💘 😬 with yachi and the girl in your pfp (i forgot her name lmao) (am i doing this right)
★ request from the build-a-blurb ask meme !
★ pairing: kiyoko x yachi (haikyuu)
★ prompts used: love at first sight, confessing feelings
★ notes: no yeah you're doing great luci <3
❝ are you falling in love? ❞
It begins like this: on a rainy July morning, between nine and ten o’clock, Kiyoko Shimizu walks into a classroom.
The first-year residents of Class 7, sweet things, have never seen anyone even remotely like her. They are enchanted by her eyes and her smile (barely discernable as it is) and the way her hair falls on her shoulders, perfectly straight and smooth. She’s impeccable. One girl asks, “Is she a princess?”
She sounds genuine enough.
Kiyoko, in typical Kiyoko fashion, pointedly ignores the awestruck expressions sent her way. After years and years of it, she’s learned not to give them any mind.
“Good morning. Do you know of anyone who still needs a club?” she asks a boy in the front row. At the acknowledgement, he opens and closes his mouth over and over again for a good five seconds. Privately, Kiyoko notes his resemblance to a fish.
Finally, he points to the back of the classroom. “Yachi-san is in the going-home club,” he says earnestly, “but listen, senpai, I can quit my club if you need anyone—”
Poor boy. Kiyoko never hears his offer; she’s already making her way to the girl he had pointed out, curled in a tiny ball in the back of the classroom with a notebook and a pen.
“Hello,” she greets. “Would you like to observe the Boys’ Volleyball Team this afternoon? We’re looking for another manager.”
The girl looks up, and for a moment, the world slows to a stop.
.
There is a difference between smart and wise, and although Hitoka has always been smart, she’s never been particularly wise. This is probably why, when she sees the pretty girl standing over her desk with an offer, she immediately agrees to do it.
Whatever it is.
Now. In her defense, when a pretty anyone appears at one’s desk with no forewarning whatsoever, one will be a little stunned. This pipelines into a crippling awareness of one’s own incompetence next to someone that beautiful, and given all this, it’s really no wonder Hitoka hadn’t had time to process the girl’s request.
She reaches up to pat a stray lock of cornflower-blonde hair back into place, smiling nervously. The girl had gone very still at the sight of her, only for a second, but a second was enough. I should have paid more attention to how I looked this morning! She must think you’re a mess. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Thank you,” the girl tells her. She doesn’t sound particularly disgusted by her disheveled state, which Hitoka finds very good of her. “Yachi-san, is it?”
“Hitoka Yachi,” she stammers out.
“Excellent. Please meet me at the second gym this afternoon, Yachi-san,” she says, and with a final dizzying smile, she walks away and out of the door.
It is only later, going about her day in a disoriented haze, that she realizes she never learned the pretty girl’s name.
.
She would come to know it by heart through the course of the next year. Kiyoko Shimizu, Karasuno volleyball manager. Kiyoko Shimizu, beloved friend. Kiyoko Shimizu, the girl she will always love.
.
It ends like this: on a picture-perfect spring day, Kiyoko Shimizu graduates, and Hitoka Yachi takes a chance.
.
Hitoka, for all intents and purposes, is not a brave girl.
She screams when she sees a lizard crawling up the classroom wall. She nearly cried the first time she saw Tsukishima in the flesh, looming above her like a very spiteful lamppost. She has not stopped jumping at Hinata and Kageyama’s yells.
However, for all intents and purposes, Hitoka is very much a girl in love. Love might not conquer all, but surely it can force a teenage girl to confront her anxieties for a little while. (Never mind the fact that love planted a good amount of those anxieties in the first place.)
So she sits through the graduation ceremony. She cries when Kiyoko makes her speech (she had graduated at the top of the class, and Hitoka’s bursting with pride). She greets all four of her former upperclassmen at the exit and participates in the fussing and the sniffling and the hugging-goodbye.
It’s a long time before she and Kiyoko get a moment alone, but as Hitoka tugs her underneath the fabled cherry blossom tree in Karasuno’s tiny courtyard, she thinks that it was all worth it in the end.
“Kiyoko-san,” she begins, her voice wavering, “when you first asked me to become a manager, I didn’t actually hear what you were saying.”
Never let it be said that Hitoka Yachi is really any good at this confessing thing.
“What?” Kiyoko says, and she sounds more amused than anything. “Oh, Hitoka-chan.”
At that, she flushes right down to her toes. Her next words come out slightly quicker than she intended. “I thought you were the most beautiful person I’ve ever met. That’s still true today.”
The corners of Kiyoko’s lips quirk up, and it distracts Hitoka momentarily, but she is nothing but not determined. “But this year has made me realize a lot of things. You’re beautiful, but that’s not all you are. You’re smart and kind and a lot braver than me. You’re an amazing friend, an amazing person, an amazing everything. I don’t really know what I’d do without you.”
She takes a deep breath. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I really, really, really like you, Kiyoko-san. As… as more than a friend. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same! I just needed to get that out before you left.”
Kiyoko is silent for one, two, three moments. Hitoka feels her heart sink and her cheeks burn hot, and she bows quickly, turning to leave.
She doesn’t get very far.
A hand closes around her wrist, distractingly smooth and warm. “Hitoka-chan, who told you I wouldn’t feel the same way?”
She freezes. “You… you what?”
“I like you too, Hitoka-chan,” Kiyoko says with a gentle smile. “As more than a friend.”
And if that isn’t something to hear.
Hitoka stands there for what feels like hours, running the words over in her mind. Kiyoko-san likes me back. Kiyoko-san likes me back. Kiyoko-san likes me back.
“Oh,” she says, eloquently.
Kiyoko laughs, and Hitoka feels all her cognitive functions melt right out of her. “Oh indeed. Come here.”
Before she knows it, she’s tumbling into Kiyoko’s arms, inches away from her face.
“Is this okay?” Kiyoko asks in a whisper. Hitoka can barely manage a nod, but it’s all that Kiyoko needs.
She leans in, and Hitoka closes her eyes.
.
It ends like this: with a soft kiss, and a beautiful new beginning.
Belle has Stockholm syndrome because she falls in love with the Beast, her kidnapper.
Woke:
Stockholm syndrome was coined to slander a woman who had been in a hostage situation but openly criticized the poor police response which recklessly put her in more danger and escalated the violence. She was then belittled and discredited publically by the police for this.
So. Yeah. Maybe Belle does have Stockholm syndrome actually.
If anyone is curious here is the wikipedia section describing this.
[ID: Gif image from Disney's Beauty and the Beast with Gaston leading a large group of villagers down the road holding a torch. The atmosphere is dark.
Wikipedia screenshot containing the following:
According to accounts by Kristin Enmark, one of the hostages, the police however was acting incompetently, with little care for the hostages' safety, which forced the hostages to negotiate for their life and release with the robbers on their own. In the process the hostages saw the robbers behaving more rationally than police negotiators and therefore developed a deep distrust towards the latter. Enmark had criticized Bejerot specifically for endangering their lives by behaving aggressively and agitating the captors. She had criticized the police for pointing guns at the convicts while the hostages were in the line of fire and she had told news outlets that one of the captors tried to protect the hostages from being caught in the crossfire. She was also critical of prime minister Olof Palme, as she had negotiated with the captors for freedom, but the prime minister told her that she would have to content herself to die at her post rather than give in to the captors' demands. Ultimately, Enmark explained she was more afraid of the police whose attitude seemed to be a much larger, direct threat to her life than the robbers.]
Hope the ID helps, it's my first time writing one.
Excerpts from “See What You Made Me Do: The Dangers of Domestic Abuse That We Ignore, Explain Away, or Refuse to See” by Jess Hill
Here are some other facts you should know about Nils Bejerot: He had a major influence (this involved founding the "Swedish National Association for a Drug-free Society") on Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to drug use.
And he wrote "Barn, Serier, Samhälle" (Children, Comics, Society), basically the Swedish version of "Seduction of the Innocent"; an infamous anti-comics book by Fredric Wertham that led to the Comics Code Authority.
Bejerot described comic books as a "significant mental hygiene and cultural problem that concerns us all."
This is the man who coined the phrase "Stockholm syndrome", guys.
so I’m looking at short story publishers (fantasy)
Tor, cream of the crop. 25 cents a word. Stories can be read for free (YES). Slowish response time at ~3 months. Prefer under 12k, absolute maximum is 17.5k. Don’t bother if it’s not highly professional quality. SFWA qualifying.
Crossed Genres. 6 cents a word. Different theme each month (this month’s is “failure”). Submissions must combine either sci-fi or fantasy with the theme. Response time 1 month. 1k-6k, no exceptions. SFWA qualifying.
Long Hidden, anthology from CG. 6 cents a word. 2k-8k, no exceptions. Must take place before 1935. Protagonist(s) must be under 18 and marginalized in their time and place. Must be sci-fi/fantasy/horror. Deadline 30 April. Response by 1 October.
Queers Destroy Science Fiction. Sci-fi only right now, author must identify as queer (gay, lesbian, bi, ace, pan, trans, genderfluid, etc, just not cishet). 7.5k max. Deadline 15 February. Responses by 1 March. You can submit one flash fiction and one short story at the same time. (My network blocks the Lightspeed site for some reason, so I can’t get all the submission details. >_>) Probably SFWA qualifying?
Women in Practical Armor. 6 cents a word. 2k-5k. Must be about 1) a female warrior who 2) is already empowered and 3) wears sensible armour. Deadline 1 April. Response within three months.
Fiction Vortex. $10 per story, with $20 and $30 for editor’s and readers’ choice stories (hoping to improve). Speculative fiction only. Imaginative but non-florid stories. 7.5k maximum, preference for 5k and under. (I kind of want to support them on general principle.)
Urban Fantasy Magazine. 6 cents a word. 8k max, under 4k preferred. Must be urban fantasy (aka, the modern world, doesn’t need to be a literal city).
Nightmare. 6 cents a word. 1.5-7.5k, preference for under 5k. Horror and dark fantasy. Response time up to two weeks. SFWA and HWA qualifying.
Apex Magazine. 6 cents a word. 7.5k max, no exceptions. Dark sci-fi/fantasy/horror. SFWA qualifying.
Asimov’s Science Fiction. 8-10 cents a word. 20k max, 1k minimum. Sci-fi; borderline fantasy is ok, but not S&S. Prefer character focused. Response time 5 weeks; query at 3 months. SFWA qualifying, ofc.
Buzzy Mag. 10 cents a word. 10k max. Should be acceptable for anyone 15+. Response time 6-8 weeks. SFWA qualifying.
Strange Horizons. 8 cents a word. Speculative fiction. 10k max, prefers under 5k. Response time 40 days. Particularly interested in diverse perspectives, nuanced approahces to political issues, and hypertexts. SFWA qualifying.
Fantasy and Science Fiction. 7-12 cents a word. Speculative fiction, preference for character focus, would like more science-fiction or humour. 25k maximum. Prefers Courier. Response time 15 days.
Scigentasy. 3 cents a word. .5-5k. Science-fiction and fantasy, progressive/feminist emphasis. Fantastic Stories of the Imagination. 15 cents a word. 3k maximum. Any sci-fi/fantasy, they like a literary bent. (psst, steinbecks!) They also like to see both traditional and experimental approaches. Response time two weeks.
Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 6 cents a word. 10k maximum. Fantasy in secondary worlds only (it can be Earth, but drastically different—alternate history or whatever). Character focus, prefer styles that are lush yet clear, limited first or third person narration. Response time usually 2-4 weeks, can be 5-7 weeks. SFWA qualifying.
Clarkesworld. 10 cents a word up to 4000, 7 afterwards. 1-8k, preferred is 4k. Science-fiction and fantasy. Needs to be well-written and convenient to read on-screen. Appreciates rigour. No talking cats. Response time 2 days. SFWA qualifying.
Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. 6 cents a word. Any length. Science-fiction and fantasy (along with fantastic horror). Good world-building and characterization. Clear straightforward prose. Response time three months. Yes, OSC is editor-in-chief. SFWA qualifying.
Interzone. Sub-pro rates if anything (but highly respected). 10k max. Short cover letter. Science-fiction and fantasy.
Whenever I see a post like this, I feel like I have to tell people about the Submission Grinder. I just did a search on it and it came up with 135 markets that pay for fantasy short stories. You can search by genre, pay rate, length of story they accept, etc, and it’s constantly being updated, which a post like this can’t be, and you can also use it to keep track of what you’ve sent where and when, and since a lot of people use it for this purpose it’s got a lot of good data about response times and so on. If you are trying to sell fiction or poetry on the regular, it is such a useful tool and I encourage everyone to use it.
If you're ever bored, here's a list of Studio Ghibli films you can watch for free.
Castle In The Sky (1986)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Pom Poko (1994)
Whisper of the Heart (1995)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Cat Returns (2002)
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Tales from Earthsea (2006)
Ponyo On A Cliff From The Sea (2008)
The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (2010)
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
If any of the links stop working, please let me know so I can fix it.
For Castle In The Sky, wait for the free user button to be clickable and it will send you to the video.
For some books I'm still missing sources, and I know it's not complete or ✨️Aesthetic✨️. But if there is anything that you think should be on there, let me know.
reading an academic article that disagrees with your essay argument [it’s so fucking over] reading an academic article that agrees with your essay argument [we’re so fucking back] reading another academic article that disagrees with your essay argument [it’s so fucking over] reading another academic article that agrees with your essay argument [we’re so fucking b
@heavensghost // Erin Moran, "940 Main Street" // Jason Schneiderman, "Little Red Riding Wolf" // @mah_hirano on tw // Adrienne Rich, "Planetarium" // Richard Siken, Editor's Pages: Black Telephone // Molly McCully Brown, Places I've Taken my Body: Essays // @loputyn // Mason O'Hern, "You Are Not Just Anything" // Friedrich Nietzsche, Good and Evil
