mine. Unless it’s to mess with him, or whatever other reason. Unrequited stuff is absolutely okay with me too!

• I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself. Any trigger warning tags will be written as “tw; ____” with a semi-colon, not a colon. If I feel like something should be tagged as a trigger but I’m not sure what to tag it exactly, I’ll just tag it as “tw” as a sort of catch-all tag.

     Requested tagged triggers:

none right now

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you’re talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays on there.

-

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to my muse, or like one of my starter call posts at any time (also feel free to re-like those posts so I can make another starter for you at any time!) for me to write you a starter!

#links for mobile users #rules #|| I Did A Thing! || Blog updates.

[chxinsxwed]

Da Rules:

Hi, this is a bit lengthy - but first, thank you for checking out this post! It means a lot to me and I hope we can interact! <3

1. Themes might vary with this blog. I’m typically SFW, but keep in mind this is NEGADUCK. He’s not morally sound and will certainly not be nice to everyone who has the unfortunate opportunity to come across him. Be prepared for dark themes of that nature.

Things will be tagged! I’ll try my best, anyways. If you want something in particular tagged, please let me know. The format I use for tagging is, for example, tw: swearing.

I don’t have any triggers but I do ask you tag all of your NSFW content.

That said, I won’t do anything NSFW - gore is okay, though.

I’m of age.

2. I’m a little selective, so I might be a pretty picky when it comes to who I interact with. I’ll interact with anyone, including canon, AU, Crossover, and original characters - as long as they’re literate/write para.

If it’s a crossover, I have to know the fandom and be at least a little bit confident with it. This is so I’m able to work with you, our thread and have muse for it.

No godmodding or Mary-Sues, please.

This is bound to happen given Negaduck’s character, but this rule goes especially in fights. I will tread carefully in these and give partners fighting chances, so obviously I expect the same. i.e, don’t assume all attacks hit, keep dodging, etc; all that. Keep in mind Negs does not put up an easy fight, though.

Please don’t be offended if I don’t want to interact with you (and please don’t try to guilt me into doing so!).

As for following back, I usually take a week tops to do so - but if you’ve hit up my promo, I go through that eventually.

I’ve worked through a majority of Negs’ media, including his episodes, comics, and even small comics. That said, there are a couple I’ve missed (that are in another language) - so if I miss anything in reference to them, forgive me.

I haven’t completely finished Darkwing Duck, either, so as far as unrelated references ago, I might miss a few things.

3. Please don’t rush me for starters or responses.

I have a lot of blogs. Pretty much an understatement - so I’m pretty busy with stuff, and it’s all dependent on what muse I have. Motivation and life also exist.

Please note the mun deals with anxiety and depression - this might affect how frequently she roleplays.

Chances are, I’ve probably has seen that bit of interactivity and just haven’t gotten around to responding yet.

My roleplaying style being para/multi-para, I may take a while to respond. I hoard drafts like a dragon - it’s really just the motivation to write and ship those out.

Additionally, if I don’t end up responding to an ask or something, the case might just be I don’t have the muse for it, or I’m not interested in the thread. Apologies!

4. Shippings? Eeeeh, with Negaduck, I’m picky about them, depends on the muse and/or proposed relationship. Long story short: he’s an outright jerk so don’t expect much from him.

If I don’t happen to be interested, don’t force anything on my character.

I do not ship incestuous ships. Do NOT follow/interact if you do.

The ship has to have chemistry; I’m generally shipping trash, but if they don’t click, they don’t click, sorry.

This is a multi-ship blog, meaning there will be more than one ship without them conflicting with eachother.

If you want to ship and I already have a ship of your choosing going with a duplicate, please don’t hesitate to hmu! My ships aren’t exclusive and each character/relationship portrayal is unique to me!

Relationships are eternal until you deem otherwise.

5. Whilst I am of age, I’m not aiming for sexual content on this blog (and will not be dealing with fetishes). That stuff makes me uncomfortable, and I typically don’t recommend pulling it with my characters if you’re interacting with me. Nonetheless, should it arise, I will tag it appropriately.

6. About reblogs…

I am not a meme source, and reblogs clog up my activity. Please reblog any memes you find on this blog from their SOURCE. The exception to this rule is if there is no source; go ahead.

I don’t feel comfortable with Personals reblogging my IC posts, so please don’t do that.

A few times is fine, as it happens, but repeatedly breaking these rules will result in me soft blocking you.

I try to participate in reblog karma as much as I can, but always reblog from the source/a meme source.

If a post or ask is for you, you’re free to reblog it to save it though - but only if you’re an rp blog!

7. I’m a para / multi-para blog, novella if I’m adventurous and have time. Whilst I may roleplay crack threads with shorter responses, this does not apply to all threads I write. This means:

I write my replies as detailed as I can muster.

Short responses (such as one-liners) in more serious threads where I’ve written a decent deal can instantly kill my muse for that thread.

Whilst I’d prefer for partners to at least somewhat match my length, it’s entirely up to you - just try your best and make sure you give me enough to work with. ♡

If my muse happens to go nuts out of nowhere - like, overboard - don’t stress too much about matching them.

If para roleplays are not your forte at all, it’s not recommended you roleplay with me seriously. Anything else outside that is fine, though - we can still have fun outside of proper threads.

8. Threads typically happen naturally with me, but if you’re looking for interaction opportunities:

I’ll have a permanent starter call somewhere for you to hit up; honestly though, if you’re a mutual? Pls feel free to hit it up.

I reblogged a starter meme? Send something! If I’m interested, I’ll answer it!

If there’s a verse you’re interested in, please specify.

If you want to turn an ask into a thread, go ahead!

I may not roleplay with every starter I am given - I’ll do a ‘background check’ if you’re a new blog on the block. If I don’t feel your writing style/length matches mine, I might not respond. Apologies. ;__;

In that sense, I don’t recommend writing starters for me unless we’ve discussed something. I really don’t like to leave anyone hanging.

IMs are open to mutuals, if you want to do any in-depth plotting.

9. Guidelines on mains and relationships:

If we’re mutuals and we interact a lot, you’re welcome to ask me if I’d like to be your main!

Please don’t be offended if I deny, though; I typically want to pick those I trust to be my mains as well as people I can comfortably write with.

Not limited to them! I roleplay with duplicates galore so don’t be afraid to hit me up if you want to interact!

Pre-established relationships are a-okay in my book; if you have an idea for a relationship between our muses we can work towards, hit me up! I reblog those pre-established relationship memes every so often too. Romantic relationships link back to the shipping guidelines.

Also, friendship/family/rivalry relationships are EXTREMELY valid to me - Negaduck is generally a terrible person, but if you hmu, I’ll see what I can do.

10. If you have any issues, please let me know and hopefully we can resolve it!

Unlike the evil duck, Mun is actually super nice, so don’t be afraid to hit her up!

IM-ed me and I haven’t responded? Social anxiety is a jerk and it’s exhausting for me to communicate sometimes. Know that I’ve seen your message and will get around to it eventually!

Please leave me out of drama; I’m here to have a good time, as is everyone else, and it pains me to see people arguing.

11. It’s easier with a clean dash for me, so I’m more likely to follow people who:

Trim their posts.

Don’t spam reblog memes.

Have rules and about pages! I always read those before interacting or following!

12. On threads…

If you’re not interested in a thread anymore, and would like to drop it, please let me know! I’d feel terrible if we’re both not having fun with it or if partners feel overwhelmed with the amount of threads we have.

Honestly, unless I let you know, our threads have no expiry date - so no need to worry about me dropping them without telling you. I can just be quite slow sometimes.

13. Mun does not equal muse! Anything Negs might say does not reflect on how I think unless I explicitly say so. He’s a chainsaw crazy villain; mun is not.

14. The mun is TERRIBLE at breaking the ice. If she follows you, she’d like to interact - but she’s super nervous about approaching people.

15. These rules may be subject to change.

Please like this post if you’ve read the rules! You don’t have to, but it’s of personal reassurance to me if you have.

#|| rules.

[daggcrisms]

Rules for mobile users

[[here’s a google doc for the updated list of rules, applicable for all my blogs]]

anything under this cut is from my outdated rules.

[rules updated: 07/28/2019]

–STUFF YOU SHOULD DO–

• No godmodding. No sending (implied or explicit) homophobic/transphobic/bigoted messages to me or my character either.

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least a week of no replies, though. In return, I usually give you a week too, unless otherwise specified in your own rules, until I remind you if it’s your turn to reply (or more often, I chicken out and trust that you’ll eventually respond/want to drop it and end up never bringing up that particular thread ever again). You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• If you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course. Personals will be hardblocked immediately, rp blogs will receive a warning.

• If you can trim your threads, please do! It’s fine if you can’t, though, because I will most likely trim the thread for you. If you don’t trim threads with other people, however, I’ll be less likely to follow you since I don’t like scrolling through long posts.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. If you post it somewhere, the least you can do is credit me by at least including a link to my blog or something. Bonus points if you ask me first before reposting my art, but I understand if you’re anxious because so am I :’)

• If any of your art is featured on my blog, as an icon or something and you don’t want me to use your art, please tell me!!! Message me privately or contact me in some way and please let me know that you want your art taken down. As a fellow artist, I understand wanting other people to not use your art (although I am personally fine with it as long as proper credit is given,) but if you’re more strict about it than I am, that’s totally okay too! Just let me know, and I’ll stop using your art immediately, will delete all icons I have of your art, as well as delete every single instance of your art being used on this blog.

• That being said, if you’re following me, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I’m ever doing anything bad

• You can reply to any of my open starters at any time! Even if they’re a year old! Even if other people have already replied to it! My open starters are open for a reason, and we don’t have to be mutuals for you to reply to them either :’)

—

–STUFF YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND–

• I am of age to do smut, but Kris is a minor so that is a no for this blog! There will occasionally be sex jokes, but that’s about it. No explicit smut in this house.

• This blog is not a spoiler-free one. I will not tag roleplays with spoilers, but anything else will be tagged with Deltarune Spoilers

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw in general, minus smut. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w; Speaking of gore, you’re more than welcome to fight/harm/injure my muse to any extent! You don’t even have to ask! Come in and fight this gremlin tbh! If you want to do a rp where they die, however, please dm me first.

• I prefer not to roleplay with personals, unless you are someone I know from school or something like that. Personals in general are allowed to follow me too!  However! Personals are not allowed to reblog roleplays, in character posts, or ooc posts especially if I say in the tags that I’m going to delete the post later. Only things that are tagged with my “online reblogs” or “musings” or "art tag" tags are okay to reblog. Headcanon posts are not okay to reblog unless I say otherwise.

• Like spamming is okay! I very occasionally lose roleplays, and getting lots of notes from likes are never a factor for that, for me personally. If I lose a roleplay, it’s mostly just because I forgot, so that’s really a “me” thing. I’m usually very good at keeping track of who I’m roleplaying with and how many ongoing threads I have, and I reply pretty consistently, so just remind me if I haven’t responded after five or more days (as stated in one of the above rules)! And I like it when people like my posts! It lets me know that you like my blog and the stuff I post, and it makes me happy :’)

• If you are an OC, I will assume our muses have never met unless you plan ahead with me what their relationship is like.

• That being said, characters who have already interacted in canon will know each other. Unless the roleplay takes place in a different point of time and we are staging their first meeting, of course.

• Kris will be pretty meta sometimes. They are aware of who Players are (they're definitely not fond of them other than the few good players they've met), and they know they live in the game world, and are aware of alternate universes and things of that nature.

• Kris is nonbinary on this blog. Although, I don’t care if you refer to them as a boy or a girl (Kris personally will care if you refer to them as a girl though, because they usually Don’t like that). Their order of preference for pronouns is they/he/she, although they will definitely like you more if you use exclusively they/them pronouns. I respect all headcanons about Kris’ gender, and same goes for any Frisks and Charas. If you play a KFC kid, gendered or not, I will use the pronouns they want used, and I do hope that you use they/them pronouns for my Kris. I personally will default to using they/them for other Krises, Frisks, and Charas unless specified on your blog. No discourse about this, please. 

• Doubles are welcome to interact too! Of course they are, considering the Kris Squad. I’m also cool with interacting with and following multiple blogs who portray the same character other than Krises as well!

• This blog will not have mains. However, the only “main” they really have is the Berdly over at @berdbrainx. That Berdly originates in their timeline in the “main verse.” Other than him, they will not have any specific version of a muse that they’ll talk about in threads, unless the thread is specifically about that one muse for some reason. For Deltarune non-Kris blogs, they will typically be the Kris in your universe unless you already have a Kris main or you talk about it with me beforehand. Doubles of Kris will be treated as alternates. In their “main verse” in spontaneous roleplays/asks/replies to in-character posts (online roleplays), they reside in their own separate timeline. It’s a classic timeline that doesn’t have any other muses in it, so they don’t have a specific blog’s Susie, or Noelle, or other character that is from their own timeline. So they will treat your muse as if they are an alternate of their own timeline’s counterpart of them.

• I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-5 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. Of course, in crack/online roleplays it’s fine but I’m okay with it in serious roleplays too. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays, thank you very much. Feel free to keep formatting your own posts though, because I think formatting looks really cool! I just don’t want to format my posts, however. I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words, and using icons.

• I tend to move roleplays from asks onto its own post. If I send you an ask meme and you answer it, I'll respond by making a new post, tagging you, and linking to your reply. Until formatting on asks are fixed, I will answer any asks sent to me in a new text post rather than asks.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get very anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you then chances are that I have definitely read them before following- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• I generally follow every rp blog that follows me, but I might not follow some people back for a few reasons. Some might be for the type of content you post on your blog, but I am still non-selective! I will roleplay with anyone who asks (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, you spam stuff that I don’t want to see on my dash, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, @briightskies, if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

—

–ABOUT THIS BLOG–

• This blog is OC, multiverse, and crossover friendly! I love OCs and have many of my own tbh, you’re all more than welcome to come rp with me!!

• I’ll also rp with fandoms I’m not into either, as long as you have a good about section for your character, which also indicates how you portray them (any headcanons or AUs you have that aren’t canon, or whether you portray them as canonly as possible, unless they’re OCs of course since a regular about page is a given) and I’ll probably look up other things about that fandom in its wiki if I don’t know what something is anyway.

• This blog is multiship! So any relationships my muse is involved in, are in different timelines unless specified. Poly relationships aren’t bad though, just saying. I ship pretty much anything unless it’s incest or if they’re children paired with someone a lot older. Selfcest is fine too. Because Kris is a minor, they won’t really get intimate with their partners, but romantic stuff is a-okay.

• I also only ship with chemistry. My muses need to get to know yours first, so don’t get disappointed if they only see you as a friend/acquaintance at first and has no intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with your muse. Give my muse reasons to care about your muse and let the feelings develop naturally, and don’t ever force your muse on mine. Unless it’s to mess with them, or whatever other reason. Unrequited stuff is absolutely okay with me too!

• I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself. Any trigger warning tags will be written as “tw; ____” with a semi-colon, not a colon. If I feel like something should be tagged as a trigger but I’m not sure what to tag it exactly, I’ll just tag it as “tw” as a sort of catch-all tag.

|     Requested tagged triggers:

tw; gore

tw; contagious diseases

tw; self harm

tw; child abuse

tw; spiders

tw; blood

tw; homestuck

tw; fnaf

tw; drugs

tw; smoking

tw; alcohol

tw; needles

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you’re talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays on there.

-

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to my muse, or like one of my starter call posts at any time (also feel free to re-like those posts so I can make another starter for you at any time!) for me to write you a starter!

#rules #links for mobile users #|| Cherish This Manual || Blog Updates.

[berdbrainx]

Rules for mobile users

[[here’s a google doc for the updated list of rules, applicable for all my blogs]]

anything under this cut is from my outdated rules.

[rules updated: 08/14/2019]

–STUFF YOU SHOULD DO–

• No godmodding. No sending (implied or explicit) homophobic/transphobic/bigoted messages to me or my character either.

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least a week of no replies, though. In return, I usually give you a week too, unless otherwise specified in your own rules, until I remind you if it’s your turn to reply (or more often, I chicken out and trust that you’ll eventually respond/want to drop it and end up never bringing up that particular thread ever again). You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• If you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course. Personals will be hardblocked immediately, rp blogs will receive a warning.

• If you can trim your threads, please do! It's fine if you can't, though, because I will most likely trim the thread for you. If you don't trim threads with other people, however, I'll be less likely to follow you since I don't like scrolling through long posts.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. If you post it somewhere, the least you can do is credit me by at least including a link to my blog or something. Bonus points if you ask me first before reposting my art, but I understand if you’re anxious because so am I :’)

• If any of your art is featured on my blog, as an icon or something and you don’t want me to use your art, please tell me!!! Message me privately or contact me in some way and please let me know that you want your art taken down. As a fellow artist, I understand wanting other people to not use your art (although I am personally fine with it as long as proper credit is given,) but if you’re more strict about it than I am, that’s totally okay too! Just let me know, and I’ll stop using your art immediately, will delete all icons I have of your art, as well as delete every single instance of your art being used on this blog.

• That being said, if you’re following me, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I’m ever doing anything bad

• You can reply to any of my open starters at any time! Even if they’re a year old! Even if other people have already replied to it! My open starters are open for a reason, and we don’t have to be mutuals for you to reply to them either :’)

—

–STUFF YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND–

• I am of age to do smut, but Berdly is a minor so that is a no for this blog! There will occasionally be sex jokes, but that’s about it. No explicit smut in this house.

• This blog is not a spoiler-free one. I will not tag roleplays with spoilers, but anything else will be tagged with Deltarune Spoilers

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw in general, minus smut. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w; Speaking of gore, you’re more than welcome to fight/harm/injure my muse to any extent! You don’t even have to ask! Come in and fuckin deck Berdly in the face, I approve greatly!! If you want to do a rp where he dies, however, please dm me first.

• I prefer not to roleplay with personals, unless you are someone I know from school or something like that. Personals in general are allowed to follow me too!  However! Personals are not allowed to reblog roleplays, in character posts, or ooc posts especially if I say in the tags that I'm going to delete the post later. Only things that are tagged with my "musings" or "art tag" tags are okay to reblog. Headcanon posts are not okay to reblog unless I say otherwise.

• Like spamming is okay! I very occasionally lose roleplays, and getting lots of notes from likes are never a factor for that, for me personally. If I lose a roleplay, it’s mostly just because I forgot, so that’s really a “me” thing. I’m usually very good at keeping track of who I’m roleplaying with and how many ongoing threads I have, and I reply pretty consistently, so just remind me if I haven’t responded after five or more days (as stated in one of the above rules)! And I like it when people like my posts! It lets me know that you like my blog and the stuff I post, and it makes me happy :’)

• If you are an OC, I will assume our muses have never met unless you plan ahead with me what their relationship is like.

• That being said, characters who have already interacted in canon will know each other. Unless the roleplay takes place in a different point of time and we are staging their first meeting, of course.

• Doubles are welcome to interact too! Although currently I don’t know of much other Berdly roleplay blogs lmao. I’m also cool with interacting with and following multiple blogs who portray the same character! Such as the Kris squad.

• This blog will not have mains. Other than the Kris at @daggcrisms. That Kris originates in his timeline in the "main verse". Excluding them, he will not have any specific version of a muse that he’ll talk about in threads, unless the thread is specifically about that one muse for some reason. For Deltarune blogs, he will typically be the Berdly in your muse’s timeline in serious roleplays, unless your muse is part of an AU/UA/canon-divergent universe, or there are things about your muse’s backstory that would contradict Berdly being in your timeline naturally (like Berdly being dead or something), or you talk about it with me beforehand. In his “main verse” in spontaneous roleplays/asks/replies to in-character posts, he resides in his own separate timeline. It’s a classic timeline that doesn’t have any other muses in it, so he doesn’t have a specific blog’s Susie, or Noelle, that is from his own timeline. Only Sponte/Kris from the blog mentioned above.

• I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-5 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. Of course, in crack/online roleplays it's fine but I'm okay with it in serious roleplays too. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays, thank you very much. Feel free to keep formatting your own posts though, because I think formatting looks really cool! I just don’t want to format my posts, however. I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words, and using icons.

• I tend to move roleplays from asks onto its own post. If I send you an ask meme and you answer it, I'll respond by making a new post, tagging you, and linking to your reply. Until formatting on asks are fixed, I will answer any asks sent to me in a new text post rather than asks.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get very anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you then chances are that I have definitely read them before following- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• I generally follow every rp blog that follows me, but I might not follow some people back for a few reasons. Some might be for the type of content you post on your blog, but I am still non-selective! I will roleplay with anyone who asks (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, you spam stuff that I don’t want to see on my dash, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, Briightskies, if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

—

–ABOUT THIS BLOG–

• This blog is OC, multiverse, and crossover friendly! I love OCs and have many of my own tbh, you’re all more than welcome to come rp with me!!

• I’ll also rp with fandoms I’m not into either, as long as you have a good about section for your character, which also indicates how you portray them (any headcanons or AUs you have that aren’t canon, or whether you portray them as canonly as possible, unless they’re OCs of course since a regular about page is a given) and I’ll probably look up other things about that fandom in its wiki if I don’t know what something is anyway.

• This blog is multiship! So any relationships my muse is involved in, are in different timelines unless specified. Poly relationships aren’t bad though, just saying. I ship pretty much anything unless it’s incest or if they’re children paired with someone a lot older. Selfcest is fine too (though I really don’t know how to feel about Berdly x Berdly,,,,,, I mean, if you want to try it with me, go for it lol!). Because Berdly is a minor, he won’t really get intimate with his partners, but romantic stuff is a-okay.

• I also only ship with chemistry. My muses need to get to know yours first, so don’t get disappointed if he only sees you as a friend/acquaintance at first and has no intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with your muse. Give my muse reasons to care about your muse and let the feelings develop naturally, and don’t ever force your muse on mine. Unless it’s to mess with him, or whatever other reason. Unrequited stuff is absolutely okay with me too!

• I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself. Any trigger warning tags will be written as “tw; ____” with a semi-colon, not a colon.

|     Requested tagged triggers:

tw; gore

tw; spiders

tw; insects

tw; blood

tw; homestuck

tw; smoking

tw; drugs

tw; alcohol

tw; needles

tw; oceans

tw; cutting

duplicates // (if anyone else has a specific way they want something tagged that's different from my tagging style, please let me know)

tw; zombies

tw; bats

tw; maggots

tw; sibling death

tw; sibling peril

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you’re talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays on there.

-

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to my muse, or like one of my starter call posts at any time (also feel free to re-like those posts so I can make another starter for you at any time!) for me to write you a starter!

#rules #links for mobile users #|| Onto A New Page || Blog updates.

[ua-list]

one of my friends are in ur server. constantly being ignored. they talk a fuckton and u guys just choose to ignore it because you have a friendgroup on there that nobody gets in to. all of the minor characters ( that meaning in the show, ones who probably only signed up for said char because all the other ones were taken ) seem to get thrown away for all the plots started. they take screenshots of that server too.. so i see everything. and you do realize that some ppl probs have mad anxiety (1/2

and are rlly afraid of asking ppl for plots?? so what do you do, then? they were really happy to join an rp group, get stomped on and ignored, and are too socially awkward to actually do anything about it. they get kicked out for inactivity or whatever you guys do with ghost blogs, etc. that's shitty. side note: please don't call me a chucklefuck in your chats. im right. 💕💕💕💕💕

a ps ) mods. mods with status. all of you are fuckin queen bees, i guess. as well as a few ppl who play major chars in 1.a ( ie shoto, kami, baku ).

hmm alright.

-we can not do anything if you don’t speak up about it. if your friend felt ignored and they had come to us about it, we would have been able to do more to make them feel included. the server itself realistically has over 50 people on it. we can not control how other people react to your friend. you may also need to re-evaluate just how much your friend perceives the server because of their anxiety, as most of the regulars are 1) very welcoming to new people/each other and 2) are not aware that they have felt that way and would have done anything they could to change that, should they have known. because, again, a lot of them are very accommodating, but none of them, myself included, can read your minds.

-and i’m going to say it again because you and your friends can’t seem to get this no one can read your mind and you don’t talk about it with us we can’t do anything to help you. i understand you have anxiety. most, if not all of the server, has some sort of mental illness. if that is the reason you can’t speak with us, that’s valid, but it’s not an excuse. you can not try and use your mental illness against us because that is not fair. lots of us also have traumatic backgrounds. i’m someone who suffers from schizophrenia, among other disorders. we understand. we will accept you. but not if bullshit tactics are used against us because that’s not fair to us, and if you’re not going to be fair to us, there’s no way you can accept similar treatment towards yourself. that’s just not realistic.

-speaking of realism, realistically you need to talk to people to get things you want. also realistically, people are not required to give you what you want, if you ask for it or otherwise. i don’t know what you’ve come across but maybe consider the feelings of other people as well.

-there are plenty of minor characters right now that have plenty of plot. here’s a convenient list, because i see you’re keeping up with the server/blog but not enough to actually realize this! understandable! so, off the top of my head, inasa, seiji, sen kaibara, kamakiri, intelli, rei todoroki, bakugou’s parents, etc etc, they all have complex plots because they’re being active in getting them. there are plenty of others (au characters especially included) who are on that same level or getting there. there is also, of course, plenty of accounts that ARE being more neglected, and this is something that i’m about to go on about in an attempt to lessen this but i also can’t stress that if you are feeling neglected it is LARGELY based on the activity of your blog.

-speaking of which! and i’m sorry to tell you this, but activity is a requirement for most organized rp groups. if it’s something your friend isn’t comfortable with, a more lenient group may be more for them. the rule about activity isn’t a punishment, it’s to make things fair for other rper’s who want to put the work in on a character you are otherwise neglecting, for whatever reason! we have a lot of people interested in joining the group who might have more fun with it, and also might be able to deal with the pressures of owning a rp blog better.

-if you are not active on your blogs or in the discord your character will be ignored because people can not read your mind and if you are NOT active they will NOT know that you are available for interaction. this is a fact.

-activity does not mean asks, it does not mean plots, it means post on your blog at least once a week. i can’t stress how important this is BECAUSE:

-a good way to try and get interaction and try to get plots if you have anxiety about it is to make open threads.

an open thread will allow other characters to interact with yours without the need for plotting beforehand. however, please know that no one is required to answer an open thread, especially if they can’t find anything in it that vibes with that particular post. thus, the more open threads, the more opportunity for interaction you have!

we also now have the groupchat discord, which has allowed for VERY easy plotting and should be utilized more for minor characters who are struggling to fit in. the problem with minor characters (which we are aware of) is that they usually don’t have connections with characters that can allow them an easier time integrating into the group. again, multiple of the minor characters have found some good grounding doing just that.

-everyone needs to consider the feelings of other roleplayers as well and try and reach out just as much as they are asking people to reach out to them.

if you can not reach out, please consider the other two options ie. open threads or the group chat.

-the inactivity rule is also pretty lenient, we are not nearly as strict on it as we probably could be. also, if there is a personal issue that is keeping someone from roleplaying, all they need to do is contact one of the mods and they will receive an approved hiatus where they can take the time they need. however if this is not communicated we can not know that there is something wrong and we will assume disinterest and claim the blog back.

anyway since you’re still receiving screenshots, i assume that your friend is still in the server! wonderful! i’m sure you’ve also been privy to a lot of out-of-context screenshots, which is lovely. i hope you’ve also been sent a few on the matter being discussed now within it. i won’t apologize for the members and how they are handling this because i can understand their reactions. while i’m not hurt by these messages, they’ve hurt other people. there are plenty of vastly more mature ways this matter could be dealt with. again, if your problem is with certain people, you could have messaged me or the other people involved... since all you’re doing by contacting this blog is contacting me or most all the people you mentioned in your previous ask, through far more roundabout means. anon messages without context are always going to be taken more harshly, which means it’ll be even harder to find some sort of solution, if you’re actually looking for one.

which, honestly, it doesn’t sound like it.

so, again, i encourage you to message my blog if you’d like to continue this! i’m fine with continuing it here though if you’re more comfortable. just know that you are actually kind of in the wrong here, haha. the problem may not be the group itself and may just be your friend being uncomfortable with the usual rp format that a lot of people are either very well-versed in, or are currently learning alongside each other.

again, i’d like to help if i can, just stop being such a brat about it. if you only care about your friend’s feelings and not the feelings of the people in this group, i can’t fault you on that. i really only ask for maturity on an issue that really doesn’t need to be as extreme as it currently is. thank you!

PS: thank you for pointing out the people you have a problem with! it’s completely unfounded and also unfair considering this is, again, 1) very common for mods of characters with main roles 2) not even accurate because quite honestly i see plenty of the minor characters having just as much if not more plots than a lot of the main characters, just based on activity and the schedule of the mods. and THAT is honestly none of your business, lol, but again, that’s something i’m sure most people would prefer you talk to them about rather than vagueing them in a public setting

#also i'm pretty sure i know who this is lol so when you want to talk to me about this privately. again. feel free #cursing us out and complaining about stuff isn't going to do anything #it just makes me think you all enjoy causing problems for not only everyone but also yourself #because you are being offered the chance to actually fix things but instead nope you're just going to keep whining so okay #and if it's not who i'm assuming it is then i apologize of course #this IS anon so i only have my guesses uwu #mod ricky #Anonymous #ask tag

[brashnmodest]

Rules for mobile users

[rules updated: 01/10/2019]

• No goddmodding.

• I am of age to do smut so that is a-okay with me! just note though I don’t do smut often, bc I’m just not interested in writing it with these characters especially and I’m also ace af. But if I do end up doing it, I’ll only rp it as long at it is: consensual and not rape/too weirdly fetishy, put under a “read more” cut and tagged appropriately, and you have to be 18+! Please don’t lie about your age, we could get in legal trouble!

• This blog is not a spoiler-free one. I will not tag roleplays with spoilers, but anything else will be tagged with #Undertale Spoilers

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least three days of no replies, though. You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• This blog is OC, multiverse, and crossover friendly! I love OCs and have many of my own tbh, you’re all more than welcome to come rp with me!!

• I know that not everyone loves alternate universes as much as I do, so if this makes you uncomfortable, there’s still the option of roleplaying with the normal Mettaton and Napstablook! You just need to tell me, okay? If you still don’t want to roleplay with me anyway, or for any other reason, that’s perfectly fine too.

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw in general. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me, yo. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w;

• This blog is multiship! So any relationships my muses are involved in, are in different timelines unless specified. I ship pretty much anything unless it’s incest or if they’re children paired with someone a lot older. Selfcest is fine though (mettaton x mettaton)

• I also only ship with chemistry. My muses need to get to know yours first, so don’t get disappointed if they only see you as a friend at first and have no intention of pursuing a romantic relationship with your muse. Give my muses reasons to care about your muse and let the feelings develop naturally, and don’t ever force your muse on mine. Give them time. I take relationships very slowly to let my muses develop their feelings, fyi, so don’t please don’t try to rush that. It’s not going to work if you do.

• I prefer not to roleplay with personals, unless you are someone I know from school or something like that.

• This blog can take place during or slightly before the true pacifist route unless specified, so interactions take place in the Underground. No mercy route AUs are definitely welcome here, too!

• If you are an OC, I will assume our muses have never met unless you plan ahead with me what their relationship is like. If they know Mettaton because he’s famous and all, that’s fine, but don’t expect him to know who you are. Napstablook will absolutely not know who you are.

• That being said, characters who have already interacted in canon will know each other. Unless the roleplay takes place in a different point of time and we are staging their first meeting, of course.

• I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself.

|     Requested tagged triggers:

|     • none so far

• If you don’t specify a muse, I will automatically choose a muse whom I feel in the mood for roleplaying as, or who I feel I can reply to the thing easier as. Most likely, my main muse here will be the opposite Mettaton. This, of course, is subject to change.

• I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-4 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays, thank you very much. Feel free to keep formatting your own posts though, because I think formatting looks really cool! I just don’t want to format my posts, however. I do not currently have many usable icons for this blog, and I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words.

• I don’t care if you refer to Napstablook with he/him pronouns either, but I will always refer to them with they/them in my own posts.

• If you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. If you post it somewhere, the least you can do is credit me by at least including a link to my blog or something. I prefer if you don’t repost my art without asking me first, though.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get very anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you then chances are that I have definitely read them before following- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• That being said, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I’m not doing anything bad

• I might not follow some people back for a few reasons, some might be for the type of content you post on your blog, but I am still non-selective! I will roleplay with anyone who asks (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, @briightskies, if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you’re talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays on there.

-

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to one of my muses, or like these posts at any time (also feel free to re-like those posts so I can make another starter for you at any time!) for me to write you a starter with Brash or Modest!

#rules #long post;; #links for mobile users #blog updates

[adviceofourown-blog]

Hey, are you a fic writer? Do you want more comments?

Here are some tips that might help you with that.

1. Humanize yourself

As with all creative pursuits, the creator is often secondary to the creation. Death of the author and all that.

Sometimes it feels like readers don’t realize An Actual Person is behind writing all this fic, but there are ways to make your presence more apparent. Author’s notes lets you grab a shovel and dig yourself out of that grave. The author lives once more! Try saying a little about yourself, about your thoughts on the fic, about experiences that influenced your fic; that makes the fic less ‘some mysterious manifestation of autonomous words’, and more ‘something that an actual bona-fide person put effort into making’.

Also, it gives your audience something to respond to. One of my friends mentioned something their cat did, and they got several comments that were ‘I love your cat’.

2. Recognize your audience

The main difference between feedback on visual art and feedback on literary art is that, in most cases, it’s WAY easier to leave something small and low-stress on pictures. You can just write ‘nice’ as a comment or you can whisper it in the tags.

Comments on AO3 or FF.Net or wherever you’re posting, those tend to look More Official. They’re more impersonal than a reblog. There’s a text box for crying out loud! That’s like, official form stuff! Not casual blog stuff! Plus, there’s already tons of words there. Someone who read and liked a 1,000 word story might not feel comfortable just leaving ‘nice’ as a comment, but they don’t have the time/energy to organize their thoughts in a way that they would consider ‘meaningful enough’.

If you, personally, are fine with a ‘nice’, be proactive. Think about reasons people may or may not comment, and address those reasons while being positive and encouraging. You can write ‘hey if you liked the story please leave a comment, even just a ‘nice’ would brighten my day!’ You could ask specific questions like ‘let me know how [scene] made you feel’ or ‘I’m curious what you guys think will happen’ to give your readers something specific to talk about. There’s lots of ways to gently encourage engagement.

Transparency, in particular, is good practice. There was one chapter I posted where I flat-out said ‘please appreciate this I put so much effort into research and formatting’, and that chapter actually got the most comments in the fic.

If you really want comments, be upfront about it. As long as you’re doing it in a way that’s not guilt-tripping anyone, or sanctimoniously appealing to some nonexistent moral obligation, people who are on the fence about leaving a comment will, more often than not, end up leaving a comment.

3. Plug social media

Another thing to keep in mind— there’s a good chance that someone picking up one of your fics doesn’t know you at all. All the context they have for you, as a person, comes from the a/n and the fic.

Being on social media humanizes you even more! You can talk about your process in-depth, and if you’re the type, you can take prompts or reblog writer-related ask stuff. Beyond that, it gives your audience a more casual way to contact you. For some people, leaving a comment feels like A Permanent Commitment. An ask— especially if anonymous asks are enabled— can feel more low-stakes.

Also, there are folks who don’t really feel comfortable talking to someone unless they get a sense of what communication styles are preferred. Personally speaking, there are writers I followed for for a little while before feeling confident enough to shoot them a message about how great their fic was. Anxiety! Lots of people have it, but there are workarounds and ways to offer them.

Final note:

Fic, like all art, needs you to market yourself a little if you want to Get Somewhere. You need to understand your audience. Sometimes you can get a Big Break based on the quality of your writing alone, but for real— the most popular fic in any given fandom, the fic with ten billion comments, it’s usually the most popular/commented on because of luck and marketing.

But that’s more of a business-type perspective, and people usually aren’t married to this mindset unless they’re manipulating a fandom audience for profit (which has happened, see Erika L. James and her ascended not-safe-for-work Twilight fanfic)

Let’s look at this from a ‘just here for a good time’-type perspective.

In general, we have a culture that’s kind of weird about engaging with any type of art, and that absolutely applies to fic. A lot of people don’t talk about fic. A lot of people don’t really know how to talk about fic, because they don’t know what you, the writer, would want. Some people have little comments they hold onto because they feel too it’s short. Some people have book reports they hold onto because they feel it’s too long. Some people just hold onto comments because the idea of contacting the writer intimidates them. The best thing is usually to be transparent as a writer, and also, to model the kind of behavior you want to see. Write comments, rec fic, encourage other people to do the same. Be the change you want to see in the world and all that.

Just talk it out. I mean, we’re writers, that’s what we do anyway.

#fanfiction #writing advice #fanfiction writing advice

[unplacedpodcast]

Chapter One: Occult (Script)

Apologies for the delay in getting the scripts up! This is my first time writing a script & it probably shows, so I wanted to do more editing of them to fit Real Formatting Standards, but then I kept not having enough time to do that (because NaNoWriMo prep, freelance writer, second podcast in the works, etc.) so I decided not to make the perfect the enemy of the accessible and just put the scripts up as they are. 

Anyways, the script for episode one is behind the cut, obviously spoilers! 

NARRATOR: I don't know if I'm dead, or losing it, or what the hell, but I am definitely not okay with it.

(Narrator draws a deep breath)

I guess I should start at the beginning.

I woke up this morning, and it was like every other day. Hit snooze a few times, wolfed down some oatmeal, rushed out the door. Gave a shy little head-nod to that cute neighbor on the way out - the usual. Of course, she couldn't be more oblivious to my existence, but I probably have bigger things to worry about right now, anyways.

I got on the subway, made it just in time. It was packed - the usual morning rush. And I swear, I have never had my toes stepped on more in my life. That probably should have been my first clue that something was up. Everyone hates public transportation and nobody wants to talk during our shared misery, so it’s not like awkward silence is a new thing. But when you get stepped on six times in five minutes and no one - not just the stepper, but no one - around you acknowledges your "excuse me"s or your "ow"s or your general existence, something is a little off. Of course, I didn't think anything of it at the time, just that there were more assholes per capita than usual today.

I suffered through the obnoxious subway ride and heaved a sigh of relief when I was finally out of that tin-can and back on the street. By this point, I was running a little late, which meant I was speedwalking down the sidewalk like an overcaffeinated soccer mom. Caught the door closing behind someone else into my office building, got past the badge-checker, dealt with more awkward silence and lack of personal space during the endless elevator ride, and finally, I was there - only three minutes late.

(Narrator’s voice starts to shake)

But something wasn't right. By this point, the frazzled shit-I'm-gonna-be-late feeling was wearing off, which meant I was a little bit more aware of my surroundings. And even in my relatively small office, nobody was making eye contact or saying hi or...anything. Granted, I’m not about to win any popularity awards there, but you know, people say hi!

My first thought was that word of layoffs had come down from the head honchos - but everyone else was talking to each other. There wasn't an eerie silence over the entire office or anything - people were just ignoring me. My next thought was that my recent work had been found wanting, then that news had made it around, and this was the standard passive-aggressive office politics results.

Either way, whatever. As far as I could tell, there was nothing I can do about it now except for get my nose back to the godforsaken grindstone. I went to my desk and that douchebag from marketing is standing directly in front of it. Josh? James? Something like that. Very aware that I might be skating on thin ice right, I tried to be polite to him, even though he's one of those guys that thinks he's always entitled to everyone's time and energy.

"Excuse me," I said. And he keeps talking. "Uh, I need to get to my desk, so if you could just..."

And this motherfucker just kept talking! He was acting like he hadn't heard a word I said, rambling on about the KPI reports or whatever to Carol, like he thought it would get him laid. Even though everyone in the office could tell him the chances of that are so far gone that “lost cause” doesn't even begin to describe it.

By this point, I was fed up with everything and trying my best not to completely lose it. I opened my mouth to say something more strongly worded than "excuse me,” while he’s still prattling on without pause. Then, he said, "Your buddy isn't here yet, huh?" and gestured to my chair.

Carol, completely uninterested in this entire ordeal, glances at my desk for a split second before she replied, "Nope. Guess she's out sick or something,” and continued typing away.

At this point, I finally lost it and shouted, "YOU IDIOTS, I AM STANDING RIGHT HERE." My voice echoed off the crappy ceiling tiles and around the cubicles...but nobody did a damn thing. I sighed, pinched my nose, and said, slightly calmer this time, "Okay. If this is an April Fool's joke, it's the best one ever, but it's also actually way late, and I have work to do, so can we give up the ghost on this stupid prank?"

(Narrator sighs, sniffles)

And nobody does anything. This is the point when it starts to sink in that something is actually wrong. Nobody has that good of a poker face, especially not Carol - the woman can't tell a knock-knock joke without giggling at her own punchline. I reached out and grabbed her shoulder and gave it a shake, and she does nothing. She moved - I could grab her and move her, this wasn't a Moaning Myrtle situation where I passed through her - but it was like she had no realization that her body was moving. She kept typing away, not missing a beat. The douchebag from marketing was still rambling on.

(Narrator's voice starts to crack, she's holding back tears)

I backed away from them, trying not to trip over my own feet in my panic, and ran towards the office door. I stopped at the front desk to wave my hands in front of our receptionist and shout in his face. It didn’t make a difference - the phone conversation he was engrossed in continued without interruption or acknowledgement.

I barely made it out of the building before I went into full-fledged panic attack mode right there on the sidewalk. We're talking hyperventilating, sobbing, talking to myself, on my hands and knees, on the cold sidewalk. The whole time, strangers parted around me like a rock in a river. Nobody walked on me, everyone gave me a solid foot of space, but nobody saw or heard or acknowledged me either. After a while, I cried myself out and the black tunnel-vision started to fade, as my breathing evened out.

(Narrator takes a moment, shaky breath, sniffle)

And I just...somehow made my way back here. The trip home was kind of a blur, I'm not entirely sure how I did it. You know that space after you have an epic meltdown, where you're kind of numb and feel like you're watching everything happening from a spot just above your shoulders? The same thing happened when my grandpa died. It was completely unexpected. I answered the phone with no idea what I was about to hear, and my mom asked me if I was okay three times before she let me hang up, because I wasn't crying. I just went blank.

Of course, once I hung up the phone, I sobbed for the next hour. But after that, the rest of the day, I was in that weird space in-between the panic attack and daily life, where you have a buffer that you didn't want or ask for, and you might as well be walking around encased in styrofoam for all you can see or hear or feel or think.

Anyways. I guess that's not really relevant. The point being, I made it back home okay. And I still don't know what's going on. I don't even know where to start. I'm still here. I can still touch and smell and move things. It's just that nobody else can see that, and I don't know why.

What do you Google for this, "why am I invisible?" (Okay, you got me. I did try that. It's all metaphorical essays about social anxiety and bad poetry and fedora-wearing dudes whining about not getting laid. No dude, I mean I am actually invisible. Not just to the girl I wish would notice me, to everyone.) There's no WebMD symptom entry for "I'm not incorporeal, but I might as well be as far as everyone else is concerned.”

I tried calling my mom. That was before the fruitless googling. The phone went to voicemail right away. When I left a barely-not-sobbing message, the machine kept telling me there was an error. That robotic voice with the same inflection every time, repeating over and over again,

(mimics phone message voice) "I'm sorry, your message could not be delivered. Please hang up or press pound to try again." I got through three tries before I threw my phone at the couch and collapsed on top of it.

(Narrator sighs, calmer this time, completely wore out both by this experience and by retelling it)

What do you do after that? The internet has no answers and neither does my mom, apparently. That's a situation I'm completely unprepared for.

And - I don’t know. My first thought - well, fourth or sixth or tenth thought, after everything else - was that somebody needs to hear this story. I have to document this somehow. If I stay semi-scientific about it, maybe that will keep the panic at bay. Like that old anxiety drill - name the five things you can see and four things you can hear and three things you can smell, and so on. Keep myself grounded, so I have a better chance of survival, yeah?

And I'm not a writer, not by a long shot, so I picked up my phone (which was fine despite the temper tantrum, thankfully) and started recording and here we are. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this recording when it's done. Based on my experiences so far, I'm not even sure anyone else will be able to hear it. But the recording still seems to be going and there's that little heartbeat-style line going up and down and up and down, so at least my phone can hear me.

(Narrator laughs, kind of hysterical)

If only Siri could give me some answers. "Hey Siri, tell me why I'm literally fucking invisible, can you do that for me?"

(Siri ding in background, narrator laughs again, slightly more genuine this time, still giggling when she starts speaking again)

Oh my god, not really, Siri. Stop.

(Siri "off" ding)

Anyways. That leaves us. It's just you and me, potentially nonexistent listeners. I'll try and record another update soon to...let you know I'm still alive and holding it together, to whatever extent both of those things are true. Stay tuned, I guess.

[emptyxhere]

Rules for mobile users

[[here’s a google doc for the updated list of rules, applicable for all my blogs]]

anything under this cut is from my outdated rules.

[rules updated: 07/28/2019]

–STUFF YOU SHOULD DO–

• No godmodding. No sending (implied or explicit) homophobic/transphobic/bigoted messages to me or my character either.

• Assume the majority of this blog’s interactions will take place over social media. However, I’m still interested in doing face to face interactions for this muse, upon request, or if you send in an ask meme starter prompt! If you’re not interested in blog-style roleplaying, that’s alright. This Frisk is connected to the player known as Zenith (@xceancyes) so some lore stuff might happen on this blog if you want to follow along with online shenanigans.

• In any face to face interactions: if you start getting bored with the roleplay, feel free to drop it and/or end it. We can always start up another thread in the future.

• Please don’t over-pester me for replies. I promise I’ll get to them. Feel free to drop me a reminder after at least a week of no replies, though. In return, I usually give you a week too, unless otherwise specified in your own rules, until I remind you if it’s your turn to reply (or more often, I chicken out and trust that you’ll eventually respond/want to drop it and end up never bringing up that particular thread ever again). You’re always free to start multiple threads with me, that is greatly encouraged because I love having lots of threads with people.

• However, please let me know if you want to drop a roleplay thread! It can give me major anxiety when I’m waiting for a response that’s never going to come, and I wonder if I did something wrong and assume that’s why you’re not replying anymore :’) I’m not forcing you to let me know if you want to drop a thread, you can drop it without saying anything too. But I personally really appreciate being told about that sort of thing.

• Don’t reblog a f2f thread you’re not part of. This should go without being said, of course. Personals will be immediately hardblocked, and rp blogs will receive a warning.

• Please know that any in character post is okay to reblog or reply to if we’re mutuals! But out of character posts are not okay to reblog, unless stated otherwise, or it is a promo or art I’ve done.

• If you can trim your threads, please do! It’s fine if you can’t, though, because I will most likely trim the thread for you. If you don’t trim threads with other people, however, I’ll be less likely to follow you since I don’t like scrolling through long posts.

• Please don’t claim any of my art as your own. If you post it somewhere, the least you can do is credit me by at least including a link to my blog or something. Bonus points if you ask me first before reposting my art, but I understand if you’re anxious because so am I :’)

• That being said, if you’re following me, please let me know if I’m doing something that’s making you uncomfortable or is breaking one of your rules!! I do read the rules pages of everyone, but I’m human and forget things, and I’m not a mind reader either ;~; I care, so please tell me if I���m ever doing anything bad

—

–STUFF YOU SHOULD KEEP IN MIND–

• I am of age to do smut, but Frisk is definitely not! They are a baby!! No smut in this house.

• This blog is not a spoiler-free one.

• I’m alright with roleplaying nsfw in general, minus smut. Gore, violence, and generally dark roleplays are cool with me. It should be, considering this is a genocide Frisk anyway. I love angsty things just as much as I love fluff ;w; Plus, their first instinct to seeing a monster now is to kill them, so they’ll probably fight any monster muses on sight. Speaking of gore, you’re more than welcome to fight/harm/injure my muse to any extent! You don’t even have to ask! If you want to do a rp where they die, however, please dm me first. (this rule is for f2f interactions)

• I prefer not to interact with personals. Personals in general are allowed to follow me though! However! Personals are not allowed to reblog roleplays, in character posts, or ooc posts especially if I say in the tags that I’m going to delete the post later. Only things that are tagged with my “reblogs” or “musings” or “art tag” tags are okay to reblog. Headcanon posts are not okay to reblog unless I say otherwise.

• Like spamming is okay! I very occasionally lose roleplays, and getting lots of notes from likes are never a factor for that, for me personally. If I lose a roleplay, it’s mostly just because I forgot, so that’s really a “me” thing. And I like it when people like my posts! It lets me know that you like my blog and the stuff I post, and it makes me happy :’)

• If you are an OC, I will assume our muses have never met unless you plan ahead with me what their relationship is like.

• That being said, characters who have already interacted in canon will know each other. Unless the roleplay takes place in a different point of time and we are staging their first meeting, of course.

• Frisk will be pretty meta sometimes. They are aware of who Players are (they’re definitely not fond of them considering what their’s made them do), and they know they live in the game world. Although they are not aware of alternate universes and things of that nature yet.

• Like I said above, Frisk is connected to the player known as Zenith. He was the player who controlled their adventure three years ago.

• Frisk is nonbinary on this blog. Although, I don’t care if you refer to them as a boy or a girl (Frisk has no preference). Their order of preference for pronouns is they/she/he, although they will definitely like you more if you use exclusively they/them pronouns. I respect all headcanons about Frisk’s gender, and same goes for any Krises and Charas. If you play a KFC kid, gendered or not, I will use the pronouns they want used, and I do hope that you use they/them pronouns for my Frisk. I personally will default to using they/them for other Krises, Frisks, and Charas unless specified on your blog. No discourse about this, please.

• Doubles are welcome to interact too! I’m also cool with interacting with and following multiple blogs who portray the same character other than Frisks as well!

• This blog will not have mains. Of course most of the monsters in their timeline are dead, other than Flowey, Asgore and Sans(?), and any monster who managed to evacuate.

• Regarding face to face interactions: I’m pretty lenient with short replies. Don’t feel pressured to match the length if my reply gets long! Multi-para (usually 2-5 paragraphs) is my go-to for roleplays, so I usually do long replies by default.

• Adding onto that, I honestly don’t mind one-liners. Of course, in crack/online roleplays it’s fine but I’m okay with it in serious roleplays too. I prefer it if you don’t give me one-liners, but hey, as long as I’m still having fun with the roleplay anyway, it’s cool with me! I understand not being able to think of anything to write, so just as long as you don’t give me one or two words as your reply like ‘He smiled.’ or ’*laughs*’, I’ll be cool with it. Put at least some effort even if you’re only gonna give me one sentence, otherwise I’ll drop the rp once it becomes a repeat offense.

• I will not change the formatting of my roleplays to fit yours. I’m comfortable with sticking to only paragraph style roleplays, thank you very much. Feel free to keep formatting your own posts though, because I think formatting looks really cool! I just don’t want to format my posts, however. I do not currently have any icons for this blog, and I will not go all out with formatting my own posts with all that cool ‘small text’, and indents, and bolding and all that. The most I ever do with my formatting is italics for emphasis on certain words.

• I tend to move f2f roleplays from asks onto its own post. If I send you an ask meme and you answer it, I’ll respond by making a new post, tagging you, and linking to your reply. Until formatting on asks are fixed, I will answer any asks sent to me in a new text post rather than asks.

• I accept any sort of asks! If they aren’t answered after a while, either I don’t know how to answer it or I might be drawing it out and I am a very slow artist- Sorry-

• Feel free to tag me in any of those tagging memes! I don’t mind and I think they’re pretty fun to do! ^^

• Adding onto the above rule, you’re more than welcome to send me those chain asks like “send this to 10 roleplayers you think are really great!” because it’s super duper nice that you would think to send one to me! But don’t expect me to send them to other people, because I won’t :’) my anxiety won’t let me, so I’m sorry-

• If I follow you, that means I’ve already read all of your rules. I might not send the codephrase, though, because most of the time I get very anxious over having to send things like that. I’m very sorry–! But if I follow you then chances are that I have definitely read them before following- If you choose not to trust me on this, I understand.

• I generally follow every rp blog that follows me, but I might not follow some people back for a few reasons. Some might be for the type of content you post on your blog. I will interact with most people (unless you wanna rp gross things or you’re a mean person,,,, like your muse can be as much of a dick as you want, that’s no problem but don’t be gross to other people as yourself) and if I do roleplay with you, I will be more likely to follow you as well.

• Adding onto the above rule, however, please respect that it’s nothing personal if I ever unfollow you either! It’s not that I hate you or anything, but if you haven’t followed me back and you’re a private rp blog, or if we’re mutuals but never really roleplay, our muses just don’t click, you spam stuff that I don’t want to see on my dash, or you’ve become inactive for years and/or don’t interact with me anymore, there’s nothing wrong with that! We can still be friends but I prefer to have all the people I follow be potential rp partners. Feel free to follow me on my personal, @briightskies if you still wanna keep in touch but not rp :’)

—

–ABOUT THIS BLOG–

• This blog is OC and crossover friendly! I love OCs and have many of my own tbh, you’re all more than welcome to come interact with me!!

• This blog is semi-selective with blog post interactions. I’ll mostly just interact with people I’m following, but I’m definitely open to interacting with other rp blogs too. Regarding f2f interactions, I am non-selective!

• I’ll also interact with fandoms I’m not into either, as long as you have a good about section for your character, which also indicates how you portray them (any headcanons or AUs you have that aren’t canon, or whether you portray them as canonly as possible, unless they’re OCs of course since a regular about page is a given) and I’ll probably look up other things about that fandom in its wiki if I don’t know what something is anyway.

• I really shouldn’t have to say this, but I feel like I’ll need to anyway. I will not be shipping with this muse! They’re not in the best mental space for relationships at the moment, and they are also Too Young to be dealing with anything more than small crushes at kids their age.

• This blog might contain triggering content. I will tag common triggers and such, but don’t be afraid to tell me if you have something you want me to tag! I promise I’ll remember to tag it from then on. I do not have any known triggers myself. Any trigger warning tags will be written as “tw; ____” with a semi-colon, not a colon. If I feel like something should be tagged as a trigger but I’m not sure what to tag it exactly, I’ll just tag it as “tw” as a sort of catch-all tag.

     Requested tagged triggers:

 none at the moment

• I will only talk through the IM system ooc. If you send me a message through there, I will not respond with ooc brackets ((these things)) because I will automatically assume you know that you’re talking to the mun. I do not do roleplays or ic interactions on there.

-

Thank you for reading this really long list of rules! It means a lot if you did!

There’s no password, because I’m also anxious with those for other people’s blogs as I said above. But if you would like to interact with me, you can shoot me an ask directed to my muse, or @ them or something!

#(( #links for mobile users #rules #|| Messing With The Files || Blog Updates. #))