#<- I made this tag to keep this genre of posts organized lmao

[lilacpaperbird]

Okay my turn to tell you what you need to do. I mean, look. Try a classic PBJ first. But then do a PBJ with marshmallow fluff. Because what is more american than taking a sandwich that already has questionable nutritional value and saying "you know what would make this better? If we added a paste that is literally just sugar." I have a tub of it in front of me because your post inspired me to eat two PBJ fluff sandwiches and the ingredients are corn syrup, sugar, egg whites, and vanillin. That is it.

I believe marshmallow fluff used to be a thing you could only get in New England, but these days Kraft got in on it so you can get it all over the US. Fluff is the name brand; the off brand name is marshmallow creme. The traditional fluffernutter is just PB and fluff, but personally I would never do it without the jelly.

The longer I exist as an American, the more I realize this country is a parody of itself. I also live in a town with a green in the center that is covered in american flags as we speak, and I'm a 15 minute drive from a roadside attraction where they have big models of dinosaurs. America is, in fact, exactly like it is on TV.

I love you thank you for this, I didn't even know PBJ + marshmallow sandwiches were a thing !! and this reminded me that one of the "american things" that I would looooooove to do is try a damn marshmallow! 😭 I'm not joking if I ever had a marshmallow roasted by a campfire ?! I'd get emotional avhdjwsjhrsj this sounds so silly oh my god but it's true. anyway I've looked up where I could get marshmallows/marshmallow fluff and I don't think any of the regular supermarket chains here has them but I can order them online so. I'm going to do it. if I can't go to america, I'll bring america to me *bald eagle screeches in the distance*

when I get all the ingredients I'll do both the normal PBJ sandwich and the fluff version and I'll tell you how it goes 🦅🇺🇲🔥

[ilys00ga]

𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀.

➞ pair: yoongi x reader.

➞ genre: hurt/comfort (why do I keep making these lmao), established relationships, I'm so bad at tagging sorry.

➞ warnings: angst and fluff cuz we all need that (we really do). reader has anxiety and abandonment issues, yoongi is trying his best for the sake of both of them, just relationship things.

➞ A/N: requested by @parkjennykim, this was very fun to write! thanks for yet another idea <3 I hope u like it. I'm organizing this blog/post (?) while listening to mono, and let me tell yall, it's such a vibe omg. I think you should read this while listening to that album, I love it sm, I can't even begin to explain UGH- if namjoon ever goes on a world tour, he better perform every single song in that album, cuz imma be losing my mind in the crowd, esp during moonchild. my vocal cords are already getting sore. yeah. if u want this to hit that spot, maybe u should do what I said (this is a friendly order, if u will). if not, just enjoy and pls ignore any mistakes, english has been challenging me recently (for the last 10 years lmao)

ps. I am in a dire need of a yoongi in my life. specifically the one I wrote in this one. oh how I love being a lonely fanfic writer <33

★ MASTERLIST.

ᵎᵎ 𖦹彡⋆｡˚・ ─ ・ ⋯ ・ ─ ⊹ ♡₊˚๑

God knows how long it had been after it hit midnight when Yoongi stood in the kitchen. His eyes were red and heavy with drowsiness, but he couldn't sleep that night.

How does one sleep through a restless, biting night?

Surely not with a bad headache, or overflowing thoughts, and especially not with guilt chewing on his core.

He gulped, throat begging to be quenched as it held onto a slight, delicious, yet bothersome burning sensation. He opened the fridge and filled a glass with some water, raising it to his lips when loud a cry of his name, followed with a thud and a number of sobs, disturbed the quiet of the night and made him jump, startled.

His limbs froze in their place, glass almost slipping his hand and crashing on the floor when his sleep deprived brain realized that the muffled cries were yours.

Wide awake, he dashed after the sound. Thirst and sleep no longer occupied his mind, all he could think of was holding you in his arms.

He found you on the stairs, trembling as you wailed into your hands.

He hated it so much: seeing you in pain. He wanted nothing more than to shield you from the rainfall of your gloomy sky, from his own rainfall, from the world. How could one be an umbrella and the rain at once?

He blinked, once, twice, then gulped and heaved a deep, tired breath.

One storm doesn’t require another storm to be calmed down, that he knew. One needs to be composed and collected to stand still during a storm, that he knew as well.

With worried eyes, he gently called out your name and walked up to you, “darling, what’s wrong?”

You looked up as soon as you heard his worried voice, some tiny sense of relief washed over you when you saw him right there. A hundred daggers digged so deep into his heart and bones, aching, the moment a broken whimper of his name fell from your lips.

Without a second thought, Yoongi hugged your face to his chest. One of his hands was patting your back and the other affectionately caressed your head.

As he listened to his name that never left your lips, Yoongi held you there on the cold of the stairs with nothing but sweet nothings whispered back to your ears.

Everything he did and said was so gentle and soft, like he was so afraid you'd crack and come to tiny bits and pieces at any given moment. It all made you want to cry even harder, to hold him so tight and never let go.

Soon, when your tears started winding down, pulled away and cradled your face with his hands, palms faintly pressing on your cheeks as if he hoped to share their warmth with you.

Tender eyes met your wet ones and stared as their owner’s voice made its way through the noise of your sniffles and hiccups. He said, “It’s alright. I'm here. Talk to me, hmm?”

You answered his plea with a small nod, before wiping your tear stained skin and hugging him again. He smelt like home. You took a deep breath, greedily feeding your lungs with his lovely scent.

He hugged you back, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling your body closer to his. He pressed light kisses on your temple, patiently waiting for you to talk.

“I had a really scary nightmare. so, so scary- I woke up, didn’t find you there- then…then I remembered the fight we had earlier. I…I thought I lost you- I'm sorry. sorry for the stupid things I said earlier. I love you so much! please don’t leave. please..”

Your voice quivered with fresh tears ready to be spilled again. Yoongi started hushing you as soon as he noticed that you were working yourself up.

Squeezing you in his arms, he whispered “I never left, and I never will.”

“I’m all right, nothing happened to me, see?” he leaned away just enough to allow you to take a quick look at his body, then added, “a stupid fight is not going to make me leave. I love you way too much for that, and I'm sorry for hurting you too.”

He could still read fear and uncertainty all over your face, and he didn't like that. He knew that you trusted him, and he didn't doubt your love for him.

At first, he didn't get it. He didn't understand the insecurities, the anxiety and the nightmares you suffered from especially after the inevitably worst of arguments that happened between you and him. But after longer and deeper talks, with you expressing your feelings and him listening with careful ears, it made much more sense to him.

Sometimes he hated himself for triggering your alarms and making it harder for you, but he knew it was neither his fault nor was it yours.

Growth and pain are two key elements that come arm in arm with love, and fights are an unpreventable part of any kind of relationship. For all that, he always ended up blaming himself for making you question your worth to him when he can't even sleep without you happily cuddling his side.

Softly, lovingly, he started prepping tender kisses over your cheeks, nose, forehead, chin, temples, all over your flushed face.

It worked like watching waving fields of green wheat dancing with the wind, your storm started to slowly die down and your heart felt at ease again. slowly, but definitely.

Smiling ever so affectionately, Yoongi sealed his reassurance with a loving kiss that consumed you whole, and it left the corners of your mouth curving up in a dazzling smile. You nuzzled his chest and sighed.

“I really hate fighting with you.” you mumbled into his clothed chest, drained and light headed from all the crying and nearly-a-panic-attack you went through.

“I know, I'm sorry. I hate it too." he whispered back.

There was a pause of comfortable silence, with both of you breathing each other in, before he wondered aloud: “did you fall down the stairs? are you okay?”

You chuckled breathily at his question, recalling the hysteria he had to deal with just a few minutes ago. But Yoongi was there, right beside you. your arms were tightly wrapped around his torso, right by your side.

He had some kind of exceptionally irrepressible magic in those fierce eyes and that gummy smile of his, you inarguably couldn’t be more grateful for that.

“I'm alright. Was too busy crying, I didn’t even feel a thing to be honest.” you said, and he giggled.

“I love when you’re clumsy like that, but please be more careful, muffin. Can’t have you hurting yourself because of me even more." Even with your face buried into the crook of his neck, you could feel and hear the heavy pout in that comment.

Huffing, you leaned away with furrowed brows and a strict gaze. Yoongi gulped. Hesitation took over him, yet he knew that honesty is the only thing that must be present to drive this conversation to an end.

Honestly brings clarity, he found himself reminding himself of that very often.

"as long as we take care of each other, it's okay. I love you." you affirmed, and perhaps Yoongi almost teared up because of the way you looked at him right then and there. He wouldn't utter a word to spoil that information out loud, though.

The shy grin and the flushed cheeks you were met with were worth risking the entire world and its eight billion residents. You couldn't help but smile and pull him into another hug.

"This is great and all, but my butt is numbed. I think there's no blood flowing down there anymore," he said, his heart swooning when you giggled at his humorous change of topic, so relieved that he was finally able to hear your brightness again.

"Let's go back to rest, darling." He stood up, grabbed your hand and squeezed it in his, then gently pulled your body up and dragged you to your shared bedroom, where everything and everyone else meant little to nothing at all as you laid in each other's arms.

[c-is-writing]

sticky notes

pairing: wandanat x gn!reader

genre: fluff as per usual

word count: 1588

warnings: polyamory (reader’s girlfriends are wanda and natasha)

a/n: ahhhhh my first request :’DDD i’ve actually had this sitting in my drafts for a while but never decided on the pairing until now lmao. also! for once i am posting this at a decent hour for me. i hope you all enjoy it uwu

original request

Ughhhh, I can’t wait to go home in a few minutes. I really want a break just to spend some time with my girlfriends. You begin to clean up your work area, tidying your papers and organizing your filing cabinets. Just as you grab your bag, a co-worker of yours rushes into your office frantically. 

“Y/N! I need you right now.”

“Huh? Why? What’s up?”

“I just got called into a family emergency and I really need someone to finish my paperwork. Do you think you can do it for me?”

You pause, thinking it over. Do you do your friend’s paperwork or refuse and go home? You’d feel bad if you said no because your co-worker is one of your closest friends but you don’t want to keep your girlfriends waiting. After considering your options, you sigh and place your bag back down, “Yeah, I can do the paperwork. Take care, I hope everything is alright”. She lets out a sigh of relief and thanks you as she hands you the paperwork. Looking it over, it seemed like it would take at least two hours to complete. Oh well, looks like my break will be delayed.

You were wrong about the paperwork. There were so many issues and miscalculations with the paperwork that you had to redo all of it and go search for past files to ensure the information was correct. At this point, your girlfriends were getting worried as you were never the one to come home late without telling them. Three hours had passed since you were originally supposed to get home and out of worry and concern, Wanda calls you.

Breaking your concentration, your phone goes off. As you reach for the phone, you rub the tiredness out of your eyes and answer in a quiet voice, “Hey, Wans.”

“Y/N, baby, is everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I should’ve texted you two earlier but my co-worker just had to leave for an emergency and I’m doing her paperwork, right now.”

“Oh, how much longer will you be there? You sound really tired, you’ve been working hard for the past month and you deserve a break.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I’ve been redoing the calculations and double-checking the information again because there were so many issues with it. I just ca-”

“Okay..okay. Just take a deep breath and try to finish up the work soon, alright? Tasha and I miss you.”

You let out a light chuckle, “Mhmm, okay. I’ll try to be home soon. Love you.”

As Wanda bids her goodbye, you can hear Natasha’s faint voice in the background telling you to come home soon and that she loves you. Pressing the red button on your phone, you let your shoulders sag forward and rest your head on the table. Before grabbing your pen and going back to work, you groan and think about your girlfriends, both of them waiting for you to get home. That gives you a spark of motivation as now you are more determined to finish your work and get back to them as soon as possible.

Finally, after another two hours of work, you finished the paperwork. Letting out a yawn and listening to the pops from your back as you stretch it, you decide to grab your bag and leave. I’ll give her the paperwork and reorganize my office later. Heading to your car, you check the time on your watch, only for it to read “12:10am”. Once you get into the car, you lean your head against the steering wheel, wanting to go to sleep. You turn on some music in the hopes that it can keep you awake as you start the car and begin the journey home.

Upon arriving at the compound, you notice that most of the lights on your floor are turned off and your girlfriends are nowhere to be found. You assume that they’re probably in your shared bedroom, fast asleep considering how late it is. As you open the door, you find nothing; your girlfriends are still missing and there’s clothing on the bed. Turning on the lights, you make your way to the pile of clothing with a sticky note attached to it. “We’re sure you’re tired so change into these clothes and get comfy. Then, go to the place where we spend our late nights ;)” A small laugh escapes you as you think about how caring your girlfriends are. Within the next few minutes, you’re out of your work clothes and wearing Natasha’s hoodie paired up with Wanda’s sweatshirt. Both articles of clothing slightly baggy on you because they were always the type to have oversized clothes since “it provided maximum comfort” according to them. The stress slowly leaves your body as you make your way to the kitchen.

The overhead lights turn on and illuminate the kitchen to reveal a mess that resulted from impulsive baking, again, and a tray of brownies with another sticky note. Giggling to yourself, you think about all of the times the three of you shared late night baking sessions that always resulted in big messes and a lot of dirty dishes. Lost in your thoughts, you realize that you haven’t been able to bake with Wanda and Natasha due to all of the stress and work you’ve had for the past month. Shaking away those thoughts, you eye the brownies and pick up the sticky note reading, “Hey Y/N, you’re as sweet as these brownies <3. Bring a small container of them and go to the place where we had our first date.” Upon further inspection, you see a small scribble in Wanda’s handwriting, “PS. I made the brownies, don’t worry.” Laughing at the note and smiling fondly, you grab a couple brownies, put them into a container, and make your way to the living room.

Running your hand along the couch cushions, feeling the soft but slightly coarse texture on your fingertip, you remember your first date with Wanda and Natasha. What started out as a movie night with Natasha became a cuddling session with you sandwiched between your two favorite girls as Wanda joined you two. At this time, you were quickly coming to the realization that you had a crush on both of the women and that movie night solidified it. Once the movie had finished, the three of you had a talk and wanted to pursue a relationship together as three. Sitting on the couch, reminiscing in the memories, you notice a small yellow square on the coffee table in front of you. It captures your attention as you sit upright and reach to grab it. Tracing the words with your fingers, smiling at the small conversation happening on the paper.

*Wanda’s handwriting* “You know I always gave the best cuddles” 

*Natasha’s handwriting* “Hey! No, I did!!” 

*Wanda’s handwriting* “Hmm surrree Tasha. Anyways, come up to the roof, we have something for you :)”

Feeling your heart soar with happiness and adoration for the both of them, you push the sticky note into your hoodie pocket, hearing it crinkle against the other notes, and starting walking towards the staircase with the container of brownies in hand.

Within a few minutes, you reach the door to the roof and place your hand on the handle, unsure of what to expect. Taking a deep breath, you slowly push against the door and crane your head around it. This was not at all what you expected. The roof was softly illuminated by the string lights draped around a large picnic blanket with pillows, pasta, and best of all, your two lovely girlfriends: Natasha and Wanda. As you soak in the scene in front of you with eyes full of awe, Natasha gets up and quietly makes her way over to you. The red hair blocks your view as you feel Natasha’s hands grasp your shoulders. In a gentle voice, almost afraid to disturb the peacefulness, she tells you, “Hey, lyubov moya, we know you’ve been working hard and pulling late hours at the office for the past month. And I’m sure you were tired from having to stay late so Wanda and I wanted to prepare a relaxing evening for you, so you can destress and enjoy your long weekend.”

You look at her with watery eyes and bury your face into her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. Shocked by the sudden action, Natasha recovers and wraps her arms around you, gently stroking your hair as you mumble about how much you love them. At some point during the hug, Wanda joins in as you feel her chest pressing against your back. The two whisper words of praise as you take in the love that radiates from them. Freeing yourself from the sandwich and moving to hold their hands, you look at the both of them, overwhelmed with happiness and love, and say in a quiet voice, “Thank you both for doing all of this. I will never understand how lucky I am to have you two in my life. I love you, Wanda and Natasha.” They give you a fond smile, understanding how stressed you’ve been for the past month and knowing that this break was well deserved. Your girlfriends share a look as Natasha says, “Alright, let’s just cuddle and eat some pasta that Wanda cooked” and guide you to the picnic blanket. Settling in and sighing contently, you let your shoulders relax and forget about all of your stress and worries.

tag list (marvel): @imnotasuperhero​ @peggycarter-steverogers​

[amarillokidding]

(I'm just gonna post it by itself but it was an ask by my friend Vojta about what books I like!!!)

***

Thank you for the question :D

To be warned, I don't read as much as I used to BUT I have started getting back into it since this past year.

For starters my favorite types of books and genres are adult and contemporary dealing with family dynamics. I love books about families and either how messed up stuff is and working it out or healing from it. When I say adult I mean just dealing with older characters as opposed to teenagers which young adult is abundant with. Other genres I like are high fantasy with like kingdoms and magic colleges and stuff. Its all bc of elder scrolls I guess🙄 I'm obsessed with like, ''''organizations'''' and how each person fits into its place and how characters work together in different ways. Waaahh😭😭😭 also a fan of coming of age but in a specific way I don't know how to describe. Its like, you're growing up and seeing things the way they really happened and you understand now. Its like everything is different but its still the same.

My favorite book is Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. I don't like mentioning it that much bc she has a sort of "reputation" for ya formulaic cishet books and yea I agree (sort of) but its the first book from her I read and therefore it was new to me. Its getting a Netflix film and its in post production rn (I'm keeping up with it on instagram by following the actors and director). Its about a girl named Auden, its the summer before college and she stays with her dad and his new family in a beach town for the summer and she meets this guy called Eli and bc they both dont sleep at night and she's never done a lot of stuff kids have done so he decides to help her experience her life for the first time. I'm obsessed with this book, Auden and Eli both have like traumas and stuff in their past that theyre both dealing with and it feels realistic to me on how their relationship evolves as opposed to just falling in love suddenly. The story isn't quite a romance as the description and everyone says. Theres a love interest but the story deals more heavily with Auden's family as her mom is super condescending and judgemental and her dad barely cares about her. Literally almost all scenes with Audens mom have me like:

Its just my favorite book ive drawn fanart for it before and even recently its that I just haven't posted it for no reason probably bc I'm insane. My audio tag is the shortened form "aud" as a reference to her actually lol. I definitely think of Auden as a comfort character and I see a lot of myself in her.

Another book I loved was "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart. This is a 'tiktok phenomenon' apparently lmao. Its about a girl called Cadence and two summers ago she was in an accident on her grandfathers ISLAND where her family spends the summer every year and now two years later she doesn't remember what even happened to her and everybody refuses to speak about it. Cadence spends the summer with her cousins and friend and she slowly starts remembering what happened that summer. I thought the twist was awesome and spine-chilling and I'm obsessed with the fact that the author made like, a family tree and a map for the island. I thought that was so cool bc samesies I do the same with my characters. Based on reviews for this book, it really is a hit or miss depending on the person. So many ppl hate this book bc of the twist and find the story stupid bc its about rich white ppl going through stuff but like 😔👉👈 I still like it....

Some more books I love are "Waiting for Normal" by Leslie Conner and "This One Summer" by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki (graphic novel) and "Flipped" by Wendelin Van Draanen all which also follow a similar theme in family stuff and include summer in some way. I also love graphic novels, 'this one summer' is definitely my fave one. Flipped is my best example of coming of age that I love and it has a film adaption I adore as well and has become a comfort movie.

Rn im reading Lost Gods by Brom, its pretty heavy and long and im just at the beginning so I don't know if I like it yet but I like the way the author writes so far.

So far we have like dysfunctional family, summer setting, trauma, and healing from the past as major things I enjoyed in these stories.😔

I dont have a goodreads or another book website I just put book links saved to my bookmarks and make lists in a binder about which books seem interesting. I was thinking of making an account but probably not on goodreads as I wanna move away from Amazon stuff but idk yet where. I used to have shelfari before it got discontinued/merged to goodreads back in middle school but I don't really remember if that's still active or not or what books I even had there. When I make an account I will let you know about it :D

So disclaimer again I do read and watch and play almost anything and I'm not always the best judge of stuff, sometimes I like things that are bad or poorly executed so idk if you'd end up enjoying the same things in the same way I do waaah😭.

[maplecornia]

fanfic writer's tag game

tagged by: @kookaine thanks for the tag dude! even though it was RIDICULOUSLY long ;-; this should be fun ig

1. What fandoms have you written for (but do not currently)?

n/a. the fandoms I started writing for I continued to write for lmao.

2. what fandoms are you currently writing for?

Let's see...BTS, NCT, Stray Kids, ATEEZ. I haven't released my NCT or Stray Kids fics yet, since I'm still working on them and I don't do teasers.

3. how long have you been writing?

since 7th grade. that was when I started writing my original story called Strong with my best friend. I mean I had a Wattpad and Tumblr account back in 2016...I just never did anything with it. It's only recently in the 2019-2021 that I've started writing fanfiction.

4. on which platforms do you post your stories?

Wattpad, ao3, Tumblr

5. what is your favorite genre to write?

probably fantasy, angst or general fiction. romance is sometimes too cheesy for me which is why i always have to add angst to the mix, lmao, but i think in fantasy and general fiction it's cool cuz you can add multiple elements and there's MAGIC. like how cool is that. also enemies to lovers is always GOLDEN in fantasy and general fiction.

6. are you a pantser or a planner?

didn't know what a pantser was until i looked it up <///3 but i'm definitely a planner. i would go crazy if i didn't plan out my fics or leave notes or anything like that. i'm overly organized that way.

7. one-shot or multiple chapter

both, really. for some ideas they only fit for oneshots, but for others they are perfect for multiple chapters. but if i'm being honest, probably multiple chapters. i write too much for oneshots ;-;

8. what is the perfect chapter length in your opinion?

1000 to 4000 words, for me it'd probably be longer, but for majority i think that this is the perfect length to get your point across and also for people to have an easy and enjoyable time to read.

9. what is your longest published story?

Infinite Stars, it's no wonder though because it's a series lmao

10. what story did you enjoy working on the most?

I love Infinite Stars to death, and it's my baby in the making, but if I had to choose which one I enjoyed the most it would have to be Your Untold Truth. I'm kinda sad it hasn't gotten more upvotes, but it's fine because I love it enough.

11. favorite request you've written?

haven't recieved one yet :/

12. are there reoccuring themes in your stories?

yep. angst, love, strange encounters, mentions of and the possibility of fate, one person changing and/or affecting your life, growing and learning from your mistakes so you can grow stronger on your own...all so i can do my one main theme, you're never truly alone.

13. current number of wips?

probably 10 now </3 Infinite Stars really be taking up a lot of my time

14. three things you've noticed about your writing?

i'm depressed. either that or I just enjoy talking about sadness. also if anything goes back the cliche hand holding or butterflies in the stomach, i will literally combust. i enjoy writing pure relationships, and whenever i try to write heated moments...let's just say they may go a little too far past the realistic side ;-;. metaphors are also a big part of my writing...and omfg the amount of filler material i create just because i think useless information is important astounds me. i never thought someone could be OVERLY descriptive...and then i met me :)))

i just realized that was more than three things RIP

15. a quote you like from a published story?

i have a lot...so i'm sorry i'm going to do more than one </3

"'You told me to be happy, so I'm going to try my best to find out what that means.'" - Your Untold Truth

"'I wasn't made to know you.'" - Your Untold Truth

(not a quote but I'm super proud of this)

"Today is a sunny day. The leaves have not yet turned their shade of red, and the flowers are in full bloom. It's a beautiful day, and on the breeze, I can almost swear I hear her whisper, a ghost of a laugh that will continue to live on in my dreams. For she will always be dancing, even if it's not with me." -Your Untold Truth

16. a quote from an unpublished story?

these are from chapters that are unreleased, so those reading Infinite Stars, here's as much of a teaser as you're going to get lmao

"Why do we keep choosing each other when we know that all we'll get is more pain?" - Infinite Stars

"We teach you to love yourself, to love others, we give you that right, but we aren't allowed to do the same?" - Infinite Stars

"Do you know how hard it is to have multiple people telling you who you are when they don't know the first thing about you?" - Infinite Stars

"Someone once told me that change is inevitable. But that doesn't mean letting go means saying goodbye." -Infinite Stars

"Why were you deciding my life before I even had a chance to make my own choice?" -Infinite Stars

"You know what I'm tired of? People trying to tell me who I am, and what I should do without me ever getting a chance to decide for myself. That should be my decision, that should be my choice and mine alone!" - Infinite Stars

17. space for you to say something to your readers.

hello my young chicken nuggets. I know a lot of you are silent readers, and that my blog ain't that big, but I'm really happy that you guys read my fics! It means a lot to me that you enjoy my writing and I hope you'll enjoy more writing to come ^^

tagging: @hyuckworld, @kabira, @words-in-purple, @junepops + anyone else who wants to do this! even though this was long as heck it was pretty fun to do

[diyeoracha]

IwaOi Master Fic Rec List (50+ Fics)

Hello! In celebration accumulating over 190+ bookmarks on my AO3 account featuring IwaOi and Iwaizumi coming back into the manga (and for his (almost) birthday), I decided to create a masterlist of all of my favorite fanfictions in order to keep myself organized as well as contributing to more traffic on those works! I decided to split the works up by my own self-imposed genres, such as angst, coming-of-age (or the childhood-friends-to-lovers trope that we all love which depicts how their relationship changes as they grow up and will mostly be canon-compliant), and alternate universe. With the revival of Iwaizumi in the manga, alternate universes will be broken down into adulting AU where he and Oikawa’s diverge differs from in canon and actual, legit AU where there’s basically no volleyball.

I’ll include the title, link, word count, fic summary, and my own commentary (mostly for my own personal entertainment). While the AO3 fandom has been going strong since 2014, I personally have only been reading IwaOi fics for about 3 months, so I will most likely be recommending some cult-favorites, especially since I’ve been reading my fics by sorting through the tag with the most kudos.

My absolute favorites (or the ones where I personally push onto my IRL haikyuu friends) will be denoted with ♡ in increments of 1-3 with 3 ♡ being an absolute must-read. Fics marked with a * indicate that Iwaizumi or Oikawa or both are professional athletes because that’s honestly my Favorite Trope. This is incomplete as I got distracted while re-reading a lot of these and have only gone through half of my bookmarks, but feel free to check my own page here for the rest of them! This took me about 9 days to compile (aka this was in my drafts for about 9 days) but I do hope you guys enjoy reading these and leave comments and kudos!

Adulting AU 

*♡♡Thirty Years and Change (the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad)

Word count: 19k

Summary: It’s July 10th, 2024, and Oikawa Tooru is an Olympian. His smiling face airs on an NHK promo every 45 seconds. He’s captain of the national men’s volleyball team, reigning star of the professional leagues, and he hasn't spoken to Iwaizumi Hajime in two years.

Thoughts: THIS IS IT. THIS FIC IS GOD TIER. They’ve been separated but now are falling back into old habits and there’s a confession on the line? Akaashi is in here and he’s pretty funny. I reread this all the time.

*♡♡♡the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle

Word count: 66k

Summary: Tooru is pretty sure he could manage the mating habits of a mosquito. It’s the mating habits of people he can’t seem to get right.

Thoughts: Absolutely the best IwaOi fic I’ve ever read. I’ve reread this about 4x and I always pay attention to a new sentence or detail that leaves me breathless. The characterization is pretty spot on, and I have to admit that this fic made me appreciate IwaOi a little more. I’ve cried countless times too. A cult-favorite but it doesn’t have nearly as many hits as it deserves.

♡days fall away

Word count: 17k

Summary: Except now he’s back home, so close to his old haunts and to Oikawa himself, and it's—weird.

Thoughts: They’ve separated for a bit but now they’re back in the same city and learning to be around each other again. Cue teasing from the biological and Seijoh family

it's been so long (nobody knows me the way you do)

Word count: 8k

Summary: Tooru hums, only half-listening. Somewhere along the way, Hajime’s palm has settled itself over the curve of Tooru’s cheek, thumb tracing over the line of his jaw.

Thoughts: They’re living together post-college feat. snapshots from their lives before getting together and their Seijoh team! It’s really soft but it manages a humorous tone as well.

Time

Word count: 5k

Summary: When they're twenty-three, their story only begins.

Thoughts: A piecewise fic told from Oikawa’s point of view. The tone is almost chatty but it really fits the pacing of the work as you get snippets and sentences of their relationship throughout the years

♡Almost a Stranger

Word count: 16k

Summary: Iwa-chan's leaving Japan. Tooru's not sure he can forgive him, but he's not going to admit his long-held feelings, either. A trip to Miyajima complicates everything.

Thoughts: They go on vacation right before Iwaizumi leaves Oikawa for a year. Oikawa ponders their relationship.

where fireflies never die

Word count: 4k

Summary: >>Oikawa: Hey Iwa-chan >>Oikawa: Did I ruin it?

Thoughts: Oikawa is a mangaka and basically writes his best selling series based off of him and Iwaizumi. This was pretty angsty ngl with a lot of introspection and second-guessing.

In the Business of Love

Word count: 22k

Summary: Meet Oikawa Tooru: He's a best-selling shoujo manga artist, a hardcore romantic and you won't believe where he's getting his lovey dovey fodder from...Enter Iwaizumi Hajime: He's Oikawa's best friend, a realist who also happens to be a wedding magazine writer despite not believing in romance...

Thoughts: Mangaka Oikawa but this is basically a rom-com lmao

Alternate Universe

Even Heroes (have the right to dream) 

Word count: 20k 

Summary: Oikawa Tooru, ace reporter of the superhero beat of Asahi Shimbun, hates superheroes. Or maybe he just hasn’t met the knight one yet. 

Thoughts: Superhero-hiding-his-identity-Iwaizumi and begrudging Oikawa? Sign me up. This fic spent a little more time on worldbuilding than eventual romance, but it is still absolutely unique and entertaining

The secret omega

Word count: 17k

Summary: Iwaizumi’s annoying as fuck best friend. Who absolutely, definitely, no matter what, cannot find out that Iwaizumi is an omega.

Thoughts: A/B/O dynamics where Iwa is the omega and Oikawa is the alpha. 90% plot building which is pretty nice.

Conquering the Great King

Word count: 105k

Summary: Oikawa's lips twitched into a smirk and he brought them hovering just over Iwaizumi's, "One time thing, Two time thing, what's it matter as long as it's not a Relationship thing?"

Thoughts: Malicious and flirtatious Oikawa meet immovable object Iwaizumi. They’re businessmen trying to navigate friends-with-benefits and love all at the same time. A+ sex scenes tbh. 

♡Infinite Risks

Word count: 8k

Summary: “It’s my fate,” Oikawa responds slowly. He’s crying.“It’s too lonely,” Iwaizumi’s heart sounded broken. “And I’m not there with you. Not really.”

Thoughts: Edge of Tomorrow AU!!!!! Please watch Edge of Tomorrow first because it’s truly a brilliant movie that I wholly enjoyed and this fic reflects that. This also made me really sad so Beware

*♡Something Like Us

Word count: 28k

Summary: Friends since childhood, Oikawa and Iwaizumi now live together, both playing for the National Team. It's no secret that athletes who are bonded perform better. So if the two of them happen to bond...It'd be for the good of the team, right?

Thoughts: ABO dynamics (and somewhat canon-compliant) as they’re roommates, on the national team, and try to navigate being “fake” mated while harboring feelings

And All the Prince’s Men

Word count: 65k

Summary: “Father only loves that which he owns, and I am the one thing that can never truly be his.”

Thoughts: Royal bastard son Oikawa and his servant Iwaizumi. An enthralling read and universe. The romance takes a secondary seat here as it focuses more on plot and world-building. 

♡long nights, no peace

Word count: 18k

Summary: It's the steady knowledge that Iwaizumi Hajime will always be someone that he can rely on, that no matter what the world throws at the two of them, they share in a piece of each other's soul.

Thoughts: Pacific Rim! AU. Otherwise known as my favorite types of AUs because they’re basically soulmates (platonic or not,, but they’re not platonic here)

♡(sing with me) A Song of Conquest and Fate

Word count: 26k

Summary: When Seijou receives a missive from Aobajousai to discuss a potential peace, its emperor Oikawa Tooru could not have foreseen the series of events that would follow.

Thoughts: Warring states/historical fantasy AU. The world building is amazing and this author has great control over her language use

Cotton Breathing

Word count: 13k

Summary: 

Thoughts: Long-distance and summer only but childhood friends Iwaoi!!! A dreamy summer piece and reading it almost makes me feel like I’m in a Studio Ghibli movie because of the mood it puts me in

Similar Creatures

Word count: 53k

Summary: "What's your name?" "Whatever you want it to be."(Or, Oikawa gets directions from an attractive stranger on a street corner.)

Thoughts: Iwaizumi is an escort and Oikawa needs a fancy date

Space

Word count: 44k

Summary: Tries not to think of his rooftop garden, or the apartment he used to inhabit, or Hajime’s broken expression on the night they whispered their goodbyes before Tooru’s launch, attempting to push it all to the back of his mind behind visions of this alien world terraformed

Thoughts: Oikawa’s in outerspace. They’re separated. This left me feeling pretty empty ngl.

♡here comes your man 

Word count: 8k

Summary: Iwa-chan, it reads, Have a good day today! Good luck! <3 <3 <3Suga chokes. It’s hard to imagine anyone calling the scowling and fierce Doctor Iwaizumi “Iwa-chan.” But marriage probably comes with all sorts of liberties.

Thoughts: Doctor AU where Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s relationship is pondered by Suga

In the Telling

Word count: 6k

Summary: Muggleborn Iwaizumi could not be less impressed with pureblood Oikawa Tooru.

Thoughts: Harry Potter AU where they’re in the same year and aren’t really friends but are also friends

♡♡The Loyalty of A Traitor

Word count: 76k

Summary: Iwaizumi Hajime was an undercover officer with a single objective: Infiltrate the Seijoh Syndicate of the Yakuza and tear them down from the inside out. His primary target was the boss, Oikawa Tooru. The job itself was simple enough, until Iwaizumi got in too deep and absconded not only from the mission, but from the city itself.

Thoughts: Oh fuck this was Good. Yakuza boss Oikawa???? Disgraced Iwaizumi??? Do they fall in love (again)?

and suddenly, we were traitors

Word count: 17k

Summary: "sorry, it's just... you’ve been amazingly kind to me these past few days. ...but i'm still not sure who you are.”

Thoughts: The amnesia fic this fandom needed

Trial by Fire

Word count: 78k

Summary: (lawyer!AU - in which Iwaizumi loves his objections, Oikawa is beautiful, and they have more chemistry than two opposing attorneys probably should.)

Thoughts: Hot

dear diary, i met a boy

Word count: 15k

Summary: Iwaizumi's first impression of his upstairs neighbor involves getting woken up at two in the morning to the sound of Oikawa singing along to trashy pop music. He'd thought it would get better, but it all just goes downhill from there.

Thoughts: Model Oikawa and salaryman Iwaizumi meet and try to make it work

on shipwreck shore

Word count: 8k

Summary: “I’m going to murder you in cold blood and feed you to the basilisks,” Iwaizumi says conversationally.“You can’t do that, I’m your boss,” Oikawa sings, positively sparkling. “Also we’re partners, which means,” he points at Iwaizumi and leans in, “you’re stuck with me.”

Thoughts: Detectives but they’re actually funny

♡Lockdown

Word count: 72k

Summary: Within the first few months of his stay, Oikawa gets caught up in a war between cellblocks, becomes a prime target, and must decide just how far he's willing to go to protect Iwaizumi Hajime.

Thoughts: Orange is the New Black AU!!! Im a sl*t for tatted Iwaizumi

an allegory of all the things we could’ve been

Word count: 16k

Summary: “I don’t know anything about some red string,” Iwaizumi murmurs into the cracks of Oikawa’s skin, “or even about lifetimes or fate. But no matter where you are, I’ll find you. Gods or otherwise.”

Thoughts: Reincarnation AU throughout the timelines. A good soft read that leaves you sort of empty

Angst

Timeless (We Have 30 Days)

Word count: 12k

Summary: Or AU where you're branded 50 days before you die. But Oikawa doesn't tell anyone so now there's only 30 days left.

Thoughts: Ahhhhhhhhh tears

the weight of water

Word count: 6k

Summary: “Again,” he says, the smallest tremor in his voice, and Oikawa blinks at him a moment before smiling, soft and sweet. “Iwa-chan,” he replies, and Iwaizumi closes his eyes. “Again.” “Iwa-chan.”

Thoughts: Death fic 

open when

Word count: 1k

Summary: Iwaizumi knew it was coming, but it still hurt. It still hurt when he opens one letter and drowns it in the tears he cannot keep at bay.

Thoughts: It takes only 1.6k words to make me cry

Canon Compliant/Coming-Of-Age

♡♡i sing the body electric

Word count: 8k

Summary: It was never part of the plan, falling in love with his best friend, but then again, most things in Iwaizumi’s life that involve Oikawa rarely unfold the way he thinks they will.

Thoughts: A beautifully introspective piece told from Iwaizumi’s point of view. It’s wholly intimate and it toes along the lines of pining and soft angst. It’s told in snippets from their lives growing up together. 

♡we can do better than that

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa and Iwaizumi go on a road trip during the summer after their high school graduation. It doesn't go as expected, but maybe that's not such a bad thing after all.

Thoughts: There’s a lot of character analysis and it takes a step away from the casual banter they’re always portrayed to have and focuses on the intricacies of their relationship. The tone is almost a little more melancholy. (also they have to share a bed! trope)

♡when it starts to rain, they go inside

Word count: 33k

Summary: “Where?” starts Iwaizumi.“My parent’s old lakehouse, silly, didn’t you hear me the first time?”OR: Oikawa takes Iwaizumi to his lakehouse for two weeks, post-graduation.

Thoughts: Oh This Is It IwaOi stans. This fic really solidified my own headcanon for Oikawa (spoiler alert, OP isn’t too fond of Oikawa but she fleshes out his character and his idiosyncrasies so well that you can’t help but be drawn into all of his imperfection) and this fic respects Iwaizumi as well. It has absolutely great characterization and the fic ends on an ambiguous note. 

to be first, to be best

Word count: 26k

Summary: Hajime is apparently something of a masochist, and as he stares down at the tie-dyed AREA51 T-shirt in his hands, he thinks “I’m totally in love with this asshole, aren't I?”

Thoughts: College roommates trying to navigate having feelings for each other while also dating others and not realizing that they’re jealous? A cult favorite.

♡things that change, things that stay the same

Word count: 8k

Summary: Oikawa realizes he's in love with his best friend; it sucks for a while. (But only a while.)

Thoughts: Ahh a slow burn featuring daily moments between Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and Oikawa starts to notice the little things. This was a cute read because Oikawa just comes off as wonderfully earnest. My first Iwaoi fic! And a great one because it really set the standard to how I interpreted their relationship.

it’s better than words

Word count: 3k

Summary: [ or : oikawa makes iwaizumi participate in three bonding activities for new friends, and iwaizumi just wants to know why oikawa's being so weird about this]

Thoughts: Soft pining, fluff, banter, and whispered confessions. This fic really nailed the banter of high school students really well.

♡shiver

Word count: 16k

Summary: Oikawa was always the brave one. Hajime just followed two paces behind.

Thoughts: Oikawa falls first and but Iwaizumi realizes his feelings later on! So soft, so slow burn, so much pining. We get to see their relationship through Iwaizumi’s eyes and actually read him analyze his own feelings.

♡we shine like diamonds

Word count: 26k

Summary: "You know Abe-kun from class?" they snicker, hands cupped around their mouths like they're passing along a filthy secret. "I hear his older brother is... gay."

Thoughts: Character analysis, homophobia, and coming of age makes a good and angsty iwaoi fic

terrarium

Word count: 11k

Summary: At this point, is he really happy with just staying best friends forever? Will he be writing journals and collecting rocks forever (he will, he knows, but that is aside from the point)?

Thoughts: Oikawa has a terrarium and names all of the rocks he puts in (that Iwaizumi gave him) “Iwa-chan #_”

Chasing Paper Suns

Word count: 10k

Summary: Post-high school, Oikawa makes it to the national volleyball team but Iwaizumi doesn't. The next three years become an exercise in growing up without growing apart.

Thoughts: This was pretty sad tbh. Of what it means to grow up together and then suddenly having to adjust to living without each other’s presence.

with every second that you could give

Word count: 9k

Summary: The journey of Iwaizumi and Oikawa going for gold.

Thoughts: Of growing up together, making decisions for each other, and wanting to be together

Only the jellyfish know

Word count: 6k

Summary: Their third and final year at Aoba Jousai has come to an end, and the guys decide to go to the beach the day after graduation.That day, the ocean water is salty, the watermelon is sweet, and the people are sweeter.

Thoughts: Established relationship

Smut

strange.

Word count: 1k

Summary: "god, i fucking hate you."oikawa smiles, cause he knows it's not true. he knows iwaizumi loves him, knows iwaizumi adores him. but he plays along."i hate you too,"

Thoughts: It’s hot

Say My Name 

Word count: 2k

Summary: “Hey, have you ever tried saying my first name?” Iwaizumi blurts, and the thought jumps out of his subconscious only after he's posed the question.

Thoughts:

No Touching Allowed

Word count: 10k

Summary: “You’ve got one rule,” Iwaizumi winks at him.

Thoughts: ExoticDancer!Iwaizumi and stressed out/repressed businessman Oikawa also an AU.

Honorable Mentions

things wikipedia doesn’t tell you

pillow

Phone Home

Share my life, it’s yours to keep

in progress to you

no sleep in the city

The PDA jar

Kissmarked

[jensungf]

heelloo! do you have any tips for new writers and how to get your works more known? thank you!!

hi there bub! haha i’m flattered you even asked me (bc i’m not qualified whatsoever) but i hope these tips help!

write what you want, and don’t focus on trying to write to gain notes! the whole point of wiring should be to enjoy yourself, and while every content creator’s goal is to get feedback through posting and sharing their works, the most important thing is to do it for yourself and have fun!

i just said this LMAO but rly don’t focus too much on notes! it can be hard but i think it’s healthiest to just want to post whatever makes you happy!

use the right tags. for me, i tend to use tags with the group name, member name, and genre pertaining to the actual story to avoid the risk of ppl blocking me for clogging up tags (yeah unfortunately i found out that happens :/) so like #jaemin scenarios #nct fanfiction #jeno fluff and so on. but also tumblr has been rly shitty as of lately and tags tend to disappear depending on certain elements of your post, so if you hit any obstacles, please feel free to send in another ask and i’ll gladly try to list out any tips to make sure your posts don’t disappear from tags

join networks! i think it’s a great way to get into the community and be able to share and spread your works.

along with that, talk to other writers! make connections with other amazing, talented writers who definitely help in not only learning from one another but it makes the whole process a lot more fun! you help each other bounce ideas and get inspo, and just have fun and get to know everyone. don’t be afraid to talk to people and slide into their dms! everyone is super friendly on here for the most part and are willing to get to know each other (me included! 🥺)

have a nice, simple blog layout/navigation. for me, personally i think having links such as a master list/about/rules or faq posts makes it easy for people to go through my blog to find my works or more info about me.

have an aesthetic header and layout if possible! it’s okay if you’re not into editing headers, but if you’re willing to, i definitely think it helps with drawing in readers. having the title name + a picture of the member works for me! and just setting up the story with a title, summary, warnings, word count, pairing, genre, etc really helps in informing the reader of what they’re going to read.

use the read more option, but leave cut it off at an interesting part in the beginning to pique the reader’s attention!

if you’re willing to — do request games! this will draw in a lot of ppl by taking requests and writing what they want, but only if you want to write it. i did this when i first started out but i realized i had trouble fulfilling requests in a timely manner and decided against it because i wanted to write for myself and post for others. but if you decide to, make sure to specify a genre/trope/member and specifications to make it clear! you can also use a prompt list as well.

post at a good time if you can! most time zones vary haha but for me personally i prefer posting during my night time around 10pm cst but this is sorta a small factor.

also other tips i have would be that if you’re writing reader-inserts, please try to be a reader inclusive as possible! it’s really important to keep this mind even if you’re writing for yourself because if you’re posting then a lot of people will not read if they have specific physical features that don’t pertain to them, y’know? it’s our job as writers to at least give that (but if you make it an oc, that’s okay as well!)

and personally as an avid reader myself i really prefer if stories had good grammar and were easily organized! if you’re interested in catering to readers in depth, here’s a fic preference resource post my friend jia aka @longassride made to help fanfic writers.

i really hoped this helped! i’m not sure if i covered everything so if anyone else has any more tips to add, please let me know and i’ll gladly add it. if you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to send an ask or slide into my pms! i really want to support new writers out there and i believe in you bub!!! you got this!!!!

[noussommeslessquelettes]

Tips on writing a character who’s ADHD

Courtesy of yours truly, an actual person with ADHD (who’s just slightly sick of bad ADHD characterisations)

We don’t ramble randomly, we infodump. I see a lot of writers writing ADHD characters as speaking these enormous, unbroken paragraphs on essentially whatever topic happens to be current, which isn’t how ADHD works. We might be long-winded at times (though really, not any more than non-ADHDers are,) but when it comes to those signature rambles, it’s about a topic we’ve hyperfixated on. Often, these topics seem random to NTs, but for us it’s very specific and topical. Often times, I’ll have only a handful of functioning hyperfixations at a time, and it’s usually something you can put under a specific header (cold war history/biology/etc., a particular band/genre, a specific show, and so forth.) My advice? Get a sense of your character’s hyperfixations before you write it in; Rick Riordan does a fantastic, albeit slightly heavy-handed, job of doing this with Leo Valdez in Heroes of Olympus. (another VERY IMPORTANT tip: just don’t write big unbroken paragraphs of rambling if you’re expecting me to actually read that shit. As an ADHDer it’s like physically painful for me to try and sift through that lmao)

We experience a wide range of emotions, and we experience them very strongly (AKA we’re not just balls of hyperactivity and joy.) Intense emotions are a hallmark of ADHD, which is why a lot of the time we seem super happy and energetic all the time to non-ADHDers. It’s a L O T more socially acceptable for us to express the intense happiness we feel, not so much the other emotions we feel just as intensely. Particularly for impulsive-type ADHDers, the main emotions we struggle to regulate are excitability, irritability, frustration, and dysphoria, all of which are emotions we’re taught from a very young age to be ashamed of and hide (which happens, in my experience, like this: you exhibit the strong emotion, you act in a way that is seen as unreasonably intense to non-ADHDers, and rather than learn to cope with the intensity of the emotion we’re taught to turn it inwards.) When we experience these intense negative emotions, we internalise it like we’re taught to, and our emotions appear more subdued to the people around us, though we still experience them intensely. We’ll typically close off and downplay our state if pressed, but in my experience we open up to people who we know to be ADHD/ND. That being said, we’re not always able to internalise it–especially (honestly, almost exclusively) when stressors pile up/when we’ve dealt with it for so long–and that’s when we explode. Because we experience emotion a lot more intensely than non-ADHDers, we almost always cry when this happens. I’m talkin’ ugly cry people. I’ve got hella information on the subtleties of a good ol’ fashioned ADHD-brand meltdown, which would make this post even longer than it’s already doomed to be, so if you’re interested in some tips on that feel free to shoot me an ask!

Our thought process is not random; we have highly-associative brains. Please. For the love of GOD. Stop fucking characterising us along that “OOH SQUIRREL” line of bullshit. I’ll come directly to your house and curse your shins to bump against every coffee table you encounter. Don’t fucking test me. Our thought process is highly-associative, which essentially means our brain makes more connexions between memories and thoughts when they’re being solidified, which results in memories triggering thoughts that wouldn’t occur to non-ADHDers. These links might seem tenuous when you don’t have a highly-associative brain, but they’re there, and they’re fairly evident on the part of the person with ADHD. And as a writer nota bene, don’t retroactively make these associations–in other words, don’t try to justify the link after it’s made just because a subject change is plot convenient for you. Try your best to make these transitions organic if you’re gonna include them. A good example of this is Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine Nine: he makes pretty sizeable leaps in topic, but the transitions always make sense.

ADHD is highly comorbid with other neurodivergencies. I’ve not met a single person with ADHD who is *only* ADHD; I personally have almost ten other neurodivergencies I’ve been diagnosed with. The most common comorbidities are: anxiety/depression (every ADHDer I know has at least one if not both of them,) autism spectrum disorder, and dyslexia. ADHD is a developmental disorder, which means our brains are fundamentally structurally different from NT brains, and this lends itself to the presence and development of other conditions. Don’t be afraid of including those other conditions/symptoms in your character’s story for realism! That being said, for the most of us, our ADHD is the most prominent condition we have, so we identify with it the most. The way we often see it, ADHD is the *main* condition, and the others feel like tag-alongs (this isn’t always the case and it isn’t always true, but that’s how we tend to interpret it.)

Our symptoms get worse when we get tired or stressed, but especially tired. When we’re stressed but reasonably rested/fed, we typically have the mental faculties to perform pseudo-neurotypically (we do decently well with controlling our symptoms,) though they might become slightly more pronounced. Lack of sleep/mental rest amplifies our symptoms and inhibits our ability to control them, most noticeably in our working memory (remembering/following instructions, immediate task completion, concentration, etc.) Just as NT/non-ADHDers become scatter-brained as they get increasingly stressed, so do ADHDers. The two main differences are that 1) it’s more pronounced and has a lower threshold, and 2) we (conveniently for you!) have a set list of symptoms that are going to react predictably to this.

We are very aware of our symptoms, thank you very much. While there will be times where my symptoms slip out and I’m not paying attention to them, nine times out of ten I’m very painfully aware of how non-NT I’m acting. When I simply can’t slow down my speech for the life of me, when I feel myself rambling about a hyperfixation, when I get stressed over something little and have an emotional outburst, I know. A lot of authors miss this, but ADHDers are very early made aware of why we’re perceived as different, and often times that’s done so at the expense of our self-esteem. Our ADHD doesn’t exist in a vacuum in our minds, and we’re very often self-conscious about how we’re socially read because of it. If you’re trying to get into the mind of a character with ADHD, that’s an important dimension to keep in mind. The self-consciousness factor is usually diminished when we’re around ppl who know that we’re ADHD, but when they show up around people we haven’t told we’re ADHD, we’re not usually quite so keen to share it. While this probably isn’t the same for all people with ADHD, it’s been my experience at the very least.

Anyhow this has been sitting in my drafts for God knows how long, so I’ll just release it into the wild. ADHDers, if you have any other tips, or want to share your experience, please feel free to add on!

[everbrilliantheartbreaker]

Fanfiction Reader Tag

Tagged by @eyeliner-vampire  ♡ ♡

Fanfiction Reader Tag!

1. When did you start reading Fanfic (How old you were or how long ago)?

When I was probably...11 ish? so like 13 years ago

2. Do you have an AO3 account?

Yeh (LadyWisteria)

3. Do you read WIP (work in progress)? Why or why not?

All the time. I’m not picky about this at all. I’m a simple person. I see fic I think I’ll like? I read. doesn’t matter if it’s finished or not. I’ll make up my own ending til it is lol. also authors need that encouragement. finishing stuff is hard

4. What time of day is your ‘fic reading time’?

Usually late at night (like 1 a.m. and later..much later) but sometimes I’ll waste an afternoon instead (2 p.m. ish til I either have to go to work or I finish the fic)

5. How much time do you spend reading fic per week?

Not remotely as much time as I used, that’s for sure. Anywhere from an hour (if I’m rereading That favorite fic) to 2-4 hours if my friend has sent me a longfic again.

6. Do you listen to podfic (fanfic recorded like an audiobook)?

I...didn’t even know this was a thing tbh, so no. Sounds very neat but also I don’t listen to audio books anymore bcus my attention span re: audio input has gotten so bad over the years I can’t focus for more than a few minutes. 

7. What’s your favorite fic genre to read?

AUs AUs AUs. and fantasy. and fantasy AUs (although good long AU fics are harder to find). I am a very simple person. I see magic mentioned, I read. I also read a lot of romance fic (proving once again that fanfic writing is often better than mainstream original writing, bcus romance is one of my least favorite YA/movie genres). I don’t read as much of them but I also love mystery and paranormal fics

8. Are there any genres that you tend to avoid?

Super angsty no happy ending type stuff. “Major Character Death” is an automatic nope lmao (unless the summary looks reaallyyy interesting or it was recc’d to me). Tragedy is definitely Not my thing

9. What tag(s) do you track?

I don’t track any fic tags (I stopped tracking tags at all since Tumblr changed it from “keeping track of new posts in said tag” to “dropping random posts from that tag into the middle of your dash, and usually the same three”)

10. How do you find new fic?

Nowadays I mostly just read what friends send me or the new stuff a very few writers I follow post, but sometimes I also come across stuff through Twitter or Tumblr and curiosity wins out

11. How do you organize your fic bookmarks?

I..don’t? Is this a thing people do?? If I wanna reread something I either search through my bookmarks by title/author or just. filter by fandom. 

12. Do you subscribe to authors or stories?

Yeh. I only keep up with a very select few of them though. altho part of that is due to several of them being people I followed on fanfic.net years and years ago and never unfollowed, even though our interests may no longer be the same. (the other part is me going “oh I’ll read that later” and then just. never doing it.)

13. What is your favorite fanfic trope?

fake dating and bed sharing are always good

everyone is gay. also Good

14. What kind of plot line are you always here for?

“everything’s the same but they’re soulmates” (oh my god they were soulmates)

mafia AU

MAGIC

I really like in-between scene fics too. the events and character interactions that happen off-screen. I like writing those

15. What can an author do to make you love them?

write about my faves frequently

cool AUs

write about minor characters

good sense of humor

16. What can an author do to make you avoid them?

not into mpreg fics

a/b/o fics make me super wary I usually pass on those, even if the summary looks mildly interesting. they’re rarely if ever done in a way that isn’t rapey and gross

don’t care for fics period that have rapey scenes but you’re supposed to find them romantic

adult/minor ships

characterization is a big deal to me so if I don’t like how they handle the characters, especially faves I probably won’t be back

17. What do kudos mean to you?

when I get one I have a few seconds of “oh someone kinda liked this thing I wrote” and then I carry on about my day >.>;;; (I do appreciate them tho)

18. What kind of commenter are you (No comment, short comment, keyboard smash)?

I don’t comment as often as I mean to or wish I did, but when I do they’re loong comments (I’ve passed the AO3 character limit at least once kshg)

I tend to quote favorite parts and then react to them, and I like to theorize and ask questions about character’s thoughts at a certain part or what author imagines happens before/after the fic

19. Have you ever stopped reading a fic? Why or why not?

Yes. Once because I stumbled into a very sexually explicit fic when that was. Not at all what I was expecting (I was also very young lol), I think there was a very few I quit because they were boring or very poorly written, but most often I “quit” a fic for the same reason I don’t do audio books anymore lmao: because my attention span is sht and my motivation and commitment are extremely fickle things. I either forget or just wander away for a bit and then forget. Often I mean to come back and finish it; it’s just a matter of how long it takes. (I also second hand embarrassed out of a fic so hardcore that it’s been a whole 9 months since I’ve touched it khdfgd)

20. Have you ever read a fic more than once? What is it about that fic that makes you want to read it again?

YES. This requires like a minimum 4 separate posts to really answer but:

Behind Bricks and The Penance of a Killer by Deathbelle

this person is my fricking favorite author ever and these are two of my fricking favorite fics ever, I must’ve reread Behind Bricks 6 or 8 times now and Penance is the BokuAka-centric companion piece to my favorite fic of all time that I always wanted 

Mending Bonds and If the Heart Breaks, Does That Mean There’s No Home? by RussianSunflower3 

Mending Bonds is soft found family fluff centering on a very minor fave of mine and If the Heart Breaks is very angsty found family fluff that also focuses on some minor characters and it always hurts my heart but the ending and the soft middle always heal it right back up (“[Hanamaki] has a heart big enough for everyone in the world, and then some.” ohhhh my godd)

Boiled Frogs by ReginaGalaxia 

this one is. a really hard read centered around emotional abuse and manipulation and hoooo boy it is a rough read especially if you’ve experienced any of that personally but it’s so well written and the character dynamics are great and in its lighter moments it’s fricking hilarious. 

(bits and pieces of) The Roost by Ugglabarn 

 bits and pieces only bcus Roost has a lot of very heavy dark content that I’d have to be in a specific mood to reread the whole thing because it hurts my heart way too much but also it’s one of the best Fukurodani-centric longfics I’ve ever read (PLUS AN AU..!!) and I love love how they write the characters and how much focus there is on the minor members and ships and in its lighter moments Roost is also really funny the most recent chapter was hilarious

Expensive Hotel by Crown_of_Winterthorne

smut. explicit smut. excellent explicit smut with loving polyamorous boyfriends and plenty of consent discussion and kissing. my entire jam right there

Class 1-A Whomst? by Ya_Boi_Hal

this is the funniest chatfic I’ve ever read in my life and the first good chatfic I ever read. absolutely hysterical. also has some really good serious content in the middle and some Aizawa dialogue that punched me right in the feels. 12/10 will read again. sometimes I just randomly say “Mineta whomst??” and cackle to myself

and back in the day it was:

The Flame of Betrayal by DataIntegrationThoughtEntity

I guess traitor! Tahu was a popular trope back when Bionicle fandom was at its peak?? and not everyone liked it apparently but I enjoyed this fic greatly every time I read it it was well written and had interesting OCs and I am actually highly tempted to go reread it again

and Asleep Beneath a Wheat Field by Feline Freak

this was a very peculiar little OC-centric one shot that was also very sad and I don’t know why it grabbed me like it did but I remember rereading it 3 or 4 times at least

21. Do you like sequels?

The fics I like don’t usually come with sequels but The Penance of a Killer is one so Yes

22. Do you like dabbles?

I guess? I haven’t read too many I don’t think but hey, more fic is more fic. Who’s gonna complain about that?

23. What do you wish more fic authors would do?

Write about minor characters more

24. What do you wish more authors would stop doing?

that thing where they latch onto one facet of a character’s personality - or worse, one that fandom made up - and write them as if that’s the only trait they have

25. Do you like one-shots or multi-chapter?

Multi-chapter. I mean both are great obviously but the majority of my faves are multi-chapter and obviously if I like a fic I’m gonna wanna spend as much time in that universe as possible

26. How long do you like chapters to be?

Usually I feel the longer the better. once in a while I’ll hit one that’s so long it’s kind of distracting but extremely rarely

27. What’s your favorite POV (point of view) to read (first, second, third)?

Third

28. What do you think of OC’s?

I didn’t use to care for them very much but as I started reading fic by more advanced writers I found several I really liked. have a very small list of OCs from recent fics I’ve read I would actually kill a man for I love them so much

29. Do you download fic?

No, but seeing as my absolute favorite Bionicle fic vanished off the face of the earth several years ago and I cannot find anything about it an y wh ere sometimes I think about saving my faves. I never got to finish reading that fic and I am absolutely devastated every time I think about it. 

30. Tell me something else about your fic reading! Anything else!

best thing is when my friend and I buddy read a fic and send each other our favorite parts

Tag!

@yaelathewordsmith and @samantha-girlscout  ♡ ♡ ♡

[olkarianprincess]

A friendly guide to finding literally anything on my blog

Hey friends! So for whatever reason, this is the one blog I generally keep organized. Tumblr’s search is shit, but I try to be regular with tags. If you’re looking for specific content or need to block content, here’s my format:

For stuff I make it’s either “Kat’s [thing]” or “my [thing]” but fair warning I always forget which one I use so there’s stuff under both

Examples: Kat’s AUs, my headcanons, kat’s fic

For non-Voltron content there’s basically two tags, “not Voltron” and “Kat’s personal tag” I think I used to use “about Kat” too

For ships, it’s just the common ship name

Examples: Shidge, Heith, Hunelle

For AUs or tropes, it goes [au name]!au

Examples: Altean!au, Dark!au, role swap!au

For genres, it’s just the genre name.

Examples: angst, crack, fluff

For certain character AUs or tropes it’s [au name]![character name].

Examples: human!Allura, spy!pidge

For triggers, squicks, and warnings, it’s just the name of the thing.

Examples: mcd, violence, blood

All asks are tagged “asks” and with the persons username or “anon.” Any recurring AUs of mine are given a specific name in the format [au name]!au. And all ask or tag games are also given a specific name.

Fic is tagged “fic Rec” or “fic”

Fandom events & projects will be “fandom event” or “fanzine” and then the events name, with and without a year added if it’s annual.

Examples: Shidge secret Santa 2019, Shidgemas, shidgemas 2019

For holidays I do the same thing. I have a general tag with the holiday name and one that’s “[holiday] [year]”

Examples: Christmas, Christmas 2018, halloween, halloween 2017, thanksgiving, thanksgiving 2019

I also have a few specific tags I like to use. “Pidge in a dress” whenever she’s wearing a dress. “Long hair Katie” if her hair is long. And a few Shidge ones.

Shidge: Shidge!kiss, Shidge!baby, Shidge!wedding

I do have specific tags for people I interact w regularly, but I’m super inconsistent about those lmao sorry. You’ll generally get a tag dedicated to you if you interact with me consistently. I’m like a stray cat that likes humans but is shy. Unless given attention regularly, I am hesitant to approach. Alt., you could get a nickname for other reasons. Like regularly causing me pain thru angst (you know who are are). People tags tend to be “[nickname] friend”

The queue tag is “form queuetron” which my phone autocorrects and one time I misspelled it and tumblr never let me forget. It constantly suggested the misspelling as a tag. “Scheduled” is pretty self-explanatory. Occasionally there’s “reminder” “reblog” or “signal boost”

Any post like this that’s about the actual blog itself is tagged “blog maintenance”

Lastly, there’s my nonsense tags. These are tags I use often but they’re to emote. Stuff like “blessed” and “cute”

And if you’ve made it this far, you’ve either got nothing to do OR you have a shit ton to do but you’re putting it off, so imma talk about some of my favorite tags. One I love is “no beta we die like men” bc I don’t edit things. [insert that one parks & Rec meme and where I’m like “I’ve never edited anything in my life, ever” and you’re like “I know and I love you”]. Another personal fav but I’ve only had the chance to use once is “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat” The tag is perfection. It so accurately conveys what it’s about. It’s amazing.

[its-love-u-asshole]

Universal Spite [fic]

Pairing: Tsukishima Kei/Kuroo Tetsurou

Summary: Kuroo never expected to meet Semi and Shirabu, but now that he has, there’s no way he can resist getting involved, nor can he keep himself from pestering Tsukishima about them constantly. 

Or: Kuroo wants to know everything as usual, and Tsukishima is powerless to stop him. 

Rating: T

Tags: siren au, soulmates, fluff, side semishira, kuroo has lots of questions once again

Note: Okay this is the last time I’m posting this week I swear lmao, I just had a big urge to write another one shot for this verse earlier this week, so here I am! I hope you enjoy! Thanks so much to @kirinokisu for being the best and for helping me plan this fic out! 

Read on AO3!

Check out the rest of this series here! 

For Kuroo, it had become increasingly difficult to listen to other types of music lately. He was quite proud of his playlists too, the various genres and bands organized perfectly and ready to be pulled up at anyone's desire. He was the go to provider of tunes, needless to say. Kuroo loved recommending music to people, and for a long time, he was the first one to know about any new singles or groups moving into the spotlight.

But nowadays...who needed that? When your boyfriend was a siren with one of the most beautiful voices out there, Kuroo didn't see the need for digging around mainstream pop for the rare gems. And he got new music often, since he'd finally gotten Tsukishima to agree to recording his gardening sessions so Kuroo could play the music back later.

No pain or headaches, just Tsukishima's ethereal voice drifting lovingly through his ears as he walked to class or studied.

Not to mention Tsukishima's embarrassment over the subject whenever he gave Kuroo the songs, truly the best kind of bonus.

Even now, Kuroo was sad as he pulled out one of his earbuds, stopping the song short. It felt like a crime almost, cutting off the enticing notes before they properly faded out. He knew the magic of Tsukishima's voice didn't exactly work on him, but he swore he could hear the steady beat of ocean waves fading out, the smell of salt and sand...

When he was sleepy and holding Tsukishima in bed, Kuroo would try to say it still felt like he'd get dazed from the music, like he'd been whisked away to some faraway sea, but Tsukishima told him it was impossible. Always the logical one.

Ha. A logical siren. What a thought.

Kuroo smiled as he wrapped his headphones up, bracing himself for a two-hour lecture. He just hoped there wasn't a pop quiz this time, he didn't have the energy. As he walked up the steps to his class with ten minutes still to spare, Kuroo glanced out across the mostly empty campus (fuck eight A.M. classes for real), the silence jarring to his sleep deprived brain. Maybe Tsukishima would surprise him with coffee today...

The thought didn't get very far, and the next thing Kuroo knew he was frozen mid-step, a heavy mist overcoming his mind. The edges of his vision went dark, focusing on one thing alone, which he couldn't comprehend. Something willed him to turn, and he did, each step weighted and uncontrolled as all rational thought left his mind. The last real thing he remembered thinking freely before he blacked out was that something sounded incredible, intoxicating, like a fresh glass of water. If that water was like...drugged with the world's strongest aphrodisiac. Then the world was black, and Kuroo didn't feel the need to mind one bit.

He woke up to Tsukishima's annoyed stare as he looked down at him, which by the way, rude as fuck.

Kuroo shook his head, squinting at his surroundings. He was still next to his class, but he'd wandered off to one of the little sitting areas around the corner.

His eyes found Tsukishima again, easily too, and his boyfriend's glare was equal parts adorable and concerning.

Kuroo pouted, the drowsiness seeping into his tone as he struggled to his feet. "W-what? Not happy to see me?"

At least he got that beautiful face to crack a smile, but the unamused huff which followed wasn't encouraging. What had happened?

He'd been walking to class and....Had there been a voice? Ugh.

Kuroo's head swam as he stood up, and he groaned, shaking the last of the haze away from his mind.

"Happier than you are to see me I bet," Tsukishima muttered, and it was then Kuroo noticed his boyfriend held a steaming hot coffee cup. Bless.

And as if.

Before he could claim his reward, he noticed a blur in the corner of his eye, and he found two other students standing there guiltily. Or...one looked guilty, the other just looked like he smelled two-day old dog shit.

Mixed with rotten eggs.

Wow, could Kuroo give him an award for most pissed off face or was that too intimate?

"What...are you talking about? Who?" Kuroo asked, his tongue feeling like sandpaper. Man, this fucking sucked whatever it was. And he was pretty sure he was late to class. Had he forgotten to eat breakfast? He took the coffee gratefully, his eyes begging his boyfriend for answers. "Did I do something?"

The way his blond's eyes softened made Kuroo melt. Things couldn't be that bad. Gladly, he took the first sip of his coffee (just the way he liked it as usual, his boyfriend was the best).

"Not really," Tsukishima replied, and his sigh might've been music to Kuroo's ears if it had stopped there. "Just flirted with someone right in front of me, no big deal."

Kuroo spat out the hot liquid and...oh...gross. Sorry grass.

"W-what? No I didn't! I--"

"Just kidding," Tsukishima said, smile smug. "Well, actually you did, but it wasn't your fault, it was--"

"His," one of the newcomers (the one with the scowl to rival all scowls) said, pointing to his companion with no hesitation. "But then again if you hadn't been out and about--"

"Don't blame him Shirabu," Tsukishima hissed immediately, before Kuroo could so much as utter a syllable, and if Kuroo swooned any more his ass would be back on the wet lawn (by the way, not fun). He'd just washed these pants.

"It wasn't his fault," Tsukishima continued, eyeing Mr. Guilty with less animosity. "I thought you'd learned to be more careful..."

"It was an accident," the other student muttered, his eyes softening in Kuroo's direction. Shirabu looked ten times more unimpressed, and Kuroo was thankful for Shirabu's baby face. Otherwise, such a stare would've probably melted him on the spot.

His friend approached him, bowing his head. "I'm really sorry about that! I had been singing to myself a little, just for...exercise. It was so early I figured no one else was around but then--yeah."

And thank god for Kuroo's brain, it all finally clicked together.

His eyes widened, the details rushing back. The haziness, the euphoria...then nothing. "Oh, you're a---"

"They both are," Tsukishima cut off, his annoyance fully aimed at Shirabu's stink-face. If Kuroo didn't know any better he'd say they were secretly shooting lasers. He was obviously missing something. "So now you know who to avoid."

"Hey, I resent that," the nicer siren said, and his tired smile made him trustworthy enough in Kuroo's book. "I'm Semi, by the way."

"Not that it should matter to you," Shirabu addressed Kuroo, rolling his eyes. "Keep your horrid pickup lines to yourself in the future."

Semi glared. "Shirabu."

Kuroo didn't even have time to unpack the exchange, all he could think about were his precious pickup lines, the ones he researched and reserved solely for--

"Aw man!" Kuroo slumped forward, and for the first time, Tsukishima broke his ‘who can set each other on fire first’ contest with Shirabu. "Did I use my pickup lines on him? I was going to tell you those later..."

He'd been saving them dammit.

Tsukishima's ghost of a smile made him feel a bit better but still.

"Yeah you did, and they were pretty bad," Semi interrupted, unaware of Kuroo's crisis.

Fuck.

Eyes still on his boyfriend, Kuroo pouted. "Did they make you laugh at least?"

Tsukishima's expression didn't change.

"...maybe."

Success.

"When Terushima told us you two were disgusting, I didn't want to believe it, but now I know for sure," Shirabu muttered.

Who now?

Tsukishima scoffed beside him, crossing his arms. At least some of the hostility died down, but Shirabu was still glancing at Kuroo like he was a dumpster so. "How would he know? I haven't talked to him in weeks..."

"Bokuto calls him often."

"Fucking..." Tsukishima turned towards the direction of his apartment, and Kuroo hoped Bokuto wasn't home while the blond remained on the warpath. He wouldn't tell Tsukishima but knowing his closest friend approved of them made Kuroo want to attempt walking on water.

(He'd ask about Terushima later, and based on these reactions, it would be a good story.)

"Just keep your boyfriend to yourself," Shirabu said, his lips lifting into a smug little grin. "If you can."

Semi apparently had enough. Thank god too, Kuroo was not going to try and hold Tsukishima back. Who would?

Semi grabbed Shirabu by the shoulder, his tone stern, no room for nonsense. Somehow, Kuroo figured Shirabu wouldn't care. "Go easy on him, it was my fault this happened."

"Yeah it was," Shirabu mumbled grumpily.

The way the two bickered finally gave off some form of familiarity, and really he'd be an idiot not to notice. Guess his awesome pickup lines had gone and made some people jealous...

Kuroo glanced at Tsukishima as the blond looked to the other sirens with a purely 'done' expression, and couldn't help but wonder if he'd made his boyfriend feel the same way. It made a fond satisfaction seep into him, not that he liked making his boyfriend jealous, but...Tsukishima was so cute when he was.

Ah, he'd better set this record straight (ha) before he caused the other sirens to break up.

Kuroo stepped forward, breaking up the fight. Tsukishima looked somewhat impressed, the other two did not. "Oh hey, look I'm sorry I flirted with your boyfriend. Trust me I did not mean to." After all, he had his own thanks, and Tsukishima was the only one in his mind stunning enough to be worthy of his artful flirtations. "I would never otherwise."

But you know, magic and all that junk.

For someone who'd only known of its existence for a month or so, Kuroo had become pretty damn used to it. Like yeah, this might as well be a thing.

He heard Tsukishima choke back a laugh, and that should've been Kuroo's first indication he'd unintentionally stepped on a land mine.

Such was his life.

"He's not my boyfriend," both Shirabu and Semi hissed, and damn then get restraining orders I guess.

"He sure isn't," Tsukishima sighed, half amused and half defeated.

Shirabu growled, hiking his backpack further on his shoulders. "Just watch it next time."

Yes, because Kuroo sure had a say in being mind-fucked by old almost-mermaid magic.

Or maybe Shirabu had been talking to Semi, with the way the other had already begun to storm off in much the same fourteen year old fashion. "Yeah, yeah."

What the fuck just happened?

Could Kuroo rewind all that? He really hoped so. There had to be some kind of magical being who could do that for him.

"Nice to see you both too," Tsukishima muttered as both sirens stomped away, and Kuroo wondered if they went off in different directions for the drama of it all. Like...did they actually have to go that way? Unlikely.

He looked to Tsukishima, praying for an explanation. It was too early for this. Kuroo deserved to skip class (he'd only missed like ten minutes but it was too late now).

A few seconds of silence passed before Tsukishima's phone alerted him to a text, and Kuroo watched as those honey eyes read the words, lighting up in amusement a split second later. The blond turned his phone for Kuroo to see, and...okay.

Semi: Sorry for storming away, we should catch up soon.

Tsukishima shook his head. "As polite as ever, I guarantee you he only half means it. What pieces of work..."

"How do you know them?"

He figured it was rude to just assume all sirens knew each other. Kuroo would not be ignorant.

Tsukishima shrugged, his posture finally relaxing. He dropped his arms back to his sides; open, inviting. Kuroo gladly pulled him forward, the body heat welcome in the cold morning air.

Much better.

"We have...mutual friends I guess you could say. I met them about a year ago when Semi transferred here," Tsukishima said as Kuroo nuzzled his neck, and he was either too tired to mind or he'd finally come around to Kuroo's shameless displays. Kuroo would be fine with either.

"Are they always like that?"

"Sadly yes," Tsukishima huffed, and he pulled away slightly, head resting against Kuroo's. "Soulmates are all different I suppose..."

Ah, yeah that was true.

"Wait." Kuroo pulled away, and goddammit anymore whiplash today and he was done for. "What?"

"Those two salt shakers are universally ordained to be together," Tsukishima said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world (it sort of was but Kuroo could be confused as fuck if he wanted). "Although if you ask me, it should be disputed."

Kuroo's head spun, and he glanced in the direction Semi had run off in, like somehow he could will him back to provide answers. "But...they said they weren't dating."

Tsukishima's sigh came out long, old, like the ancient myths themselves.

Why did Kuroo feel like he'd just witnessed a tragedy without realizing...

Tsukishima smiled, sweet and one thousand percent fake. "They aren't."

.

.

.

"Oh. Oh no."

And suddenly, all of Tsukishima's suffering looks made sense. "Oh yes."

--

"Tetsu, you have a test next week."

"But--"

"Stop obsessing over them," Tsukishima said, burying his face further into the first page of a book he'd been trying to get through for the past ten minutes. Kuroo might've felt bad about that, but the tired mutter which left Tsukishima's lips kept his curiosity burning too heavily. "They've wasted enough of everyone's time..."

"See! Right there! There's clearly a lot you're not telling me!" Kuroo pointed accusingly from where he sat on the rug, all of Bokuto's siren memorabilia laid out around him. Apparently, the other had a thing for collecting old newspaper articles where people 'claimed' to have encountered them. It really didn't have anything to do with Kuroo's current predicament, but he thought it made him look more qualified to investigate.

Tsukishima obviously didn't respect that.

"Because it's not important, and it'll just lead to more questions."

Ah, the blond had a point there. But hey this stuff was interesting, Kuroo had scoured the libraries and internet for anything on sirens that involved more than a half assed page in a mythology book. No real luck. These people needed to start hiring community historians.

Although, Kuroo knew he was practically dating one, no matter what Tsukishima said. The blond knew a lot, Kuroo just had to get him to talk.

And sure enough, his persistence would pay.

"Okay...just one question then. One a day, like we used to promise."

The callback to their former agreement no doubt would break down some walls. Kuroo would be sacrificing a lot too. Just one question? Unheard of. Kuroo was a researcher.

But Tsukishima huffed in the few seconds of silence which followed, and from the way he fully set his book down, Kuroo knew he'd won. No matter how much Tsukishima acted like he would not give in, he always did, and Kuroo tried not to smirk as Tsukishima spun his desk chair to face him.

No, smugness wouldn't get his questions answered, and he needed his questions answered.

Tsukishima crossed his arms, thoroughly done, but giving Kuroo permission nonetheless. Kuroo shook his head. If he got distracted by his gorgeous boyfriend, the bickering would've been for nothing.

Right. Kuroo spoke before Tsukishima had time to change his mind. "How did they know they were soulmates?"

Simple enough right? Kuroo had thought about how to phrase it, and if his hunch was correct...

Yup.

Tsukishima groaned, rubbing his temples gently. "I was afraid you'd ask something like that."

Kuroo loved himself sometimes. Kuroo knew Tsukishima, and Tsukishima was thorough. He wouldn't half-ass an answer if it required a lot of explaining. So, Kuroo got comfy, and settled in for the ride.

Tsukishima leaned back, glaring at the ceiling as he figured out where to start. Kuroo felt like a little kid, holding his breath.

"None of us knew for a few months actually," the blond began, like the memories were genuinely as annoying as ever. "I don't know much about where they came from, but Bokuto and I didn't grow up with them. They met Terushima first, then each other, then us. They've always been...difficult."

"You don't say," Kuroo said with a laugh. He thought he and Tsukishima could get heated, but they were a whole different level.

"Yeah well, they're fools for that too. They're so similar in how they handle things, I can't believe how horribly they get along," Tsukishima huffed. "Or how much they feel the need to act like they don't get along. If they dropped it they'd probably be about as disgusting as Bokuto and Akaashi."

Or us, Kuroo thought smugly.

"So...how did they find out? Does that have something to do with it?" Kuroo asked. That would make sense. Kuroo's first encounter with Tsukishima hadn't been ideal but it could've been a lot worse, and it magically ended up working out. Had Tsukishima attacked him with a shovel though...

Yeah, different scenarios.

"Yes and no," Tsukishima said. "They were pretty polite with each other in the beginning, and the attraction was easy to see even then."

Yeah well, with how jealous Shirabu had been, Kuroo wasn't surprised.

"But, then singing came into the picture, as it usually does when we're involved," Tsukishima continued, rolling his eyes. "Bokuto had suggested karaoke, and I'd been dragged into it. Something about community bonding..."

Yeah, sounds like Bokuto.

Karaoke didn't exactly sound like a dangerous place to figure the soulmate thing out though. What happened?

Then it dawned on Kuroo finally, and he was almost ashamed of how long it took to think of the question. If Semi and Shirabu were both sirens, how did that--

"I can tell by your face that you figured out the issue," Tsukishima said, amusement palpable. Kuroo's 'aha' face must've not been the most attractive.

"Uh yeah! Wait...when it's two of you, how do you guys tell?" Kuroo leaned forward, eager for more knowledge. He hadn't considered this to be a possibility. Of course, maybe the whole human/siren matchup only happened more often because sirens were so few and far between.

"Well back then, we didn't know," Tsukishima replied. It looked like it frustrated him, how much he still didn't know. "But when Semi and Shirabu sang, instead of the heavenly, stupidly beautiful voices, or even the hideous one that you hear from me, they just heard...well, average shit. Nothing special, like those people who go on voice shows but don't sound any better than anyone else.

"Bokuto and I thought they sounded fine, normal, but we weren't their soulmates. To each other, they sounded totally unexceptional."

Which probably wasn't the biggest compliment for a mature siren. Oh, now Kuroo could see where the problem might come in...

Kuroo found himself wincing before the words left Tsukishima's mouth.

"Aaand that's where the fighting started," Tsukishima sighed. "They both are horribly prideful and competitive, and with blunt mouths to go with it. They did not appreciate each other's opinions on how bland they sounded. And none of us knew it was a soulmate thing, so..."

"So they thought they were insulting each other, awesome." Kuroo threw up his hands. Everything was a drama show these days. At least Bokuto and Akaashi's meeting had been cute, aside from the spilled popcorn and public humiliation.

Forget it.

"But, they know they're soulmates now," Kuroo said. "So how and why are they still like this?"

Tsukishima tilted his head, like he'd asked himself the same question for months. "I'm not going to lie to you, it's purely because they suck. We may not have known they were soulmates, but Terushima did. Apparently his mom had seen something like this before, so he eventually told us. But by then, the idiots had been fighting so much neither of them wanted to admit they'd been wrong, so here we are. And here we've been."

Tsukishima covered his eyes, perhaps to keep the tears in, and Kuroo couldn't blame him. What the fuck? Who were these people?

"What's wrong with them?" Kuroo asked, mostly to himself, because seriously? If they were truly both that stubborn and blind, they definitely were meant to be.

As much as he wanted them to realize their feelings....er, if they resolved their issues and combined those powers of pettiness, they might just be unstoppable.

But as Tsukishima said...

"They're hopeless, and that's why I prefer not to think about them," Tsukishima said, picking his book back up as he moved to the floor. Kuroo gratefully made room for him between his legs. Yeah, he sure did need the comfort after that story...

He saw Tsukishima's point. Some people weren't ready to help themselves, and he was forever grateful that Tsukishima hadn't been as stubborn with him. Tsukishima had taken a chance, despite his pride and beliefs, and how he sat snuggly in Kuroo's arms.

Right where they both belonged.

The Semi and Shirabu situation still somewhat nagged at him, and it no doubt nagged at Tsukishima too, but Kuroo wanted to rest his brain for now. He'd sure he'd been seeing a lot of the other two sirens now anyways, so he had to mentally prepare for wanting to bash their heads in...

He pulled Tsukishima closer, huffing into his shoulder. At least he wasn't blind. "Not everyone can have what I have right away I guess..."

Tsukishima halted as he turned the page, resting his head against Kuroo's chest gratefully. "Oh, and what do you have?"

Ah, another success.

Kuroo didn't hesitate to tell him, the cheesy declarations of love spilling out until the back of Tsukishima's neck bloomed red.

--

The thought of meddling didn't cross Kuroo's mind until much later the next day, after he'd gone through piles of homework and could only fathom dragging himself up one floor to crash happily into Tsukishima's arms. Until he got recharged, other thoughts were suspended.

Tsukishima sighed against him, relaxed, his body sinking into the plush blankets on his bed. Kuroo loved them, loved how they felt like clouds. They were familiar to him now too, and maybe that was where part of the adoration came from. Nights spent at the blond's house had become common, and Kuroo purred as he nuzzled his head against Tsukishima's chest, hearing the steady, rhythmic heartbeat he adored.

It was almost too perfect honestly. Was this normal? Perhaps everything about sirens had to do with harmony and music in one way or another. From Tsukishima's voice to the way he drummed his hands and tapped his pencils against notebooks...

Kuroo laughed as he felt Tsukishima's leg bounce against his, following the beat of the song playing lightly through his nightstand speaker. Because yes, Tsukishima would have a nightstand speaker.

Kuroo shook his head, fiddling with the loose neckline of his boyfriend's sweater. "You know, I can put on headphones if you really want to sing that badly..."

But Tsukishima shook his head no, voice as melodic and comforting as ever. "No, please don't."

It made Kuroo think of the one night they got drunk. Tsukishima, giggly and tired, had shrugged at him, his confession delivered so flippantly that Kuroo didn't think he understood at all what it did to him. "I only sing because of you, when you're not around."

Kuroo loved him so much. And whether or not he super believed in the validity of soulmates, he would never regret taking a chance. He adored Tsukishima before he knew anything about the magical aspects, and it hardly made a difference in the end.

Still...

How could Semi and Shirabu not at least explore the chance that they were meant to be?

"Whatever you're thinking now is probably not good," Tsukishima sighed, but the affectionate scratch against Kuroo's scalp dulled the annoyed tone. Victory.

"So...what if we trapped Semi and Shirabu in a room and--"

"Tetsu."

"If we make them think the world is ending outside and they can't leave the room, maybe they'll finally come clean," Kuroo went on, and hey he had a point. Nothing brought people together like possible apocalyptic scenarios. They'd need to find a believable bunker...

The hand in his hair fell, and Kuroo tried not to pout.

"Tetsu, leave it alone..."

Unfortunately, holding back the pout was the extent of his adult ability. Kuroo whined, squirming in the blond's arms. "But I don't wannaaaaa."

Tsukishima pinched him, the ideal blend of pain without being excessive. Evil. "Well you can't. They need to figure it out themselves."

Kuroo sat up, looking at Tsukishima with the most doubtful expression he could manage. Truly, Tsukishima never gave anyone this much credit. People were idiots when it came to love. Them included.

Tsukishima avoided eye contact. Point proven.

"They're not going to figure out shit." So obviously, it was up to Kuroo.

"You're playing with fire," Tsukishima warned, and he tilted his head. Playing dirty I see...

Kuroo tried not to focus on how the movement exposed Tsukishima's collarbones. Nope.

"Also," Tsukishima went on, raising a single finger. No one could argue with that. "It's been tried. You're not even close to being the leader of the 'get Shirabu and Semi together' attack squad. Terushima has exhausted all his plans. He probably cries every night about it."

"Can I call him?"

"Not in a million years."

Kuroo fell against the bed, hopeless. He’d yet to ask about this infamous Terushima Yuuji, but…one problem at a time.

At least the pillows were soft as he sighed into them. "Keiiiiii."

The blond didn’t reply, letting the silence settle. Ironically enough, the notes of a tragic love song began to slowly float into the room. Unfair.

And alright, maybe this was none of Kuroo's business. He had no idea what Semi and Shirabu's real history was beyond what Tsukishima told him, how they felt about soulmates or each other. They probably did just need to be left alone.

Then again, where was the fun in that?

Though, Kuroo had to admit, if he was meant to get involved, the universe would gladly summon his involvement when the time was right. It always had in the past. He supposed he could be patient for a little bit.

Just a little.

He felt Tsukishima roll over onto his side, and Kuroo automatically turned his head to meet his eyes. It was like a calling, an urge he couldn't resist.

And they said he was immune. Yeah right.

Tsukishima smiled at him, his edges softening beautifully just for Kuroo, and yeah...he wasn't immune to anything, and he'd always be one hundred percent okay with it.

"Fine," the blond sighed, his hand moving up to rest against Kuroo's. His finger immediately began to tap along with the music. "I won't ask you to let it go, just...let it go for now, got it?"

Give me all your attention. It went unsaid, but Kuroo heard it loud and clear. How could he refuse?

And yeah, the year was far from over, he had a lot of time to play matchmaker (not to mention a lot of time to drag Tsukishima into his schemes). He wanted to be selfish a little while longer, wanted to hide away and obsess over his own soulmate before he fretted over anyone else's.

He guessed he could wait; this would definitely suffice.

Kuroo was far from disappointed.

Instead he held Tsukishima's hand, cherishing it and not worrying about the distance left to cross, the kisses he wanted to steal. They had all night to do more.

Right then, he was more than okay with being patient, in all areas of life.

Kuroo leaned forward, like his words were a secret, the mischief and adoration dancing in his eyes. "Got it babe. For now."