#we as a fandom have still been nothing short of INCREDIBLE

[incognitofox]

In Defense of Charlie x Vaggie:

Hazbin Hotel is far from a perfect show. I quite enjoyed it, of course, but that doesn’t mean that it lacks significant issues (not that I mind, nothing is perfect, and I believe people should be allowed to enjoy flawed media). One such complaint that I see often is that the show’s “main couple,” protagonist Charlie and her girlfriend Vaggie, are “boring,” or that they “lack chemistry.”

Personally, for me, the relationship between these two ended up being one of, if not my favourite part of the show. I’ll admit my bias that as a lesbian myself, I’m always a sucker for any kind of wholesome sapphic relationship that I can get in the media. Even so, though, these two stood out to me particularly well.

And while, yes, I can absolutely see why their dynamic isn’t the most favorable to some people, I don’t think it’s correct to say that the writers “can’t write meaningful relationships” or “don’t understand love” (which are both real comments that I’ve seen whilst I’ve been a part of this fandom).

The first and most blatant criticism that I come across is that the two are rarely affectionate with each other, and while this seems to be the case at first glance, I can’t help but disagree. Though we rarely see the pair actively kissing or engaging in other activities that one would perceive as romantic, it’s clear that they find comfort in each other’s presence, even if it’s subtle.

Throughout season 1, the viewer is shown numerous instances of Charlie especially being comforted by her lover’s touch. For example, while Charlie is on the phone with her father, Lucifer, at the beginning of episode 5, we can observe that she is clearly anxious about the interaction. When it’s clear that Charlie is getting stressed, Vaggie opts to take her hand, and it can be inferred from her expression in the moment that Charlie appreciates this gesture, even if she finds herself preoccupied.

Keen-eyed watchers of the series will notice that the two are frequently seen in contact with each other, or at least in close proximity, implying a love language related to physical touch. However, while frequent, some argue that these little exchanges aren’t enough to sell the idea that the couple are truly involved with each other.

People seem to be disappointed that we don’t get to see any more intimate or outwardly romantic interactions between the pair outside these small snippets or the More than Anything reprise (which in truth was unfortunately very short). But in my personal opinion, I think this dynamic makes them even more compelling. Sure, they may not be the most affectionate of partners while on screen, but I never needed them to be in order to be convinced of their love for each other.

Keep in mind, Charlie and Vaggie have been together for years, they’re out of the honeymoon phase. They’re also both incredibly busy people, especially with the updated, much sooner extermination date introduced in episode 1. As much as it sucks, doing cute stuff with their respective partner probably isn’t their priority.

The beauty of this, though, is that despite it all you can still feel their love. Vaggie would do anything for her girlfriend, and she does. Their relationship is built on such genuine, wholesome trust and support for each other.

You can tell from the way they look at each other, and from the way they talk to each other, that even despite the chaos and despite the time, they are in love. So much so that even a potentially devastating reveal like Vaggie’s true identity is nothing more than a speed bump for them. It’s really quite lovely to see.

That’s why I can excuse the atrociously short run time of their duet, it’s their first moment of peace in months, and possibly their last ever, they don’t have time to do much, and yet they choose to spend this time declaring their love for one another, because they are still the most important things in each other’s lives. It’s so blatantly clear that their love is genuine, in this moment and outside of it.

I personally feel as though, in the world of the show, the relationship between Charlie and Vaggie is very realistic given the situation they’re in, and if I’m being honest, they have the kind of relationship that I myself would love to have.

In short, I understand why some people don’t like this pairing. I can understand liking other things better, and I don’t dislike anyone who does. I can understand wanting more from it, and hey, I’d appreciate it if they sprinkled in a few extra kisses next season just to feed the fans, but that doesn’t mean that what’s there doesn’t already exist. In my opinion, I think Vaggie x Charlie is beautifully written.

There are honestly so many other little things I could bring up about why I love these two so much. You are, of course, welcome to disagree, but I encourage those who do to avoid harassing those who contributed to the writing of Hazbin Hotel, or those who actually do appreciate this aspect of the show.

However, I also insist that people try to look beyond the surface, to see the detail and the beauty of this pairing, as well as other aspects of the show, or other pieces of media.

Because art is beautiful.

#hazbin hotel #charlie x vaggie #chaggie #charlie morningstar #vaggie #lgbtq #theyre in love your honor

[paulrobinsonshotel]

I love RTD's writing, and it was his era that made me fall in love with the show as a kid. When it was announced he was coming back, my reaction was nothing short of ecstasy.

When the rumours began to swirl that we'd be getting a Tennant-centric special with the Doctor regenerating BACK into him, I was very much "please no", but also thinking "surely, RTD wouldn't actually do this. There's NO WAY he'd actually do this".

Then Ncuti Gatwa was announced, amazing, wonderful. He'll be fantastic, no doubt about it.

Then we got the Tennant and Tate 60th announcement. At that point, the cracks began to show. Yes, my favourite companion and one of my favourite Doctors. I was excited, but I was waiting for more. We've already seen David Tennant's Doctor and Donna Noble written by Russell T Davies, and it was great. But for an anniversary special, the things that bring different eras of the show together in celebration of its history... pretty underwhelming.

Then the thing I was dreading most, the Doctor regenerating back into Tennant - something that had been the refuge of obsessives making badly edited fan videos from 2010 onwards - actually happened. And not only that, but he regenerated straight out of Whittaker's outfit into a Tennant-esque one. Ostensibly because RTD didn't want the image of Tennant in Whittaker's outfit to be used to whip up anti-drag or transphobic hate. Despite the fact that 1) Whittaker went out of her way to make her outfit gender neutral, so that all fans would be able to dress up as her Doctor and feel included and 2) surely it's more important to broadcast the message that anyone of any gender can wear any clothes they want, and there's nothing wrong with it?

The initial Tennant/Tate announcement was in May 2022. My initial dissatisfaction was met with responses like "The episodes are ages away, just wait and see". We're fifteen months on, and no further returning characters have been announced. As far as we know, these specials will still be primarily focused on Tennant, Tate and Donna's supporting cast (that said, the one thing in all this I'm happy about is seeing Bernard Cribbins again).

Of course, that doesn't mean there's been no announcements about the episodes at all. Segun Akinola's decided to leave, so we're getting a new composer. That's exciting, I wonder who it'll be? Oh, brilliant, it's Murray Gold. Again. In RTD's own words, "is anyone surprised?". Surprised? No. But fair to say my enthusiasm went from very low to absolute zero.

Gold is great as what he does, but we just had Akinola, an incredibly skilled composer who poured his heart and soul into the show, but was never given a chance by a chunk of the fandom because he tried something different to Gold or just because they didn't like the Chibnall era as a whole. So RTD could've brought in some new talent, with a completely fresh take, but instead chose to bring back yet another person from his era, who did 10 seasons on the show, and the one person the fandom needs to move the fuck on from the most.

So that's a special meant to celebrate 60 years of the show, but specifically focused on one era of it? Coincidentally, the era of the guy writing it?

And for those who dismiss any criticism of this being RTD centric with "But Beep the Meep/The Toymaker!!!", ask yourselves this: If Chibnall stayed on and did the 60th as nothing but a Thirteen and Yaz story, but with Beep/Toymaker, or if Moffat come back and done the same with his characters, would there be anything other than across the board outrage? Classic villains do not an anniversary special make, since we've had them in every season since the revival.

I'm sure the episodes will be genuinely good, and I'll certainly be watching. Any DW is better than no DW, but of all the things they could've done for an anniversary special, this is practically an insult to the show's history.

I'll be patiently waiting for Ncuti Gatwa's era, which looks genuinely new and exciting.

Rant over.

#doctor who #60th rant #anti rtd #anti murray gold #If Moffat or Chibnall tried this the fandom would never forgive them #But because RTD #david tennant #jodie whittaker #ncuti gatwa

[queen-haq]

Fic: Never You - (Penelope/Colin) Part 1

Rating: R

Fandom: Bridgerton (TV show)

Spoilers: S3 scene released yesterday.

Summary: They may have been friends once but his callous words decimated their relationship. Determined not to have anything to do with him, Penelope is ready to move on. But Colin isn't giving up, not at all. Friends or not, they are connected for life - and he intends to remind her of that.

Excerpt:

“You would hate me for not wanting to court you. You would be that selfish?”

“Of course you would think that.”

“What else is this if not punishment?”

Part 1

Penelope stared out at the pond, her last conversation with Colin still running through her mind. I miss you. Few months ago his words would have sparked incredible joy in her but hearing his smug confession last night had elicited nothing but rage. Even now an explosive anger threatened to burn her from the inside out - but she reminded herself to stay composed. Losing her calm over Colin Bridgerton was simply not worth it, not when she had far more important things to worry about.

“Penelope. How are you?”

Hearing Lady Violet’s voice from behind, she turned around to greet the older woman. Except she wasn’t alone. Of course not. Behind her stood most of her family, Colin and Eloise on one side, Gregory and Hyacinth on the other. Penelope quickly shifted her gaze back to Lady Violet. “I’m quite well. How are you?”

“You haven’t paid us a visit in a long time.”

Penelope sensed the scorn vibrating off of Eloise in waves, but she ignored her former friend. Even though her soul ached at the loss of their friendship, a part of her had already grown resigned to their new reality. “I’m afraid country life has kept me busy all these months.”

“Well, you’re back now. I hope to see you at the house more often.”

There was no mention of the falling out with Eloise, nor did Penelope expect there to be. Especially with Eloise pretending she no longer existed. Her eyes roamed over to her friend, only to be ignored. Inevitably her gaze slid over to Colin, and she suddenly found herself the recipient of his intent focus. Somber blue eyes penetrating her through to her very core, making her rattled and anxious and breaking down the very calm façade she worked so hard to build.  

Throughout their entire friendship he’d always been sweet and funny, filling her dull world with hope and color, but the night of her mother’s ball she’d seen the kind of cruelty he was capable of. It was a side of him that she never wished to see again. And feeling his piercing gaze right into her soul, in a way he’d never looked at her before, reminded her of how much of a stranger he really was. “Forgive me, Lady Violet, but I must take my leave. Mama shall be waiting for me.”

She quickly walked past the group, breathing a sigh of relief at no longer being under Colin’s scrutiny. Her relief, however, lasted only a few seconds. Because almost immediately Colin was striding alongside her.

“Pen, we need to speak.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Then I’ll do the talking.”

“And I’m not interested in listening.”

“Too bad. Because I’m not going anywhere.”

She cursed his long legs, because while she struggled to keep up the fast pace he seemed to glide along the path without much effort. Short of running away from him, which would surely cause a scandal amongst the crowd promenading, she had no choice but to keep walking.

“I’m sorry. Truly.” His voice was soft, velvety like butter, like he’d practiced the words many, many times in preparation for the performance of a lifetime. “My words that night-”

“Do you know that I read your letters over the summer? Despite my anger, I still read them.”

An unexpected rawness laced his voice. “Why?”

“Because I needed to know. Would I recognize that insincerity in your words now that I knew the truth about your disdain towards me. And do you know what I discovered?”

She finally turned to look at him, and just for a moment the world stopped. Like it always did. His eyes were bluer than the sea itself, a symphony of agony and need, beckoning her towards him. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe, her heart caught in a whirlwind of chaos.

“Tell me.”

It wasn’t a request, nor a plea. It was a demand. As if he was entitled to her thoughts, her heart. Her very soul.  Well, damn him. Damn him for playing her for a fool. And damn herself for ever loving him. “You are an extraordinarily talented writer, Mr. Bridgerton. So good in fact that I woulld never have guessed your true thoughts if I didn’t hear you utter them myself.”

“That’s not fair. It was one night, Pen! One night! When I was drunk out of my mind and said something foolish. Are you really willing to give up on me after years of friendship because of something so small?”

“Yes.” Her response was quick and resolute, surprising even herself.

Stunned, Colin stared back at her. “Yes?” The tremor in his voice was unmistakable. “You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I?”

The change in him was sudden and abrupt, taking her by surprise when he moved swiftly to block her path.

The blues of his eyes were so dark they bordered on brown, a storm brewing in them. Staring back at her was a man she didn’t recognize, different from the boy she grew up with,and the man who humiliated her without a thought. This was a stranger in front of her, anger etched on his face, jaw clenched with tension.

“You would hate me for not wanting to court you. You would be that selfish?”

“Of course you would think that.”

“What else is this if not punishment?”

She didn’t think he could hurt her more, but he managed to do it nonetheless. “I never expected you to court me, Colin. You don’t love me. I’m quite aware of that. But you could have told them there was nothing between us. You could’ve even said I meant nothing to you. Instead you mocked me, derided me so you could look good in front of your peers, and that makes you someone I never want to associate with.”

 “I made a mistake, Pen.”

“Miss Featherington,” she bit out through gritted teeth. “That is who I am to you from now on. Nothing more.”

“So that’s it? I make a mistake and you erase me from your life just like that?” He snapped his finger angrily. “Are you so fucking perfect that you’ve never wronged anyone?

They’d been standing still for far too long, their conversation growing more potent every second. All of a sudden she was acutely aware of glances in her direction, people’s eyes sliding over her and Colin, and she realized how dangerous this was. Risking her carefully crafted plans for a few heated moments with him was idiotic. “People are staring at us, Colin.”

“I don’t care.”

“Obviously.” She offered a small smile at the couple who walked past her, trying to appear amiable. “You may not be concerned about my reputation but I am. And I would appreciate it if you stayed out of my way.”

“I’m not willing to give up on our friendship like you.”

His snarky words drew her gaze back to him. “Walk away, Mr. Bridgerton. Let me be.”

“And if I don’t?”

The hint of menace sent an unexpected shiver down her spine. “You would not be the gentleman you claim to be.”

“Perhaps I’m not. Perhaps everything you’ve accused me of is true.” He took a step closer, eyes shining brightly. “Maybe I am cunning and cruel. What then?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “What is it that you want from me?”

“Forgiveness.”

“Fine. You’re forgiven.”

“You’re lying.”

“And you’re being rude.”

Eyes locked, they regarded each other intently. She didn’t understand what he was doing, why he was behaving this way. Why his stare seemed to be all consuming, studying her, trailing down to her mouth when she licked her bottom lip before drifting back up again. He’d never behaved this way before, A complete stranger in every way. “If you ever valued me as a friend, you would do as I ask.”

“I could say the same. If you valued me, you wouldn’t cast me aside.”

“You can not force me to continue this.”

“Would that be such a hardship? To move past one mistake and leave it behind us?” Desperation brimmed from him, he swallowed audibly. “I may not wish to court you but you are important to me. You’re my dearest friend. I can not envision a life without you.”

She exhaled a long, drawn-out breath. “You must.”

His lips twisted into a cruel plea. “Why?”

“Because I am to be married, Colin!” Instantly she regretted her words, hating herself for letting him provoke her. Yes, it was the truth, a plan that had taken months to carefully develop and plot – and now she’d ruined it by announcing it too early, and to him of all people!

“What?” He faltered back, stunned by her words. “You’re engaged? To whom? Why-”

“All you need to know is that my future husband and I have already discussed the matter and he wishes for me to have nothing to do with you. So goodbye, Mr. Bridgerton, because this the last time you and I will speak alone.” She stormed away, before he could stop her.

To be continued...

A/N - Um, thoughts? Feedback is always appreciated. I'm liking the idea of Colin and Penelope going head to head over the destruction of their friendship :)

#polin #colin x penelope #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #bridgerton #my fics

[robin-the-enby]

Hi! Can I get an angst/comfort fic of Arthur with a female s/o who is depressed and suicidal? Like he walks in on his s/o c*tting while having a mental breakdown? Or he just notices the cuts/scars? Or he walks in on his s/o bl33ding out?? Idk you can get creative with it I’ve just been having an extremely rough couple months. If this makes you uncomfortable then you can just ignore this request, but thanks anyways! I hope you have a great day/night!! <3

It's my problem if I feel the need to hide

Pairing: Arthur x f!reader

Summary: You feel under the weather, but decide not to tell anyone. As your condition only worsens, your friends start to worry about you. It's when you decide to let everything go your knight with blue eyes and a cheeky smile comes to the rescue.

Warnings: depression, suicidal ideation, not being able to care for oneself (containing lack of hygiene and proper meals), mentions of vomit(ing) (3), negative self talk, dark thoughts

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay of this fic, I hope it will be of use to you still. I haven't written for this fandom in a long while, so getting back to it was a little hard, though I enjoyed it none the less. I tried not to use any (Y/N)s and make it as racially neutral as possible, as well as appearance-neutral (Arthur carries reader 1 time, but he's stronger than a regular human, and y'all deserve it ladies, no matter your size). If anyone wants to talk about anything at all, my dms are open, as well as my ask box. Take care of yourselves and stay safe!

The human mind is possibly nature's greatest invention. The complexity with which all its components interact to keep the body functioning is nothing short of phenomenal. And not only that, but it is aware of itself, encasing its own conscience inside a safe vessel, built and evolved specifically to protect it. And as time progressed, and all the basic needs of the body were cared for, there came a need to create. The body could easily be fed, but the conscience needed a different type of sustenance.

The human mind is capable of incredible things. It can set goals for itself as well as achieve them. It shaped the entire world to its liking, for better or for worse. The human mind is the reason why we live the lives we do today. It is the thing that keeps us alive and sane.

It's funny how drastically that can change.

If you'd ask any of the men residing in the mansion on who the worst enemy of humans is, you're sure all of them would at least mention the human conscience, if not directly choose it. After all, their lives have been woven through with the thread of sorrow, the perpetrator being none other than the human mind- theirs or someone else's.

At this point, you feel like you've at least got a peek at the complex inner worlds of history's greatest minds. Some you knew better than others, but you've been le Comte's servant for long enough to consider all the mansion's residents at least friends.

It was evident to anyone who has been in the mansion for at least a month that all of the people (and vampires) residing in it had some sort of baggage, wearing them down even in their second undead life. Some were better at hiding it than others, some just felt more comfortable keeping their troubles to themselves, while others' emotions and traumas were sometimes too great, too overwhelming to be kept locked inside their bodies.

You've tried your best to help those who needed it, both physically and mentally. It helped a few to open up to you at least a little and as time went on, with your hard work, you've earned respect for yourself even amongst the toughest nuts in the mansion. Poking through others' personal affairs and traumas carried along numerous fights as well as apologies and in the end just served to strengthen the bond between you and the residents. And yet, at times like these...you couldn' help but feel alone.

Like all the others, you had to shoulder the burden of traumas, insecurities and unpleasant experiences collected unwillingly throughout your life. You suspected the others knew of this, or at least had a hunch that you, like all of them, haven't had the pleasure of living a carefree life.

They saw you as an independent, strong and courageous woman, resilient and kind in any situation. And if you were in the right state of mind, you would agree. But lately, you began to doubt these traits of yours, the ones you valued so much and were valued for.

You weren't a stranger to struggling and you knew that anyone in need of help deserved to receive it and should not be scared to ask for it.

So why did the thought of asking for help make your stomach churn?

You've been pondering that question for a few days now. Lately, your entire reality seemed to have shifted. At first, you didn't think anything was wrong, a simple bad day, or a bad week wasn't anything to be too worried about. Nothing a nice, relaxing weekend couldn't fix, right? And yet, when you had tasks to complete, you felt agitated and annoyed, but when you had nothing to do, you were antsy and restless. Always feeling like something should be happening, like you should be doing something. For some reason, you couldn't make yourself to do the things you felt you should be doing.

Soon everything has become a bother. Tasks you could usually do with one hand were suddenly so hard that by the end of the day, the thought of bathing or changing into clean clothes made you want to scream until your throat was sore. And so you chipped away at your routine that you so painstainkingly built when you appeared in this time, until the only remaining activities in your days were your work and some basic necessities.

You knew it was getting bad. And it constantly created an almost numbing whirlwind of emotions you really didn't need right now. Why was this happening? What brought it on? Why now?? Is it going to get worse? All these questions and none you had an answer to. You had guesses and various techniques you learnt here and there back in your time, but...you couldn't bring yourself to do anything.

You were trapped. At least it felt like it. Trapped inside yourself, inside your mind. You knew you should tell someone, that if you let it go on, it would sooner or later consume you. But you couldn't do anything. It was as if your body didn't listen to you.

It seemed the residents were starting to get suspicious of your strange mood as of late. There were times when one of them would approach you and carefully ask about your wellbeing, and as much as you wanted to say something, you never did. You logically knew that the first step would be the one to break through the loop, the one that would make all the others just a little bit easier until you felt normal again. But anytime you tried to break through the selfdestructive habits you had fallen into, a wave of such tirednes, nausea and shame overcame you, that you simply caved to your mind's twisted whispers.

You concluded that your best option at this moment was to lay low and let it pass. Your days have become a steady routine of wake up, work, go to bed. And repeat. It was manageable, at first, even with the onslaught of thoughts your mind was conjuring, managing to come up with more and more ways to taunt you with. But as days and then weeks passed, your energy slowly seeped away from your body and it retaliated by shutting off and out anything unnecessary to save as much of what was remaining.

These things included mostly socialising. You became less talkative, while you would usually enthusiastically engage in conversations, if not outright start them, lately you would not speak unles directly spoken to. It has taken a toll on your concentration as well. Many times when someone would try to strike up a conversation with you, they'd have to repeat their question or even call out your name mid-conversation, because mentally you just weren't there. These things not only started to worry Sebastian, your biggest constant in your new life, given that you worked alongside him every day, but also the other residents. You knew of this, as out of it as you might have seemed and/or have been these past few weeks, you knew that they noticed, because you knew them. But what started as a simple snowball had alrady turned into an avalanche and you had to admit that you were no longer in control.

Not that you really cared. You knew you should care, should be trying harder than ever to break out of this spell, but you couldn't. And every time you might have felt strong enough to confess how you were feeling, to lean on someone, to get the help you knew you needed, a sudden pang of fear pierced your chest and you shrivelled back, back into your own small shell that was your skull.

Trying to find a reason for this foolish anxiety proved not so easy, when your mind would make up about five reasons why you should keep your mouth shut every time you even dared to ask yourself such a question.

What if they didn't believe you?

What if it wasn't not that bad?

What if you were just making it up? Making it seem bigger than it is?

These people have gone through so much. They've seen war, witnessed and felt abuse and probably had been through things you couldn't even imagine. Why should they help you, when they're the ones who needed help?

You were not worthy.

Such comparisons were something you chastised anyone who would confess experiencing them for. And yet, when it came to you, it felt like a holy truth. Something that could not and should not be questioned. Because you don't want to be selfish, do you?

You've dealt with this by yourself before, surely you could do it again and not drag down others with you. These and many others became your daily mantras. Lay low, hide, be small, don't make a noise. Survive. But was that really how you wanted to live? If you could even call that a living. You were surviving, yes, but at what cost? For a promise of a period of time where you wouldn't feel like the world is made out of cardboard? A period of time where you wouldn't feel like screaming and crying every second of every day? And how long would that last? A few months, a year maybe? Was it really worth the struggle?

You blinked yourself out of your thoughts when someone vigorously snapped in front of your eyes. Looking around in slight daze, your eyes fall upon a smiling face. "There you are! Theo says he's just waiting for you to walk face first into a wall!" Arthur says cheerily, showing you his signature smirk. "I, like the good friend I am, keep defending you of course. But it's hard when your mind seems to get further and further away from us every day. At this rate, you'll wander off into Seine soon. And we wouldn't want that, would we?" he playfully jabbed at you.

You could feel yourself shaking your head, but the only thing you could focus on was how nice it acually seemed, the cold water seeping through clothes and circling your limbs, the undercurrents keeping you down, where nothing could get you, laying you down onto the riverbed, weighed by the water in your lungs... "So, what's going on in that noggin of yours, hm?"

Arthur was, besides Sebastian, the closest person to you out of all the others. You enjoyed his easygoing demeanor and his jokes never failed to make you laugh. He was a terrible flirt though, and someties could be pretty pushy with his advances as you've realised over the time you two spent together. Luckilly, after a firm conversation backed up by Theo, he had calmed down significantly towards you. The writer still heavily complimented you, always putting that silver tongue of his to use, but you thought nothing of it. He was like that with everyone, even some of the other residents, so the possibility of it ever meaning anything more than banter or a simple compliment never even crossed your mind.

"You're doing it again." the man in question sighed. You blinked at him with confusion. As if reading your thoughts, Arthur clarified "You're in your head again. It must be something really interesting in there to make you so distracted." he joked again, but his expression turned serious "But honestly, what's going on? You haven't been yourself for quite a while now and everyone's getting worried. Even Wolf asked me if I knew what was up with you the other day!" the writer looked at you intently "You know that we're here for you, right? Even if you feel like it's stupid, if you need anything, you can tell us."

You averted your eyes from Arthur' piercing gaze. You knew his words were sincere and it made your chest squeeze uncomfortably. Looking straight ahead, in the direction which you were going, you answered, trying to make your voice as leveled as you could "Thank you for worrying Arthur, but I'm alright, really. I've been thinking of asking le Comte for a break. It would be nice to have some off time." This wasn't a complete lie, since having some down time, where you could pretend time has stopped really did sound appealing, but now you'd have to actually go and ask the good count, which you really didn't want to. Not because you were worried you wouldn't be given a break, but because it was another plan to be made and you barely had enough energy to last you until the end of the day, much less go somewhere out of your own volition.

Arthur knew that you were lying, or at least not telling him everything, so he grinned at you again and spoke confidently "Alright, love, the game is on! I gave you a chance to explain youself, but it seems I'll have to solve this mystery myself." he winked at you and you expected him to take his leave. But Arthur softly grabbed your arm and stopped you in the middle of the halway you were in. Turning to face him in his hold you looked at him questioningly. His smile is much softer now, and if you could focus properly, you would see worry glinting in his eyes "If you ever change your mind, you can stop by. Day, night, doen't matter. We're here for you, love. I'm here for you. Just as much as you're here for us." and as soon as he finished speakig, he was gone. Down the hallway, in the direction of his room. You quietly turned around, trying to process the strange encounter while you went your way.

Your mind was surprisingly quiet for a few hours after that.

You eventually did end up in le Comte's study. Nerves were wracking your body and mind the entire day and when you finally did enter the dreaded room, after all your chores were done for the day, you felt like you would start crying at any moment. For some reason, you felt awful for doing this. You didn't need the break. You didn't need off time to get better physically or because you had too many chores. Why did you want a break, besides Arthur catching on that there was, indeed, something wrong? The only thing you had planned for this break of yours was rotting away in your bed and doing as little as humanely possible. Maybe fate would be so kind and take you away in your sleep. Let you wither away like an overwatered flower.

You tried to make the discussion as quick as possible. Fortunately, the count didn't ask too many questions about your wellbeing and the reason for taking a break, remembering well that you haven't had one in a good while. He did ask if you consulted Sebas about it and you forced down a shudder at the mention of your good friend's name. Not because the butler was opposed to you taking a break, he actually kindly insisted you take one, revealing that he also noticed your mental absence in the past weeks, which could be almost counted as a month now. The worry and confusion in his tone as well as his expression made you wish he told you to stay, to help him, anything to try and convince you to not do what you were about to.

Why were you so worried? There wasn't a reason you should feel bad about taking a break. Even if you physically were just as spry as a grasshopper, taking a break for the sake of mental health was just as important. But deep down, you coudn't lie to yourself. Deep down you knew you were going to give up completely. Either for someone to find you, or to be left to rot. And right now, you hoped for the latter, even if it was still scary to admit.

After Comte gave you a week off, asking if it was enough time for you, which you hastily confirmed, feeling bile rise up your throat and wishing for the comfines of your room, your shaky legs and hazy mind managed to carry you to your room. After spending some time emptying the contents of your stomach, which were absolutely too small you would bet, you nothing but collapsed onto your bed. Mouth unrinsed, hair oily and ruffled, it had finally dawned on you how much of a mess you must have loked like. This realisation finally seemed to open the dam that was holding back everything you were feeling. The disgust, the shame, the fear, the anxiety the heavines, the loneliness, but most importnatly the longing.

Fast, salty tears carried all of that out of your body, leaving your face a puffy, sticky mess. Suddenly, you felt rage boil inside of your chest, sprading quickly to your head. Why didn't you say anything? You were so worried and because of what? Your own mind? Could you be any more stupid? The very same mind that put you through absolute hell this past month was now angry at itself, at its own actions. Why did the world have to be this cruel? Why couldn't it grant you the simple request of a mind that would not try to sabotage itself? And now it was too late.

Yo chose this, you thought to yourself. You chose this and these were the consequences of your actions. As if the tears have released all your pent up frustration in your body, all that it left was numbness. A kind of numbness that made your eyelids heavy, making them gravitate towards each other and pulling you into a deep, calm slumber. The kind of slumber you have not been able to achieve for more than the month you've been actively suffering. But also the kind of slumber that would not bring you closer to salvation.

You woke up, not knowing the time and not really finding yourself caring either. You felt strangely...calm. There was no hunger, no thirst, nothing. Only suffocating quiet, the likes of which you would feel in the deep blue of the ocean. You laid stil for what felt like hours, but could have also been minutes, before you succumbed to unconsciousness again.

This has gone on for a few days of your week long break. At one point you felt the pang of hunger, yet you had no will to satiate it. You only rose from your bed late into the night, when the squeezing walls of your stomach, at this point surely eating itself, threatened to spill nothing but its own acid. You tiptoed as quietly as your stiff muscles could into the kitchen, and after munching on some bread and water, because even though you got up, you still didn't feel like cooking, or that you deserved anything more than the simplest of dishes, you quietly stalked the halls back into your room. You fell asleep again, your stomach satisfied, or maybe convinced into satisfaction by your mind, the last thing you heard was the faint sound of Mozart's piano in the dead of the night.

This cycle had repeated for another few days. Your days were interrupted by quiet knocking that would wake you from your slow decline, and sometimes joined by murmurs behind the door. You couldn't find it in you to care. The door wasn't locked. At one point, you could swear you saw a shadow in your window, but it was gone too soon for your slowed mind to focus on it.

One morning, somewhere at the end of your break, not that you were keeping track of time, your door opened. A gust of fresh air was the first thing that barged its way into your room, chasing out the old and musty, albeit warm air from it. You shivered and wiggled deeper under your covers, grumbling hoarsely in protest. Your half asleep mind registered someone slowly walking into your room, as if they were scared to find out what was in it. You kept your eyes closed.

Arthur knelt down beside your bed, looking at your sickly, worn out face. Carefully sneaking his arm under your blanket, his hand searched for yours until it could take it into its own. Caressing your knuckles with his thumb, he cooed softly "Oh, love. I am so sorry. I am so sorry we let this get so far." You didn't respond. What was there to say? "It isn't your fault" you croaked out quietly, not having enough energy to say it loudly and fearing your voice wouldn't work.

"Why did you hide from us? We would've helped..." the writer almost whined, and you could feel the guilt and worry radiating from him. You wanted so desperately to answer, to give him a good reason for how foolish you were acting, but you couldn't. There was nothing that would excuse you. Nothing.

Seeing your slightly open eyes well up with tears, Arthur rushed closer to comfort you. Shushing and soothing you like a small child after a booster shot, he held you close and you tried not to weep hader. "It's alright, love, everything is alright. I've got you. I've got you now, it's good. You're alright."

After you calmed down slightly, you wanted nothing more than to shoo him away, close yourself off again an bury yourself into your bed to get away from the immense shame you felt. But Arthur seemed to be having none of that. He softly but insistently reached under you and helped you sit up with one arm, holding your hand with the other still. you couldn't bring yourslf to look him in the eye and yet his tone never changed from the soft lull he comforted you with. "Come on now, darling. Let's get you cleaned up."

Your mind wanted desperately to push back at him, scream and yell and fight, but you almost limply let him straighten you up and help you walk over to the bathroom. The writer's heart nearly broke in two as he saw you in the same clothes you were in when he last spoke to you. The image of you suffering in silence for so long made him nearly tear up as well, but he held himself back, focusing on you being his biggest priority.

He ran a bath for you, helped you out of your clothes, his gaze never cascading from your face, looking for any signs of overstepping any boundaries and when he found none, he helped you into the bathtub, first washing your hair and then your body, asking if you could and wanted to handle your private parts yourself. You whispered out a small yes, feeling somewhat ashamed still and wanting to make his efforts a bit easier. Letting you soak in the blissfully warm water, a question appeared in your mind "Arthur..." you called out quietly "Were you the one knocking at my door?" you asked timidly, not knowing fully if it wasn't some kind of delirium your mind put you through. The writer's face became solemn as you took a peek at his face and he spoke, his words and tone equally heavy "Everyone did. We were worried about you. After we heard about your break, we thought it might do you well. Everyone noticed that you weren't quite yourself. But after the first few days, when no one ever saw you leave the mansion, let alone your room, our worries doubled. Wolf said he noticed you walking to the kitchen at night, but Sebas only noticed small portions of bread disappearing from the kitchen, so we wanted to check up on you. We tried knocking at your door, not wanting to disturb you if you really were physically ill, but that didn't do anything." "And the window?" you interrupted him, casting your eyes downward again at the rude gesture. But Arthur continued, with no offense taken "That was Dazai. He was checking up on you a lot. In his own way." Arthur smiled sadly "Today, I had enough. Something was telling me you needed help. And I'm glad I listened to my instinct." he smiled at you and you felt your dry lips lift up ever so slightly. You were found when you needed it the most, it seemed.

After Arthur dried you off and helped you put on fresh clothes, he told you Sebas made a nutritious meal for you that wouldn't upset your stomach. He also suggested it would do you good to get out of your room for at least a little while and eat it in the kitchen. Seeing the panic in your eyes, he rushed to assure you "You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to." And so you nodded.

The mansion seemed awfully quiet. There was no one in the halls, no sounds from either corner of the building. On your slow trek to the kitchen, you passed Mozart. The musician didn't say anything, but his lips melted from their usual stern frown to a warm smile and you couldn't help but to start crying again. Athur sat down with you on the cold ground of the hallway, pulling you onto his lap and rocking you back and forth until you felt good enough to walk again. Mozart was nowhere in sight.

You found out that Sebas made you a delicious soup, one with enough vegetables and some meat, the broth strong enough to get you up on your feet in no time. You ate slowly and savoured every spoonful. You suddenly realised how much you've missed eating good food. After your meal was done and Arthur washed your bowl and spoon in silence, he slowly sat down next to you. "How are you feeling?" he asked carefully, knowing that you were nowhere near out of the deep end yet, but desperately hoping his efforts weren't for naught. "Better. Fuller." you answered simply. After another beat of comfortable silence, where you soaked up the sun pouring in through the windows, the writer asked again "Would you like to go back to your room?" You pursed your lips. Suddenly, the idea of your bed and the stuffy room you hid yourself away in sounded horrible. But he comfortable, fluffy clothes and full stomach were pullig at your eyelids again, sleep threatening to take over. "My room it is, then?"

Arthur piped up and you nodded. Before you knew it, you were scooped up bridal style by the vampire, feeling his soft lips on your hairline "Rest, love. I've got you." Soon, you were in a room that smelled of coffe and cologne with a hint of ink. Once again, you wriggled under the covers, these ones feeling much fresher than yours, as you succumbed to sleep once again. But this time, you weren't alone.

#requested #ikemen vampire #ikevamp #ikevamp arthur #ikevamp arthur x reader #ikevamp arthur x you #x reader #tw depression #tw suicidality #fem!reader #hurt/comfort #tw emetophobia

[hanaleeappreciationweek]

The start of this week has been nothing short of incredible!! We've recieved such amazing work so far - loads of art, fanfic, edits and even a playlist!! Can't wait to see what else you all have up your sleeve 😍

Happy World Book Day to everyone!! Tomorrow, we will be celebrating Hana's love for books and exploring her tastes in reading! Becoming "well-read" was a skill her mother Lorelai insisted she cultivate, but it soon grew into a passion and in some ways a source of comfort for a lonely young Hana! It allowed her to give free rein to her imagination and conceive new worlds for herself!! So tomorrow we will celebrating Hana and her passion for reading!!

Our other theme this time is AU! The sky is the limit for this one. Imagine any alternative universe (whether just for herself or her with whoever you pair her with) and how Hana will respond to this environment!! Surprise us!

Any content is welcome!! Fanfic, fanart, edits, moodboards, interactive, media, headcanons, screenshots, playlists, meta...even screenshots of your favourite scenes would be great!! Our only requirement is that the content is centered on Hana, and that the depiction of her is positive. You can also send in WIPs in case you don't complete a work!

You can also send in a work on the days following a particular theme - this is no pressure for it to be put up exactly that day! We will also have an extra week for anyone who still needs time 💕 May 4th will be our final official date for entries (to incorporate into our video!) but HLAW will still be open for entries for the rest of the year until the next event!

You can find this year's full list of prompts here!

Be sure to do the following when you make your posts:

1. Use the tags #hanaleeappreciationweek and #HLAW in the tags (along with the day you made the post for - #HLAW Day 1, #HLAW Day 2 etc)

2. Tag @hanaleeappreciationweek, and hosts @lizzybeth1986 and @sazanes in your work!

FAN CONTENT BLOGS are instrumental in keeping the fandom alive - with events and fun activities that encourage us all to contribute and create. They have also been amazing in their support towards our character events. Do check them out to see all the new incredible events and prompts coming up!

@choicesficwriterscreations - Primarily fanfic and fanart (no AI allowed). Check out their rules and roster of events!

@choicesmonthlychallenge & @choicesaprilchallenge24 - Any and all content welcome (No AI content)! They have a collection of prompts you can use for the month of April!

@choicespride - Any and all content is welcome, as long as it is centered around queer characters and/or themes.

@choicesflashfics - Primarily fanfic under a 2500 word count. Every week they use new dialogue prompts. The prompts for the coming week will be out soon but the current week's are here.

@choicesholidays - Any and all content welcome, as long as it is centered around one of the holidays listed! Currently, they are hosting Spring Fling!

@choicesprompts - Mostly fanfic preferred! You can check out their current Round Robin event here!

Happy Hana Lee Appreciation Week, everyone!!

#hana lee #the royal romance #the royal heir #the royal finale #hanaleeappreciationweek #HLAW #hlaw 2024 #HLAW Day 3 #HLAW Day 3: Bookworm #HLAW Day 3: AU

[usedtobecooler]

just a little update in regards to plaster caster, i currently have no timeline for posting and i’m unsure right now what the schedule will be. i’m celebrating my birthday for the next three days with family, so i’ll be away from my laptop and logging off of the site to enjoy it.

also, in all honesty the vibes on here have been nothing short of rancid this entire week, and to be quite honest it’s taking a toll on me and i don’t feel comfortable posting. i have felt incredibly invalidated and like my writing isn’t actually worthy because everything i post is smut adjacent, and a lot of people don’t agree that it’s creative enough. this then has a knock on effect when i try writing anything with a plot, and it’s got me doubting myself so much that i can’t find it in me to post something i’ve genuinely enjoyed creating.

i’m struggling to find my place within the fandom and it’s not a nice feeling. i have been around since the very beginning of the season four hype, and i feel like i’m being knocked down and out despite constantly bouncing back and continuing to create. i would not still be here if i didn’t have such a love and adoration for this show and its characters, but the negativity from all corners is starting to take a toll.

it’s important to be mindful and respectful when hyping yourself up, and to not drag others down in the process to prove your point. every reader here looks for something different, and not all of us will tick boxes every single time. the fun of it is that not all of us are the same, and we all write and perceive characters and stories differently.

i’ll see you all very soon.

#candy has thoughts

[smolweeblets]

Sleepytime

Junker queen x reader

Loud, passive-aggressive sighs were heard as your girlfriend tried to not-so-subtly hint at you to pay attention to her. After getting tired of doing that for almost 5 minutes, she finally gave in and said something.

“Oi! Get over here already! Been fighting the sleep demons for like 10 minutes.” She calls out for you.

A yawn escapes her as she impatiently waits for you to come to bed. The frown on her face only grew deeper the longer she watched you work.

It took a few seconds for you respond, too absorbed in your work to answer immediately. Absorbed enough in your work in fact, to not notice the large ominous figure that materialized behind you.

“I said just a sec, im not done with this and- Ahh!” Before you could even finish your sentence, you were slung over her shoulders and being carried back to bed.

Sleep was overtaking her brain, and so she wanted nothing more than to get some shut-eye, but she’ll be damned if it was not while cuddling with you. The only other solution was to wait for you to finish whatever it was that you were doing on your laptop. But in her own words. “The sleep demons are draggin’ me down, i can feel myself slippin’

“Heyy! Odessa let me go!” You giggle as you playfully beat at her back.

“No. Its sleepytime.” She grunted out while still frowning, shes not very happy at the fact that you made her have to get up the bed.

“But I have things to do!” You whined as Odessa stood still by the foot of your bed. She was trying to figure out how to put you down for the least chance of escape.

“And I have sleep to catch, so do you. So we should sleep. Together.”

You were dropped on the bed, and she went on top of you, trapping you in her arms.

“Oof–” Some of the air was knocked out of your lungs at the sudden impact, but you find it was incredibly hard for you to struggle when Odessas arms felt this warm and secure.

“But I was almost done–” You whine.

She shuffles a bit so she could comfortably lay beside you while still having a secure hold on your body. She lay on her stomach while her arm was positioned firmly around your waist.

“Then do it tomorrow.” She managed to grunt out. She yawned again. Her eyes were already closed, and slowly it was getting harder and harder for her to talk.

You pouted and let out a small huff.

“Fine. But dont expect a morning kiss from me then.” You crossed your arms and turned your head away from her for emphasis. You peeked back at her only to see her face fully buried in the pillows.

“Mnggghh” Was all she could muster to grumble while she snuggled closer to you. Not understanding a word you said.

“Ugh. Fine, im going to sleep, but dont think your cute face will help you every time you do this.” You scoffed while smiling. You huffed as you pulled the covers over the both of you.

~~~

Lets be honest here, you still gave her that kiss the next morning. And if you didnt, she made you give it to her anyways.

A/n: Hi guys please accept this very short fic for a new fandom i wrote at 1am because i feel bad for leaving you guys for so long but i swear its the last week of our school please be very patient with me until then i love u guys mwah

#junker queen #queen of junkertown #junker queen x reader #odessa stone #odessa stone x reader #overwatch

[art-of-firefly]

Character ask game: all numbers for your favorite character!! 👀 Please elaborate as much as you want to! 🤍

Thank you for this opportunity ❤️ Be ready for a very long post because i have things to say about Akashi ! I already answered 2, 5 and 9 here and 23 and 25 here. So for these questions i'll do it with Nijimura instead.

Akashi

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

In short i like him for everything and i dislike nothing about him.

But i'll just take a second to talk about one random thing i like. Bokushi's goal being to protect Oreshi and to stand up for him when he can't do it himself is something I find really touching. Bokushi has helped Oreshi in more ways than one, and yes, he has made some mistakes too, but he is only a teenager and, contrary to what he desperately hopes and thinks he should be, he is not absolute.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

The scene where he attacked Kagami with scissors. It was just a shock scene for shock value and added nothing to the story. Like we know, Akashi is the final boss so he must be intimidating but it really wasn't necessary. Especially because now every anime-only thinks Akashi really intended to cut him when it was clear he knew and saw from the start that Kagami would dodge.

EDIT : My reason for hating this scene was perfectly summed up here so quick edit to add it

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Monkey D Luffy for One piece. For one they are my two favorite characters ever. But also i think Luffy would have an incredibly good influence on Akashi and on his mental health. In a way, meeting Luffy who is literally the center of the world and whose life and every decision actually has an incredible impact on the entire world would be therapeutic for Akashi. It would help him realize that his decision, and his mistakes aren't that important in the grand scheme of things.

They also have a lot in common, they are about the same age and height, their color is red,what's matter the most to them is their friends, they are both captains and have a lot of responsibilities.

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

I sincerely believe that he is on the aroace spectrum, more specifically demiromantic and demisexual (and probably pan too).

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

The nicknames Bokushi and Oreshi, like that's absolutely adorable to give him a nickname depending on the pronoun he uses. And it makes discussions easier because saying 'you know that time when golden-eye-Akashi said to two-red-eyes Akashi-' would get tiring really fast

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

The demonization of mental illness, calling him a psycho, calling him crazy etc. This is both a big misinterpretation of his character and really insulting for real people with mental illness.

10. Could you be best friends with this character?

Maybe ? I don't really know, I don't remember my teenage years very well for reasons, so I don't know if our personalities would have been very compatible?

11. Would you date this character?

Big No. He is like 16, I'm almost ten year older. I'd rather adopt him. I don't want kids but i'll make an exception for him, give me the adoption papers. I'll probably be a terrible parent but i'll still do better than Masaomi.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

He gets headaches a lot, it's a consequence of using his emperor eye, plus the overwork. He's often shown only closing one eye in cannon and it's something I usually do when I have headaches, so it fuels my headcanon.

Also think about it, The GoM greatness weakness is that their body can't keep up with their abilities. We've seen what it does to others but we've never seen AKashi get hurt. If the consequence for Akashi is headaches, then it all fits together perfectly.

Look at him and tell me this kid isn't trying really hard to fight a headache while is friends argue right beside him.

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

🥰

14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

What the kids call "Dark Academia" nowadays

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

NijiAka, in a way Nijimura remind Akashi of his humanity, and allows him to be a normal teenager even if only for a little while. He is the first person to treat Akashi like a normal teenager, the first person Akashi can rely on and look up to. And in return Nijimura believes so much in him.

Nijimura and Midorima were the first characters to notice there was two Akashi. Which shows that he truly paid attention to him and also that Akashi was comfortable enough with him to let his other personality slips sometimes when they were alone together.

The scene in the CD drama where Nijimura decided to treat Akashi to his very first after school snack lives rent free in my head.

I could talk at length about Nijika but I don't want to hijack this post with an essay on Nijika's perfection. I'll talk about it in another post another time.

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

AkaKuro, listen Akashi and Kuroko's friendship is so incredibly beautiful and important. I love their bond and it's very precious to me. But i don't like them as a ship at all, because in a way it simplifies and justifies all the trust, care and affection they have for each other with "it's because they are in love".

They don't need to be in love to be so important to each other,, on the contrary the fact that all their love comes from friendship makes it even better.

Being in a relationship, romantic, queer platonic or literally anything else, couldn't top what they have now, it wouldn't improve it, it wouldn't bring anything better to their lives.

17. What's a ship for this character you don't hate but it's not your favorite that you're fine with?

None, there are two Akashi ships I don't like, AkaKuro and AkaFuri (yes, the two most popular Akashi ships, don't send hate) But I like all his other ships.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

Once again Nijimura. But for diversity sake i'll go with Murasakibara instead because i don't talk about them enough. I think their friendship is very underrated and adorable.

Akashi spoils Murasakiabara all the time. He won many competitions at the Teiko school festival and the summer festival, each time he gave all his prizes to Murasakibara. Both times, Murasakibara knew in advance and had no doubt that Akashi would win it all. In official art, Akashi even gave him his Valentine's Day chocolates.

In every situation Murasakibara listen to Akashi and hold his opinion above all else, even his own team and coach.

And remember when Murasakibara was studying with his team in the CD Drama, he started talking about Akashi, his perfect grades, how he taught him his study method and how he created the most delicious snack he ever eat ? (Snack Akashi created because he overheard Murasakibara complaining that a special snack he liked was no longer available so he decided he had to create a new recipe from scratch and prepare it for him.)

Murasakibara opinion of Akashi is extremely important for the latter, Murasakibara's tantrum was what causes Oreshi to switch with Bokushi. After the Winter Cup Murasakibara had an argument with his team and the person he called was Akashi. And when Murasakibara got angry at him, Akashi start to panic and he asked the Uncrowned Kings for help because Murasakibara being upset at him was too much to handle.

In short Akashi clearly has a very big weak spot for Murasakibara and while it seems he has him wrapped around his finger, when you look closely it's obvious the reverse is also true. Murasakibara's loyalty and friendship is a very strong pillar in Akashi's life, they support and complete each other very well.

19. How about a relationship they have in canon that you don't like?

His relationship with his father. For very obvious reasons.

But I also think that Masaomi Akashi truly believes that the way he raises Seijuro is what's best for him. If Shiori was still alive, they would have had a chance to be a happy family. He's an emotionally abusive and neglectful father, but I think he really cares about Seijuro and thinks he's raising him in the best way possible.

This, of course, does not excuse any of his actions, he does not deserve to have and raise a child and Seijuro would have every right to cut all ties with him. But just saying Masaomi is just evil is too easy.

I think with time their relationship will improve. They will never truly be father and children, but they could achieve a stable relationship of equals once Akashi is an adult.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I think Akashi needs more than one best friends, but the GoM and Rakuzan as a whole is perfect for him.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to the character? Something you don't like?

Sorry, this is going to sound really vague, but what I like and don't like depends on how the author characterizes him. But I'll be honest with you, since a lot of what I've seen demonizes him and I don't like his two most popular ships, I don't usually read fanfiction about him unless someone recommended it to me.

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Shisui Uchiha from Naruto. Two burned out child genius with incredible eyes abilities. Akashi even threatened to gouge out his eyes at some point and Shisui actually did it. They both were very talented and smart from a young age and more and more responsibilities were pushed unto them until it was too much. Also they are the same age (at the end of KnB and when Shisui dies)

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

I'm just going to use this to write another headcanon. And while all the other things I've written are heavily canon-based, this one is a bit more of an extrapolation, but since I'm interpreting him that way I might as well share it too.

Akashi has some dissociation issues with his own body. What brings it up you might ask. This screenshot is what started this whole train of thoughts for me and it escalate from there.

Notice how he still has long bangs in his head? Of course, he only cut them a few days ago, so maybe he's not used to it yet, but his dissociation from his own body may also play a role here.

I think his relationship with his body is very complicated, the way he act, overwork himself and such, it's like he doesn't sees it as himself but as a toll he has at his disposal, a puppet he can move a will.

Remember how unfazed he was about gouging out his eyes if they lost. Like “if my body is no longer useful, why keep it intact? »

And since I'm talking about how he views his body, he would also avoid mirrors as much as he can, but not for the same reason. I think he looks a lot like his mother and if he ever let his hair grow he could pass off as her, and he probably spends an unhealthy amount of time wondering if his father wouldn't be so distant if looking at him didn't immediately reminded him of his late wife.

Nijimura

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

How dedicated and caring he is,

In his Kuro fes interview he even said the things he is most proud of is his ability to take care of other, and his favorite memory from Teiko was "The second year you guys entered, when we won at the Nationals that would be my last. I was mostly on the bench, but I felt like I passed the baton on, and somehow I was happier than the previous year" He is such a sweetheart, i melt everytime i think about it.

What he like to do in his free time is visiting his father at the hospital, please send help my heart can't handle so much adorableness.

And he was such a great senpai for all the GoM. His smile in Extra game when Kiyoshi showed him the picture of them after their victory, he was so happy to see them friends and close again.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

It's hard to pick one, i have multiple songs i associate with him but none stands out as The First One among them.

Maybe because of the duality of his personality and temper. Like he is caring, devoted and hardworking but he also has an explosive temper and go into fights all the time which is one of the things he want to change about himself.

So i'll go with Anger by Sleeping at Last because it illustrate very well his temper and the way he feels about it.

Also it's one of my favorite song and the one i listened to the most in 2023 and 2024

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Obligatory 'i can't imagine myself with a roommates as i am right now but for the sake of answering let's pretend i can'.

Yes, he is an older sibling and he has great self-discipline so he probably handles household chores very well. And I also like his personality. But he better not come home covered in blood after a fight every week because that would get annoying real quick.

23. Favorite picture of this character?

Once again i restricted myself at pictures drawn by Fujimaki-sensei.

Look at him with his rainbow wristband, i bet the GoM gifted it to him

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

It was so long ago that I don't remember it well. But I know I liked him and I vividly remember cheering when he beat Haizaki up for skipping a match and dragged him onto the court to play the second match.

Now he's one of my favorite characters, and he definitely ranks high among my favorites.

#i'm always ready to talk about them so thank you so much for this ask #i tried not to make it too long but it's still pretty long #sorry #akashi seijuro #nijimura shuzo #kuroko's basketball #knb #akashi seijuurou #nijimura shuuzou #kuroko no basuke #ask game #nijiaka #muraaka #kuroko no basket

[plantsjustwannahavefun]

It's just occurred to me that I've never been in a dying fandom before while I was at the peak of hyperfixating on said fandom. And nothing has prepared me for that peculiar kind of grief it brings.

Because I still remember the height of OFMD two years ago. I remember all of the internet going crazy about it. There was a good 3-4 months when everyone who's even remotely chronically online in geek or queer spaces had heard of it. And the thing is, geek and queer spaces don't always intersect this much. Well they do to a degree, but I mean, I first heard about OFMD on Reddit. It's a lot more of a geek space than it is a queer one. The OFMD subreddit has a... pretty different vibe than OFMD fandom on Twitter or Tumblr or AO3. And yet, still, it seemed like for a few short, glorious months, OFMD has been The Thing on the internet, even on Reddit. Despite being so relatively tiny and niche and decidedly Not Mainstream™. I still remember that Comic Con with Con and Nathan in August 2022. I remember exactly where I was when I watched it. I'd blocked off time to watch it live. I'd actually bought a fucking ticket instead of just waiting for someone to upload it to YouTube, which is what I was used to doing with comic cons that featured David Tennant or some of my other favourite actors (well it did help that they let us by digital tickets for streamed panels this time, but still). I still remember how insanely excited I was, sitting down for that panel like it was this major Event. Like Eurovision or smth. And then several other comic cons. It was all so fresh. The fanbase was rabid (in the best way possible). And the cast was so in for it. The fan fiction had been flowing with abandon. The era of Hell or High Water. I'd never been part of an ongoing fic with such a massive readership, either. It was one of the cult fics in the fandom. The sheer excitement of getting a notification of a new chapter and making an event out of reading it, savoring it until the weekend, even. And then discussing it on Discord. That was what being part of a fandom was supposed to feel like.

And now it's dying. Slowly, but it is. It's never going to get a barrage of headlines again. It's never going to pull tens of thousands of Tumblr reblogs again. Sure, we're still getting bts (bless Samba Schute). There's still some engagement, more than most other fandoms would have retained by now, and that's incredible in its own right. But it's still a shadow of its former self. And it's never going to be the same again.

And it's fine. That's just how it is. Nothing lasts forever. People always move on, and it's not a bad thing. That's just life. I know I'm going to move on some day, too. Just not quite yet. I'm not ready yet. And it feels heartbreaking. Because the fandom's life was cut short. We should have had one more glorious cycle with S3. But we didn't. And that's the worst part. It wouldn't have been so hard to move on if we'd actually got closure. And now we never will. OFMD will never really have concluded, it will just slowly trickle out and fade away. A whimper, not a bang. And that's what's killing me.

#my eulogy to ofmd I guess #this probably won't even get any reactions but still #had to say it #felt therapeutic to admit it #ofmd #our flag means death

[olderthannetfic]

Re: https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/738859016693874688/why-do-some-popular-things-have-such-small & the person who replied to it in Another ask about Slay The Princess --

This answer was a facinating read as someone currently in the James Cameron's Avatar fan space -- i was only 8/9 when the first movie came out, and wasnt very into fandom Yet, but around the early 2010's when i Did get into it and went looking, there was almost Nothing to be found (and the few that Did exist were either short character studies written by some of the smartest people on the planet or troll fics), less than a 1,000 Total in the media tag on ao3 iirc?? And i remember feeling Fine with that, for the exact readon you both mentioned -- the first Avatar is a very well rounded film, no matter what everyone cares to say about it. It was Written to be a stand alone film, and bc JC is good at what he does, that Worked, and there truly wasnt much to write fic about besides Extreme au shenanigans or a few theoretic between-scenes, you know the type.

Then the second movie came out Last year and then the Game came out THIS and the fandom has just. Exploded. It's almost funny because so many of the younger fans, who were in it for x readering with the Sully kids, keep complaining about how "the fandom is dying 😭😭" in the tags the past few months and i just have to stare at it like pal just because we're not still shooting metaphorical fireworks about how much we loved the sequel and game doesnt mean we've all Moved On 😩 Im still Diligently mpregging the resurrected villain in my new longform crack fic thats probably going to be finished around the time the 5th movie comes out. Wee child you must Power through with us. Increase Your Fandom Stamina 💪😎🏃‍♂️!!!

But yeah it's just been Extremely interesting seeing how drastically things have changed, going from that completed, hard-to-write Wholeness from how compact the first film was vs the Flood of worldbuilding and lore and new characters we've been given (and have yet to Get, there may be some evil f/f fics beyond the horizon...) and how much the Sequel has contributed in the process of making Avatar easier to enjoy Casually, rather than as a "stereotypical", "extreme" strawman'd Avatar fan of yor (our elders who i respect most vehemently, for their help in understanding and writing the Na'vi conlang in all our fics 💪❤).

Even though the canon movies have a lot of problems, ive been luckiy enough to see the Fandom do what its always done best -- ive met wonderful people and Incredible artists while the life experience + background knowledge who can flesh out the areas of the concept that JamCam has yet to delve into, for whatever reasons he claims to have, and ive And others have felt moved enough by it all to start writing our Own incredibly self indulgent and sincere stories, within the same framework! Bc good lord it really is a sandbox. The moment you start diving into all the Implications of Avatar's universe, how the RDA is run, how Eywa works, etc etc etc.... jesus. ive lost so many hours of sleep reading real academic papers on Actual xenobiology (yes its a real thing, it both is And isnt what you think it is) for these movies, its nuts.

So some days like Now i just have to sit here like. Wow. We built this house And made it a home. and its Awesome. these asks made me want to gush about it 🥰 thats all! tysm!! Love this blog SO much, keep up the great work n have an awesome day everyone!!!

--

[leighlew3]

I've been thinking about this a bit lately, and there was a small misunderstanding when I dipped my toe (and then whole body 😂) into the SC / SG fandom, i.e. a few people unfortunately thinking I was trying to mislead or exploit fans in some way, because of others from this industry who used and lied to fans in the past re: a different show. And while that was unfair to paint me with the same brush without knowing me, I can understand where they could’ve had concerns because of wounds caused by others.

Hopefully people understand by now though that wasn’t the case. As I’ve said so many times before, if nobody around here ever consumes anything I write? Cool beans! But I’m both a professional in this industry and a lifelong fan girl and that’s not gonna change. And I’m going to talk about both my career and fandom stuff. 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, I do hope people know by now that I’m here for the right reasons, and always have been. And I always will be. But if I ever did anything that made it come across otherwise — I truly apologize. I mean it, seriously. Any misunderstandings that I might’ve inadvertently caused through making a dumb math joke or expressing that fans should always have hope and fight for what they believe in, etc — if it upset anybody in any way or wasn’t expressed properly by me at the time — I feel awful.

While I can’t do anything about a couple people who twisted my words or intentions or even flat out lied about stuff being said or done that never happened — I do want to own any part I had in it by not more quickly clarifying or shutting that stuff down. I really do feel bad about all that, because all I’ve ever wanted to do was show love and be understood and connect with people and fight for the ship and fandom, and I’ve done that online (and behind the scenes in ways that I can’t even talk about) for years now.

I adore y’all, and I will always be a Supercorp fan. I’ve always been (brutally) honest and an open book, but I’ve also just been passionate (and sometimes sadly misunderstood) by the occasional little pocket of people. And that sucks. But I don’t hold it against them, and I hope nobody holds that stuff against me.

I'm posting this now, because after losing my mom this year and with the holidays coming up, I've been reflecting a lot. And I realize that life is too short for grudges or misunderstandings that can be corrected or made amends for, so I hope people know that I love y’all and appreciate y’all and any past minor conflicts or accidental misunderstandings — even if it was just with a few people — really sucked, and I hope there can be mutual forgiveness.

Anyway, I don’t expect everybody to like me or agree with my perspectives, or even approve of how I go about expressing myself. But we can’t control anybody else in life. All we can do is control ourselves, self reflect, and work towards growth. Thus, if I ever did anything to make anybody — even just 2 or 3 or 10 people — feel any kind of negative way, that's a big oops on my end, and I'm sorry.

And if some of those people still feel like it was entirely justified to target me so intensely the way they did — hey, bygones and I forgive it — and I still want to offer nothing but love and hope that the future brings better things for us all. For real.

TLDR: The last 5-ish years on a personal level have been incredibly difficult, and the last 6+ months have been emotional hell, but the ship between Kara/Lena and the SC fandom as a whole has been there for me in the most incredible of ways (through humor and fan art and fanfiction and friendships and lions and tigers and bears). And I’ve tried to be there in return, as much as humanly possible, and as authentically as possible.

And that’s why the little percentage that didn't like or trust me — I hope we can metaphorically hug it out and move forward and I hope I’ve made some progress in your perception of me over time, but even if not — or hell, if it’s gotten worse for some reason, I’m going to continue to show love and support towards this ship / fandom and fight for our LGBTQ community. Because I truly care. Even if I’m human and make some mistakes along the way, past or future. Even if people misunderstand me sometimes.

All I can do is my best. And that’s all I’ve ever tried to do...

Love y’all. 💜

P.S. If you’d like to chat or seek to be unblocked or whatever, send me a message via a burner or on Instagram DM or somethin’ and we’ll chitty chat and hopefully hug it out. I’m down. Cheers. 🤙

#supercorp #supergirl #reflection #big hugs or high fives or whatever you’re comfortable with

[yuelun]

𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏��𝐑𝐓𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑.

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄: Manon, but I go by Sae! 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍: She/her. 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌: Discord. I'll deal with Tumblr IMs if people prefer it as I understand not everyone is comfortable sharing their Discord right away. I just find Tumblr IMs to be infinitely impractical, I miss the ability to directly reply/quote previous messages and such, and I often type way too much, so you can surely imagine! Any way, I'm easy enough with Discord, if you ask, the chance is high that you'll get it. So don't hesitate to ask! 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒: My ever dearest Guizhong, and Yelan is over here. 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄: Throughout Tumblr? Joining the Genshin RPC, actually. I've said this about a previous fandom of mine, but it's been about a year since I first entered this one with Guizhong (originally on my multi for about a month), and it's been nothing short of my best and genuinely most peaceful experience in many years. Usually I see fandom problems arise well before the one-year mark, but here it's been quite calm and also, the closest to feeling that old 'community' concept again. We're all here to have a good time, we engage across the board pretty well, and it's just, it's been really nice. I struggled immensely to be on Tumblr for a good two years prior to coming here, despite the best efforts of friends, and I think it's simply because no fandom has quite felt like this one. None of them ever really succeeded in giving me what this one has. You guys are magnificent, never change.

𝐑𝐏 𝐏𝐄𝐓 𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐒: You've called salt into your life with this one, be ready: this trend of privately or publicly guilt-tripping people into interacting with them ('I guess no one's interested...' or 'guess I'll go then...') or even for interacting with duplicates of their muse instead. This should never be a thing I'll cut people like that out of my life and off my dashboard as quickly as I breathe for guilting, and I’ll always motivate people to do the same. There is nothing healthy, remotely positive or forgivable about that kind of behavior, but I see it happening very often still. Are people not interacting with you? Go after them with all the fire of motivation that you possess, and if you don’t have that? Then the muse you have before you may not the one for you. Honestly, I think it's just that if you have passion for your muse, then you won’t let yourself get demotivated, you won’t let things hold you back, because you’ll have a spirit that can’t really be quelled in any capacity. Are duplicates intimidating? Then either find your way to shy away from them or let that insecurity drive you; let it make you better, let it drive you to improve (mentally). I’m not saying anyone who experiences insecurity is a lesser writer, not by any means— but let it make you even better than you already are.

𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒: I find myself drawn to specific elements or concepts within humanity (or in Guizhong's case, the exact opposite) that are either unusual among the status quo or intriguing.to me personally. I do know that I've always rather fiercely tried to avoid characters that are very reminiscent of me as an individual. Though on some level, there is usually a trait that I understand on a fundamental level in some way or another, the nature in which it's presented is usually simply is different, however. So for example with Yelan, I can talk about this inherent concept of loneliness that is incredibly different from what we consider to be the norm, I've understood the concept incredibly well throughout various parts of my life, but never in the way that it was presented with her whatsoever. And in terms of Guizhong, it's her curiosity to figure everything out, but as a god who by default, does not function in a similar capacity to mortals whatsoever, it's incredibly interesting (and different) for me to see. 𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐓𝐒 𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒: The former, but the latter usually will also either be based on a mentioned plot, or I'll turn it into a plot! 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒: I always inevitably end up getting wordy, but I can start shorter as to establish a sort of writing comfort and/or flow with the other person, especially if you're a new RP partner of mine. I kind of release the reigns to you. 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄: This used to be in the dead of night, and I'm still trying to establish when I write best now. 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄: Generally, nope!

𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘: @basbousah 🩶 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆: I'm unsure who's done this and hasn't yet, so if I forgive you and you've done it already, just ignore this! @spiderwarden @immobiliter @avaere @yanwangye @arlquin (please tell Scooby she's also tagged 🤭) @apocryphis @narvvhal @lunaetis @sagnaevi @sortilegii @starwardsword @reginrokkr @astrxl-finale @petrokhelidon @luzofstars @galvanic-duelist and whoever else would like to do it, just say I tagged you! I'm always happy to read these.

#[ et cetera. ] we think of human life as like a lantern that's lit one minute and extinguished the next. but are we adepti so different? #[ me casually tagging this with that tag. me after: slowly dies. ] #[ and as per usual; i can't shut up. so my thing is always; /always/ long. it'll never change guys. ]

[captainsophiestark]

Fatherhood

Klaus Mikaelson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Prompt: “Do you remember?”

Summary: Y/N and Nik have been dating since the Mikaelsons moved to New Orleans and Y/N got turned into a vampire. When Nik starts to feel worried about his ability to parent Hope, who's due to join the world soon, Y/N helps reassure him.

Word Count: 1,603

Category: Angst, Fluff

A/N: I forgot to post this yesterday lol, so here it is! The fic for today’s Fictober prompt will be coming later today too :)

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I hummed to myself as I walked through the door of the bedroom I shared with my boyfriend, Klaus Mikaelson. I'd just finished baking a BUNCH of cookies with Hayley and Rebekah, and it had been a much-needed stress relief, especially after all the chaos of New Orleans lately. Besides, Hayley had been craving cookies in her heavily-pregnant state, so who were we to deny her?

I headed into the bedroom fully intending to change my clothes and go run some errands, but I stopped short at the sight of Nik staring out the window with his hands behind his back, a grim expression on his face.

"Uh oh," I said, gently closing the door behind me before slowly crossing the room towards my boyfriend. "I recognize that expression. You've got your brooding face on."

Normally, the teasing would've at least made Nik give me a half-smile or an eyeroll. But this time he didn't even glance back at me from his vigil.

"Nik? What's wrong?" I asked, finally reaching him and putting a hand on his shoulder as soon as I did. "C'mon, you can talk to me."

He sighed heavily before shaking his head and plastering a smile to his face. For those who didn't know him very well, it probably would've been quite convincing. But I knew him better than almost anyone else, and it didn't fool me for a second.

"Nothing," he said, trying to maintain the ruse all the same. "Some trouble with the witches that I'm deciding how to deal with, but nothing out of the ordinary."

With that, he tried to step around me and head towards the door. I frowned and caught his arm, gently pulling him to a stop. He turned to look at me, the fake-unbothered expression still on his face as he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Nik. I know you way better than that. I can tell something's wrong, so please, talk to me," I said. Nik hesitated, so I held his stare, trying to communicate nothing but openness and acceptance. He'd lived so much of his life alone, and carrying secrets without trusting anyone, that I knew he was still getting used to letting someone else in. We'd been making incredible progress lately, though, and I hoped we could keep that momentum up.

"I suppose..." he said, starting softly as he turned away from me and went to put on some loud music to defeat anyone trying to listen in. "I'm starting to doubt whether or not I will make for a very good father."

He stayed over by the stereo as he admitted it, fiddling with the knobs and not looking at me. I didn't want to spook him off of the conversation, so I sat down on our bed and watched him.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

He shifted around on his feet, and it was a few minutes before he finally answered. He still didn't look at me as he spoke, either.

"Well, just look at the example set by my father," he spat the word father, and I couldn't help frowning a bit at the thought of Mikael, too. "I've never had a stable parent. I don't want to be like them, but they're all I've ever known. I'm... afraid... of turning into them."

I chewed the inside of my lip, thinking over my next words carefully. After a second, I stood, and crossed the room to Nik. He still didn't look at me, but I put my hands on his shoulders and saw some of the tension ease out of them all the same.

"Nik... you're already doing better than both of them combined by trying to protect Hope at all," I started. He huffed a small laugh, and I continued. "Besides, Nik, you've been taking care of the rest of your family for years. I mean sure, a child is probably going to be a little different, but... even against your parents specifically, you were the person standing up and protecting your family, above all else."

Nik sighed and leaned back towards me, and I wasted no time wrapping my arms around his stomach. I held him tight to me, resting my head against his shoulder and trying to communicate just how loved he really was.

"What if it's not enough?" he finally sighed. "What if, no matter how hard I try, I give her a life of pain and trauma like my parents gave me?"

My heart cracked at the words. Nik had quite literally been through hell, often at the hands of his parents, and I wished every day there was something I could do to take away his pain. Instead, however, I just spoke the words that came to mind and hoped they might help.

"Niky, I know you may not feel this way, but I have nothing but absolute confidence that you're going to be a great dad." He started to scoff and brush me off, but I held tight and kept going. He needed to hear this, even if he wouldn't let himself completely believe it. "Babe, you saved me when I first turned into a vampire. Do you remember?"

He hummed noncommittally and kept staring at the floor, so I moved (still hugging him tight around the middle) until I could look him in the eyes.

"I was devastated. I was terrified. I was alone, and I was on the brink of death because this city didn't place nice with newly-turned vampires. And then I met you. And you showed me how to live despite technically being dead, and got me a daylight ring, and dammit, Nik, you saved my life. You were kind, and caring, and wonderful, and I know you don't usually let people see that part of yourself, but I know it exists. And if it can exist for me, someone you'd really just met but happened to have good chemistry with? You're gonna be a million times above and beyond that with your lovely, beautiful, wonderful daughter when she comes into this world."

Nik sighed out a long breath, a tight smile tugging at his mouth even as he tried to fight it off. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around me and held me to him like his life depended on it. I caught a slight shimmer of emotion in his eyes too, and although I knew he wouldn't let the tears fall, I could tell he was closer than normal by the uneven rise and fall of his chest.

"One other thing you should probably know, Nik?" I said, my voice muffled against his chest. He hummed, nestling in a little closer against my hair as he did. "No parent is perfect. You learn as you go. But as long as you're thoughtful in your choices and how you parent, and you're willing to learn and adapt? You're gonna be fine. And damned if that lovely little girl isn't going to grow up surrounded by so many people who love her, with you at the top of the list."

Nik tightened his grip around my waist, and I squeezed him right back. We stayed like that for a few long moments, before he took a deep breath and finally pulled away.

"Have I told you lately how much I adore you?" he asked, staring at me with love in his eyes. I gave him a warm smile in return.

"Yeah, but I could stand to hear it again."

We shared a soft laugh, then Nik took another deep breath and shook off the last of his stress. He straightened again, then fixed me with the devious smile I knew and loved so well.

"So, now that I don't have to pretend to go deal with a witch crisis, and assuming no actual witch crisis has arisen in the minutes we were speaking... it looks like I have a free afternoon."

"Ooo. I have some ideas," I said, giving him a sly smile as I leaned in and put my hand on his bicep. He raised an eyebrow, and I fluttered my eyelashes at him as I responded. "We could have a movie marathon while we eat a ton of the cookies Hayley, Rebekah, and I just baked."

Nik sighed and rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless.

"I have to admit, love, that's not exactly the idea I was thinking of. But I suppose it sounds good anyway."

I grinned and dropped the flirty act. "Great! You use your superspeed to steal some cookies, I'll get some good movies together."

Nik raised an eyebrow and gave me a skeptical look. "When you say good movies do you actually mean good movies?"

"Mmm, that depends. I was thinking I'd pick a few of my favorite Disney movies from when I grew up so you'd know things about them in case you wanted to share them with Hope?"

Nik gave me a warm smile, then took a few steps backwards towards the door.

"I'd consider those excellent movies then," he said. "I'll be back with the cookies before you know it."

With that, he disappeared from the room. I smiled to myself as I moved towards the tv, mentally trying to come up with a list of the best movies for us to watch. Despite (and sometimes because of) his concerns, I knew Nik would be an excellent parent. And I absolutely couldn't wait to see how he would grow and change with her as they went through life together.

#fictober22 #the originals #the vampire diaries #klaus mikaelson #klaus mikealson x reader #the originals fanfiction #the originals imagine #the originals oneshot #klaus mikaelson one shot #klaus mikaelson fanfiction #klaus mikaleson imagine #new orleans #the vampire diaries fanfiction #the vampire diaries imagine #the vampire diaries oneshot #the mikaelsons #hope mikaelson #The Mikaelson Family #rebekah mikaelson #hayley marshall

[hanaleeappreciationweek]

What a week!! The work we recieved this time around has been incredible. Each entry we received this year has been nothing short of a masterpiece. We can't wait to show all this amazing Hana love off to the rest of the fandom!!

HLAW 2024 is officially closed, but we have an entire bonus week for everyone who had trouble completing their work this time (including us the hosts! 🤭). We will be keeping the week officially open till May 4th, and unofficially you can still send entries even after that - HLAW will be open all year round!!

You'll find all the themes here!

We'd also like to take this opportunity to announce another character week next month - Kiara Theron Appreciation Week 2024!! You'll find the details here!!

For the last time...

Have an amazing Hana Lee Appreciation Week, everyone!!

#hana lee #the royal romance #the royal heir #the royal finale #HLAW #HLAW 2024 #hanaleeappreciationweek

[comedi-anne]

i would like penelope lore 👀

Hi! Thank you so much for taking an interest in my OC! I will update this post with little pictures one day, but I'm in the middle of graduate school finals and it's 1am. :3 Please accept this gigantic, rambly wall of text until I can craft something more visually appealing to tell her story!

For basic information, her name is Penelope Campbell, because I thought it would be funny if I could shorten it to PC. She's mostly a self-insert for this trauma simulator game, but because a big game mechanic is that the longer you exist the more beautiful you become, I gave her all the physical traits I wish I had: big blue eyes, tiny waist, incredibly long hair, huge gadonkahonkaroos, etc. She's nothing like me fr. Lol.

As far as backstory goes, it's sort of subject to change as I continue to make stuff up, but this is what we're working with thus far! Even before the game began, I think she was traumatized by her experience of growing out of an adoptable age. I picture her as one of those children you see in movies that DREAM and PRAY that one day they'll get adopted and live happily ever after with a family that loves them. <3 But the years passed, and she never got adopted. Year after year after year after year, no one wanted her, and I think that majorly fucked her up.

She wants that unconditional, unending, unchanging love of a parent so badly, and she never got it, and because she's now an adult, she'll never have it. So she's just DESPERATE for love of some sort, because in her mind the person she is wasn't good enough to be loved and adopted. Thus, she hates the person she is, which is why she's so willing to change her personality to suit any of the love interests' desires. She'll become whoever she needs to be in order to be loved.

This is inspired by my play style. I know a lot of people in the fandom have various saves for all the love interests, but I just keep trekking on romancing everyone in a single playthrough where I do roughly the exact same actions each time, because I am set in my ways. Haha.

I think she would've latched onto Bailey as a kid. There are some lines that suggest that the kids don't know the full extent of how evil Bailey is until they reach adulthood. There's lines during Christmas I think about the younger kids not knowing Bailey's true colors yet or the lines about the nursery that suggest PC was never allowed out of the orphanage without supervision. I don't think she ever viewed Bailey as a nice person, but he was a father figure to her, because he was the closest she had to one.

I think that first week she would've been totally in denial and thought the payments were a joke until the first time she was sold. Then reality comes crashing around her like broken glass she'll never be able to put back together. I still think she has a soft spot for Bailey as a person who raised her (in the vaguest sense of the word), and she has a bit of a delusion that once her bill is paid off he'll go back to just being a grumpy, short-tempered old man and not an abusive, greedy, human-trafficker we know him to be.

She does love Robin, but I do think she views him as more of a brother. However, upon realizing he had feelings for her she felt obligated to return them. She knows how traumatizing it is to want love and not receive it, so if it makes Robin happy to have her love, then she'll give it to him. But she'll never love him as much as he loves her. It's an unfortunate fact. Penelope wants to be saved and loved and protected, and Robin is just too burdensome. She'll always feel love and loyalty and obligation to protect him, but because he needs to be protected she can't fall for him. He's not her ideal knight in shining armor. She's his knight if anything. Robin is a damsel in distress that she cares for, but will never adore.

Penelope just doesn't like Whitney if we're being honest, because I do not like Whitney. I know they have some really cute content if you get their love up high enough, but I am not willing to trudge through the tsundere bullshit to get to there, and neither is she. There is a part of her that likes all the attention, even if it's just physical (from her point of view at least), but his personality is just too abrasive.

Penelope and Kylar get along very well! I think Penelope relates to Kylar a lot. They both have an obsession to recieve love, but where Penelope will change her personality to recieve "love" Kylar can only be authentically himself. Penelope admires that about him. Even if it makes him the target of bullies or if he lacks social skills (i.e. reading love poetry to a classroom of his peers), she respects his ability to have a personality and stick to it. She pities him, because she sees so much of herself in him.

As troublesome as Kylar can be, she always sticks up for him, and is honestly flattered by his obsession of her. I think she has a tendency to romanticize his mental illness, because it's what makes her so special to him. She loves being special. I think this is another case where she'd be happy to just be his friend, but because he loves her, she will love him back.

I'm not entirely sure how she meet Eden, whether she gets kidnapped in the forest or gets sold off, but either way she has a fondness for Eden. As self-sufficient as he is, she sees him as a person who could protect her… you know… if he weren't the one causing harm. Because she's sick in the head, I think she almost views the rape as a compliment. Like he's so overcome with affection, he just can't help himself! So she'll justify his actions that way, but the justifcation doesn't erase the physical pain he causes her, so she can't ignore his cruelness entirely.

However, I think mostly she recognizes Eden as someone very lonely and someone with no one to love. She fears she'll end up like Eden, all alone with no one to love. I do think she genuinely enjoys his company tho! Eden is pretty quiet, but he does talk about his books and his interests, so they infodump at each other and she has a lot of fun doing that.

Avery is probably the saddest relationship, because Avery initially presents himself as such a nice person. Their introduction is always him helping her get lichen for the science fair and then inviting her to a free drink at the cafe. She recognizes him as someone with money and power, someone who could save her, and she so, so, so desperately wants him to save her. She thinks if she's obedient enough, one day he'll actually take her away from her troubles and make her his real girlfriend instead of just his sugarbaby. I think Penelope thinks she loves Avery, but in reality I think she loves the idea of him. It really hurts her feelings when he's upset with her, so she tries her best to behave. I think she finds it quite natural to act exactly how he wants, because she's basically doing that with the other love interests. Avery is just more direct about it. But deep down, she wants him to love her for her real personality… whatever that is at this point, and she's burdened with the knowledge that Avery views her as a tool and not a person.

There's a comment on Vrel's blog that if the PC were ever disfigured Avery would be the only love interest to abandon them, and I don't know if I'm cruel enough to give Penelope a disfigurement, but just know him abandoning him would resurface all the shallowly buried abandonment issues that plague her mind.

And then there's Sydney. <3 Beloved Sydney. <3 I think Sydney is the one Penelope genuinely loves. That's not to say she doesn't love the others, because in her own way I think she does. But a lot of her love is just a response to the love she gets from them. She wants love, so she'll love in order to be loved. And because she's so desperate for love and has no love for herself, she's trying to gorge herself on as much love as she can hoping that will fill the void in her heart. (It won't.) But I think she really does love Sydney. He's everything she wants to be. He's pure and protected and kind and intelligent and faithful. He has a father who loves him. He's perfect. Like all her relationships, it isn't healthy. She does idolize Sydney and put him on a pedastal, but I think if she HAD to choose someone, she'd choose Sydney.

I think for her canon, she fell in love after she yelled at him and he comforted her. It was so shocking to her, so discongruent with everything she'd known about people and the town and her world. His kindness in reaction to her cruelty really flipped a switch in her, and she just viewed him as the most perfect, wonderful person in existence. But because Sydney is so perfect in her eyes and she's so worthless in her eyes, she lives in constant fear of losing his love. She's torn between bringing him down into sin with her so they're on more even footing, but she also wants to keep him pure so he never has to lose that innocence she envies so much. Also, Sydney has a lot of lines about faithfulness, and unfortunately for Penelope it's the one thing she can never be.

Not only do the game mechanics almost require her to cheat on him, she can't bring herself to stop seeing the other love interests. She needs to love them, because they love her, and she can't be someone who withholds her love. She thinks that's the cruelest thing in the world, to know you are loved, but refuse to return that love. She feels very guilty, but she doesn't know what else to do. She wants to be loved, so she loves, but does she love? Is what she's doing love or is it just addiction or obsession or transaction or whatever else she could call it? She doesn't know if she's capable of love, because as a child she wasn't capable of being loved. The two go hand in hand in her eyes. Sometimes she thinks she's just a doll who can change her face depending on what she wants to play pretend. Who does she want to be today? A sister, an object, an ingenue, a housewife? She'll be whatever. As long as she gets "love," she's happy to be something. She wishes she could be loved for being her, but she doesn't think that's possible, and after pretending to be others for so long, she doesn't have a concrete idea of what her real personality is anymore. Penelope the Malleable.

#dol pc #penelope campbell #bailey the caretaker #robin the orphan #whitney the bully #kylar the loner #eden the hunter #avery the businessperson #sydney the faithful #sydney the fallen #also she'll pretty much develope a crush on anyone who shows her a shred of kindness #or any adult man who gives her some positive reinforcement #she's got a wittle crush on Doren and Winter definitely #thank you again for asking for pc lore!!!!!! <3 #i love interacting with people and being a part of the fandom #i wish I were more active so i could make more mutuals and friends #uwu

[iamstartraveller776]

FANFIC ROUNDUP 2023

(snagged this from @thecoziestbean)

LIST OF FANWORKS

POSTED

Labyrinth: A Bargain in Bad Faith (T, 499 words), Unforeseen Consequences (T, 498 words)

MCU: Alike But Not (M, 2359 words), Practice (T, 499 words), Locked In (T, 501 words), Breaking Point (T, 883 words), Fun Surprises (T, 1357 words)

OUAT: A Favor (T, 500 words), In the Quiet Moonlight (G, 1968 words), For the Sake of Grilled Cheese (And Nothing Else) (T, 497 words), Disaster Averted (G, 499 words), To Cleave Destiny (T, 3963 words)

Shadow and Bone: Involuntary (T, 1567 words), For the Cameras (T, 500 words), That Which Blooms in Stillness (T, 500 words)

Star Trek: Enterprise: Mission Gone Awry (T, 497 words), Of Necessity (T, 501 words)

LOTR: The Rings of Power: Crossing Boundaries (M, 3739 words), The End of You and Beginning of Me (M/T, 6171 words), no peace in truth (M, 1924 words), Dirty Laundry (T, 743 words), We Are (G, 500 words), Trapped (T, 1589 words), Reprieve (T, 1927 words), Across This Great Divide (T, 500 words), Dangerous Games (M, 500 words), No Peace (T, 499 words)

For a total of 35,680 words—which doesn't seem like a lot, but considering the year I've had, it's incredible. I've had to learn how to fit writing in my life in a new way.

UNPOSTED WIPS

My fic for the Secret Sankta exchange (SAB). Can't give any more details than that.

Black Tie Pact (MCU, T). I have the first part of the first chapter. Not sure when I'm going to get back to working on it.

Legally Bound (MCU, T). I've written the first part of the first chapter for this one too. Again, I'm not sure when I'm going to really tackle it.

TOTAL # OF COMPLETED WORKS/FANDOMS WRITTEN IN

26 completed works in 6 fandoms. Before you applaud this, keep in mind that the majority of these are 500-word ficlets. I did not complete any multi-chapter fics in 2023.

2 in Labyrinth for Jareth/Adult Sarah

5 in MCU for Loki/Jane Foster

4 in OUAT for Captain Swan and Outlaw Queen

3 in Shadow and Bone for Aleksander/Alina

2 in Star Trek: Enterprise for Trip/T'Pol and Soval/Amanda Cole

10 in The Rings of Power for Galadriel/Halbrand|Sauron

OVERALL THOUGHTS

This year has been an exercise in not letting life stop me from writing. Writing has been more about self-care, and most of the time, the best I've been able to manage is a ficlet.

PERSONAL FAVORITE?

Alike But Not (MCU). I love when I really get to use my poetry background to make pretty prose for a story. Also, I love shoehorning Lokane into the more recent MCU films/shows. (It's my version of a "fix it fic." Planning to do one based on the Loki series finale soon.)

MOST UNDERAPPRECIATED?

I'm not sure there's anything that didn't get the engagement I anticipated. I write for smaller fandoms and dead fandoms, so a low number of hits/kudos/comments comes with the territory. I've already lived my fic writing heyday, and I'm totally cool with no longer being in the spotlight.

MOST POPULAR?

By kudos: Involuntary (SAB). By comments: Crossing Boundaries (TROP)

STORY WITH THE SEXIEST MOMENT?

Hands down, it's Crossing Boundaries (TROP). There are two moments that really sizzle in that one:

“Is this what we’re doing now?” He twines his finger in one of the drawstrings, gives it a little tug. “Touching each other’s things?” She tips her chin up in defiance of her heart thudding against her ribcage. “I needed it. Mine was in the wash.” He nods slowly with a hint of a smile. “And if I need something, I can just—” he tugs on the drawstring harder, “—take it?”

And:

“He’s never laying eyes on this again.” She bristles at the authority in his tone despite the chills pebbling beneath his questing fingers. “You don’t have a say in that.” “I do,” he argues, hands gliding down her sides. “This temple has only one priest.” His fingers hook into the waistband of her shorts, and he drops to his knees. “And I’ve come to worship.”

MOST FUN STORY TO WRITE?

Dirty Laundry (TROP). That story is pure unadulterated crackfic and I had a blast writing it.

HARDEST?

Emotionally, it was That Which Blooms in Stillness (SAB). It deals with a heavy theme that has touched my life.

DID YOU TAKE ANY RISKS IN WRITING THIS YEAR?

Yeah, writing for The Rings of Power fandom. It's always nerve-racking to write for a new fandom, but taking on one based on Tolkien's works??

MOST UNINTENTIONALLY TELLING STORY?

I think it's That Which Blooms in Stillness (SAB). I cried a lot while writing it.

FAVORITE LINES/SCENES?

Nothing exists in this moment outside of the feel of her skirts billowing outward, his fingers at her waist, her mirth reflected in his eyes. She is a child again, untouched by suffering and death. She’s the little girl riding her brothers’ shoulders, picking apples from the high branches. She’s an adolescent astride a stallion at full gallop for the first time. (Reprieve, TROP, T)

Because the Mighty Thor is not all she is, but in this bellicose society, it’s all that matters. She aches for more and is disturbed when she recognizes the same dissatisfaction in his tactile gaze. (Alike But Not, MCU, M)

Her skin is smooth, soft beneath his calloused hands. Against his lips, his tongue. She makes him think of when he fancied himself a sculptor of metal. Her sighs are the bellows to his flame of desire. Her sinuous curves molten alloy, bending to his whims. As she arches her back, she is the pièce de résistance of his collection and he the master of this beauty. (Dangerous Games, TROP, M)

"S'in my pocket. 'Cause this dress has pockets!" She clumsily patted at her hips until she found one, shoved her hand in, and pulled out the black rectangle of plastic with a triumphant smile. "Ta-da!" She giggled at her own joke with a fetching little snort. (Fun Surprises, MCU, T)

She’s like a specter, her pale, slender fingers hiking her skirts up to her knees as she picks her way through the damp grass on bare feet. Her long flaxen hair is wild, glowing in the moonlight, and he thinks she might have been out in the downpour that passed an hour ago. (In the Quiet Moonlight, OUAT, T)

MY FAVE PART OF FANDOM IN 2023

Meeting some really awesome people through the Haladriel (TROP) fandom. I have gone back to mostly lurking, but I've come away with some new friends. <3

2024 WRITING AMBITIONS

F I N I S H ! I have 16 posted WIPs (soon to be 17) in 5 fandoms. For 2024 I am planning to complete at least 3 of them. Aside from ficlets and short oneshots when the mood strikes, I will not be posting any new stories.

2024 FICS ON THE IMMEDIATE HORIZON

My fic for the Secret Sankta Fic Exchange (SAB)

Sealed By Blood (OUAT). The first draft of the entire story is 2/3rds complete (it was my NANOWRIMO project)

Attack of the Vicious Plot Bunnies (Labyrinth). The final installment is halfway complete.

Rumor Has It (MCU). After I finish the above, this one is next in line.

#about me #2023 fanfic roundup #it was kind of cool to look back on the past year