#I am perfectly normal about this piece of fanart

[the-orion-inexpirience]

Okay, so I might have had... An intense reaction to your WCI Sanuso fanart. I apologize for that. Those were my demons writing for me. I had a whole moment after seeing it. But have you considered that it kind of is your fault for portraying Sanji and Usopp so perfectly and that it is your fault that you've changed my life's perspective forever? Sure you didn't think about that-- It was- It was a good fanart. I won't- I will never be the same again after that one.

Now that I am here tho and I am SO normal and not insane AT ALL about your art (I am not normal at all and very very insane about your art. You're doing God's work 🙏🏻💙💛) I have... Questions...

It's basically about Usopp's outfits, because I've always thought about him in WCI but I gotta say my forte isn't character design and I prefer the writing part- So please enlighten me explaining how you imagine Usopp's outfits during the arc! Nami has at least three iconic looks during the whole thing (Little red dress + Sexy mafia red tight dress + Cutie patootie softie white dress), all of them my absolute beloveds. And I think Usopp should have the chance to wear three awesome outfits too. Because I say so-

In the fanart we see a little bit of your vision on his outfits but,, I wanna know more about them because it would help my little fantasies imagining him in WCI!! Also, please do not feel forced to draw him or anything if you can't/don't want to. With an explanation of what you have in mind is wayyy more than enough to make me happy 💙💛

Ok so GREAT question cause i was actually planning to make a ref for the outfits tomorrow since you guys liked the first piece so much 🥺🥺

ALSO LIKE GENERALLY TYSM EVERYONE IS BEING SO NICE I HAVEN'T GOTTEN THIS MUCH ENGAGEMENT IN A WHILE💞💞💞💞🤧🤧🫂🫂🫂

[powerfulblob]

CROWNPRIMROSE

I hope the roses turned out OK: And yes I listened to the ballad of Sara Berry and I am perfectly normal about this.

The Ballad of Sara Berry CROWNPRIMROSE’s official song, apparently, and that inspired me to do this piece:

CROWNPRIMROSE will appear in @nicohverse’s Entropic Float 2: Land of the Witch! They’re one of my favorite characters (although I could say that about any of them), and they have a special place in my heart.

[ID: A digital fanart of CROWNPRIMROSE from Entropic Float 2. They stand covered in vines of roses, against a background with blood dripping from the top. They are a person with dark skin, maroon eyes, and black hair. Their curly black hair is styled in bobs: Three on each side, with the hair between them tied in maroon wire. They wear two connecting triangles ressembling a crown on their head that are connected by a similar piece of maroon wire. They look up, crying, eyes closed, their mouth in a small smile. They wear a red cape trimmed with white fur, which takes up most of the frame as it swirls dramatically. They wear a grey top underneath and Their cape is tied with a white bow with a red jewel. end ID]

[mysticalibra1994]

South Park: SU

Since there are people who grew up with South Park and people who grew up with Steven Universe, I've figured "Why not combine the two?"

Now, in this universe, the Creators of South Park are in the positions of the Diamonds. Brian Graden is practically the "most important piece" of South Park. How? Simple. It all started in 1995, Graden hired Matt Stone and Trey Parker to create a video Christmas card thanks to their animated short "The Spirit of Christmas". Now, I'm not calling the creators "evil" because they're supposed to represent the Diamonds.

With that set in mind (pun intended), I hope you all enjoy...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Setting: interior; Culver, Los Angeles, CA. Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, Butters, and Dovahkiin are at the entrance of the front gate. Kyle notices how nervous Dovahkiin appears to be.]

Kyle: Are you sure you wanna go through this? Dovahkiin: I'm sure, Kyle. Besides, there has to be a reason why my Powers only work on Facebook and Instagram. I just... want to know. Kyle: Okay, dude. Remember, it's never too late to back out if you're not feeling well. Cartman: Kahl, what about you? Kyle: What about me, fatass? Cartman: Well, you seem a bit flushed. Maybe it's a side effect of having sand in your va- Kyle: CARTMAN, SHUT THE [bleep] UP!!

[Almost as if on cue, the gate opens. The South Park preteens hesitate to enter, but they eventually do. As they walked inside the building, they were a little bit weirded out that there were multiple drawings of them on the walls.]

Stan: The hell? Dovahkiin: Are these more Yaoi fanarts? Kyle: Well, some of them are, but they look professionally drawn. Kenny: What the [bleep] is this place?

[Suddenly, a couple of voices from one room.]

Mr. Parker: Holy shit, dude. Mr. Stone: I know, right? It's as if Walt Disney heard Mickey's voice for the first time. Stan: Who the hell are you guys?! Mr. Parker: Duh, we're you're creators! Mr. Stone: And your voice actors. Kyle: So, you're both God? Cartman: Oh-ho-ho, Kahl. You're going straight to hell for being Jewish! Mr. Stone: Nah, he's safe. Mr. Parker: Besides, Cartman. The seat we saved for you would be too big for him. Cartman: AYE! Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker: *laughs* Mr. Parker: Now, which one of you guys asked about "Yaoi fanarts"? Dovahkiin: *slowly raises his hand* Uh... I did, sir. Mr. Parker: Oh my god... There he is, our pride and joy wrapped in a shy and thoughtful package! Dovahkiin Jarvis-Affini! Dovahkiin: Y-you knew my parents? Mr. Stone: Actually, that's a funny story. You see- Mr. Parker: We actually have a "Chris" and "Kelly" who works with us! They tried really hard to have kids, but they couldn't. So, we made it up for them by making a South Park version of them and you! Dovahkiin: *astonished* Wow... So, I really am that important? Mr. Parker: Of course, kiddo! So, what brings you hear? Kyle: Wait, didn't you text us this location? Mr. Stone: We used to do that for our True Fans, but we stopped when middle schoolers became our fans.

[When Kyle shows the Creators the text, their eyes widen in shock...]

Mr. Parker: That is not our text. Dovahkiin: Who's is it? Mr. Stone: There's only one person that texts that perfectly. Butters: Who? Mr. Parker: Exec. Graden. [Beat.] Stan: Who? Mr. Stone: He's our Media Executor. He's one of the two reasons why we have paychecks. Dovahkiin: What's the other reason? Mr. Parker: Our fans. No, our true fans. You see, the reason why we created you guys was because you reminded us of our childhood. Example? Kenny, you reminded us of our childhood friend who always wore an orange hoodie due to being poor and would mostly skip school. Mr. Stone: *laughs* Yeah, whenever the teachers would ask about his whereabouts, we would go "Kenny died"! *laughs some more*

[As the group laughs about it, an average-looking man makes his way to them, sporting what looks like the Joker from Batman smiles normally.]

Exec. Graden: What is going on, Parker? Stone? Mr. Stone: N-nothing, sir. Exec. Graden: Nothing "what"? Mr. Stone: Uh, sorry! Nothing, "sir". Exec. Graden: That's better. *notices Dovahkiin* Who let this background character into this building? Dovahkiin: "Background character"...? Kyle: Uh, you did? You sent us the coordinates! Exec. Graden: Oh, right. The social medias... Dovahkiin: Um, excuse me. What did you mean when you called me a "background character"? Mr. Parker: Kid, no! Exec. Graden: I mean, you weren't supposed to have a life like the rest of the main and supporting cast. You were supposed to blend into the background. Dovahkiin: *taken aback* B-but, my parents... They- Exec. Graden: Background characters, too. *looks at the Creators* I suppose this was your doing, correct? Dovahkiin: *to Mr. Parker* You knew about this? Mr. Parker: *feels guilt* We didn't know... Mr. Stone: *looks away in shame* ...how to tell you.

[This type of news broke Dovahkiin. He thought that he was almost like the chosen one (but without the "getting nailed" part). Cartman noticed Dovahkiin's broken state and did something that nobody would've guessed...]

Cartman: Okay, that's enough. Dovah has been through a lot, give him a break. Exec. Graden: Eric Theodore Cartman being respectful? Oh no, we can't have that. *snaps his fingers, Cartman falls limp* Kyle: *stunned* Eric...? Exec. Graden: Kyle Broflovski being concerned for Archie Bunker Jr.? Oh no, we can't have that. *snaps his fingers, Kyle falls limp* Butters: Leave them alone! Exec. Graden: Leopold Stoch being supportive of his bullies? Oh no, we can't have that. *snaps his fingers, Butters falls limp* Stan: *looks at Dovahkiin, who's still broken* Come on, Dovah! Do something! Exec. Graden: Stanley Marsh forgetting that he's a main character? Oh no, we can't have that. *snaps his fingers, Stan falls limp* Now, we- Wait... Where's the running gag in the orange hoodie? Mr. Stone: By the time you got here, Kenny got bored, took a bottle of my dad's glaucoma medicine, got [bleep]ed up, placed his tongue in an electric pencil sharpener, bled out, and died. Mr. Parker: Holy shit, you saw that? Mr. Stone: Didn't need to. Mr. Stough texted a photo with a description of it. *shows it to them* Dovahkiin: *snaps out of it, looks around, then at them* Why...? Why are you guys doing this to us? Exec. Graden: Why? To get back to the drawing board, of course. During the first season of South Park, it was just a TV show about kids being neglected by their parents until something bad happened. Now, every episode has gone so political, that one would think that it airs on the same channel as FOX News! *sighs as he collects himself* But now, that'll all change. Parker, Stone, bring the background character to me.

[They hesitate, but...]

Dovahkiin: *looks up at them* Mr. Parker: Sorry, kid. Mr. Stone: But, he's the reason why our kids have stuff and food.

[After snapping his fingers ambidextrously, he aims both of his index fingers at Dovahkiin, and pulls him apart via "the Force". Instead of forcing his existence to disappear, something else happens... Instagram!Dovahkiin, Facebook!Dovahkiin, and husk!Dovahkiin floats for a bit. Then, husk!Dovahkiin falls limp; barely alive. Instagram!Dovahkiin and Facebook!Dovahkiin both look at each other in wondered awe and at husk!Dovahkiin with a perplexed expression then shares the same worrisome expression with the Creators.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's only the first part of "South Park Meets the Creators".

I'm aware that it does contain OOC with Cartman and Kyle, but this does happen when the South Park kids are now preteens; despite them being fictional, people can change as they get older.

[k--havok]

Which scene from your WIP would make good fanart fodder?

What kinds of fics could people write about your WIP?

Which scene from your WIP would make good fanart fodder?

God I'm pretty sure Casrath and Rylie's first kiss would make good fanart fodder for SURE. Imma just share a small piece of the writing to make my point bc I don't know how else to explain it:

With not a single thought, Rylie leaned forward and pressed their lips to Casrath’s perfectly full, plump, and wet ones.

Although they had initiated the kiss, Rylie knew they didn’t really know what they were doing. Past kisses had been messy with drunkenness, inexperience, or equally bad kissers.

Besides puckering and pressing, Rylie didn’t know what to do next. There was their tongue, but how--

A moan slipped between the space of Rylie’s lips and Casroth’s as he grabbed their waist and pulled them closer into his chest. In Rylie’s second of uncertainty, he took complete control. Their lips molded and melded with his as he led their breathy sighs and small gasps. He nipped their bottom lip, surprising Rylie enough so when their lips parted, he could slip their tongue past their lips.

Rylie’s gasp was swallowed by the boom of thunder overheard. Casrath entered their mouth, tasting every inch of them. Immediately, Rylie knew whatever Casrath could do with his tongue was neither normal nor human as it wrapped deftly around their own tongue, caressing it.

What kinds of fics could people write about your WIP?

Probably AUs and canon divergence. And I'm not just sayin' that because I like to make random AUs of my WIPs, but I think there's enough leeway in the different worlds I make where if you just change the course of one or two things, it can drastically change the outcome of the story.

Which makes sense as I am a huge fan of canon divergence and AUs as well so ofc its mirrored in my work.

Thank you so much for the ask!!

[rosesmith18]

Rules of Shipping Fictional Characters Played by Real Minors

Okay, I've made a few post on here making it clear I am a pro-shipper, and explaining in detail how many peoples arguments against pro-shipping are either unhealthy or misguided. With all that said, I've been thinking about a show I loved from my childhood lately; Lazytown.

Now, Lazytown is a great show about great fictional characters, except there is one thing that stands out about Lazytown; it stars a real-life child actor, and with that fact comes a grey area of just how 'fictional' the story actually is.

So, I thought this show would be a great example for the boundaries that come with liking a fictional show starring REAL PEOPLE-specifically child actors.

*Disclaimer: Minor discussions about child porn and pedophila up ahead, proceed with caution.*

Rule 0: 'Pro-shipping' does NOT exist for shows that star child actors! What I mean is, if you ship a child actors character with an adult character(animated, puppet, or otherwise)from any show; that is PEDOPHILA. If you make porn of a character played by a child actor(not voice actor), YOU ARE A PEDOPHILE, and that piece of ART is CHILD PORN! If you SAVE that piece of ART, YOU ARE A PEDOPHILE, and you are now in POSSESION of CHILD PORN!

(If YOU, the person reading this, come across porn[m-rated or r-rated]fanart of characters played by child actors then REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY, pro-shipper or not.)

In animated shows, books, comics, etc a fictional character MAY BE drawn/written to be a child, but that set age has been given to a FICTIONAL being; something that ultimately doesn't exist. Drawing fanart, writing fanfiction, etc(pornographic or otherwise)ISN'T hurting that character, and as long as you are a responsible fan who rates their fanart/fanfiction properly then YOU aren't intending to hurt any REAL children. It's fiction, it's all in good fun and self-understanding as it should be.

BUT, when you do these things for REAL CHILD actors(not voice actors), you are actively taking the likeness of a REAL CHILD. Now, if you make something g-rated between too children; like a wholesome peck on the lips or hand-holding, etc then you're fine. Real kids DO share wholesome kisses on the big screen, hold-hands, hug, and all that. It's perfectly normal, and doesn't infringe on their privacy(at least not anymore then their film/tv roles already have). But, when you take those REAL children, and draw them flirting with adults(animated, puppet, or otherwise); you are putting REAL children in pedophilic relationships. Of course, an innocent school kid crush is one thing, but full-on romantic vibes is another. The same goes for children couples, even if they're both kids, there is a level of wholesome, g-rated-ness that MUST be kept between them; they are NOT just fictional characters for you to play with, they are REAL KIDS.

Because of the above mentioned statements, I have decided to lay out some coherent ground rules for fan artist/fan authors to keep in mind when working with these characters using Lazytown characters as an example;

Rule 1: AGE APPROPRIATE SHIPS ONLY.

Do not ship a child actor's character with a character that isn't ALSO a child.

Example: The character, Stephanie, from Lazytown is 8 years old in the cartoon, so if you wanted to ship her with someone else, that other person should be no older then 11 or younger then 5. *These age examples follow several states Romeo and Juliet laws which say; that no minor is to be in a sexual relationship with a minor more then 3 years apart from them, and that no minor should have sex with another minor more then 2 years apart from them.

Rule 2: SHIP CHILD ACTORS ONLY WITH OTHER CHILD ACTORS.

Do not ship a child actor's character with a character that ISN'T represented as AND played by another child actor.

Example: Stephanie is physically played by a child actor, but the other puppet characters in the show who may be acting as child puppets, are still PLAYED by ADULT actors. This means that you SHOULD NOT ship the character Stephanie with ANY of the puppet characters. On the other hand, feel free to treat any of the puppet characters as you would any fictional characters, and ship them with whoever(besides Stephanie)you like, they're free game!

Rule 3: KEEP THINGS G-RATED FOR CHILD ACTORS.

As mentioned before, do not over step the boundaries of the g-rating when shipping two child actor's characters.

Example: If you want to draw the character Stephanie kissing another child actor's character, you can do that, but KEEP IT WHOLESOME; no making out, or anything like that, just a gentle peck.

Rule 4: THE 'AGING UP' RULE DOES NOT APPLY.

You can't age up a child actor's character to avoid claims of child porn. These child actors are real people, and their likeness can not be morphed to your will like a fictional character's usually could be.

Example: If you age up the character Stephanie to be 21 when she met Sportacus, and then write an erotic story about them having sex then you have still written child porn!

Rule 5: THE 'AGING DOWN' RULE DOES NOT APPLY.

You also can't age down adult actor's characters to ship them with a child actor's character. Again, those actor's physical likenesses do not change just, because you draw them to be a little shorter or taller.

Rule 6: GROWING UP IS NOT AN EXCUSE.

NO, You can't start drawing or writing porn about child actor's characters just, because the actor is now an adult. In the show, they are a child, and that is the character you're working with. You can't use the fact that the actor isn't a child anymore, or that your adult likeness of the character is based off the actual adult they've become; it's still child porn! *This is not a case of fictional characters already being lines on a page to make up a human-like appearance.

Example: Both actor's for the child character, Stephanie, are now over 18 years of age. If you start drawing porn of Stephanie now, you are still drawing the likeness of a real child whether that actor is still a child or not.

That's really all the rules I can think of right now, but if I think of anymore I will make a part two, and if anyone reading this has any rules to share then please do.

As much as I am a pro-shipper, it is extremely important to me that we protect the children of the big screen. Too many people separate physical actors from their characters, and that's how we get movies like 'Cuties'. If it were up to me; I would ban child actors(not voice actors)from films/tv, it's just too dangerous a place for them, and no one is looking out for them. If you've got a story about children to tell, write a book or have it animated, don't make real kids suffer for your stories.

[dragimalsdaydreams]

IMAGE ID UNDER THE CUT b/c it’s uhhhh a lil long, sorry.. there’s a lot of detail to cover in this one..

now u may be thinking, “Hey Ashley, didn’t you already start 2020 with fanart that riffed off the 1978 Watership Down prologue sequence, and now you’re doing the same thing again, a year later?” and to that I say sh. shhh. shh. I am allowed to draw another WD riff, as a treat

[IMAGE ID: 

a single piece of art with two panels-- a larger top panel, and a smaller bottom panel. the full piece is drawn in a style of flat shapes filled with solid blocks of color, and patterns which emphasize those shapes/silhouettes.

the first panel features Jonathan Sims, curled up defensively at the center of the panel while a menagerie of Entities reach towards his prone form from the borders-- not quite touching, but close. Jon appears here as a small, slight man with dark brown skin and darker hair. his hair is long, wavy, and streaked with grey, all pulled back into a loose ponytail. he’s got a patchy beard, and the scars he’s accumulated through s4 (worms holes on his face, knife scar on his neck, burned hand). his eyes are closed, and he’s got dark circles underneath. He’s wearing a dark green sweater, dark blue jeans, and simple loafers. the background underneath is a dark, dull purple, with a light purple gradient roughly painted around Jon.

the Entities around Jon are as follows, starting from the top and working clockwise:

a large hand reaches down, wicked-sharp claws curving smoothly from each digit, open and eager to catch. the base color is dark red, with yellow and brown patterns inside the hand-- notably daisy-like patterns centered on certain joints and the tips of the fingers

a patch of pure black drips from the corner of the frame, trailing ever closer to Jon. a few simple dots of white stars are scattered across the puddle, some with a single small ring circling the dot.

two long, dull white bones extend towards the center-- a femur at the frame of the panel, with a rib resting near the ball of the femur to extend the reach, deformed enough to curve out towards Jon. ropes of red/white muscles and tendons wrap haphazardly around these bones, barely holding them together. a few teeth are scattered in among the ropes of meat-- some incisors, some molars.

a long, spindly spider leg reaches towards Jon, ending in two pincer-like claws. the main color is bright purple, which darkens at each of the leg’s three visible joints and the claws. a few hairs dust the outline of the leg. two patches of light-silver webbing tie to the leg at two joints and one of the claws, carefully controlling its position and trajectory.

a white heart-monitor heartbeat line points straight towards Jon, the heartbeats growing smaller until they fully peter out near the center. a thicker, straight red line lays underneath the heartbeat line for emphasis.

roaring flames flicker up towards the center, just barely licking up underneath Jon and throwing out blackened embers. the base color of the flames is a bright yellow, while red and orange form central patterns.

layers of sediment stack upwards in jagged formations-- brown, spotty soil, tan sandstone, and striped grey granite alike.

a large silver knife strikes up towards Jon, contained only by the barbed wire tangled tightly around it. the handle of the knife is dark red, while the tip of the knife is covered in bright red blood, splashing out from the tip as it jabs.

a simple sky paints itself towards the center of the panel in brush-strokes of bright, clear blue, with pure white clouds floating merrily across the scene.

countless worms and maggots climb over each other in a frenzy-- a growing pile of mania and motion. some worms are a smooth and sickly silver-green, while the maggots are a segmented yellow-cream. a few tan/brown mushrooms also grow out from the pile.

a rickety arm reaches from out of frame-- a patchwork of multiple pieces of garishly-patterned cloth (purples, greens, oranges), roughly stitched over an arm frame that clearly doesn’t have the right joints or proportions. the hand at the end, however, is perfectly normal-- covered in a clean white glove and courteously offered out to Jon.

a trail of grey-white fog tumbles gently from the top corner, just barely reaching out with a thin wisp of mist.

a neon-green metal spike jabs down towards Jon, with a handful of smaller spikes extending from the main in haphazard directions, making for a hostile silhouette. the main frame is covered in simple posters and advertisements in various blinding colors (purple, orange, red, blue). a pair of red shoes hangs by the shoelaces from one of the smaller spikes, while white, wired earbuds drape limply over the main frame. (in retrospect this particular Entity isn’t as conceptually clear as I’d like, so if you’re confused, here’s an ask I answered about it)

fractals zig-zag their way towards the center, doubling back and curling around, but steadily reaching forwards. the base patterns are copied and layered over each other in offset positions like a distorted photo, all in different neon colors (yellow, magenta, light green).

the second panel features a close-up of Jon-- shoulders-up-- in the same position as before. now, however, his visible eye is wide open, framed in bright neon green, with an iris of the same color. behind him, the background is now dark green, while a huge eye with exaggerated lashes outlined in the same blinding green frames his head. Jon’s head is centered where this giant eye’s pupil/iris would be.

there is text across the full image-- dark green on top of a semi-transparent white background, overtop the image. the text is as follows:

first panel: All the world will be your enemy, Prince With a Thousand Enemies. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you.

second panel: But first they must Catch You.

the first sections of text frame the tops/bottom of the respective panels, but the last two words of the last sentence frame either side of Jon’s face in the second panel.

END ID]

[lookanartdweeb]

I am very perfectly normal about the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise...

She says as she creates fanart for the franchise instead of working on portfolio pieces and also consumes and slurps every fact about the franchise like a piece of god damn spaghetti.....

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Writing smut without cringing the whole time? How do you do it.

Writing Smut 101: Overcoming Smut Shame

CONTENT WARNING: NSFW RELATED CONTENT BELOW.

The short answer, nonnie, is: you don’t. 

That is to say, writing smut is always kind of cringe—especially if you’re new to it, or simply “not in the mood” to write. 

But rest assured, feeling embarrassed is completely natural. The trick is learning how to overcome the cringe when it does happen, instead of letting it deter you.

I’m going to break this up into a few sections: 1) Why you might be feeling this way, 2) How I, personally, combat the issue, and 3) Some more tips that might help you get the ball rolling.

1. Why You “Cringe”

It’s important to find the root cause of any form of writer’s block so you can pull the weed out instead of just trimming it back. Smut writer’s block is its own special brand, and generally, the main issue writers have when it comes to smut is stigma.

Speaking openly and honestly about sex, in Western society, is still very much a taboo.

No matter how “progressive” we like to think we are, the inherent shame surrounding pleasure-seeking experiences, and the detailing/consumption of them, has been ground into us since we learned how to understand the concept of gratification.

And I’m not just talking about sexual gratification. This applies to everyday things, as well. Eating, shopping, relaxing (or doing virtually anything in capitalist society that does not directly contribute to capitalism).

So it makes sense that you would feel any amount of embarrassment, awkwardness, or “cringe” when writing smut. It’s something our society teaches us is wrong to want. Unfortunately, that shame translates to writer’s block when we sit down in front of the computer.

A lot of this blockage might stem from not giving ourselves permission to write the thing.

We’re staring at the blank document, knowing we want to write smut, and suddenly the thoughts start streaming in: This feels wrong, is this wrong? What if someone comes in and looks over my shoulder while I’m writing? Am I describing this right? Is this too unrealistic? I have NO idea what I’m doing, and everyone is going to know it.

These are all perfectly normal thoughts, and definitely ones I still have from time to time. But they’re also probably the direct cause of why you feel so blocked. Luckily, I have some bits of advice to give you on how to unblock yourself.

2. How I Combat Smut Block

✦ First, when the intrusive thoughts occur, instead of ruminating on them, think of each one as an impermanent object. You can use any metaphor, but I like to use the imagery of leaves:

Each negative thought is a leaf floating down the river of your mind. If you focus only on the leaf, you’ll exert a lot of energy running to try and keep up with it, consequently miss everything else around you. But if you acknowledge that leaf as a temporary part of the scenery, and let is pass, you can process and appreciate the beauty of your surroundings a whole lot better.

Remember: you are separate from your thoughts. You are not defined by them. The things you think sound stupid might be incredibly exciting to someone else. 

If you can string a sentence together, you can write smut. This is all part of giving yourself permission to write the thing that makes you feel uncomfortable.

✦ Second, I’d suggest giving good thought to how you personally experience embarrassment, how you experience excitement (of the sexual variety), and how those two might sometimes commingle or feel similar.

For me, they are very comparable, like different shades of the same emotion—but there are differences which are important to note. 

If I’m making myself blush from excitement, this is a very good thing for writing smut. It means that what I’m writing feels real enough to evoke something in the reader, even if the reader, like me, knows what’s going to happen.

If I’m making myself cringe, however, it may be time to take a step back and readjust my perspective.

✦ Third, ease yourself into it! Don’t jump straight in the deep end and expect to know how to keep your head above water if you’ve never swum before.

The way I eased myself into smut was first by writing “Steam”—a category of fic I made up because the current vocabulary lacked an efficient term for fics that straddled emotional romance and explicit content. 

Essentially, steam is smut-adjacent but not explicit, and here’s a step-by-step example of how I transitioned myself smoothly from one genre to the next:

I first wrote my fics Wicked Game and You Are (both of which feature either a heavy make out session or teasing + lots of sexual tension) with this “steam” concept in mind.

I wrote the first chapter of Fine Line, which has brief but explicit descriptions of fantasies, framed by a very sexually charged scene.

I released my fic Crashing, which is probably more of a bridge between Steam and Smut, and features soft-focus fingering. Nothing in it is explicit—it focuses more on the emotions than explicit detail—but it’s very clear what is happening.

After I wrote those, I felt just confident enough to make that final stride over the threshold into smut. I wrote my fics Holy, King, and the second chapter of Fine Line all within weeks of each other.

And trust me when I say, once you get the momentum going and receive that validation from people who’ve read your work, it becomes SO much easier to sit down and start writing. 

You just have to finish that first piece.

✦ Finally (and I know I’m going to sound cliche when I say this), just like any other skill, the more you practice the more confident you will feel and the better you will get. 

So practice, practice, practice! 

If you’re nervous about posting smut for the first time, have a trusted friend/mutual Beta read it for you. It’s the online equivalent to someone holding your hand before jumping off the cliff, and works wonders for the nerves.

3. Keep The Smut Rolling

Now that you have some tools to help get you past the blockage of writing smut, here’s how to keep the inspiration flowing.

✦ Start by incorporating smutty fanfiction/erotic fiction into your regular reading rotation- 

Of course AO3 is a fantastic resource for smutty fanfiction. 

If you’re a fan of TFOTA or ACOTAR and want some of my personal fic recs, visit my fic rec masterlist.

In terms of erotic fiction, my personal favourites are anything Anais Nin (specifically Henry & June and Delta of Venus), The Thornchapel series by Sierra Simone, The Godwicks series by Tiffany Reisz, and The Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz.

There are also sites like Literotica and sexstories.com, which play host to explicit short fiction (not fandom based).

✦ Next, I’d recommend having a designated digital space for smutspiration- 

This can be a list of “smutty” words/phrases kept on a separate document on your computer, for those days when you just can’t think of the right way to describe something. 

Or you can create a private side-blog or Pinterest board for your favourite smutty fanart or other kinds of visual smutspiration.

✦ For that matter, try following some smutty/18+ blogs (ONLY IF YOU’RE 18+) here on Tumblr-

Many of them have a plethora of what I like to call “lemony snippets”, a.k.a. short text posts that describe (usually in conversational language) explicit scenarios. 

This is useful because it will normalise the concept of sexual fantasies in your brain, making it less weird for you when you try to come up with ones of your own to write into smut. 

Not to mention, your dash will be rife with inspiration.

✦ I would also suggest checking out 18+ ASMR on YouTube (AGAIN, ONLY IF YOU’RE 18+). 

My favourite account is Professor Cal Official, but Auralescent also has some good content. 

Headphones are highly advisable for this, as their stuff is very dangerous for work.

So, nonnie, I hope this has provided you with at least one helpful tip. Whether you took anything away from this or not, just know that the feelings of embarrassment when it comes to writing smut are entirely normal. And the best way to keep those feelings at bay is to confront them head on. 

-Em 🖤🗡

Writing Advice Masterlist

Writing Masterlist

2K Celebration!

[lady-griffin]

Legit Question for you guys, because I’m honestly not sure what is the proper Tumblr to Twitter etiquette here and whether if I am overreacting or not, or being “too sensitive.”

Is this stealing my post? I mean...

I feel annoyed that I wasn’t credited, because that seems like the nice thing to do and it does irk me that someone saw my post and didn’t even reblog it on Tumblr, but still liked it enough to copy it for Twitter.

But at the same time, it’s honestly just a little post I wrote because I thought the idea was funny. That’s it.

It seems so silly and pointless to get upset about this, because this is so commonplace on the internet and a huge part of how jokes and memes spread. Like that’s normal.

It’s also not an actual piece of work like fanart or fanfiction, so again, it feels so silly to call it “stealing” or “plagiarism.”

I honestly don’t know if what I’m feeling is disproportional to the situation or not.

Because I am annoyed and a bit upset, but…

I don’t know.

I’m far from perfect to be clear, but I’m trying to be better. When I see an incorrect quote or something on Twitter and I post it on Tumblr with my own ‘twist’ or to a different fandom; I do try and credit the original poster or at least where I saw the idea in the first place.

I’m positive I can also do better, but I do feel like over the years I’ve improved in crediting people – as I think that’s the right thing to do.  

But maybe that’s too formal and not how the internet works at all. 

Thoughts?

Am I overreacting to a very normal internet thing and need to get over myself? Or is it perfectly okay that I’m miffed and a bit upset? Or should it be something in between?

Let me know what you think.

[ifellintothestyx]

What would I do if I was brought to the world of Bungou Stray Dogs?

Stay FAR away from the Port Mafia. The other fangirls who are willing to risk their lives can go swarm over there, I'mma just stay out of range of bullets, lemon bombs and Rashoumon

No way am I going to the Special Abilities Department either. I don't trust any of them, and they won't trust me

...Ah, shit, that leaves the Agency, doesn't it?

Assuming that I get to stay there, the shit-stirring may commence *rubs hands*

Casually mention stuff about them that only the viewers know about. Those are private facts, not any of a random lost girl's business, but how does she know

"You know, Kunikida-san, you'd get to work a lot earlier if you didn't spend ten minutes being contemplative every morning." "What?"

"Oda was right, by the way, it was Cinderella, not Snow White." "...excuse me?"

"How does it feel to get stepped on by Akutagawa, tiger-boy?" "How do you know this?"

"Fukuzawa-san, your old scarf was terrible and I'm glad you're no longer wearing it." "..."

Whenever Dazai and Chuuya meet, I'd play Everytime We Touch right at the chorus

Akutagawa and Atsushi are staring each other down in the ADA office and I'm just sliding into the client space, singing "Two bros, chilling in the hot tub, five feet apart cuz they're not gay"

Repeatedly call Akutagawa's jabot a cravat

"What happened to your eyebrows, Akutagawa-san?" "Five seconds. Run."

Ranpo will know what's up and he and I will immediately team up

First order of business when staying in the BSD universe: Befriend Ranpo and Yosano, therefore gaining access to snacks, braincells, and a variety of sharp weapons

Kyouka and Kenji will be my new best friends and I will make it my job to give them normal teenage experiences. It's important for their mental and emotional development

"STYX WHY IS THE MAFIA CALLING ABOUT VANDALIZED CARS I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE TAKING THEM OUT TO ICE CREAM!" "Teenagers do stuff like that all the time though! And we did get ice cream afterwards!"

Never said I knew what normal teenage experiences are, so technically it's Kunikida's fault

You thought I wouldn't take advantage of Kyouka's mafia intel? Ha.

I'll introduce them to Tumblr and wait for the explosions

Move every piece of stationary on Kunikida's desk five inches to the left.

Meeting Katai just for the WiFi

"Mori was shipping you and Chuuya, by the way. Just in case you weren't aware." "You know too much."

1) Write fanfiction of Soukoku, Shin Soukoku, and Zenki Soukoku. 2) Get Katai to spread them online under an anonymous account. 3) Send links to both organizations. 4) Wait.

"Did I start another war? My bad." "SO YOU SENT THOSE LINKS?" "I did more than send links, Kunikida-san."

"You currently have an old man in your lap, Haruno-san." "But this is my cat? He's not that old." "I warned you, Haruno-san."

I'd befriend Tanizaki and Naomi buuuuut–

Spread the fanart of Soukoku, Shin Soukoku, and Zenki Soukoku in my phone to the internet. Also through Katai.

You're probably asking: how did I get Katai to do this for me? I have fanart of Gin, too

"This is the spot where Kyouka and Atsushi got kidnapped by Akutagawa and brought to the ship that led to the iconic Shin Soukoku fight that perfectly demonstrated their differences in both mentality and combat–take my picture with it!"

"This exact spot is where Dazai and Chuuya fought Rimbaud, displaying their strengths and weaknesses and how they perfectly complemented each other that led to the unstoppable partnership that coined the name Double Black, and held hands for the first time–take my picture with it!"

"This building is where RanPoe all started–take my picture with it!"

"This is where Fyodor stabbed Mori and Naruto ran away–take my picture with it!"

"Take my picture with it!"

My goals:

Act omniscient

Friend list must be composed of Ranpo, Yosano, Kenji, Kyouka, and Katai, for maximum fun

TAKE MY PICTURE WITH IT

Find out what the 53 requirements to be Kunikida's wife are and sell the knowledge when I get back

Recreate the fandom for the three partnerships and make sure the fangirls and fan content will be able to continue on without me before I leave

[akatsukitobi]

Some of you may have noticed that I reblog a lot of Ace posts.

There is a reason for that other than taking pride in myself, and I’ve decided that I want to make a post with my story, no matter how boring it may seem. I even loaded this up on my Chromebook so I could insert a line break!

Where I grew up, you didn’t hear words like “Asexual”, and “Aromantic”. The town I grew up in was what those of us that live here call “Hickville, USA”, and it had a population of 700. Truthfully, the only time I had heard the term was as an adult, and only in memes making fun of it. 

So at 15, I got my first real boyfriend. I had previous boyfriends, of course, but it would be those little elementary school things that “don’t really count.” I had only had friends that were boys up until this point, since me and girls didn’t really click, and boys DID NOT talk about sex and crushes when I was around, so I had no real clue that I wasn’t normal. 

Even after I started dating my boyfriend, I didn’t notice. We did all of the things teenagers do. We made out, we hugged (though we were super awkward trying to initiate contact at first), and eventually, after three months of working up to it, we were sexually active. 

I started having sex because that is what teenage couples do. I felt like it was normal to do so, and didn’t see a problem with it.

Obviously, we eventually started noticing that I wasn’t “getting there” when we had sex, and after months of trying, we determined that it was because of my depression. That there was just something wrong with me. That I needed to be “fixed”, and that it was my fault that we were not having explosively hot sex. On our 8th anniversary, we got married, and my sex drive had not changed. 

The amount we were having sex did. 

I didn’t want to. Like ever. and we assumed once again that it was because of some lingering issues from depression. We couldn’t afford to send me to a doctor, and I was also a giant procrastinating chicken. So we compromised for sex, just like many other things in a relationship.

I started watching Naruto last year because I wanted to learn Japanese. I picked it randomly out of a list of shows to watch alongside my learning, and fell in love with it. I stopped trying to learn Japanese, but kept watching Naruto. Then, I started reading fanfiction. Naruto was the first thing in YEARS that I was able to stick to for more than a couple weeks, and even my husband was impressed. 

I assumed that everything written into fanfiction was exaggerated. You know, the white knight rescues the princess and they have all these magical tingles and feelings that aren’t remotely close to realistic.

I started writing fanfiction for myself shortly after, adding in all of those ridiculous embellishments like fuzzy feelings and loud moans that just simply weren’t true.

Finally, back in January, I created a tumblr to post my writings to and look through fanart, and in less than a week I saw my first post about Asexuality. I had never given the term a second thought until a random page I followed posted a random fact about it, and my interest was piqued. 

I was at work, working alongside my husband, when I finally broke down, went to the bathroom, and looked it up. The definition and descriptions of Asexuality? Literally describing me perfectly.

I went back and told my best friend, who also happens to be my husband, that I might be Asexual. And he shrugs and goes “Probably”, because I somehow lucked into having the most supportive husband and friend possible.

12 years. 12 years of being sexually active and feeling terrible about myself because I was not normal. 12 years of looking at all the self-help pages I could find on the internet and desperately trying to fix myself so that my husband could have all the sex he wanted, with someone who also enjoyed it, and likely only making my depression worse in the process. 

It was nice, having a label. We spent the next 4 hours at work talking it out, talking about how I wasn’t broken, and generally looking at things pretty positively. 

And then when we got home, we started talking about sex, and I learned that everything in fanfiction wasn’t made up. Some people really get to feel tingles when they kiss, they really get butterflies when they are around someone they love, and they actually feel things “down there”. 

Then, it hit me. I wasn’t broken, and that meant I couldn’t be fixed. There was no fixing all these things I couldn’t feel, and there was no hope that we would ever have that “moment”, where we absolutely had to have each other. That sexual connection would remain one-sided for the rest of our lives. 

I found it a bit hard to write for a couple weeks after that. How could I bring myself to continue writing about all these wonderful things that I would never be able to experience? 

Eventually, I pushed past it. This is me, and I still feel better knowing that I actually fit somewhere. 

In August, I determined I was Aromantic, and another piece of the puzzle was put into place. 

Being Aro/Ace is a relief, because I am not broken. I no longer have to fix myself. I still have sex with my husband, but I do not have any crazy expectations about what I should be feeling. We try to make it better for him, instead. 

I still get sad from time to time thinking about how much I am missing out on, but I have never felt more like “me” in my entire life. I feel like a real person, like I fit somewhere after going through a large chunk of my life feeling like an outcast, and all because of one post on Tumblr.

Do I think that by reblogging a bunch of Ace posts that I will help someone find themselves? No. The chances of that probably aren’t that good... but you never know. If my asexuality posts bother you, I am truly sorry, but it means too much to me and (I’m now discovering) plenty of others, who appreciate being heard, simply because now we have somewhere that we belong.

[oscar-schnee]

[Image ID: A piece of Black Rose fanart from the TV show RWBY. Raven is looking forward, and is in the water. Summer lies on a rock to the left, facing Raven with her chin in her hands.]

Short fic under the cut! Also posted to AO3 if you’re interested: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29709459

Summer lay down and rested her chin in her palms. “How’d your meeting go?”

Raven looked north, toward the settlement she and her brother had visited the previous day. “It wasn’t,” she admitted. Summer opened her mouth to ask another question but Raven shook her head. “I’m not allowed to discuss the specifics with anyone from another school, and you’re a human.”

“You’re already breaking rules by talking to me, aren’t you?” Summer’s smile was perfect, bright and slightly asymmetrical. Raven knew she was too far gone for this girl.

“It was mostly boring politics, anyway.” It wasn’t a lie, but it felt awful anyway. She just couldn’t bring herself to ruin Summer’s day by talking about how focused everyone was on her brother. “Why’s your skin so dark now? When you first came it was way lighter.”

Summer raised her eyebrows at the change of topic but thankfully didn’t comment. “I tan really easily.”

“Tan?”

“The sun makes my skin darker.”

Maybe it was the leftover anger from the meeting clouding her judgement. Maybe it was the way the sun shone on Summer’s face, undistorted by water. Maybe Raven was just feeling particularly reckless. Whatever it was, Raven decided to take a risk. “Summer, I have something I need to tell you. I know I act all cold and grumpy—and it’s not that I’m not normally cold and grumpy—but I really like you.”

Summer blinked. And then blinked again. And then picked at the algae on the rock she was lying on. Raven wanted to bat her hand away and tell her to respect nature, but that was just her ingrained fear of punishment. Finally, Summer asked, “Are you coming out to me, Rae?”

“Am I doing what?”

“Telling me you have a crush on me.” Her eyes alight with mischief, Summer sat up on the rock.

“Maybe.” Raven gripped her fingers into the crevices of the rock. “If you want to leave I’ll understand.”

Summer untied the back off her dress and pulled it off over her head. Underneath, she wore a bathing suit. “The only place I’ll be leaving is this rock, so I can kiss you.” She winked. Raven’s tail suddenly felt a lot less capable of keeping her afloat.

“Are you serious?” “If you want me to be.”

The number of times Raven had lay awake at night dreaming of kissing Summer was embarrassing seeing as they had only met at the beginning of the summer. It was nearly midsummer. “Please.”

With that, Summer slipped into the water next to Raven. She sat on the edge of a rock and leaned forward. Raven reached up to touch Summer’s warm, sun kissed face. Summer shivered at the touch but reciprocated the movement. Raven had never had her face held, never mind by a human with hands as wonderful as Summer’s. They fit her face perfectly.

Summer’s eyes fluttered shut as Raven met their lips. Her lips were chapped and rough and perfect. “Again?” Summer asked.

“Please.”

[tysonrunningfox]

Ripped: Part 6

So much happens in all of these chapters, like, oh my god guys, I’m so stoked about this

Also, @thisisnotberk drew the most beautiful fanart today  and it’s my favorite thing and PERFECTLY timed because this chapter is all about Hiccup and Snotlout and you should see how beautiful they are because they’re beautiful. Thank you again!!!!

AO3 

Hiccup doesn’t realize his arm is still around Astrid’s shoulders until the front door of her apartment building is securely shut behind them, the hallway quiet except for his heart pounding in his ears and the echo of a scream rattling around his brain.

“Sorry,” he lets go of her arm, hand hanging awkwardly at his side, “I didn’t, um—”

“What do you think that was?” Astrid looks back over her shoulder as she climbs the stairs, keys jingling in her hand. “Should we report it?”

“What like call the cops and say someone screamed downtown?” He follows her, too addled to feel uninvited and too warm from walking back so quickly. He unzips his jacket as she unlocks her front door and leaves it open behind her. “Last time I checked, screaming isn’t illegal.”

“Have you seen the noise violation laws?” She kicks her boots off and starts pacing back and forth in her living room. The walls are bare aside from a single frame that holds what looks like a diploma and the only furniture is a chair and a beat-up coffee table. It looks less like the crime scene photos with Astrid living in it, vibrant and not as scared as she probably should be. Gearing up for a fight more than running from one.

“Have you?”

“Yes, the new ones are extensive,” she pauses to stare at him, blinking a couple of times to herself, “right, Tuffnut’s dossier.”

“Whose what?”

“My friend, Tuffnut,” she hands him the binder from a stool by the door serving as another tiny table, “that’s what he calls his dumb Grimborn theory binder.”

“Oh, right. Thanks.” He tucks it under his arm and looks down at the toes of his shoes butted up against the threshold to her apartment. “So umm…that wasn’t quite how I wanted to end that tour, but are you ready to subscribe to my daily Grimborn text service? It’s free for the first week.”

Astrid has an uncanny way of catching his eye even when he’s trying to avoid hers. More than that, he doesn’t feel his usual urge to shut her out when she sees through him too easily, past whatever front he put up to keep her back. Maybe his fronts aren’t up to their usual standard though, because he kind of likes feeling like something she’s trying to figure out.

He’s used to being the one with the clues, but when she treats him like a curious piece of a puzzle she’s trying to put together, it makes him interested in the final product.

“How did you want to end it?”

“I don’t know, my usual lecture about how safe Berk is now,” he tucks his hand in his pocket, “like the buildings themselves learned from the blood and I don’t know, it probably wouldn’t have worked on you.”

“That’s really corny,” she rests her hand on the doorknob, “I still think we should tell someone what we heard.”

“Tell you what, I’ll check it out on my way home, it’s right on the way.”

Astrid’s frown is impossibly familiar even if it’s not directed at him this time, more through him, and his heart stutters when he realizes it’s protective.

“You’re walking home?” She tucks her hair behind an ear that sticks out adorably far, “shouldn’t you get an Uber or something? Or ask your cousin for a ride?”

“Right, like Snotlout would give me a ride,” he scoffs. Snotlout would, of course, but it’d be more painful than it’s worth.

Plus, Hiccup has been exploring those alleys for five years now and he’s never heard anything like that. Sure, he’s been mugged once or twice, but those people were just desperate and once he started helping with Gobber’s shelter and gaining some notoriety, people just started asking him for help instead of taking what they thought they could.

Astrid’s frown deepens and it scares him when her eyes flick to her lonely chair, like she feels like she has to invite him inside. It’s not that he doesn’t want to stay longer and maybe level out the playing field a bit, given he told her about his dad and he hardly gave her a chance to talk, but well, echoing screams in Berk alleys have forced him on her enough.

“Are you worried about me?” He teases, flinching when she smacks his upper arm hard enough that he almost drops the binder. Or no, the dossier.

“That’s for taking me on a really creepy tour at a really creepy time.”

“That’s…fair—” He guesses it’s about time for something about this tour to be normal, and a stinging arm traded for Berk to go back to the generally safe place he knows doesn’t seem like too much of a trade.

Then she kisses him on the cheek, quickly like she’s hoping he’ll miss it, like that’s a possibility in any reality. When she pulls back her face is red, bright against blooming circles under her eyes as she steps back, leaning on the doorknob.

“That’s for everything else.” Astrid mutters something that sounds like an amalgamation of ‘goodnight’ and ‘good morning’ and ‘goodbye’ and shuts the door, once again leaving him with a click and his own awkward hands and pounding heartbeat.

It’s still dark outside, the buildings blocking even the idea of dawn on the horizon, and if it weren’t for the heavy binder under Hiccup’s arm, he might believe that none of that just happened. From Astrid saying she’d go on a tour in the first place to asking about him instead of Viggo and mostly, to the scream they heard that cut everything short. He offered to check it out mostly hoping that Astrid would drop it and not inform the police where they were, since they were technically trespassing on condo conglomerate territory, but now he’s curious. Curious and way too restless to go home and try and sleep before his next set of tours.

They were almost to the fourth site when they heard the scream, so he takes a shortcut, skirting through a torn section of six-foot chain link behind a new construction site and ducking under a semi full of lumber that’s blocking a wide, modern alley. He can hear the broken ‘Closed’ sign in the Ripped Tavern’s back window shorting from the rain, flashes of red light pulsing along with a blooming feeling of dread in Hiccup’s chest as he turns the corner and freezes, staring at the shadow under the street lamp.

Blood looks black in yellow light. Hiccup remembers the stain on the pavement after his father was taken to the hospital, brick red then chalky like a blackboard under the halogen buzz. This blood is fresh though, steaming on the cold concrete as it draws a stark line to the drain.

“Hello?” He calls out, stepping hesitantly forward then running when he thinks he sees movement. He’s on his knees beside the body before he realizes it was a trick of the light, his brain shielding him from something he doesn’t want to make sense of.

Unlike some worse-adjusted Grimborn enthusiasts out there, Hiccup has seen a dead body. Once, when he was twenty and shaky, a splotch on pavement engraved into the insides of his eyelids, and it wasn’t an experience he ever wanted to repeat.

This isn’t a repetition, it’s an expansion.

An anatomy lesson he didn’t sign up for, glittering with high budget HBO special effects instead of the sepia tone of a century between the camera’s snap and his own understanding. He jumps to his feet and staggers backwards, dropping everything in his hands and leaning against the nearest wall. It makes more sense from here, Mary Johnson, Grimborn’s last confirmed victim, sprawled out and cut open. Dispersed.

But it’s not Mary Johnson. The longer Hiccup looks, the clearer he can think, and the bolt of recognition jabs him again.

It’s the homeless woman he escorted to the shelter last week. What was her name? She was going through a divorce, she was…Jennifer. That’s it. Jennifer something, did she give him a last name? He doesn’t remember.

His phone buzzes in his pocket and he fumbles for it, seeing Snotlout’s name on the caller ID and picking up with a shaking hand.

“So am I interrupting you and Astrid having—”

“There’s a body,” Hiccup’s own calm voice shocks him. He doesn’t feel calm, or maybe he does, maybe the shock is fading into something analytical.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I was on my way home and earlier we heard something funny, so I came to see what it was and there’s a body.”

“What? Like a dead body?” Snotlout pauses whatever he was doing in the background of the call and suddenly, Hiccup can make out the sound of tires on the salted road ahead and feet on the sidewalk. Splashes of red and blue light swirling on the walls. “Did you call the cops or just get straight to studying it, fucking hell, Hiccup—”

“Looks like they’re already here.”

“Fuck, I’m on my way,” Snotlout hangs up and Hiccup barely has time to get his phone back in his pocket before an officer is rounding the corner, flashlight flicking between the woman on the ground and Hiccup’s face.

Hiccup puts his hands up slowly and calls out, “I don’t suppose it would do anything for me if I told you I could explain, would it?”

One time when he was fifteen and deep into his Houdini phase, Hiccup handcuffed himself and tossed the key out the window. His dad was furious, it was one of the few times Hiccup thought that the offer to let him try and Houdini himself out of an actual jail cell was legitimate. Instead, he had to spend his allowance on a metal detector to scan the street for the key and ultimately found it in a storm drain and had to spend more money on a magnet powerful enough to pull it out. It was an expensive enough hassle that he considers it an unintended consequence that followed being handcuffed, and since faux fur lined handcuffs don’t incur unintended consequences, he would say that this is technically the second time he’s been in cuffs.

It’s less stressful than his second time seeing a dead body. He didn’t do anything wrong besides some mild trespassing and they give him coffee at the station, which he knows to be a gesture of good faith from all the times his dad made him deliver coffee as a gesture of good faith.

Snotlout makes his best case for uncuffing him, but gets shut down and sent to his desk, so Hiccup spends the next hour stuck to a table in an interrogation room, nursing cold coffee and trying his best to remember what he saw for a witness statement. They have his phone, so he doesn’t know what time it is when a detective finally enters, but the man’s expression leads Hiccup to believe it’s still uncomfortably early in the morning.

Early. Astrid. Crap, he didn’t get a chance to tell her, she’s going to hear about this on the news. She’s probably going to hear about him on the news.

“Detective Eretson,” he introduces himself, shaking Hiccup’s cuffed right hand and sitting down across the table with a manila folder. “You told your arresting officer that you had an explanation—”

“I do, I was just on my way home—”

“At four forty-five in the morning?”

“I, uh, well it wasn’t a date but—”

“I’m not here to ask you about your social life, Mr. Haddock, I’m here to ask how you came to be standing above this woman so soon after she was murdered that she was still warm.” Detective Eretson slides a crime scene photo across the table, the flash illuminating what Hiccup could only guess at in the dark. “Do you have an explanation for how you got to the crime scene so quickly?”

“I wasn’t that far away,” he tries to gesture but the cuffs catch a couple inches above the table, “I was going from 324 Harbor street to the north side of East street, just past the park, I took a shortcut and well, you know the rest.”

Detective Eretson nods, unconvinced, and there’s a knock at the door a split second before it opens and Snotlout sticks his head in.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Coffee,” the detective barks without looking up.

“Ok, I was talking to the witness, but you could say please.”

“Two coffees, Snotl—Officer Jorgenson.” Hiccup glares at his cousin, “please.”

“How do you know Officer Jorgenson?” The detective asks as soon as the door is shut again and Hiccup folds his hands together.

“Is that pertinent to this investigation?” He clears his throat, “sir.”

Detective Eretson would be intimidating in any circumstance, but the combination of his chin tattoo and intensely unamused gaze in particular makes the chill around Hiccup’s wrists sink in deeper, reminding him there’s no way out of this but through. And the noodle arms thing is still unfortunately true, not that Snotlout’s gym time would make him any better at busting out of here right now.

Thinking of Snotlout makes him appear, sloshing coffee down his arm as he wrestles the door open and walks inside. He sets the half empty cup in front of Detective Eretson and stands arms crossed at the side of the table, making no move to leave as the door shuts itself.

“Can I help you with something?” Eretson asks without looking and Snotlout huffs.

“I don’t know, can you?” He grumbles before standing up straighter, on tip toes if Hiccup isn’t mistaken. “I was on the phone with the witness at the time he discovered the body, I requested to assist in the interrogation—Interview. The interview”

Great, it’s an interrogation, that’s excellent news.

“I thought you weren’t on duty today,” Eretson sounds like he prefers that concept and Hiccup tries to get Snotlout to leave with an important look at the door.

“I’m not, and I’m not asking for overtime, it’s called over-achieving, look it up.”

“If we could just get on with this interview,” Hiccup hedges and Eretson stares at him for a second before turning back to his folder.

“What’s this?” He pulls out another photo of a non-descript gray binder and Hiccup’s face goes pale.

“It’s a dossier.” His voice cracks, “detailing a friend of a friend’s theory about Viggo Grimborn, it’s a joke.”

Snotlout’s glare bores into the side of Hiccup’s head and he tries to scratch his temple, only to have his wrists catch on the cuffs again.

“Viggo Grimborn?” Eretson frowns and Snotlout leans back against the wall, obviously on tip toes now, arms crossed tight as he refuses to even make eye contact with Hiccup.

“Oh, you don’t know who Viggo Grimborn is? That’s not one of the many infinite things that you know?”

“He was a serial killer in the late eighteen hundreds, I know the alleys so well because I am a Viggo Grimborn tour guide who does an informational tour about him, that’s how I knew about the short cut. Snotlout is my cousin and roommate and he called to ask when I was coming home, that snapped me out of my…utter and complete shock at what I’d found and then an officer came around the corner—”

“We had a tip of a disturbance in the area,” Detective Eretson looks levelly at Hiccup for a second, “while you were taking your shortcut, did you see anyone else?”

“No, I didn’t. I mean, except for Jennifer’s body—“

“You watched that without me?” Snotlout hisses and Eretson slams his hand on the table.

“Jorgenson, out!”

“You are not my commanding officer, actually—“

“And you can thank your lucky stars for that,” Eretson stands up and opens the door, looking pointedly at Snotlout until he goes reluctantly flat-footed. “You’re interrupting my investigation with a suspect that you know, is that something I should tell your commanding officer about?”

“No,” Snotlout deflates, looking at Hiccup one more time before trudging out of the room.

“Sorry about him,” Hiccup tries when Eretson closes the door, but there’s no sign that the detective hears him as he crosses the room again and slams his hand down, next to Hiccup’s cuffed ones. His looming should be intimidating or even frightening, but Hiccup feels disconnected from it, like he’s watching it instead of living it. Like he’s still back in that alley, seeing the future play out.

“You recognized the victim?” His voice is low and serious, toeing the line too carefully to be deadly.

“Yes—“

“So I’m supposed to take it on faith that you know the alleys because you do a serial killer informational tour and on your way home at odd hours, you stumbled across the body of someone you happen to know?”

“Know is an overstatement,” Hiccup tries to gesture again, the chain catching and clanging against the table, “I walked her to the shelter the other night, she was arguing with one of those Neighborhood Watch Force wannabes about crossing the center of town while they were trying to say curfew. Gobber, the guy who runs the shelter, can vouch for me. That’s the only time I’ve ever met her—“

“But you recognized the body—“

“Yeah, apparently I have a photographic memory when I’m in shock,” he laughs, feeling frantic and suddenly needing to escape, “every day you learn something new.”

“Well,” Eretson pulls a key ring from the pocket of his slacks and flicks past a couple of near identical keys to find an all too familiar one. Hiccup rubs his wrists when the cuffs fall away, because he’s seen people in movies do it, and maybe it’ll help with the bands of bone deep chill or the soreness from accidentally flexing against metal one too many times. “I’ll be looking into your alibi.”

“But I’m free to go?” Hiccup stands up, stumbling on his numb right foot and catching himself on the table. He has to pee, but he’ll go in a bush outside and risk a second arrest for public nudity before he stays inside the station a second longer than he has to.

“For now,” Eretson opens the door but stands in the way, looking Hiccup up and down like there’s a clue stuck to him that just hasn’t been spotted yet. “Don’t leave town.”

“I’ll cancel my knitting retreat then,” the last shred of Hiccup’s patience evaporates as he slips around the detective, running his hand through his hair and stalking towards the front door of the station. Someone at the front desk stops him and gets his information, like they don’t have that already. They give him his phone back too, but the case is on upside down, like someone tried to unlock it a little too diligently.

Snotlout is outside talking to a coworker Hiccup doesn’t recognize, but he immediately jogs over when he sees Hiccup heading for home.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s going on?” Hiccup laughs, slamming his hand against the crosswalk button with a little too much force. “Detective Eretson will be checking into my alibi.”

“Right, which is no, you weren’t murdering anyone, you were giving some girl a tour of places someone else murdered people,” Snotlout throws his arms up, “fantastic!”

“Astrid,” Hiccup stops short, patting his sides like he somehow stashed the binder in a pocket he forgot about until now, “the binder—“

“Is evidence because it’s a creepy handmade book found at a murder scene,” Snotlout catches Hiccup’s shoulder when he tries to turn into a familiar alley, “where are you going?”

“Home,” He gestures, wincing at the dull pain in his wrist, “it’s quicker this way.”

“Yeah and the last time you took a sketchy shortcut, you got arrested—“

“It’s not sketchy, it’s just cutting around the stupid condos that I hate to look at,” Hiccup sighs when Snotlout steps into the mouth of the alley and crosses his arms. “You know, no one notices that you’re shorter than them until you start with the tiptoes thing.”

“Yeah, and no one notices that you’re weird until you show up at a crime scene with a book about murders.” He snorts, “oh wait, they already knew you were weird, never mind.” He only crosses his arms tighter when Hiccup bends his knees, threatening to dodge around him. “Just walk the long way past the stupid condos.”

Hiccup stands back up straight and runs his hand through his hair, tugging and lamenting how much longer it’s going to take to get home and rinse the interrogation room and murder alley scum off.

“Detective Eretson is really under your skin, huh?” He starts walking again and Snotlout almost doesn’t follow. “Oh come on, are you going to take the shortcut?

“Maybe.”

“You know you always get lost back there.” Hiccup points up at the condo roofline, “If you’re making me walk past those monstrosities, at least come with me.”

“Fine,” Snotlout gets all of two steps down the sidewalk before he’s ranting, “and I don’t know who Eretson thinks he is, he’s been here all of five minutes, he doesn’t even know who Virgo Grimdeath—“

“Viggo Grimborn, he’s not an astrology card—“

“Whatever, he doesn’t even know who he is and he thinks he owns the place. And he’s got the stupid accent and the muscles and he’s like eighty feet tall—”

“Do you hate him or have a crush on him?”

“Shut up, Hiccup,” Snotlout narrows his eyes, “you’re a little tall yourself to be messing with me right now. Toeing the line between normal and too tall,” he snorts, “well, toeing halfway.”

“Was that really necessary?” Hiccup shakes his head, looking out at the bay to avoid glaring up at the condo façade. A seagull is eating some leavings from a gutted fish and it makes him think of what he saw in the alley and he glares at Snotlout to avoid gagging.

“We’re even.” Snotlout flexes his arm, “and it’s not all bad, I’ve been going to the gym a lot more lately because Eretson was acting like he owned the place—“

“No one thought you were a stripper, Snotlout, I don’t buy it.”

“Yeah, and you got a date with a hot girl who called you a hair fetishist, crazier things have happened.”

Hiccup doesn’t have an answer to that right away and they walk the next few blocks in silence. The earliest commuter traffic is starting to pile up on the road and the sun feels a little too bright, scalding through Hiccup’s retinas and reminding him how long he’s been awake.

“It wasn’t a date,” Hiccup stands back to let Snotlout unlock the front door of the apartment, following him in and immediately losing the mental battle not to flop into his dad’s old leather chair. He’ll clean the murder gunk off of it later. Maybe. He should have peed before sitting down but the night is catching up all at once. “She did kiss me though.”

“What?” Snotlout sets his holster on the table by the door. “And you don’t believe that one person thought I was a stripper? But I’m supposed to believe that a girl as hot as Astrid kissed you?”

“On the cheek,” Hiccup reaches up to touch his face, the static of the dry brush of Astrid’s lips lingering even though the rest of the morning, warm where the rest of him is cold, like the handcuffs chilled more than just his wrists.

“Wait, like your cheek or your actual cheek?” Snotlout raises an eyebrow and gestures at his own ass, “like am I impressed or did the middle school dance go really well?”

“My cheek on my face,” Hiccup pulls his right shoe off and lobs it at Snotlout, missing by a few inches. It leaves mud on the wall and out of the corner of his eye it looks like blood.

“Oh, so it’s lame—“

“I don’t know why I tell you anything.”

“Because if you don’t talk you explode?” Snotlout snickers, finally setting his badge on top of his other uniform accessories and walking towards the bathroom. Dammit. “I’m going to bed, dude.”

“Sounds good.”

He pauses and looks back, “you’re good about, you know, seeing the dead person, right? Because you know after I had to respond to that thing with the train I was all kinds of freaked out,” he finishes the thought with a shudder. And as annoying and overbearing and nosy, and oh, disgusting, as Snotlout can be, Hiccup feels the genuine warmth of his concern.

“Nah, I’m good, I see pictures all the time, right?”

“It’s not the same.”

“No. It’s not.”

He must fall asleep at some point because he wakes up to his phone buzzing in his pocket, a string of texts coming through all at once.

Astrid (12:00pm): Murder? Astrid (12:02pm): we heard a murder?

[ship-ambrosia]

A Year in Review for ship-ambrosia - Fanfiction Writers 2018

So I saw a blog I’m a huge fan of do this sort of year reflection of fanfiction writing, and since this was the first year I’ve ever posted my fanfictions, I thought it’d be fun to do!

First off I wanna thank @sweetmemories2606 @allie-and-her-fandoms and @a-fairy-tail44 for constantly encouraging me, being there to bounce ideas off of, also basically being beta readers for me and my hype men... you guys rock. I’m so glad I met all of you.

total number of completed stories

- “Completed” is kind of relative isn’t it? Lol... I have 13 stories posted on AO3, 4 that are on tumblr only, and of those 17 three of them, Heavens Bringer, A Fool Like Him, and Inherit Thunder (previously Heir of Electricity) are unfinished. Three of them are a collection of one-shots from Gruvia, Jerza, and Nalu week, but they’re all so short I’m going to count them as all together.

- There is so much unposted stuff in my backlog that you wouldn’t even believe lol most of it is unfinished though

total word count

- 81000 on AO3. I don’t even want to go and count otherwise

fandoms written in

- Fairy Tail

- My Hero Academia

- RWBY

- Persona 5

- Voltron (behind the scenes)

- Fire Emblem (behind the scenes)

looking back, did you expect to write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d expected?

- Let me just say that posting the first two fanfictions, Inherit Thunder (BNHA, kamijirou) and Liberation (RWBY, Blacksun), were totally on a whim. My roommate encouraged me to do it and see what kind of feedback I got on them. Boy am I glad I did. So let me tell you my motivation and progress has been absolutely astounding to me.

what’s your own favorite story of the year?

- This is so hard, because I’ve been in love with all the stories as I posted each of them, like oh yeah this is it this is my best one. Every time lol. I’d have to say though it’s probably The Droplet (FT, Gruvia). Reading my first gruvia fanfiction Four Degrees, and then going to The Droplet, you can really see not only how well my writing has improved, but also how much better I’ve done in understanding Gray and Juvia. Also I happen to find the beginning of it still really sexy lol that was difficult for me, writing a scene that was sexy that was going to be posted for the world to see.

did you take any writing risks this year?

- I think the style that I wrote A Sound Like Thunder (BNHA, iidamei) and Beauty and the Crow (P5, Akeharu) was a different style than um used to, with the story being told in chunks that didn’t quite fit together perfectly but still built off one another. Basically they could have been multi chapter fics but I wrote them like a short story and both of those stories I had to have read over a thousand times because I wanted them to be perfect.

do you have any fanfic or profit goals for the new year?

- One, to finish Heavens Bringer which I think is very plausible since I’ve been working on the last chapter a lot lately. Another is just to get more consistent with finishing and posting works, because right now it’s just like, here from me every so often and going like a month or two without posting any sort of writing. Maybe even to write less ship-focused works. I love ships but I don’t think all my writing has to be only romantic

best story of the year?

- Certainly one of my Fairy Tail fanfictions, though I’m not sure which. Heavens Bringer definitely has the most effort put in, but both The Droplet and A Fool Like Him (Ft, stingyu) have such in-depth, emotional breakdowns of Gray and Sting respectively and how I see them viewing their primary love interest that I think both of those stories have a fascinating draw. Also, I’m extremely proud of my Nalu Angst week prompts, I go back and re read them all the time. I think some of my best work resides in that collection, most notably the story titled “Miles Apart, Two Inches Away” from when Natsu and Lucy reunite after the post-Tartaros timeskip.

most popular story of the year?

- That’s easily Everything was the Same (Except when it wasn’t), my first Nalu story. On AO3 it has 755 Hits and 72 kudos, the most for both of all my stories. Which I find so funny because I wrote that story in under an hour lol.

story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion:

- Heavens Bringer, by far. I like to think it’s amazing, and my friends seem to love it, but it’s gotten very little recognition. I’d love for more people to read it, and it has all the big four ships and I’ve devoted soo much time to it. But the feedback I HAVE gotten has been absolutely wonderful!

most fun story to write:

Beauty and the Crow, A Sound Like Thunder, or Nalu Angst Week. I hurt so much while writing all three, but I loved it. Beauty and the Crow because Akechi and Haru’s relationship would be just as tragic as I’ve written it, A Sound Like Thunder because iidamei is normally such a goofy ship and I literally almost killed Iida and made Mei Hatsume cry, and Nalu Angst Week because well... painful feels. But I enjoyed the dark places that my writing went.

story with the single sexiest moment:

Haven’t written (read: published) a ton of sexy scenes. I think The Droplet wins for the part where Gray almost pulls off Juvia’s underwear with his teeth, only to be interrupted by their baby.

most sweet story:

- Nuclear Fusion. No angst, it’s straight up injecting Nalu parenting fluff into your bloodstream lol

“holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you!” story:

- Nothing yet?? Maybe hurting Iida and Mei in A Sound Like Thunder. I need to write a goofy fic with the two of them, honestly.

story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters:

- I’m going to say Inherit Thunder. I used to think of Kaminari as just a total goofball. Coming up with the idea of his parents as villains gave so many deep possibilities to why Kaminari wants to be the “trendy” popular boy or where he could come from, what his motivation for being a hero could be. I could be totally right, or totally off. But it definitely made me so much more intrigued by what Horikoshi could have planned for him.

most unintentionally telling story:

- When you read Heavens Bringer you see exactly what kind of Fairy Tail fan I am. Lol

hardest story to write:

- Heavens Bringer! Lol. Also worked on Beauty and the Crow for a long time, because I couldn’t decide what direction I exactly wanted to take Haru and Akechi - did I want to follow the plot? Did I want to make Haru and Akechi fall in love, or make it a series of moments? Did I want lots of dialogue, or did I want it to be more narrated? It was a lot of stylistic choices that went into that one but I’m totally happy with how it turned out!

biggest disappointment:

- I worked on a Baccana story for sooo long and then I ended up deleting it because it was turning into very cliche, Gildarts-doesn’t-approve-so-he-challenges-Bacchus-to-a-fight and I didn’t want to write a fic that had already been done 30 times (not that Gildarts and Bacchus fighting because Bacchus likes Cana isn’t great... it’s just that most people who like that ship have already written that).

biggest surprise:

- Uhh, Inherit Thunder being as popular as it was received? I’ve gotten dozens of messages asking for a sequel and it’s really an incredible feeling to know people want more of a story. It was originally gonna just be a one-shot, but now I’m writing a second chapter that will probably come out after Heavens Bringer is done.

some stuff in the works for the new year:

- Obviously, Heavens Bringer part 5 and chapter 2 of Inherit Thunder

- Working on several more chapters to A Fool Like Him, it’s basically just all suffering for Sting lol

- A multi chapter Baccana fic AU-ish in which Cana joins Quatro Cerberus during the Tartaros timeskip after Fairy Tail is disbanded

- Multi chapter Gruvia and Gale fic about Juvia disappearing after leaving to search for answers to her origin, leaving Gray and Gajeel desperate to find her

- Stingyu Cinderella/Princess and the Pauper AU

- A Yang x Ilia piece (FINALLY! LOL)

- May eventually clean up and post an experimental fic where I practiced writing combat with Sun and Neptune vs Mercury

- Ryuji x Ann getting together post-canon

- Future Ryuji x Ann single dad Ryuji AU

- Haru x Akechi Military/sort of Fullmetal Alchemist AU?? Idk it was inspired by fanart

- Maybe post some of my Voltron/Fire Emblem stuff eventually? Idk about those

If you read this entire post seriously thank you!! And thanks to everyone who’s read my fics, sent me messages about them, or just talked to me in general!! I love interacting with the communities!!

[positivelyamazonian]

10 Favorite Game/Anime/Movie Characters

Tagged by: @a-super-evil-cat-who-murders (thanks!!! It was fun!)

The Rules: Name your top 10 favorite characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 different people.

Well I’ve already done a tag for FEMALE CHARACTERS so I’ll leave this in case you wanna check it. For not repeating myself, I’ll do this time just male characters.

I’ll tag: @luluvonv @luthienamell @adayka @hydraballista @anyathebloodshell @anentireamazon @jar-cup @kim-v-croft  @autumn-star93 @lady-trent

Of course don’t feel obliged to do this. And yes my characters come in not a particular order!

1. Haplo the Patryn - The Death Gate Cycle (book series)

Posting an amazing fanart by Melusaaste because there’s not an official art that shows him so close-up, and honestly, this is the most accurate depiction of him I’ve ever seen. 

Haplo is the anti-hero and main character of The Death Gate Cycle series written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Personal childhood hero (despite being an antihero himself), husbando and whatnot, until today he’s one of my fav characters ever, because through him I learnt the most perfect character development, from a cruel, merciless and amoral villain, to... well, not a hero if you think so, but to redeemed human being. 

“A 'why' is a dangerous thing... It challenges old, comfortable ways, forces people to think about that they do instead of just mindlessly doing it.” - Haplo in Dragon Wing, the first volume of the series.

2. Johan Liebheart - Monster

You don’t know what’s a villain until you meet this bastard. I am not an otaku or very enthusiastic of anime series, but Monster by Naoki Urasawa are probably the best manga/anime series ever written. And his villain, Johan Liberheart, one of the most twisted fucks ever written by an author.

Tortured, mentally ill, twisted, cruel, amoral, there’s no way to explain Johan. He experiences no character development and he has not a single redeeming quality, yet you just can’t let him go. An unforgettable character, not recommended for the weak and vulnerable.

There's nothing special about being born. Not a thing. Most of the universe is just death, nothing more. In this universe of ours, the birth of a new life on some corner of our planet is nothing but a tiny, insignificant flash. Death is a normal thing. So why live?

3. Geralt of Rivia - The Witcher (book/videogame series)

I’m so sorry I met this amazing character through The Witcher videogame series, because he existed already in the book series of the same name written by  Andrzej Sapkowski, and I really feel like posting this video because it perfectly sums up the spirit of the character.

Geralt is a witcher, a mutant specialist in killing demons and monsters for coin. He’s shaped like an anti-hero and despised by his society because of his nature and his mercenary job, but despite having everything for being just a rogue scoundrel, he manages to become a very rich character. Full of redeeming qualities despite his grey morals, Geralt struggles in a cruel Middle-Ages world to keep something human for himself, when everyone surrounding him tries to turn him in the heartless freak he was trained to be.

“People," Geralt turned his head, "like to invent monsters and monstrosities. Then they seem less monstrous themselves. When they get blind-drunk, cheat, steal, beat their wives, starve an old woman, when they kill a trapped fox with an axe or riddle the last existing unicorn with arrows, they like to think that the Bane entering cottages at daybreak is more monstrous than they are. They feel better then. They find it easier to live.” ― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

4. Raistlin Majere - The Dragonlace (book series)

Again, I’ve to go back to a character created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (man, this people CAN write characters I tell you), this time for the Dragonlance series. These books are less original and brilliant than The Death Gate Cycle, but more popular and beloved because they are easier to read. And Raistlin Majere is probably the best character written for these series, being saved among them because of being, probably, the less cliché and the more complex of them all.

And again, anti-hero at times, redeemed hero at other times, tortured, twisted, cynic and cruel, but also able to show kindness and a human heart at times. Raistlin was born weak and sick and sacrificed everything (including his own health) for one sake: magic. And power. His only life desire is what will lead him to his own destruction.

"Of course this means a lot to me, Caramon. It means everything! I have worked and studied almost my entire life for this chance. What would you have me do - cast it aside because it is dangerous? Life is dangerous, Caramon. Just stepping out that door is dangerous! You cannot hide me from danger. Death floats in the air, creeps through the window, comes in with the hand-shake of a stranger. If we stop living because we fear death we have already died."

5. Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Ice/Game of Thrones series)

This little amazing piece of awesomeness needs no presentation. I am again sorry I met through the Game Of Thrones TV series and not A Song Of Ice And Fire books, but it was totally worth it because it’s one of the most well-written characters I’ve had the pleasure to meet, and I must say Peter Dinklage was born to play him.

What can I say? Tyrion is one of those characters who are worth living. A dwarf, deformed, ugly, with no physical or war skills, relying only in his extreme intelligence and wisdom and his political talent to survive, he’s one of the most strong inspirations one can find. Definitely go check him.

6. Kurtis Trent (Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness videogame)

I included Lara Croft in my female characters list, it would be absolutely unfair to forget Kurtis as he’s the other character that got my heart in TR series. Not gonna rant long about him here, because you already know my opinion. He was amazing. He deserved better. Ex-legionnaire, demon hunter and Lux Veritatis warrior, I’ve devoted all my fanfics to develop him as there was no chance for Core Design to do it so.

Fitting more in the role of a hero, I think he was also the perfect partner for Lara. His background is very well written and he had a lot of potential. The fact I will never see it doesn’t change anything. He deserves his place here.

"And I thought this would be one of my easy days." - Kurtis, The Sanitarium.

7. L Lawliet - Death Note (manga/anime series)

Again, I reinforce the statement that I’m not a fan of manga/anime series, but definitely Death Note is, together with Monster, one of those you should watch. And yes for everyone who loves Death Note, I’m a L fan. You always choose between L or Kira sides, and despite I’ve to recognize that Kira is a very complex, well written character, it’s L who gets my heart.

Supertalented, amoral, brilliant, extremely unpredictable and surprising, L is the first one of the agents that will try to catch Kira, the murderer who uses a Death Note to implant his particular justice world. L deserves your attention more than Kira, I presume. Or at least, it’s what I think.

“There are... many types of monsters in this world: Monsters who will not show themselves and who cause trouble; monsters who abduct children; monsters who devour dreams; monsters who suck blood, and... monsters who always tell lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than other monsters. They pose as humans even though they have no understanding of the human heart. They eat even though they've never experienced hunger. They study even though they have no interest in academics. They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such a monster, I would likely be eaten by it. Because in truth, I am that monster.”

8. V - V for Vendetta (graphic novel/movie)

I know, easy to love him, right? Again I’m sad that I met this character through the movie and not the original graphic novel, though you can’t say a thing against Hugo Weaving’s magnificent delivery. I wish I could get my hands on the graphic novel, so I can know him better.

Anarchist, terrorist, idealist, V is the incarnation of the protest against dictatorship and opression in a dystopian England that has supressed all the rights and human freedom. If you don’tknow him, I strongly recommend at least the movie, for the inspiration this character delivers goes beyond that the mask that has trascended the movie itself to become a symbol of citizen fight.

9. Roger - American Dad (TV series)

Well technically he’s not a he, he’s rather an it, but whatever. Also he’s it’s a different trend in this post since I love him particularly because he’s funny and incarnates all the non-political correct you can expect from someone.

He also gives me, kinda, TR vibes. Roger is an alien who landed in Earth during Cold War and was rescued and sheltered at his home by Stan, a CIA agent who’s the main character of the series. Honestly I think Roger is the best of American Dad - a TV show which basically and mercilessly mocks every American value - because despite being an alien is absolutely, indecently human. I prefer him and this show much more than the overrated Family Guy.

10.  Dwight Schrute - The Office (TV series)

Last but not the least, the efficient, clever and adorable bastard hillbilly from The Office. I loved him from the very first moment he appeared. Yeah I know many people hate him or prefer the goofy boss of the handsome Jim but Dwight is really my spirit animal and speaks to me in so many levels. No more comment needed. He’s the best of the show to me.

Well this took forever, right? Sorry for the length of this post but now I’m free I wanted to give it some thought. I see again that I’ve a soft spot for grey morals, redeeming qualities, bad boys and complex characters. This is how it goes! ;)

[harrish6]

String Stitches - Chapter 5 - Bloodied Knitting Needles

JuneTheGlassesBearer made this wonderful piece of art! Look at it! Fanart just makes me want to work all the harder on my stories.

June now has a art book on Wattpad too, so I would recommend to go check it out.

I also want to thank JuneTheGlassesBearer once more for helping me out with all this! They were a big help with how Shears would react to certain situations and things. Keeping Shears in character is something I strive for, as then it wouldn't be Shears if i didn't. So, a big thanks to them!

They were also a big help for the next chapter I am making for this story. One that I have been looking forward to making for a while now....

-Chapter Start-

It said a lot that Error didn't even flinch at being stabbed - in body, mind or SOUL - anymore.

It also painted a grim picture when Error could look perfectly fine and calm when one of his bones are ripped off - like his arm and/or leg for example. - his body.

All these things were normal occurrences to him. They happened nearly everyday by someone.

Usually it was Ink.....Most of the time it was Ink.

It was one of the main reasons Error didn't want Shears to leave his little AU without him. UnderSwap was one thing, Berry would make sure nothing would happen, or get in contact with someone who can help him if something were to happen. Honey - who was acting so weird now - would make sure nothing would upset Berry, meaning that Shears would be safe if he ever somehow went to UnderSwap-01 without him, even if he does hate Error with all his SOUL.

-Apologizes are nice in a way, he never got one from someone who hated him, but Error always understood actions more then words. Words can just be as important as actions, he knew this, but it is harder to lie with actions. Actions can reflect what is in the SOUL and back up the words.-

But the other AU's would not be so forgiving if Shears were to land there and happen to mention that he even knows Error, much less is a trusted and dear friend to said glitch of a skeleton. Ink might get it in his empty head to hurt Shears. The others wouldn't even think about it, they would hurt Shears.

So that's why, after a week was up, Error made sure to destroy some AU's far away from TailoredTale. It was a toss up, stay close to Shears and risk Ink wondering why Error is staying in one area for so long, or go far off and act normal.

Risking Shears is never a option, so Error went with the last option.

Which lead him to now; Being stabbed via Ink's paint brush.

With a grunt, Error looked to the skeleton in front of him, who had their paint brush at the ready.

Standing to Error's middle chest, Ink wasn't the shortest Sans nor the tallest. Wearing a white t-shirt with paint stains on it, brown shorts, brown boots with paint stains on it as well, and a fluffy blur jacket tied around his waist. He also had Fingerless brown gloves on his hands, blue arm and leg warmers lined with rainbow, his paints strapped around his chest and paint brush in hands. Ink's scarf was tan, with tons of paint stains on it.

It's only fitting that the Creator had so many paint stains on him. He was a stain on Error's life after all.

"Error, stop this N O W ."

'I would if I could.' Error mentally grumbled. Sighing, cracking his neck once, Error just gave Ink a blank stare. Really, with how much his ribs are hurting and how one was already on the ground somewhere, Ink should know better then to demand that. Then again, there is only way to end this. And Ink won't take it, no matter times Error has and will ask. "wILL yOU sTOP CReaTiNG tHEn?"

Dodging the giant paint brush once more, Error knew what the answer was. It never changes.

-With Shears-

"Okay! Just one more stitch...." Shears brightly smiled once the final stitch was done. Giggling, Shears looked down at the dress and accessories he had made.

"You are a fool! He's not going to accept your feelings."

"Do you think I do not know this?" Shears huffed, glaring into the endless white. "I know Error will most likely reject my feelings for him, but that does not matter! As long as he knows and stays my friend, then that is all I need."

"Then you're more then a fool! I'm not going to help you at all. Let yourself heal on your own."

Glancing down at his hands, Shears looked to all the little cuts, scratches and bruises on his hands from sewing and stitching everything he needed. It hurt, but it would all be worth it in the end.

Shears wanted to dazzle Error. To show just how enchanting he could be for the other. While there may be no chance for Error to return his feelings, Berry was right. His little love rival was right, Error would still be his friend no matter what. Error called Shears on of 'his'. That meant more to Shears than anything in the world.

"It does not matter what you do. I will tell Error what I feel." Shears grimly stated, face stern and hard. Nothing and no one would force Shears to stand down from this. Not even that malware that is inside of him.

"Don't come running to me when he leaves you for good."

"I will not have to, as Error will never leave me." Shears lightly scoffed at the very idea. Yet the Voice did not respond, finally going quiet. Lightly huffing once more, Shears looked back down at his hands.

Seeing how much his hands are scuffed and cut up, Shears tightly frowned. Then, a smile grew up one his face. Gather some more threads, Shears started to work on the last piece his outfit he planed to wear for Error.

So what if that stupid malware in him wouldn't heal him. Shears could work around that easily.

"Gloves would be perfect! Ffuffuffuffuffuffu~!" Shears giggled, lightly blushing at the thought of Error. "Oh my dear Error, how I can not wait to see you once more."

-With Error-

"aRE wE doNE yET?" Error groaned out, rubbing his tear marks as he looked to a panting Ink. "i mEaN....DoN'T YOu havE a lIFe? oR doES iT REvOLvE aROuND mE?" Error couldn't help but shiver in disgust at the very thought of being Ink's life.

"I won't stop fighting you until you stop destroying!" Ink snarled, eyes flashing red. "If you would just stop, we wouldn't have to be doing this almost every time!"

"sO, nEvER tHEN." Error sighed, waving around his hand. Ink could only grimace at the motion, as the hand held the rib that had broken off of Error. "thaT'S GreAT. MoThEr FuCKiNG GReaT."

"I don't see why your the one complaining." Ink frowned, getting his paint brush ready to fight once more. "Your the one that doesn't have a life."

"hEY!" Error frowned a bit, feeling a little insulted. Not on his behalf, but on the others that he spends time with. Just because Ink doesn't know about all of them - which if Error has his way, Ink will never know what he does in his free time - doesn't mean they're not real. "i DO haVE a lIFe oUTsiDe OF dEsTroYinG yOU knOW."

"Knitting and making dolls don't count." ink rolled his eyes, watching for a opening to strike. "Face it Error, you only live for destruction. You have no friends. No family. No one to love or call your own. You have no life."

'That's not true.' Error harshly glitched for a moment. 'I have Nightmare and his little gang, the Chara's and Berry....Maybe Honey too. He's Berry, that makes him mine too by association I guess. They're mine. So, they're my own. Not really friends though... And love? I have Shears-'

Error's eye sockets went blank and dark. Mind screeching to a halt like a car going hundreds miles a hour suddenly hitting the breaks for a red light.

Ink, seeing that Error was now distracted, flew in. Lifting his brush, Ink swung it down, hard.

*CRACK!*

-With Shears-

"Now then...." Shears took in a deep breath, sitting tall. "Error, I have something to tell you...No! That will not work."

After finishing the outfit he planed to wear, Shears slipped it on. He never knew when Error was going to come back, only a estimate that Error gave him. Shears wanted to be ready no matter what.

The main part of the dress was a solid dark green. Magenta flowers going around it, close to the bottom, with ruffles of a light green and a dark green under it. His shawl was now wrapped around his waist, making a bow in the back. The dress itself was strapless, so Shears made a black choker with a fold ring hanging off of it to wear around neck, holding the dress up. Also attached to the ring, other then the dress, was makeshift, long, open sleeves. They were blue and black, looking like butterfly wings.

Light pink long socks on his legs and feet, and then he made ribbons and bells to go on his sandals. So that when he walked, he sounded like a butterfly flying in the wind. Shears also made a headpiece to go on his skull, attached to his flowers on his head. It too looked like a butterfly wing.

The final piece to the whole outfit was a pair of gloves, lightly colored. Made as to not let Error see how much damage Shears did to himself, making the whole outfit.

The whole plan was to make Error's SOUL flutter.

But for now, Shears was trying to plan out what he is to say. Hoe to confess his love to the one and only Forced God Of Destruction, Error.

So, that's why he was sitting down, the little Error doll in hand.

Lifting up the doll, Shears looked into the little button eyes. Imagining it was Error himself right in front of him.

"E-E-Error...I-I...I lo..." Shears stuttered out, face getting more and more pink as he went on. Eventually, the pink overtaking his whole face. "...ove...y-y-y-you....I-!"

Giving a little squeal, Shears buried his face into the doll. Taking in deep breaths, Shears tried to calm his fast beating SOUL and brightly flushed face.

'If it is this hard just saying 'I love you' to a doll that looks like Error,' Shears's face twisted a bit in distress. 'then how hard will it be to say so to the real Error?'

Error deserved the perfect confession. One in where he knows that Shears will always love him, even if Error himself doesn't return that love.

Taking in one more deep breath, Shears lifted his head. Looking back down at the doll, all Shears could see was Error smiling at him. It didn't calm his blush or SOUL down, but it did make him more determined than ever to get this right.

"Error...I-I..l-lov-ve..yo-ou!"

-With Error-

Ink's eyes were wide, face twisted in worry. Shocked, Ink tried to move his brush, but found he couldn't. Gulping, Ink took in the sight in front of him.

When he swung his paint brush, it never came down on Error. Never made it to it's target.

Error had caught it.

With one hand, Error had caught his paint brush. Refusing to let it go. Error didn't even look like he was all there, let alone consciously catching a hit directed at him. The glitch's eyes were blank and dark, looking like darken blood. Error glitched harshly, face slack. If Ink didn't know better, and had seen Error lift a hand so nonchalantly to stop and grab the brush, he would think that Error was unconscious.

"Error! Let go this instant-!" Ink cut himself off when Error's head snapped up. Silently screaming, Ink pulled with all his might when he caught sight of Error's face.

ERROR signs littered all over the glitch now, body glitching at a fast pace. Eyes slowly coming back and glowing with magic and life.

The last time Ink saw that, Error had destroyed over a hundred AU's. That had been years and years ago though, so long ago that Ink forgets what had set Error off. All Ink knows is that when Error is too emotional or too lost in his anger, ERROR signs come to life all over him. It was one of Ink's main fears, because it was hard stopping Error when the glitch is normal. it is impossible when Error is too far gone.

Before Ink even knew what was going on, Error yanked the paint brush out of his hands. Frozen, all Ink could do was watch while Error made a portal, threw the paint brush in it, with his Gaster Blasters glitching into existence right behind him.

"inKY."

Ink shivered at the tone. Dark yet darker. Error's face twisted in so many emotions that Ink couldn't even tell what the other was feeling right then.

The Gaster Blasters's mouths opened, magic coming to life inside their glitching skulls. Error lifted his sweater just a bit, slamming his broken rib into place. Using strings to bind it in place. Letting his sweater fall back down, Error just kept staring at Ink the whole time. Ink shuddered, feeling something crawling up his back.

"R U N ."

-With Shears-

"This is going to go horribly."

"I thought that you were finally leaving me be." Shears sniffed, smoothing out his dress from where he was sitting. After feeling like he had enough confidence to say the words to Error, Shears started to make a gift. One made from his very SOUL.

"You know I can never leave you. Besides, why would that glitch want a virus like you?"

Shears stiffened, before forcibly relaxing. Slowly putting down the threads he had been using to make the gift, Shears glared up. "Error would not care about any of that. His SOUL is made of gold!"

"How do you know that? You've never seen his SOUL! And why should that matter? What about your own SOUL?"

"What do you mean?" Shears frowned in confusion, hand coming up to his chest.

"Your SOUL is so tiny. Worthless and weird. Tell me; Why would a God with a so called 'SOUL of gold' want your tiny blackened SOUL?"

That struck Shears. But he hanged on. The stitched up skeleton refused to give in on this. It would be like giving up on Error, which is something that Shears could never do.

"What Error wants, is up to him. Not you." Shears closed his eyes. A soft smile working it's way up on his face as he thought back to Error. "So, your words do no matter. Only Error's."

"Tch! Your just going to get your SOUL broken! Idiotic fool that you are, you don't see that this is just going to end badly! Fine! Do whatever you want."

"I have already planed to." Shears opened his eyes, still smiling.

Placing his hands to his chest, Shears smiled and willed his feelings to Error. Hoping that his love would reach the God, no matter where he was.

-With Error-

Error all but flew back into the Anti-VOID. The tall glitch drenched in so much blood and dust. The portal behind him showing a destroying AU, now silent and covered in dust and blood as it crumbled into nothing.

Almost none of it his own.

"Well, well! Look who it is!"

"Welcome home dumbass."

"Looks like you get that time off you always wanted, Hahaha~!"

"Just how many AU's did you destroy? You're lucky they were all copies!"

Blood smeared and splattered off of him as he fell on to his knees, the portal behind him closing up tight. Dust flaked off him, but Error paid none of that any mind. Not even the Voices could get to him right now. Not when his own thoughts were roaring at him for his own stupidity.

'Love?! Shears?! Nononononononon0n0n0n0n0n0n0n0!' Error was hyperventilating, sweat starting to form on him as he started to claw at his own face in distress. 'I can't love Shears! I can't! I'm nothing but a worthless glitch!'

Blood started pouring off his self-inflected wounds, mixing in with the rest of the blood on him. The Voices started to grow louder and louder, mocking him as always. Error was glitching harshly and at a fast pace, so close to crashing.

'What if Fate finds out?! What Ink does?!' Error started to choke, tears forming but not falling. 'They may not be able to kill me, but Shears can die! Oh stars, what would Shears think of me! A glitch loving him? Not even Shears could accept that..... I'm a broken, worthless, good for nothing God that doesn't deserve such things. He might think I'm a pervert or something for falling for him...'

With so many negative emotions in him, Error slammed his down on the white ground. A sickening crack sounded out, echoing out in the endless white. Error lifted his head slowly, the cracks and scars on his skull worse. Even the Voices went silent at the sudden abuse Error laid on himself.

Looking to his blood stained hands that were sticky with dust, Error knew that he was the last thing Shears needed.

He was a killer. The most hated Monster in the whole Multiverse. One that was trapped in a endless cycle that will never end. Error was a glitch, a error as his name implied. With nothing to him but destruction. A destroyer that was choking on Fate's threads, a puppet to his fate. Not even having death to look forward too, as trying to die does nothing. He was fated to be nothing more and nothing less then what he was.

Error is destruction.

Destruction does not love.

Destruction does not fall in love.

Destruction does not feel.

Destruction is just that. destruction.

And....And yet...

'And yet, I've fallen for someone I can never have.' A humorless chuckle rang out. 'Fate is cruel to those they hate. Even when Fate doesn't know it!'

*Drip*

Blinking, Error raised a hand to his cheeks. Pulling away his hand showed blue. Glancing down, Error saw blue mixing in with the red. Another blink making even more blue fall from him.

*Drip-Drip*

"tEaRS....?" Error hoarsely whispered. "i'M.....CrYiNG?"

It was like a dam broke. More and more tears falling from his eyes. Clinching his skull tightly, Error curled up, putting his head on his knees. After so many years, Error was crying. His SOUL breaking even further for what will never be. For what he can never have. For wanting something that he can not even wish for. Error let the tears fall, not making a sound as the Voices started up once more. Mocking him for his tears.

'Shears....I....I wish I could...' Error's hands started to leave new cracks on his skull from how hard he gripped his own skull. 'But I can't.... You'd never want something like me... I'm lucky to call you a friend. Why...why push that? Why mention something that would never come to pass? Why say something so absurd, something that you would never want or return to me?'

Taking in a deep breath, Error tightly closed his eyes. For once, wishing for something that he can never have. He tried to will all his love, all his feelings for Shears, to go away. The SOUL inside him breaking even further, making the strings holding his SOUL together stitch even further so that his SOUL would stay in one piece.

'I love you Shears.' Error moved his hands down his face, to his chest. Tightly gripping his sweater, right above where his SOUL was, Error gave a broken smile. 'I'll never be able to say it. I'll never be able to show it. But...but I wish I could. But you wouldn't want me. I want...I want-!'

"....i'M sO soRRy.... i DiDn'T mEaN ToO...." Error struggled to say, biting his lip enough to make it bleed. Conflicting emotions playing inside of him.

'I never meant to fall in love with you. I'm not meant for love, not formed for such things. You may never know Shears, but I love you. Maybe...no. I'm destruction. Formed for nothing more, living for nothing more. I can still be a friend...but..I-I can't...' Oh, how Error just wanted the pain to stop. He was so used to pain, but this was a new kind. To just rip out his SOUL and end it all, yet he knew it wouldn't work. He's tried it before. Wishing made it worse. He wanted to love Shears, wanted to give all and everything to the enchanting skeleton...but....He couldn't.

Why?

'Fate has deemed it so.'

-With Shears-

A small upside down black heart floated in small gloved covered hands. In the middle of the upside down heart was a dot of magenta.

Pulling the SOUL close, Shears looked down at it.

Softly whispering to it, doubts were heavily swallowed with a thump.

"Soon."

But....

Would hope be enough encouragement?

-End Chapter-

Here it is! I know it took a while, but it is here. DoubleStrings for Life!

I know this chapter isn't as long as my other ones, but I do think it is the most emotional heavy one...for right now that is.

I'm telling you all right now, Error is going to have a way worse breakdown in the next chapter. WAY worse. Please keep in mind that Error is not fully sane, and has many, many issues. While this story is lighter then others, it will still get heavy and dark at times. There is no way out of that with Error. Hell, Shears has issues too that are slowly unraveling. So, yeah, it will get heavy at times. Can't be helped.

For Error to realize his feelings, it had to be one of two things. First option was in a dramatic moment, where Shears's life is on the line. Either that, or Shears even dying and Error finally realizes what he feels for the skeleton. The next option was a random moment. Like, someone mentions something and Error thinks about Shears.

I went with the random moment as you call all see. Error did not take finding out about him loving Shears well. Having so many emotions coming up, making him lash out in one of the only ways he knows how; Destruction. Luckily for Error, he only destroyed a lot of copies. Meaning, he now has a vacation of sorts as he destroyed a ton of copies. The balance is in no way tipped in his favor, but it is no longer close to spilling over like before....for right now that is.

The next chapter is the one we have all been waiting for! I nicknamed the next chapter 'The Confession Chapter' in my head for a while.

Get ready for more feels.