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legionofpotatoes · 3 years ago

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I love your art, it is very detailed in a neat way. Was wondering how you got started making it as a source of income? How did you get your first paid work, I'd love some advice on how to get started, if that's ok

Thank you. Of course it's okay, although I doubt I have enough work experience in art to really delve into this. I only went full freelance this year, and had been juggling art as a side hobby until then. If you're still interested in my somewhat narrow perspective, and are okay with my long-winded rambles, I'll give it a shot:

So to answer your question fully, I'll describe how I started and move into personal advice and learnings later on. As a disclaimer, I am a white cishet dude in my late twenties with a moderate cocktail of mental illnesses, but overall I can pass for a functioning adult so a lot I have to say may come laced with privilege I cannot fully identify.

So uhh I began drawing in around 2012? I think? Maybe halfway through 2011? And I mostly made fanart for things I enjoyed and tried to branch out in communities that felt nourishing to my style and interests (I caught a bug for alt posters and enjoyed mainstream movies so I spent a long time on posterspy early on). There were a handful of opportunities that came from there but I could only accept a couple because of primary workplace commitments. Still, it showed that networking in a focused community was definitely a good place to start; I myself have huge trouble committing to social networks and really staying socially active, but I knew it was an essential ingredient in succeeding so I tried to make myself be involved in challenges and art support trains etc. as much as I could.

In parallel to all that I also ran a few third party online stores (redbubble, teepublic) for disposable income and would sometimes, if rarely, hit around $100-150 a month from those sources combined. It is a sort of thing that requires helper accounts on other social media sites to promote it on, because the stores themselves have a huge volume of content that translates into low organic discoverability. Obviously it was never gonna be the way towards financial independence through art, and with community projects being few and far between, I opened private commissions in around uhhh 2017 I think, focusing on offering a few styles I knew I could do well, and sometimes operating in individual fandoms (it was mostly a bioware thing to be frank). But I had to close them back down after a year or so, again because of work-life conflict and how badly it was burning me out. The reason I kept trying to monetize this hobby is because I honestly hated what I did for my main job and wanted to see a way out in some shape or form in the future.

And then in 2020 I had to quit my main job altogether because of *gestures at pandemic* and deal with a mental breakdown from all the wonderful things it did to us and me specifically. I took a short break and decided to give art a shot full-time, and that was around May this year. I was planning on opening up commissions again (and I still am), but a few sudden opportunities that fell in my lap moved that timetable down and now I'm grateful to even be doing something I am getting adequately paid for.

So, with that somewhat limited perspective, here's what I've learned that I'd tell myself if I was just starting out:

1. Being a fan of something can be a shortcut towards effective networking kickoffs. Which are important evidently. If you love something and enjoy making content for it, join communities, settle into a combination of social media websites that feel right for those interests + your body of work + your inner rhythm, and try to play to content discovery as much as your mental health allows you to. Like I said, I know that I myself am incredibly bad at self-motivating to talk to people, so I found that synergizing common interests into fanart - which I enjoyed making anyway - could be a way to give myself a gentle nudge forward and build those bridges leading to community activities, which then net experience and coverage. Sometimes even freelance projects from official avenues. Again; picking the right spaces for what you're after is key. Companies roam twitter, concept art recruiters scour artstation or linkedin etc, instagram can land you private commissions and collab opportunities, so on and so forth. Find your niche and try to kick up dust. However...

2. I do not believe that any social profile can replace a good portfolio. The thing that made an immediate difference to me this year was building a coherent, simple website with my best work front and center and a contact form on top. Every single opportunity I got came from that form (maybe via twitter or instagram initially, but always sealing the decision after going through the website), so I firmly believe that showcasing your skills and portfolio in a visually arresting and user-friendly way is a big priority. I had some reservations about tackling that task but fortunately I had help from a savvy life partner and we slapped it together via wordpress in less than a day. Twitter/whatever social media is prevalent in your target groups is definitely important to get the right eyes on your shit, yes, but those eyes will then look for a second stop where your work and rates are more clear and concise. Simplicity is key imo, I cannot overstate this. So make a cute, simple portfolio!

3. Your skills and rates will grow and change as you do. Let them. Over the years I built several lasting professional relationships from my obsession over mass effect and kept getting opportunities both from bioware and their partner companies, some small and some a bit bigger. A one-off job earlier this year opened an unexpected door to another much larger commitment, and then the work I did there brought some attention from small businesses looking for commercial commissions. These were all incredibly different projects in terms of scope and budget, and I've been tackling them all on a case-by-case basis and slowly coming into my own irt my needs, rates, and SOW thresholds. It is still a work in progress (and a LOT of literal work as well), and very much a thing I struggle with in publicly marketing, which is why I felt a tad underqualified to answer your question in the first place (obviously I did not let that stop me). But what it means for me now is that I am rapidly developing into whatever my "version" of a functioning freelance artist is, and when the conditions for that guy are met, I need to be able to confidently plant myself and operate from that space despite past precedents. Do not let anyone bully you into downpricing what you yourself perceive as legitimate products of personal growth and development. Speaking of which...

4. The shitty challenge of turning envy into inspiration, and paddling outside your comfort zones in full riot gear. it is hard, but realizing that being a miserable, self-hating artist in my early days got me nothing but more misery back was the first real step I took and what truly blew the hinges off. I was just not pleasant to be around, I would badmouth my work all the time, and it all somehow made sense in my broken mind because the validation I sought was purely external and the way I sought it was through eliciting sympathy via self-victimization (even when I made something objectively nice). It all led fucking nowhere. Except perhaps to my own narcissism that I one day managed to identify and start managing. So I started looking at things that made me seethe with envy and calmly deconstruct and figure out their inner workings instead, do studies, and find nuggets of inspiration or discover new ways to approach rendering or building up specific elements. It was an application of analytical diligence to what I wanted to be a purely emotional, esoteric workflow, but that I deep down knew wasn't. Art is a discipline and a skill, and maybe it isn't a straight line, but you gotta find some line to thread nevertheless. Being self-hating was almost an identity I had to break out of, and despite it still being like, 4-5% there? I realize its cause and effect on me, my work, and those around me, so it is with a conscious choice that I gently set it aside when I work and especially when I learn. It won't always stay quiet, but the effort is the difference. Your doors towards accepting true growth and venturing into uncharted territories, art styles, and networking will really open from there. But there's a huge caveat...

5. Toolsets, accessibility, privilege, and all the good things that enable artistic expression and profitability are not given equal to all. you might do all the mental work I mentioned to be ready to rock and roll and learn and draw your way out of anything, but digital art is a fucking money pit that asks almost too much at times. I don't got a good case study here but identifying and ensuring accessibility to the tools you need to do your best work is, like, super important. The ergonomics can improve as you make money and settle into the job, but the basics have to be made available to you. And some of that might not even be under your direct control. That can be anything from pen tablets to software subscriptions to opportunities in hiring sullied by sexism or what have you. You gotta navigate all that through careful networking and money/time management. I don't do a good job of devoting specific slices of time to work/study, and my primary clutch is iPad software which went from a good deal to a nightmare scenario over the years. So all I can say here is do what I didn't; network, invest in a PC/tablet, and pick a software you'll learn that won't burn a hole in your pocket.

6. Be nice to work with? This one is hard to articulate and has landed my own ass in hot water in my early years because of how socially inept I am, but nothing is more worthwhile than being.. like. a good person to work with. That can be anything like meeting deadlines, or sometimes missing them but eloquently articulating why, being generous in early stages, being communicable and not too wordy in your emails, having a good grasp on abstract artistic concepts and how to describe them in simple terms, having a clear, laid out framework of your working rates in commercial and non-commercial projects and sticking to those guns with grace, understanding when you need to say no and saying it well, the works. Just being nice. Sometimes that might mean going headstrong with something you believe in, or simmering down and sucking up to the big man, all relative and adaptive. Part and parcel of the service provision dance that we all have to do in order to make bank. Know your lines here, obviously, and don't like. work for nazis. or uh.. *shudders* exposure. but be nice and empathetic and communicable and word will travel eventually. Skill may be in abundance these days, but good people are most certainly not, and capitalism has a way of bubbling up scarcity. Grim, but uh, them's the breaks.

I know I'm ultimately telling you to like. Have a body of work, make a portfolio, grow, and network. But that's really how I see it for now. And being nice can be a cherry on top that sets you apart, along with the inherent irreplaceable voice of your artwork. I think I rambled on enough, but if there is something specific you need my help with, even if you want to come off anon and talk in private, please feel free.

#anon #asks #long post #sorry I cant actually condense ideas better :(

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blitzturtles · 3 years ago

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Title: It Starts Like This, Ch. 1/?

Rating: Teen and Up

Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind

Pairing(s): BruAbba, Platonic Bucci Gang

Summary: Then shit hits the fan.

Or, more accurately, Bucciarati hits the floor.

Giorno bolts forward, but there’s an entire, solid oak desk blocking his path. Gold Experience doesn’t even reach Bucciarati in time. His head hits the ground with a sickening crack, and he’s disturbingly limp.

Notes: Turns out being dead has a bit of a long term effect. Who would have thought?

This fic got away from me, so I'm breaking it down by character interaction (sort of). This is Giorno's part of this very Bucci-centric fic.

Disclaimer: I don't have a diagnosis of epilepsy, but I do have auras/various symptoms and am being tested. Also, I used 'grand mal' here, but it's an outdated term I only picked for the timing of the fic. They're now known as tonic-clonic seizures.

Unrelated: My dog typed the number ‘4’ on the google doc I was writing this on. Obviously it’s cursed. Sorry Bucci.

Giorno is midsentence when he notices Bucciarati’s attention beginning to wander. He watches a moment, letting his own words trail off into silence, as Bruno seems to fixate on something in his own head.

It's not entirely out of character, really. Bucciarati’s often juggling too many thoughts at once, and there are times that his mind will latch on to one in particular and get carried away. He doesn't mean it to be insulting, and Giorno doesn't take it that way.

Only a handful of seconds more pass before Bucciarati’s attention is turned back toward him. He blinks his eyes, clearing his mind, before speaking,

"Apologies, what was it you were saying?"

Giorno gives a slight smile and picks up as though nothing had happened at all.

The next time it happens, something feels off. Giorno doesn't know what. Bucciarati’s eyes drift off, almost upward. Then, rather abruptly, Sticky Fingers is there, reaching out to their user. Their movements freeze abruptly. The stillness is disturbing. Unnatural. Something tells Giorno that Bucciarati isn't lost in his thoughts.

He opens his mouth to try and say something, to right the wrongness of the air around them, but the door to his office creaks open.

Abbacchio looks between the two, from Bucciarati to Giorno. His eyes linger on Sticky Fingers a moment. The stand doesn’t so much as glance at their new companion. They don't move at all.

All Giorno can think is /wrong, wrong, wrong/. He feels sick. Without his realizing, Gold Experience has manifested behind him, fingers reaching forward.

All at once he can see the moment when Bucciarati begins to /exist/ again. His eyes still don't focus on Giorno. In fact, he looks right past him, but so does Abbacchio.

It's then that Giorno sees something settle in Abbacchio's eyes. Recognition of the problem. Or what he thinks is the problem. He nods to Gold Experience, and Giorno looks behind himself to see his stand.

Realization kicks in. Abbacchio thinks Bucciarati’s stillness-- the presence of his stand-- were justified things. Normal reactions to their boss’ stand being present.

Both are thinking: there’s a threat, and Giorno can’t help thinking that they aren’t wrong.

The conversation steers out of his control too quickly for him to keep up with. They’re both concerned about him and why his stand is out and not with what is truly wrong.

The next time it happens, Narancia is there. Bucciarati’s own words trail off. His fingers twitch in the air, a meaningless gesture that screams wrong, bad, wrong in Giorno’s mind.

He remembers, once, hearing Bucciarati explain that things can be unzipped and rezipped in a way that isn’t quite right. That sometimes, Bucciarati is in a rush or under too much pressure to be as precise as he would like.

He also remembers hearing of stands being incompatible with their users, but Bucciarati and Sticky Fingers work seamlessly. They move as one. Why now?

It makes him sick to think about, and he can see that same queasiness on Narancia’s features.

There’s something wrong, and Giorno doesn’t know if he can fix this with Gold Experience. He doesn’t know if he won’t just make it worse. Maybe Bucciarati needs time. Maybe his body will sort this out on its own.

Or maybe it won’t, some dark part of him whispers.

“You see it too?” Narancia asks in a whisper.

Giorno nods. Before he can speak, Narancia continues, “It’s happening more often.”

Those words feel like a knife slipped between his ribs. Before he can ask Narancia more, Bucciarati is rubbing at his eyes and making a confused sound in the back of his throat. All of Giorno’s attention is on him then, but he doesn’t know what to do.

Bucciarati more or less dismisses himself from the room after a few, confusing minutes of conversation.

“I must be tired,” Bucciarati had said.

Narancia and Giorno can only look at the door he leaves through in a helpless sort of uncertainty.

Giorno wants to berate himself the next time it happens, because the next time it happens is in the middle of a fight with two enemy stands, and Bucciarati is standing there, eyes drawn to the sky, and vulnerable. Sticky Fingers is no better. Giorno suspects that, if they had eyes, they would be looking in the same direction.

He doesn’t have time to panic or let the sensation of wrongness flood through him. The enemy stand sees the opening for what it is and rushes right for Sticky Fingers with an aim of demolishing stand and user alike.

Bucciarati turns his head with unfocused eyes, blinks at the thing rushing nearly right at him-- only inches off really, Sticky Fingers is too close. The enemy stand hesitates a moment, suddenly anticipating an attack, but Bucciarati only makes an odd sound in the back of his throat. His eyes draw unnaturally toward his right, where absolutely nothing of concern is waiting for him.

Giorno can only be grateful for the enemy’s hesitation. He takes advantage of it with a ruthlessness that is driven by fear more than anything.

Bucciarati doesn’t even turn his head when the enemy screams out with his last breath.

Everyone else chooses that moment to catch up to them, and the fussing is natural for the situation: the one where the two of them had been ambushed, and not the one where Bucciarati had stopped responding to his surroundings entirely.

Giorno tries to explain it to Abbacchio, but the man waves a hand, reminds him that Bucciarati has a lot on his plate at any given time. Lapses and distractions were bound to happen. Besides, they couldn’t ever be sure where Bucciarati’s attention was. With Sticky Fingers, he could reach beyond what they were used to.

Giorno finds no comfort in the reassurances, but he nods anyways.

Then shit hits the fan.

Or, more accurately, Bucciarati hits the floor.

Not one of their little group knows how to respond, all looking on in horror when Bucciarati begins to shake.

It’s Abbacchio that regains his composure first. He’s also the only one that has a clue on what to do, it seems, considering he’s rolling Bucciarati on his side before anyone else has managed to put their jaw back into its proper place.

“They’re seizures,” Abbacchio says once Giorno regains enough of his composure to crouch in front of them. Abbacchio keeps one hand on Bucciarati’s bicep, keeping him on his side without holding him down. He motions for Giorno to take over so he can shrug out of his coat.

“I know,” Giorno doesn’t think that could be any more obvious right now. He frets, for a moment, over how much pressure to put on Bucciarati, but Abbacchio doesn’t correct him.

“No, they’re seizures, Giorno. All of them. I should have realized,” Abbacchio balls his coat up and tucks it under Bucciarati’s head.

Oh.

And, just like that, it all clicks into place. Giorno feels sick, but Abbacchio takes over holding Bucciarati on his side.

There’s a gargling sound that makes Mista reach forward, but Abbacchio stops him.

“He’s choking!”

Giorno glances back at Mista and realizes, not for the first time, that he isn’t the only one terrified by all of this.

“That’s why I have him like this, just- wait. Fuck, how long has it been?” Abbacchio has to push down his own irritation at himself for not thinking about that before, but he’s barely managing to keep his own composure.

“Thirty seconds, I think,” Trish speaks up.

“Okay, that’s good. That’s fine,” Abbacchio answers with what is meant to be a reassuring nod, but no one looks all that reassured.

There’s something horribly unsettling about the most put together of them being on the floor, with blood and spit mixing together on the ground. Giorno doesn’t actually know how much of the blood is from Bruno’s mouth versus his head, but it all looks like too much. He wants to fix it. He can fix it, but he doesn’t know if that’s a good idea while Bucciarati’s actively seizing. Hell, he doesn’t know if it’s a good idea afterwards either. It’ll hurt, and what if that just makes it worse?

An eternity seems to pass, with Giorno going back and forth with himself, and everyone else being equally tense until Bucciarati slows into what almost looks more like an occasional kick of his feet. Even that stops after another ten seconds.

All together the whole thing takes two minutes and thirteen seconds according to Trish. Abbacchio reassures them that it’s fine. That’s not too long in the grand scheme of things. When he was still a cop, he was trained to call for medical services after five minutes.

Still, Bucciarati is quiet and motionless outside of what Giorno thinks might be his attempts to swallow what’s in his mouth. Abbacchio uses part of his coat to wipe the spittle away while he speaks softly to the man.

“Oh, he…” Trish trails off, quickly removing the outer layer of her skirt. She drapes it over Bruno’s middle.

Abbacchio glances over at the same time as Giorno does, “It’s okay. That’s normal.”

Giorno takes a second to register the same thing that Abbacchio had and instantly knows that Bucciarati would be grateful for Trish’s consideration. Fugo and Narancia process a moment later and both frown. It’s not that they’re judging Bruno for something he can’t help. It’s that he couldn’t help himself in the first place. It’s another thing that makes it all so much more real. If Mista processes it at all, he doesn’t say anything.

Fugo moves to reach out, to touch Bucciarati, but Abbacchio catches his hand. Gentle. “Give him another minute. If we work him up too much…” He doesn’t want to continue that thought. Doesn’t want to accidentally infer that they might be responsible for the next seizure or this one. Or any of those previous. But the reality is that Bucciarati’s brain is dealing with enough. Overstimulating him is too much of a risk.

“Should we…?” Mista asks, already backing up a bit.

“No, we just don’t want to crowd him,” Abbacchio rubs along Bucciarati’s arm in the meantime. He continues his quiet reassurances until Narancia startles.

“His eyes!”

Abbacchio glances up at Bucciarati’s face, half expecting to see another seizure beginning to take hold, but he’s relieved to find Bucciarati looking around sluggishly instead. “Welcome back,” he says gently, “You’re okay now- woah, you need to stay put. Good, yeah, like that. You’re alright. We have you. No one is attacking us.”

“W-where?”

“Giorno’s office,” Abbacchio answers easily. He wipes at Bucciarati’s mouth again. There’s definitely blood coming from either his cheek or his tongue. “You owe me a new coat.”

Bucciarati hums and closes his eyes.

“You really had no clue, did you?” Abbacchio keeps rubbing along Bucciarati’s arm. Something comforting but not all together overwhelming. “That’s fine. We can take care of this.” He catches Bucciarati’s hand when it darts out. He checks Bucciarati’s eyes again and sees there’s a muted alarm to them. “You’re alright. You’re just coming back to us from a seizure, but you’re doing good-- great.” He looks to the rest of their little crew when Bucciarati’s eyes slide shut again, “He’s probably going to cycle through this a couple of times, and he’s going to be very tired. He needs to rest. Those other seizures-- they tire you out, but this…” He lets them infer the level of exhaustion they should be anticipating. Abbacchio certainly wouldn’t expect anything from Bucciarati after what was possibly his first grand mal.

It takes time, but they get Bucciarati into bed. Abbacchio is gentle with removing Bucciarati’s clips and taking apart his braid. He doesn’t think the added tension will help. He waits until the kids scatter to start undressing him.

Sticky Fingers appears midway through, and they look like they’ve been through the ringer.

“He’s going to be okay,” Abbacchio tells them. He calls to Moody Blues, thinks maybe her presence will be reassuring. He isn’t surprised when stand leans upon stand. He hopes the comforting gesture translates to Bucciarati without adding unnecessary strain.

He has Bucciarati tucked in by the time the kids get back. He leaves Bucciarati in a new pair of briefs rather than attempting to fully redress him. His knowledge on seizures isn’t the best, but he knows to expect soreness. Getting Bucciarati dressed again simply doesn’t seemed to be worth it in Abbacchio’s mind. The kids aren’t going to go looking under the blankets anyways.

He doesn’t notice Sticky Fingers getting a hold of Bucciarati’s head until there’s already a zipper in place. It doesn’t seem to bother him, so Abbacchio shrugs and let’s the stand take care of their user. Everyone had heard the sound of Bucciarati’s head hitting the floor; no doubt there’s a nasty cut under there. Stick Fingers’ zipper will keep the bleeding to a minimum until they all feel a little more comfortable poking at Bucciarati again.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Giorno asks, when they all stand there practically wringing their hands from anxiety. Each undoubtedly preferring that it was themselves in Bucciarati’s position.

“Not right now,” Abbacchio says, in that same gentle tone from earlier. His own nerves are shot, but he knows they’re scared. They want to help. He gets that, and being snappish and potentially starting an argument isn’t going to do anything for Bucciarati’s overworked system.

Giorno hesitates, but he nods. He wants to heal the problem away, but there’s more to this than he understands. He thinks it might be a mistake to try and intervene now, so he gently tugs Mista toward the door. Mista tugs on Narancia, and Narancia tries to pull Fugo along.

“Narancia,” Giorno calls when the other opens his mouth. “Let’s go.” He puts as much authority into his tone as he can manage. Truthfully, he feels too helpless to feel like their leader.

Narancia grumbles something under his breath but allows himself to be tugged along. Giorno closes the door behind them.

#bruabba #bruno bucciarati #leone abbacchio #bruno buccellati #giorno giovanna #jjba #jojo's bizzare adventure #jjba part 5 #everyone lives au #bucci gang #blitzwrites #blitz #fic: islt

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chocochipbiscuit · 4 years ago

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4 (can be for real life or fandom writers, whatever you want!), 12, 25, 33 for the writer meme?

4. Are there any writers that inspire you? Oof, so many! I feel like as a writer, reading a wide variety of other writers is incredibly important; otherwise, it’s like trying to be an athlete without adequate nutrition. Intake matters! All of my favorite writers have inspired me in different ways. The authors I may choose to list will change on different days, but here are the (non-fanfic) ones I’m currently thinking of:

Tamsyn Muir’s characters are so vivid and the prose just absolutely bites. It’s darkly hilarious and so incredibly personal, and I love how the contrast in POVs results in such different styles, but it feels resonant each time. I think of Tamsyn Muir specifically when I want something that’s vivid and biting and uniquely voiced.

Richard Siken’s poetry is utterly resonant and leaves me feeling scraped out and hollow, the way that so many lines shy away (and into) intimate panic, the knowledge that a thing may not be good or healthy but it’s yours, in this moment, at this time, and sometimes we hold on to that because we don’t have anything else to hold onto. I enjoy reading his poetry, but also usually need to go sit down a little afterwards until I’m back into myself. I think about this a lot when thinking about how prose conveys emotional states without ever once mentioning something as bland as ‘he felt sad’ or ‘I felt lonely.’

Courtney Milan writes incredibly meaty, satisfying historical romances that provide happily ever afters while also engaging with the politics that underlie the froth of history. They’re romances that don’t romanticize the past, if that makes sense. Strong characters, strong sense of place and setting, and I love the way she juggles multiple throughlines and subplots.

Alyssa Cole also writes wonderful historical (and other!) romances, and the characters are so vivid and nuanced I just!!! I am in awe, I love reading the books just for the sake of enjoying the story but I also love picking apart character details and thinking about the choices she makes in writing them.

Lois McMaster Bujold has written many things, but my favorite remains the Vorkosigan Saga! I love the way in which she juggles large ensembles and propels the plot through various space operatics while also making it feel utterly fun and frantic and making me care so much about these characters!

Shamefully, I must admit that I haven’t been reading a lot of fanfic lately, but may I suggest Stonestrewn and montparnasse for recs? They’re both perennial faves when I want to dive into stories that have attention to characters that I want to swoon over. Montparnasse’s prose always leaves me in a sort of breathless roll, the kind of thing where I’m reading through and even if the characters have done very little other than have a cup of tea while not-talking about their feelings, I am absolutely emotionally transported. Stonestrewn makes me focus on the small moments that change or define characters, and I just!!! Have so many feels all the time about everything.

12. Tell us about a WIP you’re excited about. Asdfsdgds excited about, also terrified of, also I have been working on this thing for over a year and I’m still struggling with my fourth draft’s revisions!!!!

My current WIP (or at least the one that I’m still actively working on) is ‘A Most Edible Thistle,’ in which Josephine and Vivienne are trying to sell artichokes!!!! They deal with bandits, assassins, and the oh no realization that they have caught FEELINGS. It’s also a story about food, imperialism, and the ways in which hunger can consume or nourish. It’s also an incredible mess at the moment!

25. Have you ever daydreamed about side adventures/spin-offs from your fic? Tell us about them!

Yes! I have considered a sequel to Who Watches the Watchmen? in which Haylen grows even more disillusioned with the Brotherhood and decides what the hell, what’s a little fraternization anyways? Which leads to the pre-OT3 of Watchmen becoming the actual OT3 of Piper, Haylen, and Nora!

Also, technically, the Preston/Keene fic was inspired by writing Danse Does Vegas. With Danse going to the Mojave and growing closer to Keene, I was also thinking about what if Keene went to the Commonwealth….but then again, what would make Keene motivated enough to actually leave Jacobstown? What if Jacobstown were destroyed by the Legion? And what character, as the lone survivor from a community he was supposed to protect, would best connect with Keene? Preston, obviously!

33. Is there anything you wish your audience knew about your writing or writing process? I write incredibly detailed outlines!!! As in, to the point that one of my friends was looking at my outline and said that it looked like a first draft! Or at least a half-draft!

I like writing my outlines in bullet point form, and usually start with just a section of ideas: the mood or inspiration for what I want to write, like lines of poetry or with what kind of character arcs I want to explore. Then I will actually start writing out the scenes, including scraps of dialogue or details about the surroundings and what the characters will be doing. The bullet points may be out of order, I might end up shuffling them later, but I like to have a very clear idea of what I want to write before I start writing it.

Because of this, and the fact that I like to accumulate ideas and inspiration before I sit down to write what I think the ‘real’ first draft is, I have docs labeled with ‘outline’ and ‘idea’ that literally go back years, sometimes. I might have a story idea for a while, tinker with it on and off, and then just decide to leave it in my WIP folder until I’m actually ready to write it out in more detail. When I’m actually writing a draft, I think I’m a pretty fast writer; it’s just a matter of collecting all the details and inspiration to get me ready to actually write.

This is much shorter (and simpler) for shorter fics. :P

Once again, I am pleased to have rambled at length!!! Thank you for asking!

(Questions come from this meme.)

#meme things #sioirsebhan #choco answers

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aion-rsa · 5 years ago

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Marissa Meyer Reflects on Her Iconic Lunar Chronicles Series

https://ift.tt/2SiCNtY

New editions of The Lunar Chronicles has author Marissa Meyer looking back on inventive cosplay and forward to new fairy tale retellings.

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Upon glimpsing the dynamic covers for the new paperback editions of Marissa Meyer’s reimagined fairy tale series The Lunar Chronicles, one can’t help but notice there’s something familiar about them—especially the gorgeous stepbacks that feature Cinder in a ballgown and Cress staring wistfully in the opposite direction of the strapping Thorne, silhouetted by moonlight. They bring to mind… Sailor Moon.

Meyer laughs when this comparison is brought up, considering her background as a Sailor Moon fanfiction writer, but says that it was not intentional: “I think that’s just Tomer [Hanuka]’s style.” However, when her publisher Macmillan sent along the artist’s portfolio, she was certainly struck by Hanuka’s work.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why I was so drawn to him," says Meyer. "Because it does have a little bit of that Japanese/manga vibe to it, which I love. And coming from that fandom and that background, there’s definitely a lot of influence in the books. So, I think that it plays really well; the artwork very much complements the series in a great way.”

While The Lunar Chronicles concluded with its fourth and final novel, Winter, in 2015, fans have been able to spend more time in Meyer’s science fiction fairy tale universe with subsequent releases including the short fiction collection Stars Above and the graphic novel Wires and Nerve.

Now, a re-release of the original quartet with brand-new covers showcasing each of the key characters proves that the series is still relevant to readers today. To wit, part of the new covers process involved crowdsourcing favorite scenes from the active and enthusiastic fandom via Instagram. Meyer describes seeing the same scenes suggested over and over, which made their way into the new designs: Wolf spiriting Scarlet away from danger. Winter and Jacin in a romantic clinch in her menagerie.

read more: Marissa Meyer's Renegades Trilogy is Riveting Superhero Fiction

It’s quite the departure from the original covers, each of which featured one key element from its respective book: Cinder’s mechanical leg (in place of Cinderella’s glass slipper); Scarlet’s (or Little Red Riding Hood’s) cape; Cress’ Rapunzel-esque hair; and Winter’s plague-laced apple. While the series has long been celebrated for centering the stories of princesses of color—Cinder is Asian/Caucasian, while Winter is black—and for its representation of mental illness, now those women are actually on the covers in the (human and cyborg) flesh.

“They’re so beautiful and so vibrant,” Meyer says. “I love what [Tomer] does with colors, and so when you see all four of them together, it just stands out so much. I couldn’t be any happier with them.”

That said, this is not the first time that the series has been illustrated. In addition to the aforementioned Wires and Nerve, there is also The Lunar Chronicles Coloring Book. While most authors do not experience the opportunity to see their work adapted thusly, let alone three, Meyer says it feels “incredible,” though she hastens to add that there is a fourth lens: fan art!

“It’s unbelievable to think about these characters and this world that lived inside my head for so many years, and then to see other people putting their interpretation behind it,” she says. “And in a way that there’s such wonderful justice to it, and [that] really captures the same sorts of emotions that I was trying to put into my writing. It’s just like one giant compliment. There’s nothing quite like it!”

Recent years have seen more and more science fiction and fantasy authors talking candidly about their fanfiction backgrounds, including N.K. Jemisin (the Broken Earth series), Naomi Novik (Spinning Silver), Tamsyn Muir (Gideon the Ninth), Tochi Onyebuchi (Riot Baby), and Brooke Bolander (The Only Harmless Great Thing). But Meyer has always drawn a line connecting her professional work and her fanfic persona, Alicia Blade, as seen on her old website via the Wayback Machine. It’s no surprise, then, that Lunar Chronicles fan art and fanfiction began cropping up online not long after Cinder was published in 2012.

read more: Den of Geek Book Club Podcast Talks with Marissa Meyer

“That’s the fantasy,” Meyer says, “for there to be fanfic of your own work, because I know what love goes into creating fanfiction, and how fandoms can really rally around it.” And how must that feel for a former fanfiction writer?

“It’s a little weird, honestly! But it’s wonderful, and I’m hugely honored to know there are so many people who have taken the characters and gone off and done their own things with them.”

Early on, Meyer had to decide whether she would actually read the stories on Fanfiction.net and the Archive of Our Own (AO3). Despite her burning curiosity, she considered that “if Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailor Moon, regularly went on and read Sailor Moon fanfiction, I think that that might have changed what I was writing and what I was putting out there. And so early on I decided, ‘No, I want that to be for the fans; I don’t think I should be involved in that side of it.’ But knowing that it exists brings me much, much joy.”

Another way in which The Lunar Chronicles’ heroines have made their way into the world has been through cosplay, which Meyer describes as “one of my greatest pleasures” to see at conventions. One group costume that stands out in her memory is a quartet of women in ballgowns representing the albino wolf, peacock, and other animals in Winter’s menagerie on Luna: “It was this amalgamation of ballgowns and formalwear on Luna, but also the animals of the menagerie, and I just thought it was so clever.”

In addition to fanfiction, Meyer is an alum of another online-centric writing community: National Novel Writing Month. Cinder and four subsequent books began as NaNoWriMo projects, but the life of an author has made it more difficult for Meyer to time drafting to every November. When asked if she might participate this year, she says, “I hope so! I haven’t been able to do it for the last couple of years; it never seems to line up with my deadlines anymore. [...] It’s a tradition for me, and one I would love to continue. I can’t say for sure if I’m doing it this year or not; but if I can make it work, then I definitely will.”

However, Meyer fans who are considering undertaking NaNoWriMo themselves will have to juggle a tempting distraction this November: Instant Karma, her contemporary romance novel with a magical twist, will be published November 3. Meyer describes the story, the first in a planned four-book series, as “about a girl who lives in a sunny, beachside town and one day inexplicably gets the power to exact instant karma on people. And she goes around punishing all of the snobs and the bullies and the people that she can’t stand. There’s one boy that she absolutely despises, but every time she tries to use this power on him, it ends up backfiring on her. It will be a love story and secrets will be revealed, etcetera etcetera.”

On her Alicia Blade website sometime before 2012, Meyer described herself as “beloved Sailor Moon fanfiction author and future romance novelist.” While each of the Lunar Chronicles books featured romance, there is something exciting about seeing her fulfill that description with her first romance novel. “It’s been a big change from my previous works,” she says, pointing out that “this is the first thing I’ve written that doesn’t have huge superpowers or futuristic technology. There are no fight scenes! Which is awesome. [...] It’s been really nice now writing something that still has romance, still has a theme of good versus evil and what is true justice, and all of these same sort of themes I like to play with, but in a much more subtle, quiet, sweet sort of way.”

But while she expands the Instant Karma world with contemporary happily ever afters, she won’t stay away from fairy tales for long. Meyer teased a new fairy tale retelling—and while she couldn’t say which story she’s adapting, she did share that it will be an epic fantasy what-if story...

“It is going to be fantasy—kinda my first ‘quest’ fantasy novel, which I’m super excited about because growing up, Tolkien and epic fantasy and Dungeons & Dragons—all of that was my jam. It was always weird to me that my first published book was science fiction, because I thought for sure I would write an epic quest story. So this is kinda my first [of] going back to my teenage roots a bit.” The book is tentatively scheduled for fall 2021, though that timing may be subject to change.

Even as she explores new genres and stories, Meyer will never forget the idea that first set her on this path. “I have so much love for this series,” she says, “and not just because it was my first series. I think for every author, the first one you get published is always going to feel really special. From the moment that I had this idea about writing about fairy tales in the future, and this cyborg Cinderella character, I was just so smitten with it, and I loved the idea of bringing all these characters together and throwing them on a spaceship and seeing if they could save the universe."

"That spoke to my heart and to my nerdiness on so many levels," she continues, "and I just had so much fun writing it. To see it now in the world, and see how readers have responded to it, and that there’s so much love and interest in the characters, it’s really been incredible. And of course I hope to have many more successful book series throughout my career, but I don’t know that there will ever be anything that’s quite the books-of-my-heart as The Lunar Chronicles have been.”

Close to a decade since Cinder was published, with a dedicated fandom returning to the books over and over, Meyer has one hope for the legacy of the series.

“Gosh, it’s so cheesy—I’m gonna say world peace,” she says. “That’s one of the things that I loved writing, was a world in which Earth and the countries of Earth have obtained world peace, and they have been at peace for over a century. I don’t know if it’s naïve, but I truly like to think that that is a potential future.”

The new, gorgeous paperback editions of The Lunar Chronicles will be available for purchase on February 4th. You can order them now via the official website.

As a former fanfiction writer herself, Natalie Zutter is mightily inspired to finish all of her WIPs. Talk fairy tale retellings with her on Twitter @nataliezutter.

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Feature Natalie Zutter

Feb 3, 2020

from Books https://ift.tt/36ZmNmg

#aion-rsa #Books

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aabaker1 · 6 years ago

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Just finished Harvey Girls season 2

First spoiler-free Version. Season two of Harvey Street Kids or Harvey Girls Forever call it what you want, was...uneven. The season started and ended in good places, but there was a block of three episodes towards the middle that just fell flat. Good new characters, though only a few of them got developed. And I am really hesitant about the cliffhanger, it could easily go wrong in a lot of ways.

Okay time for the full rundown after the break.

Hoo boy this series had some highs and lows. I’ll break down by episode and then final thoughts.

Raiders of the Lost Park:

Okay does anyone else notice that the episode titles Netflix presents aren’t always the same as the ones on the title card? It’s not that big a deal, but come on, it’s Dreamworks and Netflix. A little consistency would be appreciated.

Nice way to start the series. This was a risky move, introducing brand new characters was one thing, but giving Audrey and Melvin, two established characters, brand new siblings? That was taking a risk. If I had to complain about something the tension and strife Dot caused in the season 1 finale was brushed aside way too quickly, but that’s a nit pick at most.

Dottie Rocket/Weekend at Audrey’s:

Good Dot episode, nice to see her obsessive compulsiveness get the better of her sometimes. But, Dot sill came back down to Earth in the end, even if it took a sugar-induced hallucination to do it.

Digital pets kicking the bucket, sigh, I can relate. But Audrey was just a bit out of character here. Not her recklessness, but her attempts at covering up. Audrey is not the type of person to hide mistakes, get frustrated by them, sure, but not hide them. Okay, she didn’t want to disappoint Lotta, but Audrey just doesn’t have that kind of deception in her.

Boy Story/ Puzzle, Puzzle, Toil and trouble.

And this is what I meant by character development. It’s nice to see that even the Bloogie Boys have limits, and legitimately like more than stereotypical boy hobbies. Also, nice touch remembering Dot and Pinkeye are friends.

Frufru, getting character development? Didn’t we already do this in season one? Okay, I know, people don’t just change overnight. But, for being so eager to be recognized for her brains, Frufru was a bit too quick to cheat. Though nice callback to Audrey Parkour. And I seriously don’t want to know why there’s an old well full of butter, that is just leads to several nasty implications.

Treasure of the Sierra Harvey/ Babies Day in:

And the character development continues, this time for TIny. Also not all old toys are dangerous. The treasure trove of old toys idea has been done before, but this wasn’t a bad example. Though I thought for sure Tiny was going to leave his action figure behind in the storm drain.

And a nice way to show that Lotta’s compassion can get out of hand some times. Also nice way to show that raccoons aren’t always jerks. Just gonna say it now, ninja pajamas, just ninja pajamas. Also, Dot, running bare-foot, outside, in the park? What kind of bizzaro world is this?

The Lice Storm/ Mission Impossibow:

This one kinda fell flat for me. Audrey over reacting is expected enough, but everyone going along with it, including Dot, that was a bit too far. But, the big letdown was the Harvey Avenue Kids. Okay we’ve seen them before in season one, but this was there chance to shine. And most of them came off as background filler, just like before. Penny was the only one who got any kind of development. But, she and bald Audrey did just enough to save this ep for me.

Decent episode and it shows Dot’s possible great weakness. She’s creative, but in a scientific, A, to B, to C kind of way. Imagining fantasy scenarios on the spot is just not in here wheelhouse, props to her stepping outside of her comfort zone. Bow initiated the plot here, but didn’t get a lot of character development. But, I’m okay with that. The Bow doesn’t really need development. She’s the bow, the weird kid who does her own thing, sometimes you don’t need to add more to make something good. My only complaint is that there just wasn’t enough of her this season, but I guess there can be too much of a good thing. Did I mention Bow’s my favorite character? Could you tell?

Fandom Menace/Moby Dot:

This one was a meh for me. It didn’t do Lotta any favor. I know she’s the trusting type, but she’s not dumb and certainly not the type to willfully delude herself. I think this was a bit of a miss step. Thankfully they didn’t do the cliche of scamming Zoe out of the ticket she sold. Lotta’s online appeal did fit her character and kudos to Crush4you to being stand up guys and respecting their fans like that.

The Cheer Hunter: Dot’s entertainment:

And more character development in an unexpected direction. So far Zoe’s two appearances had her solidly in the antagonist role, but here we she she’s actually a person, not just a stereotype. Also Maria feeling generally dissed by Zoe fast-tracking Lotta felt genuine. It’s nice to see them do plots that don’t involve someone getting their comeuppance. And everybody coming together to cheer Lotta up was a perfect touch. Also, Dot and Stu being completely (whatever) to the whole situation was funny as hell.

And once again we have Dot at her Obsessive Compulsive best. She discovers a new side to herself and like Dot, naturally takes this to the extreme. Also, nice to get a glimpse of how Dot’s brain works. Also, Fluffy’s still around, what? You do remember that was just a rat covered in garbage can fuzz, right?

I wanna Crush Your Hand:

And this is where the dip in the season started. I’m just going to say it now, I’m not the target demo for boy bands, not by a long shot. But, that wasn’t the problem I had with this episode. No the main problem was Lotta’s obsession taking up the whole spotlight. It felt like Audrey and Dot just got shoved into the background. Plus this episode just dragged. I’ve gotta say it, I think the two stories an ep format works best for this series. The double-length story just doesn’t fit, here.

Beyond Thunder Dot: Ten things I hate about Ew:

And this is where the season hit the valley for me. Seriously, you’re doing the “Let’s shove the environmental message down kids throats” Thing in 2019? I thought that went out of fashion in the 2010s. But, the most galling thing for me was all that character developing they were doing came to a complete halt. Frufru’s character development? Nah, let’s just turn her into a low rent Captain Planet villain. And since when did Dot get that preachy? I’m sorry but this got so painful for me I had to stop the ep and walk away. Ten things I hate about Ew might have been a decent episode, I don’t know. And I never will if I have to sit through this outdated, anvilicious garbage to get to it.

Something’s Glotta Give/Afernoon Contrite:

I think the main thing with this story is it made no sense to me. I thought Gerald and Lotta got together in season one, now Lucretia’s trying to hook them up, what?

This is where the season started to pick back up for me. It’s nice to see that even after the previous character development Melvin can still be Melvin. It’s nice to see that Lotta tries to fix things, even if she did it by accident, but naive Lotta is back and I just don’t know how I feel about that. Still seeing Melvin get a bit more character growth saved this one.

Can’t Hardly Wait/Bring it Prawn:

Ah that’s more like it. This touches my fanfic-writing heart. It’s nice to see Lucretia stretching her active imagination. It’s also nice to see the Audrey Girls and Tiny encouraging her self confidence. Plus in short order we got return of Audrey the Destroyer, Sci-Fi Dot and Lotta Moon, what’s not to love?

Thank you! Thank you for showing that cartoon siblings can do more than just fight with each other. This almost makes up for the environmental debacle, almost. In one fell swoop we see Maria and Melvin get along and Zoe and Audrey put their differences aside and work together for a common cause. Bonus points seeing Zoe stick up for Audrey. Audrey may be an annoying twerp, but she’s Zoe’s annoying twerp, damn it! Also, anyone else imagine buff Zoe and Audrey when Dot kept saying aabs.

Hover, may I board with danger/free Gilly:

And here’s Stu’s character development. Stu always seemed the odd man out. While Zoe and Maria have Audrey and Melvin to play off of, Stu was just sort of there. Now we see his too cool for school attitude is really a front for him being sensitive and a little insecure, that’s a nice touch. Also Audrey gets to grow as a person. First she was just legit conning Stu for time on the hover board, which was really just a Segway without the handles, but then she genuinely gets into the contact juggling. And one of her plans actually works for once, what? Also, what is up with Bobby this season, last season he was the older kid who doled out sage advice and could be a little jerkish sometimes. Now this season the sage advice stuff is all but gone and we just get the jerk, everyone else gets character development, but Bobby actually backslides a bit, guess they had to cut corners somewhere.

Finally a payoff to the running gag of Audrey’s goldfish issues. Nice to see that finally wrapped up. But, was it strictly necessary to give the animals voices? Okay, I admit it wasn’t so bad for Bobby the skunk, but every freaking animal? Yeesh, I mean there is such a thing as subtlety.

That thing you Dot!/Where the streets have no games:

You know, at first I thought I was going to hate bring Chevron back, didn’t she and Dot make peace back in season one? But, then I found that I really didn’t hate it. Dot used the wrong word. Chevron is not a frenemy, she’s a competitor and that may actually be a good thing. Dot and Chevron are very similar, they like to take hobbies to the absolute extreme and there’s nothing wrong with that. They two drive each other to succeed. In fact if they didn’t have each other they probably wouldn’t do half as much as they do. And Kudos bring Penny back and giving her a voice, she’s going to be the lead Harvey Avenue kid, I just feel it.

And here we are, okay, I’ll go through ep first before getting to the diamond-studded elephant in the room. Nice commentary on mobile games and how their designed to addict you. And yeah they really are just excuses to gather data. Also, nice touch Lotta and Audrey being the only ones who weren’t suckered in. Sadly Dot’s obsessive compulsive tendencies made her an easy target. But, then we go into that cliffhanger. Yeesh, that cliffhanger.

Finale Thoughts:

I’ll just say it. I know they were going to pull Richie in at some point. But to quote the Bow, not this way. The entire idea behind Richie Rich is that in spite of being the richest kid on Earth, Richie was a normal, average kid, who just wanted to make friends and have fun. He was never portrayed as being snobbish, sheltered or clueless.

Only now it’s clear Richie set up the mobile game and the contest to try to figure out how kids have fun. Not only is being clueless, he’s using money to try to solve his problems, which Richie never did.

And worse it’s predictable. I can tell where this story is going. The Harvey girls together maxed out the fun-o-meter, so Richie’s going to take them off to his estate to be his new friends and the Harvey Girls are going to bring him down to Earth.

But, they shouldn’t have to. Richie has always been portrayed as already being down to Earth. Now they’re going out of their way to portray Richie as a clueless rich kid who doesn’t understand how the real world works, and that is just wrong. That’s not Richie. Although nice touch with the Irona reference.

But, there’s something that worries me even more. Now that you’ve pulled the pin on Richie, where do you go with him from here, does he become a regular? I hate to say it, but I hope not.

You have to remember, that by default, Richie is the biggest presence in the room. If you over use him he could quickly over shadow Audrey and the others, in fact, he already has once before.

I’m taking about Harvey Comics. For over ten years, Audrey, Lotta, Dot and their friends ruled Harvey comics. Then Richie, Wendy and Casper came along. And within a few short years Audrey and company were all but forgotten. I just hope to go they have enough sense not to try to make this the Richie Rich show. I think they do. I think they understand a way to use Richie right and they already done it in the same episode, with Chevron.

Chevron is a big personality, so they don’t overuse her. So far she’s shown up once a season and that’s just right for her. It’s all she needs. If she were on regularly she’d drown the others out too much. But, this way when she shows up it’s a big deal. I think that’s the perfect approach to take with Richie, less is more. Just don’t turn him into a clueless rich kids, please?

#harvey-street-kids #Harvey-Girls-Forever

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glassrain · 6 years ago

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Thirteenth Doctor, Eomer, Anakin Skywalker, Ron Weasley, Natasha Romanoff, Prince Caspian for the character asks? :)

The Thirteenth Doctor:

I actually stopped watching Doctor Who afterClara died for a number of reasons. I just felt the quality wasdipping and while I still enjoyed watching DW, I knew I’d beletting go soon, and so Clara’s death seemed like a pretty goodcut-off point (also, I’d been pretty busy and life started gettingin the way of my TV time). So I’ve never actually watched any of13′s run. But, from what I’ve seen in gifs, trailers and posts,she seems to be doing a good job! She seems funny without losing theability to get deep or emotional, and looks like she’s bringing alot of energy to the show. I like what I’ve seen of her!

Eomer:

How could anyone not like Eomer? He’s all fiery passion andconviction, but still got this quiet sort of strength. He might notbe a super prevalent character, but I think he’s great - and I lovehis relationship with Eowin!

Anakin Skywalker:

Not a huge fan of Anakin, I’ve got to admit, though I don’tdetest him the way some Star Wars fans do. I thinkthat the way he was written in the prequels didn’t do justice toDarth Vader, made him somewhat two-dementional and unsympathetic, anddidn’t add any extra weight to the original trilogy. The prequelsdidn’t focus very heavily on his relationship with Obi Wan, whichthey should have, since that’s the hinge on which all of episode IV turns when you get right down to it. I alsothink his relationship with Padme could have been the stuff oflegends, but instead was something of a let-down. All that beingsaid, I don’t hate the character (or the prequels), and I do derivequite a bit of pleasure from certain aspects of Anakin (”I don’tlike sand” anyone?), so I won’t complain too loudly.

Ron Weasley:

This one’s a bit unusual, because (believe itor not) I’ve never actually watched/read Harry Potter,primarily because my mom vehemently dislikes the franchise. She’sgiven me very reluctant permission to read and watch HarryPotter, but I know it makes her uncomfortable, so I’ve chosennot to get actively read/watch them until I move out of the house. Thatbeing said, I know everything that happens and have kind of beensucked into the fandom a bit - I’ve read tons of analyses and theories, andsnippets from the books here and there, and even dabbled in a littlebit of fanfiction - so I feel very familiar with the characters. AndI love Ron! I think he’s actually a very layered and complicated character who gets brushed under a very generic rug simply because of his loud and blunt personality. I think he’s strong and sensitive, and smarter than people give him credit for, and desperately trying to find his own niche and identity, while the fandom just stick the “Harry Potter’s Friend” label on him (ironically). This blogger unabashedly stans Ron Weasley.

Natasha Romanov:

I wouldn’t die for her, but I really do enjoy Natasha! I think she’s a very layered and conflicted character, who stands fiercely and unwaveringly for who/what she believes in. But even more than that, I think she’s also got a certain gentleness to her, a soft and vulnerably human side to her that she only dares show to a very small handful of people, and I really do love that aspect of her character, even more than her ability to dismantle a room full of mercenaries without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, I think the franchise has a bit of a tendency to shy away from really delving into that side of her (understandably, since the movies are often juggling 5 different plotlines, and delving into that messier side of her while still maintaining her fighting exterior would be both tricky and time-consuming) but that doesn’t change my fondness for this character.

Prince Caspian:

Prince Caspian is a pretty different character in the movies than he is in the books - regardless, I like them both to relatively comparable degrees, though for different reasons. Book Caspian is just … so chill and clueless. What - my uncle is trying to kill me? What - Narnians exist? What - talking badgers? What - I’m the new king of a mythical race? …. Okay, sure. No use moaning about it, I suppose. This kid is almost more British than the Pevensies. Movie Caspian is shy and uncertain, and slowly learns and discovers his own self worth, he is brave yet kind and humble, and I really like him. Plus, Ben Barns’s accent was delightful!

#timelordoftherings #aaron #thanks for the ask!#this was fun #if a bit longer than it was actually meant to be #oops #but still - thank you!

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margridarnauds · 6 years ago

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6, 12, 23, and 45 please!

Thank you!

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

So, I have no idea what we’re talking about as far as levels of involvement, but here are the ones I read fanfic RELIGIOUSLY for back in the day. So, behold my shame.

Cats (oh, my sweet, innocent 12 year old self) - Mistoffelees/Victoria.

Phantom of the Opera - Raoul/Christine/Erik, tbh. I started off E/C, then shifted to R/C when I realized E was a trashfire, then went to R/C/E when I realized that I loved garbage after all.

Van Helsing - Anna/Dracula. Which is impressive given I’ve never. Actually. Watched it. Sue me.

Carmilla - Carmilla/Laura.

The Pirate Queen - Graínne/Donal, one of the first fics I ever wrote. (And then never published.) Yes, he is a garbage fire in the musical, but in my very specific rewrite of it, he wasn’t. Though these days, I kind of lean towards Tiernan/Donal or Tiernan/Gráinne/Donal. Garbage pirate OT3 is garbage.

Dracula - The Countess (from Makt Myrkanna)/Lucy Westenra. The first explicit femslash I ever wrote, and it might very well never see the light of day because I do not forever want to be known as The One With The Blood And The Lesbians. Though, who knows? It might cleanse me of Printing Press.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Yes. Really.): Twilight/Princess Luna. I keep telling myself that my AO3 profile’s eventually going to be nothing but period dramas, my (1) Terra Nova fic, and…a My Little Pony fic, along with various Barbie Movie fics. For old time’s sake.

Terra Nova - Wash/Mira, due to @janetcarter‘s influence.

The Flash - Barrison. Specifically, Eobard/Barry. In many ways, it was my prep for 1789 with the whole “I murdered your parent” thing.

The Avengers - Loki/Tony Stark.

Les Miserables - Valjean/Javert

The Golden Compass - Mrs. Coulter/Lord Asriel

Arthuriana - Galahad/Mordred

Star Wars - Reylo or Finnlo. I don’t particularly have a preference, just let Kylo screw one of his various archnemeses straight to the side of the Light.

Star Wars: Rebels - Kallus/Zeb. Oh. Another enemies to lovers ship. Who would have guessed?

1789 - Peyrol/Ronan (Was there any doubt? If there was, I need to write more.)

Revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre - Madame Roland/Marie-Anne. In progress, but A Ship for me. Mainly because I’m a contrarian little shit who writes things when people tell me I can’t and then gets attached to the result.

Brennus, Enemy of Rome - Ahmet/Nissia. Which…I still need to. Write. My fanfic for that one. So that fanfic for it exists.

Lord of the Rings - Boromir/Aragorn

Friedrich: Mythos und Tragödie - Countess Orzelska/Wilhelmine and Fritz/Katte. Pretty much equally, though Orzelskine (?) Wilhelska (?) is starting to edge out Fratte.

La Legende du Roi Arthur - Leia/Guinevere in the French and Morgane/Guin in the Takarazuka.

Irish Mythology - Bres/Sreng. I will defend this one to the death and I will do it with citations and footnotes.

Scarecrow of Romney Marsh - General Pugh/Dr Syn. Yet another one I. Need to write the fic for.

Star Trek: ……..

………You know, my favorite thing about Star Trek is that, regardless of shipping preferences, we can all find something to enjoy. Kor/Kirk. While I can’t speak for DS9 Quark/Brunt, my current favorite from Discovery has to be Michael/Tilly, which might very well be the single most wholesome thing I’ve shipped in a very long time.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix/Edgeworth.

12. Who is your current OT3?

Chauvelin/Percy/Marguerite from The Scarlet Pimpernel. I do not accept constructive criticism on this one. Because Percy/Marguerite are sickeningly sweet on their own, Marguerite/Chauvelin has That Sexual Tension in Where’s the Girl and The Riddle, and Percy/Chauvelin fulfill all my requirements as far as enemies to lovers ships are concerned.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

I’ve talked a lot about Forgiveness being one of the very few things I’ve written that I’ve ever liked and the ONE thing that I feel…gets my idea of how L/R WORK together and probably shows off my style best, along with Fowl Play (WHICH HAS FANART NOW. WHICH I’M STILL NOT OVER BECAUSE MY BABY HAS FANART.) So, instead, I’m going to shift to Pour la Peine, which…is my messy, messy child in many regards, not the least because it’s so much longer + still isn’t finished.

(Warning for various and assorted personal, squishy feelings, as well as cancer mentions)

When I first got the prompt from @fallenidol-453, it was January of 2018. Two months before, I’d received the news that my uncle had Stage Four Esophageal Cancer and my mother had moved from our house to his house to care for him, leaving me without her help for the first time in my life, which I deliberately kept as low-key about on here as I could be, given that, to be honest, dealing with the endless “I’m so sorry to hear that”s gets very exhausting after awhile and I was a college student with a schedule to keep. And he and I had a very…contentious relationship, despite the two of us being alike in many ways. Possibly because we were alike in many ways. And, by May of that year, he was dead. And I would learn shortly afterwards that my paternal grandfather had died in January, but no one on my father’s side had bothered to tell me. I spent a lot of time trying to deal with the stress of that time, juggling that with my schoolwork and my fanfic, which I tried to work on from the time I received the prompt onwards. (Tbh, I’d had the opening scene in my mind for awhile before, but I hadn’t had a larger plot + ending until the prompt.)

At first, I thought that I would publish it like I’d later publish Forgiveness, in one straight chapter, but as time went on and on and there became less and less of a shot of having it done any time soon, I ended up just publishing the first chapter and deciding to update it from there. And that chapter got a lot of ribbing from friends. “Her brother is dead” really came off as a very melodramatic first line, but I also decided, very early on, that I didn’t care about what the objective quality of it was; all I cared about was creating a snapshot of a time in my life, just like when I go through the stuff that I made when I was twelve and I laugh about the various and assorted OCs and questionable phrases but love them all the same because they’re my twelve year old self’s. And, where I was at that point in my life, writing Solène mourning a family member who she had a difficult relationship with while I mourned a family member who I had a difficult relationship with, it was the only line that felt right to me.

There’s a lot of things with this one that I’m still not sure about. There’s a plot twist that I’ve tried to be quiet about for all this time (that I’ve probably been really terrible about keeping, tbh) and that is either going to be the Jumping the Shark moment or the defining moment of it, and I’m obviously not sure how that’s going to be received though I want to believe I’ve foreshadowed it enough to not make it too much of a swerve, I’m not sure how I feel about the ending, there’s a lot there that’s murky and probably more reflective of my writing a year ago than not, and I’m not sure about how I’ve handled the character dynamics given what we’ve got in canon or the dynamic I’ve put them into, or whether the choices they’ll make reflect THEM or what I WANTED them to do. Hell, with a few things, I’m not sure how I’m even going to GET to the ending.

But, I’m really proud of how much I’ve had the chance to work with Solène and Olympe, I’m really happy with a lot of the work I put into sequences like the two chapters long March to Versailles, which involved looking into a LOT of personal accounts as well as secondary sources analyzing it, and I liked trying to flesh out Solène’s world. But, more importantly, of everything I’ve written, it and Le Cri are probably the most directly personal to me, and even though a part of me still says Her brother is dead is a hell of a melodramatic opening line, it fulfilled its purpose. And, tbh, sometimes that’s all a fic needs.

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

This is so hard for me, because there are so many fics that have left a huge impression on me throughout the various fandoms I’ve been in. In 1789 alone, I was thinking of at least two different fics at a given point, which is both fantastic and minorly stressful given how small this fandom is (one of which, incidentally, was Little Dove Heart, since that really gave me a huge push as far as Laz and his backstory and his characterization and his relationship to Artois, even if I tend to keep the latter more in the background). And there have been so many fics I’ve read that I’ll remember and go back to periodically, and that really helped me as far as looking at how character voices could be developed and how description would work and how to work a time period and a setting into a story.

Overall though, I think I’m going to have to give it to Vae Victis, which is a work by @sineala‘s. I’ve never been quiet about my undying love for the Gauls and for Brennus in particular. Brennus is one of my historical favs, and I felt like this fic did a really, really fantastic job of bringing that much-neglected period of time to life and developing the characters on their own, without me having any background in the source material. With fanfic, especially with a more active fandom, there’s kind of an expectation that everyone knows the characters involved, so to be able to work in a different time and to get the reader fully invested in the characters and their relationship in their own right is a really fantastic accomplishment, and to be able to show the Gauls and Brennus (in what little time he gets, because my boi’s not the focus and I accept that) as three dimensional figures rather than a rampaging horde is always much appreciated. And it has a WORKS CITED page at the end, AKA the eternal key to my heart.

#long post #berncat #sorry for the tragic backstory dump on PLP!#but there's a reason why it's still my baby despite everything

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starrnobella · 6 years ago

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Forever and Always - Chapter 25: An Honest Conversation

A/N: Alright, here's the next chapter. We are finally going to have Emma talk to someone else about all of her issues regarding these nightmares. A few other key things happen to lead us into the next chapter that I am working on edits for. After I get that posted, I will be back to actually having to write for this story. It's crazy to think that I have been working with pre-written chapters for over a year and now I'm back to writing actively for this story.

I'll apologize right off the bat that this is self-betaed. This story is my baby and I've been editing it from the beginning.

I run a group on facebook called the Storybrooke Cafe (18+) and it's a place for readers and writes of OUAT to hang out and discuss fanfiction for this loving fandom. I'd love to see the group become more active, so please consider checking us out! I also run a group that is a place to rant and rave about my personal adventures in Fanfiction. I'd love to have you there too!

Song Recs: Lost in the Moment - NF; We Are Broken - This, The Silent War

Le me know what you think!

Love always, ~starr

"Come on, Emma. Just go inside," she mumbled to herself as she stood looking at the door to Archie's office. She had managed to convince herself to come in off the street and up the stairs to the front door of his office. Now she needed to actually step foot into the office.

After taking a deep breath, she reached her hand out to grab the handle when suddenly it turned without her touching it. Startled by the movement, she took a few steps back and furrowed her brow as she watched the door swing open, revealing Archie with a large smile on his face.

"Emma! Come on in," Archie said happily as he ushered her in the door. "I thought I heard someone coming up the stairs, but I wasn't sure until I saw the shadow through the glass."

Emma just nodded her head as she walked mindlessly into the small office and plopped herself down on the couch. She leaned against the back of the couch and tipped her head back taking a deep breath.

Archie watched her for a few moments before taking a seat beside the couch. He was willing to wait until it looked like she was ready to talk before he said anything. Her request for an appointment was very vague, so he didn't know what he was working with and did not want to push any buttons that could make her shut down completely. He realized that he had probably startled her enough by opening the door on her before she was ready to come in.

After what felt like an eternity in her mind, Emma finally leaned her head forward and ran her fingers through her hair. She sighed again before finally making eye contact with him. "Hey Archie."

"Hi Emma. How are you doing?" he asked calmly as he interlaced his fingers and rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward in his seat.

Emma laughed at the simplicity of the question. If anyone else in town would have asked her that she would have just lied to them and thought nothing of it. It wasn't like they could tell she was lying. That was her superpower. However, it seemed as though the only two people in this town she couldn't lie to were Killian and apparently Archie because here she was ready to tell him everything that vexed her.

"I wish I could tell you that I was fine and I'm here to get your insight on a case, but that wouldn't help anyone," Emma replied with a fake smile playing at her lips. "I'm not okay. I am barely sleeping and when I do finally get to sleep, I tend to wake up shortly after in a fit of terror."

Archie furrowed his brow as he spoke. "Why are you waking up in a fit of terror?"

"I keeping having a recurring nightmare…" Emma admitted after a beat. "In that nightmare, I die."

As she said the words her heart sank. It felt as though she was finally admitting the truth for the first time, but she knew that it wasn't. She had told both Killian and Regina what was going on, but telling them didn't seem to feel as heavy as it did telling Archie. Admitting it to him felt like she was hitting the final nail into her coffin.

"Oh Emma, that's terrible," he replied. His eyes filled with concern and he rubbed his hand over his face. "Do you.." he began, but paused momentarily before continuing, "Do you see you how you die?"

Slowly Emma nodded her head up and down. " I lose a sword fight to a person in a black hood. They knock me to the ground and drive a sword through my chest."

Archie furrowed his brow again and shook her head. "Are you alone?"

She shook her head furiously back and forth. "Unfortunately, I'm not. I think if I was then these nightmares would be less scary."

"Are you sure they are just a nightmare? Maybe they don't really mean anything more than to just give you a fright," Archie asked. Leave it to the grasshopper to look for the hope in the situation.

"If I had only had one, then I probably would have just brushed it off as such. Maybe even just two of them, but it has been more like eight or nine of them and they have started having physical side effects," Emma admitted.

"Side effects?" Archie questioned, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

"My hands start shaking randomly and they will start shaking if I try to use my magic. Usually that means my magic just quits."

Archie nodded his head slowly as he thought about what she had said. He didn't have a lot of experience dealing with magic, so he didn't have any advice to help with that. He also wasn't sure how to interpret visions.

Dreams? Sure. Need someone to assist in making a diagnosis of a mental illness? Sure, call Dr. Hopper and he will do everything he can to help.

"Before I offer any advice, I should ask. Who else are you seeing in your visions?" he said.

Emma took a deep breath before she answered his question. "Out of the corner of my eye I see that Killian, Henry, my mom, and my dad are all there. They all watch me die. Killian tries to shield Henry from the sight and my dad shields my mom. I can hear their screams and I can hear my mom crying as my eyes slowly close."

Emma closed her eyes and wiped away the few tears that had formed before they had a chance to roll down her cheek and shook her head. Interlacing her fingers together, for the first time since she arrived in his office she turned to look at Archie. "I just don't know what to do."

Archie reached a hand over to grab a hold of Emma's. He offered her a weak smile that she tried to return. He could see the pain in her eyes. Coming here wasn't easy for her, but at least she had done it.

"I don't have a lot of experience with visions and magic," Archie began, "so I cannot give you a lot of insight as to what is going on. For that you may need to talk to Regina or Mr. Gold. They both have much more knowledge than I ever could have in a lifetime. But if you just need someone to talk to about this that isn't Killian, my office door is always open to you. No appointment needed. Just stop by and I'll fit you in."

Her smile turned a bit more genuine before it faded once again. "Thanks for that, Archie. Regina knows. She and Killian are the only ones who know, besides you that is. Actually, she's the first person to tell me that I needed to go see Gold. I guess that's my next option," she said as she rose from the couch. "Thanks for seeing me today. I really do appreciate it. I'll swing by if I need to talk."

"Think nothing of it. I do hope things start looking up for you soon," Archie said, rising from his chair.

They both walked over to the door where they bid their farewells. Emma left his building and headed towards the Sheriff's station. Talking to Gold could wait another day.

. . . . . . . .

Killian arrived at the station just as Charming was walking up to the door, adjusting his keys so that he could unlock the door. He watched as Charming struggled to juggle everything he had in his hands. It looked as though he had stopped by Granny's on his way in to grab a round of coffee for the whole gang.

Dave was always the thoughtful one of the three of them. He and Emma only brought coffee when they were trying to make up for running late because they managed to get distracted before leaving the house.

"Need a hand?" Killian asked as he got closer and held out his hand to take the cup holder from Charming.

Charming turned to look at him and nodded his head handing the holder over. Then he turned his attention back to the door and finally selected the correct key. Quickly unlocking the door, the two of them walked inside.

"Thanks for the hand," Charming said. After he hung up his coat he looked around the office. "Where's Emma? Usually you two get here at about the same time."

"She had an appointment this morning. She'll be here afterwards," Killian replied handing him the coffee holder before grabbing one of the three cups. "Thanks for the coffee."

Charming furrowed his brow. "What kind of appointment?"

"I'll let her tell you when she's ready. Not my place to tell her secrets," Killian said taking a seat at Emma's desk. He looked around the computer trying to find the on button, but was not having much luck. "Where is the on button?" he mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Charming asked, quirking his brow as he settled in at his own desk looking over the monitor at him. He was enjoying the fact that Killian still struggled to use simple pieces of technology that he had watched Emma use multiple times. "The button you are looking for is on the tower."

Killian looked over at Charming and rolled his eyes. "If I knew where the bloody tower was, then I wouldn't be looking for the on button," he grumbled. He slid the seat around to look at the box sitting on the floor beside the desk. He quirked his brow in curiosity and poked at the button he saw on the top of the box. Not long after pressing the button, he heard the swish of a fan beginning to move and the box made a loud beep.

"Got it," he said smugly as he slid the chair back in front of the screen and waited for the machine to come to life.

Charming shook his head as he laughed. He remembered when he was still learning the tricks of the trade to working with the technology Emma had added to the office. He was so used to doing everything the old fashioned way. Although he did enjoy how quickly they were able to complete tasks. Now if only he could get his cell phone to work every time he needed it to his life would be a whole lot easier.

"How long are you gonna make Snow and I wait for you to put that ring on Emma's finger?" Charming asked casually as he drummed the pencil in his hand against the desk. He didn't really have anything better to do this morning while they waited for Emma. In fact, he was most likely just going to play games until she got there anyways. So finding out more details about Killian's proposal plan would make the morning pass quicker.

"Getting anxious, mate?" Killian asked with a laugh.

"Well, do you blame me?" Charming replied. It wasn't that he was anxious per say, but he was excited and that was an understatement compared to the ball of nerves Snow had been since she and Killian picked out the perfect engagement ring. Every conversation he and Snow had since she got home from the jewelers had been about the importance of Emma having a wedding fit for a princess.

Since that's what Emma was after all, a princess. Just because she hadn't been brought up in a castle or attended all of the balls that a princess normally goes to, doesn't mean she didn't deserve to feel like one. She had missed out on so many opportunities growing up. His heart hurt any time he thought about everything that she had missed out on.

There was a painful feeling of guilt that always bubbled up inside of him when he thought about her childhood. The worst part of it all was that he didn't know about everything she had been through. He only knew about the small pieces she had told them about when a situation would arise. Someday he'd ask her to tell him more, but only when he felt like she was ready to talk about it.

"Maybe Killian knows more about her past…" Charming thought to himself as he heard Killian laughing quietly to himself.

"I'm not making you wait on purpose, Dave," Killian said. "I want to make sure everything is perfect and I'm still hammering out the details in my head before I try to put anything into play."

"Well, can you at least share some of your thoughts about the plan?" Charming inquired, quirking his brow in intrigue as he leaned around the monitor on his desk.

However before Killian could respond, Emma came through the door to the station. She seemed to be a bit more relaxed than she had when she left the house this morning. Talking to Archie might have been exactly what she needed, or at least that was what Killian was telling himself for the time being and what Emma had managed to convince herself of as she made her way to the station.

"Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late. I popped in to see Archie this morning. I had a couple things I wanted to talk to him about."

Charming quirked his brow. "Everything alright?"

Emma nodded her head quickly. "Yup. Everything's fine. Just wanted to get some insight on a few thoughts that were rolling around in my head. What were you two talking about?"

Killian and Charming exchanged a look and shrugged at one another.

"Nothing important," Killian said. "So everything went well with the grasshopper?"

Emma laughed, "Yes everything went well with Archie. He even gave me some an advice. I just need to figure out when I am going to actually take it. Although I will say it is not some of his best advice if I'm being honest."

Killian quirked his brow which led Emma to shake her head. Killian took it to mean that now was now was not the time to ask about it. If there was anything he was still trying to learn about Emma, it was when the appropriate time was to talk about certain things.

He knew Dave still wasn't privy to the information about her nightmares, but he really wished she would just tell him. He hated keeping secrets from Dave, but he knew that this was what Emma wanted.

"So," Emma hummed ready to change the subject. "What is on the agenda for today?"

Charming looked at the pile of folders on his desk and Emma looked at the pile on her own. Everything that they had revolving around Hyde sat contained in those two piles and neither of them were even sure what they were looking for in those files. They still hadn't made any progress in finding him and it was getting frustrating. By now, they all thought that Hyde would have been in a cell just like the Evil Queen. However, apparently they weren't going to be that lucky.

"You know..." Emma began as she looked at Killian and Charming, "we haven't heard from Jekyll lately. Maybe we should go out to talk to him."

"Only if you lead us to the blimp," Killian mumbled under his breath as he tried to contain his laughter. Emma turned to look at him and raised her brow. Charming narrowed his gaze at Killian and shook his head. That only caused Killian to laugh a little louder.

"What's so funny?" Emma asked, glancing back and forth between Charming and Killian waiting impatiently for an answer. Neither one of them seemed to budge enough to tell her what was going on. "Well?"

"Go on, Dave. Tell her why she needs to lead us to the blimp," Killian said with a smirk on his face. Emma smacked him playfully on his shoulder as she turned her attention to Charming, cocking her head to the side and raising her brow.

Charming sighed and whispered, "I got us lost."

"What was that?" Emma asked barely able to contain her smile. She bit her lip in a desperate, but failed attempt. The fact that they had gotten lost was funny enough, but finding out that it was her dad's fault made it even better.

Charming hung his head slightly and scrubbed his hands over his face. Slowly he raised his head and met Emma's eyes with his own. "I got us lost," he admitted and then turned his attention to Killian, "Happy now?"

Killian nodded his head as he laughed. "Yes I am, mate," he replied.

Emma took a deep breath to rid herself of the case of the giggles that had overtaken her. Even though she had stopped laughing, she couldn't wipe the grin off her face. "How did you manage that?"

"I thought we went the right way when we turned at the wishing well, but after walking for a while we didn't stumble upon the blimp. It was almost as though it had moved or disappeared," Charming mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I told you, mate. We needed to go right at the wishing well, not left," Killian said. "But no, you were convinced you were right and we ended up going the wrong way."

Emma thought about it for a second before speaking. "Wait a second…"

Killian snapped his head up to look at her and furrowed his brow. Charming turned his head in her direction as well. Both of them waiting for her to say something brilliant, since that was what normally came out of her mouth.

"It shouldn't have mattered if you went left or right from the well. As long as you didn't make any more turns you should have arrived at the crash sight," Emma explained. "It takes up most of the forest to the west of the troll bridge. So you should have been able to get there without any issues."

"See! I didn't get us lost!" Charming exclaimed excitedly as he jumped up out of his chair. A proud smile beaming from his face.

"There's a first time for everything," Killian replied snidely. Charming glared at him and rolled his eyes.

"That's not the point," Emma huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Something strange is going on here."

"It's Storybrooke, love. What else do you expect?" Killian told her as he rose from the chair. "Where are we headed?"

"The blimp I guess," Emma said, grabbing the last cup of coffee out of the holder and making her way toward the door. She turned around to look at them. "Coming?"

Both of them laughed and quickly met her at the door. Before long the trio were on their way to the town line.

Emma couldn't help thinking how strange it was that they hadn't been able to get back to the blimp. It wasn't like it was that hard to find. It was the most unique thing to ever appear in Storybrooke that she was aware of anyways, which was ultimately an understatement because a lot of odd things seemed to just show up in the middle of town. Nothing as strange however as finding the clock tower in the middle of town when they arrived in Underbrooke. Leave it to Hades to find a way to destroy a town landmark.

She sighed to herself. As much as she hated the time she had spent in Underbrooke she couldn't help thinking about how much it had shown her about her relationship with Killian. The two of them had come a long way from the first time they met. She was honestly shocked that his simple white lie had almost managed to slip past her superpower when they had first met.

Killian: I've already told you. I'm just a blacksmith.

Emma: Sure you are. Won't talk to us? Maybe you'll talk to the ogres when they rip you limb from limb. Come on.

Killian: You can't just leave me here like this.

Aurora: What if he's telling the truth? Emma: He's not.

Killian: Good for you. You bested me. I can count the amount of people who have done that on one hand.

Emma: Is that supposed to be funny? Who are you?

Killian: Killian Jones. But most people have taken to calling me by my more colorful moniker, Hook.

Regardless of his antics, she couldn't deny the attraction she had felt for him from that moment on. The reality of her feelings scared her, but for once she wasn't afraid of them. After Neal, she had become afraid of having real feelings for someone. He had left her behind to take the fall for something that he was just as guilty of and never looked back. Now that she knew the truth about the situation though, she could understand why he had done what he did, but that didn't automatically erase the pain.

Killian was a different case entirely. She looked back at him over her shoulder and smiled. Her smile was hidden by her shoulder, but he did happen to catch sight of her eyes peering back at him. He smirked at her and watched as she quickly turned her head back forward.

"Damn, I got caught," she mumbled under her breath, turning around to walk backwards for a few moments. She laughed when she realized that the two of them were having a little bit of trouble keeping up with her. She shook her head before she stopped taking steps and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Can't keep up?" she asked, her voice dripping with mockery and teasing as her lips curled into an evil grin. A laugh escaped her lips when she saw Killian roll his eyes at her.

"It's not that we can't keep up," Charming began, but pause once he arrived in front of Emma and took a deep breath. "It's that we liked our pace better than yours."

"Aye, what he said," Killian chimed in. "Besides, it's not like we have anywhere else to be today. So I don't understand what the rush is, love."

Emma sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure what the rush is. I just don't really feel like spending my entire afternoon talking to a crazy man living in a blimp. I have other crazy people in town that I can talk to if I want."

Killian quirked his brow at her and was met with the shaking of her head.

"Nevermind," she continued, "I'll slow down and enjoy the walk."

She reached out a hand to Killian who took it happily with a smile. He brought her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back of it. She smiled at the simplicity of the action, but the action in an of itself spoke volumes about their relationship.

"Ready to keep going?" Charming asked, interrupting the sweet moment the two were having. Emma laughed and nodded her head and before long the three of them were off into the middle of the woods, just hoping that they wouldn't get lost again.

. . . . . . . .

He watched them from a distance as they got closer and closer to the blimp. There were two paths he could choose to take at this point. Neither one would work out in his favor. Most likely he would end up in a jail cell alongside his counterpart.

If he were lucky, the two would be in separate cells. Maybe Jekyll would even be kept in a straight jacket locked away in a cell at the hospital. The man was truly insane and there was no helping him. Part of him was still trying to figure out how Jekyll had been able to hide it all along. That's probably where he came in.

Hyde sighed and hung his head. He knew that he had to reveal himself to Emma and her incompetent cohorts. They were far too easy to trick.

Emma on the other hand? So far she had shown that she had the potential to be useful from what he had been able to observe about her. The Evil Queen was not her biggest fan either which meant there was more to her than what had met his eyes. He'd need to follow her closely for a few more days before he came to a decision about revealing himself.

By the time he looked up again, he had lost them. "Damn it," he growled under his breath. He looked around a few moments before hearing the faint mumbling of voices to his left. His lips twitched into a wicked smile as he took a few steps out to follow them. They were heading to the blimp to talk to Jekyll. His hopes were that the man would let his other side show while they were there. Somehow though, Jekyll had found a way to always keep that side of him hidden.

"See it's right there," Emma said, pointing at the large blimp in front of them. "Not that hard to find. Still don't know how you two got lost..."

She laughed and shook her head in response to Killian squeezing her hand and Charming rolling his eyes. Apparently it was too soon to remind them of their little misadventure, no matter how much she was enjoying the situation. She let go of Killian's hand and walked up to the blimp knocking on the closed door in front of her.

"Dr. Jekyll, are you there?" she called once receiving no answer or acknowledgement of her presence. She glanced back over her shoulder at Killian and Charming who had come closer before pushing on the door and watching it slowly creak open. She felt a cold wind against her exposed skin and she wrapped her arms around her midsection before taking a step inside.

Killian and Charming exchanged a concerned look between them before quickly catching up to Emma. Charming placed a hand on his gun, just in case the need for it would happen to arrive.

Slowly the three of them walked into the main room of the blimp. Still no one or nothing to be found as they looked around. Emma tried calling out to him again, but she was still met with resounding silence.

"What the hell?" she mumbled under her breath as she turned to look into the adjoining room. "He's not here. It looks like whoever was here last left in a big hurry."

Hyde was lurking around outside of the blimp. As he rounded the back of it, he found Jekyll hiding on his haunches in a bush just below one of the windows that allowed him to see straight into the blimp and watch the whole ordeal go on inside.

"What are you doing?" Hyde hissed. The way that Jekyll jumped at the low grumble of his voice brought a smirk to his face as the pathetic excuse for a man turned to look up at him over his shoulder. He crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer.

"I thought you were going to turn yourself in so you could find your precious little necklace. Why did you come back here?" Jekyll grumbled as he quickly rose from his position.

"Because the people I was going to see came to see you. Why the hell aren't you inside?" Hyde replied a little louder than he had originally intended. The sound of his voice was loud enough to cause Emma's head to snap towards the window and meet his eyes.

"Outside now!" He heard her shout and the next thing he knew, he and Jekyll were being knocked to the ground by her two incompetent cohorts.

#Captain Swan #captain swan fanfiction #captain swan fanfic #cs #cs ff #CS fanfics #cs fanfiction #once upon a time #once upon a time fanfiction #once upon a time fanfic #once upon a time ff #Once Upon A Time fandom #ouat #ouat fanfiction #ouat fanfic #ouat ff #ouat fanfics

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flyswhumpcenter · 7 years ago

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One Vanilla Frappé, Please [Fever February Day 20 - I Can’t Read The Numbers]

FEVER FEBRUARY INDEX

Summary: It's a normal day at the coffee shop. Or, at least, it would be if he wasn't sick as a dog and trying to earn the money needed to pay his student loans. Despite his awful condition, Shuichi sure is lucky to have a bro and his girlfriend by his side no matter what.

Fandom: Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Ships: Saimatsu (Kaede/Shuichi)

Word Count: 2.2K words

Notes: God, Fever February is done at last, hahaha yada yada yada another Saimatsu sickfic where Shuichi is the sick one It's short and rather self-indulgent, but does anybody mind some Saimatsu H/C sometimes? I sure don't.

Special mention to @sf-trash-tm and @feverish-and-delirious, since they both said they wanted to see more Danganronpa whump around! Here ya go, peeps!

AO3 version available here.

He should have known better than coming to work sick, but… There he is. At work. Sick.

Shuichi knows for a fact he shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be here serving stuff to people when he has a terrible headache and probably a huge fever. But he also has two reasons why he just can’t skip work: he desperately needs the money for his student loans and the shop has a lot of customers on weekends like this one.

Kaito didn’t want him to come to work, that’s for sure: his manager is staring at him with eyes stuck between anger and worry, crossing his arms as he regularly tells him to go back to his goddamn bed. Well, it’s not that he doesn’t want: truly, if he listened to his instincts, Shuichi would already be sleeping his fever off.

And yet, he gave the clients his best smile because that’s just his job. He’s here to serve coffee and smile at people no matter how bad he feels. To be honest, he prefers to stay focused on his job because it makes him forget about his clothes clogging to his skin and the constant chills plaguing his body.

Sometimes, people ask him if he feels all right. It’s obvious he doesn’t, but he stills replies he’ll be fine. His body gives it away immediately: when he looked at himself in the mirror this morning, his skin was deadly pale, his reddened eyes were empty and had deep dark circles under them, his entire face was flushed, and his body hair was rising en masse. There was no way he could hide the fact he didn’t feel right at all: at best, he could just wear a mask over his nose and mouth and put on some makeup under his eyes, which he did.

One of his profs, he’d say his Foreign Literature prof, enters the shop. He forgot until then that the latter was a fellow client of the place: he comes there every morning to take his coffee before his classes start. He apparently has classes on Saturdays too but one thing’s sure: Shuichi doesn’t have classes on Saturdays, so it’s probably not a class with his course.

He gets his usual dose of “how are you” questions from an oblivious younger-than-he-would-like-to-be man, but this time around, he does notice something wrong with his student. Truly, the way Shuichi’s out of breath gives his condition away easily: he may be asthmatic, he’s usually not that desperate for oxygen.

“Bro,” Kaito tells him as he takes off his apron, “ya should go back home. Kaede’ll be here shortly and I’m gonna call Rantaro in so he can take ya place.”

“I’m okay, I’m just…” he rubs his eyes as a perfect way to destroy his credibility. “I’m just a bit sick, nothing too bad. You know I need that salary…”

“Yeah, I know that, but everyone keeps asking ya if ya alright! Nobody wants ya nasty virus in their latte bro! I know ya careful and all, but ya really gotta go back home and rest!”

Shuichi swoons a little but decides to stay up. He’s starting feel a bit too dizzy for this job.

“Rantaro has something very important with his sisters, I can’t disturb him because of some virus… Really, we should leave him alone… I’ll deal with it for the rest of my shift and go back to sleep…”

Kaito seems doubtful, staring at him with quirked eyebrows, then sighs as he sends a text. Shuichi wishes he could read the name of the contact he’s sending this to, or what the message is about, but the phone is too far from him and his vision is already swimming as it is.

“It’s not like Kaede won’t notice anythin’ either, y’know… I have to visit Maki Roll at the hospital, I’ll have to leave ya alone for a few minutes. Ya sure ya really don’t need a ride home?”

“I’m sure. Please tell Maki I wish her a sound recovery from her appendicitis.”

“Will do! Good luck, bro, and don’t hesitate to go back home if ya really don’t feel good, ‘kay?”

“I’ll do that…”

The shop’s activity considerably slows down between two and four in the afternoon. It’s the ideal time for him to take it easy and, most of all, treat to himself for a bit: he grabs the fever reducers hidden in his apron’s pouch, serves himself a coffee (his third of the day, if he’s not mistaken) and gulps down the medicine with his cup of the steaming black liquid.

Usually, Shuichi would have tried cleaning some stuff around while customers didn’t come in, but he feels way too tired to do that. Instead, he decides to sit down on a stool behind the counter and rest for a bit.

While nobody is here, he takes the chance to cough a lung out. He’s been keeping that fit inside for an hour or so by now, it’s only natural of him to finally make that urge exit his system by the only true way he can think of. His chest hurts as if knives teased to stab it from the inside. He’s now sure he has something akin to a bronchitis because God does it starts to hurt in there.

For a while, things seem to calm down, until he feels one particularly violent wave of chills going down his spine. There is a disgusting, strong surge of sweat flowing down his back. It can’t mean much other than him having a fever spike. This isn’t the moment for that, goddammit! Kaede isn’t here yet!

His breathing gets faster and faster as in an attempt to make his condition feel any better than absolute hell. He’s trapped behind the counter, on a chair, because he’ll only fall, if not faint, if he gets up from it. He’s lucky there isn’t a single customer right now, otherwise he’d be beyond screwed. As such, he just hopes for the best and for Kaede to come in soon. His reducers haven’t kicked in yet, but he sure knows he’s not doing well.

His phone vibrates in his pants’ pocket. Shuichi, desperately trying to find something to divert his attention from how bad he’s feeling, takes it out with a shaking hand and looks at the screen�� only to notice he can’t even read it. It’s all a juggled mess of pixels.

He realizes how bad this is when, no matter how much he rubs his eyes, the blur stays. This isn’t the LSD screen’s fault: it’s his eyes. They’re unfocused and can’t seem to be able to focus anymore. In fact, he can barely see in front of him. Yet, he gets to reach the thermometer he’s buried inside his bag: perhaps, just perhaps he’ll be able to make out the number on it if he stares at it for long enough.

He hears the entrance’s doorbell ring. Fuck. There’s a customer at the worst moment possible. He gets up from the chair as soon as possible, not caring about the blood rushing to his ears (or, at least, ignoring the discomfort of such a thing as much as possible). He knows the pumps and drawers by heart: he can do this until Kaede arrives and before he can at least go lie down in the staff room.

Shuichi can’t distinguish anything on the customer’s face – at that point it could even be an animal and he wouldn’t know the difference – but the voice makes it clear: they’re a woman with a gentle, muffled voice.

“One medium vanilla frappe, please,” she orders.

“Consider it done…”

He clumsily tries to reach the ice and vanilla ice to make her the drink she’s wanting, but all he ends up doing is finding the actual coffee instead. He tries again, finds the plastic cups and the ice. He smiles a little because this is his special someone’s favourite drink: in fact, it was one of the things he learnt before their first date.

In the end, someone else comes behind him and finishes the drink for him… before drinking it themselves. He recognizes this apron and this method of stealing a drink from his hands: it’s Kaede who has finally arrived. He wishes he could distinguish the expression of her face more clearly than “she doesn’t look happy, I guess?”.

“God, Kaito was right! You’re completely out of it!” she exclaims, a hand on her hip and the other sipping on her frappe. “You didn’t even recognize a workmate!”

“S-sorry… I’m…” he rubs his eyes again. “A bit tired…”

“Yeah, sure, like I’ll believe you. Go lie down, I’ll take care of the orders.”

“My shift hasn’t ended yet, though…”

Shuichi knows very well that, at that point, whatever he’ll tell her will be useless: she just doesn’t care about his weak lies because she sees right through them. Everyone could right this moment, really, but Kaede can read in him like in an open picture book. That’s why he trusts her: she knows what he feels like, so she always tells him what she feels like when he can’t guess it by himself.

But he also knows she hates his little white lies, especially when she can completely see how bad they truly are. She hates it when he doesn’t admit to feeling ill because it happens so frequently: honestly, his health is terrible and he knows it, so he just likes to brush everything under the rug with little to no success.

He can barely tumble back to his chair, so he just sits down there as to wait for the time he’ll feel better. The reducers still haven’t kicked in: he’s probably too far gone. He’ll have to resort to something else to feel better and not completely crumble away at his workplace.

He goes to get the thermometer from the bag he left next to the chair and in the back of counter area. He can barely see Kaede move around as she prepares herself for her own shift. Alone. She should call Rantaro if she needs help, because he clearly won’t be able to do anything better than spill coffee on the ground and maybe himself with it.

As such, he inserts the thermometer in his mouth and waits, for a very short amount of time, for it to beep. He looks at it, stares into the small screen, but he can’t read the numbers. It’s all a mess. Rubbing anything won’t save him: in fact, his vision swims so badly he has no hope of ever knowing what it’s about. As such, he just calls for her with a timid voice. She can read it.

“Kaede…? Can I ask you something…?”

He guesses she turns to him because there is a noticeable pink blur in his field of vision now.

“What’s wrong?” she asks back.

“Can you read the number on there for me…?” he says as he shows her the thermometer in his hands. “I can’t read it…”

A short silence follows. He hears something falling to the ground.

“Oh God.”

Kaede rushes to him and takes the small stick of plastic in her hands. She gasps.

“Shuichi, your fever…! It’s over forty degrees!”

She puts a hand on his forehead, making a notice of how hot it is under her fingers and under his skin.

“I’m calling you an ambulance, you can’t stay at work like that! Why haven’t you told me anything about it?”

“You have a shift and you need money… I couldn’t prevent you from being here…”

She leaves a kiss on his forehead as her phone makes a dial sound. He’s that close to passing out.

“Oh, I’ve told you before to take care of yourself first… Relax now, I’m calling help, you’ll feel better soon…”

He gives her the smallest smile before everything turns black.

When he comes to, Shuichi definitely sees clearer than he did before. That’s a good thing. He also recognizes he’s nowhere near his workplace nor his flat: he has to be at the hospital. Great, he truly needed to be in there for a couple days. This isn’t even sarcasm: he needed someone to bring his ass in a place where his health would actually get taken care of.

At his side, a visibly relieved Kaede. She’s holding his hand: the small squeeze she gives it when she realizes he’s opened her eyes is warm and makes him feel better. She’s here, by this side, even if he essentially worried her beyond her reason.

“You scared us so much…” she whispers as she leaves a kiss on his cheek.

“I’m sick, though, you shouldn’t be kissing me…”

“Who cares! I’m never sick anyway. The doctors have told me it’s not contagious,” she winks.

“And, your shift…?”

“It ended an hour ago. Rantaro and Kaito were watching over you before I arrived. Don’t worry for me.”

Kaede sighs, then pouts. She doesn’t cross her arms: instead, she puts a second hand on his.

“I’ve told you to be careful, geez! You never listen to any of us when it’s about your well-being…”

Her eyes soften. Her glaze is comparable to an angel’s in his eyes.

“But I’ll take care of you anyway. I know you’re easily sick and it’s okay, but don’t overdo it, okay? You work hard already.”

He’ll never get enough of her warm kisses on his forehead.

#danganronpa #drv3 #saimatsu #sickfic #shuichi saihara #kaede akamatsu #kaito momota #otp: clair de lune #fever #illness #fluff

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the-blind-geisha · 7 years ago

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[Update] Why I’ve been sluggish:

Sorry for spooking or concerning some folks in my sluggish amount of activity on my blog. I know it seems weird for those that have been here the longest, but it is for a couple of reasons:

1) First and foremost as of recently—one of my family members ended up in the hospital, and no, it’s nothing super bad and everything is fine, but given how often hospitals bring me bad luck in terms of my family (heart disease runs crazy on my father’s side and my mom has been suffering hella bad blood clots lately), I always get anxious and kind of shut down not wanting to talk to anybody or really work on anything massive. My parents especially are getting up there in their ages and with their health as poor as it can be at times since they adopted me at a very old age bracket, I’m just kind of waiting for that bad news, really. But like I said—it’s fine. It’s just not something I wanna dwell on.

2) I am trying not to make it ‘my job’ to do things for free. I was in such a people pleaser mode when I first started this blog that it stressed me into very poor health, and I just don’t want to do that again when I turn over this new leaf into the Final Fantasy fandom. I certainly do not mind people shooting me requests and such, but I just don’t want folks who knew me back during 2016 or so when I ran this blog religiously think I’ll get to it that day or that week even when it’s submitted anymore. It’ll remain till I find the time, and that may mean waiting more than even 2 weeks for me to respond.

3) Commissioners are my upmost importance as of right now. I am doing my best to juggle through each and every one that I have so that people can at least get a taste of their written commission and how they feel it’s going. This is why you’ve seen the Older!Ignis story coming out so fast as I’ve been focus firing on it to get it finished or at least close to it. (Granted, with how much I’ve been building the dynamic between reader and Ignis, we might get more chapters in the future as I don’t feel 2 or so more chapters will be enough for a decent finish that I have planned. My bad!) Regardless, I thank these people for the work and trusting me with their ideas. It truly means more than you know. I am excited to work on each piece I’ve been given, and I hope I do not disappoint!

4) I’ve kind of withdrawn into my shell because of personal things lately, and this has caused me to be sluggish in responding to some people online and accidentally acting disinterested, but I assure you, it’s not your fault. ♥ Life just kicks me around a lot, and with anxiety / depression/ eating disorder I am trying to maintain and not let get out of hand again, a minor thing can become a huge burden out of nowhere.

I thank y’all for your understanding and your patience. You’ve all been a delight, and I appreciate your support and every little thing you do to aid me~.

~Oreana Galena

#much love to you all #now to throw my ass in bed #text #update #commission #commissions

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nanenna · 7 years ago

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Mystery Machine Mishap!

Chapter 1: A Phone Call

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Fandom: Undertale Rating: General Audiences Pairing: None Summary: There was an accident at the Lab and now Papyrus is left trying to take care of Sans as a toddler while Alphys tries to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. To say Papyrus is unprepared is not just an understatement, it's downright fact. But Papyrus is determined to be the best big brother ever, even better than Sans is when he's the older on.

As usual, also available to read on fanfiction.net or AO3 under the same name. (links not included because that messes with the search function)

It all started with a phone call from Undyne. She told Papyrus that Alphys had called her to say that something had happened at the Lab and she needed Papyrus to go there right away.

“WOWIE, REALLY? BUT WHY WOULD DR. ALPHYS NEED ME AT THE LAB? I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW SHE KNEW WHO I WAS. WHAT AM I SAYING, OF COURSE SHE KNOWS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! BUT STILL… WHY DOES SHE NEED ME?”

“I don’t know,” Undyne replied, “but I’m coming too! I’ll meet you there!” There was a click followed by silence.

Papyrus put his phone away before taking off in a sprint. He was in Snowdin re-calibrating his puzzles when he got the phone call, so he was about as far away from the Lab in Hotland as you could get, but Papyrus would go to any length for a friend in need! Well, for a friend of a friend.

Papyrus slowed to a jog as the Lab came into sight, Undyne standing in front of it wearing causal clothes and sipping from a paper cup. “UNDYNE!” Papyrus called, “DO YOU KNOW WHY DR. ALPHYS CALLED US YET?”

“No, I was waiting for you. Let’s head in.” Undyne chugged the last of her water, then walked confidently into the Lab with Papyrus trailing behind. “Alphys? We’re here!”

“U-up here,” Alphys called from her room.

“YES, WE HAVE INDEED ARRIVED,” Papyrus boisterously called as they walked up the escalator. “AND WE EAGERLY AWAIT YOU TO INFORM US OF WHY WE ARE NEEDED.”

There was a squeal, then the pitter patter of tiny little feet running towards them. “Oh my goodness!” Alphys cried in alarm. “Quick, catch him!”

“daddy!” A tiny skeleton child wearing nothing at all ran straight into Papyrus’s legs and clung to him excitedly. Papyrus and Undyne both looked down at the child in confusion.

“You uh… got something you forgot to tell me about?” Undyne asked with a raised brow.

“I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT I DO NOT HAVE ANY CHILDREN, THERE MUST BE SOME CONFUSION.”

Alphys came huffing towards them with a few pieces of familiar clothes in her arms while Papyrus picked the giggling child up and held them in front of him. “HELLO, LITTLE ONE, WHO ARE YOU?” The child was small, with big, round eye sockets that contained equally big, round, bright pupils, a fixed smile, and short, stubby limbs.

“daddy!” The child squealed again while reaching for Papyrus’s face.

Papyrus obligingly hugged the child close as he turned his attention to Alphys and the clothes in her arms. “WHOSE CHILD IS THIS? AND IS THAT SANS’S HOODIE? IS HE HERE? IS THAT WHY YOU CALLED US?”

“Oh, uh… well y-you see uh… that ch-ch-child is Sans.”

Papyrus and Undyne stared blankly at Alphys while the child in Papyrus’s arms looked up at him in confusion.

“What do you mean this kid is Sans?” Undyne asked as she looked the little skeleton over.

“not daddy!” Sans suddenly wailed, great big tears welled up in his eye sockets and dripped down his face, which was quickly turning red.

“WELL OF COURSE I’M NOT DADDY, SANS,” Papyrus responded in confusion as he held the child out to get a better look at him. Sans squirmed and kicked in his brother’s grasp. “IT’S ME, YOUR BABY BROTHER… THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

“daaaaaaaaaaddiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee!” Sans wailed even louder as he kicked and thrashed. Papyrus’s grip started to slip, so Undyne reached over and plucked the squirming child from his grasp.

She expertly hoisted him on her hip and began rocking back and forth as she cooed at Sans. “Shhh… I know… I know… it’s really scary, huh? A bunch of strangers who are talking around you like you aren’t even here. Don’t worry, kid, we aren’t gonna hurt ya.”

“HE DOESN’T RECOGNIZE ME?” Papyrus asked as he turned his attention back to Alphys and wrung his hands in worry.

“He doesn’t recognize anyone, I think he lost his memories when he uh… when the accident… when he got turned into a baby???”

“Hey Sans, how old are you?” Undyne asked as she looked down at the still sobbing but much quieter child. He shyly held up two fingers before hiding his face in her shirt. “Wow, two whole years!” Undyne said in a soft voice as she continued to sway back and forth. “That’s so big!” She turned her attention to Papyrus and Alphys. “So he likely only has the memories he had way back then, right? Paps, how much older is Sans than you?”

“FOUR YEARS OLDER, WHY? OH WAIT… OH...” Papyrus looked down at the still upset toddler. “I WASN’T EVEN BORN YET WHEN HE WAS TWO.”

“So Alph, how did this even happen?”

Alphys started wringing the blue hoodie in her hands, “W-well Sans was helping me with some stuff that was left behind when the previous Royal Scientist uh… left? There were a lot of machines and blueprints and half finished projects left laying around and I was trying to move it all around and uh… o-organize things I guess and Sans was… he was helping me. A-anyway! I found some blueprints and notes that looked like a machine that was actually right there but all the old scientist’s notes are in some kind of code so we were trying to decode it while we were looking over the machine and uh… th-th-then it accidentally activated. W-with Sans ins-s-side.” She gestured helplessly at the toddler. “And uh… he came out like that.”

“ARE YOU SURE THIS LITTLE BABYBONES IS MY BROTHER?” Papyrus asked worriedly.

“Of c-course I’m sure! I Checked him first thing!”

“OH! OF COURSE!” Papyrus turned away to hide a faint dusting of pink on his cheekbones, it was also the perfect opportunity to do a Check of his own. The toddler’s name was indeed Sans, and the description was the same one as always… until a second line was added. Odd, but it still confirmed what Alphys said.

A quiet, muffled, “want daddy,” came from Undyne’s side.

Undyne started rubbing his back, “Yeah, I don’t blame ya kid. But you know what? We got the next best thing, your big brother Papyrus.”

Alphys snorted and Papyrus stared blankly at Undyne, “WHAT?”

“Well, you are bigger than him, aren’t ya?” Undyne hefted Sans higher and angled her body so he was closer to Papyrus. She turned her attention back to Sans, “You love your big brother, right?”

Sans looked Papyrus over shyly. “big bruvvuh?” He asked as he shoved a thumb into his teeth.

“THAT’S RIGHT, YOUR BIG BROTHER THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

Sans still seemed unsure, but he did at least stop hiding his face in Undyne’s side as he looked Papyrus over more critically. Undyne shifted so Sans was being offered to Papyrus, “Here, take him.”

Papyrus held his arms out and Sans let himself be handed over. Once that was done Undyne expertly shifted Papyrus’s hold until she was satisfied.

“You s-sure seem to know what you’re doing,” Alphys commented.

“Perk of being the head of the Royal Guard, lots of little fans following you around.”

“SO NOW THAT SANS HAS CALMED DOWN, WHAT DO WE DO?”

“W-well, I should be able t-to decipher the blueprints and notes for the machine we were looking at, once that’s done I should be able to figure out what when wrong and h-hopefully reverse this.”

“WELL THAT CERTAINLY IS A RELIEF. I SUPPOSE UNTIL THEN I SHALL HAVE TO BE THE BIGGER BROTHER AND TAKE CARE OF SANS.” Papyrus looked down at the sleepy toddler.

“Yeah! You’re gonna be the best big brother, I can feel it!” Undyne slapped Papyrus’s back unusually gently, he barely had to step forward to keep from toppling over.

“H-here, you should probably have Sans’s th-things.” Alphys offered up the clothes she had been holding, which Papyrus neatly tucked into his inventory save for the hoodie, which was instead carefully wrapped around Sans.

“THANK YOU, DR. ALPHYS. I SHALL TAKE THIS BABYBONES HOME NOW, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE REPAIRED THE MYSTERIOUS MACHINE YOU WERE WORKING ON WITH SANS, WHO I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW YOU KNEW.”

The journey back to Snowdin was uneventful, the motion of walking apparently lulling the toddler into a doze. The sound of the door closing must have woke him, as the moment they were inside Sans perked up and looked around. “daddy! daddy we home!” he called at the top of his lungs. Papyrus looked down in surprise while Sans’s head whipped back and forth. “daddy! where daddy?” Sans turned to Papyrus and tugged on his scarf, “pappus, where daddy?”

Papyrus’s mouth opened and closed a few times, his orbits wide and threatening to spill the tears gathered in their corners. “DADDY… ISN’T HOME RIGHT NOW,” he eventually managed to choke out. What he said was technically true: their father wasn’t home at the moment and very likely wouldn’t be. Papyrus tried no to think about it as he carried Sans into the kitchen. “ARE YOU HUNGRY? I HAVE SOME SPAGHETTI I CAN HEAT UP.”

“skeddi!” Sans excitedly squealed, making Papyrus very glad he didn’t have any ears.

Papyrus carefully set Sans down on the edge of the table with his little feet hanging over the edge. “NOW YOU JUST STAY RIGHT THERE WHILE I GET THE SPAGHETTI READY.” Papyrus pulled his freshest container from the fridge and started heating it up. There was a muffled thump followed by giggling fading behind him. He whipped around, the table was empty. He looked down, Sans’s hoodie was a rumpled pile on the floor. He ran into the living room, Sans was waiting for him at the other end of the room and giggled again before taking off diagonally from Papyrus. The taller skeleton quickly darted towards the fleeing toddler and scooped him up. Sans giggled and squirmed while Papyrus sighed in relief and headed back into the kitchen. After some imaginative juggling, Papyrus managed to get a plate of warmed up spaghetti set out on the table and sat himself in a chair with Sans sitting on the table in front of him.

“skeddi!” Sans squealed in delight as Papyrus held a loaded fork up to his mouth. The anticipated pasta barely touched Sans’s teeth before he turned his head and tried to push Papyrus’s hand away. “yucky! no!”

“YUCKY?” Papyrus repeated in shock. “BUT YOU LOVE MY SPAGHETTI!”

“no!” Sans declared again. “yuck! no! no! no!” Sans squirmed out of Papyrus’s hold and crawled to the other side of the table, where he crossed his arms in a huff and refused to look at Papyrus.

After a few more failed attempts to get Sans to eat, Papyrus set the spaghetti aside and rifled through the cabinets. Children were picky, and tastes changed as you got older, so maybe this little version of Sans would rather have something a little simpler than his artisan spaghetti. Aha! Papyrus found the item he was looking for and kept a careful eye on the fussy toddler while he prepped it. Sans kept trying to sneakily glance at Papyrus by twisting his whole body around and quickly looking away with arms crossed whenever Papyrus caught him.

“LOOK SANS,” Papyrus cheerfully said as he moved in front of the pouting toddler and held up a spoon, “DINOSAUR EGGS! DON’T THOSE SOUND YUMMY?” He held up the spoon to Sans’s mouth, but Sans didn’t seem so sure. To prove his point Papyrus stuck the spoon between his own teeth. “MMM… MMMMM… DELICIOUS! IT’S MY FAVORITE! AND IF SOMETHING IS A FAVORITE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS THEN IT MUST BE YUMMY, RIGHT?” He scooped up another spoonful and held it out to Sans.

Sans cautiously leaned forward and took the bite. The reaction was less extreme than the spaghetti, but his face still scrunched up and he turned his head away. “yucky!”

“SANS, PLEASE! JUST EAT! THE OATMEAL!”

“no! is yucky!” Sans squirmed away from Papyrus, who continued trying to put the spoon in front of Sans’s teeth until Sans slipped from the table and took off running. Papyrus sighed, then put down the bowl and spoon to go give chase.

Once the toddler was captured again, and kicking fussily, Papyrus cheerfully walked back into the kitchen. “THAT’S ALRIGHT, SANS. I KNOW SMALL CHILDREN CAN BE PICKY EATERS. I’M SURE WE HAVE SOMETHING IN THE HOUSE YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO EAT.” A search of the cupboards, the pantry, and the refrigerator belied Papyrus’s optimism. Aside from the box of oatmeal the only food they had in the house were ingredients for spaghetti. Sans’s half of the fridge only had an empty chisps bag, which Papyrus finally just threw away in frustration.

“pappus, hungie.” Sans squirmed in Papyrus’s hold, his face scrunched up and his permanent grin looking strained.

“WELL, YOU CAN EAT MY GOURMET SPAGHETTI OR YOU CAN EAT SOME DINOSAUR EGGS, BECAUSE THAT IS ALL WE HAVE IN THE HOUSE.” Papyrus smiled down at Sans, who only replied by pouting. Papyrus sighed, of course Sans would be difficult no matter his age. “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT, THEN?” Before Sans could answer, Papyrus’s phone started ringing. They both jumped at the loud, jaunty ring tone and Papyrus struggled to pull it out without dropping his brother in the process. “YES, HELLO?” Papyrus answered without even bothering to check the caller ID.

“Hey Paps!” Undyne’s voice erupted from the phone. “Just calling to find out how you and the squirt are doing.”

“WE ARE DOING FINE, REALLY. ASIDE FROM MY BROTHER REFUSING TO EAT, THAT IS. HOW DOES ONE MAKE A FUSSY TODDLER EAT WHEN HE SAYS HE IS HUNGRY BUT REFUSES ALL FORMS OF SUSTENANCE?”

“Refusing to eat, huh? Then he’s not hungry enough!” Undyne yelled.

“W-wait… w-w-what?!” Could be heard faintly in the background.

“Just keep him distracted for a while,” Undyne continued loudly, “and when he’s hungry enough he’ll eat. Don’t let the kid trick you into thinking he needs candy!”

“Undyne, it’s uh… it’s not good to let someone with l-low HP go with-without food. I mean… it’s a-a-actually kinda dangerous.”

“WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S DANGEROUS?” Papyrus asked in worry as he looked down at the toddler perched on his hip.

Alphys seemed to have taken the phone from Undyne because her voice was much clearer as she explained, “You know how monster food replenishes your HP? Well, if you go too long without eating your HP starts to fall and if you have l-low HP you don’t have far for it to f-fall before um… it gets dangerous.” Papyrus ran a quick Check over Sans.

Sans – ATK 1 DEF 3 HP 19/20 Your lazy big brother who isn’t so big anymore.

Papyrus gasped, “I’M SORRY ALPHYS I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW BYE!” Papyrus quickly ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket, then turned and ran for the front door. He opened it and stared at the snow, then glanced down at the still naked toddler perched on his hip. Papyrus turned and ran back into the kitchen, picked up the fallen hoodie, wrapped it around Sans again, then ran back to the front door and out it.

“pappus, where we going?”

“WE’RE GOING TO GET YOU SOMETHING TO EAT!” Papyrus slammed open the door to Grillby’s and power walked up to the bar, behind which Grillby was polishing a glass as the regulars lounged in their usual spots.

“……… Papyrus,” Grillby started to say as said skeleton reached the bar and held the toddler up to him.

“GRILLBY FOR SOME WEIRD REASONS SANS REALLY LIKES YOUR GREASY FOOD AND I CAN’T GET HIM TO EAT AND HE’S GOT LOW HP SO NOT EATING IS REALLY DANGEROUS FOR HIM DR. ALPHYS JUST TOLD ME SO AND I’M REALLY WORRIED SO PLEASE CAN YOU JUST FEED HIM SOMETHING PLEASE!”

Grillby’s flames flared up, then darkened to a deep red as he stared at the round faced toddler shoved towards him. “… Papyrus, did Sans have… a child?” Sans was looking up at the fire elemental curiously.

“NO!” Papyrus insisted as he held Sans even closer to Grillby, Sans ducked his head and was trying to hide his face. “THIS IS SANS.”

“…………………………………. what?”

“THIS IS SANS. THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT AT THE LAB WITH DR. ALPHYS AND SANS GOT TURNED INTO A TODDLER AND HE WON’T EAT! DR. ALPHYS SAYS IT’S REALLY DANGEROUS FOR MONSTERS WITH LOW HP TO NOT EAT! AND WHILE HIS HP IS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN IT’S BEEN IN A LONG TIME, TWENTY IS STILL REALLY, REALLY LOW. AND HE JUST WON’T! EAT! PLEASE, HE LIKES YOUR FOOD!”

Grillby looked down at Sans, who squirmed uncomfortably before shooting him a shy glance. The rest of the bar had gone silent, every last patron staring at the unusual scene with blatant interest. Grillby put a hand on one of Papyrus’s and pushed Sans back towards his brother. “……… have a seat.” Without another word Grillby turned and walked through the fire exit.

Papyrus sat down on one of the bar stools and pulled little Sans into his lap. Next to them Red leaned over to get a better look at the little bundle of bones. “Is that really Sans?”

Sans shyly hid his face in Papyrus’s chest, one orbit angled to peek at the bird monster. “OF COURSE THIS IS SANS,” Papyrus said confidently.

One of the Dogi walked over to Papyrus’s other side and tried to discreetly sniff over Papyrus’s shoulder.

“Can I hold him?” Red asked as they leaned in closer to look at Sans. A couple more of the dog guards moved to crowd around Papyrus and sniff at Sans. The toddler whined and burrowed even further into his brother’s chest, Papyrus adjusted the hoodie to better cover Sans and gently rubbed up and down his spine.

“I DON’T THINK THAT’D BE A GOOD IDEA RIGHT NOW,” Papyrus replied as he began sweating. “MY BROTHER HAS HAD A VERY LONG DAY...”

Grillby returned with a plate piled high with steak cut french fries drizzled in ketchup. He set the plate down in front of Papyrus and then glared at the other patrons until they stopped crowding the skeletons. The smell seemed to be enough to rouse Sans from his hiding post, once he saw the plate of deep fried potatoes he eagerly grabbed the nearest handful and shoved them into his teeth, getting ketchup all over his hands, face, and Papyrus’s lap.

“SANS, NO!” Papyrus lifted Sans away from the bar top, aghast at the mess that had somehow gotten smeared on either side of the plate. There were titters from around the bar.

“……… I apologize, I don’t have any child friendly food on the menu.”

“Grillby says he doesn’t get a lot of kids in here,” Red supplied as they hid more giggles behind a wing.

Papyrus was taking a napkin to Sans as he eagerly tried to snatch more fries. “THAT IS UNDERSTANDABLE, I’M JUST GLAD THAT SANS IS ACTUALLY EATING.” He settled Sans back in his lap, but pushed the plate out of the toddler’s reach before grabbing a fry and feeding his brother himself. Papyrus managed to work through half the plate, alternating between holding individual fries up to Sans and trying to wipe up the mess Sans somehow made during his brief attempt to feed himself. Now fed, Sans seemed much more alert and kept trying to crawl up onto the bar.

Grillby took the plate away, then came back with a to-go bag. Papyrus started feeling about his pockets for his wallet, while he was distracted Sans finally managed to climb up onto the bar, the hoodie slipping off him in the process.

“I’M SORRY, MR. GRILLBY, I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE MY-” Papyrus looked up to see Sans slowly toddling across the bar towards Grillby, who was blazing bright white and yellow while holding his hands up as if unsure whether to catch Sans or not. Papyrus lunged across the bar and grabbed Sans before he could reach Grillby, then pulled him back. Sans shrieked and started struggling, then just broke down into wailing sobs when Papyrus held him close. “I’M SO SORRY, MR. GRILLBY! I DON’T KNOW WHAT SANS WAS THINKING!”

Grillby tried to speak, but his soft voice was drowned out by Sans’s continued wailing. “It’s okay,” Red cut in. “He’ll just add it to Sans’s tab.”

Grillby nodded and pushed the to-go bag closer to Papyrus, who took the bag and tucked it into his inventory before wrapping Sans up in his hoodie once more. He really would need to find something to actually put Sans in if the toddler was going to keep insisting on running around. Papyrus nodded to Grillby, then cuddled Sans close as he carried the still weeping toddler out of the bar.

Once home, Papyrus looked down at Sans: large tears running down his round cheeks, ketchup and fry grease all over his face and hands, new stains added to the old ones on Sans’s favorite hoodie. Papyrus sighed, a bath was definitely needed, and some sort of clothing that wouldn’t keep falling off. He held Sans close and rubbed his spine gently as he walked up the stairs and into Sans’s room. Papyrus stopped dead and looked around at the usual mess: the trash tornado, the pile of dirty socks, the half made bed… this was no place for a toddler.

“piew!” Sans whined as he looked around the room.

“PEW INDEED!” Papyrs agreed as he turned and walked right back out. “PERHAPS YOU WILL REMEMBER THIS ONCE YOU’RE THE PROPER AGE AGAIN AND WILL ACTUALLY TAKE CARE OF YOUR ROOM.”

Sans sniffled, then rubbed his face against Papyrus’s battle body. Papyrus sighed, it was already covered in toddler tears and ketchup, may as well add brotherly slime to the list. He’d have to properly wash it after all this abuse. Perhaps he would wear something else until Alphys fixed the weird machine that did all this?

He carried Sans into his own room, Sans immediately perked up. His pupils glittered as he took in the bookcase full of children’s books and advanced manuals, the table covered in action figures, the race car bed, just how much cleaner it was. Papyrus opened his closet and started digging through it. Not that any of his clothes would be better sized to fit the toddler, but it was better than trying to dig through Sans’s room. Eventually he found a tank top that he had cropped and modified to say “Good to the Bone” by crossing out “Bad” and writing in “Good” in permanent marker. He held it up to Sans, it would be rather large for a shirt, but the lack of sleeves and short length meant it could be a dress. He also went digging though one of his dresser drawers and eventually came up with a single lime green ribbon and a blue scarf with an orange fish pattern on it. They would have to do.

“YOU READY FOR A BATH, BIG MONSTER?” Papyrus asked Sans, who seemed unsure. Eventually Sans nodded shyly, so Papyrus carried him into the bathroom, carefully shut the door, then deposited Sans on the floor and the clothes on the counter so he could start filling the tub with warm, soapy water. “ALRIGHT SANS, IN YOU GO!”

Once in the water, Sans immediately started giggling and splashing. He was so delighted that he squirmed out of Papyrus’s grasp whenever he tried to clean the toddler. Eventually, after about half the water in the tub got splashed onto Papyrus, the floor, or both, Sans was completely clean. Papyrus pulled him out of the tub, dried him off, then attempted to dress him. Getting the shirt on Sans was actually pretty easy, keeping it from slipping off while Papyrus attempted to make adjustments was harder, especially with an energetic toddler ready to go play squirming in place. Eventually he got the straps of the shirt tied together with the lime green ribbon and the scarf tied around Sans’s middle with a cute bow in the back. It would have to do. Papyrus looked around at the mess in the bathroom, he’d have to clean that up before something got ruined.

“OKAY SANS, YOU CAN GO DOWNSTAIRS AND PLAY WHILE I CLEAN UP THIS MESS YOU UNINTENTIONALLY MADE, OKAY?”

Sans stuck his thumb in his teeth and nodded before turning and running from the room. It took some extra towels, but shortly Papyrus was finished cleaning and carried the pile of soggy towels downstairs to start washing. At the bottom of the stairs his jaw and the towels dropped to the floor in shock, the walls from his knee down were covered in black squiggles. He looked around until he spotted Sans sitting in front of one of the walls, permanent marker in hand.

“SANS!”

The toddler turned around at the shout, another permanent marker rattling around in one of his sockets. Sans’s grin widened, “pappus!”

Papyrus leapt across the room, Sans was up and running faster than Papyrus had ever seen him move in his entire life. There was a moment of vertigo as Papyrus slipped on first one, then the other permanent marker that Sans abandoned when he started running. He turned to find the giggling toddler now on the other side of the living room. “SANS, WILL YOU JUST! STAY STILL FOR ONE MOMENT! PLEASE!” The irony of asking Sans of all people to stay still was not lost on Papyrus, but he was too busy chasing the happily squealing toddler to think about that. Eventually he managed to catch Sans and scoop the giggling, wiggling, squealing toddler up into his arms.

“again!” Sans shrieked in delight as Papyrus held him out at arm’s length.

“NO, SANS, NOT AGAIN. WE DO NOT DRAW ON THE WALLS.”

“pappus! up! up!” Papyrus paused, then held Sans up higher. Sans squealed even more, “again! again!” Papyrus obliged, alternating between lifting Sans up and swinging him low. Eventually Sans’s squeals started to die down and Papyrus placed him on a hip before taking him back upstairs.

“IN THE FUTURE IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU DID NOT DRAW ON THE WALLS AGAIN,” Papyrus gently chided as he dug through his drawers for some paper. He returned downstairs and plopped Sans onto the floor with the papers, then grabbed the errant permanent markers and put one in Sans’s left hand. “DRAW ON THE PAPER, OKAY SANS? NOT THE WALLS.”

“okay!” Sans switched the marker to his right hand, then happily started scribbling on the paper.

Papyrus heaved a sigh of relief before grabbing the pile of towels and hurrying to the laundry room. He stuffed them into the washer as quickly as possible, once the load was going he walked back out into the living room and eyed the walls disdainfully. Those would need to be scrubbed before they stained, if it wasn’t too late already. He looked over at the culprit, then froze. The permanent markers and paper were sitting on the floor, but there was no Sans in sight. Papyrus looked around, there was no sign of Sans anywhere in the living room. He was about to go check upstairs when there was a loud crash in the kitchen. Papyrus ran in to find Sans standing in front of an open cupboard with a pile of pots and pans spilling out of it. Sans looked up, a whole potato shoved in his left eye socket.

“WHA…??” Papyrus trailed off, unsure where to even start. “WHERE DID YOU EVEN FIND A POTATO? WE DIDN’T HAVE ANY IN THE HOUSE AN HOUR AGO??” Sans started reaching for the nearest pot, so Papyrus quickly scooped him up again. “WHY DON’T WE GO BACK TO DRAWING?” Sans whined, but otherwise didn’t put up a fight. Papyrus set him down, then gently pried the potato out of his eye socket. “THERE, NOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT YOU ARE DRAWING, WHICH WILL VASTLY IMPROVE YOUR ARTISTIC ABILITY.” Papyrus picked up the one paper with scribbles on it and shoved the still blank ones closer to Sans. Then he looked at the drawing, there were three circles with various features on them and oddly angled sticks coming out the bottom. “SANS, WHAT’S THIS?”

“you an’ me an’ daddy,” Sans replied simply as he leaned forward to point at the figures.

Papyrus looked at the picture again, he supposed the tall figure could be him, and the smallest one was very round, but the one Sans said was “daddy” didn’t look like anyone he knew. Papyrus shrugged, it was hard to make out anything from a toddler’s drawing skills, and it wasn’t like Sans had any artistic skills as an adult either. He set the drawing aside and decided to simply sit and watch Sans draw, clean up would have to wait.

As Papyrus knew would eventually happen, Sans began to yawn and have trouble keeping upright. Papyrus scooped him into his arms and carried the toddler upstairs. He paused in front of his door, Sans’s room was still absolutely out of the question for a small child, but that left only Papyrus’s room. With a sigh from Papyrus and another yawn from Sans, Papyrus went into his room and placed Sans on the race car bed. Sans held his arms up expectantly, though Papyrus wasn’t sure what that was about.

“WHAT IS IT, SANS?”

Sans tugged at the makeshift belt around his middle and fussed sleepily with the shirt he was still wearing, “jammies.”

“OH,” Papyrus replied. There was no way anything he owned would be remotely like pajamas on the tiny toddler. He untied the scarf and pulled the shirt off anyway, made much easier by Sans putting his arms up again. “WHAT IF… YOU SLEPT WITHOUT JAMMIES? JUST FOR TONIGHT?” Papyrus tried not to let his nerves show. Sans just shrugged, then sleepily crawled towards the pillows. It was like a light bulb went off above Papyrus’ head, he quickly pulled down the blanket and neatly tucked Sans in, then grabbed one of the books from his shelf and pulled up a chair. “WOULD YOU LIKE A BEDTIME STORY, SANS?”

As backwards as the question felt, Papyrus smiled when Sans sleepily nodded, then happily opened the book and started reading the familiar story. “FLUFFY BUNNY LIVED IN A BEAUTIFUL MEADOW WITH ALL HIS LITTLE BUNNY FRIENDS...”

It was a little over an hour later and Papyrus was halfway through scrubbing the living room walls when there was a very enthusiastic knock at the door. Papyrus dropped his cleaning supplies and went to answer the door, unsure who would be visiting at this time of night. “OH! UNDYNE! HOW UNEXPECTED OF YOU TO COME VISIT ME SO LATE IN THE EVENING! AND WITHOUT KICKING DOWN MY DOOR!”

“Hey Papyrus!” Undyne greeted. “You gonna let me in?”

“OF COURSE!” Papyrus stepped aside to let Undyne in. Once the door was closed she shoved a box overflowing with stuff at Papyrus, he hesitantly accepted it. “WHY THANK YOU UNDYNE, WHAT IS IT?”

“I figured you needed some stuff for the baby until Alphys can fix this mess. There’s some kid friendly food in there, some toys, some clothes, and whatever else Gerson had on hand he thought you’d need.”

“WOWIE! I’LL HAVE TO GIVE HIM MY THANKS NEXT TIME I SEE HIM, OR SEND THEM ALONG WITH YOU IF I DON’T.”

“Don’t worry, I already gave him your thanks.”

“THANK YOU, UNDYNE! YOU REALLY KNOW HOW TO SAVE TIME.”

“So how’s the little squirt doing anyway?” Undyne eyed the walls that still needed to be scrubbed.

“HE IS CURRENTLY SLEEPING UPSTAIRS. WE HAD A VERY ‘ACTIVE’ AFTERNOON TODAY,” Undyne snorted at the quotes, “AND I MUST SAY I AM VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE BREAK. I NEVER THOUGHT I’D SEE THE DAY WHEN I WAS HAPPY FOR SANS TO TAKE ONE OF HIS LONG NAPS.”

“Yeah, little kids are full of energy like that. And he’s at the age where he should sleep through the whole night, but it’s not a bad idea to check up on him at some point. Sometimes they’ll wake up for a glass of water or something, and the poor kid will probably be disoriented since this is a strange house and all.”

“ACTUALLY, SANS SEEMED TO RECOGNIZE THE HOUSE. WHICH IS REALLY STRANGE, WE DIDN’T MOVE IN UNTIL AFTER THE… UH… UNTIL AFTER I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL. BUT WHEN WE WALKED IN THE DOOR HE YELLED ‘DADDY, WE’RE HOME’ AND WAS COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH THE HOUSE.”

“That is weird. Also, speaking of your dad, whatever happened to him? I mean… it’s weird that I hadn’t ever asked before but you never talk about your parents so…?”

“I DON’T REMEMBER OUR DAD VERY WELL, IT WAS JUST SANS AND ME FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. I THINK HE WORKED A LOT? AND WASN’T AROUND MUCH? BUT AT SOME POINT HE WAS JUST GONE??” Papyrus stared down into the box he was still holding with furrowed brows. “I’D ASK SANS, BUT OBVIOUSLY THAT WON’T DO ANY GOOD RIGHT NOW. OH!” Papyrus stepped into the living room and set aside the box before picking up the drawing from earlier and showing it to Undyne. “SANS DREW THIS,” he pointed to each figure as he named them, “THAT’S ME, AND THAT LITTLE ONE IS SANS, AND THIS ONE IS OUR DAD.”

“Heh, that’s pretty good, that one definitely looks like you.” They both looked at it for a moment, then Undyne handed the picture back. “Well, it’s something to ask Sans when Alphys fixes him. Along with a bunch of other questions like how he and Alphys even know each other.”

“I HAD BEEN WONDERING ABOUT THAT TOO, PERHAPS WE SHOULD JUST ASK ALPHYS TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS SINCE SHE WOULD ACTUALLY KNOW THE ANSWERS.”

“Yeah, I’ll ask her later, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to hear what Sans will say. Or what he won’t say.”

“SANS DOES LOVE HIS POINTLESS SECRETS,” Papyrus agreed.

“Welp, I’m going to head home. early to bed and all that, but Gerson said to just pop by Waterfall any time and visit him if you need any help. Or even if you don’t. He wants to see Sans as a ‘little whippersnapper’ before this mess gets all cleared up.”

“I’LL MAKE SURE TO GO VISIT HIM THEN. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, UNDYNE.”

“You too!”

A fun little scenario I've seen a few times (Sans gets turned into a baby/toddler/small child and it's up to Papyrus to take care of him until things go back to normal) but I've only ever seen it in Underfell. I get it, the added danger of having to protect Sans from a dusting as well as watching the usually harsh Fell!Paps trying to care for smol Sans is really nice. But just... just Papyrus having no idea how to take care of a small child sounds like plenty of drama for a story, so here it is! Enjoy as tiny Sans wraps your heart around his pinky phalange!

#undertale #nenna writes #fanfiction #fluff #humor #age ression #age regressed sans #toddler sans #babybones #sans #papyrus #alphys #undyne #grillby #grillby regulars

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fordarkisthesuede · 8 years ago

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Star Watch - Crystal Clear & The Hard Way

If you’re wondering why I’m late to the party with these, there’s an easy answer: being an adult really sucks sometimes. I have to juggle a job, every-day things like hygiene/food intake/chores, and all my fandoms with what my brain has the energy or mood for, while knowing I only have so much time in the day to do these things. Do I feel like continuing my Yu Yu Hakusho marathon today, or do I want to watch something new? Do I want to browse the web after watching a 10-minute Star Vs episode, or do I want to plop down and not have to move for the entire time it takes me to watch an episode or two of Buffy before I have to go to bed so I can get up for work?

Also, I don’t have cable, so I depend on people uploading new episodes. Usually I don’t have the opportunity to see them until a whole day later. To put it simply, it sucks.

Crystal Clear:

I have no idea what happens in this one because I managed to avoid every single spoiler for it! Horray!

[one episode-viewing later]

Uh. Ok. I see why a lot of people didn’t like this very much. And why people didn’t bother unleashing spoilers.

This episode was sort of slow, especially considering the Big Reveal was that “oh hey the big magic problem we’ve been having is getting worse, here’s the giant swirling green mass of magic to prove it”. Like we didn't already know it was going to be a continuing problem from earlier this season. It did have its humorous moments, though, so it’s worth re-watching again later on, maybe post-season. Still, here’s the highlight reel of the important bits:

1) I love Old Goat-Demon Man, aka Chancellor Lekmet. Yes, of course that’s important! He’s precious!

I mean look at that face!! He’s adorable!!!

And he has GREAT reaction faces!!!

Ha ha, that’s one for the scrapbook!

2) Crystal Guy is entertaining, especially his relationship with Old Goat-Demon Man. I’m sort of glad they fleshed out his character more, even if it does show off a terrible flaw. I mean, really, man??? You just go with your GUT for who’s evil?!

He really takes care of the Chancellor, though. :)

3) WAS THAT ECLIPSA??? UP THERE??? IN THE CORNER OF THE SHOT OF CRYSTALLIZED PEOPLE??????

IT IS. THAT’S HER. OR A REALLY REALLY GOOD COSPLAYER.

#FreeEclipsa2017

4) Now we know where Glossaryk got his head-crystal from! And he still wears it!

5) Glossaryk is apparently the most powerful magic being in the universe.

6) Star got a crystal of her own! That….houses a potentially evil person inside…

That’ll probably come back later. I’m looking forward to that.

Overall - 6/10. Slow moving, but it had some good moments and a bit of character reveals. (And…Eclipsa…encased in crystal…?!) Also, it was just plain charming to see Star and Crystal Man Rhombulus have tea and chit-chat together:

That’s just darling.

The Hard Way:

This is a Ludo episode! I’ve grown really attached to the little guy over the course of the season, if you couldn’t tell. He’s grown a lot, and I LOVED “Ludo In The Wild”, so I’m hoping for more character development, humor, and insightful talk of the Queen of my heart Darkness, Eclipsa! We don’t even know what Eclipsa’s voice is like, let alone seen her in any other way but a badass portrait with her handsome monster!husband, but I consider her a favorite character already. Y’know, if you didn’t already guess that from my other Star Watch posts.

Either way, our little birb Ludo is going to learn some magic today! Try hard, Ludo! (･ω´-ゞ)^☆

Sweet castle, bro. I wonder how old it is...?

I really like how Ludo actively wants to work hard to get what he wants (even if he does say he doesn’t really know what he wants later). That’s serious character development! :3c (I saw someone mention that he’s definitely a masochist now due to this scene; yeah i could buy that tbh but let’s not delve into that corner when clearly he just wants to earn his power here ok)

Tell me you could say no to that face. Go on.

Also, we learn that Ludo’s one out of fifty kids and had no attention from individual parents. In his words, everything he’s learned “[he’s] learned dirty” and he wants guidance. That explains partly why he listens to the wand’s every direction, rather than doing things his own way like Star. Of course, his lack of imagination also explains it, but there you go.

I like how Glossaryk just goes ahead and starts teaching him from the top. He does truly act as Ludo’s guide to magic, rather than rejecting him outright or getting him to make a fool of himself instead. Glossaryk works the definition of True Neutral.

But actually, it’s interesting that it took Ludo a couple of tries to get a basic spell correct when he easily zaps the apple into smithereens just by getting mad. He’s clearly got power in there, he just doesn’t know how to control it all. I’m not surprised Ludo managed to learn a spell that Star couldn’t follow the directions for, though. Star’s amazing at inventing her own stuff, and she’s clearly powerful, but she’s terrible at following orders and thinking in any other way but her own.

Look at that boy’s self esteem rise!!! ;w; Yes, I am proud of you!!!

Good lord, all Ludo wants is validation and affection. He treats Glossaryk as a mentor/parental figure, wanting to genuinely make him proud and receive affection for doing a good job. Ugh, what’s this horrible pain in my heart looking at this little twerp being so happy about it owwwww sendhelp

Uh, anyway, I also like how Glossaryk just continues to work the affectionate-mentor role. Even if he’s reluctant about the “affection” part, he still does it. Whether it’s for his own gain or if he’s compelled to follow the book-holder’s instructions is up in the air for the moment.

Someone please give the affection-starved scaly bird boy a hug!! (;_;)

Aaand now I gotta address what everybody and their grandmother’s talking about: Toffee’s in the wand and has been giving Ludo instructions all along.

I’m honestly not surprised about that part. It was either going to be Toffee or Eclipsa (even if she’s stuck in crystal, she can potentially astro-project ok). Admittedly, I preferred thinking it was Eclipsa, because with her sympathy and love for monsters it would make sense to have her guide Ludo. Toffee makes sense too, but we know his end goal is pretty much improving the world for monsters by collapsing Mewni’s social barriers, by either violent or non-violent means, and as we’ve seen him use simple care and gentle instruction to get people to do what he wants and side with him, he comes off as the more manipulative one. Despite having the same end goal and methods, the big difference between them is that Eclipsa would be more likely to not want to put Ludo in complete mortal danger; Toffee is the sort of person that doesn’t mind sacrificing things, be it his body or someone else’s, whether it’s for the greater good or not.

On that note: TOFFEE GET THE FUCK OUT OF LUDO’S BODY THIS INSTANT YOU RIDICULOUS BIPEDAL LIZARD! DON’T MAKE ME PUNCH IT OUT YOU MANIPULATIVE PIECE OF SHIT!!!

What’s so sad about all of it is that Ludo treats the wand’s voice (Toffee) like a friend. He follows it’s advice to the tee, sure, but he takes care of it and talks to it like it’s a person. He doesn’t even know it’s really Toffee in there. Toffee is literally just using him as a means to an end...again.

But on another note, there was definitely something SUPER fascinating about Toffee instantly being able to possess Ludo. Considering Toffee’s immortality, I think he really is Eclipsa’s son. (Or grandson!) To be able to channel her kind of “tainted” magic so quickly might mean that they’re blood-related.

Though admittedly, even Marco, a non-magical person, was able to channel it after a while. I suppose the best way I can explain it is that the more weak-willed you are, the easier you are to taint. Star’s pretty independent, so of course it didn’t affect her; Marco’s less so, so eventually he succumbed (we don’t know the exact time-frame); and we now know Ludo legitimately wants and needs guidance through things, so he’s a much easier target. It doesn’t exactly explain how Toffee possessed Ludo, considering Marco didn’t get possessed by Star’s wand, but there are some mysteries that take time to solve, of course.

And naturally, the exchange between Toffee and Glossaryk is VERY interesting:

Toffee: “Time to give it up old man. You’ll never get him on your side.”

Glossaryk: “But I don’t have a side.”

Again, Glossaryk is showing his True Neutral colors. Considering he taught Queen Eclipsa, it’s no surprise he’s okay with monsters, and through this simple expression he seems okay with the idea of monsters living side-by-side with Mewni rather than being very repressed social outcasts. He’s not for the absolute rule by Mewni folk, and he’s not for the absolute rule by Monsters. He seems to really just want to teach his magical skills to whoever gets the book. Of course, considering he’s the most powerful magic-user in the whole universe, if he really didn’t like something he could put a stop to it.

Verdict - easy 10/10. Definite one for a rewatch in terms of humor and character development (despite the lack of Eclipsa talk), so I rank it high! I doubt the possession is permanent, so this probably isn’t the last time we see Ludo, let alone Toffee-possessed!Ludo. I REALLY hope we get more Ludo-Glossaryk interactions. Ludo might not have Star’s powerful imaginative magic, but he’s still got skills and an eagerness to learn (even if he does get one-tracked).

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