M'Baku: || Enough love for both of us || Slay Your Own Dragons ||
Erik Killmonger: || I Want You || Fuck Your New Nigga || An Oakland Summer || Southern Hospitality || Southern Hospitality Chpt.2 || Southern Hospitality Chpt.3 || Imported ||
NARUTO
Kiba: || Adore Me || The Drunken Shinobi || The Only Unique One ||
Shikamaru: || Wounded || Gone too long ||
One Piece
Zoro: || The Green Dress || Tears for Me || Green with Envy || The Crow's Nest || Forgive Me, If I Break You-Part I || Part II II Part III || Part IIII II Part V ||
When you're looking to replace said, think about why. You'll generally want to do this when you need the following:
when the tone of the line needs more context.
when you want to show emotion instead of telling it.
when your character’s body language, action, or expression can do the talking instead.
Take a look at the scene you're writing, is the character saying their line? Or are they yelling it? Screaming it? Are they enraged, or perhaps is their voice a broken whisper from grief?
That being said, you shouldn't always avoid using 'said.' It's easy to read in long sentences, and it keeps the focus on the dialogue rather than the rest of the scenes. That may be beneficial and a key component to parts of your story.
︵ ೀ mdni. being anxious around suguru the first time you undress in front of him
suguru notices the moment you start shutting down.
you’re both on his bed, clothes half-gone, and suddenly you’ve gone quiet. too quiet. your arms are crossed over your chest even though he hasn’t even touched you yet. your eyes are squeezed shut so tightly it looks painful.
“hey,” he murmurs, voice low and gentle. he stops moving immediately. “talk to me.”
you swallow hard, voice small. “can… can we keep the lights off? and can you… maybe not look at me too much?” your words crack at the end. “i’m sorry. i know it’s stupid. just… please.”
suguru’s heart twists.
he’s seen you anxious before, but never like this. not when it comes to being bare in front of him. you look so small, curled in on yourself, lips pressed together like you’re trying not to cry.
“it’s not stupid,” he says softly. he reaches over and clicks the lamp off, leaving only the faint moonlight filtering through the curtains. the room falls into gentle darkness. “nothing about you is stupid to me.”
he stays on his side of the bed for a moment, giving you space. then he asks, careful and patient, “can i come closer?”
you nod, eyes still closed.
suguru moves slowly, like you’re made of glass. he pulls the blanket up over both of you, covering you to your chest. only then does he gently tug you into his arms. your body is stiff at first, trembling slightly.
“i’m right here,” he whispers against your hair. “we don’t have to do anything tonight if you don’t want to. we can just lie like this.”
you shake your head, voice barely there. “i want to… i just… i feel so ugly right now. like if you see all of me you’ll change your mind.”
the words hit him harder than anything ever could.
suguru exhales shakily and presses his forehead to yours. “listen to me,” he says. “there is nothing about you that could make me change my mind. not one single thing.” his hand finds yours under the blanket and laces your fingers together. “you’re safe with me. always.”
it takes a long time for you to relax even a little. suguru spends it kissing your knuckles, your wrists, the inside of your elbow—every place he can reach without pushing. he whispers how beautiful you are, how much he loves the way you laugh, how your voice calms the noise in his head. he tells you he’s not in any rush. that he would wait forever if that’s what you need.
when you finally whisper “okay… you can touch me,” he still moves like you might break.
his hands are reverent. slow. he maps your body with gentle palms, never lingering too long in one place, always checking your face even in the dark. every time you tense he stops and kisses you until you melt again.
when he finally slides inside you, it’s careful and deep and so full of love it hurts. you’re still anxious, still hiding your face in his neck, but he holds you like you’re the most precious thing in his world.
“breathe, baby,” he murmurs, hips rocking slowly. “i’ve got you. just feel me. just us.”
you cum with a soft, broken sound, tears slipping down your cheeks. suguru follows right after, burying himself deep as he whispers your name like a prayer.
afterwards, he doesn’t pull out right away.
he stays wrapped around you, one hand stroking your back in slow circles while the other wipes your tears away with his thumb.
“i’m sorry,” you whisper. “i ruined it.”
“you didn’t ruin anything,” suguru says, pressing kisses to your damp cheeks, your eyelids, the tip of your nose. “you trusted me with something scary tonight. that’s the opposite of ruining it.” he pulls the blanket higher around your shoulders and tucks you against his chest. “i love you. every part of you. the anxious parts too. especially those.”
you let out a shaky breath and finally relax fully in his arms.
suguru keeps holding you long after your breathing evens out, heart aching with how much he loves you. he presses one last kiss to your forehead and whispers into the dark:
(see what I did there, huh? Huh? Too soon? Yeah… too soon.)
It wasn't a slow fall. Viltrumites don't stumble into things, they decide. He saw you, measured you in that quiet, assessing way he has, and determined you were worth his attention. That should have been your first warning. Being chosen by someone like Mark? It is not romantic. It's a verdict.
Your Fragility Fascinates and Frustrates Him
He's not cruel about it, but he is why you might consider…. blunt.He'll watch you wince at something minor and there will be a flicker of something across his face, it’s not quite contempt, but it’s not quite tenderness either. It’s something that falls in between. You are so easily broken. It baffles him that your kind has survived this long.
Physical Affection Has to Be Learned
Early on he doesn't understand his own strength in the context of softness, he doesn’t know how to be gentle enough. A hand on your shoulder that's just slightly too firm. Pulling you close with just a little too much force. He has to consciously recalibrate and hold back for you. The fact that he bothers, that he actually adjusts himself, means more than he would ever admit to out loud.
Viltrumite Mark Doesn't Do Reassurance….
Human relationships apparently require a lot of verbal affirmation. He finds this inefficient. If he is there, that *is* the reassurance. A Viltrumite does not stay where he does not wish to be. His presence beside you is the most honest thing he knows how to give, you just have to learn to read it.
Your Lifespan is a Fact He Has Decided to Ignore
He's aware. He's done the math. Viltrumites live for thousands of years and you will be gone in what amounts to a blink by his measure. He doesn't talk about it. If you bring it up, his jaw tightens and his eyes harden. Mark changes the subject with a finality that makes clear the conversation is over. It's the one thing that cracks the rock solid and unshakable composure. He hasn't figured out what to do with it yet, so he simply... doesn't.
Possessiveness is Practically Cultural
Viltrumites don't share what's theirs. You are his. This is not a feeling so much as a fact in his mind, as plain and inarguable as gravity. He doesn't make a show of it often, but anyone who gets close enough to test it finds out very quickly that there are lines around you that do not move. They don’t live long enough to learn that lesson though.
He Respects Courage More Than Anything
You can't match him physically and you both know it. But the moment you stand your ground with him, push back, hold his gaze, refuse to shrink… something in him shifts. It’s definitely not his cock in his pants either, definitely not. It's the closest thing to warmth a Viltrumite allows themselves in public. He won't compliment you for it. But he'll remember it. And he'll look at you a little differently after.
He Thinks Human Emotion is Excessive and Experiences All of It Anyway
He was raised to believe sentimentality is weakness. Grief, longing, jealousy, the specific ache of missing someone…. these things were bred out of his people over generations. And yet. He catches himself thinking about you mid-mission. He notices when you're upset before you say a word. He doesn't have the vocabulary for what that means, so he files it away and says nothing and shows up at your door instead.
Arguments are Genuinely Tense
Not because he gets violent, he has more control than that. Unless you settle these arguments in bed; then baby expect sadistic Mark. But because he goes very, very still and his voice drops and he speaks with this absolute certainty that his position is correct. He's not used to being challenged. A human talking back to him with full knowledge of what he is capable of reads to some part of his brain as either foolish or extraordinary. With you he's decided it's the latter, which is the only reason the arguments ever resolve at all.
He Will Not Say "I Love You" First
Maybe not second or third either. Those words carry a weight in Viltrumite terms that humans don't quite grasp. On Viltrum it's closer to a declaration of permanent claim than an expression of feeling. When he finally does say it, there will be no lead-up, no romantic setting. Just a quiet, direct, completely serious statement, eye contact unbroken, like he's telling you something that has always been true and he's simply decided you should know.
In the End, He Builds His World Around You Quietly
He won't announce it. But you'll notice that missions get scheduled around your important days. That he learns your habits with an almost unsettling precision. That Mark is always, somehow, exactly where you are when it matters. A Viltrumite does not bend. But for you, in ways he'd never name, Mark has learned how to.
I am absolutely lovinggggg this watch! It feed into my job Bernthal hyper fixation so well. I need someone who has seen both this and The Accountant to agree with me that Jack is the domesticated version of Braxton. I on I think the second to last episode where he punches the camera man in the face at the bar at is has solidified it for me.
When you're looking to replace said, think about why. You'll generally want to do this when you need the following:
when the tone of the line needs more context.
when you want to show emotion instead of telling it.
when your character’s body language, action, or expression can do the talking instead.
Take a look at the scene you're writing, is the character saying their line? Or are they yelling it? Screaming it? Are they enraged, or perhaps is their voice a broken whisper from grief?
That being said, you shouldn't always avoid using 'said.' It's easy to read in long sentences, and it keeps the focus on the dialogue rather than the rest of the scenes. That may be beneficial and a key component to parts of your story.
Can anyone (preferably black women) give me book recommendations- like something life changing. lol I need recommendations to ignite my motivation to read. Any genre.
Can anyone (preferably black women) give me book recommendations- like something life changing. lol I need recommendations to ignite my motivation to read. Any genre.
Hey! I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your fic “Southern Hospitality ”. I was wondering if you ever plan on finishing it? No pressure, just wanted you to know I’d be thrilled to read more if you ever do!
Hi Anon,
You won’t believe how big this made me smile. Lol I did not think anyone was looking for updates out of this story. I actually rewrote all the chapters I have published and do plan on working on an update since people are interested. I’m not sure when tho.
