#that’s my main issue. my best friend offered to come with me but i don’t want to upset my grandma. i can’t upset my grandma man

[forever-rogue]

Could I request something with the prompt, “that’s a mighty sexy costume you’re wearing” with best friend!Eddie seeing bookworm!Reader in a skimpy costume for the first time? Maybe a lil smutty, if you want, but no pressure! - @munson-blurbs 💚

AN | Ooh, this is a great idea! I feel like Eddie would just short circuit! 🥰

Warnings | Language

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 3.9k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I have bad news," you walked into the trailer without ceremony or announcing yourself, dumping your purse near the door and kicking off your shoes.

Eddie looked up from the couch, where he was sprawled out, nose buried in his book. He quickly set it down and gave you his full attention, raising an eyebrow.

“The absolute worst,” you flopped down on the couch where he had made room for you, huffing dramatically. Eddie snorted in amusement as you made yourself comfortable on the opposite, positioning yourself so that your feet were touching his. You relaxed slightly now that you were back in his presence, his magnetic warmth and charm washing over you. 

“And just what are these horrible, terrible, very bad news?” he nudged your foot with his and offered you a small, encouraging smile. You could have easily melted into a puddle from that alone, “lay it on me.”

“I…” you leaned in, playing up the theatrics as you knew from years of being his best friend that he often did. He mirrored your position, the two of you looking at each other with matching grins.

“You…”

“I…don’t have a Halloween costume,” with that, you leaned back and threw your arm over your eyes, making a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan, “what am I supposed to do now?”

“Oh. My. God,” he reached for your hands and pulled you closer, a deeply concerned look on his face, “this is the worst. What are we going to do? I think…I think we might have to cancel Halloween this year.”

“NO!” you closed your  eyes and clutched at your heart, “no. It’s our favorite holiday. You must go on without me!” 

When you looked at Eddie again, the two of you broke into a fit of giggles. He loved when you were like this, so free and open and utterly yourself. He knew you were shy and more quiet around others - until you warmed up to them - but there had always been something special, something different about the bond the two of you shared. You were…everything to him, even if you, or he, didn't know that.

"C'mon sweetheart," he stood up and gestured toward the kitchen with a crook of his head, "pizza got here just before you did. Let's eat and then we can figure out this little conundrum."

"What kind did you get?" You bounced after him, stomach almost grumbling as you took in the mouth watering sight of the pizza boxes.

"My favorite and yours," he stated as though it was the most obvious thing into the world, "didn't really think I'd let me girl go without exactly what she wants, right?"

"N-no," my girl. Your head was buzzing with those two simple words. He'd said them so many times over the years that sometimes you even allowed yourself to think that they held more meaning than they truly did, "I should have known better."

"Yes you should have," he reached into the fridge and pulled out a few beers, "now dig in so we can start our movie and then solve all your problems!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"So," the two of you were sitting on the floor of the trailer's living room. The space was always cozy and inviting, especially towards the colder months, always overflowing with blankets and good food. You took a big bite of pizza and chewed it thoughtfully, "what led to this coming to an issue?"

"Ugh," you swallowed thickly before wiping your greasy fingers on a napkin, "I went to a couple of stores and halloween shops to look for costumes with Nance and Robin. And there was practically nothing there!"

"Nothing of interest? Nada? Zilch?"

"There were some," you admitted sheepishly, cheeks growing warm as you thought to the costumes you did see. Eddie seemed to sense your hesitation and motioned for you to go on. His big brown eyes were concentrated on you and that made your mouth run dry, "but they were umm…they were sexy."

You whispered the last part so softly that Eddie almost didn't even hear you. But once he processed what you said, his face went through a copy of different expressions before settling on curiosity, "sexy?"

"Sexy," you repeated gravely with a nod, "like sexy nurse, sexy witch, sexy pirate, sexy everything! The only costumes that weren't like that were the complete opposite! I can either be a sexy scientist or a big, round pumpkin. Why can't there be a middle ground?"

Eddie had been listening, and listening intently, but his brain was currently having a moment. As soon as you said sexy, his mind went completely into the gutter. He would have been a dirty, filthy liar if he said he hadn't immediately started imagining you in said costumes. He hated that he did that but he was just a simple man after all. And you were the girl he was in love with so naturally…it went hand in hand.

"Eddie? Hello….earth to Eddie," you were waving your hand in front of his face as he blinked and pulled himself back into reality. His cheeks flushed a pretty shade of bubblegum pink as he smiled sheepishly at you, "you alright there, space cadet?"

“Y-yeah,” and he was a liar. A damn, dirty liar. He was currently trying, and struggling, not to pop a boner at the mere thought of you. Eddie shifted slightly to try and make his situation a little less obvious but it didn’t help, “so…umm, ugh - maybe we could make costumes?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought about too,” luckily you were so worried about your own ordeal that you didn’t notice his, “I guess we could do that. Maybe as a last resort. I was thinking about going into Indy with Steve soon and looking. I’m sure I’ll figure something out. You still want to go to that big party with everyone, right?”

“Of course - as long as it’s what you want,” he was always looking out for you. It made you feel so safe and loved, “but that sounds like it’ll be fun. Can’t wait for Steve to bust out those dance moves again.”

“Seriously!” The last party the lot of you had been to had ended with a very not sober Steve who insisted he could dance. He couldn’t but it was still hilarious for the rest of you, “it’ll be fine. It’ll be fun! I just have to figure out a costume, which I’m sure I will.”

“Of course you will, sweetheart,” was it shameful that Eddie was lowkey but definitely high key wishing for you to wear something sexy? Probably, but his brain was feeling very simple at the moment, “this Halloween will be a great one.”

-─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“I think I am having second thoughts,” you looked yourself over in the mirror and sighed deeply, “a lot of them.”

“You look amazing,” Robin appeared behind you in the mirror, hands on your shoulders as she pressed a kiss to your cheek, “stunning.”

“I feel naked,” you definitely weren’t but it was still way less clothing than you were used to wearing or that anyone had seen you in. Looks like you really went with sexy after all. It was supposed to be just nerdy…but it ended up being that and a whole lot more. Or less if you were really thinking about it, “are you sure this doesn’t look ridiculous?”

“Princess Leia would be proud,” She grinned at you before stepping into the bathroom to finish her own makeup. You cringed slightly…you had a feeling Leia wouldn’t inherently be proud but she was all about autonomy and you were exercising yours so…it was all fine. Right? Right.

“Let’s go before I change my mind,” you grabbed your coat off the hook by the front door and wrapped yourself up in it. There was no reason to be cold already after all.

“Coming!” Nancy and Robin were both putting on the last touches to their costumes - a couple’s costume - which you thought was already. Their relationship wasn’t terribly new anymore but you could see just how enamored they were with each other. It was disgustingly cute. You couldn’t help but wonder at times, if Eddie had ever looked at you like that. If only you knew.

“This is going to be so much fun!” the three of you were meeting the boys at the party and you couldn’t completely shake off the nerves. Especially every time you thought of Eddie. 

You supposed you’d get his response soon enough. What would happen was anyone’s guess.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Was your costume…supposed to be girl in trenchcoat?” Eddie’s voice was soft and warm in your ear as the two of you headed towards the bar to get some drinks for the table. People around you were in various stages of sobriety and costumes, but it was a good party and everyone seemed to be having a good time. You were ready to do the same…maybe. Hopefully a few drinks would help. 

“No…not really,” you turned to Eddie and couldn’t help but look him up and down again. He was dressed as a vampire, silly plastic fangs half hanging out of his mouth. He looked pretty good, but you loved the fact that he still managed to be so himself, “it’s underneath.”

“Are you gonna show me or are you going to keep it hidden all night?” he settled his hands on your waist as he stood behind you as you approached the bar. The feel of his touch on you sent electric shivers down your spine. If only he knew how close he was to touching your bare skin, “mmm, sweetheart?”

“I-I can show you,” your eyes grew wide, heart pounding as loudly as the bass pouring through the club’s speakers. You swallowed thickly, “but can we go somewhere a little more private? I’m still not sure if I’m totally comfortable with it. I guess…maybe you could give me your opinion.”

His curiosity was piqued as he blinked at you a few times before nodding, “yes, of course. Always.”

He almost died when he felt your fingers wrapped around his wrist, quickly following behind as you pulled him towards a more secluded area near the bathrooms. Once you were sure you were away from prying eyes, you fumbled with the belt holding your coat closed. 

“If it’s super terrible, be nice please. It’s so out of my comfort zone and I don’t know what I was thinking, but here we are,” before he could say anything, you unknotted the tie and let the coat fall open. After a moment to psych yourself up, you shrugged the coat off and draped it over one arm and gave Eddie a vague little ta da. 

He didn’t say anything - couldn’t say anything as he stared at you. It took every fiber of his being to remain objective and not let his more animal part of his brain take over. You interpreted his silence to mean it was terrible and that he’d never seen anything worse. You scrambled to try and put on your coat again, but he put his hand on your arm and shook his head, “Eddie?”

“That’s…umm. Wow. That’s a mighty sexy Halloween costume,” he finally spoke and his voice sounded so strained. You bit your lip and looked at him with big doe eyes; you were going to be the death of him, “sweetheart, I thought…this wasn’t what you wanted?”

“It wasn’t initially what I wanted but then I couldn’t find anything else and then I just sorta settled on…this,” you gestured vaguely at yourself, keenly aware of how much the Princess Leia bikini costume revealed - it left very little to the imagination, “umm, is it that bad?”

“N-no,” he swallowed the thick lump in his throat, “fuck no. You look amazing.”

And oh. That wasn’t what you had been expecting at all. Eddie wasn’t sure if he was really going to say that to you, but he didn’t feel like holding back either. Maybe now was the time - the time to tell you how he’d felt about you for so long now. 

“Really?” you sounded much too sweet and demure for someone looking so ridiculously sexy. He nodded so vigorously that his chocolatey curls were bouncing around, “it’s not…stupid?”

“Not at all,” his hands settled on your forearms as he looked around. There was something that came over him that caused him to feel partially possessive of you, “listen I…fuck. You look so good and I know what all those guys are going to be thinking. Because…honestly? I’m thinking the same thing.”

“What do you…oh,” your entire body felt like it was on fire from his intense gaze. You weren’t exactly sure what response you had been expecting from him, but this wasn’t what you had imagined. It felt so…invigorating and thrilling, “you think it…I look good?”

“Angel, you always look good - better than good. But this is…a whole level,” you swore his eyes got darker as he leaned in closer, his cologne washing over you, “never thought my little bookworm would look like this.”

“Me neither,” you weren’t sure if you were reading the situation right, or just dreaming that it was going the way it was, but you were definitely feeling a type of way, “I guess we should go back to everyone.”

“Hmm? Oh,” he silently cursed the fact that you were at a party. He wanted you all to himself and he didn’t care that it was selfish, “yeah. I guess we should.”

“It’ll be fun,” you nudged his arm with a small smile, “c’mon, let’s go and get those drinks.”

You were still feeling self-conscious but Eddie’s reaction gave you a little bit of a much needed confidence boost. He trailed closely behind you as you made your way back to the bar; he could see the way heads turned in your direction, eagerly looking you up and down. 

“Let’s just get this over with,” he huffed under his breath, glaring down anyone who looked at you for too long. 

He didn’t even care if it made him look like an asshole. You were his and tonight he was going to make sure you and everyone else knew that.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The party seemed to drag on and on, and Eddie knew that he was probably getting more sour by the minute. He kept an eye on you as you went out and danced with Robin and Nancy, his conversation with the guys half-hearted as he kept zoning out of the conversation. As it grew later into the evening, Eddie had had enough. 

“Sweetheart,” he found you at a table with Nancy and Robin and a few other girls that you’d befriended. He leaned in so only you could hear, “do you want to go? It’s getting late. We could-”

“Yes!” you turned to him eagerly, already waving goodbye to your friends as Eddie shot them an apologetic look. Robin and Nancy weren’t bothered, they were more than supportive of what was going on. 

“Do you want me to take you home?” The cool night breeze was a welcome change from the stuffiness of the club. He offered you your coat back and you slipped back into it, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief. 

“Can we go to yours instead?” and why would Eddie ever deny you? You looped your arm through his and leaned in close as you walked to the van, “maybe we can watch a scary movie or something. I just…I wanna hang out with you.”

“Of course,” he gave you a gentle squeeze as he opened the door to the van and helped you in. He would have done anything for you - anything you asked of him, “to Casa Munson we go!”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Eddie?" The two of you were sitting criss cross applesauce on the living room floor, a big bowl of popcorn between your bodies and some random slasher playing on the television. He shoved his handful of popcorn into his mouth and motioned for you to go on. You were both still in costumes and he was struggling not to keep stealing glances at you, "can I ask you something?"

"Ofcourseanything," he mumbled through his mouth of popcorn. He swallowed it down before nodding and clearing his throat, "yeah."

"Would you have sex with me?"

Eddie choked on air as soon as he heard your question, coughing violently as he tried to figure out if you had seriously asked him that. Your own face turned so warm you were sure you could fry an egg on it. 

“I just…I meant like if you didn’t know me or if you like had any more feelings than just friends feelings,” you were quickly trying to backtrack and reiterate your question. You almost wished that you hadn’t said anything at all, “like would you have sex with me if you saw me like this?”

“I…” Eddie’s brain was short circuiting as he tried not to imagine all the ways and scenarios in which he would very much like to have sex with you. The question now was how would he tell you that yes, he would very much have sex with you without weirding you out or ruining everything. That or he could just…he could tell you how he truly felt.

“You know what, nevermind,” you were ready to stand up and run out. You’d run home if you had to - anything to avoid more of this situation, “forget I asked. I just…yeah. Sorry, Eddie. Can we just pretend that nothing happened?”

“Yes,”  he said suddenly just as you were sure you were going to die of embarrassment.

“Umm…yes to what? Yes to ignoring that this happened or -”

“Yes, I would have sex with you,” you froze, eyes almost comically wide as you stared at him. Eddie’s entire face and neck were turning to a violent shade of crimson, “I-I respectfully of course.”

“You would?” you sounded so sweet and innocent despite not even trying to, “really?”

“Yes,” he nodded fervently as you relaxed, leaning in closer to him. If it had been almost any other man you would have felt uncomfortable but never with Eddie. He’d never once made you feel anything by safe and happy and…loved. A nervous laugh escaped the boy as he scooted closer, your hands almost brushing, “I don’t just want…it wouldn’t just be sex. It’s about so much more than that. Because I…it’s never just been that. I feel…very strongly for you.”

“Eddie?” your entire body felt like it was vibrating with energy as your heart pounded in your ribcage. You were surprised it didn’t burst through your ribcage with how hard it was going. Was he seriously saying what you thought he was? Was there actually a chance that Eddie Munson felt the same the way about you that you felt about him? You leaned in so your face was closer to his, voice dropping low, “what do you mean? Tell me…please.”

"Sweetheart…fuck. I've thought about this so many times in the past. Pictured this exact moment so many times…but you're not usually in a Princess Leia costume," his little quip caused both of you to laugh softly, "I adore you. I have for so long now and I love everything about you and who you are and…I'm in love with you."

Oh. Oh. You hadn’t been expecting to hear that. Maybe you had, deep down, always known how Eddie truly felt. But hearing him verbalize it was on a whole other level. When you didn’t say anything in response, Eddie feared that he had said the entirely wrong thing. 

But then you looked at him with nothing short of heart eyes, smiling softly. That was definitely one of his favorite sights in the entire world. He hoped he'd get to see it every day for the rest of his lifetime.

"I've pictured this moment too, so many times," you moved your hand closer, letting your pinky brush against his, "and it didn't involve you as a vampire. Usually though, in these scenarios I'm one that says it first. I adore you beyond words, Eddie."

He brought his hand to gently rest on yours, giving it a gentle squeeze. You looked down at your hands and couldn't keep the beaming grin off your face. This evening had definitely taken a turn that you weren't expecting.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" His face was close to yours and you studied him. He really was pretty with those soft brown eyes and pink lips and the faint freckles that dotted along his cheeks and nose. You nodded once before reaching up and touching his face with your free hand, stroking your thumb over his cheek.

"I'm in love with you, Eddie."

He let out an incredulous little sigh as his eyes quickly shifted down to your lips. Your tummy was fluttering with butterflies by now, "may I kiss you?"

"I hope so," with Eddie there were no nerves, only sheer excitement, "we've waited long enough for this."

That was all he needed before he closed the small bit of remaining distance and pressed his lips to yours. You couldn't help the small sigh that escaped your lips as you leaned into him, wanting every bit of him. As he continued to kiss you, you crawled into his lap, wrapping your arms around his neck. 

Eddie was pretty sure he was in heaven as his hands settled on the soft, warm skin of your hips. There was no learning curve with him, it just all felt right and natural, like the two of you had been doing it forever.

He kissed you dizzy and neither of you pulled away until you were breathless. He pressed his forehead to yours and took your face tenderly in his hands.

"This is better than I ever imagined," he confessed sheepishly. You could feel that he was getting hard as you rocked yourself against him, "fuck, sweetheart."

"Don't stop," you whispered, leaning in to kiss him again, "don't ever stop kissing me."

"Sweetheart," he was breathing hard, his entire world being rocked by you, "if we keep going I'm not sure I'll be able to stop. And I don't want to push you or make you do anything you don't want to."

"I want this," you were kissing along his jaw and neck, finally marking what had always been yours, "I want you. And not just now, but always."

"O-okay," he was having a hard time not losing it and cumming in his pants like a teenager at the feeling of your lips and hands all over his skin, "me too."

"I love you, Eddie," you stopped and softly kissed his lips, "so much."

"I love you too, angel," he nudged his nose against yours, "happy Halloween."

"Eddie," your laugh was like magic. You both knew you'd remember this day and this Halloween for the rest of your lives, "happy Halloween, love."

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson one shot #joseph quinn #st #spooky season time!

[thetriumphantpanda]

Letting Off Steam

One Day I'll Fly Away - Chapter Two

Chapter Summary | A call from home makes you wish that all of this would go away, but until it does, you make it your mission to annoy Joel Miller as much as you can.

Word Count | 3.5k

Pairing | Joel Miller x Princess F!Reader 

Chapter Warnings | Mentions of alcohol, the British Royal Family, extreme wealth, food and eating, as well as mentions of body image issues and implied infidelity. Joel is grumpy as always, Miss Scandal is pushing his buttons. The sheep gang up on Joel. Joel is a typical man and can't help but take one (1) look at the princess' backside. Reader has very little description apart from her clothing. No outbreak-AU, no use of Y/N.

Authors Note | Thank you for being so patient in waiting for this. I'm still SO excited by these two and their story and things will be hotting up soon, I promise! If you liked this then please consider commenting, reblogging and screaming along with me in my ask box!

Please note that I no longer use tag lists - please follow @thetriumphantpandanotifs for writing updates.

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Kofi | Series Playlist

A bowl sits on the edge of the desk, full of peaches, sitting in the sliver of sunlight that filters through the window, warming the fuzzy skin. You reach down, pluck the fruit from the top of the bowl and rub your thumbs over the skin, warm and soft. Bringing it to your mouth, you drag your teeth through the softness of the flesh, savouring the sweetness as it floods your mouth, but even warmed in the sun like they are, this peach still doesn’t taste like the one you ate at the farm, plucked only moments ago from the tree, sun warmed and sweet.

You’ve barely finished the fruit when the phone at the side of the bed rings. It makes you close your eyes, pinch the bridge of your nose, and you think about ignoring it - there are very few people who know where you are, the Palace for one, on their insistence considering it was their security detail keeping an eye on you, your parents for another, but you doubt it’s them considering the shame you’ve apparently brought to their door. Tossing the stone in the bin, you walk the few steps to the phone and pick it up, but you don’t say anything, a trick you’d since learnt since the first headlines hit - remain silent, listen for a small click and wait to see who talks first.

“Texas looks like fun.”

There’s a wave of comfort that falls over your shoulders at the voice coming through the receiver. You check the watch on your wrist, calculating the time difference between Austin and London, shaking your head a little.

“Are you awake early, or up late?”

“You know me,” The voice chuckles a little, “Never one to turn down a party, and George was hosting at Claridge’s.”

“How many people took your photo?” You ask, sitting down on the bed.

“Oh honey, I’m going to splashed across every single newspaper come morning,” He laughs, “Throngs of them at the door and I’m sure someone has already sold the pictures of me drinking champagne from the bottle, stood on the table with some random woman holding onto my arm.”

You let your fingers tangle in the spiral cord, you know exactly what he’s doing, trying his best to make a scene wherever he goes in the hopes it drags the attention off you for just a moment. God, he’d always been the best friend you’d ever had. Sam. The only man who you think has ever cared for you.

“How is Texas?” You hear him ask, tone a little more clipped now.

“It’s…” You start with a sigh, “Fine.”

“I see they managed to catch you at dinner the other night,” You can hear some clattering in the background and the sound of liquid pouring, his nightcap no doubt, “Have they swarmed you?”

“I don’t think so,” You offer, “Not that I’ve noticed anyway, although now one paper knows I’m here it’s only a matter of time.”

“Any local talent?”

“Shut your mouth,” You laugh, “I’m here to escape the drama, not cause more of it.”

“So there is local talent!” He barks down the phone, “Go on, spill!”

Your mind flits to yesterday. To Joel Miller. The way he’d looked at you with contempt, clearly completely uncaring about etiquette, completely uncaring about you in general, and you understood. Small town, used to the small town dynamics day-in, day-out, about to be uprooted when the worlds media found out you were here. It only seemed to spur you on, much like everything in your life had. When your husband had turned his cheek to you and flashed his sparkly eyes at the girl sat to his left, that was a challenge you weren’t about you lose, and look where that got you. A scarlet letter, the words whore and slut banded around like they meant nothing. There was something in the way Joel Miller, with his rough and dirty hands, had looked at you like you were nothing but another customer that set you on fire in the worst way.

“It’s nothing,” You insist to Sam down the phone, “I think we exchanged less that four sentences with each other and I’m sure he already hates me for upsetting the small-town equilibrium.”

“It all starts somewhere.”

There’s a moment of silence, where the two of you just sit and listen to each other breathe. It’s a comfort, to know there’s at least one person on the other side of that ocean that still cares for you in some way, it’s just a shame he got caught up in the storm of shit along with you, but if it had to be someone, you’re glad it was him.

“I miss you.” You speak first.

“I miss you too, princess,” You can hear the smile in his voice, “It’ll all blow over eventually,” He soothes, “And then you can come back and George can host at The Savoy in celebration.”

You laugh at that, reminisce about all the parties you used to go to together, the harmless trouble you’d find yourself in more often than not, “Go to bed.” You insist.

“Yes, ma’am,” And you can perfectly picture the salute he’s just done on the other end of the phone, “Go and find your local talent.”

He’s hung up before you can argue with him, so you set the receiver back down on the handset, sit on the bed for a while, chin. resting on your palm, before you decide what to do. You lean your head out of the door and find Rob sitting in a chair at the end of the hall, when he notices you, he perks up a little.

“Can you drive me back to the farm from yesterday?”

Joel doesn’t really know why he does it, sat over his morning coffee, black and bitter, but there’s an itch in his fingers, so he pulls out his phone, slips on his glasses and opens up the Google app. He can hear Ellie laughing at him as he types with one finger, slowly typing her name into the search bar. He gets halfway through her first name when a slew of suggested searches pop up - the first one is her name followed by the word scandal. The next replaces scandal with affair. The further down he looks, the more pathetic the searches get, replacing the last word he reads with things like weight, depression and even nudes.

He sighs, shakes his head and just finishes writing her name before he hits the enter button. At the top of the Google page of results there’s a few images - one of her at her wedding, linked arm in arm with her ex-husband, smiles on both their faces. There’s one of her shaking the hand of some foreign dignitary, smiling as she does, and then another, grainy, clearly taken at night, as she sits at a restaurant with a man that isn’t her husband.

Joel knows the story, it was splashed across enough of his morning papers for him not to miss it. An affair with another man, caught red-handed talking to him on the phone about things Joel would rather not remember reading. There’s a part of him that feels sorry for her, that someone had managed to tap her phone and listen to her for long enough to catch her in the act, but he thinks more that it serves her right for being unfaithful. There isn’t a smile dazzling enough or a tip big enough from her that would make him think otherwise.

As much as he hates to admit it, he spends far too much of his morning reading about you on his phone. There’s an article he finds that tracks your ‘rise and fall’ as the British tabloid put it. There are dates, followed by photos and a little blurb for each moment in your life - from meeting the Prince at university, the whirlwind romance, the engagement, the wedding, the gossip about when you would start popping out children, right down to the photo they took of you running onto the plane to escape - grey English skies, some man holding an umbrella over your head to keep you dry as you turned your face from the cameras. He thinks it a little tragic really.

When he finally drags his attention back to the watch on his wrist, he sighs. The sheep are going to have his guts for making them wait for their food, and he can’t pick the peaches off the tree fast enough to stop the vast majority on them falling off and rotting on the ground. He downs the last of his cold coffee now, puts the mug in the sink and turns to head to his truck when he hears the telltale sound of the gravel on his drive crunching under wheels.

Joel takes a few steps towards the window and sees the same car as yesterday. You can’t possibly have run out of peaches already and there's no way his fruit would have rotted either, so he can feel his eyebrows furrow at what on earth you could want now.

By the time he makes his way to the porch, you’re already out of the car, taking small steps back and forth as you’re waiting for him. That makes his blood boil, that even though he doesn’t know you and certainly aren’t obligated for him to drop everything for you, you still expect it, and it makes his blood boil even more that he sequesters to it, walks out onto the porch like an obedient dog.

“Can I help you, ma’am?”

You flash that smile from yesterday at him again, one he’s pretty sure has managed to get you exactly what you wanted every single day of your life. It’s not that different to the smile Sarah used to give - sometimes still does, even now she’s grown.

“Well, I was just wondering if you’d show me around?” You ask, “Visiting farms was never my role back home but I’m fascinated to see how things work.”

Joel takes a look at you, a long look up and down and he worries for a second that it looks like he’s checking you out, but he’s just fascinated by how your brain works, that you’ve turned up to his dusty ranch in the middle of Texas in long white slacks, sandals and a white vest - he lets a snort leaves his nose and he shakes his head slight, “Ain’t exactly dressed for ranching, Princess.”

He watches as you shrug, letting your fingers grip at the hem of your vest, holding it up slightly so he can see a slip of skin underneath, “This old thing?” You say, “I don’t mind if it gets dirty.”

“It ain’t your shirt I'm worried about,” He points to your shoes, “You’ll break your neck walking around in those.”

Joel watches intently as you look down at your feet - perfectly pedicured toes peeking out from the hem of your trousers, “You don’t have anything I can borrow?” You ask softly, then, “I’m going out of my mind cooped up in that hotel room.”

For a second, he considers saying no. He doesn’t want you here, not really, you’re just going to become an even bigger pain in the ass if he lets you hang around, and he has no interest in getting caught up in whatever it is you’ve got going on, but the softness in your voice makes him crumble a little. He knows that if he were resigned to four walls he’d be going crazy too.

So he rolls his eyes, and disappears into the house, roots around on the shoe rack until he finds Ellie’s beat up boots, it’s the best he’s got, knowing by the look of her that they’re probably going to be a little tight. He doesn’t know why he does it, but he runs upstairs and grabs a pair of his thinnest socks - he certainly doesn’t want to be responsible for giving the princess blisters.

“Put these on,” He’s gruff with it as he hands them over, “Probably a bit small bit it’s all I got.”

He watches intently as you slip your sandals off slowly and hand them over to the man who gets out of the car and follows you everywhere. You struggle to get the boots on but eventually they end up on your feet. He can’t help that his eyes wander to your backside when you stand up, Texas dust settled on the creased of your trousers.

“If you’re comin’ with me you gotta do exactly what I say, when I say it, understood?”

You bring two fingers up to your temple and salute him, “Yes, sir.”

Joel's ranch is huge, is the first thing you realise. There’s an expansive orchard full of his famous peach trees that he drives you up to first. He’s silent, brooding in the drivers seat, scowl across his face. You can’t help but bring your hand up, settling your pointer finger into your mouth and biting down to stop your laughter from bubbling up and over.

He pulls the truck up at one edge of the orchard and steps out so you follow behind him. You meet him at the back of the truck as he reaches over and picks up a stack of wooden crates - the same ones you’ve taken back with you the last few times, overflowing with fruit. He hands the stack to you, which you take.

“You’re gonna earn your keep if you’re gonna annoy me.”

You chuckle, “Sure thing,” You say, following behind him as he walks towards the first tree, “I’m not work shy, you know.” You call after him, running slightly behind him to catch up.

“Course not,” He grumbles, “Years of shakin’ hands is great work experience for this.”

You roll your eyes, setting the stack of crates on the ground, deciding it’s probably best to let him say what he wants - it’s nothing you haven’t heard before anyway.

“This is easy,” He starts, gripping one of the lower branches of the tree, pulling it down so it’s in your eyeline, “Grip the fruit in your palm and twist it until it comes off.”

You do as he says, letting the bottom of the fruit sit in your palm, delicate fingers gripping at the sides, and you twist gently, feeling the branch tighten and the a snap when the fruit comes free in your palm.

“Just like that,” Joel muses, “Now just put it in the crate and move onto the next.”

You continue like that for a while, Joel pulling the branches down so you can pluck the fruit off and into the crate, until the first tree is bare as far as you can reach and you have a crate full of peaches.

“How do you get the fruit from the top?” You ask, raking a hand over your forehead to try and get rid of the sweat that’s gathering there.

He doesn’t reply, he merely steps closer to you, puts one of his palms against your stomach and pushes you gently back out of the way, then he turns around, puts both hands on the trunk of the tree and gives it a shake. You laugh as some of the fruit from the top tumbles down and hits the ground.

“If it ain’t falling then it ain’t ready.” Joel murmurs, starting to bend over to pick up the fruit from the ground to put it into another crate.

Joel leaves you to it from there, moving onto his own tree so you can divide and conquer, but somewhere around the third crate that you fill, your interest wanes. You can hear soft bleating coming from near the barn that you can see in the distance, so you walk that way, leaving Joel and the peaches behind for what sounds like something much more interesting.

When Joel stands up from his filled crate and looks around, you’re nowhere to be found. Panic sinks in. You’d insisted that whoever was looking after you didn’t have to come with, that Joel looked more than capable of looking after you for a few hours, and now he had no fucking clue where you were. That would make a mighty fine headline in any newspaper.

He rushes back to the truck, hand resting on his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun when he spots you - a white silhouette stood in a mass of his sheep. God fucking damn it, he thinks, abandoning the crates of fruit to get into his truck to drive over to you.

“What the hell’a you doin?” He calls out of the window when he pulls up near to you.

You turn around, one hand resting on the head of one of his sheep who seems to be enjoying the attention, “I just wanted to know what the noise was,” You shrug, “I’ve never touched a sheep before.”

“Will you-” He sighs, slinging open the truck door, “Get away from them, they’re dirty.”

You look down at the sheep that’s leant against your lower leg, tipping its head so you scratch it again, “Did you hear what he just said about you?” You ask the animal, who he swears looks right at him and bleats, “Exactly, he’s not very nice is he?”

He spots another sheep heading straight for you just a little too late to catch it before it’s reaching up with it’s teeth to take hold of the hem of your shirt. It tugs a little, not enough to do any damage, but enough to make you lose your balance a little. Joel steps forward, his muscle memory kicking in from all the times Sarah and Ellie had been in this exact predicament, his arm wrapping around your waist to keep you steady, whilst his other hand waves to make the sheep move away.

When he’s sure you’re not at risk of toppling into the dusty ground, he looks down at you, slightly tilted in the way he caught you so you’re looking up at him, wide-eyed, one of your arms fisting at the flannel to keep yourself steady. He coughs, clears his throat and lets you go like you’d just burned him.

“They’re unpredictable,” He chastises, “You’ll get hurt if you wander off like that.”

“Sorry.” Is all you say, but he feels like it’s genuine, “Why sheep?” You ask to his back as he walks away.

“They’re quiet, and they do what they’re told.”

There’s a brown stain on your pristine white shirt now, to match the dust that had settled across your backside from earlier, and he can’t help but smile to himself as he turns back towards the truck, pristine little princess getting herself all dirty on his ranch. He shakes his head, banishing any thought that isn’t his distaste for the way you’re going to continue uprooting everything with your presence, motioning his head for you to get into the other side.

The rest of the afternoon goes off without a hitch, you help him with the feeding and finish picking the rest of the peaches. He lets you eat one of the fruit on the way back to his house, listening as you slurp at the juices.

“Well, thank you for that,” You say as you get down from the truck, “It’s so interesting to see how things work.”

“You’re welcome,” He grumbles, not sure he can say the same, “Hey, wait!” He calls as you start walking away.

He picks up a crate of peaches from the truck, walks it over to you and plops it into your open arms, wordlessly walking back to pick up another.

“Is this my payment?” You ask, with a smirk on your face.

“No,” He says simply, “It’s you finishing a job, that first crate is for Nancy at the hotel, don’t steal any, you hear me?” You nod in understanding, “And this is for the grocery store in town.”

“So I’m a delivery girl now, am I?”

“Too right Princess,” He’s got a smile on his face now, but it’s not unkind, “You wanted to see how things work, you’ve gotta do it all.”

You roll your eyes and shake your head, but there’s a laugh at the end of it too as he walks you back to the car. Rob steps out, clearly questioning you with his expression.

“Looks like we’ve got a delivery to make, gentlemen.”

#Joel Miller x reader #Joel Miller x you #Joel Miller x female reader #Joel Miller x f!reader #Joel Miller #Joel Miller smut #Joel Miller fic #Joel Miller fanfic #Joel Miller fanfiction #the last of us #the last of us hbo #tlou #tlou hbo #the last of us fic #the last of us fanfic #the last of us fanfiction #tlou fic #tlou fanfic #tlou fanfiction #tlou smut #the last of us smut #Joel Miller the last of us #Joel Miller tlou #Joel tlou #Joel the last of us #Joel Miller au #ODIFA

[ghostboneswrites2]

Lots of love if you write this, and lots of love if you don’t!

Could you do a Daryl x reader where at first he doesn’t like her, and she tries to get to know why hes so mean to her? Maybe he yells at her and then some comfort after?

Note: this is a cute idea! I might write a different version of this one later <3 not sure how I feel about it. This ended up a lot more angst and has a lot more of an argument than I originally intended tbh

Another note: I usually write in past tense but this one has both past and present tense. It’s lightly proofread but I apologize if I missed any errors in past vs present tense!

Summary: Every since he first saw you he’s seemingly had it out for you. All that frustration comes to a head when you have to go rescue him from the side of the road.

18+ MDNI || WARNINGS: Daryl bring a Dickson, profanity, TWD typical non graphic violence, guns

        Daryl stepped into the RV for a gun, shaking his head with annoyance at the sight of your failure. Well, multiple failures. See, you started with a standard Glock, but the recoil spring in that one was too hard to set in place. Then, you switched to the Beretta, where you found your current firing pin spring issue. 

        Daryl stared down at all the bits and pieces sprawled on the table in front of you. 

        “Y’gon’ take every damn gun apart ‘til we ain’t got none when we need ‘em?” He complained. You glared. 

        “Well, excuse me if taking apart guns to clean them wasn’t my hobby of choice before shit hit the fan.” You shot back. 

        That day was the beginning of a long standing feud between the two of you. A feud that was frankly one sided. You never had a problem with the smelly hunter. In fact, you often made meager attempts at impressing him or even going as far as to be friendly. Unfortunately, you were always met with rude snark and bitterness. 

        One time, at the CDC, you had a little too much wine with dinner. You were stumbling through the hall, attempting to find the room you had previously claimed, when you had the misfortune of walking right into Daryl. 

        “Oh! I’m sorry.” You giggled. 

        “Damn it.” He grumbled with an annoyed sigh. “Can’t ya watch where the hell you’re goin’?”

        “I’m sorry, really—“ You tried to apologize again but he had no intentions of hearing it.

        “Don’t drink if ya can’t handle yourself.” He snapped. “Got the dead roamin’ the damn earth and you get shit-faced the first damn chance ya get!”

        In your drunken, emotional state, you sniffled and cried quietly to yourself that night. Why was he always so damn mean? You missed your friends and family so much, and you couldn’t even bare to think about your cat.

        When Sophia got lost everything was worse. You’d offer to help with the search and you’d always hear the same response; “I already got one little kid to look for. I don’t need two.” 

        You also tried to console him when Sophia’s body came staggering out of that barn. 

        “You’re a great tracker, Daryl. We were all just too late.” You’d say. 

        “Ain’t no we! You didn’t do shit but stay back and twiddle your fuckin’ thumbs! Get on somewhere. I don’t need your caudlin’.”

        When the farm fell, he’d always snap at you for lagging behind the group when you were on the move. You couldn’t help it. You were so tired and hungry.  

        “Keep up, damn it. Can’t afford to keep slowin’ down!” 

        When you were all clearing the prison, he wouldn’t even let you shoot. 

        “Jus’ stay back and hit the fence. Distract ‘em. You can’t shoot for shit.” 

        Since then, you reasoned to just avoid him. You’d never met anyone who could make you feel so bad about yourself. You decided to stop asking yourself why he hated you. You weren’t going to try and change it anymore. You were just going to exist the best you could, as far away from him as the prison yard would allow. 

          Which brings us to now. Inventory is your main task at the prison. Some people make it hard. Carl never checks out his weapons, nor does Daryl. But with Carl losing his mom and Daryl being such an ass, you never say anything. You just make notes on the weapons they’re most likely to take without telling you. 

        Beth sometimes grabs formula without letting you know, but taking care of a baby is hard work for a teenage girl to be doing full time. You have no intentions of nagging her. So, as usual, you just check your inventory every day and report to Rick or Hershel, usually the latter. 

        When your inventory is done for the afternoon, you decide to find Carol and help her with laundry. Maggie is on the tower today with Glenn, so she’s all by herself out there scrubbing everyone’s smelly clothes. 

        “Hey. Need some help?” You ask her, pressing your lips into a thin smile. She returns the same expression and nods. 

        “Please? For such a small group we sure go through a lot of clothes.”

        “No problem.” You say as you get down on your knees and begin scrubbing and ringing out a pair of jeans. “Jeez. These really stink.” You mumble. Carol giggles. 

        “Daryl.” She sighs. 

        “Does he ever shower?” 

        “I mean.. never would be a strong word. Rarely, though, that might be the accurate description.” She jokes. You chuckle.

        “Hey, (Y/N)?” Rick asks as he approaches you. You look up from Daryl’s stained jeans. “Could you take a car out to the main road? Daryl’s broken down out there. He can’t carry all those supplies back.” 

        “Me?” You raise your eyebrows, tossing a quick glance to Carol. If anyone is accustomed to your strained relationship with the archer, it’s her. Daryl would often complain about you to her, and she’d just as often give you a reassuring pat on the shoulder when she’d notice his harsh treatment. 

        “Well, yeah, if ya don’t mind.” Rick nods. He is a little more oblivious to how rude Daryl can be toward you, but he isn’t  blind to the visible tension the two of you share. He just assumes it was never that serious. 

        “Um.. Sure.” You shrug. A pit in your stomach is already festering, growing bigger as it feeds on your anxiety. You had been very successful at avoiding Daryl since you’d been at the prison. The only solace you find is in the fact that you had grown more confident since you guys found this place. Being in charge of inventory gave you a much needed sense of control. From there, you realized just how much you really did have control over, and soon enough the scared girl you once were had become a productive young woman. Now, you have to put that confidence to the test, facing the man who kind of stole what little faith in yourself you had to begin with. You vow to yourself that today will be the day you stand your ground to Daryl Dixon.

        You brush off your jeans and accept the keys from Rick before making your way to the vehicle parked near the gates. When you start the engine, Carl drags open one gate, then the other, and you head out. You notice Daryl right away when you make it to the main road. He’s smoking a cigarette, leaned up against the red truck he had taken into town. 

         You can’t help but wonder why he was on a run by himself to begin with. It isn’t like Rick to send anyone off on their own. Then again, knowing Daryl, it’s not that hard to figure out why he might be a solo kind of guy. 

        You pull the car up beside the truck. He glances up at the vehicle but immediately looks back down at the ground when he realizes it’s you. He makes sure to seem indifferent. 

        Instead of letting his lack of a greeting (or gratitude) phase you, you just step out of the driver’s seat and pop the trunk open before approaching the bed of the truck and beginning to transfer all of his loot into the car. When the trunk fills up, you resort to packing the back seat. 

        By the time Daryl finishes his cigarette, he notices there are a few more items still in the truck. He huffs and impatiently grabs the three items, shoving them in the back seat and slamming the door shut, mumbling something about you taking your sweet time. 

        “What was that?” You speak up before sitting back down in the driver’s seat. 

        “Move over. I’m drivin’.”

        “That’s not what you said, first of all. And no. I drove here just fine, I can drive back.” You roll your eyes. 

        “Quit bein’ difficult damn it! I’m tired. Been workin’ all day out there riskin’ my neck.” He snaps. 

        “I’ve been working too.” You shrug, sitting down and starting the engine. 

        “Scribblin’ on a clipboard ain’t nothin’ like what I do.” He argues, still standing by the driver side, waiting for you to give in and let him drive. You won’t, though. You won’t cave in and bow to him like a puppy with its tail between its legs like you used to. He lost the privilege of your kindness — or maybe cowardice — a while ago. 

        “Actually, I woke up and spent two hours on the fence impaling skulls, then I helped Hershel hoe the ground for spring crops before I scrubbed the common area of the cell block on my hands and knees. Then I did inventory, then I washed your smelly ass jeans. So, no, I don’t just scribble on a clip board.” You correct him. “And, while we’re on that subject, you’re supposed to check out your fucking weapons. Would make the scribbling part a lot easier for me.” 

        He clenches his jaw and his fists at your insubordination. 

        “I don’t know when you grew a smart ass mouth but I ain’t got time for it so quit your bitchin’ and move outta my seat.” He demands. 

        “Or you could stop wasting time and just get in the passenger seat.” You roll your eyes. 

        “God, do you ever stop bein’ such a damn burden?!” He shouts. You run your tongue over your teeth and nod. 

        “Burden?” You repeat. 

         “Yeah. A burden.” He drawls. “As in, makin’ shit harder for everyone around you.” 

        “Hmm.” You hum thoughtfully. “Okay.” 

        With that simple response, you shut off the engine, toss the keys on the ground beside him, and stand up. With your knife in your belt for protection, you start walking toward the woods. You realize that he is absolutely unbearable. You won’t subject yourself to even a five minute car ride with him. 

        “Where the hell are you goin’?!” He calls out after you. You ignore him. “C’mon, (Y/N), get in the damn car!” 

        By this point you’re blending into the trees and he’s losing sight of you. He groans and slams the car door shut, snatching the keys off the asphalt before he marches off after you. He swears when he gets his hands on you, he’s dragging you back by your ankles and cramming you in the trunk with the rest of the shit he looted today.

        “(Y/N)!” He shouts. You sigh. 

        “Fuck off! You wanted to drive so bad, be my guest! Whole car to yourself!” You call back. 

        “Quit bein’ so damn—“

        You whip around, eyes blaring with fury. 

        “So what? Burdensome? Annoying? Stupid?” You cut him off, recalling some of the insults he had bestowed upon you in the past. “I’m so fucking sick of you! All I ever did was try to be nice to you! And all you ever gave me in return was cruelty!”

         You’re shaking now. He’s stopped a few feet away from you, silent as you unleash your pent up frustrations on him. 

        “You know,” you begin, not as loud and shrilled as before. “I didn’t even want to come help you. Because I knew it would be like this. I only came because I was asked to. So you wouldn’t have to try to carry shit back to the prison and go through more trouble. I didn’t talk to you, I didn’t try to be friendly or otherwise vexing. Yet, somehow, that wasn’t good enough. If my presence alone makes you so miserable, then I’ll walk.” 

        With that, you turn around and start storming back toward the prison. 

        “(Y/N)—“ He tries to protest but it just triggers another wave of anger. 

        “What?!” You throw your hands up. “What did I ever do to you?! Just leave me alone!” You shout, turning back to him. “Why do you hate me?!” 

        “I don’t hate you!” He fires back. 

        You scoff and cross your arms. “Sure seems like it.” 

        “Well if ya would just listen to me I wouldn’t get so mad!” 

        “I’m not your fucking dog, Dixon! I shouldn’t have to listen to you for you to treat me like a human being.” 

        “Treat you like what?” He scoffs. “All I ever did was try and look out for ya! Ya can’t do anything right! How the hell am I supposed to keep ya safe if ya can’t follow a simple fuckin’ direction?”

        “Look out for me? How? By making me feel like shit about myself? Reminding me every chance you get how much you just can’t fucking stand me? You don’t treat anyone else like that. Nobody.” Your eyes are watering now. The rage is slowly wearing down into what it really is at its core: hurt. He hurt you time and time again and you always tried to make it right, even when you had done nothing wrong. Shit, (Y/N), get it together. Don’t let him see you like this. 

        “Well why the hell are ya so worried ‘bout what I think?” He asks. 

        “I don’t know!” You snap, turning away from him again. You hug yourself and sniffle. “Just leave me alone.” You beg quietly. “Go drive yourself back. I’d rather walk.” 

        He stands there silently, mouth opening and closing like he has words to say but can’t find them in his sea of thoughts. He doesn’t want to make you cry. He doesn’t even know why you piss him off so much. He does know that seeing you there, hugging yourself as your shoulders rise and fall with silent whimpers makes him feel like shit. He steps toward you slowly, reaching out to place a hand on your shoulder. You flinch at his touch and he retracts his arm. 

        “I don’t hate ya.” He finally speaks. When you don’t respond he realizes he has to continue. “I just don’t want ya gettin’ hurt.”

        “Yeah, right.” You mumble. “All you do is hurt me.”

        He swallows a dry lump. Is that true? 

        “I don’t mean to.” He insists. “I just.. Ya don’t belong in this world. You’re nice. Ya ain’t violent, you’re pret—“ He stops. Your ears perk up. Was he about to call you pretty?

         “What I’m tryin’ to say is… Ever since I first saw ya I knew ya had to be looked after — kept safe. Ya ain’t like most people. I’d feel too bad if ya… If ya got hurt.” He admits softly. You turn your head a little, peeking behind you to try and catch a glimpse of him. 

        His hand finds your shoulder again and this time you don’t shrug him away. You sniffle and wipe your eye clean of tears. 

        “So you’re mean to me to protect me?” You summarize. He realizes how stupid that must sound. 

        “I just get frustrated when I see how vulnerable ya are. Can’t clean a gun and put it back together, can’t aim to save your life, can’t—“

        “Couldn’t.” You correct him. “I couldn’t do those things, but I’ve learned how. You just haven’t been around to see it. Or encourage it.” 

        He nods. “‘M sorry.” He mumbles. “Maybe you could, uh, show me sometime.” 

        “Show you what?” You turn back to him. 

        “Dunno.” He shrugs. It’s a lot harder for him to speak freely when you’re actually looking at him. “What ya can do.”

         “Oh.” You nod. “Maybe you could stop being such an asshole.” You suggest. 

        He smirks a little. 

        “I can try.”

Join the taglist || Masterlist

Tags: @kissmeunicornbaobei @thesadcatt0 @clairealeehelsing @duckybird101 @tmntfixationxreader @ryoujoking @blackvelveteen1339 @yondus-girl @ladylincoln @sunshinebug9 @saylum559 @yoowhatthefuck

#daryl x reader #twd daryl #daryl dixon #the walking dead daryl #daryl x female reader #daryl fanfiction #daryl twd #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl x y/n #daryl x you

[beelmons]

BAU guys + Love Languages (Pt1)

According to Dr. Gary Chapman, there're 5 main ways in which we show and receive love. These are some head canons on the love languages I think apply to each BAU guys. Are you compatible? My ask is always open if you want to share your thoughts and hcs with me! If you want to find out your love language you can take a free test here!

Spencer Reid

Giving: Spencer definitely shows love through acts of services. He's the type of partner/friend that will help you with a chore or offer to do it for you. He's a "fixer" even if sometimes he doesn't understand what that means. As a friend, he'll constantly notice if you're struggling with a task and offer a solution. As a romantic partner, he'll always be ontop of your needs, physical and emotional, to make sure that they are being solved.

When communication is not good, he might come across as insensitive, sometimes you just want to vent and be heard. He might seem like he wants to one-up you or show you that he could solve the problem faster, but that's not his intention. He wants you to be well again, as quickly as he can make it happen.

Receiving: Words of affirmation is how he understands you love him. Thanks to his autistic tendencies/neurodivergent coding he has trouble understanding social cues and underlying messages. You have to be forward with him about everything you do, no matter how fast he can pick up on your mood, if you don't tell him what's wrong, he won't be able to tell.

If you're not able to communicate properly, he might feel unwanted and pushed away. Simple expressions such as "you did good" "thank you so much for helping me" "I appreciate your input on my work/issues" can be very fulfilling for him. He needs to be reminded of what he does well so he can continue doing it, even if he himself doesn't verbalize his feelings a lot. Physical touch and quality time are his least present languages.

Aaron Hotchner

Giving: Hotch mentions time and again how he tries his best to provide both the team and his family his undivided attention. Doesn't this sound just like quality time? His job might take him away for weeks at a time, sure, but it's his whole and complete intention to give you every second he has destined for you without any interruptions.

Because of the line of duty, this can be complicated, sometimes making you feel as if you come last. Even when his love language is in conflict with his line of work, once he's not working, it's all about you and his loved ones. Listening to hours of your rambling, not even looking at his phone (if it's not an emergency), watching an entire movie without falling asleep. When you're with him, he's there, he's present in every way.

His guilt and regret from being away can sometimes add a bit of gift giving to the love language, but even if he shows up with a bouqué of flowers, remember that's only a token, he's there for you and nothing but you.

Receiving: In the same way he makes all the effort to be there, he expects you to be there with him. If you start looking at your phone or pioritizing time with others over time with him, he will feel unhappy and unloved, it’s all about the quality time. Receiving gifts and physical touch don't go a very long way with him, so if you are making him feel unloved you will have to find another way to remind him. This doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy cuddles and gifts every now and then.

Words of affirmation can also be a good way to communicate your love for him, but it's only a support language for quality time. Having dinner without looking at the time, doing a puzzle together, cooperating to help Jack with his homework, those are the moments his heart feels the fullest.

Derek Morgan

Giving: This man will shower you with so many words of affirmation and compliments you might feel like suffocating at times. He will praise you and let you know how adored, cared for, and desired you are. Mix it up with a bit of gift giving, and you've got that attentive boyfriend. Communication is key, because you might run into some trouble if you can't agree exactly on what a praise is. He can run his mouth, and sometimes he says stuff that, even if it's not ill intentioned, might come out as harsh and judgemental.

If you struggle with your self-perception, at times it might feel like he's lying to you or trying to deceive you for an specific purpose. Remind yourself that Derek Morgan is one of the most honest men to ever exist, and he would never say a word he didn't mean (as long as he isn't angry!).

Receiving: This PDA king needs his share of lovin', physical touch is how you can remind him he's the man of your dreams. Holding his hand, touching his shoulder, kissing him in public. He loves being displayed as your man, he loves feeling the electricity generated by your skin when it touches his. If you struggle with physical touch, he might come to think you don't desire him. You'd have to be open about your feelings towards the gestures, and come up with some rules, maybe you don't initiate the contact but try your best to not reject them.

During intimate times, it's very relevant that you initiate contact every once in a while, otherwise he might feel the relationship is one-sided. If you're unable to provide the touch he needs, at least make sure you give him quality time, when you're with him, it should only be about the two of you. This is only a supplement, but it will remind him of your care for him. The least understanble love languages for this man are acts of service and receiving gifts. He can do and buy things for himself, thank you very much.

#would y'all like pt 2 + female cast? #i want to make more hehehe #probably later i rlly have to work now #head canon #headcanons #hc: spencer #hc: morgan #hc: hotchner #hc: criminal minds #next part wil include rossi gideon luke and matt #am i forgetting anyone? #also for girl ver should i include alex #kate seavers and the others? #questions questions #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #aaron hotchner #aaron hotchner x reader #derek morgan #derek morgan x reader #if you have requests let me know! #spencer reid headcanon #aaron hotchner headcanon #derek morgan headcanon #hc: mine #also this made me feel like i wrote an horoscope article #lKDJFLASKDJFLAKS

[alloveydovey]

Dramas from this past month. I'm having such a hard time finishing things 😭

The Forbidden Marriage (rewatch) (kdrama) 9 ⭐️

A broken-hearted king imposes a seven-year ban on marriage, and after claiming to be able to channel the deceased crown princess, the FL ends up as one of his court ladies. Both the king and the officer assigned to protect her (the king's closest friend) end up developing an interest in her.

I love it so much that it became a comfort drama. I’m not into love triangles (who is?), but I looved every aspect of it. It’s a bit crazy how they go from extreme comedy to extreme drama, I’ll admit, but the actors deal with it really well. Romance is 11/10, the usual historical visuals are stunning, and the comedy had me laughing hard.

Love Me, Love my Voice (cdrama) 7.5

Nothing more soft and warm than watching these two characters fall in love. There are no obstacles here, just a doctor/voice actor wooing a senior student/singer/composer with the magic of cooking.

On the other side, because there are no complications, it gets boring. The characters get together way too soon for a drama where nothing happens. Luckily the second couple is as entertaining (if not more) as the leads. So, the main reason I continued watching, honestly, was because of them.

Secret Playlist (kdrama) 7

Cute 8 episode drama about an internet music composer and an idol who join forces to create music. Romance was a bit mid, but the songs were cute as hell, and so were the leads.

And Yet, You Are So Sweet (jmovie) 7

This was adorable af. A little silly (as usual with school love) but I liked the vibes. Girl confesses to her crush, he turns her down harshly and popular boy offers himself as a replacement for the crush. They both start a game where he basically lends himself to her so she can have a fake crush on him and forget about the other guy, except he obviously has feelings for her and she starts having real feelings for him as well. It’s a weird premise, but it gave out a lot of cute moments.

D.P. Season 2 (kdrama) 10

I’ve never watched a season 2 from a drama, and from what I’ve gathered, most of them usually disappoint or are good but don’t come close to the first season. Well, for me, this one was not the case at all. It just felt like a continuation of the first part. I'd say I even enjoyed this one more. Also, I miss theeeeem.

Sixteen Shoukougun (jdrama) 7.5

Okay, so basically, a fuckboy with mommy issues wants to get in between a "tomboy" girl who is known among girls as a prince and her best friend, a girl suffering from severe PTSD. He initially tries to go for the PTSD one, but soon realizes that her friendship with the "tomboy" girl is a little... special. After a few interactions, though, he begins to actually like the "tomboy" girl. In between all this, a sensible boy who is deemed "feminine" is thrown into the mix.

I'll be honest, I went into this one thinking it'd be gl but got disappointed it wasn't the case. At the same time, I actually enjoyed tomboy and fuckboy's relationship too. It's all a bit crazy, especially the friendship between the girls, but I was low-key into it. Fuckboy redeems himself, so I was okay with it, I guess? I don't know, jdramas are extreme, man. What I liked a lot about this one (apart from the sick intro that goes really hard) was how they showed the characters' feelings and the overall theme of just being 16 and growing up around prejudice, abandonment, and liking someone regardless of gender.

Our Secret Diary (jmovie) 8.5

Girl finds a love confession note on her classroom desk from the popular guy in school. Confused about it, she decides to answer him and soon begins exchanging secret notes until she realizes that the note was actually meant for her best friend.

This cute little school movie was very cliché but absolutely perfect.

I am Not a Robot (kdrama) 8/8.5

Here's to me never adding this one to my list because I was not into robots and stuff like that at all, and then completely ignoring my watchlist and going for it since I've read it's very cute.

The comments were right. The storyline is a bit wack and unreliable buuuut, as usual, the main leads make up for it with good acting and adorable scenes.

I'm adding these ones even though I didn't really finish them he ⬇️

The Matchmakers (kdrama) 8/8.5, because it's actually good, just a bit heavy.

Another comedy with Rowoon, sign me up. This one took me a while to get into because even though it was clever, the comedy was really good, and the mockumentary style rocked, there were just too many politics in it for me to fully dive into. I’d get lost and bored at times. It picked up after episode 5, though, and by episode 7, it was definitely more fun. It's more entertaining when they focus on the leads and the ladies they are supposed to set up. I still haven't finished it yet because... I don't know. It is a kind of slow drama, and I don't think I fully get what's going on with the murder and politics.

I May Love You (cdrama) 6.5

Oof. I have so many opinions about this one. ML asks FL to help him woo her best friend not knowing that FL has been in love with him for the past four years. FL fails to help him (on purpose lol) and after spending some meaningful moments together decides to confess in what I like to call the lousiest confession ever. ML rejects her but regrets it later on.

I'm always a girls girl, but here... FL was testing me. The ML spends most of the drama groveling because the FL is mad and upset he asked her for help wooing her friend and then rejected her (also rejected her book project which is possibly the worst thing he did) But the thing is, ML didn't even know FL liked him when he asked for help in the first place, and I believe he had every right to reject her after she told him she liked him because he was rich and handsome. Like?? Who confesses like that? And that's basically the whole drama. I don't know why they thought it'd be cute for the FL to have a wall full of his pictures and then forcefully kiss him. Truly not a good-written character.

A Good Day to Be a Dog (kdrama) 8

I'm gonna finish this, I swear. The whole girl turns into a dog and boy has to kiss her in dog form to break the spell is a bit... weird. Buuut aside from that, these characters and their interactions are just the cutest. It works well because Park Gyu Young is amazing with comedy and her chemistry with Eun Woo is perfect.

Now, the past lives part of the story? A bit too much meh. Some aspects are interesting (the whole story of the mountain spirit and the lady. I thought I'd die of boredom, but they actually made it cute and sad lol). The revenge thing? Boring and so over it. Still gotta watch the last four episodes.

#the forbidden marriage #love me love my voice #secret playlist #and yet you are so sweet #dp season 2 #sixteen shoukougun #jdrama #cdrama #kdrama #our secret diary #the matchmakers #I may love you #a good day to be a dog #dovey watches

[theelectronicstranger]

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Discussion

            It’s been more than a week since Ultimate Spider-Man #1 came out and I want to give my first impressions on the comics. If you have not read this comic, then maybe read this later because I will be spoiling almost all of it in here.

            First, I just want to talk about how nice it is to just see Peter be happy with MJ and their two kids. I love every interaction they have in this book. It’s just nice to see an adult Peter with a family again. I love this one interaction with Peter and his son, Richard, where Peter is telling him to go to bed but Richard is reading the original version of A Tale of Two Cities so he asks his dad if he could stay up a little longer to finish the chapter that he’s on. Peter looks at him and calls him a ridiculous person and his son says, “I don’t know what you’re complaining about, Dad, you made me this way. And I’m cool with it.” I love that scene so much because Richard is just the younger version of Peter, maybe Richard is an even bigger nerd than his father. I really hope that nothing bad happens to this family, but this is a Spider-man title.

            The second thing I want to talk about is the relationship between J. Jonah Jameson and Uncle Ben. I think it’s really refreshing to see Uncle Ben be alive in this universe because we rarely get to see the man. I hope we get to see him for a long time in this title and he’s just not going to be here for a year's worth of comics and that’s it. Also, I really love that him and Jonah are pretty much best friends in this universe or at least respected colleagues. I love the scene when they both quit the Daily Bugle and you can tell, from the few pages of interactions we’ve seen of them, that these two have had each other’s backs for so long and that they have this friendship/partnership that’s built on respect for one another. I really like this panel when they’ve both just quit; Uncle Ben asks Jonah, “So. What are we gonna do now?” and you can see these smiles on their faces as if they just didn’t destroy the lives they had. I love that they’re both excited to be unshackled from the Daily Bugle and they’re excited for what’s ahead of them.

            I also really like that Jonah and Peter in this universe are close. Jonah is pretty much family/another uncle to Peter. I think it was a nice touch when Jonah offers Peter his own tie and ties it to Peter himself. It shows that this version of J. Jonah Jameson is very much like family to the Parkers and that Jonah cares and respects Peter in this universe. I hope that we see more of this version of Jonah and that he doesn’t devolve into the caricature of sensational journalism that we often see him as. I think that under all that mess, J. Jonah Jameson can be a man with integrity; a man who can be kind; and a man that deserves respect. I just really like how Jonah comes off in this issue. it's something we rarely see in the main marvel universe and I just want more of it.

            I also really like seeing other marvel characters in this issue. We saw Matt Murdock in this issue and he’s a priest instead of a lawyer. I wonder if he’ll ever be Daredevil in this universe or maybe he already is because he seems blind when we first see him. We also see Harry Osborn, who I think is already confirmed to be the Green Goblin in this universe. I love this new redesign of the Green Goblin; it’s more of a tech-based design than the previous ultimate universe’s one, which was more biological. I can’t wait to see more of him. Also, we saw Kingpin, who is pretty much just regular Kingpin, but he seems more wealthy and powerful because there’s less heroes that stood in his way on his rise to the top. I think it also made him less cautious because of what we see happen in this issue.

Matt Murdock/Daredevil:

Harry Osborn/Green Goblin:

Kingpin:

            I really love how Peter becomes Spider-Man in this universe. I love that he asks both Uncle Ben and MJ’s permission before he decided to be Spider-Man. Those are the two people whose opinion he really cares about and they basically both tell him that he should do what he feels like he needs to do. Both of them trust him enough to know that whatever decision he’s about to make isn’t going to be a bad thing for him nor will it destroy his life. I also love how open and mature both Mary Jane and Peter were when talking about this. Sure, Peter was leaving out about the spider powers thing, but it's just really nice to see these two adults talk through their inner turmoil in a mature and calm manner. I hope that him being Spider-Man doesnt change too much of his dynamics with Uncle Ben and Mary Jane.

Uncle Ben Permission:

Mary Jane Permission:

            I love the panels of him when he does decide to become Spider-Man. I think Marco Checchetto’s art is so good in this book, and I hope he never leaves it. I think the way they showed Peter freeing the Spider was excellent. You can see everything single thing he’s thinking about as he lets this spider out. You see the support and confidence that both Uncle Ben and MJ give him to finally become Spider-Man. This is the first time I’ve read a Spider-Man book where Peter decidesto take on the responsibility of being Spider-Man himself rather than it being an accident where he’s given these powers and now responsibility is thrust upon him. I think it’s a really interesting concept for Peter to be the one to choose this life. I hope that him being older would change how he is as Spider-Man. I also don't know if this version of Peter will be a funny Spider-Man or if he'll be a more serious one. Something tells me that he'll be a bit more serious. I also hope that this responsibility isn’t too much for him and that this doesn’t destroy his life. I know I might be a little too cautious, but I’ve been reading Spider-Man books for more than a decade and they always seem to know how to destroy Peter’s life, so I’m going to optimistic while preparing for the worst heartbreak for my guy.

I really love the premise of this Universe and I think it really works for what they’re doing here. For those that don’t know, the premise of this universe is that the Ultimate Reed Richards (The Maker from Universe 1610) invades a whole universe and recreates it in his image, which meant that he interfered and ruined a lot of would-be heroes’ origin stories so that they would never happen or would never be heroes. For example, in the end of Ultimate Invasion #1, he made sure that the spider that would have bit Peter never bit him, so that he would gain spider powers and become Spider-Man. I really like that Tony Stark and the other heroes of this universe are trying to set things back to how they would have been if the Maker didn’t ruin this universe. I love the idea of them giving these heroes their stolen destinies back. Also, I’m so intrigued by what Tony said in this book that in 6 Months they will free this world. I wonder how that would change this universe and how it will affect this version of Spider-Man. I know there’s still some time travel shenanigans going on so I wonder how they will resolve that.

Theories:

            I’m not really sold on the idea that the blast that happened in the Ultimate Universe One Shot actually killed anybody. I feel like with all the time travel shenanigans that Tony somehow found a way to save the people that would have been affected by the blast by putting them in a time bubble or something. Because when Tony appeared in this issue and talk about how in 6 months, they’re going to free this world, he gave the vibe that he was able to save the people that was supposedly killed by the blast they’re pinning on him. So that might mean that Aunt May is still alive. This might just be me trying to be optimistic, but I feel like there’s more to that blast that we don’t know yet.

            Also, I have a feeling that the Green Goblin won’t be a villain in this book but more of an anti-hero type character like the Punisher. I feel like we only truly saw him hurt Kingpin in this issue so he might be dealing justice in his own way. I feel like this Green Goblin and this version of Spider-Man will have a Daredevil and Punisher type of relationship where they both are trying to do good and serve justice in their own way. I think it’ll be a pretty interesting take if this is the case, but I don’t really know. We’ll just have to read more to find out.

            Anyways, thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed the book like I did. Tell me what you guys think of it. Are you guys also as cautious when you see Peter parker be happy as I am? Do you think this new universe is off to a good start? I’d love to know what you think. Also, I extremely recommend buying this issue if you haven't read or bought it. Have a good day!

#ultimate spider man #ultimate universe #ultimate spiderman #Ultimate Spider-Man #Marvel #Comics #Peter parker #Spider-Man #Spiderman #Spider Man #Green Goblin #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Kingpin #comic #comic books #Jonathan Hickman #Marco Checchetto #Marvel Comics #6160 #Mary jane #j. jonah jameson #Uncle Ben #Harry Osborn #Norman Osborn #Tony Stark #iron Man #Ultimates

[moodymelanist]

Feel The Heat

Happy @nestaarcheronweek, everyone! Keeping things short and sweet for my favorite Archeron today 💙

Prompt Inspiration: We can’t go to the main party for reasons but let’s create a small party for ourselves where we dance to our favourite songs in the living room

✵✵✵✵✵✵

Nesta scowled as she stared at the ceiling in her room. She shouldn’t even be home right now, but she’d gotten into the worst argument yet with her mother about homecoming, and now she was paying the price.

Well, if Nesta told the story, she was proving her point. All she’d wanted was to go to homecoming with Cassian, one of her best friends for as long as she could remember, but Rhea hated anything to do with the side of town Cassian was from. That included homecoming dances, and since she’d been so insistent that Nesta go with that nice Vanserra boy from down the street, Nesta simply refused to go to homecoming at all this year. It had been Cassian or nothing, and she was going to prove her point, goddammit.

What did it even matter that Cassian went to Velaris High and Nesta went to Saint Enalius Preparatory School? He was just as smart as some of the guys in her junior class, and had double the kindness as anyone she’d ever met. She knew he was going places, and if Rhea couldn’t see that? It was her problem.

Until then, Nesta was going to sit in her room and make her point. Rhea was wrong about Cassian, and the moment her mother realized that would be the best day of Nesta’s life.

It was just Nesta and her parents at home. Feyre and Elain had no such issues going to Saint E’s homecoming — their dates were respectable in Rhea’s eyes. No matter that Nesta couldn’t stand Tamlin or Graysen, or that they treated her sisters like shit; their families had enough money to send them to Prythian Prep, and that was all that mattered.

Who cared that Nesta had actually been looking forward to going to homecoming this year, right? She’d finally dumped Tomas and Cassian had offered to take her so she wouldn’t feel awkward about not having a date, but all their plans had gone down the drain the moment Rhea caught wind of it. She couldn’t even go to Cassian’s homecoming instead, since it had happened two weeks ago, but she wouldn’t give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her sulk. She’d do it all in her room, thank you very much, where nobody could bother her—

Nesta froze at the sound of something hitting her window. Had a bird flown into the glass again or something?

The sounds kept coming, and she realized someone must have been throwing something at the glass for it to make a sound like that. There were plenty of little pebbles lying around the property, especially after her father had redone the yard, and she sighed as she got off her bed to see who was bothering her. Maybe Lucien — the only Vanserra she could actually stand — had misjudged her window for Elain’s or something.

Nesta yanked open the window before barely managing to not get hit in the face with a pebble. She had every curse known to man loaded on her tongue, but it died once she realized who was standing outside her window in the first place.

“Cassian?” she hissed as loud as she dared. Her idiot best friend just beamed and waved up at her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Let me in and I’ll tell you,” he said back, careful not to be so loud as to disturb her parents.

Sighing, Nesta moved to pull her window open as far as it could go while Cassian shimmied his way up the tree that leaned close to her window. By the time he’d managed to get to her room, she’d already laid down a towel so he wouldn’t track any grass inside.

“Seriously, what are you doing here?” Nesta asked. “I thought Rhys was going to get you in anyway.”

“Come on, you know it wouldn’t be any fun without you,” Cassian answered with a shrug. He reached up and pulled his hair back into a ponytail, showing off his hard-earned muscles from all those soccer practices. “Don’t tell me you’ve been in here sulking this whole time.”

“I’m not sulking,” she responded, pouting. He just gave her a knowing look. “Okay, maybe I was sulking a little.”

“No sulking allowed,” he told her with a grin. He poked her in one of her secretly-ticklish spots, pulling a little giggle from her. “At least not while I’m here.”

“What, are you going to tell me to turn my frown upside down?” she asked sarcastically.

Cassian just rolled his eyes before pulling his backpack off his shoulders. “You really have that little faith in me, Nes?”

“I have exactly the right amount of faith, considering all the stupid shit you’ve gotten me involved in,” Nesta replied haughtily. He just laughed quietly before revealing what looked like… flowers?

“I couldn’t bring you to homecoming, so I’m bringing homecoming to you,” he said. He pulled out a matching corsage and boutonnière — red and white roses to match the dress she hadn’t gotten to wear — and a bottle of fake champagne. “Ta da.”

Nesta was more touched than she’d been expecting, especially when she realized just how hard Cassian was fighting his incoming sneeze. “Cassian…”

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied with a grin. “Give me your wrist.”

She dutifully gave him her left hand and let him slide the corsage onto her wrist, his hands warm and gentle as they moved. She tried to be just as gentle with pinning the corsage onto his hoodie, but he got pricked a few times before she really got it on there.

“There,” Cassian announced with a flourish. “Let’s toast.”

“Please tell me you washed those before you brought them here,” Nesta responded once she saw the plastic champagne flutes he pulled out of his bag.

“Of course I did,” he answered, rolling his eyes. “Relax.”

She just sighed and let him pour her a glass. It wasn’t the real thing, but even though it wasn’t spiked like the drinks at the dance would inevitably be, it still tasted good. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Cassian took their glasses and placed them rather precariously on the windowsill, ignoring Nesta’s alarmed look once he turned back around to face her. “And now for the most important part…”

Nesta froze once she realized Cassian was holding his hands out to her like he meant to dance with her. “What are you doing?”

“Asking you to dance with me?” Cassian said, the uncertainty in her voice making it sound like a question. “Don’t tell me you’re scared.”

“I’m in my pajamas!” she hissed, motioning down at herself. She’d been lounging in an oversized Taylor Swift shirt and ratty pair of sweatpants, and her hair was falling out of the loose braid she’d thrown it back into an hour before.

“So?” he responded with a shrug. “I like you like this.”

Nesta flushed, not sure what to do with that. He was her best friend, so she supposed it was his job to make her feel comfortable, but that felt… different. “Fine. But don’t step on my feet.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart,” Cassian said confidently. He fiddled with his phone for a few minutes before a song quietly started playing, and he offered her his hands again.

She took them this time, and the two of them swayed back and forth to the beat. He was so solid and warm against her that she couldn’t help but lean her head against his shoulder as they danced, sighing happily when he laid his head on top of hers. She could feel his chest vibrating slightly as he hummed along with the lyrics, and even though they had to stay quiet so her parents didn’t hear, it didn’t stop her from joining him once they got to the chorus.

It wasn’t the same as dancing in a crowded gym with the rest of the school, but it would do.

tag list: @perseusannabeth | @bookstantrash | @nestaspegasus | @a-court-of-valkyries | @rowaelinismyotp | @live-the-fangirl-life | @sv0430 | @brieq | @positivewitch | @sayosdreams | @nesquik-arccheron | @talkfantasytome | @simpingfornestaarcheron | @vidalinav | @swankii-art-teacher | @that-little-red-head | @secretlovelybeauty | @dustjacketmusings | @katekatpattywack | @claralady | @gwynethhberdara | @duskandstarlight | @arinbelle | @vanserrass | @mrs-shadowsinger04 | @houseofcalores | @imsointobooks | @silvernesta | @planet-faerie | @teagoddess99 | @champanheandluxxury | @catplayinvioline | @flora-shadowshine | @nerdperson524 | @story-scribbler | @dealfea | @snickerdoodlechittybangbang | @charming-butt-insane | @highqueenofelfhame | @julemmaes | @oversizedbats | @readingismyonlyhobby | @milkkand-honey | @wildlyglittering | @thewayshedreamed | @goddess-aelin | @sweet-pea1 | @jmoonjones

#nestaweek2022 #acotar #acosf #nesta archeron #Nessian #Cassian #moodymelanistwrites

[lunanoc]

Is there a dmbj fandom space of sort that's... Not focused on Liu Chang characters? Or to put a positive angle on it, I'd love to talk about dmbj canon and its characters and their on page/screen interactions or how the books and sites compare but I'm not really sure where to do that? Do you have a discord or tumblr tag or blog suggestions? (Or if that doesn't exist, this is a marker of interest if you make one. I think there's actually if nothing else a lot of people in this fandom who are interested in pingxie who don't know where to go to talk to each other because it seems like most of the fandom spaces apart from the yucun discord are pretty dead)

hi anon! i’m both glad and sad you asked because i get that feeling and i’m sorry to say there’s… not really much of a good answer i can give you 🫠 though i can offer the start of one at least

a lot of the problem is the people you’re talking about, for reasons i don’t fully understand myself, have come to take up most of the visibility in the public fandom spaces to almost the exclusion of anyone and everything else. this is definitely a hot and likely unpopular take, but it’s gotten to the point where ironically (as far as the english speaking fandom goes at least, the chinese fandom is very different) in some respects, pingxie has become something of a “rarer” pair these days by comparison to ships involving more minor characters, particularly ones involving the characters you mentioned, and i find wu xie and xiaoge themselves are less talked about outside of the context of those ships than the characters you mentioned as a whole. and this isn’t a post meant to dunk on those particular interests, just my opinion on what the dmbj fandom is like at this point in time. the issue is, like you said, it leaves the people who aren't interested in that lost and with no one to talk to despite i'm sure there being a lot of us that would love a place to actively engage with each other

as far as places to talk about pingxie and the dmbj canon in general outside of that, in my experience tumblr doesn’t have all that much to offer apart from a few isolated people unfortunately. just checking the main tags tells you as much, but there are a few people. but i also know tumblr isn’t necessarily the best space for genuine conversations as i get the feeling that’s more what you’re looking for (correct me if i’m wrong). there’s a bit more going on on twitter, but it’s also fairly marginal and it also depends on what it is you want to talk about (and also, it’s twitter).

for discord servers, i can suggest 3 options, two of which i’m sure you’ve probably heard of:

the “dmbj (盗墓笔记)” server (https://discord.gg/xjTSVdUP), which was the original server created before the yucun one was and is technically the largest one (the yucun discord server actually broke off from it in part to be a space more dedicated to liu sang and liu chang characters and eventually became the fandom’s most active hub). fair warning, it’s pretty dead in the sense most of the minimal talk that goes on there isn’t really about dmbj at all, and is more generally drama-oriented. it’s also not strictly dedicated to pingxie

the “dmbj book-centric fun times” server (https://discord.com/invite/z7ZNNEbv3P), which as its name suggests, is book-oriented rather than drama-oriented. it’s also pretty dead apart from one or two sporadic posts from time to time, which i see as partly the consequence of a good chunk of the dmbj fandom either not having read the books or not particularly caring about them by comparison to other things. that being said, if enough people went there, i’m sure it could be more active. this one is also not strictly dedicated to pingxie

the “盗墓笔记 - changbai mountain” server, which is going to be my biased suggestion as it’s a tiny server started somewhat recently by myself and a couple of other friends who felt the same and wanted to try and create a safe space to talk about pingxie (and other ships if relevant, though by this i mostly mean heihua for now) and the dmbj canon and its characters as a whole. it’s very small atm and as active as it can be given that, and while it’s open to anyone interested, because of previous experiences with some people in the fandom, i would need you to get off anon and dm me if you (or anyone else reading this) is interested (as long as you’re comfortable with that ofc) as i don’t necessarily feel comfortable posting a public invite. for the record, anyone interested is very welcome to dm, we really do need more alternative fandom spaces

i’m sorry i can’t help more anon, but i hope this is something of an ok answer even if it’s not the best one

#dmbj #pingxie #fandom discourse #i guess that's a relevant tag? #daomu biji #盗墓笔记

[lyramundana]

Coming back with reincarnated isekai villainess Portia because i’m now hooked with this au and i can’t stop the flow of ideas coming to my head. again, tagging beautiful @daughter-of-sea-and-wisdom because it’s your fault i’m here, so you may as well bear it with me❤ (also i’ve been rewatching Bridgerton season 2 and of course this doesn’t help?

This is about the role Cousin Jack would play in this universe. By now, when I talk about this, i’ll usually mean the “Portia and the Spouses remember but the Bridgertons don’t” au. It’s going to be long, btw

In the original story, he was merely a supporting character whose main role was scamming other nobles and helping Portia with her schemes. A small villain, basically. There, she forces him and Prudence to get engaged in order to ensure the Featherington’s full fortune for themselves, unknowingly that Jack is actually broke and lives off his scams, so she basically condemns her family to poverty. Eventually, he runs away after being confronted by the nobles he lied to and the Featherington family falls into disgrace once again, like all villains are expected to.This moment is barely commented and is supposed to be an almost comedical relief about how pathetic the villains are and how wonderful the main characters are.

In the reincarnation au, however, this takes a turn. Portia is actually clever and succesful about her investments, so she doesn’t need to rely on the Featherington’s fortune per se, considering she makes enough money to provide for her entire family. However, the residence belongs to Lord Featherington in paper, so when he dies, the law affirms that it has to pass unto the next man of the family, so Cousin Jack comes anyway, informing that his father is dead and all. But he soon figures out that his presence is pretty much not needed there, as Portia is able to substain her family by herself and she has an army of teens/young adults that look ready (and capable) of killing him if he so much looks at her wrongly. But he stays anyway, because he has nothing better to do (and he’s broke, remember).

Portia finds him tolerable at best and a nuisance at worst. He has nothing to contribute to the house besides problems, and he doesn’t even know how to clean the messes he leaves after (unlike her kids). He still shows interest in her bussiness and offers his assistance, which she accepts to keep him busy. Along the way, Jack becames infatuated by Portia’s sharp mind and charisma to win clients over, pushing him to try to court her. He’s so obvious about it that even Portia’s usual oblivious self realizes. Even the ton is aware of it (somehow).

Instead of rejecting him, however, a bulb turns on inside her head. Portia isn’t really enthusiastic about marriage, but she can’t turn her head away when there’s a possible benefit in front of her. 

So she decides to play along with his flirting and marry him. 

- But Portia, you can’t possibly mean-

- Why not, Mary? He’s young and handsome. That alone makes him better than Archibald when I married him. He’s good at charming people, a helpful skill, and he’s actually decent at finantial management, as long as he doesn’t lie to people about the profits. Plus, he can hold entertaining conversations. Again, better than Archibald. 

- But you don’t need any of that. You can persuade people already to follow you and you sure as hell don’t need assistance with finantial issues. - she stares at her friend, unmoving. - Tell me the truth, why are you really going through with this?

Portia sighs, knowing there’s no way she can convince Mary out. 

- No matter how succesful I am, I’m still a woman. This society would never hold me in high regard because of it, and men can’t stand the fact that I’m better than them on something without help. This “low-profile” thing can only shield us for so long. - she looks outside the window, fixing her gaze on Jack talking to Penelope about something that, whatever it is, doesn’t impress the girl. - If I have a man by my side, the ton will be more willing to overlook my “less than savoury” activities. He doesn’t have to do anything, just stand there and look pretty to keep the attention far from me. 

Mary understands the reasoning, of course. She knows how unkindly this society is with women that have no men to “control” her. A lady’s worth is mostly defined by the men on her life. And Portia’s right, there’s so much their charm can do to get them away from trouble. Still, she doesn’t like Portia being intimate with a man she doesn’t like (she doesn’t see her with any man whatsoever)

But eventually, she respects Portia’s decision and supports her reluctantly. The Spouses' have different reactions to the news, but they all collectivetly come to the agreement that “at least he’ll be more useful this way”. 

#Violet is far from happy about it #the Portia she knows would have never accepted that man as husband #she's happier as a widow #then why? what is she pulling now? #that man must have seduced her surely #that's right #it's all his fault #she must find a way to get rid of him without compromising Portia #and she though that killing Archibald would fix everything

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

2023 Movie Journey #4: All The Bright Places

all the bright places. every time i tried to start writing this review in my head, i hit a wall, because this movie was so good in some ways and then it was just totally ruined for me by how it ended, and i’m still upset about that. like, a man called otto left me feeling freaked out and as though the movie wasn’t for me, but it’s much rarer for a movie to leave me feeling primarily frustration. so if you don’t want to read a rant post, skip this one.

i watched this with @actuallylukedanes​ on the anniversary of kinnie’s death. we planned in advance to play minecraft dungeons and watch a movie, and i chose this one from the three options off our watchlist that they offered, because while i didn’t know anything about the plot, it seemed less dark than the other two choices and that felt best for a sad day. i mean, the poster gives the vibe of a bittersweet YA romance, like a story where one of the kids has cancer or something...but it also looks happy and i love both elle fanning and justice smith a lot. 

it was therefore pretty alarming when the movie opens and we see him stop her from possible suicide. not what i expected! but i loved his character right away, with the way he initially seemed adhd-ish and then later on was giving off major bipolar signals. so i enjoyed watching him try and draw her back into the world. the actors had great chemistry and did good work, and while some of the plot threads (like the school counselor) were predictable and didn’t add much to the story for me, it was moving along as a sweet, complicated teen romance. 

spoiler alert for a movie from two years ago...but THEN HE DIES. as we were nearing the end of the film, leander and i were agreeing that things felt very doomlike, as if death was coming for someone as the conflict increased. but i still wasn’t prepared for it, because i loved his character and i just didn’t want that. and obviously i can’t expect movies to do what i want all the time, but in this case what upset me most was how his death changed the whole movie. 

after he dies, we see her mourn very briefly, but then the movie ends on a long uplifting monologue and montage where she talks about how he taught her so much, but she didn’t learn to see what he was going through. and as she talks about the lesson he left her with, about finding brightness in dark places (hi movie title) we’re seeing her connect with her family, her best friend, his friends who apparently are also very uplifted immediately after his death, and revisiting places that remind her of him. 

mostly, she just looks happy, which befits the super-uplifting and optimistic ending. but i’m still upset about it, like i said, because it created a tone i find totally nonsensical. he ‘saved’ her from the dark place she was in, and she couldn’t do the same for him, but rather than spend too much time dwelling on that and how she was oblivious to his needs/struggle on such a major level and how upsetting that is...the movie pivots as fast as it can to emphasize how much he improved her life as though that’s what we should care about. 

basically, while i was watching the movie i thought i was watching a teen romance full of drama because they both had serious emotional issues to work through. but the end of the movie turned it instead into a teen coming of age story in which the main character works through her issues thanks to a damaged boy who wants to help...and then he dies instead of getting to work through his own issues because it turns out he was never as important as her and we shouldn’t have expected him to get the same amount of growth and potential.

the fact that he existed in the story just to help and change her and then also give her more growth by dying was even more unsettling to me given that she’s white and he’s black. as a white viewer, i never know how to interpret dynamics that make me concerned and uncomfortable that way, like maybe i’m missing something and it’s not as gross as it seemed on that level--but it felt that way to me. given all of the above, i didn’t end up liking this one and wouldn’t recommend it. if the moral of the story had seemed less confused in the end, i might have a different take on it.

#all the bright places #2023 movie journey #actuallylukedanes #i have the best best friend #elle fanning #justice smith

[foxgirl95]

Back Into the Fray CH.2: Killjoy

Chapter Description: No one said babysitting was this dangerous.

AO3 Link

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Hangar three-five had become an unwilling home to Anai these past few days as she was stranded on this forsaken planet. At least she wasn’t alone though, the perks of being a pilot she supposed. As she returned to the main chamber with her new little companion in hand as the beeping of a droid could be heard behind some big empty oil drums. The young woman laughed, shaking her head lightly “Tena ja, sulatuka o!”  She comfortably spoke in her native tongue now that the bounty hunters had left. The frustum head of a yellow, silver, and white astromech cautiously poked out “Stop hiding and come say hello to our new little friend here.” The young mechanic kneeled as the droid slowly rolled out of its hiding place letting the child down to stand. “Bachsu, this is R6-K5 we call him Racket.” She gestured to the droid while introducing him and hoping the little one would understand as she continued “He’s a very good friend of mine, we’ve been traveling together for a long time.” Racket beeped several times in greeting, his processor cycling through a series of warm colors. The young one giggled with glee clapping his little three-fingered hands, happy to meet another new friend.

“How cute.” Peli’s voice sounded from behind the small group now leaning over them “If you’re done with your touchy-feely moment we got work to do!” She grumbled as she pulled a pouch of tools over her shoulder “C’mon! Chop, chop, we don’t have much time until that bucket head comes back!” Anai couldn’t help but laugh as she watched her friend climb on board The Razorcrest “Even if we don’t finish in time, what’s he gonna do?” The younger mechanic replied as she peeled off her leather jacket tossing it to one of the pit droids “Fix it himself?” Peli’s cackling laughter echoed through the open hull shouting back “Yeah I’d love to see him try to repair this mess!”

The two women spent the rest of the day working on the many issues of the old ship. It was a wonder the damn thing hadn’t fallen apart mid-flight, luckily it had landed in the hangar with the best mechanics Mos Eisley had to offer. The work slowly came to a halt as the two suns began to set. Now near dark Anai sat atop the old ship as she just finished welding back together one of the engines. Very carefully the young woman began her descent but was unable to keep her footing upon the rungs of the ladder “Peli!” She called out “Turn on some kriffing lights before I fall off this hunk of junk!” The light of day fading more and more taking her sight with it. “Hold on, don't curse at me!” Peli yelled back holding the child on her hip as she flipped some switches bringing on the hangar lights “Sorry, the little womp-rat was getting into the tools” Anai climbed down the rest of the way, dropping to the ground as the dusty sand puffed up around her boots “It’s fine just…you know not being able to see freaks me out.”

“Right, the night blindness…” Peli sighed “You still haven’t fixed that visor of yours?” The pink haired mechanic shook her head disheartened “I’m close though, just need to figure out the wiring.” She sighed “Wish I would’ve thought to take it apart myself before it was smashed.”

Peli shook her head as well “Damn thieves.” She sneered before making her way to the living quarters “Still don’t know how they broke into my hangar and took off with your ship without anyone noticing.” The green-eyed woman followed behind wiping sweat from her forehead “Who knows.” She looked down as Racket rolled up next to her beeping in a disapproving way “Hey I wasn’t the one who nearly lost the hangar playing Sabacc with the shifty-looking bug.”

“I wasn’t losing!” The older woman called out, stepping into the bunk room and setting the child on one of the hard mattresses “I was just letting him build up confidence so that he’d add more to the pot” Anai nodded skeptically “Yeah sure and that handful of credits you got was worth it?” Peli picked up a pillow and threw it at her friend who only giggled in response as she dodged out of the way “Oh hush! I'm gonna get junior here something to eat.” She turned on her heels heading to a small kitchen area as Anai shook her head “I’m getting in the ‘fresher!” She called out grabbing some sleep clothes and treading over to a tiled room letting the door slide closed behind her.

After some time enjoying a sonic shower Anai stood in her pajamas using a washcloth to clean the makeup from her face. As she finished, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and sighed, she looked nothing like herself anymore after all these years in the outer rim. Her body had changed from the rougher lifestyle; her arms and legs in particular had gained more muscle simply from the amount of work she had to take to earn credits for herself and Racket. The rest of her though showed more of her age, she was at least thirty or just about to be by her calculations, her face now rounded and stomach no longer flat but a soft muffin top. It almost made her feel like a fool with her wavy chin-length hair dyed a bubblegum pink, even worse that her eyebrows were dyed the same. Peli had asked if she was going through a crisis of some sort of crisis when Anai had arrived only a few days earlier. What had she been thinking letting that uppity hairdresser talk her into it? Suddenly the refresher door opened, and the young woman spun around ready for a fight only to find no assailant but the cooing little green baby staring up at her curiously “Bachsu?” She let out a relieved sigh before bending down to scoop him up into her arms “Did you get some food in your little belly?” She lightly poked his bulging stomach, earning a cute little laugh. Looking up she spotted Peli fast asleep slumped over the edge of her bunk with an empty bowl hanging limply from her hand. Anai covered her mouth to keep from laughing “Poor Peli.” She placed the little one at the foot of her bunk as she rearranged the older woman into her mattress, taking the bowl, and pulling the shoes from her feet. After putting everything away she flicked some switches on the wall turning off the ceiling lights but keeping the low lights in the floor active for her own sake “Alright little one, time for bed.” She gathered the baby up in her arms again as she crawled onto her mattress laying him against her chest, Racket rolled up to the wall next to them putting himself in sleep mode. It took a short while as the tiny green boy fussed to fight against sleep but was soon lulled as his babysitter who lightly patted his back and hummed a calming tune. Before long Anai found herself cuddled up to the little heat pack into blissful sleep, completely unaware of the danger heading their way.

Hours later the mechanic awoke to the grumblings of the child as he pushed against her chest in an attempt to get up “Bachsu?” Anai called out to the little one “What’s wrong?” She sat up holding him close to her as he continued to whine, his ears cast down staring up at her with those big pleading eyes. The noise was enough to bring Racket out of sleep mode, coming to life and beeping curiously. The woman sighed using her free hand to rub her eyes of sleep “You’re hungry, aren’t you?” She watched the way his ears immediately perked up confirming her suspicions “Alright, let’s see if I can find you something.” Anai sighed stepping down from her bunk only to pull back a moment stunned at how cold the floor was before quickly tiptoeing past a still sleeping Peli into the kitchen. With the child in hand the mechanic rifled through some storage containers eventually coming across packets of powdered stew and bread “This’ll have to do.” She grabbed a small pot and bowl, setting them both and the little one on a counter as she prepared the meal, cooking the stew on a small burner and adding water to the bread making it rise instantly. Now done she pulled the bread apart and dipped a piece in the stew letting it soak up the juices before handing it to the child “Here you go, try that.” He took the bread in his clawed hand and took his first little bite, his big pointy ears practically jumping up and down with joy. Anai couldn't help but smile as she pulled off a piece for herself, continuing to share their breakfast until a very groggy Peli dragged herself around the corner and made a b-line for her caf maker. “Navila.” The younger woman greeted only to be nonchalantly waved off, she turned her attention back to the kiddo who having finished his breakfast now watched them curiously “Why don’t you come with me Bachsu, we gotta lot of work to get to today before Mando gets back.” She scooped him up again, taking him back to the main room to get ready for the day.

Back to work once again Anai had a better plan to handle the child this go around. Digging through some other storage containers she found long scraps of fabric and tied them around her upper body as a makeshift carrier. She secured the little one making sure he was facing forward so he could watch everything she was doing without interfering. Luckily all they had left was to work on the landing gear, recalibrate the entire system, and do a final run-through. The work was tedious especially without the help of the droids as Anai grabbed her datapad to start checking the connectivity of the system to the landing gear. As she stood there the child began to fuss yet again pulling at the fabric and holding him to her “Oh?” She looked down at him curiously “What’s wrong Bachsu?” He kept pushing the fabric kicking his little feet as he whined “Woah okay, I’ll let you down” She pulled him out of the carrier kneeling into the sand while setting him in front of her “That was pretty big fuss there, do you need something? Are you hungry again?” The little one continued to whine as he grabbed her hand and tried pulling her towards the ramp of the ship “Hey! Bachsu, what’s gotten into you?” The little one’s behavior had her alarm bells ringing when suddenly a shadow fell over her. Slowly turning her head, the mechanic now came face to face with the barrel of a blaster, a gasp escaped her tinted lips and Anai shot up to her feet “Pel-!” There was a sharp blow to the back of her head that sent her careening to the ground. The last thing she heard before blacking out being the panicked cries of the child.

There was no way of telling how long she had been out but when Anai opened her eyes again all she could see was darkness, It must be night. She rationalized while trying to move but quickly found she could not, her hands were tied over her head and she was hanging in the air, Where am I? Suddenly the clinking of boots against metal came to her ears “Finally awake I see.” A familiar voice spoke, “I saw the dog tag I thought you’d put up more of a fight.” It was that boy from the cantina, Toro, if she remembered right. Anai tried to speak as she struggled against her bonds but quickly became aware of the fact that she had also been gagged. A gloved hand pulled the gag down from her lips “Sorry, what was that?” He asked in a mocking tone.

“Karillja! What the hell are you doing?!” She yelled, “Where’s the Mandalorian?!”

“Oh, he’ll be along shortly.” He walked a small distance away from her as he spoke “Heard there was a bigger prize of glory if I brought him and the little green guy back to the guild, so I thought I’d just cash in them instead.”

The kid…, of course now it all made sense, that was why Mando was specifically not looking for guild work. He was running from them for not turning over a bounty, “You don’t have to do this.” Anai tried reasoning with him “There’s still time, just walk away. You can’t tell me entry into the guild is worth your life.”

“You have no idea how much I need this.” Next thing she felt the leather of his gloved fingers as the gag was pulled back over her mouth “Keep quiet.” Toro warned ‘“And when this is over you ladies can go back to your little lives as if nothing happened.” He walked further into what she assumed to be the hull of the Razorcrest leaving her to hang there.

Moments later she heard the shuffling of one of the pit droids across the hangar, something had startled it. Turning in the direction of the noise she could only see the faintest outline of a figure as the dim light bounced off his shiny armor Mando! She struggled against the restraints again grumbling through the gag. “Took you long enough, Mando.” She heard Toro’s voice call from behind her and the padding of hid boots slowly getting closer “Looks like I’m calling the shots now. Huh, partner?” Anai heard two sets of boots walk past her onto the ships ramp she assumed he had Peli at the end of his blaster and possibly holding the child in his other arm. Unfortunately, their shadowed forms blocked what little of Mando the younger mechanic could see. “Drop your blaster and raise ‘em.” She heard the small thud of a blaster hitting the sandy floor. Kriff. This was bad, Anai may have just met the man a literal day ago, but she didn’t want to think of what would happen to the kid if he wasn’t around. Toro’s shadowy arm pushed Peli forward with the barrel end of his blaster “Cuff him.” Listening to what was about to play out the former rebel quickly made up her mind, This guy needs to go. While the boy started his speech about how legendary he’d be she reached up to the ceiling grates of the ship, slipping her slender fingers into the holes for stability as she started pulling her knees up into her stomach. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Anai could finally see the scene in front of her as Mando and Peli ducked behind some crates. Toro shot blindly and using all her strength Anai kicked her feet forward throwing him off balance as Mando appeared and with one shot from his blaster the now dead man fell from the ramp. She was left there swinging lightly as the light from the flare faded taking her sight with it.

After everything settled the shine of metal armor appeared again and approached her “Hold still.” Was all the Mandalorian gruffly spoke as he reached up to cut Anai’s hands free and quickly grabbing her waist in the same motion to stop her from falling. She pulled the gag from her mouth as she turned down to Mando but not fully meeting his gaze “I guess that’s what I get for laughing at you, huh?” He tilted his domed head to the side in a nod “Should’ve told you to watch your back.” They both shared a small chuckle as he let her down on the ramp, she could hear Peli consoling the child somewhere below “Thank you.” She heard the Mandalorian softly speak next to her “For all your help, I wish to repay you.” Anai just smiled lightly and intended to tell him she didn’t need anything before Peli spoke up for her “She needs off planet; you could do that.”

“Peli…” Anai followed the older women’s voice giving her a look. “What? You do!” Peli called back defensively “The only reason you’re still here is that your ship got jacked! Didn’t you say someone was asking for you on Ukio?” Anai hesitated, there was a client who had been practically begging her to come to his shop. “I can ferry you there.” Mando interjected, “It’ll only take a couple of hours.” Anai opened her mouth to speak but the words were refusing to form before she sighed looking in the general direction of Mando. “It’s not that I don’t want to, it's just…I’m kind of a package deal.” She saw the shine on his helmet move, probably looking at her quizzically now. He’s not gonna like it. “Racket!” Anai turned back to the hangar as she called out for her droid. The astromech appeared from the living quarters rolling up next to Peli as Anai continued “I…can’t go anywhere without him, and I know you don’t like droids…” Suddenly Racket interrupted with a series of serious beeps that had Anai turned to him with shocked confusion “Are you sure Racket...?” She listened to another few beeps before turning back to Mando “He said he’s willing to travel in off mode with a restraining bolt, you can even chain him to the wall if that’s acceptable.” It wasn’t like the astromech to offer something, so she really hoped an opportunity like this didn’t go to waste. The Mandalorian seemed to think it over for a moment before sighing heavily “Alright, I can work with that. Get your things, we’re leaving.” Anai nodded and she smiled as relief flooded over her. Putting her hand out for balance she made her way down the ramp towards the small amount of light her droid emitted, placing her hand on his head he guided her back to the bunk room.

It took only a few minutes to shove everything the mechanic had left to her name into a backpack and grab her discarded data pad that one of the pit droids thankfully retrieved. Opening the door again she walked into a now illuminated hangar where Mando stood at the top of the ramp now holding the child as he waited for her and Racket to come aboard. She patted the droids little metal head “Go on, I gotta say my goodbyes.” Racket beeped lightly before heading up the ramp. The younger mechanic turned to her friend who stood with her arms crossed in front of her “Well I guess this is goodbye for now.” Anai shrugged her leather-clad shoulders. Peli scoffed “About time I was starting to get sick of ya.” Anai couldn’t help the light giggle that escaped her tinted lips “I’ll let you know when we get settled in, thank you again for taking us in.” Her friend simply waved her off “Go on, get out of here before you make an old woman cry.” Anai reached out placing a tender hand on her shoulder as she softly whispered “Peli Moto, Vidu.”

She let her go climbing up the ramp into the hull just as the Mandalorian secured the restraining bolt onto Racket and pressed a button on his vambrace to power the droid down. Mando starred at Anai for a short moment before turning on his heels and heading up the ladder to the cockpit, the ramp now closing behind her. She took in a breath as she walked past her droid patting him on the head before scrambling up the ladder herself. The mechanic soon joined her ferryman and his little companion taking the only other empty seat and setting her bag on the floor as they began to lift off. Anai turned to the little one watching him play with a little silver ball and recognizing it immediately Ah! So that’s where that went!

Translations:

Tena ja, sulatuka o!: He’s gone, it’s safe!

Bachsu: Child

Navila: Morning.

Karillja!: Bastard!

Vidu: Goodbye

Header & Footer: @samspenandsword

Mudhorn divider: @dreamland-gallery

Diamond & Din Dividers: @saradika-graphics

#star wars #din djarin #the mandalorian #fan fic #peli motto #din djarin fanfic #din djarin x ofc #din and grogu #groguthechild #original droid character #original chatacter

[kindheart525]

The patient lounge was abuzz with anticipation, for everypony was about to get a surprise! A “special guest” was scheduled to come in, a motivational speaker. Something to lift their spirits, they were told.

Everypony sat around chattering, wondering who this mysterious guest could be. It was mostly in excitement, they all needed a break from the treatment routine after all. But Triple Threat was less visibly enthused.

“You good?”

Lucky Shot stood over the unicorn, attempting to offer some comfort.

“Yes, of course!”

Triple Threat nodded, somewhat forcing a wider smile. Then it quickly disappeared.

“I’m just not quite sure what to expect, you know? I hope this isn’t one of those ‘just think good thoughts’ speakers. You might have seen them, the corny ones who think you can smile your problems away. Or…somepony who’s going to come in and tell us to eat healthy and exercise like that’s not why we’re here.”

She made a disgusted, even pained grimace thinking about this.

“I don’t think it’ll be like that.”

Lucky sat down next to her.

“I’m sure the staff here know not to hire a speaker that’s going to make our problems worse. The week before you got here they brought in some therapy pets. A bit later they had a stage magician. It’s just fun stuff like that.”

She did her best to reassure her, but as she went quiet it was clear she had many of the same questions. 

“Well, I guess we just have to wait and see, right?”

“Attention, everypony!”

One of the nurses chirped out, waving a hoof to quell the chatter.

“Our special guest is here so be sure to give her the respect and attention she deserves!”

TT and Lucky shot each other a glance and rolled their eyes. With this nurse it felt more like a high school assembly than anything. 

“She took the train all the way out here to see you all, so give her a round of applause—”

“Come on now, we don’t need all that!”

Even the guest was tired of the formalities as she came in to stop the nurse before her cue. 

“I’ve got it from here!”

The nurse was about to protest but decided against it, instead stepping aside for the main event.

“Whoa Nelly!”

Triple Threat was surprised right away at this guest speaker, in a good way. In the back of her mind she was afraid they would be some kind of fitness trainer or model who was just above the “conventionally attractive” weight…somepony who would remind her way too much of her mom. Instead this Whoa Nelly was bigger than her even before she got sick. It was already so refreshing to see!

“Instead of standing here and lecturing you like a boring old teacher, I'd like to sit down with you all, hang out, make some friends.”

The mare looked around at all the seated ponies.

“Any free seats around here? I’m gonna need at least two!”

Triple Threat couldn’t help but chuckle out loud a bit as she scooched over and offered a space between herself and Lucky Shot. A few other patients expressed amusement as well. 

She sure didn’t expect jokes like this! She always thought her weight was not a laughing matter, all the jokes she heard about it until now were mean-spirited but this felt different.

“There’s the kind of laughter I like to hear! Not like those high-society mares who thought I was a joke for wanting to buy a princess dress.”

Nelly chuckled drily and shook her head. 

“Well, I can be just as much of a princess as Twilight Sparkle! I’ve got way more pounds of princess material on me than she’s ever had. No disrespect to her, of course. But all of this?”

She gestured towards her own body.

“Princess material.”

This time the whole room laughed with her. All of them were dealing with body issues in some way so it was really nice to see some body positivity.

“I didn’t always know that, though. When I was younger I thought my body wasn’t worth a thing. Ponies all around were telling me I could stand to lose some of this chub…well, more than some. I was where I imagine a lot of you are right now—and if you don’t wanna talk about it I don’t blame you. You don’t have to stick around.”

Nelly paused for a moment, allowing anypony the space to leave if they needed to as she started sharing these more vulnerable details. Ponies of all different body types were here and her goal was to help them all feel better about themselves, not worse.

TT almost thought of it. She really didn’t like thinking about her body and she especially didn’t like hearing about it from ponies who didn’t know what it was like, but this mare did know what it was like. Maybe whatever she had to say would help her. 

“See, I had eating disorders back in the day too. The doctors didn’t believe it when I was at this size, but it was true. I was in and out of the hospital quite a few times. I’ve sat where you all are right now, gone through the same therapy sessions, eaten the same slimy hospital food. Is it still just as gross?”

She asked to try to lighten the mood a bit, and the patients murmured in affirmation.

“Back in my day everypony who tried to help was like, ‘Nelly, you just have to be more confident! Chin up!’ A lot of them barely had any gut at all, they didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.”

For a moment it felt like Nelly was reading TT’s diary as she said this. It was exactly how she’d experienced it with her own mom. And…a lot of ponies. She thought nopony else could ever understand, but now she was wrong.

“If it were that easy to just be confident we wouldn’t even be here! And of course you can’t do much of anything if you don’t love who you are. You can’t change for the world, you gotta make the world change for you!”

“Huh…?”

What do you mean?

Still feeling a bit more shy than usual, TT thought she was too quiet for Nelly to hear, but the older mare took notice right away.

“A few decades ago I didn’t even have this job. Ponies didn’t want to hear from somepony like me. But I kept telling my story even when they didn’t like it. I was a pain in their little behinds!”

Nelly laughed heartily.

“I said, ‘I’m here, and you better get used to it.’”

She looked around the room at all the patients who were now absolutely captivated.

“But enough about big ol’ me. What do you guys do? What do you wanna be?”

“I’m studying to be a doctor.”

“I’m getting my therapist’s license soon!”

“I want to be a teacher!”

“I’m an athlete.”

Ponies started going around, naming all their aspirations and careers, everything they wanted to be in a world where they wouldn’t be judged and excluded for their size.

Then Nelly turned to Triple Threat, who had been rather quiet until now.

“And what about you?”

Not too long ago, TT wasn’t so sure about her career path. She was ready to give it all up and find something else. But now she was much more confident in her answer.

“I’m hoping to star in a Bridleway show one day!”

And instead of responding with pity like many other ponies TT met before, Nelly smiled even wider.

“You’d better send me tickets when you do!”

And as she went on talking to all the other patients about their aspirations, Triple Threat found herself stuck on what Whoa Nelly said. Everything was still so uncertain for her but now, for once, she felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. That maybe she had more agency than she thought.

One day, somehow, Triple Threat could return to her life’s passion after all. And that was a when, not an if.

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Half-Pity Next: Oh Honey

#KindsArt #auraverse #bridleway #triple threat #whoa nelly #lucky shot #story piece #next generation #my little pony #mlp fim #mlp g4 #fatphobia mention #eating disorder mention #ed mention

[stranger-marauders]

unbreakable

four: modern love

chapter summary: When someone forgets to pick her up from work, Kate makes other plans before she goes home for the night.

chapter warnings: language, steve being a bad friend

word count: 2.3k

series masterlist | masterlist

AFTER A FEW hours of talking, reading, and digging through the records at the bookstore, Kate and Jamie finally closed up for the night.

Work wasn't bad whenever Jamie was there, especially when everyone in Hawkins seemingly forgot that the little bookstore on Main Street existed. They got enough business from the occasional person that walked in to buy ten books that the constant flow of cash into the store wasn't an issue. It gave them an opportunity to ransack the place, letting them dig through even the records and cassettes they'd started selling more recently. Kate had loved that addition: it gave her a notice of when Queen was releasing a new single or album, and that was something she hadn't taken light of in years.

As they waited outside after they'd closed up shop, Kate shivered slightly. During their shift, the temperature had dropped a few degrees, the sun had set, and the wind had picked up, leading it to be considerably colder outside.

"You want me to take you home?" Jamie finally offered, putting his hands in his pockets. "I mean, I don't mind if Harrington's busy."

"N–No, don't worry about it. It's completely out of the way for you to take me home," she said. "I don't want you to have to do that because he forgot again. I'm... I'm sure he'll be here in a couple of minutes, anyway."

"I don't want you to walk home by yourself, though," he said, frowning slightly. "You'd get kidnapped or something."

"Oh yeah? Kidnapped?" she said, stifling a laugh. "I'm sure they'd get tired of me, too. Kick me out of the van before they could even get to Indianapolis."

Jamie chuckled. "In all seriousness, I don't mind. It's ridiculous he makes you wait out here."

Kate looked to Jamie, sighing as the cold nipped her face and hands. "It's okay, I'm fine. Seriously."

On nights like this, Kate would usually tell Jamie that Steve was just running late, then would walk home by herself. She didn't want to bother anyone, and there hadn't really been anyone else that could take her home, anyway. By now, her father was probably wasted on the couch, watching a Western or the newest episode of Magnum P.I., and Steve was probably trying to sneak into Nancy Wheeler's house, completely forgetting about her once again for the sake of a girl he would forget about next week.

That night, however, she thought it was past time for something different.

"Hey, Jamie!" she said as she watched him open his car door.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated. "You still up for that ride?"

He smiled. "Yeah, get in the car."

Before taking Kate home, Jamie took her through Burger Chef, and they'd both sat in his car, parked in one of the random lots on the way to her place. As they ate, Steve's words from earlier that day started ringing in her head. Maybe Jamie did kind of like her (only a little bit, though).

"You need to start coming in at five instead of six, because that first hour alone is killing me," Kate said. Whenever he laughed, she raised her voice. "I'm not kidding! Mr. Novak came in and talked my head off about World War II books for twenty minutes and it was horrendous."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, so please for the love of God, ask to come in earlier. I cannot handle shit like that without some backup."

Jamie stifled a laugh. "Yeah, if you could get all your athlete buddies to study more, maybe I wouldn't be stuck at school until five o'clock."

"They're not my friends, they just know me because of Steve," she said, shrugging slightly. "I couldn't do that, though. Be a tutor. It would physically pain me."

He shrugged. "Yeah, that's because you're naturally smart, Kate. Some of us other guys? We gotta study hard and hope for the best."

"I wouldn't say I'm naturally smart, I've just had lots of training."

"Stop being so modest. You're literally one of the smartest people I've ever met." He paused. "Even if you don't like when grouchy old men ask you about the World War II books."

When Kate laughed, shaking her head, he smiled. Kate thought about what Steve had said earlier again. She hadn't ever really thought about him that way, but he did make her laugh, smile. He was a good friend of hers, and he knew what she liked. She didn't think that meant that they had to date or anything, but she wouldn't have minded dating him. She tried to shake her thoughts, but she couldn't—chronic overthinker.

"Hey, Kate?" Jamie finally asked, trying to snag Kate's attention.

She turned to him, her expression soft. "Yeah?"

"Why don't we do stuff like this more often?"

"I don't know," she answered, fidgeting with the blue hair tie on her wrist. "I just don't want to waste your time."

"What are you talking about? You could never waste my time."

She laughed once hollowly. "Trust me, I can. That and your money."

"Oh, are you referring to this?" he asked, holding up the bag their food had been in. "Yeah, don't worry about it. My treat."

She sighed, taking the last French fry of hers. "Fine." After a moment or two, a wave of excitement quickly washed over her. "Oh my God, I almost forgot to ask. When's that shipment of Pet Sematary coming in? Do you know? Please tell me you know."

"Sunday morning," he replied. "Don't worry, I'll pull a copy for you."

She smiled excitedly, still not able to shake the feeling. "Dude, really? Thank... Thank you so much. I cannot tell you how much that means to me, I've been waiting for weeks."

"Yeah, I know." He paused, meeting her eyes for only a moment. "You know, this has been really great. Seriously."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Whenever he caught her eyes again, Jamie moved closer to her. He partially cupped her face with his hand, and she put her hand over his—it was almost like they both knew what was about to happen. Their lips got so close that they had almost kissed, but Kate pulled back at the last second. "I should probably be getting back."

Jamie pulled his head back, dropping his hand from her face. "What?"

"My dad, he's... he'll flip his shit. I–It's getting late, you know?"

Jamie looked at his watch, his eyes widening whenever he saw the time. "Oh shit, yeah, it is." He started the car engine up, the radio come on with it. "Y–Yeah, I'll take you home."

"Thanks."

As he gave a tight-lipped smile in return, Jamie wondered that if he were Steve Harrington, maybe Kate would've kissed him.

Jamie wasn't ignorant of everything he saw at school. While, sure, he was a year older than Steve and Kate in school, that didn't mean that Jamie didn't still hear about any time Steve Harrington quite possibly breathed in the direction of someone else, never mind when he walked around with Kate the way he did. He tried to act like he didn't care when Steve had his arm around her in the hallway, making her smile and laugh the way he did. Jamie, however, had to respect what Kate had told him since he had found out that she was best friends with him, and he would never feel any other way about that situation.

He didn't hate Steve, not in the slightest. He could only hope that Kate truly did like him as a friend and nothing more.

Kate gave Jamie a very short goodbye before jumping out of his car.

The girl's stomach churned at just the thought of walking through the front door of the trailer. She'd been dreading going home, especially because she was getting there so much later than she usually did, but quickly that fear morphed into something else—her father's SUV wasn't in the driveway. When she'd gotten inside after checking the mail and hadn't found her father attempting to drown himself in alcohol, watching the televisionuntil he inevitably fell asleep on the couch, she'd begun to worry for other reasons.

At first, she told herself he probably just got held up at the station. Maybe he was at the bar downtown, enjoying himself with... someone? Maybe he was hooking up with a younger woman again (Hopper loved to act like his daughter didn't know about those even though she most definitely knew), and this time he forgot to leave a note saying that he'd be back tomorrow. Whatever it was, Kate told herself it was probably nothing—her dad was gonna come home, no matter what, because somehow, he always did.

She sighed as she set her bag down, shuffling through the mail. Nothing of importance, thank God. She quickly retreated into her room, even though no one was home except for her. She needed to do something other than worry about her father's presumably unimportant mail.

After Sara died, Kate found she was nervous a lot of the time (in addition to feeling sad, lonely, empty, and all of the other feelings that went with experiencing grief), so she'd tried to find things that she'd enjoyed, made her feel less nervous. Of course, one of those things had been reading, which was why she had that enormous bookcase in her room that just about had books falling out of it now—and no, Kate was not going to get rid of any of her books, as she had explained to Steve and her father both at least hundred times.

As the night got later and later, her father was still not home, Kate decided to read, (after finishing her homework, of course). While no one was home to distract her, she'd decided to pull out her notebook from the bedframe, continuing to write just where she'd left off. She didn't like to work when her father was home, never mind when anyone else was at the trailer, partially because she didn't want to have to explain what she was doing to anyone.

Kate had always loved writing. Ever since her sister had died, it had been her escape. She hadn't been too good at anything else, and it was something that could just be for her. She hadn't ever thought about doing anything else for the rest of her life, really. The idea that always kept her going, something she always had looked forward to: college. Since she'd been thirteen, all she had wanted was to go to New York University. She hated telling people that she wanted to go for writing. It felt like such a waste. NYU, though, was nothing to scoff at. It was known for its creative writing programs, and that was something she certainly enjoyed. Besides, NYU was home.

Even though Diane had still lived in New York City, Kate supposed it was still a big enough city where she would never see her mother, even if she wanted to find her. She couldn't think of a single reason that would make her want to contact her mother ever again. She didn't want to see her ever again, and she wasn't ever planning on it.

At least, that's what she hoped.

At a quarter to eleven, Kate had finally decided enough was enough and called Flo, the station's secretary, tapping her foot as the line rang.

"Hawkins Police Department," she answered, her phone voice shining through.

"Hey, it's Kate," she said quickly, concern lacing her voice. "Have you, uh… Have you heard from my dad? He's never home later than this without a warning, or something."

Flo sighed—something was wrong, and Kate's heart rate immediately started to pick up. "Don't worry, he's all right. There's a… There's a missing boy. Joyce Byers's youngest? Your dad's leading a search party for him tonight."

Kate hesitated to go on. A missing boy in Hawkins? SHe hadn't ever heard of such a thing. While, sure, there had been that one family that got murdered in the '50s, not much else had ever happened in Hawkins, and that was the only reason Kate hadn't ever lost her mind living there. Hawkins was a sleepy town, and she was perfectly all right with that. "Search party?"

"I'll be sure to let him know you called, sweetheart."

"All right, thanks, Flo. Talk to you later."

Flo hung up the phone after a quick goodbye, presumably going on to another task that had something to do with the Byers boy. Now that Kate had the comfort of knowing that her father hadn't driven himself into a ditch, she should've been fine. However, the girl still couldn't go to sleep without knowing if he was okay or not. As she lay in bed, trying to fall asleep, she thought about the small town of Hawkins she had called home for the past four and a half years. Never once in her life had anything happened that significant in that town. Questions fired around her mind at a hundred miles an hour, questions about the boy, the town; it made her heartrate bounce through the roof. Nothing like this had ever happened in Hawkins. Ever.

She had no idea how much things were about to change.

next chapter

tag list:

@thatsonezesty13 @cece5

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x hopper!reader #stranger things #steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington series #steve harrington stranger things

[findroleplay]

On the hunt for some fellow space explorers and extraterrestrial beings!

Greetings ladies, gents and fellow space explorers! As yet another busy year draws to a close and a new one is just around the corner I thought I’d open my doors (well, DM’s really) to any fellow sci-fi rper’s who may be lurking about in the hopes that we can all leap headfirst into the start of 2024 with some fresh stories to write, new ideas to share and entire universes born from our own imaginations to explore whilst hopefully making a few new friends along the way. Before heading down to the ideas section of the ad, I humbly ask (and strongly insist) that anyone who may be interested in writing with me takes the time to thoroughly read the following lists of requirements to make sure that we are on the same page when it comes to what we want/expect in a rp partner and ensure that we will mesh with one another as a result rather than clash due to incompatibility based issues that may not be fixable. REQUIREMENTS/WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR: -A minimum of three to four properly fleshed out and detailed paragraphs per response written in third person past tense. A decent grasp on spelling, grammar and punctuation is also required as well. -At least one to two responses per day/every other day. I am also open to planning a writing schedule provided you are capable of consistently responding at least three or more days per week. -A willingness to commit to a long term rp/being a long term writing partner and being open to writing more than just one story. -20+ writers and characters. No exceptions. -Being open to at least occasionally engaging in non-rp related ooc chatter. -Active engagement during any planning/plotting phases and a willingness to bring new ideas to table. -Willing to rp against/pair your character with a alien character who may have/has fur, fangs, claws, a tail, scales, antennae, extra limbs, etc. basically anything that doesn’t look like a blue skinned human. I do not play human main characters so please take all of this into very careful consideration before messaging me for an rp. -Being comfortable with writing potentially explicit scenes that contain dark themes/sensitive topics such as combat, violence, gore, injuries, trauma, illnesses, etc (any and all boundaries will be discussed prior to plotting or writing these sorts of scenes). -Being comfortable with writing out smut based scenes rather than just fading to black or simply implying they happened. -Slow burn romances that allow the characters to see the best and worst sides of each other as their feelings progress. Anything that adds extra tension, drama or causes changes to their relationship dynamics and offers us a potential subplot to explore is also heavily encouraged. -50/50 story to smut ratio. -Switch dynamics only. Characters who prefer to top more than bottom during spicy scenes are also welcomed but Characters who only bottom/are always submissive regardless of what position they are in or don’t reciprocate on their own accord without constant guidance during these types of scenes are not. -MxM or FxM (with me playing the male character) pairings. I do have a strong preference for MxM pairings but I am not going to turn down anyone wishing to do a FxM one, but I will not play as the female character so please refrain from approaching me if you are intending to play as the male character. -Discord is an absolute must as it is the only platform I will rp on due to being able to use servers in order to help keep things organised and easily accessible within their own little category or channel. I will not rp on any other platform and any attempts to try and persuade me to write elsewhere will be ignored. WHAT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR: -one liners, one worders, rushed out responses, rapid fire, text talk, frequent or major mistakes that go uncorrected. -Constantly switching between tenses or the use of first/second person. -godmodding. -controlling my characters. -overly shy or emotionally fragile characters who need to be taken care of constantly. -Characters who are always positive/cheerful no matter what happens to them or to the point where it's impossible to get any other kind of reaction out of them. -short term rp’s. -Android characters, heavily augmented cyborg characters (this is up for discussion), magical characters, characters with wings, telepathic characters, characters that do not fit into a sci-fi setting, insectoid alien main characters, avianoid alien main characters, amphibious or fish like alien main characters, amorphous (slime) main characters and anything that even remotely resembles a xenomorph. -time travel/dimension hopping settings or abilities. -Cyberpunk/steampunk/dieselpunk/whatever are punk type settings there are. -Overly submissive characters or characters who constantly require someone else to take the lead all the time or make decisions for them regardless of what situation they are in. -fast paced romances. -stories that take place in a non sci-fi setting. Now that we’ve got all those rules out of the way, let’s start talking about the fun stuff: Ideas. Down below you’ll find all of the ideas that I’ve been absolutely dying to write for a fair while now. All of these ideas will take place within your typical run of the mill sci-fi setting and although there are some specific themes/plot points and dynamics within them that are non-negotiable or firmly set in stone, you are more than welcome to bring any ideas you may have been wanting to try out yourself to the table to see if there’s a way that they can be incorporated into the rp. STOWAWAY: (Looking for someone to play the captain) A stowaway attempts to sneak onboard a ship in order to find a way off the planet/space station they are on and is discovered by the captain. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: (Looking for someone to play as a member of the crew) A criminal takes over a ship that has accidentally stumbled into their territory and claims the crew as their own. NO EASY WAY OUT: (Looking for someone to play as either the leader of the criminals or a member of the crew) A lone drifter is captured by a band of criminals and forced to join them in exchange for their life. STRANDED: A alliance soldier is purposely left behind by their teammates after becoming separated from them during a mission and is forced to find a way off the planet with the aid of their rescuer. CHANGING WAYS: (Looking for someone to play as a member of the alliance crew) A notorious criminal is given one last chance of redemption by serving the alliance as part of the crew that captured them. TAKING OVER: A captain's second in command is reluctantly chosen to lead the ship after a mission gone wrong and struggles to live up to the expectations that are placed upon them. REUNITED: (Looking for someone to play as the old crew mate) A runaway alliance soldier working a gig as a freelance cargo pilot bumps into one of their old crewmates and agrees to work alongside them in order to solve a mystery involving the sudden disappearance of several ships. New recruit: A formerly high-ranking alliance officer is stripped of their title and forced to start over at the bottom of the social ladder on another ship. SPACE PIRATES AND NOBLES: (Looking for someone to play as the royal) A pirate captain that is believed to be one of the most dangerous and wanted criminals in the known galaxies boards a ship full of royals/wealthy high class nobles that has strayed off course and takes one of them as a prisoner in exchange for sparing the rest of them. ENSLAVED: (Looking for someone to play as the master/mistress) As punishment for their crimes, a criminal is sold off into slavery. A near successful escape attempt sees them literally running into their new owner after months of being turned down by other buyers. THE WAR OF THE WORLDS: A intergalactic war is declared by the aliens after one of their ships is shot down by humans despite claims that the incident was not the result of malicious intent or pre-planned. Centuries of peaceful co-existence between the two races are seemingly thrown down the drain as they battle each other for complete control over the known galaxies themselves despite the devastating costs that both sides must regularly pay for as a result of their efforts through either their lives or resources in the hopes of achieving some form of victory. EXILE: (Looking for someone to play as a crew member of the human ship) An alien is found injured and alone onboard a badly damaged ship that has drifted into a human occupied airspace. The unexpected extraterrestrial guest is hostile towards their “alien” rescuers yet is seemingly reluctant to return to their own territory for reasons that they refuse to disclose. With tensions rising across the known galaxies due to rumours being spread about a war that is supposedly on the verge of being declared at any moment, the two species must set aside their biases and work together in order to find out the truth before it’s too late. To those who have made it this far, thanks for reading! If you are interested in writing with me please shoot me a friend request on discord and send me a introductory message that includes your time zone, your availability, which idea you liked, what ideas you may have, what pairing you want to do and your favourite food so that I know you read the whole post. Anything that is just “hey, I saw your ad. Wanna rp?” Will be immediately ignored. Introductions are also required even if you are simply inquiring about whether or not I am still looking for new partners and these types of messages will be ignored if they do not contain them. Discord contact info: tiberionwars Can’t wait to write with ya!

#submission

[sailoryooons]

I’m a bit confused and new to this AI thing involving bts what is it, and why people uncomfortable with it or upset? I’m just a bit confused I don’t mean to be rude!

Hi! I am perhaps not the best person to answer this because I'm not an artist, but I will try to provide context the best I can. This is not a rude question at all - I will try to summarize the conversations the best I am able.

I'm going to put my answer under the cut because it's very long. Please know that this is just my understanding and that I am very hesitant to open myself up to this discussion because in general, I try to stay away from offering opinions because I don't know that what I have to say matters in the broader picture.

I also want to start by saying - I did answer two asks where a wonderful reader of mine provided me AI art to re-create Yoongi in my vision and I was so so touched by the inspiration behind it and how my words can make someone want to create, but after discussing it with some artist friends and overall my feelings about AI in general, I've removed them because I realize I cannot simultaneously appreciate something while explaining it's ethical issues.

There is a ton of new AI technology easily accessible online for voice modification, imager moderation and generation, and writing generation. These are the three I will focus on for my attempt at breaking it down.

Two main roots of the issue lie within:

Using technology to replace human art and jobs

Ethical conversations about rights to likeness and ideas being used

For the first issue:

While AI art generators give non-artistic people the ability to create images and materials they otherwise would be unable to create, it essentially takes away the agency of actual artists who paint, draw, design, craft etc. to make a living and who are already wildly undervalued (at least in Western culture).

Now, we have a free and very easily accessible way to replace those people who have spent years learning their craft, and AI often steals art and images that already exist to inform itself and make new images. The key thing about AI is that it has to be fed something to learn first, so everything that it puts out has been learned from somewhere, which makes it predatory for artists whose work gets used to feed knowledge to AI.

For the second issue:

A large part of AI brings up conversations about using images and voices of people without their consent. There are so many AI audios on TikTok of BTS members singing songs they never performed, and while it seems cool at first, you have to consider that what can happen when someone decides to use that with ill-intent. It's very alarming that voices can now be replicated to say things people never actually said, and it's nearly a SPOT on sound.

It's the same with images. AI can now be used to create hyperrealistic images that are not real, which is incredibly dangerous when someone wants to start producing images and passing them off as real, which we already struggle with in terms of people using graphic design/edits to push false narratives in media. AI has just exacerbated this issue.

Again, I don't know that I am the best person to discuss this, but this is essentially what the conversation revolves around. What it comes down to is that we already have amazing people to create art, music and writing, and to start using technology to replace those people is incredibly terrifying and will have long-term effects on humanities and the way that the world views, uses and understands art and history.

I don't want to make this a platform to debate the nature of AI, so moving forward I will not be sharing any more content that is given to me, even though I think the people who thought of my stories and words and felt inspired are wonderful and kind and it brings me joy that they felt empowered by me to create.

#replies

[broxklynn]

just a little rant, because i need to type this out. my younger cousin is having two friends over for a week - she told us a week prior, so we were surprised, i could change some plans and go back to the city to give them some privacy, but what's done is done and i suppose they wouldn't mind having us upstairs. and let me tell you - they don't mind one bit. for context, the house we have in the countryside is my gran's, she built it and used to live there before moving with my mum to the city and everyone from her side of the family stays there during summer - my mum, my aunt & her husband, my two cousins, my brother, sister and obviously my gran. most of the time, we are not there at the same time, because everyone aside from my cousins has work or higher studies. i sometimes stay in the city, but still the countryside's my main vacation destination, it's very calming and fresh - helps me relax and everything you can imagine.

i decided to stay out of their way for the most part, because there was no use interrupting their shenanigans and all i could offer is my hospitality. i said welcome, hope you have a great stay and stay out of trouble, so you know, the basics. but their behaviour is so surprising to me? when i was younger, whenever i'd drop by my friend's house i'd make sure i wasn't - you know - troubling them in any way shape, or form. i wouldn't trash anything, be kind & respectful, quiet - you know - the bare minimum? because i'm the guest. when i'd stay over or my friends would, we'd make sure we were mindful of everyone in the house. i remember when i invited my friend to drop by my place to have some study sessions on the weekend, and when my gran visited us the second day and she made my friend goffers, she was so kind and even a little embarrassed, which you know, was completely unnecessary, but it was still lovely of her to show gratitude. while my cousin's friends are only a year younger than me (or 2) and their attitude is so different? i clearly didn't expect them to cook their own food or whatever, because they're the guests, but they are so unappreciative of everything?

cooked them dinner, because my gran was picking fruits, no thank you, no anything - they didn't even at it all and then complained they were my gran was picking fruits, they, later on, complained they were hungry - not to me, to my cousin, who then told me about it. i'm one year their senior, they are old enough to make themselves a sandwich? i'm not the best cook, but my spaghetti wasn't uneatable, come on. they're also very loud, and i mean very, very loud. but you know, i decided i'll let it slide, because we are young, it's the day and the summer there's no point in making a scene over teenagers having fun - i had an issue with it, because - as all my family now - i have a diagnosis, which makes me overstimulated very easily, so in order to work or study, i need to avoid unnecessary stimuli - thus, i went to the countryside for some peace and quiet, but at the same time, it's solely my problem and they shouldn't stop having fun, just because it makes me crazy. so i changed my routine, a bit - take meds a bit later and study during the night. you'll never guess who loves to scream around, play music & laugh in the middle of the night. you'll never guess. my sister and & i are very bothered by it. my brother - on the other hand - sleeps like a rock, so once he manages to fall asleep, he doesn't mind. my gran, on the other hand, sleeps downstairs, so she doesn't hear one bit. i honestly told my cousin about this, i didn't want to make a scene, because that would put the girls and her in an awkward position, so i just said if she could make sure they wouldn't be as loud during the nighttime. she apologized. guess what happened the next night. i decided i'd bring it up to her once the girls are away and work around it until then.

changed my entire routine, started studying downstairs - the internet connection sucks, decided to change the subject i was studying and read some books and make notes - can't do, because as my gran said it "i'm occupying girls' space, that's where they eat dinner". yikes, drove a bike to a nearby river, where i could sit and read, but for obvious reasons, the "taking notes" part is quite difficult, also, i have to do it in the morning because i've lent one of the girls my bike. yup. that's the whole entire thing, my cousin asked me if one of the girls could take my bike because she didn't bring one and i said yes because i could always go cycling in the morning. sadly, they ride on their bikes at least once a day, in the afternoon, and after (trying) to pull an all-nighter, it's i have a very small window of time to study before i have to ride back and give them the bike. frankly, i didn't even mind it, because that meant i could study in peace upstairs. but the worst part is, the bike, after 5 days of usage got more dirty than i've ever seen it in 3,5 years of riding it. i used to own an all-terrain bike, so cycling in rough conditions is something i'm familiar with, but my current bike is definitly not right for that and oh my god, i've never seen a bike more dirty, and as i said, i've been to some messy places with my old one. and again, i wouldn't mind it if she at least cleaned it afterward? she just left me with it, like oh my fucking lord. and it's not the end either! they make a huge mess both downstairs; in the kitchen & dining area and in their room. obviously, the room can be excused, because it's their space, but the kitchen? the dining room? they also like to displace things, like the basketball or their clothes. what's going on. they're leaving on friday - until then, i will stay out of their way and try to be as productive as i can, so i haven't wasted this entire week. i will bring it up with my cousin because that's her job to keep her friends in check. i'll also mention this to my auntie and uncle, because if that's how it's going to be, next time i'll simply go back to the city, ong.

i don't want to make girls feel unwelcome, i really don't. but at the same time, i have some crazy-ass friends, who are the loudest and the craziest at the parties, but whenever they stay over and they're NOT ALONE, they are angels. everyone my age (that i know, obviously) has always been so aware of their manners. every time we've organized a party, they could trash the place up like there's no tomorrow and then help to clean it. when they'd stay over, they'd make their food, or at least clean after themselves. or SAY THANK YOU if someone else did it for them. i've met people who can be the meanest person to you, but when they're at someone else's place, they'd at least be respectful. it's so frustrating to see the difference. or am i crazy.

#rant #personal #not mcl related #i feel like i'm going crazy