#Do NOT research what happens in the original books thank me later

[tamaruaart]

The Bambi and Fox and the hound books got me like

[lovetaroandtaemin]

Kinktober 2024

Day 15: Bondage

Choi Beomgyu x Reader Word Count: 1,696 THIS FIC IS NSFW, MINORS DNI! Warnings: Unprotected sex, creampie, breeding kink if you squint, bondage, dom!Beomgyu x sub!reader, use of the title "sir." If you think I missed a warning let me know! A/N: If you would like to be added to my Kinktober taglist, you can send an ask, send a dm, or comment on any of my Kinktober-related posts with the username that you'd like tagged. Happy reading!

Taglist: @unlikelysublimekryptonite

Fic is under the cut.

“Gyu, come on!”

Your fiancé ran to catch up to the entrance of your favorite bookstore, where you waited with an excited smile. Beomgyu had a rare day off from work, so he took the opportunity to take you shopping. He originally wanted to spend the day at home with you, but the grin on your face and the excitement in your voice as you talked about the books you hoped to find made spending the day out of the house worth it.

The two of you went your separate ways once you were in the bookstore, since you were each looking for something different. You were looking for historical fiction or romance, whereas Beomgyu was looking for sci-fi or a cookbook.

As Beomgyu wandered through the store, he found something he wasn’t expecting. It was a book about shibari, tucked into a random place on a shelf that held a variety of fandom-themed cookbooks. He figured that someone had considered buying it but put it back without caring if it was in its proper place. He considered doing the same, but something about it caught his attention.

For a long time, Beomgyu had wanted to try tying you up in bed. He wanted to do more research before he approached you about it, however. And with his busy schedule, he hadn’t had time to do that. Finding a book about it was the perfect stroke of luck. Excited to find a resource that would make research far easier, he made his way to the checkout and paid for the book. Then, he went to find you.

You were looking at the romance novels, a small stack of already selected titles in your hands. When Beomgyu found you, he smiled and said, “Do you need help, baby?”

“I’m alright, ‘Gyu. Thank you, though.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.” When you noticed the bag in Beomgyu’s hand, you added, “Did you check out, already?”

“Oh, yeah, I did. I only really saw one book that caught my eye.”

“What was it?”

“I’ll show you later. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The two of you made your way to the checkout so you could pay for your books. Once you were done, you went back to Beomgyu’s car. The two of you spent the drive back to your apartment talking about the books you’d purchased. After you gave him brief summaries of each book that caught your attention at the store, you asked him again about the book he bought. He was hesitant to answer at first, but after you promised not to judge him, he relented.

“It’s a book about shibari.” When you didn’t respond, he added, “If you’re uncomfortable with it, I can-”

“No, it’s ok. I’m not uncomfortable, just surprised. I didn’t know that you were into that.”

“I wanted to learn more about it before I brought it up to you, but yeah. I do think it’d be fun to try.”

“Well, once you’ve made it through the book, we’ll talk about it.”

The rest of the car ride was quiet, with both of you lost in thought. Beomgyu was focused on getting home as quickly as possible so he could start reading. You were thinking about the things that you wanted to happen after he finished reading.

A few weeks went by before Beomgyu told you that he had not only read the entire book, but he had also been practicing on a mannequin he’d bought. The idea of Beomgyu practicing on you instead entered your mind, but you quickly pushed it away. After he finished telling you about the book, you said, “When do you wanna try it out?”

“How about this weekend? I don’t have any schedules on Saturday or Sunday, so that gives us plenty of time to experiment and recover.”

“That sounds good, Gyu. I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.” The weekend couldn’t come quickly enough.

Saturday morning, you woke up and got ready for Beomgyu to arrive. The hardest part was deciding what to wear. You wanted to look sexy, but you also didn’t want to look like you were trying too hard. In the end, you decided on your favorite sundress. It probably wasn’t the sexiest thing you had in your closet, but you knew that Beomgyu loved it. Besides, you probably wouldn’t be wearing it long anyway.

When Beomgyu knocked on your door, you greeted him with a smile and let him in. He had a bag with him, but you couldn’t see what was inside. You wanted to ask him about it, but you had a feeling you knew what he had brought with him anyway. Your suspicions were confirmed when you saw the book poking out.

As soon as Beomgyu was inside, you kissed him. You tried to start soft, with gentle kisses rather than the ones the two of you typically shared when you were in the mood, but he had other plans. After a few minutes of kisses that made your head spin, he pulled away so he could catch his breath and asked, “Are you sure you’re comfortable trying this today? If not, we can either have sex the way we usually do or not have sex at all. It’s your call, angel.”

“I wanna try it today.”

“Ok, I love you.”

“I love you too, sir.”

When Beomgyu heard you use the title, he found himself more turned on than he already was. He kissed you one more time, then he instructed you to go to your bedroom and strip. You did as you were told, and he followed you to your room to do the same. When you were ready, he finally showed you what else was in the bag. It was rope that looked incredibly soft, and it was your favorite shade of pink.

For a moment, he wondered how he should tie you up for your first time. After careful thought, he decided on something simple. Then he said, “Lie down on the bed, baby. And keep your wrists together.”

You did as you were told, though you were nervous about what was to come. When you saw Beomgyu grab the rope, your heart started to race. You were excited to try something new, but nervousness about being restrained started to tug at your heart. Beomgyu sensed your anxiety, and said, “Baby, what’s your color?”

“Green, sir.”

“Good girl. I love you.”

“I love you.”

After he kissed your forehead, Beomgyu carefully tied your wrists together and positioned your hands above your head. He gave you a look that you knew meant that you were supposed to keep them there. The rope looked incredibly soft, and somehow felt even softer. It was like your wrists were bound together by a string of clouds.

Once he was certain that the knots were secure and that you were comfortable, Beomgyu climbed on top of you and kissed you. You instinctively brought your arms down to wrap them around his neck, but in one swift motion he put them back above your head. The gesture sent a shiver down your spine.

Beomgyu attached his lips to your neck, and you moaned. He kissed and bit every spot he could reach for what felt like ages before he finally made his way back to your lips. The way he kissed you almost distracted you from the feeling of his cock entering your pussy. Almost.

When Beomgyu finally felt you around him, he let out a groan that was significantly louder than he intended it to be. You weren’t complaining, though, because you loved when he was vocal in bed. He moved in and out of you slowly at first, but once he was sure that you wouldn’t be uncomfortable, he didn’t hold back.

Every so often, you would forget about the fact that your wrists were bound and try to touch Beomgyu. Each time you did, however, he stopped thrusting and grabbed your hands, moving them back to where he instructed you to keep them. You couldn’t lie, you had initially been apprehensive about Beomgyu tying you up, but as he fucked you, you found that you wanted him to do it again in the future.

Over time, you got used to the restraints, and you found it easier to follow Beomgyu’s orders. As he fucked you, he whispered all kinds of dirty thoughts, like how he couldn’t wait to try tying you up in all the other ways he had learned about in the book he bought. The idea had you more turned on than you cared to admit, and you found that the combination of the relentless pace that Beomgyu had set, the rope around your wrists, and the words that he whispered into your ear were overwhelming in the best way possible.

After a few more minutes, you felt like you were about to burst. In a moment of desperation, you cried out, “Sir, can I please cum? I’m so close.”

“Me too, baby. Cum with me.”

Almost on command, you came around Beomgyu’s cock with a scream of his name. His orgasm came shortly after, and you had to admit that you loved how it felt when he released inside you. He continued fucking you through your orgasm, and you felt like you were on cloud nine.

After both of you rode out your highs, Beomgyu quickly climbed off of you and untied your wrists, massaging them and applying lotion once your hands were free. After that, he helped you up so you could get into the shower. He stepped in once he was sure you were ok and helped you wash. Then you did the same for him. Once both of you were sufficiently clean, you got out of the shower and got dressed. When both you and Beomgyu were fully clothed again, he held you and told you how much he loved you and how well you did for him until you drifted off into a peaceful sleep. As soon as he was certain you were asleep, he let himself drift off too, relieved that trying something new went well.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to see what else I've written so far and the rest of what's planned, you can find my Kinktober masterlist here. If you'd like to read one of my non-Kinktober works, you can find my general masterlist here. If you'd like to see what I'm going to be working on once Kinktober is over, you can find my upcoming works here. If none of that interests you, or there's something specific you'd like to see, send a request via asks or dms!

Thank you again for reading, happy spooky season!

[otomiyaa]

Sexy Back

Deadpool x Colossus

[Fic Reupload] - For @theanonemu, myself and everyone around who still loves this lovely duo! With thanks to the lovely for @wertzunge for retrieving it for me ^^ Fic was originally written in 2018.

Summary: Wade has a mission, personal and very important: To tickle Colossus, if he’s even ticklish anywhere. Ha, you should try that sometime, without dying. (Also on AO3)

Word Count: 1.7K

“Ohhh man.” Wade came walking out of Colossus’ room, waving his Deadpool mask around that had gotten all damp with his own.. well yeah. You know, drool, sweat and such. Grossss. Getting tickled to real death just had its consequences, and uhh right, he kinda knew this would happen.

Negasonic just came out of the other room, and she raised one eyebrow, looking totally unimpressed at probably how messy he looked right now.

“Again?” she asked. Wade shrugged and continued to wave his mask in front of him for some fresh air. 

“What do you mean again? That is not nice,” he sighed as he strode towards the bathroom.

“Oh I don’t know. This morning. Yesterday maybe four, or five times. Six? And now again? Just give up Wade. I’m getting allergic to that laughter of yours, if I could even call it that.” Wade simply turned to face Ms. roasting warhead and smiled.

“That makes two of us. But nah, if you think that I’m gonna give up, you don’t know Deadpool dear. That guy,” he pointed at at Colossus’ room.

“…Has to have a weak spot and I will find it. And the moment I do, I will hear and see, and induuulge myself in Colossus’ beautiful laughter and you’ll just wish you could too. Pool out.” 

He rolled into the shower after climbing out of his partially drenched suit and sang a beautiful Colossus sucks ballad while purifying himself of any leftover sweat, and tingly sensations. 

He had truly believed today would succeed. He was suited up and ready to go. Colossus was on his bed, reading some boring book. Wade had done some real serious research on sensitivity of metal bodies (well yeah, the results were less serious but still), and he had drawn the entire plan out, from sneaking into the room to catching that metal foot under the blankets from his safe position at the end of the bed to tickle his sole. 

He had tried that before but failed, but now he succeeded, and it still failed since Colossus wasn’t tickled by this. Just provoked, and it resulted in the usual: Wade getting a payback that was unfair as hell.

Not today. I mean, well yeah today already happened but… not tonight. Because in that lovely shower, Wade got an idea. A very brilliant idea that made all those other failed attempts go to waste. Why didn’t he think of it sooner? Not in the morning to wake him up. Not during his desk work. Not during his nap-time, cleaning time (hell yes it was a very nice try though Wade had to give himself that) and also not during his relaxing reading-time.

Wade had to go for the middle of the night because why? #1. Same vulnerability as in the morning because he would be pulled out of his sleep (well yeah Wade’s try in the morning went just very very wrong for other reasons, let’s not mention those), but most definitely #2: because the others would be asleep.

Now why was that an important factor? Because Colossus had to be the sweetest most considerate metal man in the world, who would not wake everyone from their precious sleep (”Sleep, sleep is good. You should sleep,” is what he would always tell everyone), so Wade would at least be safe from one of those ridiculously nearly murderous revenges (coming from that same sweetest metal man of the planet, world? universe? Never mind). 

So yeah. Wade was clean again. Later that day, he ignored Negasonic’s taunts about his laughter and ticklishness, smiled at cute Yukio for calling him cute, and even bluffed at Colossus that he was not going to give another try. 

Colossus was always very casual about it all and usually didn’t say anything about it, his answer this time being nothing more than:

“Good.” Wade smiled. It was a long wait until nightfall. Until late late nightfall, it had to be the perfect time. No suit this time. Just him, his trash T-shirt so he was ready to go to bed after this satisfying success, and his boxer shorts. Heh, well to be honest Colossus had seen him in less than that, oops, so nothing to worry about. 

Wade, for the umpteenth time, tiptoed into Colossus’ room at the perfect time and carefully closed the door. Colossus was in bed, and his heavy breaths were heard throughout the entire room. Sleeping. Sleeping sleeping like a -

Wade blinked as he started into Colossus’ wide open eyes the moment he got to his bed-side. Sleeping like a faker.

“Fooled you.” Wade gasped when Colossus grabbed him and pulled him in bed. He squirmed as he was rolled under him, but soon stopped struggling when he realized Colossus had other intentions. Their lips met, and Wade relaxed under him.

There was nothing like kissing Colossus’ out-of-this-world lips. Like shit they were a pair of lips that belonged to a metal man. No one knew like Wade what that was like. What it was like to suckle on them, teasingly brush his tongue in between them, taste themー

Well, technically everyone he knew also knew since Wade told everyone in detail, but still, it was his and his experience alone.

“So, you came to…?” Colossus asked when he switched to placing gentle kisses down Wade’s jawline. He then pulled back and looked fondly at him. The moon outside took care of enough light in this room to see the twinkle in his eyes and his slightly parted sexy lips. 

Wade shook his head, deciding not to ask Colossus why he was awake at this time because he’d get the same question back in doubles.

“…Sleep with you. Duh.” Believable. Colossus simply shrugged and awarded him with his sexy lips again. Sexy lips yeaaah. Wade caressed the back of his head, his sexy heaaad. He fluttered his fingers down the back of his neck. A very sexy and unticklish neck. He scribbled his fingers down Colossus’ back. 

The sexy part between his shoulder blades, down his spine, towards his sexy lower back and..

“Ufh.” He felt Colossus’ breath against his lips. It was a soft sigh that came out of him. A slight hum was mixed with it. Wade didn’t dare to hope for it, not at this stage, but he had to try. 

His fingers that were ready to cup two cheeks of a very sexy ass, went back and remained at Colossus’ lower back. He trailed his fingers along the smooth metal skin there and an instant smile appeared on his face when he felt Colossus jump slightly.

“Hmmh.. Wade..” he muttered, pulling away from the kiss. Wade wasn’t sure if the moon provided them of enough light, but he probably had the most wicked grin plastered on his face and there was no way around that.

“Found. It.” He scribbled his fingers at some of the sweet spots he guessed at and watched how Colossus’ facade was quick crumble. The corners of his lips twitched and a low grumbly “Huhuhu” was the first sort of laughter to come out of him.

“What’s the matter, metalboy? T-i-c-k-l-i-s-h?” Wade whispered, and his fingers did their best at tickling him some more. 

“W-Wade no. Don’t..” It was a soft whisper, but there was defnitely more sound to what followed.

“H-haha, no. Do not make me…” Colossus’ hands already moved from where they cupped Wade's cheeks and he was almost ready to tickle him back when Wade raised and kissed him as a counter attack. He then smirked at him and said:

“Don’t think so. You know I’ll be loud, and the others will not appreciate it. So just be a big boy now and let me have my fun for once, for hell’s sake.” He kissed him again and went back to tickling that sexy back. 

Colossus immediately broke their kiss and Wade was laughing in delight when he chose to bury his face in his neck, laughing sweetly and even squirming slightly. Not too much squirming, no fighting back, just being the big boy Wade told him to be. 

“I told you I’d find it~ Your tickle spot, oh and maybe here too?” Wade dragged his finger up his spine and Colossus arched his back suddenly.

“AH- Not the-hehere.. Wade..” His low voice blurting out just those soft chuckles, soft laughs: Brilliant. Nothing like the noise and chaos Wade would’ve produced, but definitely worth everything.

Wade enjoyed the delight of tickling Colossus for as long as he could. And then Colossus stopped being a big boy, or well, he was still a big boy, but not a good boy.

“Done now?” he said, sounding a liiittle bit out of breath and Wade was proud of that. He began to sputter:

“Ready? O-oh well you mean, I think, no. I could go on for like -” He froze when Colossus suddenly covered his mouth with his hand, shutting him up.

“Because now it’s my turn.” Well about one thing Wade was right, that Colossus would not willingly wake up the entire house just to get his revenge. He did underestimate his methods to get that revenge anyway, even if that would mean a nearly soundless and thus even more exhausting and deadly one.

“MPHPH! COHMphphh!” It took the X-man two legs to pin down Wade’s entire body, one hand to shut him up and one hand to kill him with tickles. His hips, his stomach, sides and ribs under his shirt, even his ampit, and nothing more than a soft stray giggle here and a squeak there would slip out of this room. 

At one point they were kissing again, and Wade was still being tickled with two fucking hands. Colossus might as well kill him immediately because these methods were not okay. After what felt like ages, the heavy weight finally moved off him, and Colossus tiredly rolled onto his side to sleep. 

“Now I’m tired. Go to sleep.” Haha, so cute. Wade sleepily blinked his eyes and gazed at Colossus’ sexy back that was turned towards him. He reached out…

“Don’t… you dare.” Oh. Wade pulled his hand back and smiled. 

“Tomorrow then,” he whispered, and he proceeded to roll against him so he could form the big spoon. As best as he could. What a night. 

They should make this a routine, and Wade was going to make sure of that, no matter the tiny tiny ticklish price his drained body would have to pay. Anything, to play with that sexy, ticklish back again~ Oh yeaaaah.

[dragonshoardofworks]

DP x DCMK (x DC)

Where Danny and Shinichi meet at the Hawaii where's a Ghost Convention (pre-portal and Conan, when they're both around 11–12 years old) since both sets of parents are invested in the topic. (The Fentons because they're the Fentons and Yusaku because he's researching for one of his books).

They become friends and keep contacts through messages, sharing school shenanigans, crushes, cases and family mishaps.

The One Thing that Danny doesn't share, though, is his halfa status.

First, because Shinichi doesn't believe in the supernatural (according to him, magic is just unexplained science) and second, because his change is far from any kind of "normalcy" and Shinichi had categorically stated that he doesn't want anything to do with superheroes, he's just a "normal" detective and they (the Justice League) save the world.

Though, it's not unusual that, if something weird happens in a case, Shinichi asks Danny's opinion and intel since the Fenton's library has "weird"/obscure material. (If the answer gets him too close to superhero-stuff, Shinichi passes the ball to the JL, more specifically to Red Robin, but that's something for a following reblog of this thread.)

So when Shinichi becomes Conan and settles in Ran's home, he contacts our favorite boi.

(A bit late to the @crossoverdanuary party... (^～^;)ゞ Anyway, long post in chat-style, plus an extra, so I decided to use the read more function because it was getting out of hand... (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) )

Shinichi: Hey Danny, do you know anything that should be killing you, but instead it shrinks you? Danny: Shrink as in size or age? S: Age D: Hold on, gotta check some books to be sure, but usually anything age-related is dark shit. What's for? Fun or case? S: ...It's for a case D: Well, that didn't sound ominous at all, then gotta go *faster* *few minutes later* D: Okay, the closest thing (still in the Mortal Realm) to what you asked is this jewel most commonly known as "Pandora" (if she knew, she would definitely lose her shit) D: it's a gem hidden inside another gem that glows red under the moonlight D: "if bathed in the light of the Volley Comet, it would shed tears capable of granting eternal life" S: This doesn't sound anything like what I asked you (⁠눈⁠‸⁠눈⁠) D: Cut the sass beanpole and let me continue D: since the legend exist and it's documented, it should be reasonable to presume that someone managed to attain it, right? S: ...right *squinty eyes* D: So if some scientist tried to reproduce the same results in the *scientific way* instead of the magical one, they could have either the original "Tears" or the one who consumed them and run test and experiment on them D: whatever the case, there would be either some inferior or failed products that instead of making you immortal, *de-ages* you, which is the next best thing (i.e. you would live longer) D: but since they were "failures" compared to the immortality elixir, they could definitely become poisons. D: So! Since you were so ominous, was it really for a case or did our dear Professor Agasa dabble in alchemy? 👀 (read) D: Beanpole, I know you read my explanation and since this is really dark shit you *have* to at least give me context D: because among the warnings that the grimoire gave me, there's the thing that you become somewhat cursed S: ...Or you're cursed or you're not, there's no "somewhat" D: He speaks! 🙌 D: Give me *the deets* *long pause* D: *Shinichi Kudo* ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ S: Okay, fine! I can feel your disappointed stare all the way to Japan, stop! >Д< D: Then explain S: Okay S: so you know how I can't leave things alone when they have suspicious all printed on them? D: Your worst defect, yes, but continue D: ...wait D: Shinichi no D: HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW?? S: Still 17, thank you very much D: I mean physically, you little shit, don't dodge the question! S: ... S: ...we think 7 D: What in the Infinite Realms everloving fuck, Shinichi D: Okay, you know what? D: I'm coming to Japan and you can't stop me, you *midget*, I know what you're already going to say D: it's dangerous, yada yada D: nothing I've already seen and fought S: What do you mean?! D: Since you're *such a good detective*, deduce it yourself D: give me your coordinates in the meantime and don't you dare move from that spot S: If you send me Superman or anyone of his creek, I swear to Kami, Danny D: Please, Superman could only desire to be anything like me, now *coordinates* ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ *coordinates sent* D: good boy D: now get ready in 3 S: 3 what? D: 2 D: 1

🕵️👻

A full body shiver run over Shinichi as soon as the "1" appeared on the screen, so he looked up from his phone, searching for where the cold draft could have come from. However, the agency toilet window was closed and the closed door had a good insulation, last time he had checked.

So what...!

"Boo."

Shinichi shrieked with all the high pitch of an elementary schooler, as he whirled around to look at what, or better, who had whispered by his ear.

A white-haired green-eyed floating teenager with a black hazmat suit with white accents grinned almost maniacally at him, showing their fangs predatorily.

Anatomically they looked male and despite the unhinged expression, the body language didn't project "danger". If anything, it was loose and casual as if he (until otherwise stated) belonged here.

The unearthly glow suggested either some substance coating him that gave him that illusion, or there was magic afoot.

Irritation surged inside Shinichi: Danny knew his rules! No direct superhero meeting, only exchange of intel!

"Who are you and why did Fenton send you?" Shinichi gritted, crossing his arms to appear less like a 7 years old.

"You disappoint me, little detective, I thought you would have figured it out at first glance!" The supposed hero pouted, crossing legs and arms midair and staring back at Shinichi. "I guess that your fame had been an exaggeration, after all. Some East Highschool Detective you are!"

The teasing little smirk incensed Shinichi more than alarming him (the other knew his secret!), but the last thought made him pause.

Danny wouldn't betray him like this by informing whatever "superhero" of this situation just to help him without his consent. Their boundaries had been awesome like that and had been respected so far, despite the many trials both had faced.

So who was this person really?

Shinichi's mind focused back into deducing the teen before him, and the more looked, the more disbelief made way in his heart. (...He had said he would be coming to Japan, but not in that instant!)

"No way, Danny?"

"Fucking finally, midget! What took you so long?" Danny huffed, untangling then touching down on his feet and looking him over. "It even gave me time to take a look at your situation!"

"Hey! Your voice is different, so I could deduce it only because "if you exclude the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the Truth"! Since you would never spill my secrets to anyone, this must have been you!" Shinichi gestured to his friend, who flushed green when he registered the meaning of the words.

"Wow," he breathed, sounding pleased, as he scratched his nape, "you would believe that a ghost of me is still me instead of me betraying you, wow!"

"Wait, ghost? I thought you just become a superhero, not that you died!" Despite his insistence on not believing the supernatural, Shinichi had read the Fentons' papers on ghosts (the most recent ones, AKA the "no more biased version" as Danny had called them). And, while he hadn't told his friend this, the scientific breakdown of what makes a ghost what they are, had made Shinichi believe in the existence of ectoplasmic beings.

But to discover that one of his best friends had died, he hadn't known or could have done anything, plus Danny hadn't felt safe enough to tell him until it had become unavoidable, made Shinichi clutch his heart in agony and despair.

Probably sensing the shift and interpreting the action for what that was, Danny's face shifted into regret, as he knelt down before the shrunk detective and a ring of light lit up at his waist, washing over him and leaving a hoodie-and-jeans-clad raven-haired and blue-eyed teenager.

Slowly, as if not to spook a frozen Shinichi, Danny laid a hand on his shoulder, while the other took the free little hand to his NASA hoodies chest and splayed it there, allowing him to feel his heartbeat. As if he had known that only words wouldn't have been enough to convince the detective.

Slowly but surely, feeling Danny's sluggish but steady heartbeat, made Shinichi unclench, then lean against his friend's chest, head tucked under his chin.

Carefully, Danny wrapped his friend in a hug, knowing well that, while physical affection was welcome from him, Japanese social conventions and the Kudo's upbringing had left Shinichi a little adverse to prolonged contact.

As the apparent 7-years-old melted into the embrace and clutched Danny as well, followed by a suspicious wet sensation on his chest, the halfa realized that this was bad.

Shinichi had never sought comfort like that, according to professor Agasa (who Danny did keep in contact with, since he was more a parent than the Kudos), so to do this now...

"It's okay, Shinichi, I'll explain better what happened to me, but it's not your fault." Shinichi shuddered at these words and buried deeper in the embrace, making guilt shoot through Danny. He had caused this breakdown. The least he could do was to help him through it and some.

"And we're gonna find a way to solve what happened to you, I promise."

[zepskies]

Hey, Yep! Have you ever had writer's block? And if so, how did you break it?

Hey, Arty! 💜

Oh, definitely. 😅 No writer is safe from the dreaded state of "writer's block," but I do have some tactics I use to get through it...

5 Tips for Beating Writer's Block

Start plotting with an outline. ✍🏽

There are two kinds of writers, in my opinion:

Architects: writers who outline.

Adventurers: writers who freeform.

In most respects, I consider myself an Architect. My brain craves structure. So the way I beat writer's block while working on a project is by having a roadmap of what's going to happen next. That's thanks to my outline.

Even freeformers can develop some kind of pre-writing plan, whether that's creating a list of character bios, starting with the basic 3-Act triangle, or writing out a handful of bullet points to get you going.

For my personal process, I'll go from creating the basic premise/summary, to some loose bullet points of the story structure, to then fleshing out into full outlining of each chapter and scene, and finally drafting (and editing).

While I'm outlining, I'm also doing research and fact-checking as needed to get me through to the next scene and the next, until the end. My "roadmap" tends to be very detailed, so when I get to the drafting part, all I should have to reference is my outline.

Now, this doesn't mean that plot points won't change, or get switched around, or get chucked entirely. But if I have the blueprints of the house, I can change a window or a door, or even a whole support beam here and there, so to speak.

2. If I get stuck at any point during the outlining and/or drafting phase, I'll often go back and reread what I have already. 🧐

I'll edit and tweak as I do those readthroughs, whether it's my outline or drafted chapters. It freshens up the earlier scenes and plot points in my head.

In doing so, it'll hopefully unlock ways I can continue the later plot points, and even tie them back to things I'm setting up earlier in the narrative.

3. Revisit the thing that gave you inspiration in the first place! 🍿

Rewatch, reread, revisit the episode, movie, book, story, artwork that stroked your muse and had you daydreaming and brainstorming about the WIP you're working on. That can be a good way to revitalize you when you feel you're getting stuck on something in a plot point, or lacking motivation.

4. Create a music playlist. 🎶

I love doing this, especially for a series. I often create a playlist of songs that remind me of the setting, the characters, the overall story, or the romance I'm trying to create. Whether it's the words or the tone/rhythm that get me going, music inspires me greatly.

5. Go for a walk. ☀️

I walk for exercise, but it also gives me time to daydream and run through scenes in my head while vibing to my music (sometimes looking like a crazy person as I nod and make hand motions lmao).

This helps me clear my head, get some fresh air, then come back to my laptop with a little more pep in my brain, ready to pick up where I left off while writing. 👌🏽

Thank you so much for this question, @artyandink! (Sorry, meant to tag you when I originally posted.) I hope these ideas help you beat writer's block. 💕 Let me know if you have any additional questions!

[shrimpsalot]

Oh gawd I dreamt of quite a weird AU(?) last night so yapping ahead!!

So for whatever reason instead of getting a full ss3, we just get random episodes here and there about their 11th-12th year? Randy and Howard's relationship r still ride or die but they managed to form a bigger friend circle with Theresa, Debbie, Julian, Bucky and Rachel and often have lunch together in a more darker gloomier version of the cafeteria (think it's just my irl school cafeteria that got projected into my dreams 😭 but for shits and giggles let's say Slimovitz ran out of budget to fix it completely after another monster attack). Unfortunately there was an assignment in class that put Howard and Debbie in the same group, idk about everyone else, and they have to research about stuff like Ninja's Japan origins, tactics, fighting techniques, types of weapons he used etc. Ofc no one knows it better than randy (and kinda howard) so when they were fighting about it during lunch, Randy just casually went "no actually because if you maneuver your body like that you wouldn't ensure a safe landing and might twist your ankle, also the chain sickle is used more as a defensive weapon such as blocking a sword, locking the opponent's weapon in place and potentially yanking it towards you, and did you know smoke bombs are crafted wit-" accidentally yapping about things Nomicon taught him until Howard cuts in to save his butt "see Debbie, even Cunningham's more knowledgeable about the ninja you sure you've been studying him properly for your reports?" which re-enabled their argument and divert the attention away from randy(which he's gonna thank Howard for later). A bit of time later an attack happen in town while they were working on the assignment in the cafeteria after school, Randy ofc had to leave but it'd be suspicious so he made an excuse maybe smth along the lines of they can learn more by watching the ninja fight and everyon agreed. Again he separated from them mid-walk to do some ninja-ing, which worried theresa that he's nowhere to be seen while Howard and Debbie is still fighting about their research. Howard couldn't take it anymore as well as lowkey bothered by Theresa so he called randy to prove that he's safe, AND to call for backup on his ninja knowledge. The phone call was the same vibe as ones in the show and while Howard was too engrossed on the convo, Ninja!Randy holding the phone answering while fighting got launched backwards to the front of the alleyway where the group was but randy didn't see them so he was unaware that they heard the phone convo. When he was finished and transformed back, he immediately ran into them after turning a corner and the first thing he said is "heeyyyy uh so I got a lil lost where were you guys? Ahaha" all for Debbie to respond with a shocked expression "YOU'RE the ninja?!?"

"what?? Nooooo I I am definitely not the Ninja psshh what makes you say that? I'm just a lil ol me Randy that's right there's no ninja here-", Theresa then explained they overheard his phone call and Randy gave in, only to be slightly offended to see Bucky looking defeated and handing Rachel $5. Cartoon scene cut and we see randy on his hands and knees in front of debbie(nothing too serious its like those comedy anime gags type of pose)

"What a sight. An 800 year old ninja vs the power of journalism." Bucky tries to lighten up the mood. Randy is begging Debbie not to write about this (for the second time) and she's having a hard time accepting (again) so she asked "what if I do write it? What would you do?" making randy look up at her with a serious face without saying anything, causing slight misunderstanding

"y-you're gonna erase me?!"

"what?? No ofc not I was just gonna mind wipe you!!!"

"mind wipe?"

"uh I mean-"

"what, by using that book that you sometimes drool on while being unconscious?"

"W-what book?-"

"is that like an 800 year old ancient ninja book of wisdom?"

"HOW ARE YOU STILL GOOD AT THIS???"

"wait 'still'?"

"CUNNINGHAM WILL YOU STOP TALKING SHE FEEDS ON YOUR ANSWERS" Howard shouted from the side

"do you mean you've mind wiped me before??"

"huh is it that time in 9th grade where you broadcasted to the whole town that he's the ninja which turned out to be false?" Rachel questioned

"I did what in 9th grade?????"

"... Debbie please" Randy pleaded

"Randy this is ridiculous" Debbie pinched her nose bridge "then why don't you just mind wipe us this time?"

"um..."

"because you can't or because the book will get mad at you?"

"enough with the mind wipe how did YOU know he was the ninja Rachel?" Howard saving randy once again

"well that time I got turned into a monster and the Ninja made me an apology song, it sounded awfully familiar to randy during music class so I just guessed, plus whenever we hang out and there's an emergency he's always the first one to disappear on us"

"and you gotta admit Randy's jokes are as bad as the ninja's " Bucky chimed in

The mood between them improved so debbie eventually agreed because they're friends for the past year or so, and that's when I started to wake up :') one more weird thing is the ninja in my dream didn't have a red scarf around his neck, it's more like black-blue color and idk maybe he looks cooler that way? At least it is in my dream

Thank u for reading I'll think about whether to make this into a real AU or not 😭😭 Edit: i just realized i dreamt of Julian but the entire time he was standing behind theresa, also worrying about randy but idk why he didnt do anything else :')

[nothingenoughao3]

Hello, I read your fic Dreams in the Necromancer House and just wanted to say I'm really enjoying it. The images are so vivid, I don't know how you do it. And so I was wondering if I could ask where did you get your inspiration from. As in, if you add references about certain books or history or traditions where do you find them? Wikipedia? I'm just curious about how to do research. Specifically the tag that says Lovecraftian cults, tbh I have no clue about the H.P.Lovecraft universe. I just think it's really interesting.

Also, I am probably going to read it again because I'm sure I've missed out on some details. Anyways, have a nice day.

Hey, thank you for the thoughtful ask! This is the sort of question writers dream about receiving.

Here is the not-so-secret and not-so-glamorous process for how I compile references for my works (not just this one--this L4D2 series took a LOT of research, and so did that one SuperBat fic).

For me, the earliest creative process is kaleidoscopic: I'll have multiple scenes that don't seem like they all fit together spinning around in my head, and "the plot" is what happens when I try to make them all line up and become one coherent thing. Usually, there are the Scenes Of Pure Inspiration which arrive out of nowhere, followed by the Scenes Of Pure Necessity that have to happen to support the Pure Inspiration, and then one or two Scenes Of Damn Wouldn't That Be Cool that come up as I play different scenarios out in my head. Once it's over, I'll probably discuss the Scenes Of Pure Inspiration from "Dreams" more in detail.

Then I start doing outlines. Yes, I construct outlines for my fanfics, just as I do for my original works. There are far too many tiny moving parts in a story for them not to be contained in an outline--even if you move them to a different spot later, the damn things'll get lost in the sofa cushions if you don't keep them in a container of some kind. (I hope this metaphor hasn't gotten away from me.)

Dreams has three outlines--the one I wrote while still generating ideas, the one I wrote to establish timelines more firmly, and then an annotated one that has all the references I've sprinkled throughout the story. So I do consider this to be a vital part of the process. There will be a fourth notation file I generate when I do my final editing pass after it's all published, too! That one will cover me stating stuff about character histories and little story details, so that (for an example that really happened) I don't have Armitage giving a flask of whiskey to Herbert which later turns into a flask of Everclear.

Now where does the research bit come in? For me, when I do my extremely-detailed outline or when I start writing.

For details regarding history, science, politics, and the like, I generally rely on Googling, same as anyone else (excluding results after the year 2021 if I'm not finding what I need). Better than this, though, is books. I used to collect books that were writers' references--one of my favorites was a guide to poisons, both "the most likely poisons used in a murder mystery" AND "how to design your own poison/toxin/venom". Also guidebooks for TTRPGs, sacred texts, gardening guides, etc. I currently have a book series called "The Home Doctor" that teaches you how to do baseline veterinary and human medicine (according to the early 1900s). I don't have that because I plan on using it for its intended purpose, but I did use it to research a L4D2 fic where someone's leg gets amputated--and I even had the characters in the fic owning those same books!

What really matters for a story like Dreams, though, is thematic feel. I think folks will forgive me if I were to mention a musical band that didn't exist in 1987/8, but far less so if I didn't nail the feel of 1987/8, or of cosmic horror. So while I am writing a story, I immerse not only in the source material (if it's a fanfic), but also in music, movies, books, comics, and etc. that "feel right". I'll draw off those media for further inspiration, because let's face it, creativity is knowing what to steal and how to steal it. (I didn't say that--Tarantino did.)

The key here is that I don't stop interacting with research and creative works when I'm not writing. I'll flip through my books or go down a rabbit hole of "what the hell is THAT scientific concept about" or learn about magical rituals every day that I can. If the compilation of research material looks easy or fast when I do it, it's because I'm always doing it and I know how to narrow it down!

For Dreams, I could go "Oh, here's a list of all the stories and movies and etc. I want to build off of" because I already had all of those things in my mental wheelhouses. If you wanted it, here is a specific list of the actual non-Lovecraftian works that thematically support and inspire Dreams in the Necromancer House:

Prince of Darkness (1987)+

Hereditary (2018)*

The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals (2019)

Stir of Echoes (1999)

Mandy (2018)

Skeleton Crew, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and Everything's Eventual by Stephen King: specifically, "Nona", "1408", "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut", "Gramma"+, "Autopsy Room Four", and "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French"

Black Butterflies and Heatseeker by John Shirley: specifically "Cram", "Tahiti In Terms of Squares", "The Almost Empty Rooms", "Woodgrains"

The King in Yellow by Robert Chalmers

Twin Peaks

Music: "We Will Commit Wolf Murder" by of Montreal, "Leather Jacket" by Ben Folds Five, "It Must Have Been Love" by Roxette, "Over & Over" by Rio Romeo, "No One's Around To Help" by JerryTerry

The Arkham Horror board game

"The Mysterious Stranger/An Angel Named Satan" from The Adventures of Mark Twain

And since you were asking about Lovecraft's universe, here are the stories that went into this particular tale. All of his stuff is treated as being in the public domain, so you can easily find it on sites like Project Gutenberg or wikis:

"The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"+

"The Thing on the Doorstep"+

"The Dunwich Horror"+

"The Colour Out of Space", as well as the film adaptation Color Out of Space (2019)

"Pickman's Model"

"The Call of Cthulhu"*

"The Shadow Over Innsmouth"*

And of course, "Dreams in the Witch-House"+

The ones marked with an * are the most detailed stories regarding what I mean by "Lovecraftian cults", and the ones with a + are good demonstrations of wizardry/magic systems that supported this work.

[cog5]

Villainations on a Theme

Thinking up titles for these posts is the hardest part. Something else that’s difficult is trying to create variety in villains while writing a mega-dungeon. I first took the route of having the villain pop up here and there, to make them known, and give the adventure party a chance to interact with them. These interactions set the tone of who this person is. But in the last third of the dungeon, I started to really lean in on playing with different incarnations of the villain, to lean on some of the original facets of their core personality, but then also explore what they might be like if they had lost everything in their life, if they were all-powerful, if they were a puddle of living oil – things like that. 

See, this particular villain has a cloning machine that they use to clone themselves. An aspect of the adventure is that some of these clones have become aberrant, gaining unique powers of their own, or having different circumstances that cause them to diverge from the standard archetype of the villain I first started with. I don’t think I would have done this with a smaller adventure/dungeon, so it’s been an interesting side effect of writing a mega-dungeon where I am constantly scraping by, trying to generate unique ideas to come up with something new. It’s good mental exercise.

I don’t know if this approach works for everyone, but quantity has been effective in sifting out quality for me. That is, writing a lot helps to unearth interesting ideas. Proof to me that it’s worth sitting down and writing a little every day, even if everything that’s on the page doesn’t make it into a final draft. So much of what ended up in the final version did not exist last year during my initial drafts. 20 months later, the mega-dungeon has taken on a life of its own. Even in the final hours of writing yesterday, certain things just fell into place that I had not even been thinking about. It’s a unique sensation when things click like that.

I’ve come to a close on this mega-dungeon, finally. All 12 areas are complete, and I managed to squeeze in an intro and some adventure hooks. 240 pages, last I counted. I’ll likely do one more pass of proofreading, undoubtedly there are still typos, or miss-referenced locations. But it’s a load off for sure. Time to take a breather and focus on something new for a while. I appreciate everyone who has come along for the ride, thank you!

Things I’ve Been Playing

Role-playing adjacent, I picked up a very unique game called “Lost Worlds”. I had never heard of it before, and happened upon a stack of the play books at my local game store. It’s a game from the early 80s, and the mechanics are so utterly novel to me. It’s nice to be surprised. 

The best way I can describe it, is a mix between a choose-your-own adventure book, and a one on one character fighting game, ala Street Fighter, but with a fantasy theme. It’s all done with a couple of books. You and your opponent each have a character card that lists your moves like “down swing”, “thrust” and other “special” attacks. 

Then you exchange your book with your opponent and shout numbers at each other to perform your character’s moves. The numbers are listed on a matrix that correspond to pages. The matrix combinations define who parries, who hits, etc.

It’s fun not knowing exactly what move your opponent is going to pick, and when you have an advantage, you can press on it by picking a move that would score you a hit. There is a real sense of action. No dice, more of a rock-paper-scissors strategy with extra layers. It’s impressive, all being done with a couple of small chapbooks. 

Without knowing how it all works, it’s a bit like magic. After researching how it works (I won’t spoil it), it’s still pretty special. I could go on. So I will.

Another interesting thing about these books, the fact that the illustrations depict the action in first person. Meaning once you’ve exchanged your book with your opponent, you are seeing their character through your character’s eyes. That is, you see an illustration of them attacking you, or blocking your attacks. Pretty much every situation is accounted for. Fascinating stuff that I have just not seen anywhere else in this format. 

I guess this was based on an older game called Ace of Aces. An aerial combat game with similar mechanics. A bit of a rabbit hole for me, for sure. Love digging into this kind of thing.

And of course, you can run campaigns, and your characters can level up. It also mentions using the Lost Worlds battle system in place of traditional RPG combat, taking your Lost World characters into your favourite dungeon adventures. The game was popular in DnD’s early days – if I manage to get a B/X or OSE game up and running one of these days, I might just try this mash-up.

—

Alright, that’ll do for now. I believe I’ll take a break for a bit – see you around!

Oh yeah, go back Get it at Sutlers! Everyone needs a little more Troika! in their lives.

[johaerys-writes]

4, 9, 18, & 19 for any of your fics you wish to answer with <3

Thank you so much for these questions!! I'll be answering most of these for High-Flying Birds 😁

4. If the fic required it, what did you research in order to write it?

I research my fics a lot, and a lot of the time it’s random little things like what a specific place looks like or if a specific type of plant is native to the region (especially for my patchilles fics, even though they take place in Greece and I AM Greek, you'd be surprised how many plants have been brought over from Northern european or Asian settlers or from the Americas, to the point where I wonder what even was there for the ancient Greeks other than like olive trees and grapevines LOL), but for High-Flying Birds specifically I've done soooo much research on so many different kinds of things. I honestly feel like it's one of my most heavily researched fics (maybe that's why it takes me so long to update.... among other reasons 😩). For the Aulis arc I've mentioned before how I went into a deep dive of Euripides' version of the Iphigenia myth, but I also researched the origins of the myth itself, the many different versions that exist and how it sort of morphed and changed as time went by, and how the context of the times shaped it. I loved reading about its evolution and all the tasty little nuances re: Achilles' and Odysseus' role in it, as well as how Iphigenia and Clytemnestra changed from being mostly passive to gaining more agency from retelling to retelling, and how other themes in the myth such as the destructive power of nationalism and populism gained momentum in later iterations. Like the elements are there in the original myth, but it's crazy how a slight change in the dialogue here and there can shift the tone of the play as a whole.

For the Troy chapters, I also researched a lot about the Trojans and the Troad in general both in myth and history, how the Greeks imagined them through Homer's works and all those other myths that sort of converged to create the Iliad, but also what actual, factual records exist about that region of Anatolia and how Bronze Age Greeks interacted with the people who lived there. It’s really fascinating to read and think about, especially since so many details about the Trojan culture that we know from the Iliad, which is a work of fiction, actually correspond to things we know to be true about them in real life, like the fact that they had a long tradition in textiles and weaving, or that they were renowned for their horse breeding, as well as the incredibly accurate description of the Troad and the surrounding islands. I researched a lot about the Hittite culture (Troy was a vassal state of the much bigger Hittite empire), what other settlements have been discovered around that area, what languages were spoken, what kind of things were produced there and what are thought to have been imported from other parts of Asia or Greece, etc etc. I also gave a lot of thought to how the raids would have worked and how the wealth was distributed in the first part of the war, and how that might have shifted once we get into Iliad timeline territory. In short, a lot more of my time is spent researching this fic rather than writing it I think 🤣 but that's just half the fun!

9. Did you get stuck at any point? How did you get past that?

I'm actually stuck right now 🫠 I haven't figured out how to fix it yet, but most of the time what I do to get unstuck is to read both the fic and the source material from the beginning, and usually by the time I reach the point where I'm stuck I sort of figure it out. It's what happened both when I was stuck after the end of the Skyros arc, and also the end of the Aulis arc (transitions are the worst....) But I've been too apprehensive to do it this time idk why LOL and it's driving me crazy. Like TSOA is my fave book ever, and the Iliad is my fave work ever, and here's lil old me trying to sort of fumble along and fill in those gaps and it's like... what if I make a complete mess of it all and it doesn't make sense and nobody likes it lmao ykwim??? I guess I'm a little intimidated by the scope of it, and we're also getting close to important character development moments in the story and I wonder if I can do it justice..... which is dumb and I hate it but what can you do!!! Brains just don't brain the way you want them sometimes

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

It really depends on the fic tbh, sometimes even by the chapter. Sometimes I can "see" the scene or chapter very clearly, so I just write it and then go back and give it a couple reads, tweak some sentences here and there and that's it. Others are much harder, and I need to push myself through absolutely frightful first drafts, then edit line by line or re-arrange paragraphs etc, and that takes a lot more time. I write everything in order so there isn't a lot of rearranging entire scenes, but I often have to like word-vomit my way through a particular troublesome scene so that means there's a lot more clean up involved during the editing process. Sometimes I hate editing and others I don't mind it, it really depends on my mood lol.

19. While editing, did you kill any darlings? What were they?

I honestly don't think I've ever had to kill a darling, maybe at the very beginning when I was writing HFB I had to delete some small scenes for pacing's sake, but when I revisited them some time later I absolutely hated what I was reading so it's good that I ended up killing them after all 😂 I've grown to be really ruthless when it comes to editing stuff out tbh, when something needs to go I just know it and I don't feel any sort of attachment to it. If there's a particular turn of phrase that I like that doesn't fit the current chapter or work, I just jot it down and use it for something else where it does fit, but that's about it.

fic writer asks

[steddiebang]

An Act of Grace

Author: @daysarestranger l Artist: @bienmoreau Posting on Friday, November 3

On the morning after Broughton Hall’s annual summer fête, the body of a local Baron’s son was found on the grounds of the estate, as lifeless and cold as the morning was warm. Having spent the summer together, member of the household staff Edward Munson was the first to be suspected. As for the Baron’s son, perhaps there was more to him than the Baron would have society believe.  Decades later, Max Mayfield comes across the murder of Steven Harrington while researching topics for the second season of her hit true crime podcast. Along with her some-time engineer and full-time ex-boyfriend, Lucas, Max uncovers a story of two people that, entwined in secrecy and truths left unspoken, reaches out across history.

Keep reading for a sneak preview!

Complete Transcript for the Undone Podcast, Season Two: An Act of Grace

This transcript is based on the Undone podcast produced by Glad-Well House and Mayclair Productions. Original audio files can be found on www.undone-podcast.com, Spotify, and other podcast distribution sites. 

Link Episode 1

Title The Past is a Foreign Country

Original Release Date October 2nd 2023

[Intro music begins; fades]

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.’ You know the quote, right? You might not know where it’s from, but you’ve heard of it. Heard people repeat it, with a shrug, lamenting the unfathomable manner in which us human beings used to behave, how we treated each other, what we used to believe. As if we, now—the enlightened—would never tolerate such things. 

You and I know differently, of course. 

[Door opening]

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Max, hi. Come in, come in.

MAYFIELD: Hey, Dustin, thanks. How you doing?

[Chairs scraping against the floor, a mug being set down on a table]  

MAYFIELD: Oh, you’ve got a copy?

DUSTIN HENDERSON: ‘Course I do. A bunch. Everyone I know is getting one for Christmas.

MAYFIELD: You’ll be popular.

DUSTIN HENDERSON: [Snorting] Yeah. 

[Pages turning] 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Here it is. [Clears throat] ‘I liked him, though. We all did … There was always something gentle about him.’ That’s nice, right? It’s what you’d want people to say about you.

MAYFIELD: Yeah. I guess you ’re right. That you were liked.

[Papers shuffling]  

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: It’s the opening line to a novel. The quote, that is. A good one, actually. ‘The Go-Between’, written by L.P. Hartley in nineteen fifty-three. I’ve always liked the book, not for the opener, but for the way it portrays how the passage of time distorts things. How one event can happen early on in your life, and you can know with such certainty how it went down, only to look  back on it ten, twenty, thirty years later and see something entirely different. 

[Door hinges squeaking open]  

MAYFIELD: You’ve left it in the attic? 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: I thought you were coming tomorrow! 

MAYFIELD: Don’t try to make it sound like I’m not organized, you’re the one who doesn’t know what day of the week it is. 

[Boxes shifting, being dragged across the floor]

DUSTIN HENDERSON: It’s one of these, I made sure … You know, I was always having a go at Mum for being such a hoarder, but apparently she was onto something. 

MAYFIELD: It’s the hoarders of this world that keep me in a job. 

[Some grunting, more shifting]

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: The case I’ve been investigating for the past six months started in nineteen-twelve. Or, I suppose it started before that, but nineteen-twelve is when it really gets interesting.

The same year that Captain Scott and his expedition were beaten to the South Pole, all of them perishing on the return journey. The year that the Titanic struck an ice-berg in the middle of the Atlantic and sank, killing fifteen-hundred people. And the same year W.C. Handy published ‘Memphis Blues’, which went down in history as the first ever blues song. 

On June ninth, nineteen-twelve, after the small village of Deeping Saint David’s annual summer festival, the son of the local Baron dies in the grounds of the family’s estate.

Steven Harrington’s body is discovered not long afterwards, and he is pronounced dead by a local doctor. His parents, Lord and Lady Avondale, immediately suspect foul play. The police are brought in to investigate and an arrest is made. Even with a cast of potential ne'er-do-wells, there was only ever one suspect pursued.  

[Footsteps, something heavy being set on the ground] 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Let me give it a wipe.

[Blowing breath]

MAYFIELD: You got it? Oh, yeah,  you’re right. I can’t believe the paintwork is still so good. It must be a hundred years’ old. 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: One hundred and eleven years, three months and sixteen days. The date was written on the back. 

MAYFIELD: [Whistle] It’s good, though. It looks just like the picture I saw. 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: I said it did! That’s an aristocratic jawline if ever I saw one. 

MAYFIELD: He was honorable. Like, officially.

DUSTIN HENDERSON: The Honorable Mister Steven Harrington. Does kind of have a ring to it I suppose. 

MAYFIELD: Yeah. Handsome bastard.

[Laughter]

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: Six months ago, I hadn’t heard of Steven Harrington, or Eddie Munson. I didn’t have any reason to, to be fair. It’s not a particularly well-known case, even locally. There are a handful of books that cover the key points in the local library, a few of the volunteers at the Harringtons’ ancestral home—now a bustling attraction for weekenders and families alike—know the reported account. Even fewer question it. Because why would they? Edward Munson was a thief who stole from the estate, killed Harrington when he was interrupted, and made off with the money. He was found by police the next morning, arrested, and made a full confession. 

A straight-forward case, all tied up in a neat bow. What is there to question?

[Two sets of footsteps walking on gravel]

MAYFIELD: Have you visited yet?

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Broughton? No, not yet. Mum’s talked about going, but they want to make it a group thing, so, organizing, you know. 

MAYFIELD: You sound dubious. 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: No. Not for me. I don’t know what she’ll make of it, though. What if it just bums her out?

MAYFIELD: It won’t. I don’t think it will, at least. I think it’ll be cathartic. Enlightening. 

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Well, you would say that. You’ve got a podcast to sell. 

MAYFIELD: Hey! 

[The thud of an object hitting its target]

DUSTIN HENDERSON: Ow!

[Outro music begins]

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: Except the money is never found. Except the precise cause of Steven Harrington’s death is shrouded in mystery. Except, for such a high-profile victim, the story is buried in the back pages of the local newspapers. 

It’s almost as if someone were trying to hide something. And nobody seems to have found that odd. 

Until now. 

[Music swells]

MAYFIELD, NARRATING: From Glad-Well House and Mayclair Productions, this is Undone, season two, An Act of Grace. I’m Max Mayfield. Let’s get into it. 

[Music swells; fades]

[j-nipper-95]

An ask game for writers to procrastinate working on your WIP(s)

Thank you for the tags @artsyunderstudy @iamamythologicalcreature @aristocratic-otter @shrekgogurt @wellbelesbian @theearlgreymage and @ic3-que3n

I am definitely procrastinating on both my WIPs at the moment. Trails is back in limbo, and ASR has taken up permanent residence there recently, and I desperately want to get back to both of them. Here's hoping this will kick start something in my brain! I do love a good Q&A, so let's dive in!

1. 🦈 Tell us the name of your/one of your WIP(s):

I have two WIPs I am actively writing, and one I haven't started on yet, but desperately want to. The Trails We Blaze was my Carry On Through the Ages 2023 fic, and is a The Road to El Dorado!au. Then there's my original novel, A Survivor's Revenge, which I've been writing for far too long and it definitely needs to be published soon!

2. 🍄 Describe your WIP/one of your WIP(s) in the format of "___ + ___ = ___"

Ok, this is much harder than I thought it would be, there's so many elements to each of these WIPs, so bare with me.

Trails: con men in 1920s London find map to Atlantis + WW1 trauma + gang warfare + repressed romantic feelings = friends to lovers action, adventure, and chaos across western Europe that's probably been too intensely researched for the sake of historical accuracy

(Side note: this isn't how I thought I'd use my degrees in history and archaeology, but here we are!)

A Survivor's Revenge: marvel cinematic universe + James Bond = ASR

or - what would happen if Bucky wasn't brainwashed by Hydra and sought revenge on the scientists who experimented on him, was a 14 year old school girl instead of a grown man, and had elemental powers + MI6 super spies and the general aesthetic of a Bond movie = a stab first/ask questions later FMC willing to do whatever it takes to keep her loved ones safe (and I do mean whatever it takes - Lauren hasn't baulked at anything I've thrown at her yet).

3. 🌍 What tags or warnings will one of your WIP(s) need if you intend to share it.

ASR will definitely need some trigger warnings for violence (if only because of Lauren's penchant for it), and if it were being posted to AO3 the series as a whole would probably require a 'main character death' warning. This is your formal warning, no one is safe in my writing.

Trails is rated M, so there's not going to be anything too graphic or explicit, but it does have a PTSD tag, as the fic tackles both Baz and Simon's trauma from living through the First World War, and specifically Baz's claustrophobia. So I would probably warn about the panic attacks and discussion of how Baz became claustrophobic.

4. 🧭 An alternative title to one of your WIP(s)?

Neither of these had alternative titles other than my save names (Spy Novel and SnowBaz fanfic) before I decided on anything. I'm useless at coming up with titles, and I can't really claim full credit for either. A friend from uni came up with A Survivor's Revenge, which is really fitting, as revenge is a major theme in the book. And The Trails We Blaze is a reference to one of the songs from the movie The Road to El Dorado, and was Ashton's suggestion when we were bouncing ideas back and forth last year.

5. ⚠️ Which WIP you're most likely to finish or update next?

Trails will definitely be finished before ASR, purely because ASR is going to be published as a proper book, and I don't have the cash to do this independently, or the publishing deal to do it traditionally. So I know this will take time. But I am currently working on the next chapter of Trails, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can post it.

6. 💾 What is your document of your WIP/a WIP called? (not the stories actual title but what you've saved it as)

I have so many variations of both WIPs it's ridiculous. I swear there's been 100+ iterations of ASR over the years, all with variations on either A Survivor's Revenge/ASR or Spy Novel as their title.

With Trails I have my base document, which is where the rough first draft happens, in Scrivener: the trails we blaze - draft copy. And then I also have my final document in pages, where I fix the formatting ahead of exporting to AO3 (because AO3 hates it when I do it straight from scrivener and gets rid of all my italics!): the trails we blaze upload copy.

7. 🖍 Post any sentence(s) from your WIP.

This is probably one of my favourite exchanges in the first ASR book.

“Just like old times,” Lauren said. “Tell me, did you consciously decide to make my PTSD worse by assigning him to me, or was that a happy accident?” “What’s the diagnosis?” Vanessa asked, ignoring Lauren. “Fractured ribs, minor internal abdominal bleeding, concussion, and three broken fingers. She needs to rest for at least a week,” Todd said. “She has a name,” Lauren muttered. “The internal bleeding is minor for the moment, but won’t be if she doesn’t rest.” “Who’s ‘she’ in this, the cat’s mother? I am here, you know.” “Yes, and whilst I would love to trade witticisms with you, I do actually have a job to do. Part of which involves divulging a diagnosis, and pardon me if I feel certain people in this room are going to be more receptive and actually take my advice when I give it.” Lauren glanced at Vanessa. “Is he always like this?” “Just with patients. And most of the people who work here.” “So, everyone?” Vanessa thought for a moment, then bobbed her head from side to side in a movement that said Pretty much, yeah. “If we’re quite done discussing my conduct, I do actually have other patients who need my attention.” “Poor sods.” “Yes, of course,” Vanessa said, ignoring Lauren’s comments. “Have you got a treatment plan sorted?” “I’m nothing if not professional.” “Did someone switch the definition of ‘sarcastic asshat’ and ‘professional’ in the dictionary when I wasn’t looking?” Todd twisted ever so slightly away from Lauren, instead focusing entirely on Vanessa.

8. ♻️ A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

Initially in ASR Lauren was framed for the murder of a student, alongside releasing the main villain from prison (not a spoiler, it's literally in my synopsis, no worries there!), and afterward she was forced to go on the run. Essentially, it made the heads of MI6 and Lauren's best friends into her enemies for a few chapters of my drafts a couple of years back. I loved this idea, and genuinely want to implement something along these lines again, because it was an interesting position to put the characters in, but I also really love where the plot is taking them currently, so we'll see if it truly ends up remaining scrapped or not.

9. 🤔 What's a story you'd love to write but haven't even started yet?

Another original novel, this time firmly rooted in science fiction (no superhero/light fantasy elements here), where time travel is possible, but the super anxious MC refuses to use his powers to travel back in time because of the side effects of said power. Gay romance, anxiety, angst, all the good stuff!

10. 🤡 How many WIPs are you actively working on?

I'm not too active on either of my WIPs at the moment. Work's been crazy lately, and I flip between feeling super burnt out creatively and being too tired to do much. But Trails and ASR continue to be my most active WIPs.

11. 🛠 Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

In Trails I've hit an intimate scene, and my little ace brain doesn't know how to approach it! Plus, I don't know how far I can stretch the M rating before we enter E territory.

12. ❤️ Not a question, just a second Kudos to send.

All of the kudos to everyone! I wish there was a way to leave it more than once, because seriously, the CO fandom is so unbelievably talented, my God!!

Tagging (sorry if you’ve already done this):

@blackberrysummerblog

@orange-peony

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe

@palimpsessed

[greypetrel]

HI ARJA I’m so curious about your moby dick AU lol you always have the best AUs

HI ROWAN I'm glad you asked! :D It's gonna be a big ass rant, so it's under the cut. I'm very excited about this AU, it tackles some things I love and have first-hand experience of, so yeah, I'll be chatty about it ahahahah.

I've posted a chapter at random on AO3 and you can find some snippets in the whale au tag!

So, it's "Zoologist Aisling who thinks whales are the best thing after sliced bread saves Cullen, who happens to have survived a shipwreck caused by a whale". Shenanigans happen.

It was an idea of @shivunin (thank you again) and I'm currently trying to give it a little outline not to go totally at random. I am thinking about characters background, it's a non-magical AU and so stuff needs to be adapted. The title of the WIP is old, I realised after that... You know, it's a Moby Dick INSPIRED thing. The first idea was having Aisling as Melville and Cullen as Ishmael teaming up to write Moby Dick. Cullen has the sailing parts, Aisling filling in with conspiracy theories about whalers and spite over naturalists. And both of them inserting a gay relationship because I'm still a big part of the Bi!Cullen agenda, and that book is terribly gay.

I did realise later on that there's a limit to the horrors I'm willing to put characters through and write, and cannibalism is really NOT one. I also moved it to another period and to the 1900s because I already did research for another original project and I'm more familiar with it.

The title of the file will change when I'll have a better one for this AU.

For now I do have a background for Aisling, what she's in Nantucket to do, and I'm so happy to say @melisusthewee jumped on the bandwagon aboard with Quinn and Horatio, but I'm letting her introduce you to them in this. I'll just say that Aisling refers to Quinn as "Mr Arch-Nemesis".

She's in Nantucket for a research over sperm whales behaviour, restore her family's name (dad was a scholar too, but alas, he was caught being a member of the Fenian society and giving money to the Irish revolutionaries... She's the Royal Society's favourite person, yes) and hopefully put a brake on whale hunting (the 1900s saw the peak of killed whales, you can bet miss "I'd adopt a dragon if Bull didn't constantly prevent me to try and befriend one" won't be ok with it). Dorian and Josephine -whom I couldn't fathom being there with her, seriously I can't picture Dorian on a ship if not in first class, unless he was beaten unconscious before boarding and dragged on. Josie finances ships, sure... but being on board of one and working? A whole different thing. So, they're Aisling friends, but they stayed in London to get her fundings.

Cullen needs to find reason to get to the sea again, he was a harpooner and worked on ships all his life... After being the sole survivor, he needs to find his centre back and get on with it. The crazy whale fangirl may or may not help him on this.

And there was only one bed, of course. (have I already said that Moby Dick is VERY gay?) (I had a blast reading it, thank you so much @salsedinepicta for making me curious about it! <3 Also if you want to throw your characters in this GO ON.)

I thiiiink I may change names and design and also do something fully original. I'm particularly enthusiastic about it because it allows me to tackle stuff I experienced in my life (I did some sailing! Very little and purely recreational, but still) and to re-use some research I already did for another original project which I love dearly, but it's definitely more than I can chew on my own. If I don't chicken out because the place is linked to some trauma, I maaaaay add a part in the seaside town I spent a lot of time growing up.

But again, let's see how it goes, researching on Italy isn't the easiest thing ever if you're not aiming at Rome or the Renaissance, and we're talking about a pretty regional side of Italy. I have good hopes because the people are very very very much into their own history and claiming it back, so I may find some good infos without spitting too much blood.

it's a work in progress, but there's gonna be more about this!

[isitthemoon]

The Real MBTI – an essay a rant by me, motivated by the dear @mazeinthemoon

Warnings: LONG (5330 words), rambling, not beta read, one singular curse word, me being a nerd, english is not my first language, may not make sense at times, may contain grammar and vocabulary errors, passionate but not well articulated. Really just a rant and me trying to explain something I care about. I’m also NOT an expert by any means, I’m not a Psychology major, just some person who happens to hyperfixate be REALLY interested on mbti and analytical psychology. If it gives me any credit, my therapist does have a specialization in analytical psychology.

1. What is MBTI?

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is basically just a personality test, but thanks to sites like 16personalities and the internet giving it the same treatment as astrology (disclaimer: I love astrology and MBTI and it’s really sad to see them both being treated as just stereotyped boxes L) it turned into a different thing. Originally it is based on the ideas of this dude (/lh) named Carl Jung. On his book “Psychological Types” he describes what we call ‘Cognitive Functions’, basically different ways people’s brains are wired, explaning tendencies/behaviours/his thoughts on the 8 different psychological types. There are 8 cognitive functions and he describes them separately, so how did we end up with 16 personalities?

Well, there’s this thing called the function ‘stack’ that I’ll go into detail a bit laterksksks but it’s just a way to arrange the functions together. It’s basically (challenge: take a shot every time I say basically here) the way the functions are combined – each type having two different main functions. Add it up and bam: 16 personalities. But where does the myers-briggs come from?

I personally won’t talk much about them, but Isabel Briggs Myers and Katharine Cook Briggs were a daughter and mother duo that read Jung’s book and theory and were like “hey, this is pretty cool, what if we do something more with it?”, and so they basically gave birth to MBTI and popularized the stack and the 16 personalities.

HOWEVER…… somewhere along the way the mbti test became something else, no longer based on Jung’s cognitive function theory, but on another thing called ‘The Big Five’ test (please don’t quote me on that, I didn’t research this more because I honestly don’t care), separating the 4 letters from their original meaning. I’ll explain what they mean later, but for now, know that (for example) INFJ doesn’t really mean just Introverted iNtuitive Feeling and Judging.

[Update: I actually made an effort and researched more about The Big Five thanks to a lovely anon who explained it to me. More on how The Big Five and MBTI connect here]

ALSO want to clear some misconceptions: your “personality” or “psychological type” cannot change.  This doesn’t mean people can’t change, it just means you can’t change your “brain engines”, basically. The “personality” starts being formed during childhood, and with age, it just develops, for better or for worse. And so, when things happen, sometimes it manifests (as in appears, shows up, acts in a certain way) in a healthy and positive way, and sometimes in a toxic and self-sabotaging way. You can always improve yourself and see new perspectives, but you can’t really change your “programation”. Think of it as your software system, if it makes it any easier to understand.

And another misconception is the percentage thing. I didn’t really wanna ruin the fun (😭) but I also don’t want to spread misinformation. Percentages are not a thing. You’re not 70% feeling and 30% thinking. You’re not 98% introverted and 2% extroverted. Honestly, no one would be healthy with this “stats”. I’ll explain it in more detail in the Stack topic, but everyone has Introverted AND Extroverted function. Everyone has Feeling AND Thinking and everyone has iNtuition AND Sensing. The functions are just treated with different “priorities” by your brain, and if you “abuse” too much of one, it’ll cause a warning, it won’t be healthy. “So basically everyone is an ambivert?” I guess????? Everyone has their moments and we all need to go out sometimes and stay alone other times. It doesn’t mean you can’t have a natural preference, though.  This is getting long, so just hold these thoughts for now because there’s a topic just for thiskkkkk

2. Why should we care?

I mean, to most people it’s just another personality thing, maybe a way to have fun while stereotyping people or to blame all your flaws on like your sun sign (I’m a pisces btw ^^), so… why should we care about it?

I can only speak for me, so… first things first, it is science, so you shouldn’t be so skeptical about it. I like it because it is very well structured and explained, it makes so much sense to me and after you learn about the real thing, you start to notice it in people that are close to you. Also, like every single personality thing, it is a tool used to try and understand people better. To paraphrase an amazing youtuber (channel: dear kristin) it is a tool you can use so you can learn to love others better. When we understand each other, we can love each other better and have more empathy towards each other. It helps in knowing why some people do X and other people do Y when Z happens to them both. It makes it easier to know someone’s thought process and understand why they react a certain way, and it’s also a great tool to perceive people’s flawed tendencies as well as their natural’s strenghs. With this knowledge in mind, we can also focus on being better versions of ourselves.

And also, my most personal reason that I’m so passionate about this is: if I can make the effort and connect to and understand others, it means that people can do it too. If I’m capable of knowing this and seeing what others’ lives are like, it means other people can, even if just a little, understand me and get me. It means I’m not alone or disconnected. It means no one’s really THAT much of a weirdo that no one could possibly understand them. It means that I can be seen and valued the same as others. I’m gonna stop right now before I start crying and ranting about loneliness, thank you for your patiencekkkkk let’s move on.

3. So… then what are Cognitive Functions?

*sighs* okay I’m too lazy to try and explain it first with my own words so I’ll just copy-paste it from Wikipedia: “Cognitive functions, also referred to as psychological functions, as described by Carl Jung in his book Psychological Types, are particular mental processes within a person's psyche that are present regardless of common circumstance.” It’s basically, how I said before, a thought process, a perspective, the way someone’s brain is “programed” or “wired”. Don’t quote me on this but apparently it’s like using some parts of the brain more than others? Like that thing of “are you a left-sided or right-sided brain?” but more complex, I don’t really know how to explain it.

As I said before, everyone has an equal number of functions, which basically means everyone can make choices based on feeling and thinking, for example. What makes it special is that Cognitive Functions are NATURAL behaviours, your go-to’s, the processes you’re so used to doing that you don’t even realize it. In a basic (and unpolished) way, if you’re doing an effort to “make” it on purpose, it’s not a cognitive function. And according to your own preferences, some functions are more developed and others are more repressed. This comes back to the Stack thing *sighs* I promise I’ll get to it, but first we have to learn about the functions themselves. Let’s make some sub-topics:

3.1. Disposition: Introversion vs Extroversion

So, a function’s disposition talks about where its energy flow and its goal. Introversion means the focus is internal, on the self, on subjective things. Extroversion means the focus is external, on objective things and on outside “objects”. Jung talks about it in his book the “object” is basically any external thing, something that is not originated from whithin – be it feelings (the “object” being a place’s atmosphere and social cues, for example) or sensations (the “object” being external stimulation instead of you paying attention to your own body). Being Introverted means there’s a resistance, a kind of unwillingness towards this “object”, while being extroverted means you’re positive towards the “object” and adapting yourself to it. Extroversion expands, Introversion narrows. Extroversion explores and experiments, Introversion organizes and settles. Extroversion focuses on the object, Introversion focuses on the impression of the object. This applies to all functions, and divides them equally: 4 introverted functions and 4 extroverted functions.

3.2. Judging Functions: Thinking vs Feeling

Here comes the J you know from the 4 letters. To put it in a simple way (because I already talked too much and we didn’t even arrive on the functions themselves) Judging Functions talk about how you make decisions. Where you go to when making choices. There are 2 Judging functions: Thinking and Feeling. Copy-pasting again to make it more simple: “These functions determine how you make decisions; based on values, ethics, and the emotional needs of others (feelers) or logic, causality, and efficiency (thinkers).” Each one has their extroverted and introverted “version”, so:

Extroverted Thinking (aka Te), Extroverted Feeling (aka Fe), Introverted Thinking (aka Ti) and Introverted Feeling (aka Fi). Each feeling function has a complementary thinking one and vice-versa, meaning one cannot *be* without the other. Think of it like yin-yang, complementary opposites. If you have one, you have the other. So, Te has Fi (and Fi has Te) and Fe has Ti (and Ti has Fe). They’re often called “axis”, as in “The Fi-Te axis”, because when we talk about one function we often end up talking about their opposite and how they manifest together. The same applies to the following functions.

3.3. Perceiving Functions: Intuitions vs Sensing

This is the P. The Perceiving Functions talk about how you see the world, how you ‘perceive’ things, how you receive information and how you organize it. The perceiving functions are Sensing and Intuition. Again with the copy-paste: “These functions determine how you take in information; through your five senses (sensing) or through patterns and underlying meanings (intuition).” Again, both have their I and E version:

Extroverted Sensing (aka Se), Introverted Intuition (aka Ni) [and together they make an axis], Extroverted Intuition (aka Ne) and Introverted Sensing (aka Si) [also making their own axis.].

4. Oh my god, are we finally gonna talk about whatever the hell the “Stack” is?

Yes. Finally. Will I copy-paste some things? Probably. So…. What’s a Function Stack? Well…

There are 8 cognitive functions, right? Te, Fe, Ne, Se, Ti, Fi, Ni and Si. And I said that everyone has Thinking AND Feeling and Sensing AND Intuition. This means everyone has 4 cognitive functions (ACCORDING TO THE MYERS-BRIGGS THEORY, I’m only focusing on them, but basically what happens is that different people read Jung’s book and made different theories according to their own research and opinion). The Function Stack is just how these functions are organized according to your brain’s own preference and development. Look:

The 1st function, called the Dominant one, is your main function. It’s basically your autopilot, everything you do goes through this function, it’s how you live. “When we use a function that is destined to become “preferred”, we feel an emotional investment in what we’re doing, and we feel in control of our emotional life, so we keep on doing it. We tend to be more stimulated by the function. It then appears to “develop” or get “stronger”, and behaviors associated with it will increase”.

The 2nd, called the Auxiliary function, “helps” your dominant function, as the name suggests. It balances the 1st function and is there to walk beside it, and is not as developed as the 1st.

The 3rd is called… the Tertiary. It’s not as developed as the previous 2, and it is ALWAYS the opposite function of the 2nd one. This happens because of some concepts in Analytical Psychology that I wish I didn’t have to talk about, but I’ll probably make a sup-topic. We often like to use our Tertiary function in a relaxed way, since we have easier access to it that way. Some people describe it as our “Child” function because of that sense of curiosity as well as immaturity that children have, meaning we are curious to use it and enjoy using it in a stress-free way but don’t have the maturity level to use it in the “””right””” way.

The 4th one is called the Inferior function. It is the least developed and most repressed function, and it is ALWAYS the opposite of the Dominant Function. This Function often “comes out” in moments of stress or when we used too much of our dominant one. Because of this, it’s not exactly easy to use it in a healthy way. Because it is the most repressed one, our conscious brain doesn’t really “like” it, so when it comes to the surface it’s often in a toxic way. HOWEVER… it doesn’t mean this function is bad and you should hate it. This is the function that shows us our “weaknesses”, and at the same time, tells us how to overcome them. When people do something “good” aka achieve something with this function, they often feel very relieved, rewarded and satisfied. It’ll always be our least used function, but if we learn how to use it accordingly, we’ll walk one step further on the road that is Self Discovery.

Also just realized that I talked more about the Inferior than the Dominant. Huh.

4.1. SO… how does this work in practice? Is there a formula?

Why, yes, there is. Here’s the cake mold for you.

1st: pick one singular function among the 8 available. That’s the Dominant Function.

2nd: If the first function you chose was a Judging function, now pick a Perceiving function. If the first one was a Perceiving function, now pick a Judging one. The 2nd function brings balance, so it has the opposite disposition of the Dominant one (meaning that if the 1st was extroverted the 2nd will be introverted and vice versa).

3rd: this function is the exact opposite of the 2nd function. Reminder that Thinking is the opposite of Feeling, Intuition is the opposite of Sensing and Extroversion is the opposite of Introversion.

4th: this function, as said before, is the exact opposite of the Dominant function.

Let’s look at an example.

One: let’s say the dominant function is Fi. Fi is a judging function, so the auxiliary function has to be a perceiving. Fi is introverted, so the auxiliary has to be extroverted. That leaves us with two options: Ne and Se. Each auxiliary will make a personality type, giving us TWO personalities with the SAME Dominant Function (and so… 8 x 2 = 16 personalities). For now, let’s go with Ne. So far we have FiNe. The tertiary function is always the opposite of the auxiliary. The opposite of N (intuition) is S (sensing), and the opposite of E (extroversion) is I (introversion), so our 3rd function will be Si. And the inferior function is always the opposite of the dominant one. Well, the opposite of F (feeling) is T (thinking), leaving us with Te. Therefore, the full stack is FiNeSiTe.

Another one: this time, the dominant function is Se. Se is a perceiving function, so the auxiliary has to a judging function, with the opposite disposition. That gives Ti and Fi. Let’s go with Ti right now. The auxiliary is always the exact opposite of the auxiliary, leaving us with Fe. And finally, the inferior is always the exact opposite of the dominant, leaving us with Ni. Therefore, our final stack is SeTiFeNi.

See how every stack has 2 extroverted and 2 introverted functions? That’s to balance out the psyche. Same thing with – again – having T AND F and S AND N. That’s right, everyone is a Thinker, Feeler, Sensor and Intuitive. What differentiates everyone, as we just saw, is how these functions are organized within our brains.

To make it easier, here’s all 16 possible stacks, divided by Dominant Function:

FiNeSiTe / FiSeNiTe

TiNeSiTe / TiSeNiTe

NiFeTiSe / NiTeFiSe

SiTeFiNe / SiFeTiNe

FeNiSeTi / FeSiNeTi

TeSiNeFi / TeNiSeFi

SeFiTeNi / SeTiFeNi.

NeFiTeSi / NeTiFeSi

Bonus: how can we group the psychological types? Honestly, any way you want. For me, what makes the most sense is to groups the types which all have the same cognitive functions (they’ll just be in a different order). You can also group them by: same dominant function, same auxiliary function, Feeling Dominants, Intuition Dominants, Judging Function Dominants, Feeling Doms + Sensing Aux, and the list goes on. It’s just fun to see the ways they could go together.

4.2. Are you any curious why the 3rd and 4th functions are the opposite of the 2nd and 1st?

Well, allow me to try to introduce you to three very important concepts in Analytical Psychology in a very simple (and probably sidetracked?) way: the Self, the Persona and the Shadow.

Think of the Self as…. Like, your “true” Self, the most complete and authentic version of you. “The totality of a person’s being”, according to Jung according to this site I won’t reference said.

The Persona is “a role that an individual chooses to play in life or it is the impression of them they want to express to the outside world”. Think of it as a social “mask” (and no, it’s not being fake, everyone acts in a different way with different people, or are you telling me you treat a boss the same way you treat your sibling?), the surface or “light”/visible part of your personality. In this case, we can make a parallel to the cognitive functions. Persona = Dominant and Auxiliary functions, since they’re the ones that we use to navigate the world.

Now, Jung basically says that when we present something in our Persona, the opposite traits are repressed, but still exist within us. “Despite pushing them away, they may find a way in to our lives, either through what we refer to as out of control reactions, eruptions and being “out of character” in our attitudes and behaviours.” In our unconscious there is a bit of everything we don’t like. This is the Shadow. Bringing it to my analogy, Shadow = Tertiary and Inferior functions, because they’re the repressed and undeveloped ones. To reiterate, the Shadow is not always bad. If in your daily life you’re someone with a low self-esteem and a people-pleaser, in your Shadow there’s a high self-esteem, assertive version of yourself that knows how to set boundaries.

In psychological treatments using Analytical psychology, it’s often said that one of the main goals is the Integration of the Shadow. It means taking parts of the Shadow, looking at them, understanding, feeling, accepting them and learning how to use them to be a better version of yourself aka walking one step closer to the Self.

5. So… what does INFJ mean? What do any of the letters mean?

So, in the first topic I said, with these exact words, “that INFJ doesn’t really mean just Introverted iNtuitive Feeling and Judging.” I mean, they do mean what they mean, but there’s more to it.

The 4 letters aren’t supposed to be an acronym, they’re supposed to be a code. Yes, there’s a secret (not really) encoded message in the 4 letters of your mbti type!!! And what do they reveal?????

Your cognitive functions. Your function stack. That’s right, it was in your faces the whole time, and only now someone decided to tell you about it. So… how do you find it?

Let’s start with the INFJ example (because that’s my type!!! ^^). We’ll use it to see the formula for the 4 letters in ANY type.

The 1st letter – I or E: this shows us the Disposition/Energy of the Dominant Function of the type. In the case of the INFJ, the Dominant function will be an Introverted one (Fi, Ni, Si or Ti). But how do we know what functions are here?

The 2nd letter – N or S: this shows us our Perceiving function. “But doesn’t everyone have Intuition AND Sensing?” Yes, but when it comes to the code (or the 4 letters), they only show the Dominant and Auxiliary functions. In the case of the INFJ, we know that the Perceiving Function is Intuition, but we still don’t know if it’s Ni or Ne.

The 3rd letter – F or T: this shows us our Judging function. The same things said in the 2nd letter apply on this one. In our example of the INFJ, we know that the Judging function is Feeling, but again, we still don’t know if it’s Fi or Fe.

The 4th letter – J or P: Now here comes the catch. Being a J doesn’t mean you’re organized and being a P doesn’t mean you’re spontaneous. This letter reveals to us…. Which function is our EXTROVERTED function!!!! Being a XXXJ means you either have Fe or Te and being a XXXP means you have Ne or Se. It’s ALWAYS the Extroverted function, so it means your other function is the Introverted one. SO, if the INFJ is a J, it means that the Judging function (which we learned is Feeling), is the extroverted one, so…. Fe!!! This automatically means that the Perceiving function (in this case, Intuition) is introverted, so… Ni!!!! The two main functions of the INFJ are Fe and Ni!

Bringing it all together: So, if you go and think further about this, you’ll go…. “Hey. ENFJ also has the same functions, Fe and Ni”. And here comes the part about the Stack. Remember how the 1st letters shows us the energy of our Dominant function? If the INFJ is introverted, the order will be Ni and then Fe. For the ENFJ, it’ll be first Fe and then Ni. Applying our knowledge from the Stack topic, we can now say that the INFJ function stack is NiFeTiSe, and the ENFJ is FeNiSeTi.

Another example, let’s go with INFP.

1st letter: it shows us that the Dominant function is Introverted (we still don’t know which one).

2nd letter: it shows us that the Perceiving function is Intuition. N for iNtuition. We still don’t know if it’s Ne or Ni.

3rd letter: it shows us that the Judging function is Feeling. We still don’t know if it’s Fi or Fe.

4th letter: here it isss! It tells us that the Perceiving Function is the Extroverted one. So…. The INFP has Ne!

Bringing it all together: So, if the N is extroverted (Ne), automatically the F has to be introverted (Fi). Since the INFP is an… well, IXXX, it means the introverted function is the Dominant one. Applying the Stack Formula, we have the INFP function stack – FiNeSiTe.

You can also figure out the 4 letters from the function stack, kinda like revere engineering. Fun challenge: go back to the Stack list and try to assign the type letters to each one. Remember: the 4 letters only show the Dominant and Auxiliar Functions!

Also, in case you’re wondering how to pronounce the functions abbreviated forms, just say the letters in a separate way. Fe = eff-ee. I mean, there aren’t rules, really, so when I talk in my native language I just pronounce the syllable (as in pronouncing Fe as /Feh/ and Ti as /Tea/).

6. Is this when you finally talk about the functions themselves?

Yes. Finally. It only took almost 3.9k words to arrive here. But we’ll finally talk about how each function works. HOWEVER….. have in mind that each function “behaves” differently according to its position in the stack. What I’ll present here is the main gist, the basic meaning of the functions, the summary of the summary, with maybe some examples on how they look when unbalanced or unhealthy. If by now you’re REALLY interested, feel free to search more about it. Search something like “*insert function here* in all 4 positions” (or 8, if you want to see other models). One youtube channel that goes into this is INFJinxed. Another channel I really like, for knowledge AND comedy sketches, is dear kristin.

Now… after 4k words, let’s talk about each function individually. Finally, I’ll keep it simple, but I also recommend you going to the channels previously mentioned if you want to learn about them in a more detailed way. I’ll start with the Extroverted ones, then the Introverted.

Also, keep in mind that these summaries are how I got to understand the functions after doing my own research and reading Jung’s book, because 99% of the time I had no idea what people meant when they were repeating their static definition of the functions. If you want to look at other ways to explain the same thing, you can always do your own research, there are A LOT of people that already explained them.

6.1. Extroverted Thinking aka Te.

This function talks about objective norms, tradition, empirical truth, universal ideas, formulas (in any way), justice, and necessary actions. The ends justify the means. When unhealthy it turns into dogmatism and perfectionism. Think of “it HAS to be this way, and anyone who says otherwise is WRONG”. When unhealthy, everything is black and white. This is a result of the Inferior Fi coming through.

6.2. Extroverted Feeling aka Fe.

Fe talks about emotional accommodation and adaptation, objective or traditionally shared values, the feelings of sharing and belonging, “reading the room”, perceiving social cues and setting an atmosphere, what feels reasonable and/or fair. When unhealthy it turns into fakeness (lack of genuineness) and making negative/pessimistic generalizations. This has to do with Inferior Ti coming through.

6.3. Extroverted Sensing aka Se.

Se talks about being binded to anything sensorial, external stimulations, object conditioning, physiology, concrete processes/objects, realism, things for what they are, having sensations and enjoying them, also kind of an impulsiveness (as all extroverted functions are, but this means physical impulses). When unhealthy it turns into exaggerated skepticism, futility and lack of critical thinking.

6.4. Extroverted Intuition aka Ne.

Ne talks about an attitude of expectation, seeing external tendencies, searching infinite possibilities, a desire to explore and never to settle, being an adventurer (talking about ideas and ideals) and having a hunch. Think of it like having an itch to explore concepts, and after you scratch one, you’re “satisfied” and another itch appears. When unhealthy it turns into “jack of all trades, master of none”, lack of compromise and commitment, a type of detachment and paranoia.

6.5. Introverted Thinking aka Ti.

Ti talks about critical thinking, subjective and relative truths (“but what really is the truth?”), analysis of perspectives, theorizing, exposure and development of ideas (but not focused on applicability), debating and discussing. When unhealthy it loses sense, turns cold and inflexible, turns gullible and overly emotional, links their own truth to their Self (can’t separate own ideas from own personality, so criticism is viewed as a personal attack). Think of stereotypical philosopherskkkkkk.

6.6. Introverted Feeling aka Fi.

Fi talks about intimacy, fidelity to one’s own feelings, intensity instead of expression, internalizing things, an ease in being attuned to your own emotions (identifying, knowing, understanding and properly feeling them), focusing on your impression of things, the saying “still waters run deep”. When unhealthy it becomes egocentric, victimist and detached from others.

6.7. Introverted Sensing aka Si.

Si talks about subjective perception aka it doesn’t focus on the fact itself/what happened but on what it felt like/the impression it left, the external object only acts as a stimulation for the perception, also talks about cumulative experience and knowledge, resistance, persistence, attachment, focusing on summarizing, reducing and on the subjective participation. The reference is not the object, but the reaction to (coming in contact with) the object. When unhealthy it turns into obsessiveness, paranoia and hypochondriasis.

6.8. (Finally) Introverted Intuition aka Ni.

Not gonna lie, this function was kinda hard for me to explain because I just live it, every single day. It really is so natural to me that it’s hard for me to put this “explanation lens” on it. But here it is.

Ni talks about focusing on the elements of the unconscious, guidance by internal movement, mental images “triggered” by external things, an easiness in perceiving the processes of the unconscious, seeing underlying meanings, formation of ideals, “timeless knowledge” (to learn more, search about the Collective Unconscious and Archetypes), focus on the “How?”, the ability to generate visions (in the future/goal kind of meaning) and to speculate. What this function feels like is as if the meanings/ideas existed as separate entities, disconnected from one’s own mind, even if they were created internally. Think of that one Miley Cyrus meme: wHat Does it MEAN??? WHAT does it mEAN? When unhealthy it turns into a disconnection from the real world, physical sensibility and exaggerated attachments to things/people as well as dissociation.

7. Oh wow… that was a lot. So how can I know my type, then?

So. There are some tests you can do online based on the cognitive functions, but honestly the best way to know your type is learning about them and recognizing the functions in yourself. The information I just gave you here can be a great starting point, feel free to expand your research and see other explanations and points of view. Maybe my explanation just doesn’t click for you and you might understand the functions better as straightforward key-words or even as complicated metaphors. Good luck on your self-discovery journey ^^

Also, the internet may try its best, but an ACTUAL REAL Typology test can only be applied by a licensed therapist. That’s how I learned about my own type. My true type, because for YEARS I thought I was an INFP because of my misunderstanding of the cognitive functions. I did this +5k rant so you didn’t have to go through what I went through.

8. So… are we done?

Oh my god, I guess???????? We’re done???? Oh shit. I can’t believe I actually did this. And now I don’t really know what to saydkdkdkskkkkk. But I have an idea on where to start.

Dear Moon, what a crazy ridekkkkk I did tell you I was REALLY passionate about this and I did spend hours revisiting my knowledge and somehow studying for fun while doing this.

Thank you for encouraging me to infodump, I’m not really used to people being interested on my interests, so this really moved me (emotionally). Thank you for interacting with me and being so kind, I try my best to give the same treatment but I hope life/the universe/whatever cosmic energy you might believe in gives you back the good energy you put into the world, because I can only do so much.

I think I’m getting emotional because it’s almost midnight where I live and I’m quite sleepy, but I just couldn’t stop working on this. I really wish you all the best. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember to drink water. Treat yourself with the same kindness you offer us dear moots on this website/app. Thank you again for reading what turned out to be ACTUAL TEN PAGES!!!!!! And also +5.2k words. Have a wonderful night.

And thank you to everyone who read this until now. I’m just some nerd who likes mbti and decided to share the little I know on the internet, through my own point of view. If you happen to be a psychology major, licensed therapist or someone who also studies and/or understands mbti and analytical psychology, feel free to correct anything I might have explained wrong or unclear, as well as add your own thoughts. These are just my 2 cents, after all.

Have a great day, everyone. I’m Gio. This was my rant.

[dykelawlight]

you're one of the best nsfw writers writing lawlight at the moment what are your tips for being explicit without giving people the ick

Oh wow, thank you ⁠— this is really really sweet!! Let me see what I can think of that's like...concrete building blocks

First things first: if you don't know, research! It's always great to pull from experience when possible, but there have also been many nonfiction books and such written about like, basically Kink Rules™ that can be very helpful to pull from when you're trying to plot out how a scene would go or what you personally find really sexy. (Of course, there are plenty of these that are cringe and icky too because the ~kink community~ is vast and contains many people who are very annoying, so take what works and leave the rest.) I once read an entire book that was just about bootblacking/shoe stuff because I didn't know a lot about it and thought it sounded hot. As a broader example, I write and prefer dom/sub stuff (as you well know!), so I like Dossie Easton & Janet Hardy's The New Topping Book and The New Bottoming Book, both of which can be kind of hokey but which have a lot of sexy things to say from the perspective of people who engage in d/s relationships and scenes irl aimed at people who may be new to one or both. (They're also both available digitally but they're pretty easy to secure hard copies of if you think you'll get any significant use out of them.) I would say I don't need to refer to these personally as a source of actual new knowledge at this stage of my life, but specific concepts or scenes that resonate and/or that I've never personally tried can bloom into fanfic stuff later.

I write things down immediately as they occur to me. If I'm fuckin standing in the elevator and I experience a vision of a character I'm writing like moaning a specific phrase or some shit I'll straight up jot it in my notes app so I don't forget and can build on it. I also often will write when I personally am already kind of warmed up because I find that's when the least inhibited and therefore hottest shit hits the page, to be cleaned up and edited into presentableness by my less-revved self in the future.

Stick to basic terms for most things 99.9% of the time. I find that "cock" and "cunt" etc., while sort of standard and definitely something you'll probably see a lot of if you ctrl+F your fic later, are basically the "said" of porn. Not everything needs to have an explicit description all the time. I will also slide into use of "dick" and "pussy" when I feel it's raunchy and hot to do so but I generally don't come up with any shit other than that. Never talk about anybody's "pearl" or "flower" or shit. I'm not saying you can't make comparisons to those things, but it can't be The Word you use to talk about someone's genitalia.

On the opposite spectrum, too much use of "moan" to describe sounds and sentences gets very repetitive very fast! People make a lot of different noises during sex and describing more of them than just moaning adds depth and sexiness. Much like "said," that's not to say it doesn't have its place and not every word should be "yelped" "whimpered" "sobbed" etc. (though I am partial to the latter), but it doesn't need to be every sound, either.

Don't be afraid to write shit you like even if you feel like you might be the only person on the planet who finds it really sexy. I'm writing strap sex for this next fic I'm working on and, while it's obviously a very broad category, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea and some people are actively averse to it in lesbian fic. That's fine, but I know what I like and what I like is to get my silicone dick wet, so that's what's going to happen. I guarantee other people will find it and enjoy stuff you wrote just for you even if they maybe originally didn't think it was for them.

That's everything that immediately comes to mind!! I welcome feedback/comments/reblogs etc. here because I have some HOTTTT writers following me who I think frankly put me to shame 🙇🏻‍♂️

[renee-writer]

The Fire Chapter 2

AO3

“He is alive, Bree. In his time. I just know it.”

 

Ever since the fire she has been walking on air. Carrying the bit of tartan around  long after the flowers wilted.

 

“Mama, you said he was to die at that final battle.”  It is a gentle reminder. I want him to be alive as well so I can meet the man who gave me life and then saved it.

 

“He was. Something happened. History changed. Somewhere in the books Frank has, must be prove of that.”

 

“I will help you search.” The quarter is over and I have a few months. If I can help her ease her mind one way or the other, it will be time well spent.

 

“Thank you darling.”

 

Daddy had a lot of books about the time my birth father came from.  “Was he always interested in this time or was it after, uh, you came back he started researching this time?”

 

She sits among the stack of books. Her eyes are thoughtful. “A bit of both. We were in Scotland,” oh the longing in her voice when she spoke of that place, “originally so he could research his ancestors.”

 

“They were from Scotland?” I wipe the dust off my hands. It would be shocking were they. Daddy was so English.

 

“No,” her chuckle says she finds the idea as preposterous as I did, “but he had an ancestor,” her eyes grow dark. Her hands, that had laid relaxed on her lap, now become fists, “a truly evil man, loathsome, not that he knew that. I didn’t tell him of the things Black Jack did,” she shakes her head coming back from wherever she has been, “ that was the reason he was researching this time, at first.”

 

She rises and pours a bit of scotch into a glass. After a healthy sip, “my return expanded his area of research.”

 

“Is he dead, this horrible man?”

 

A nod. “Yes, of that I am sure of.”

 

“How?” It isn’t that I don’t trust her. It is just I don’t want her or myself near such a creature. Oh, if we find him, I will be going back with her.

 

“Your daddy’s research. It showed he died at Colluden Moor. Jamie would have made sure.”

 

“What did he do to you?”

 

I watch as her face transforms from the longing it holds when she speaks of Jamie to rage.

 

“Not as much me as…” she takes a few deep breaths that have me regretting asking her, “he tortured and raped Jamie.”

 

I gasp feeling the world tilt. For the rest of my life, I know time will be divided into before and after I knew this. A few naughty words are said.

 

“I am glad he is dead then and long rotting in the ground.”

 

“Burning in hell.” Mama adds.

 

Even though daddy and mama have raised me as a Catholic, mama’s words don’t bother me. Some people are just irredeemable. It sounds like this Black Jack is one of them.

 

“Let’s get back to looking.”  I suggest. She smiles at me. We each pick up a book.

 

Around an hour later.

 

“What’s this?” The folded paper fell out of one of the research books. I unfold it and see myself in male form. It is on a wanted form for a bloke who’s  name is listed as Red Jamie AKA Mac Dhub AKA Jamie Fraser, my father.

 

I must have made a sound of some kind. Mama hurries over to me. “ Bree what…?” then she sees the paper, “Oh my God!”

 

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

 

The shake in her hand as she takes it let’s me know I am right.

 

Her eyes scan it, lingering on him before finally moving down.  “1750! Bree, he survived the battle.”

 

“Wanted for treason.”

 

She waves off his possible treasonous acts without a second thought.  “He was alive in 1750. I have to go back.”

 

“No mama. We do.”

[thedarkangelpuppet]

Fnaf death timeline because we need one.

obviously the Bitevictim Crying Child dies 1983. probally on Halloween thanks to the cake the two halloween dlc's that followed and , the its me easter egg and everything we see in the dreadbear dlc.

Charlie dies the same year on the same day.

----------------

“My mother,” Charlie said. “She was dressed up as a princess. It was a Halloween party. John, go to November first.”

John struggled briefly with the controls, and then it was there. The headline was small, but it was on the front page of the paper on Monday, November 1: TODDLER SNATCHED. Charlie turned away. John began to read aloud, and Charlie cut in, stopping him.-

---------------

they die very close together if not on the same date. Charlie outside the dinner is most likely during CC's birthday.

But considering that CC was terrified days before his party he couldn't have seen Charlie's death so what did he see?

it can't be Elizabeth's death either because

lets assume this is Elizabeth in Fnaf 4 even if it isn't we know that Elizabeth was alive because her death happens after Charlie's

mostly because in the novel's Circus Baby is made to be a Charlie bot so Elizabeth has to die after Charlotte. of course we can say but the games are diffrent well.

the ball needle things are there like the novel and theres also the whole the 'baby is not mine' thing that could refer to Circus Baby not being William's creation. even if it follows all of William's way of designing animatronics. Even if the game timeline has it be William's creation I think its more of the hint that the timeline would still place Elizabeth's death after Charlottes. theres also the thing that William and Henry can be very alike like almost interchangable sometimes. not just them looking similar in the novel but just in general their strangly alike .

when we have the whole thing of dreadbear while people say William doesn't care for his kids as often seen in the novel and movie i think its not fully true. “Welcome back to Research and Development. Today, we are using science to pervert the mysteries of life and reanimate the inanimate.”

if dreadbear symbolises the crying child and the whole putting him back together was indeed that. William is doing what novel Henry is doing but alot more twisted.

while people hate the robot gregory theory maybe it has more merit than we thought...

what if this is gonna sound crazy William and Henry are the same person and so Charlie is basically both Elizabeth and Crying child.

this kinda works for every single ateration of the story suprisingly if you consider not everthing you see being true. Like Mike, Garrett and Abby being probally Henry's kids in the movie but being clearly Williams in the games..... or how Charlie from the novels is alot like Micheal in both the game and the movie.....

if Charlie never existed.... Susie would indeed be the first child William killed. we know the missing children happend 1985.

Into the Pit suggests the incident took place in 1985, as this would fit into the timeline placement before the events of FNaF 2 in 1987 and after the events of FNaF 4 in 1983.

This is further supported by the original novels which have many parallels to the games; in the books the incident also took place in 1985.

okay this kinda developed to something else... i dunno how i got there and maybe i will theorize about it later on.... I think i might be on to something if the fnaf vr thing about the games being fiction is true it might be worth to look into tho.

things to note;

they both have wifes that are missing

the bunker under Henry's house in the novel being the circus babies and rental

sun and moon could literally symbolize them being one and the same

theres a theme of dad's being replaced or stepdads being in the novel's what if that just suggests a character shift?

Vanessa might be like a charlie bot? she doesn't bleed in the movie and game vanessa had the whole mystery of two vanessa's

_ someone please disprove me i prefer if their not the same but I noticed so many parallels maybe its just to show that it could have been either that would have become that instead of Henry and William being the same but just diffrent personalities