#//something to correct after I finish responding to a draft-

[truly-quirkless]

"...I'm not surprised, since you and your sister live with us..."

"THINK FAST-!" Much like Denki with them,...Fin shot forward to hug Kage.

(@refrxctedprism)

[ahdriking]

Get to know your fic writer!

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

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Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

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how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

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Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

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Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

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You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

What scene in [Fanfic Name] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]? 

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[helenvader]

Get to know your fic writer!

I have emerged from my writing hiatus, but I'm horribly stuck, so this game might be refreshing. :) I am not the author, I stumbled across it and told myself why not.

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

Do you plan each chapter ahead or write as you go?

Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic

Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Do you like constructive criticism?

Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

How do you choose which POV to write from?

Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Do you comment on stories you read?

Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Link your three favorite fics right now

how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

What is the most-used tag on your ao3?

Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Would you ever collaborate with another writer for a story?

Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Best writing advice for other writers?

Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

On average, how much writing do you get done in a day?

What’s your revision or editing process like?

Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it’s all polished?

Do you start with the characters or the plot when writing?

Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

Do you want to be published some day?

Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?

What is one essential thing to remember when writing a villain? 

How do you write kissing scenes?

How do you choose where to end a chapter?

Would you ever write commissions?

Share a snippet from a WIP

If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

Do you tend to reread fics or are you a one-and-done kind of person?

What’s the last fic you read? Do you recommend it?

Do you take a sadistic joy in whumping your characters, or are you more the "If you hurt them I would kill everyone and then myself" kind of person?

What mistakes do you keep making no matter how many times your beta corrects you?

Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

How would you describe your style? (Character/emotion/action-driven, etc)

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

What do you look for in a beta?

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

How long is your longest fic?

What’s your total AO3 word count?

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Do you prefer editing as you write, or waiting until it’s finished? 

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Does anyone in your personal life know you write fic? if not, would you tell anyone?

Have you had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

Why do you continue writing fics?

Thoughts on cliffhangers?

Something you hate to see in smut.

Something you love to see in smut.

Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project

How do you deal with writing pressure (ie. pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc.)?

Do you prefer prompts and challenges, or completely independent ideas?

What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

When it comes to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, ect.?

What order do you write in? front of book to back? chronological? favorite scenes first? something else?

What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

What scene in [Fanfic Name] took the longest to write? What was difficult about it? 

Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of [Fanfic Name]? 

Do you have a favorite scene you’ve written from [Fanfic Name] story/chapter? 

[satorisoup]

★ THE AFTER PARTY

⋆ 6 - PRAISE

2 days had gone by in a flash. alisa had been correct, you were on the schedule today to come in to the studio. with one song brainstormed, but not finalized, you decided it would be good to get the opinions of the members you had met a couple days ago.

now arrived at the building, you pass by the security guard that had once tried to stop you before, who gave you an embarrassed nod of acknowledgement while you made your way to the elevators and up to the door of the studio.

among walking in, your plans seem to be tarnished as there happened to only be 1 of the 4 band members sitting in the room.

kenma, as you distantly remembered, sat hunched in front of the recording board, fingers fiddling with the buttons and switches, head turning towards you when he seemed to hear the door clicked shut. awkwardly shuffling to his side, you stood with your etched papers gripped in your fingers, unsure of what to ask, and what to do.

“um, do you think you could read this over? it’s just an idea, so i need all of the feedback i can get.” you asked, anxiously tapping your thumbs against the work in your hands.

“i can try.” is all he responded, taking the papers from your hands and scanning them over. his complete silence made you feel as though you needed to hold you breath in suspense, unsure of what reaction to expect at all.

“it’s good. im not really a singer so… i can’t give much opinion on the lyrics. but, i could make a beat based on how it’s worded.”

you looked at him with an understanding nod of your head, the breath that you held being exhaled. when you moved to pick up the papers, he spoke up again.

“ask kuroo. he’s the singer. and tell akaashi what vocals he would need to do.”

if you were honest with yourself, being in the room with just one person from the band, the quietest one at that, already made your skin crawl with nerves. however, he seemed to notice how unsure you were of your exact instructions, so you were grateful for his advice.

soon the door handle had raddled, slamming open to reveal the missing three. quick greetings were shared, and unwilling to waste time, you set to do exactly what kenma had told you.

“excuse me, akaashi? and kuroo? i need to talk with you two, if you wouldn’t mind...” you claimed, the two following eachother to where you sat in a chair.

“this is one of the songs i came up with. i didn’t have much time, so if you could, please give me some of your opinions.” you encouraged, handing each of them a paper of your draft.

they both read over the documents while you awkwardly sat straight in your chair waiting for them to finish, hands in your lap and eyes studying their faces to hopefully get any possible indication of what they were thinking. before you could get an idea, one of them finally broke the tension and spoke up.

“it’s extremely organized for being just a rough draft.” akaashi commented.

“oh, well i don’t want you to have to read anything messy…” you replied, eyes avoidant while you twiddled with your hands.

“the fact you were even able to come up with a song in just two days is impressive in itself. this is really good.” kuroo said, hand on his chin with a look of mild surprise evident on his face.

“thank you, but is there anything i should change about it? i don’t want you to perform something you all don’t like…” you questioned.

kuroo hums to himself as he reads over the song once more, “i think… you should stop worrying and be more confident. this piece is great. we’ll get started with it right away, so quit panicking and keep it up, alright?”

it felt more than good to be praised by someone who was loved by thousands. it felt almost too natural slipping out of his mouth, and something at the very bottom of the pit of your stomach craved for more input if it was coming from him. and a part of you started to believe maybe writing songs wouldn’t be too much of a stress if this is what you got in return.

“will do.”

<- PREV ⋆ MASTERLIST ⋆ NEXT ->

★ FUN FACTS

⋆ alisa didn’t fire the security guard. she couldn’t remember if she had told him to put your name down and felt bad about it.

⋆ kenma never had any interest in singing, claiming it would be too tiring to strain your voice that much.

⋆ TAGLIST

if your name is in bold, i can not tag you.

@bontensbabygirl @aichiomei @toomanygoldfish @withlovekiki @strwbrryeyes @lifesucksweswallow @snail-squasher @le000xxgrd @1lovestrawberrymilk

[mangostarjam]

fuji!! how are you doing on this fine day lovely lady? i'm responding to our thread here bc idk what the etiquette is on reblogging long ass conversations on the same thread lmao so to be safe i'll just send u a new ask.

soupmates is so cute and i love when typos become canon jargon in friendships hehe. you've made me crave croissants again and i am wistfully thinking of how we have a rule that while we're in france, if one of us asks "what time is it?" the other is legally obligated to respond "croissant o'clock" and then we go find a boulangerie. this is how we end up eating 8 croissants/day whenever we're there.

wttcsms is on my deep dive list too!! every time i see them on my dash i'm like how does it feel to never be wrong? ack i've just been so busy that the only time i have to trawl tumblr is during my unhinged insomnia hours when i'm only half aware of what i'm keyboard vomiting lmao NO FILTER only screeching.

okay not mushrooms but this weekend i was busy running around the kitchen experimenting with my lil hoard of fig leaves! i made fig leaf syrup, fig leaf oil, and experimented with dehydrating and freezing the leaves for preservation. i also tested different ratios of toasted fig leaves and pandan in creme brulee and panna cotta so i could see how the flavors bloom in dairy in preparation for the idea i had for my cake. then i gave all the excess treats to baristas at our fave local coffee joints bc i'm not a huge sweet tooth and this was tew much dessert! after i found a ratio i thought worked, i made the cake except i'm afraid it's going to turn out hideous (it's still in its cake ring rn) but it's basically a first draft cake and i can refine it next time! you should see the notes i took on it. i always try to start with a neat plan and end up scribbling all over it with ideas and corrections.

tonight we've invited a couple of our friends over so i can do a fig leaf-inspired dinner with hamachi crudo with fig leaf oil, tomato bisque with fig leaf oil drizzle and crouton, slow roasted salmon in fig leaves (finished with a sear from our bernzomatic + searzall bc crispy salmon skin is life), and the fig leaf and strawberry cake. my friend also got cheesybf a new cocktail set for his bday so we can use the fig leaf syrup to make some nice gin cocktails or a fig leaf strawberry mocktail!

right now i'm munching on leftover crying tiger steak and nam jim jaew for lunch with jasmine rice that i steamed with some of the leftover pandan leaves for extra ~aroma. i still have a ton of leaves so i think i'm gonna make a pandan simple for my favorite matcha pandan lattes.

re: urls haha YES chopsticks are the best way to eat flaming hot cheetos and no one can change my mind. i always think of puffins when i think of my own username. those cute lil round birds. with like a lil cheese hat. i also associate you with apples now as we move into fall. but mentally my picture of you is a swirl of the colors in a kent mango, scented by mango skin by vilhelm and just a hint of kilian's apple brandy on the rocks. maybe a waft of mfk 724 and something like clean cotton or a soft white floral.

HAHAHA totally fair i just realized it was getting long maybe i should put my responses under a read more LOL

i'm responding a day (??) late (time is fake) bc i had to recover from how gorgeous your cake looked and sounded tbh. but i'm good!! my new assistant at work is picking things up quickly and has common sense which is sadly in short supply around here lmaooo

there's a vietnamese bakery in my hometown that makes the BEST croissants i've ever had in my life (though tbf i have not been to paris yet!) and they supply all the local taquerias with bolillo so they are Churning Out Breads but i cannot emphasize enough that it's like. a warehouse space. with a door on a side street and the price list handwritten and they only recently started accepting anything but cash. i love them. the croissants are huge and lightly buttery and delicious. i will now be declaring it's croissant o'clock any time we happen to drive nearby haha

wttcsms and dee my beloveds!!! on behalf of all writers though i will say no filter unhinged screaming comments/tags are GREAT to read. i hope your busyness is the good kind!! it's always lovely seeing you pop up on the dash or inbox or wherever but i hope you're having a good time here >ᴗ<

oh my goddddd your fig leaf experiments... divine. glorious. something about the description of "seeing how the flavors bloom in dairy" is just. dreamy?? you sound like a wizard creating your own magical spell book tome with your scribbles and notes and ideas (saying this in SUCH a complimentary way). crispy salmon skin IS life i just had some last night hehe i had to look up crying tiger steak and nam jim jaew but YOOO this reminds me of duk prahok... yum. and oh my god crying tiger steak is like. a summer staple for us. i never knew it had a NAME. not to over share but my family is from cambodia and i have so many recipes in my brain that i just figured were things my dad created LOL

AND I LOVE PUFFINS!!! in like second grade i did a report/presentation on puffins unprompted unsolicited to my class. i read a book about them and was obsessed i wanted everyone to learn about them (yes i am/was a nerd) (bless my teacher for letting me present lmao). and i do love apple scented things mmm. one of my favorite candles ever is autumn air from elder&co (notes of wild apple and pear and fallen oak leaves). i'm so glad it's getting cloudy and cozy season is coming bc i can light my candles without feeling too silly. do you have any favorite candles?? oh these other scents are SO GOOD. i love that!! brb going to find a way to smell these immediately

[thevampsworld96]

The Chords Of Love - BWS

Hey all, I hope that you're doing well. Sorry for not writing much. I've just been busy with personal stuff, but I will try to be more creative.

This has been sitting in my drafts for months, but finally, I have completed it. A few have been sitting in my drafts, and I will work on them and post very soon. I hope you enjoy this one. Have a great week.

🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼🌼

It was nearly coming up to midnight, but that didn’t stop you from coming over to see your bsat friend who was working late in the studio. You just finished work. You had an evening shift, and all you wanted to do was go home, but you had different plans tonight.

Half before leaving your shift, you messaged Bradley, who you have been your best friend ever since you kids you practically grew up together on the same streets your parents knew his and to do this day you still share a friendship with him but recently you started to feel something more different you started to develop feelings and strong ones too but wonder2d does he feel the same way.

Time after time, though, you have thought about telling him you felt but worried if it may ruin the relationship you have built together over the years, so you thought it would be best to keep them hidden.

You knocked on the transparent door as you arrived at the studio where Brad was alone, strumming his guitar quietly while in his own little world. As soon as he saw you, a smile appeared on his face as he placed the guitar down and walked over to open the door for you.

"Hey, you"

He said while giving you a hug.

"Hey, you okay?"

You asked him while giving him a tight hug. You were always pleased to see him the same way for him cause you always had a great laugh with him.

As the pair of you came in, you both ordered some late night takeaway and had a good just chatikg about your day.

Hours went by. Brad was on his chair, just opposite you. You were browsing through your phone while Brad stummed his guitar and wrote down some notes and lyrics he then stopped for a few moments and turned his direction towards you. You tried to ignore it, but it felt like his eyes were following you.

"Hey Y/N"

Brad called out your name, his voice breaking the silence, which made you jump.

"Yes, Bradley."

You responded bazk.

"Ive got a proposition for you"

He said.

You raised an eyebrow.

“What kind of proposition?”

You asked him.

Brad grinned at you.

"Why don’t I teach you how to play some guitar? Nothing too difficult, just come simple notes. Come on, it will be fun"

He says to you with his sweet, innocent smile that you absolutely adore secretly.

You stood at the same spot, hesitated, but the thought of it sounded like a great idea it is not every day your best friend offers you a free guitar lesson so you thought to give it ago.

"But Brad, I never played a guitar in my life"

You say to him once more. He then sat down next and handed over the guitar.

Brad leaned closer towards you. He smelt his fresh mint breath. He gave you the guitar, making sure you had a good grip on to it.

"Oh Emma, that's the beauty of. Trust me, you'll learn, and I promise it won’t hurt. Once you have learned it, you will impress everyone at parties. I can prove to you that"

He says to you.

"Fine buf, if you laugh at me, you're going to get it that is only if I mess up, of course, which will happen"

You say to him he chuckled quietly and you did sams and atarted to pay attention.

"Right, you're holding it perfectly. That's great. Now the first chord is G"

He says to you in his gentle voice. As Brad guided your fingers into the correction position, you instantly felt both of your hands brushed against each other.

Your heart fluttered, realising that this was more than just a friendship you crushed on him hard it made your pulse race.

"Am I doing right?" You asked him.

"You're doing absolutely perfect. Keep going"

Brad's eyes locked with yours. You looked deep into his eyes, and he did the same.

"Now strum," Brad says to you.

You continued to strum the strings the sound echoed through the room. You looked up at Brad, and his smile had widened as you carried strumming.

“See? You’re a natural.” He says to you.

The pair of you spent hours playing guitar. Brad patiently taught the chords while laughing when you fumbled and celebrated with amall victories. As the clock ticked, you both sat side by side on the small sofa with guitars in hand.

"You know," Brad said softly. "Music is like magic if you think about it. It connects people"

He said to you.

You nodded and agreed to what he said. "Yeah, now that I think about it. It's like a secret language between two special people, " you added.

Brad smiled, and you did the same seconds after his smile had slowly faded, and both of your eyes were locked on to each other. Both of your shoulders were now touching and slowly rubbing against each other.

"Sometimes it can lead to things that are unexpected," He added, eyes still locked on to yours.

Your heart racked was he thinking what you thinking about nearly every night you dreamed about it, but never did you think it would actually happen.

"Y/N," Brad called your name in a whisper. "There is one more chord that I forgot to teach you," He says.

"Really, and what's that teacher?" Your voice trembled.

"It's called the kiss chord," He said. No time was wasted as both of your lips touched his lips. His lips met yours, a sweet melodic kiss that sent shivers down your spine.

The kiss had gotten deeper, and deeper lips devoured, and you gently pulled away while grinning at him. "I think I have mastered that chord"

Brad chuckled. "Dam right, you must mean that you're a faster leaner"

As the night went on, you both played love songs and talked about your favourite ones. The strings of guitars strummed, which vibrated with their shared secrets. This wasn't just a music lesson it was a start ro sometimes beautiful.

The entire night, you told each other how you felt. Finally, all those feelings that had been locked away for years were now out in the open.

Tonight was the perfect night for Bradley Simpson, your best friend, who was something more than that. You were grateful that he felt the way. On this very special night, he taught you the chords of love...

[tenpintsof-sundrop]

“no one owes you anything” correct. if you don’t write for readers or socialization through interests, do not ask for recognizance and reblogs. we don’t owe you that. if writing is purely to indulge yourself in fandom & for your fixations, you don’t ask for a fucking thing. do not expect notoriety and admiration for this anymore. if you can’t complete something you’ve committed to already to a multitude of people, don’t do it? don’t say you will with schedules and promises just to fall short? you cannot demand every reader and follower to comment on your eloquent authoring, reblogging every thing you write when it’s your interest, and interacting with you. not when you don’t respect the people who have given you a platform and the opportunity to spout ignorance. you can be multifandom, you can stop writing when you don’t want to, you can no longer take requests if it’s just for your passion and fandom fixation. don’t expect more than what you give. deleting fics out of embarrassment, unfinished work, ignored comments and asks, and a shitty dash is all a choice you can make. maybe ask for critique and commentary AFTER you COMPLETE something and not with a bunch of unfinished work and not fall short on promises. AFTER you have respectful conversations. we’re done lol.

I can feel the pettiness coming off this omg. I can smell the "I have never written a fic in my whole life" energy.

I don't have the energy to respond to each point individually, but like - omg.

Someone's a little cranky that I haven't announced the date for the final chapter of Careful even though it's finished in my drafts.

And I wanna move on to other creative pursuits for a minute (to get some creative satisfaction after all of the demanding, entitled attitudes over that fic) before posting it so that I don't have to be bombarded with comments about how people are upset that the series is over - cause I will be fucking glad that it's over.

Also the people who have given me a "platform to spout ignorance?" This blog has less than half the followers of my writing blog, so if people don't wanna see my actual personality or don't wanna see me rightfully point out the unfair treatment of authors from the demanding tiktok brainwashed masses, then they don't have to listen to me or follow me here in order to read my personal posts. They can just follow my other blog for fanfiction posts only.

And last point - I have never deleted fics out of embarrassment. I deleted my blog to escape harassment like this and untintionally deleted unsaved fics along with it. All of the fics that I have put hard work into - even ones that I am not incredibly proud of anymore that might not represent my current style and skill level - are on AO3. (Like what fic are you even upset about? One of those random 200 word blurbs that I wrote half asleep that I don't even consider to be a fic - just a spouting of my ideas?)

Anyway, the more comments like this I get, the longer I am just tempted to hold onto the last chapter of Careful and wait to post it - months from now, years from now. Idk. Who knows. I'll just give what I get 💖💕

[konigbabe]

Hi. Just curious, how do you edit your work? I see a lot of writers say that editing takes them a lot of time and I just don't understand why?

Hello ♡ I don't know about anyone else but this is my editing process ⁀➷

I start by writing a rough draft in my Google docs. It usually looks somewhat like "He did that, you responded with that." and add all the dialogue I want. Also try to write as much "flowery" sentences I can think of during writing (Like "The scene is drenched in a potent blend of Satoru's possessiveness and desire."; metaphors, euphemisms, vivid imaginery etc.)

I leave it be for a few hours (or days sometimes); ocassionally adding sentences or paragraphs during the day when something pops in my head. After that, I sit down, open the draft and get to reading!

During reading, that's my main editing point - I fix grammar, change prose, add or delete what I need. It usually takes me few hours until I'm satisfied (I also get bored halfway thru so I usually split this part into segments as well).

I sometimes repeat No. 3 few days later if I don't have a posting deadline to add and change it up a bit more. It helps when there's no pressure on when to post.

After everything is done and written and I am convinced that this is what I want to release, I use two "apps" for finishing touches.

First, I run it through grammarly. It's not completely reliable and does try to correct the way I write (exclusing "is", "are" and other words for example...) but it sometimes points out mistakes that I managed to overlook.

Then I copy paste it into the Hemingway Editor. It's a web app and gives you suggestions on how to "improve" the text. Looks like this:

I only look at the number of adverbs and try to alter the text to get as close to the suggested number as possible. I also try to keep my grade between 6-8 but my main goal is the adverbs.

6. Then I copy paste it to my Tumblr's drafts, add all the tags, warnings and other necessities and post!

EDIT: Forgot to mention placeholders!! When I'm writing and can't think of a good description, I like to add something that could easily be found with CTRL+F (like ***, or @ or any other specific symbol that won't normally appear in the story/writing) and then when I think of a good enough description, I simply search for the placeholder and replace it with the text!

Hope this helped!

[moonspirit]

do you have advice you can kindly give new fanfic writers who are too scared of the blank page, posting and the fandom's judgement?

Hello anon~

I don't know if I'm the best person to ask, but I'll do my best to help you.

Feelings of fear are not uncommon for writers in general; whether someone is just starting out or has been writing for years - there can still be fear. The blank page can be scary because there's no words on it and you don't how to put them there. Posting can be scary because few might respond. The fandom's judgement is always scary because the fandom is this swarm of bees and you don't want it to focus any of its ire on you.

That said, as much as anyone wants to receive appreciation for what they write, writing should always, always, first and foremost, satisfy your own desires. When starting out, at least, a few things can help:

1. Become immersed in your story. Live it. Breathe in it. Watch it unfold like a beautifully directed movie in your head. Spend time thinking about it. Fall in love with it. Get so into your own story that all the external worries like recognition, appreciation, likes, kudos, hits etc become only a second priority. Your story should give you happiness. A LOT of happiness. Your first priority is to live inside your epic story.

2. Don't look at the blank page for its blankness. Write. Just write. Write it badly. Forget tenses and logic and continuity and prettiness. Just write. Finish your first full draft, even if it's filled with a million typos. Getting sidetracked into correcting and fixing and achieving perfection during the first draft is one of the major reasons people never complete. Trust me, once you have that finished draft, the rest is so much simpler. You can do anything with a written document, like edit, re-write, change, rephrase... but you can't do any of that if there's no document in the first place!

3. It can really help to make a brief outline of your story. Short bullet points of what happens in order. Noting down the dialogues in brief. What happens after what. So when you're actually writing the full story, you have something to refer to. It can make it easier to fill that blank page if you see your road to the bottom clearly.

4. At this stage at least, don't worry about the fandom's judgement. I will say it is a superficial thing to be frightened about, but many of us have been scared of the same thing, so I understand you - I won't invalidate your concern. Fandom is a free and open place to create, discuss, share your stuff, and enjoy yourself. And while every fandom has its dark corner, it's important to know that you have to really avoid those corners. Step foot there and things become unpleasant. Most people in fandom are nice. Assume as such, and just write your fic.

What should matter the most to you is to find that sensation of happiness that comes after finishing a story :3 That satisfaction is a feeling that trumps everything else.

I don't know if any of this is helpful but please, try them out. I hope you get something nice out of it at least :3

A lot of good luck to you!!!!

[lisbeth-snape]

Ok so the feedback under questionnaire was absolutely positive so here's the first chapter!

I hope everyone will enjoy it and feel absolutely free to comment or correct me if I had made some mistakes, English is not my first language <3

''The Curse'' by Lissu

Part 1: Huge, red train

Despite how difficult those vacations were, I didn't feel confident returning to Hogwarts. Panic engulfed me at the mere thought of leaving my Muggle parents alone, fearing that the one whose name can't be spoken would find and harm them. However, at any cost, I didn't want to abandon my studies. It was my penultimate year, and I couldn't wait to finish school and become a full-fledged witch. Despite my non-magical background, the wizarding world felt like my rightful place on earth, where I truly belonged. When I received the letter from Hogwarts on my 11th birthday and began to discover the magical world, I felt that it was what I desired in my life, something that finally fulfilled it and gave it greater meaning. I dreamed of holding a magical position in the future, though I hadn't yet seen exactly what it would be. I constantly oscillated between different possibilities, but I knew that whatever I chose would be right. The rejection I received in the Muggle world only reassured me of where I should be and what life I wanted to lead.

The swiftly approaching of train tousled my shoulder length, black hair, which fell over my face like a curtain under the draft. My father approached me and brushed it aside, tucking strands behind my ear and smiling, to which I responded with a the same and went to hug my mom goodbye. She smooothed out my bangs and she stroked my cheek.

"It's already here," I awkwardly exclaimed as I pointed out the huge, red train that arrived to the station with a long, resonant whistle, I feeling mixed emotions about leaving them in such a tense time.

I sighed deeply, "maybe you're right," I truly wanted to believe in it. They would also like it to be true. "I'm sure of it, after all, what's the chance they'll search for us anyway? -I had to admit that dad was right. The chances were absolutely questionable, yet it still bothered me. -on now, almost everyone is inside," my father said, handing me the suitcases, and I looked around. Indeed, there were only a few students left on the platform. Reluctantly, I grabbed my luggage, kicking it to lean on the wheels, and said uncertainly, "See you later," as the train started warming itself up and whistling again, blowing white clouds of steam. I hugging my parents again, saying goodbye to them. -don't forget to greet your friends!- I won't mom!-

I was walking through the tight and narrow corridor, trying to find any free compartment, trying my best to carry my heavy luggage and my owl in small, wire cage without stressing her too much. She was screeching with every shake of the chest she was on as I was trying my best to calm her down, as whole train probably could heard her. After I managed to find myself a free seats at the end of the train I threw my luggage onto the top shelf, and then I sat comfortably next to the huge window with absolutely amazing few. The train slowly started moving, heavily and with great effort finally leave the station, only to gain speed after a while. I was happy to be able to be alone to be honest. I didn't feel like looking for my friends, simply wanted to be alone with my thoughts and figure out how this year would go for me, but they found me anyway. Probably Acorn was loud enough for them to find me that easily...

"Hey, where have you been all this time?" my friend Colton - a tall, blonde quidditch player from Ravenclaw - the same house and me and girl next to him asked, pushing his luggage into the compartment, followed by Sophie - medium height, also blonde and blue eyed girl that I was when I first met her that she was Colt twin sister, but quickly I found out that they're not even regular siblings and we met each other at the same time in Hogwart's Express when we were 11. She walked right behind him with set of suitcases and small trunks, continuing his thought. "We haven't seen you on the Diagon Alley or literally anywhere all summer, we had no idea what was happening to you, you didn't even send us a single owl, although we were writing to you whole summer," she almost shouted in concern, taking a seat beside me.

"We know your parents are Muggles and it might not have been convenient for you, but we were really worried," Colton almost collapsed onto the seat, exhausted from putting all the suitcases, which our friend had.

"It had a pretty tough vacation," I said, looking out the window and tucking my legs on the seat so I could hug my knees.

"What happened?" they both asked almost simultaneously, and tears welled up in my eyes. I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Seeing my reaction, they immediately fell silent, and Soap, as we called her, leaned her head on my shoulder and asked softly, "Ann, can you tell us?" I took a deep breath and tried to put everything into words.

"At the beginning of the summer, I was with my parents on the coast, we just wanted to spend some time together," I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, the memories of those days sent shivers down my spine, and I felt how terribly my throat burned and tightened, almost preventing me from speaking. "We didn't realize it was a wizarding town, we just had no idea," I stumbled over my own words, "we went there because it was just nice and they had a beautiful beach... On the second or third, maybe fourth day, I really don't know now, we went out for a walk in the evening. We wanted to go to a café and walk along the beach, but—" I averted my gaze from my friends and wrapped myself tighter in my sweater, trying to calm myself by looking at the green hills stretching just outside the window, but it didn't help much. "Death Eaters attacked," I whispered, and tears began to well up in my eyes.

"They appeared literally out of nowhere, we were in the town square and suddenly black smoke began to spread everywhere I we couldn't breathe and our eyes were burning, they were falling from every arrows, they set most of the houses on fire with curses, it was horrible. My parents ran away, I just told them to take the car and leave without looking back, and I promised to try to Apparate home as soon as I helped the other wizards. I was scared, but there were many of them and only a few Death Eaters, so we had a good chance," I said everything in one breath, and my friends listened to me in silence with great concern. "An older wizard grabbed my arm and told me to run, he said I was too young and they would manage, so I just listened to him. I ran to our hotel, which was close, and tried to take our vacation photos and our stuff, I don't know why now, because..." I fell silent, feeling a strong pain in my throat, radiating from my larynx as if someone was crushing it.

"Because...?" Colton asked softly, with visible fear in his voice. I cleared my throat and tried to continue.

"One of the Death Eaters chased after me, seeing that I was alone," I whispered, "if I had just Apparated home, or to my parents, nothing would have happened," I recounted everything, bursting into tears, and at the same time revealing the sleeve of my sweater on my right arm, where I held my wand at the time.

"He disarmed me before I knew it, before I could react, my wand was already on the other side of the room, I couldn't do anything, couldn't defend myself in any way. He was older and stronger," I choked on my words, removing the bandage under which was a fresh wound.

"Dirty blood w..." whore. Sophie read shyly as she wasn't able to read it whole, placing her hand on my forearm to cover the inscription from anyone's sight.

"Sweetheart, we didn't know..." she continued, but Colton interrupted her, asking, "is that all he did to you?" but I was too shaken to say more than. "No, just that," although it wasn't true, but I didn't feel ready to say anything more. Those memories were too fresh.

"then I'm glad...," my friend hugged me tightly, trying to comfort me.

"Maybe we'll look for that lady with the trolley and buy something sweet? You look pale, surely some sugar will do you good," she asked, glancing at the boy on the opposite seat.

"We'll look for her with Soap, and you calm down, okay? It'll do you good to have a moment for yourself, we'll bring you something," he agreed, and they both stood up and left, closing the door behind them. I sighed deeply, stood up for a moment to cover everything with the curtain, and sat back down. I rested my head against the cold window, hoping it would ease the migraine that was starting, and stared blankly at the fields stretching beneath the bridge, arranged in a pattern separated only by small, stone walls. After a while, the greenery began to blur, and I didn't even notice when I fell asleep.

***

I had no idea how long I slept, but I was woken up by Sophie, who shook my shoulder gently "Anna, wake up, we have to get ready.-Huh?" opened my eyes as I straightened up, after I almost slipped out of my seat. "We're almost there" Colton clarified as he took down all of our chests and bags from the shelfs so we could carry them easier. I tried to bring myself to life again and get ready to stand up and leave the train, but as soon as I stood, I started feeling a massive headache. I hissed from sudden pain.

'Are you alright?' asked Sophie with a worried voice. 'Yeah, I'll be fine, don't worry,' I sent her a pale smile. 'I almost forgot! We bought you your favorite!' She added as she took out a small bag of glowing-in-the-dark bubble gums with grape flavor. 'Thanks!' I opened the bag and grabbed one for me and gave some to my friends too.

Soon the train had arrived and stopped at the siding as we got ready to leave. Once again, I was pushing my huge, heavy luggage through the tight corridor, full of others trying to get out too. It was loud and chaotic as everyone was pushing themselves to the doors, especially the 11-year-old wizards and witches who still couldn't believe that everything here was real.

I couldn't judge them, as I was just like them seven years ago. But even though I was 18 and kind of used to the whole magic world, it still amazed me and probably always will. I smiled gently, trying my best to ignore the pain that felt like the train, the same size as the one I was still in, derailed in my head with coal, scattering it everywhere inside.

After a moment, I was finally outside, as the cold breeze from the lake was dancing on my cheeks, giving me goosebumps everywhere. It was much colder and gloomier than in London. I looked up, and all I could see were dark clouds clumping together tightly in the most mischievous way. 'It's going to rain cats and dogs...,' I thought to myself as my friends stood by.

Together we found an empty carriage, and we were ready to go. We were absolutely excited for the new year, new Quidditch season, and new everything. It was also our penultimate year, so the shadow of fear was straight behind us as we weren't sure yet what exactly we wanted to do in our lives and what would happen to our friendship after walking in different directions... But it was not the time for that.

We were talking about frivolous things like how we spent our vacation. Colton was talking about an amazing Quidditch match he saw between the London and Manchester league with his father and how happy and surprised he was when he saw his older brother after almost four years of only exchanging letters. His brother, Matthew, was six years older than us and already got his job in the ministry as a diplomat in the international arena, so he was rarely home.

Sophie told us about her absolutely carefree time at her grandma's lake house in Provence with all of her step-sisters her mom has with her new husband after she got divorced when Sophie was 9. Her mom moved to France when Sophie was 10, and from then she was living with her dad alone, so the vacation was a nice break from her everyday life. I had nothing more to say than I said before in the train, so I was just listening to them and smiling honestly. I was absolutely happy for them and glad that they had a lot of nice time during summer.

***

After we unpacked our stuff in our dormitories at Ravenclaw Tower, we were ready to head straight to the Great Hall to greet the new school year.

***

'Now that we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement,' Dumbledore started his speech while standing on the gold, Phoenix-shaped rostrum in the middle of the Great Hall, surrounded by yellow candles with dripping wax. Some people were listening, and some not too much, as they had more interesting things to care about in that moment. But soon he added, 'This castle will not only be your home this year, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen,' he said as Argus Filch, our janitor, ran to him between our tables in the middle of the Great Hall, and after a second when he caught his breath, he whispered something into Dumbledore's ear. Everyone turned around so they could see what was going on, and some laughs could be heard.

After Filch jogged away back to the corridor and disappeared behind the doors, the headmaster continued, 'So...! Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event!' The Great Hall was completely silent, and everyone's interest increased. 'The Triwizard Tournament!' The voices and conversation came back to life. 'Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. For each school, a single student is selected to compete!

Let me be clear,' his voice got serious, 'if chosen, you stand alone... And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted,' he thundered sternly, which only stirred up the conversation. The whole hall was absolutely absorbed by him, like all the other topics to talk about suddenly disappeared from existence. 'But more of that later! And now... Please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress, Madame Maxime!' he said as the huge doors were opened, and a big group of beautiful witches dressed in baby blue robes came inside with a gigantic, elegant woman behind them. They were dancing, spinning like ballerinas, and they were casting tiny, sky blue butterflies all around them. The butterflies were dancing with them, and then exploding with glitter like dust, which was shining in the candlelight. Almost all of the guys and even some of the girls were amazed by them, looking with adoration and admiration in the direction of the French girls. But at the moment they stopped dancing and stood next to our headmaster, he started introducing another school.

'Now for our friends from the north! Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and their headmaster, Igor Karkarov,' the doors once again were opened, and a group of stern and menacing men walked in, murmuring, singing, and using their walking cane as drums. With every hit on the floor, not only could a deep beat be heard, but the floor was scattered with sparks and flames. Their synchronization was absolutely unbelievable as they suddenly started running and then did an acrobatic show literally between our tables. After everyone thought the show ended, one of them blew a real fire, that appeared as a Phoenix. The huge flaming wings fluttered mightily as their headmaster was now standing next to ours like he came from the flames. They greeted each other like old friends, and Dumbledore continued his speech, but I couldn't hear anything as from both of my sides, my friends were shouting over each other.

''That was THE Victor Krum! That Quidditch player!' Colton couldn't believe his eyes, as Sophie was also talking about one of the boys from that school, but in another, less connected to any sports. "Did you see him, Ann? In the second row from the left!" she whispered, discreetly pointing with her finger. I had no idea who I was supposed to be looking at. Thankfully, Thomas, our house prefect, caught on to what Colton was saying. "I know, right? I saw him at the match this summer when he was playing against Ireland, can you believe?" I looked in the direction Sophie was pointing, but I couldn't really tell which one of them she was referring to, as they all dressed the same, with the same hairstyle and even the same look on their faces. Glancing around the teacher's table, I tried to see if there were any new faces like in previous years when Remus Lupin came to teach us defense against the dark arts. To my surprise, there was someone new, absolutely scary looking—an older man with a face absolutely covered with scars and a glass eye that was continuously moving. This view creeped me out, so I looked to the side, catching the eye contact with our potions master, Severus Snape. He frowned, as he probably wanted to tell me to leave, so I quickly turned back to my bestie, feeling embarrassed with a burning blush on my cheeks. I felt absolutely dumb, so I tried to change the subject because I wasn't interested in looking back in that direction again.

"What do you think about having dessert after supper outside and studying for tomorrow?" "Picking and reading? Always!" she said and then asked Colt and Thomas about the same thing. "Sorry guys, but I'm out. As prefect, I have to show our new little birds the castle and stuff," Thomas said as he put his hands on the table. "Yeah, we understand. Have fun with that," we said goodbye to him. He gave me and Sophie a little hug and waved to us all as he left the table. Soon we grabbed our books and blanket from our room, which we were sharing with Sophie, Joan, and Kayla, and then we sat on the grassy meadows in front of the school. Our studying didn't last long, as it started pouring before we even got into the chapters we wanted to read. Sophie started screeching as the cold rain touched her skin for the first time, and we all packed our books to wrap them in the blanket we were sitting on a minute ago. With laughter and squeaking, we ran straight to the school and then tried to catch our breath as we walked to Ravenclaw Tower. Before we entered the corridor that led to the long, spiral staircase, a soft voice interrupted us.

"Good evening, my dears," said Albus Dumbledore calmly, with a gentle smile on his face. "It's pretty late for walking around the school, but I believe you're heading straight to your dormitories, am I right?" We confirmed with a smile. "Then I'm absolutely glad about that. Don't get yourselves into trouble on the first day of school. You know not everyone is as gracious as me when they see students walking around at night." He winked at us as he told us to go to sleep as soon as possible. We bid him farewell and tried to walk away. "Miss Doe, may I ask you to stay with me for a minute?" "Of course, sir," I said as my friends disappeared up the stairs and around the corner of the corridor.

[radioactive-earthshine]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by @fire-fira for this ❤

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 25 (there are a hidden 15 in my drafts on my computer that will never ever be posted)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

275,306

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Thus far on Ao3;

DC Comics Tolkien Astro Boy and one stray Cave Story fic

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1.) Sunshine. Falling. 2.) Under Silver Light 3.) A New Upgrade (which surprised me I totally forgot about this ancient ass fic) 4.) Band Aid 5.) Befuddled in Red

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I usually almost always unless it's a wank ass comment which case it gets deleted. I always love getting replies back from authors so I feel most people like the engagement.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Summer of Light. Slobo was terminally ill, he was dying, and despite all efforts from everyone, despite all our love and impact on the world in general it would never be enough to save him. The Lighthouse was him, btw.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhhh... Well, (spoilers) Sunshine. Falling. will have the best ending ever. But shhh. We gotta get there first. Otherwise... I think almost all my little fics have nice happy endings - particularly Funfetti Cake and Befuddled in Red.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Lol... There's this one reviewer who is totally obsessed with Sunshine. Falling. and with each chapter I upload they almost always have something nasty to say about it being Konbart. I delete it of course. And there was another person who commented on The Summer of Light (it's probably the same person) who just really thinks I should be writing another ship instead.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes. I want to write more.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I have not written any as of now but I don't mind them. I still feel like a Mass Effect/Star Trek crossover might be fun or a Mass Effect/LOSH fic but I need an idea first. I also might do a self indulgent Jetter Mars meets Atom fic but we'll see.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

As far as I know, NO.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

YES. Under Silver Light was translated into Russian of which I am immensely proud of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

No, the closest I have ever come to this is having a friend write a fic BASED ON an rp we had.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

I really hate 'favorite' questions because I have like... a collection I sort of juggle around but ATM it is the following;

Konbart Querl/Lyle Jay/Eddie Halbarry Jaime/Khaji da and last but not least my oldest of the oldest otp X/Zero

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have no fic that is in limbo ❤ Sunshine. Falling. is the only WIP I have and it is on the way (after Dark Crisis: Impulse).

16. What’s your writing strengths?

No idea. I think I'm pretty good at describing atmosphere though. Willpower. Spite.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Not caring enough about overall quality I guess and I really DO just "Settle for done" bc I really don't... care.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Always the correct choice if it is done correctly and in a way that makes sense. I've read some fics where it's just... peppered in with no real reason and it is jarring. I thought about trying to come up with Interlac words for everyone speaking Interlac but decided on not going that route and instead being sensible and just using italics.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mega Man X baby 😎

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Summer of Light and Wind Shear.

Pssst. Wind Shear is a Jenni fic. Go read it.

Tagging: I aint tagging no one, but please anyone seeing this just say I tagged you if you want to do something.

[hazardworld]

Little thing I’ve had in my drafts for awhile, it’s like semi finished

(queer’s used as a good/neutral word here, fyi)

----

Two years post-GF canon (summer before sophomore year) Ford finds a fuck-ton of anomalies in this tiny town a few hours outside Indianapolis. These  anomalies extend from the 80s on-- Stan vaguely remembers hearing abt everything (zombie boy, Hawkins Lab incident, mall fire, earthquake, etc), since Ford got tossed in the portal in January of ‘81.

The Mystery Shack Gang (Stan, Ford, Soos, Wendy, Mabel, Dipper, Pacifica) get Ford’s emergencies-only time measuring tape and go back to the 80s and drive to Hawkins. Stan makes them all IDs with appropriate birth years so they can blend in easier, and Melody watches the shack while they’re gone bc she’s the GOAT.

After booking motel rooms, Stan, Mabel, Dipper, and Paz go out. The first people they meet are Steve, Robin, and Dustin at Family Video, since Stan’s go-to easiest method of distracting children is cringy 80s movies. Dustin immediately clocks them for tourists and takes Mabel to the arcade (Steve just wants the kid to get his fucking homework done).

Robin clocks smalltown gays (Paz) and asks her about Rocky Horror. Stan has to quickly explain it’s like the Indigo Girls, to which Paz responds “I don’t listen to Rocky Horror but I listen to Rocky Horror.” This is obviously very confusing to everyone, so Stan mediates again and just asks if “they’re all queer here.”

Meanwhile, Ford is off exploring the woods for anomalies when he finds Hopper’s cabin, where El is hiding out yet again. Ford meets El, and Hopper walks in on them talking about multidimensional travel, which somehow El understands. Obviously, Hopper is wary about this old scientist dude who barged into his house with his illegal daughter, but El confirms he’s a little crazy but fully good-hearted, and even has a weirdness of his own! (his hands).

Simultaneously, Wendy and Soos stole the car and are driving around for something. They eventually find the quarry, where Johnathan, Argyle, and Eddie are smoking weed. Wendy trades Purple Palm Tree Delight with modern Oregon shit, and they all smoke together. Soos trying pot is an experience.

Eventually the GF gang reconvenes after Steve drives Stan, Paz, and Dipper to the quarry to pick up Wendy, Soos, and their car, where Stan complains that he wanted weed too. Eddie becomes nervous being couple-y with Steve around the newcomers, but Stan makes a comment about how he used to switch his own navy blue ‘back in the 80s’ in reference to Eddie’s hanky (both Steve and Stan are very casually queer).

The comment sinks in--it is the 80s--but no one tries to correct it. 

When they get back to the motel, Mabel has called, saying she’s staying the night at the Hendersons, apparently. During this sleepover, she teaches Dustin about the wonders of sweater-knitting and pansexuality, ("I thought that was just like orgies and stuff!" "Not in the future it’s not!" "What?" "What?") and Dustin teaches her about DnD and Cerebro, ("Oh yeah! Me and my Gruncle and my besties had to play that to free my brother and my other Gruncle from the villains come to life from this weird infinitesimal interdimensional die!" "What?" "What?"). Essentially, it’s extroverted pansexual autistic bonding night.

In the morning, they run a 3 hour sugar high and terrorize the arcade once again. Lucas and Will are there and very concerned.

El and Hopper, who drove Ford back to the hotel, get introduced to the whole rest of the gang. El and Max don’t quite realize their admiration for Wendy is 1000000% attraction, though Wendy however, does (she knows a fellow confused bisexual when she sees one). She tries to ease them both into the idea of being gay, but El doesn’t entirely get the nuance. 

Most importantly, El and Hopper open up about the Upside Down, so they all decide to have a massive family dinner that next evening so they can talk about trauma together. 

At dinner (Chez Steve) everyone introduces themselves and explains the terrors of each others’ worlds, because everyone’s equally traumatized and they finally have someone to rant to about it. The GF gang also tells the Hawkins crew that they’re actually from the future. Robin is psyched, Eddie realizes that Stan’s whole thing makes a lot more sense, and then shudders, thinking he could’ve hooked up with him before he got together with Steve, and Max and Robin and El are all still practically drooling over Wendy.

Eventually, Ford and Nancy have found themselves a corner and converse intensely about sciencey things, and no one can tell what they’re talking about, Dipper meets the boys and is psyched to find fellow lovers of DnD--he introduces them to DnD 4e ("Fifth edition is supposed to come out this September in our time!")--and Soos is still feeling the after-high (it doesn’t matter if this is even a thing or not but it is for Soos because he’s Soos, okay?). He, Johnathan, and Argyle (who are also high) are platonically/weed-induced cuddling on a guest bed.

(Soos, Hopper, and Joyce are the token straights here and we love them for that).

Stan, Claudia, and Wayne (who have been added to the party for other reasons) lovingly begrudge about their children on the back porch. Stan asks what was it like to have gay kids in the 80s (he wants to balance it on his own childhood), and Claudia and Wayne just look at each other…and snicker. Claudia is lesbian and Wayne is gay, and back in the day, the two of them plus Joyce and Hopper would go on double dates and be each other’s beards. (Joyce and Hopper knew it the whole time; Claudia and Wayne had not been quiet about their attraction when they were all little)

Steve, Erica, and Pacifica have their own version of the same fucking conversation on the back porch, though, theirs is more, "wtf is wrong with these kids/mofos/idiots.” Erica and Pacifica also converse about being lesbians.

Meanwhile, Dustin and Mabel have woken up from their nap to a pounding headache between the both of them. Dustin finds the Advil and they take some so they’re feeling better. Not knowing about the dinner party, they decide to go annoy Steve at Family Video, but Dustin’s too young for his permit, and his mom will kill him if he lets Mabel drive without one, either. Instead, they take a shortcut to Family Video through the woods.

"You’re taking a knife into the woods?" -M

"…Yeah? It’s-It’s the woods, man, dunno what could be out there…" -D

"Dude, chill, weapons are awesome. Just wanted to clarify," -M

Neither Mabel nor Dustin know about each other’s trauma, so they’re trying to cover shit up the best they can. (Mabel also secretly stashes her grappling hook and Ford’s other-dimensional laser gun on her at all times).

While they’re walking, Mabel notices that things have gone eerily…gray. Dustin then notices too, and voices it out loud.

Oh look, it’s everyone’s bestie Bill Cypher!

Apparently, killing him in the future means he’s still alive in the past. Mabel’s conveniently wearing her shooting star sweater again, and she gives Dustin his own Cypher name, 'Radio’. Bill reignites Mabel’s trauma, having access to her mind, and then tries to make a deal with Dustin. Dustin’s wary, and he sees Mabel’s panicked look when the deal is offered, so he luckily doesn’t take it. Bill then drops he’s gonna make a deal with Henry Creel, and disappears, the forest going back to color.

Oh look, it’s trauma dump time in the middle of the forest!

Mabel explains about the summer of 2012 and Dustin explains about Vecna and the UD. They come to the conclusion that Murderous-Mind-Demon x Murderous-Mind-Demon-With-Connections-To-Other-Murderous-Demons is not a good ship. Immediately, Dustin’s on his radio, and Max is the first to answer in a momentary bathroom break from her drooling over Wendy. (Dustin explains to Mabel that Max is like his own twin sister and Mabel instantly approves).

Max alerts the masses, and Steve picks the Dustin and Mabel up to they can all brainstorm what to do together.

Let the fun begin!

[atsadi-shenanigans]

Get to know your fic writer! (created by ahdriking)

Creating a master list to stay Organized, By God. Gonna cross out the ones I answer because for once in my life I'm approaching something with organization. Feel free to ask away (or not! no pressure!)

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

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Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

Link your three favorite fics right now

how does receiving or not receiving feedback/support impact you?

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How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

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[teachablemomentsblog]

Heart Map: The IHOP Story - An Alexa Addendum (Part One)

"She smiled, stood up, and turned to reach for a walker wedged next to her."

The day after I finished the IHOP story, my students, rather than jumping right into their work, uniformly walked in and sat down. They were still clearly processing what had happened. (Another class that year gave me a standing ovation for my one-liner to Alexa on the phone. I’m still not sure how I feel about that.) Eventually they found their voices, but not necessarily to continue their own Heart Maps. They couldn’t comprehend a person like Alexa. Which I could completely understand. She sounded like someone who would fit in perfectly as the antagonist in every melodramatic teen drama they all binge-watched on Netflix. But she wasn’t a character. She was real.

“Mister, do you still talk to her?”

“I wonder what she's like now.”

“Did you ever see her again?”

Of course, I knew the effect the story would have on my students. And yes, the story did serve a purpose within my classroom, but the students didn’t really much care about THAT. They just wanted to know the sequel! There has to be something after the justifiable insanity of me leaving a girl stranded at IHOP on her apology date. While my students pestered me for Alexa updates, I responded with cryptic, frustrating answers like:

“Yeah, we talk every once in a while.”

“She’s very nice. She’s grown up quite a bit.”

“I’m sure I’ve seen her around at some point.”

Unbeknownst to them, up until my year of writing this, I hadn’t thought much about mine and Alexa’s fallout after IHOP, mainly because it never appropriately fit any lesson like the IHOP anecdote does for my Heart Map. Plus, I enjoyed leaving it as an enigmatic glimpse for my students into the wild world of Mr. Rust’s pre-teaching life. Or maybe just my pre-married life without kids. (The married-with-children life has taught me plenty of its own lessons, which make it into a section later in this blog!) The mystery behind my stories always resonated better than me providing extensive context for what happened. My students’ imaginations filled in the gaps to create their own image of me in a much more alluring light. Much more effective than me detailing the horrifyingly mundane, monotonous, BORING truth about who I currently am outside the class. However, when I finished drafting the IHOP story, which was the first story I wrote for the blog, Bryce generously read the initial copy since he experienced more of these stories than anyone else. When he finished, even though he relished in reliving my love-life drama, he thought I sold Alexa short.

“Dude, you have to add the part about her walker.”

“What part?”

“The part where she uses the walker! That’s almost as good as the IHOP story!”

The walker. I had completely forgotten about the walker! I had been vague and mysterious about if I had ever seen her again partially because I didn’t feel like it served a purpose for any of my lessons. But, even more so, I couldn’t pinpoint when I had actually seen her again. And never cared enough to think about it. Therefore, I had completely forgotten about the walker story! Even though, technically I don’t think I ever told any of my students the walker story, it still made for an exciting followup chapter in our saga. Actually, correction, once Bryce reminded me, I had to try it out on a couple of my classes. You know, as motivation to complete their work. I couldn’t help myself.

…

I wish I had a more concrete time frame from when I left Alexa at IHOP to the next time we talked. If I had to guess, we didn’t talk for close to two years. At the time, I had recently broken up with Katherine, my first long-term girlfriend (who will show up later in this blog) and I was processing the reckless effects of single life again for the first time in fifteen months. So, in my utter loneliness, I had to see what good ol’ Alexa had been up to!

We decided to meet at a small coffee shop in The Woodlands. Even though I didn’t necessarily expect or even want the meetup to serve as anything more than a little desperation company in my post-Katherine state, I still made a sincere effort to dress my best and secretly hoped she had stayed as attractive as I remembered. (I did more than brush my teeth this time.) I pulled my Pontiac Sunfire into the parking lot and there she sat at one of the white metal tables outside. She looked exactly as I remembered. I was irrationally excited, especially considering I didn’t expect much from our rendezvous. Maybe I still held the IHOP incident against her and needed to show her how great I’d been doing, especially after my most recent breakup. Or maybe I just felt lonely.

(Note: By the way, I swear I’m not this shallow anymore. It took me a long time, and a lot of eye-rolling decisions to realize that attractiveness didn’t have to serve as the deciding factor to interest me in a member of the opposite sex. I still attest that these hardening experiences gave me the knowledge I needed to discern what I did and did not want in a girlfriend and wife. Alexa was clearly a learning experience for me. Don’t worry, this addendum doesn’t fare much better than our time at IHOP.)

As I left my car, she spotted me. She smiled, stood up, and turned to reach for a walker wedged next to her. Yes, a walker. With tennis balls slipped onto the leg-bottoms and everything. Quite the shocking new addition to the Alexa I knew and loved. She awkwardly jerked the walker in front of her, and started to shakily scooch her way towards me. I quickly picked up the pace and broke into a brisk walk/run hybrid. I didn’t want her to ostentatiously scooch all the way to me, especially in front of all of these people! (Especially looking back on it now, I can’t help but feel she absolutely accentuated her scooching to showcase her debilitated situation for the coffee shop patrons. That would be such an Alexa thing to do. How Alexa.)

We finally finished walking/running to each other. I leaned in and gave her the most forced, uncomfortable, over-the-walker hug ever. I’m not sure how many uncomfortable over-the-walker hugs there have been, but this contended for the worst. We shuffled back to her table where her coffee and pastry sat and started talking. It obviously didn’t take long for her to bring up the subject of her added walking accessory from the last time I saw her.

“Yeah, it was weird. My neighbor ran me over with his car.” She said it with a shrug and a sip of coffee. So casual. Like this was a normal occurrence for most people. How Alexa.

“Oh my god! How the heck did that happen? That’s crazy! I’m so sorry. What a freak thing to happen.”

“Well, yeah. That’s the thing. We think he did it on purpose.”

“What? There’s no way! Why do you think that?”

“Because he ran me over twice. Once backing up and again going forward.”

“Oh. Shit.” 

My God. How Alexa.

She proceeded to tell me about rehab for her injured back and legs and a variety of other body parts, so she needed the walker for another four-to-six weeks until she had fully recovered.

Our conversation then steered towards our current love-lives. I explained the lead up and eventual breakup between Katherine and I. She talked about her tumultuous relationship history after IHOP including her current boyfriend, who’s name was, once again, not important enough to remember, (although, I know it wasn’t Robbie or Trey). Let’s call him Jason.

Impressively, leaving her phone next to her pastry, Alexa unravelled her and Jason’s unsurprising relationship problems.

“He used to be a huge pothead. I mean HUGE. And I told him no way was I going to date him if he was smoking weed everyday. So he quit for me! And everything was going great, and then all of a sudden he started back up again. And I don’t know what to do. We’re still together but, I don’t know for how long. He keeps saying he’s not smoking again. But I know he is. Hey, actually, would you do me a favor?”

Uh oh.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Well, Jason keeps denying he’s started smoking again. But I know he’s a liar. I just need to catch him in the act.”

Uh oh.

“Yeah, I guess it would help if you actually caught him. At least you would know for sure...”

“It really would! So, right now I’m not able to drive, because of my rehab. And I know he’s at the park smoking with his friends. Would you mind driving me over there and dropping me off? That way I can catch him? I need to know I’m not going crazy.” (This whole scenario is sooooo Alexa.)

Absolutely not! Alexa I am out of here! That is your problem and your drama and I’m not getting myself involved in this stuff anymore!...is what I should have said.

“Um, sure! So I just need to drop you off? That’s it?”

“Yes! It will be really quick. Sorry to ask you. I just need to know.” (Are you really sorry, though? Really?)

We drove to a nearby park so she could catch him in the act. (Note: I was not prepared for the struggle to finagle her supposedly “collapsible” walker to fit into the back of my Sunfire. It felt like something out of a movie as I wrestled to simultaneously unhinge the adjacent sides to fold in and squeeze the entire contraption into the miniature compartment they called a trunk in my Sunfire. As usual, things proved to be far more complicated than they needed with Alexa.)

Stay tuned for Part Two coming Friday!

[captainamericasmotercycle]

Hangman x female reader

Hangman falling in love with wolfmans daughter,she was so overly sweet and gentle,she couldn’t ever stay mad at someone and he didn’t understand why but she was the one girl who truly made him feel weak to his knees.They we’re best friends and she never once judged him for how he held himself around others,through the arogence and the cockyness somehow she saw straight through it all an when he was having a really hard night and nobody seemed to know because he was great at hiding that,she ended up just sitting in his lap after he finished playing pool and running her hand through the back of his hair not saying anything at all,it was her just trying to relax him though jake found himself making getting excited about something else.

southern belle

pairing: jake “hangman” seresin x fem!reader

warnings: none

wc: 1.5k

a/n: i hate to be THAT person but sorry this took so long, i had this uncompleted in my drafts and i scheduled to post it last week but a hurricane deadass annihilated my state but anyways i decided to make jake and the reader in an already established relationship i hope that’s okay!

“I’ve been hearing some talk about you around base, Bagman,” Natasha said while finishing her turn in pool.

“Well, what can I say? Pilots are big talkers,” he responded, bending over the table to take his shot.

“Saying you’ve got someone back home,”

Jake looked up at her, “Yeah, you didn’t know that?”

“So it’s true?”

“Yeah,”

“Are you fucking with me, because it’s not funny.”

Bob, Javy, Bradley, and Mav walk up to the area where they normally hang out in the back of the Hard Deck.

“What’s Jake doing this time,” Bradley asks, handing a beer to Natasha.

She takes a sip of her beer and looks around at everyone, “Is Jake actually married or is he fucking with me?”

“He’s married,” almost everyone says in unison.

“Bagman? Like Jake Seresin? Is married?”

Maverick laughs, “Yep, his high school sweetheart if I’m correct,”

“Yes sir,”

“How do you know that? How did everyone know he’s married?”

“He’s married to my Goddaughter,” Natasha’s mouth dropped open and it was like her jaw was going to hit the floor.

“And one of my childhood friends,” Bradley added.

“What?”

“Yeah. None of us have met her but Jake’s said things here and there about her,” Javy says, taking a seat and pointing in between himself and the rest of the squad, excluding Jake, Bradley, and Maverick.

“This is unbelievable. How is Jake Seresin married and I’m not?”

—

This weekend was one that wasn’t too busy for the aviators, so you decided to come up to go house hunting with Jake. You wanted to be with him, but you also wanted him to stay at his base in San Diego. So you compromised and decided to move out to California.

Of course you were going to miss your little place in Texas, but it was worth moving if it meant you would be with Jake again. You had been apart for almost 3 weeks while he worked and you got the moving details sorted out.

You flew in around 7 and texted Jake that you were there. He told you to come down to a little bar called the Hard Deck. You heard your stomach rumble, yeah, you could eat.

You managed to get a rental car and drive yourself out there. When you arrived, you couldn’t help but to feel nervous. You hadn’t met any of his fellow pilots or friends in California, well except for Maverick and Penny.

You grabbed your phone and hopped out of the car. Walking in, you spotted Jake across the bar, and you felt like you had butterflies in your stomach. Even after 6 years, he could still make you feel like a high school girl with a crush.

You divert your attention away to behind the bar where you spot Penny. You walk over to her and lean against the bar. She’s pouring a beer, “I’ll be right with you,” she slides the beer down the bar and turns to you.

She gasps and smiles widely, exclaiming your name. “What are you doing here?” She tells someone to cover for her and walks out from behind the bar. She engulfs you in a big hug.

“I’m up here for a while to look for houses with Jake. I mean he’s got a place but we just figured we would rather have a bigger place with a yard, you know, just in case,” you winked.

“I see,” Penny smiled back. She worked her way back behind the bar, “Well what can I get for you tonight?”

“Get me one of whatever Jake is having,”

“I’m on it,” she winked and smiled while going to pour your drink. You kept yourself leaning against the bar.

Jake spotted you from across the bar and got butterflies. Even after 6 years, you could still make him as flustered as the day you met. He set down his cue stick and walked over to Natasha, “Hey, Trace, how much do you bet that I can get that girl’s number,” he pointed over to you.

She looked at him confused, “I thought you were married?” I mean, he had to have a little fun tonight. Jake pretended to slick back his hair and made his way over to you. Natasha watched with a shocked face, but Maverick knew exactly what was happening, this wasn’t the first time he had pulled a stunt like this.

He finally got to where you were standing and leaned against the bar next to you, “Hey, Darlin’, what are you drinking tonight?”

You turned and smiled at him, “You know, I’m havin’ whatever my husband is havin’,”

“Shame you’re married, we could’ve made a good match,” he pretended to pout. You giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck and he leant down and kissed you softly.

Across the bar, Natasha dropped her pool cue in disbelief. She watched Penny come back with a beer and talk to Jake and the mysterious woman. The woman grabbed her beer and Jake grabbed her hand, leading her back to the group. Natasha’s mouth was still wide open.

The pair came over, laughing. “This is my wife,” he introduced you to the Dagger Squad. Natasha shut her mouth, which was now dry and she watched your interactions with the rest of the team. You walked over to Maverick first and he engulfed you in a fatherly-like embrace. “It’s good to see you kid,”

“You too, Uncle Mav.” Okay so Maverick wasn’t lying about you being his Goddaughter. This was unbelievable for Natasha Trace. How in the world is Jake “Hangman” Seresin, married to a sweet thing like you?

You made your way around the area, introducing yourself to all of Jake’s friends.

“Bradshaw,” you smile.

“Wolfe,” you squint your eyes at him, “Not anymore, Bradshaw, I’m a Seresin now, I have been for a while too,”

“Really? You’d rather take on this dip’s name, rather than keep the cool one?”

“Alright, Bradshaw, that’s enough slander on my humble family name,” Jake cut in. Natasha watched the interaction between the three of you, well I guess Bradley wasn’t lying about you being childhood friends.

Maybe she’s in some sort of nightmare, this can’t be real. You walked over to Natasha last, “Hi,” you tried to introduce yourself to her, but Jake interrupted you, “This is the Mrs.,” he said proudly.

You rolled your eyes at him and introduced yourself to her in the way you wanted, “You must be Natasha, I’ve heard so much about you from Mav. He says you’re an amazing pilot,” you smiled at her and she smiled back, in a forced kind of way. She wanted to reach out and touch your face to make sure you were real.

“So you’re married to Jake?”

“Yes, ma’am,”

“Like, you?”

You giggled, “I am,”

“Natasha, seriously–”

“Jake, this is your wife? But she’s so sweet and you’re so… not,”

You gasped, “My Jake? He could never even hurt a fly, his momma raised him better than that. He’s the sweetest man I know!” You knew he wasn’t, but you had to have a little fun. You’ve been with Jake for 6 years, of course you knew he had a temper, teasing tendencies, and a bit of an attitude, but you’d never admit it out loud.

“See, thank you, sweetheart. At least someone has my side,”

“Of course, baby,”

—

You spent the rest of the night trading stories and sipping beer. The bar began to empty and soon enough it was only your group in there.

Jake was sitting across from you, watching you tell stories of when you two were in high school. He didn’t know how you did it, but just the looks you gave him made him weak in the knees. He began to get more tipsy and more emotionally overwhelmed.

He came over to you and sat down, he laid his head on your shoulder and you didn’t even think twice. You ran your hand through his hair as he lay down, you didn’t even blink when he came over, you just continued to tell your story.

When you were finished talking, he pulled himself up to your ear and whispered to you, asking to go home. You nodded and waited for Bob to finish his story.

When the end of the story came, you stood up and grabbed Jake’s hand, “I think it’s time for us to head out. It was wonderful to meet you all tonight, we should do this again soon.” You all said your goodbyes and you dragged Jake out to the rental car.

“Baby, my truck,” he pouted.

“We can come back for it tomorrow, honey, right now let’s get you home,”

He nodded and followed you to the car, you helped him in and you got into the driver’s seat, you having had much less to drink than Jake. You pulled out of the parking lot of the Hard Deck and began to make your way home to the apartment.

A perfect ending to a perfect night.

[thera-daydreams]

ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ᴏʟᴅ ʟᴀᴅʏ ɪꜱ ᴀ ᴡɪᴛᴄʜ

ᗢ jujutsu kaisen x scarletwitch!reader ᗢ

05. geto suguru

the traitor who calls people monkeys but later on gets his body hijacked by a literal mastermind creature

Chapter Index & Synopsis

warning: will contain spoilers from the jjk manga and the latest mcu shows (particularly wandavision and loki, as well as rumors from doctor strange in the multiverse of madness). once again, this will contain heavy spoilers—you have been warned. This chapter in particular is the most manga spoiler-filled, too. Beware when you scroll down! Thank heavens I drafted this sorta-complicated chapter during my summer break... 'cause now that school's back, the next chapters I haven't drafted yet will take a bit of time. Though this is Geto's chapter, he's kind of still in a haze when you met him, but there'll be more interactions in the upcoming chapters, don't worry, loves. Enjoy this much longer and slightly more complex chapter!

[EDIT] 6/17/2022, 8:03PM: Edited after the mess that happened in DSMOM2.

(word count: 5,843)

(previous chapter)

"What did you do?"

Your current housemate—a once infamous assassin—gave you a very suspicious look while you happily grinded the herbs for your marinated honey lemon chicken. Today deserved a delicious dinner meal and some fine, aged French wine!

You blinked, turning to Toji. "Hmm?"

"You've been in an awfully good mood since last night," he noted. "You've been singing to yourself, dancing while you took out the trash..." His eyes narrowed. "Something happened."

You shrugged, the lines on your face accentuated as you smiled knowingly, "Maybe. But that bastard deserved what was coming to him."

"... You confronted Sukuna, didn't you?"

You didn't respond, simply uncorking a bottle of wine and pouring him a full glass. "Cheers!"

"You know I don't drink wi—"

"Just take a seat, Toji."

Before he could finish his sentence, both of you were now in the dining room, sitting down. After he got over the mild whiplash from the unexpected teleportation (damn, you could do that, too?), he realized he was now holding a stein of ice cold beer in his right hand.

Toji frowned, "Y/N, I don't drink alco—"

Now he was holding a warm cup of jasmine tea instead of an alcoholic drink. On the other side of the table, you held a fancy glass of red wine, giving him an expectant look.

"Well?"

He took a cautious sip of the fragrant tea. Like all the desserts and meals and drinks you had in the shop, this was just as wonderful as any of them.

"It's good," he muttered. It wasn't his fault he was choosy! He'd given up alcohol years ago to avoid getting drunk and spending his money on it (but his logic was flawed since, well, he'd gamble it away, anyway). Seems like questioning how you defied the laws of physics was useless.

"So... magic?"

The smile you had on all day reappeared on your face, "Mmmhmm. Magic. Now stop talking about that damned Curse King."

He laughed. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. But any chance you could magic me some meat and offal?" he suggested with a mischievous look in his eye.

You rolled your eyes, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today."

You pointed your finger on the table and poof! There was now an entire selection of your housemate's favorite food, as well as a Korean-style barbecue grill in the middle of the table.

"Holy shit, why haven't you done this before?" On Toji's face was an ear-splitting grin. At that moment, he looked like a child lost in a candy shop.

"I spoil you too much," you expressed. "So much for my honey lemon chicken. You're lucky I'm not taking this out of your paycheck."

He shrugged, not denying it, "I am lucky to have you as my boss."

You thought that nothing could ruin your smug mood for the entire month (unless Sukuna himself showed up on your front door, of course) but a few weeks later, you stood corrected.

God, you really shouldn't have jinxed it.

ᗢ▪︎ᗢ

This guy was something else. When he entered the shop, he was accompanied by two cursed spirits with a significantly high amount of cursed energy (one plant-based, one fire-based, how very Pokémon-y), as well as a ghost that looked like the man who you just served tea to. You briefly wondered why the ghost wasn't in his body.

Then it dawned unto you.

Was there... someone else inhabiting his body?

With a forced smile, you hid the fact that you could see the curses and the ghost (whom you doubted these curses could even see). You noticed that although the ghost and the strange man sitting beside the curses looked exactly alike, the man had a single horizontal stitch running across his forehead while the ghost did not.

Something was wrong here. Very wrong.

You didn't make it obvious, however, as you asked the man if he had any additional orders.

"The café special for today is the matcha cream puff!" you enthusiastically recommended, masking your apprehension. One of the spirits, Jogo—from what you read in all their thoughts—openly expressed his distaste for you, dissecting your short, elderly frame little by little. The other one, Hanami, was quieter.

"Tsk. This one won't be living too long," he snidely commented to the man, who only hummed in response. "Too bad."

In your mind, you imagined choking the arrogant volcano head. But you quickly calmed yourself down, focusing on the person with stitches on his forehead. Hitting lava guy can come later.

"Hmm... let me think..." the man with stitches said.

For this strange man, curses called him Geto, but in that man's mind, you could see something evil and old. As old as Sukuna, perhaps, and something about a Noritoshi Kamo.

Definitely not the student Noritoshi you knew in the Kyoto campus, but likely, related. An ancestor from the same clan, maybe. You've read something about him before in the tomes Tengen let you borrow.

You continued skimming his mind and ah, there it was, Kenjaku. This fake Geto's real identity was Kenjaku. That would mean that the ghost exhaustedly floating beside him was probably the real Geto.

Then, you saw it. All of it.

Just like what you saw in Ultron when he first tried creating a new body all those years ago.

Annihilation.

The Shibuya Plan.

Or, in this case, the Shibuya Incident. October 31st of 2018.

You saw it all. The killing of Mechamaru, the massacre of hundreds of innocents in the underground train station, the sealing of Gojo Satoru, the return of Okkotsu Yuta, the deaths of Nanami Kento, Masamichi Yaga, and countless more. You saw the rampage of Sukuna, the vengeance of Zenin Maki after Zenin Mai's death, the obliteration of the Zenin Clan, Choso and Yuki fighting, Nobara... Sukuna... Megumi... what had happened to them... and everything else. The casualties were immeasurable.

The saddest among them all for you? Yuuji's remorse.

You could see a reflection of yourself in his guilt. The complete destruction of Sokovia, the mess you made in Lagos, the Westview Anomaly, the Multiverse of Madness—until today, you were still emotionally repenting. Atoning for your sins.

That image of your son with a scar on his face was painstakingly engraved into your mind. The innocence was completely gone from his eyes. Partially, it disappeared already (judging from what you'd seen in his thoughts about the detention center and the recent Junpei Yoshino incident with Nanami and the curse with stitches). From what you were seeing now, the curse with stitches—Mahito—was an accomplice to this fake Geto, as well. He wasn't around as of the moment; you figured he was still recovering from whatever fight Nanami and Yuuji engaged him in.

You noted it. October 31, 2018. Just a few months from now.

2018.

Funny, wasn't it? In your universe, the year 2018 was the anniversary of Vision's first death, too. The Snap. The decimation of half the universe. Recalling that you had been the last one standing in-between the Mind Stone and the Mad Titan in the Battle of Wakanda made unwanted memories resurface.

Maybe if you were stronger, you could've saved everyone. But you couldn't. You were dusted in the Snap, too. When you came back, your best friend was gone. Natasha, one of your first friends in the Avengers and a sister-figure to you, had given up her life for that damn Soul Stone to revive you and all the others. When you came back, Vision was gone. His body was gone... and then you had to find his remains being disassembled like he was a mere piece of metal. A weapon. Not a person whom you loved and loved you back.

Blood boiled in your veins. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes.

After the Shibuya Plan would be what was called the Culling Game, wherein newly-made sorcerers would have to participate or die. A battle royale of survival. This impostor had a dangerous plan brewing. A plan that could threaten the safety of all of Japan, maybe even the globe.

You saw all of that havoc in just a moment. A split second. It had come and go as quickly as a single thought.

Back in the real world, you inhaled sharply at the spine-chilling premonition, startling your guests—the two curses, the human (?), and the soul. Thinking quickly, you disguised it by clutching your heart, pretending that you had a frail old woman's heart. Yet, after what you just saw—the unfortunate fates of your new, beloved allies—it wasn't all that hard to pretend your heart wasn't in pain. It was. And it reminded you of a pain you thought you'd left behind years ago.

Your head hurt, and you felt like puking your guts out.

"Agh... oh my," you exhaled shakily.

"Are you alright?" the pseudo-Geto asked with feigned concern. He even stood up, going to help you.

You shook your head, raising your palm to stop him, "Yes, yes. I'm fine. Just... a little... nauseous." You acted like you were steadying your breathing, then put up a weary smile for them. "I'm sorry. My heartburn has been acting up a lot lately. One of these days, it might turn out to be a heart attack!"

"Tsk. Serves you right, human. She doesn't even have any cursed energy. Weakling," Jogo muttered. Hanami was silent, only staring at you. You disregarded his comment, keeping your attention on Kenjaku.

This lunatic.

"Again, I'm sorry, dear," you told him with a slight bow, then returned to your original goal. "Oh! Did you want the matcha cream puffs?"

"I would like that very much, Ma'am," Kenjaku politely replied. It was so polite it was beginning to grind on your nerves. This man was nowhere near respectful. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, yes. I'll... I'll be okay." You waved him off, changing the topic. "How many do you want to order?"

"A dozen, please."

You were tempted to place poisoned herbs in their order, but refrained, instead plastering another fake happy smile on your face.

"Alrighty-then! Give me a few minutes to prepare the meal, alright? Would you like a fresh brew of our bestselling coffee, too?"

"Sure," he nodded. This Kenjaku and the curses watched as you went into the kitchen and closed the door.

Toji was there, giving you a stern look (probably because his senses were as sharp as ever). You made sure to enhance the spell in the kitchen so no one from outside could hear or see your conversation. Then, you leaned your back on the table, trying to process what you had just seen.

It was too much.

"There are cursed spirits outside," he told you with a frown. He noticed how unnerved you were. That was unusual. Normally, customers carrying cursed spirits wouldn't have bothered you. Yet, right now, it looked like you were sick. However, he did note the high levels of cursed energy outside, atypical of the usual cursed spirits that visited the shop. "Do you need me to take care of them?"

"... I'm... I'm trying to remember something. Wait. " Ignoring him, you went straight to the point and stared up at him, eyes desperate, "Do you know a guy named Kenjaku? An old client, maybe? Or a target from the past?"

You really did hope this Kenjaku wasn't the ancient one you'd read about very briefly in a scroll. He was only mentioned shortly.

Toji paused, then shook his head.

"How about a man named Geto? I saw it in his thoughts. Geto Suguru. The name rings a bell. From what I know, Geto Suguru is supposed to be dead from that incident last year..."

There was recognition in his eyes, "Huh. Yeah. I knew that kid. He was that Gojo's partner. The cursed spirit manipulator. We fought each other after I killed the Star Plasma Vessel... and before that boy with the Six Eyes managed to kill me." He muttered the last part.

This revelation greatly alarmed you. This Geto was probably that same Geto who used to be Gojo's best friend.

Used to be.

You'd caught Gojo thinking about him occasionally. It was one of those rare times he was quiet in your shop, but his thoughts were running rampant. The spirit outside could be the Geto Suguru who was known to be the worst of all curse users. The traitor who killed an entire village then died a few years ago at the hands of Satoru himself during the Goodwill Event.

You put the pieces of the puzzle together, making sense of the vision you saw.

Kenjaku was possessing Geto's dead body. That was his cursed technique. But Geto wasn't fully dead yet (or his soul hadn't moved on to the afterlife yet because of Kenjaku). It was why you could see his spirit, just like how you saw Toji's.

You then explained the entire situation to the Zenin clan deserter, summarizing to him the Shibuya Plan which was to take place soon. Heck, you even told him that he was supposedly going to be revived during the incident by one certain curse user and that the Zenin Clan was going to be massacred.

"This Kenjaku... I read it in his mind and his memories—"

"—You can read memories, too? Damn."

"Shut up and let me finish. This Kenjaku is as old as Sukuna himself, and I'm guessing that since you're from one of the Big Three Sorcerer Clans, you know about that villainous Noritoshi Kamo."

He blinked, "I've heard of him, yeah."

"Aside from those Death Paintings: Cursed Wombs he created in the last century, he's planning something else." Your face was steeled and serious, a contrast to how happy-go-lucky and laid-back you usually were. "Kenjaku... his cursed technique allows him to transplant his brain into different bodies to possess them and he's inhabited different people throughout the centuries, assuming different identities, experimenting on people and curses alike. He believes that the next stage of human evolution is not to remove, but to optimize cursed energy."

"... You got all that from reading his mind in one minute?"

"One split second, actually." You sighed tiredly, "It was horrible. Absolutely sick. And those stupid cursed spirits kept looking at me like I was dirt. Do you know how hard it is to pretend you don't hear them telling you to go die? I had to fake a heartburn when I accidentally reacted to their plan!"

That made the man chuckle, "What do you plan on doing, then?"

"I'll serve his matcha cream puffs and coffee. And hope they don't burn down the shop... not that they can, the runes will render them powerless within the shop—"

"Runes?"

You gave him a blank stare. "Those white symbols on the corner walls and the entrance doorframe aren't just for decoration, Toji."

An amused look appeared on his face, "... Every day you manage to surprise me, granny."

You rubbed your face, "I don't know if that was a compliment or not, but I'm planning to make the real Geto's soul stay here. I want to talk to him. Maybe do the same thing I did to you to him."

"You're giving him a mannequin body?"

"Yes."

"What if he decides to kill you?"

"Then I undo the spell."

"... Oh, so that's what will happen if I try to kill you."

You hit his arm playfully, "So disrespectful, Toji."

He rolled his eyes, but there was a smirk on his face. You prepared a plate of matcha cream puffs, a cup of steaming coffee, and then exited the kitchen.

Time to serve those little pieces of crap.

Toji shook his head, returning to molding the dough for a new batch of buttery garlic bread (you'd taught him well and thankfully, he no longer burned the kitchen down after weeks of intensive baking training).

Luckily for you, the curses didn't try anything inside the bakery. When they left, however, the ghost of Geto Suguru was strangely left behind. He couldn't get out of the exit and follow his physical body.

He cussed, "Shit, why can't I—"

"Don't try to struggle, sweetheart. It's futile," you called out from the cashier, counting some money. "That brain thing stole your body, didn't he?"

Geto stilled, realizing that you could hear and see him. A dead man. You also knew about his situation. He was confused.

"Yes, I can hear and see you, dear. So, you're the infamous Geto Suguru." Your head tilted at him curiously. "Tell me, do you want to have a living body again?"

"I—"

"That's a yes or no question."

"..."

"..."

"... Who are you?" he asked warily.

A sincere smile appeared on your face as you stepped away from the cashier, walking closer to him and extending a hand towards him, "My name is Y/N L/N."

He looked down at the hand, hesitant.

"I can help you be free, Geto-san. Only if you'll let me."

He cautiously lifted his hand from his side, his larger one encapsulating your smaller one. He was dead anyway, so what harm could it be?

Woooosh!

He didn't even get to process that you were able to touch him, too, when everything flashed red.

You did to him what you did to Toji.

Geto couldn't believe it. He was alive again (kind of)—through a former mannequin's body!

"In exchange for giving you a new body, you'll be helping around in the kitchen with dear Toji-kun. You two know each other already, so talk it over." You pulled him to where Sorcerer Killer was (and Geto visibly paled at the familiar face, even if it was years ago).

Suguru was stunned, "Isn't he the Sorcerer Ki—"

"Toji-kun! Do me a favor and explain to him everything he needs to know, will you?"

The ex-assassin scowled, but nodded. After hearing about the Shibuya Plan, he understood why you were doing this.

"Fine. Sit down, kid. I'll tell you about what just happened and who that lady there is."

Geto had absolutely no idea how to react to what was happening to him. Was he dreaming? Was he asleep? What?

You read his mind quickly, assuring him. "No, you're not dreaming, hun. Oh! Before I forget," you poked your head back into the kitchen doorway. "No fighting or else the runes won't let you move for an hour. And Geto-san, you'll be telling me all about that Kenjaku man and those cursed spirits he had with him. Plus that Shibuya Plan they have. Gosh, it's Sokovia all over again."

You mumbled that last part so quietly it was indecipherable even to Toji's ears.

Said curse user was speechless. He turned back to the Sorcerer Killer whom he'd fought many years ago, swallowing in unease. Didn't Gojo kill this guy already? Were you the one to bring him back from the afterlife, too? Who were you, exactly?

Many weeks later, he still wondered how a weird old lady managed to resurrect slash free him from Kenjaku, worm her way into his heart, and appoint him as the chef of her kitchen (Toji was assigned to be the baker; besides, Geto was better at cooking the meals than he was—those years of taking care of Mimiko and Nanako honed that certain talent of his).

What exactly was happening?

He had to be honest with himself, though, whatever was happening, he really did like this new life of his—something about your place, and about you, was really calming. Suguru could tell that Toji, who was a known murderer, loved what he was doing, as well.

The hefty allowances you gave both of them were a plus, too. Hell, you gave him his own room and bathroom in your household (Toji didn't seem surprised at all that you just magicked the space out of nowhere; he had probably grown used to it).

Your retirement in this universe wasn't going as well as you hoped it to be after recent events, but oh well. Now two of the most dangerous men in the jujutsu world worked under you and lived under the same roof as you did. Your adopted son was the vessel of a 1000-year-old curse and you also had another crazy 1000-year-old psychopath who wanted to create a real-life Hunger Games. Was this even a retirement, still?

One could just imagine what happened when you finally introduced your "new hires" to Nanami and Gojo... Megumi and Yuuji, too.

"Momma, why'd you call us here so late at night?" Yuuji asked, still in his sleepwear as he rubbed his eyes, leaning on an obviously-disturbed-from-sleep Megumi's shoulder.

At the moment, you didn't care that Sukuna would be hearing this conversation. He wasn't of priority right now.

"Is everything alright?" Kento asked, already concerned about your wellbeing (how sweet, this man). You had no idea if Nanami had been sleeping, but when you called asking him to come to the shop for an urgent matter, he came without hesitation. Unlike on most days wherein he would be wearing a suit, tonight he was only wearing his glasses and some cool-toned loungewear. Gojo, on the other hand, had the audacity to show up in bunny slippers and a fluffy grey bathrobe.

The white-haired man whined, "Nehhhhh, Y/N, since it's the middle of the night, you should give me something sweet to compensate!"

This was the moment of truth.

Ignoring Gojo's statement, you exhaled deeply, "Please don't freak out!"

The four males in front of you stared, confused. "What?"

You then dragged a scowling Toji and a sighing Geto out of your kitchen.

The silence that followed was so loud you could hear a pin drop.

Hell, even Sukuna popped out as a mouth on Yuuji's face, wanting to see what the fuss was about (he also wanted to see you and was soon disappointed to find you in your elderly form again).

"Kento, Satoru, Yuuji-kun, Megumi-kun," you began, trying not to focus on their astounded faces. "Meet my... uh, new hires. And housemates. They've been here with me for quite some time already, and I know you know who they are."

And for the first time since you met him, you heard a wide-eyed Nanami swear, "... Holy shit."

Megumi and Yuuji were clueless at first, though, having no idea who Toji and Geto were. But when they found out... well, needless to say, Gojo had a lot of history to catch up with his ex-best friend (still-best-friend-but-it's-complicated?) while Megumi had the chance to get to know his supposedly dead father even more.

Sukuna was even more interested to see Megumi's father himself, hailed to be a notorious (the notorious) Sorcerer Killer. He thought of how good Megumi already was with his potential, but what of the man who had zero cursed energy yet could destroy cursed beings and humans with little to no effort?

ᗢ▪︎ᗢ

"... So let me get this straight, this Shibuya Plan you're telling us is going to happen soon. I get sealed away, then Nanami, Yaga, and a whole bunch of people might get killed by those Special Grades we encountered recently. The higher-ups get their way, too, and the Zenin clan is destroyed by Maki-chan."

"Yes."

"And that Kenjaku guy who stole Suguru's body is out there planning the next Hunger Games, but no Jennifer Lawrence. Sorry, Yuuji-kun. And the entirety of Japan and probably the world is plunged into danger."

His summary was, in essence, accurate. Thus, you nodded. "... Uh, yes. You're correct."

"And though you don't have any cursed energy, you can use actual literal magic and can read thoughts anytime—"

"Only when I need to, Satoru. Or when the person is practically screaming in their heads. Which is what you're doing right now."

"And revive people—"

"—Create bodies for trapped or lost souls," you quickly corrected, shaking your head. "Necromancy has a high risk of instability so I like to avoid it, especially if the soul has already fully moved on to the afterlife. If I try to actually resurrect someone, I would need the original body, too, thus it's a limited option."

The men stared at you, not knowing what to say.

"Ooooooookay," Gojo mumbled, still glancing at Geto every once in a while. "And those symbols on the doorframe and on the corner of the walls, they're for protection?"

"Yes. The runes are a basic protection spell, and they've actually created a barrier around this building for safety. They deactivate anything dangerous. I've also made it magically undetectable, which might be unnecessary since I don't know if you guys can sense it or not. It's not made from cursed energy, after all."

"Huh. I actually don't detect it with my Six Eyes," Gojo wondered. "Makes sense. But I did always feel like the atmosphere would change whenever I went inside the shop."

"I thought it was just the theme and the décor," Nanami pondered, slowly processing what you were saying. "Is the calming aura literally an effect of the barrier?"

"Well, maybe both the café itself and the barrier," you chimed in. "I made it hospitable so that all customers and anyone in it would feel totally comfortable!"

"Much appreciated," Geto mumbled, now understanding why being in the shop and your home felt nice. Really nice. Nicer than anywhere he's been as someone alive. He wasn't complaining, whatever that barrier was or what was in it.

"What else can you do, Momma?" Yuuji inquired curiously, trying to ignore the strangely-jolly Sukuna mouth on his cheek.

"The brat's right," Sukuna hummed, speaking up for the first time. Everyone in the room paid attention to his overly-interested voice. "What else can you do, woman?"

Your eyes narrowed at him, still a tad cross with him from that incident. "Nothing that concerns you, Curse King."

"Hmph. We'll see."

You made up an excuse, "And besides, we'd be here all night if I said them all. A woman's gotta keep her some of her secrets! The only thing I'll tell you is that my magic allows me to do many things... aside from talking to different types of beings in the spiritual realm."

"... Why are doing this for us anyway, Y/N?" Gojo huffed, a little overwhelmed.

He and Nanami were still in disbelief at how Toji Zenin and Suguru Geto were "revived" by you and now you're telling them you read the mind of the evil mastermind who was currently residing in the real Geto's body. Heck, they only just found out about your... special powers that were apparently not jujutsu but magic.

It was a lot to take in.

Megumi sat quietly beside his father, not yet speaking a word since the revelation.

"Well..." You gazed at the wooden ceiling of your shop. "I'm a retired woman who just wants to live life in peace." Your nose scrunched up as you reflected on why you were actually doing this. "I may not look like it, but trust me when I say that I've had enough experience with individuals like Kenjaku. It's why I've decided to take matters like the Shibuya Plan into my own hands."

They merely stared at you, wondering what you were talking about.

You looked back down at your reflection in the dark cup of coffee you held, "I knew a man—well, he wasn't exactly a man, per say—who said he wanted to make a better world. Growing up in a warzone, you can't really blame me for siding with him."

Ultron.

They didn't know anything about your past, but now they did. A little bit. And the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to click together.

"When I was younger and didn't know any better, I sided with him for a time... until I looked in his head and saw annihilation. I found out that this better world he was talking about could only be accomplished when..." Your voice trailed off as you recalled that meteor crashing into the planet—the meteor that turned out to be your war-torn homeland.

You didn't realize you were lost in your thoughts, until Geto prodded. "When what?"

"When everyone is dead," you replied quietly. "To him, the world would only be better if there weren't humans in it. I could see his point, but that was pure extremism." You shook your head. "There's this other... madman I knew, too, who wanted to eliminate half the population to maintain balance so that finite resources wouldn't be used up."

Thanos.

You glanced at Geto, who was suddenly in a state of deep thought. You knew he was rethinking about his philosophy of killing all non-sorcerers.

"Where are these two guys?" Gojo inquired seriously. Everything you told him about what might happen in the future alarmed him. He had to rethink his emergency plans should he ever be incapacitated.

That Prison Realm was bad news.

You chuckled and brushed it aside, irises momentarily glowing a dim red they barely noticed. "Oh, please. Don't worry. First guy's heart was ripped out of his chest and second guy's nothing but a pile of ashes now. We just need to focus on Kenjaku now."

The four men—who'd stilled at your statement—could tell that you may have had something to do with it. Sukuna, on the other hand, was more intrigued.

The King of Curses was a hundred percent sure you did have something to do with those two men you spoke of. He didn't say anything, however. The way you smiled just now wasn't the sincere, happy one they were used to seeing, as well.

"Huh, I wonder why," Toji remarked, the only one aside from Sukuna who was able to glimpse your combat abilities.

"The kids..." you began reluctantly, referring to the students of Tokyo and Kyoto Jujutsu High. "Jujutsu sorcerer or not, I don't want to give them a future that's all war and misery."

"That, I agree with fully," Gojo said, crossing his arms.

"Besides, this is my home now," you grinned. This time, your smile was true and reached your eyes. "And this time, I'm going to make things right. I'm going to help fight for it. For you, guys. You're all my precious people. Either way, it's the only way I can finally actually enjoy my retirement." Their hearts warmed at your statement. Precious people, huh?

You may not have been able to do something when Geto himself unleashed the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons in Shinjuku and Tokyo last year (you had been away, visiting your home universe for Christmas with Loki and Strange; what bad timing), but this Shibuya Plan wasn't something you'd leave unattended. It would affect the entirety of Japan and possibly, this whole world. At heart, you were still an Avenger; you'd do what you could to prevent destruction.

You prayed that you were actually going to make things right and not mess up (again). If you were wrong about interfering with these events... well, shit. Still, you knew you weren't going to regret doing this.

The entire café was silent, before you remembered something important.

"Satoru!" you suddenly spoke, a light bulb on your head. "Before I forget..."

"Yeah?"

"... Any chance you can make Yuuta-kun return from overseas?"

He slouched, huffing, "Well, it'll take some convincing of the damned elders—"

"Can you do it?" you asked, more insistent this time.

The white-haired man paused, then smirked cockily, "Do you doubt me that much, Y/N? Of course I can! It's just going to be a pain dealing with those old geezers."

"Good. Because we need all the help we can get against Kenjaku and all the demons you used to store, Suguru-kun. Plus those stupid Special Grades that kept giving me the evil eye. I swear I'll especially strangle that mouthy volcano head myself..."

Now that the mood wasn't as heavy, the men sweat-dropped.

"I'm going to have to make some visits, too," you told them. "First, with Tsumiki-san."

Megumi perked up, hearing his sister's name, "What?"

"I may be able to undo the curse with a spell," you shared to the younger Fushiguro. Beside him, Toji watched his son's reactions carefully. "Just give me a bit of time, okay? I'll remove whatever is on her with my magic so that she doesn't get involved in any of Kenjaku's plans."

Megumi was frozen in shock—so many things happened to him this year and this might be the best amongst all of them.

"I—I," the shikigami user stammered, bowing his head gratefully. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Y/N-san! I'll... I'll be forever in your debt!"

"Don't worry about it, Megumi-kun." You patted his head. All of a sudden, Megumi and Yuuji were gone from the shop.

"What the f—" Gojo sputtered. "Where are my students?"

"Back in their dorms, don't worry. I just needed them out for this specific part of the conversation," you reassured the sensei.

Satoru, Kento, Suguru, and Toji blinked owlishly at you.

You continued, "Second, I need to talk with a certain Mechamaru who's being a double agent. Third, I have to convince Yuuji-kun's brother to join our side!"

"Brother?" Gojo asked, interested and in awe.

"Isn't he an only child?" Nanami muttered to himself.

"A guy named Choso is his half-brother, and so were those two Cursed Womb: Death Paintings he and Nobara-chan killed last week." You shuddered at the memory you'd seen before. "Kenjaku's an utter psychopath. That poor woman Noritoshi Kamo tortured... good God, nine pregnancies and nine abortions for experimentation. That experimentation probably led to Mr. Brain implanting himself into a female body to try it the other way around. Apparently, that's how Yuuji was made!"

Everyone, except Geto who already kind of knew the information from sharing a body with the Brain, looked extremely disturbed.

"You don't look... too surprised with the circumstances, Y/N," Toji commented.

Of course you weren't! You yourself married an android synthezoid and conceived twins immaculately after wishing them into existence in your dream sitcom reality.

You weren't fazed, of course.

"Can't say much about that when my own pregnancy was bizarre as it was," you snorted, entering the kitchen. "Mine practically happened overnight!"

They had no idea you weren't overexaggerating.

"Y/N has kids?" Gojo whispered to Nanami.

"Yeah. Sons, she mentioned to me before. Once," the blonde ex-salaryman replied, frowning. "But when I talked to her about it, she said she didn't have a family anymore."

"Does that mean dead or just out of town...?" Geto inquired.

"She doesn't have any pictures in the house," Toji said. "Not a single one. Even in her room." The other men gave him a suspicious look. The ex-assassin scowled at them. "Hey! I know because she's asked me to clean out the boxes on top of her closet, you bastards."

"Whatever happened, she's been alone for a long time before you two came along," Nanami said, addressing the two men who lived in your home now. "As much as I hate to say it since you two are former jujutsu criminals, I'm glad that she's got someone to look out for her. In case something bad happens to her, curse-related or not."

The Six Eyes-user mentally agreed despite what had happened between him, Suguru, and Toji. He first glanced at his ex-best friend, then at the man who almost killed him in his youth.

The universe really did have a weird way of making things work.

(next chapter.)

Author's Note: Oof. The plot thickens, and the boys now know your magicky-magicness! Sukuna's still the only one who knows about your disguise, though. What happens next? That's a secret for now. 😘

Anyways, how was it? Reblogs, comments, hearts, interactions, and constructive criticism are very appreciated! If you wanna be tagged in the upcoming chapters, feel free to message me or comment (just pleaaase make sure you allow yourselves to be tagged in your settings). 🤗❣️

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