#I didn't realize I've been so bad about crossposting these

[crazymushroomvee]

Compassion...?

Crossposted on Ao3, might be rewritten in the future.

Tags: !femreader, slight angst, anger, fluff, bad writing, amature writer.

 this version of Makarov.

Your husband, Vladimir Makarov, had arrived home from a long and stress filled day. You both lived in a small cabin hidden away from society.

His thudding footsteps could be heard from the kitchen. He took off his coat and boots. She peaked her head through the doorway of the kitchen, his icy blue eyes met hers, easily she could see his bad mood. His muscles were tense. He glared at her, and he stomped into the living room. Vladimir was mad. He wanted a argument.

"Welcome back dear." she said softly attempting to not provoke his anger. She popped her head back into the kitchen. She returned to her cooking.

He sat still clenching his fists. He heard her soft humming from the kitchen. Vladimir got up. Walked over to the kitchen and leaned in the door frame, he watched her figure. Her sweetness irritated him, he wanted her to provoke him. Shout at him. 

He came closer to you and spoke aggressively, with obvious bad intentions.

"Who are you cooking this dinner for?"

You looked confused "You and me?" she looked at him. "who else? It's just us for miles around dearest." she smiled softly as she chopped some fruit. Her sweet voice and gentle smile were just driving him crazy. Makarov was just waiting for her to argue, but she was doing the complete opposite. He sighed.

"Do you even have any idea what I've been through today?"

"No, but I'm willing to listen. That is if you wish to tell me." she said with a soft smile. He was surprised by her gentle responses. It was getting on his nerves, her sweet smile and gentle tone of voice was making him weak. His anger turned into frustration. He looked at her with his piercing eyes and said "I don't want to talk about it."

She nodded. "I understand." She turned her attention to cooking and put the fruit in a bowl, you set it aside.

He stayed near her, waiting for a reaction from her. Her gentleness was driving him crazy. He spoke to her once again. "How come you're so calm? Aren't you angry or disappointed at me?"

"My love, you haven't given me a reason to be. I understand your upset and I want to help. But if you dont want talk thats okay." She put some chicken in the oven. She had a soft smile. "Would drinking something help?"

His brows furrowed for a moment then the relaxed.

"Yes.."

"Great, I'll get you a drink in a moment. You can go sit down." She said gently. His cold behaviour and expression faltered for a moment, she was so sweet.. he tensed up again and walked to the living room and sat in his armchair.

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

"Love! I've finished cooking, go sit at the dining table." she called from the kitchen. He snapped from his trance, he was deep in thought. He lifted himself out of his armchair and took tired steps towards his dining chair.

Moments later she walked in carrying two plates, she placed one in front of V-vladimir and one in front of her seat. She walked back into the kitchen, grabbing cutlery, glasses and a bottle of wine. She placed them on the table. Then she lowered herself in her seat.

"Are you feeling better now dear?" she asked as she poured them both some wine. He realized that she was genuine and didn't really want to argue with him. That made him even angrier. He took a deep breath and spoke to her.

"You're not even mad at me? I can't stand it when you're so sweet and gentle like this."

"Is there a reason is should be mad..?"

He was still irritated, but he felt like a little kid who was sulking. His anger was melting.

"It's just frustrating. You're a woman. A woman should be angry if her own husband comes home in a bad mood."

"Why? This is when you need time and compassion, not blind rage from the one you love." She spoke softly.

He looked at her with a very surprised look in his eyes. He was just baffled by what she was telling him. He was not used to being treated with love and care from anyone. He had never even been hugged before. He tried to cover his weakness by taking another aggressive approach.

"You're coddling me, as if I have emotions like a child. This is not normal."

"Do you want me to stop talking? I can if you wish." she asked with care.

He saw that her kindness was genuine, and that's what made him weak. In fact, he was completely overwhelmed by her kindness. This was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt like he had hit a brick wall. He was lost. Makarov always got his way, he was never denied.

"I... I am just confused. I never had someone like you in my life before."

she placed her hand on his and gently squeezed it.

"It's time to change that my love." she kissed him on the cheek. "We should eat before it gets cold."

He turned slightly red. He knew that he had become soft in front of her. He was embarrassed, but still, he was happy. This feeling of softness was nice. Makarov took a deep breath.

"Yeah, that is a good idea." It was strange seeing him not being aggressive after work. He started eating.

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

When they had both finished she took all of the dishes and places them in the kitchen sink. Vladimir followed her, he felt more at ease now. He gently whispered her name.

"Yes my love?"

"Thank you.. for everything.." he said looking down at the floor.

"No problem. I love you." she got out a sponge and cleaned the counters. Her movements were fluid and gentle. He watched her movements. He was captivated.

"I.. I love you too.." he spoke softly he wasn't used to showing weakness "Do you need any help..?"

"If you don't mind, could you start to wash the dishes? Thank you Vova.." she smiled. (Vova, shortened/nickname form of Vladimir)

He nodded and walked to the sink and began to clean the dishes. She soon came up behind him and hugged him. "Do you want to talk about it..?"

"Do you mind if I do..?"

"Of course not, I'll always listen to you my dear." She stood by him and listened. He explained about how his men were getting lazier and nearly compromised a whole operation. He sighed.

"Sometimes they are just idiots.." he mumbled.

"That sounds stressful. I'm sorry, I wish they were more competent."

He finished with the dishes, he turns his body and looked her in the eyes. His gentle touch on her arms caused butterflies in her stomach. They embraced.

 

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

They moved to the bed and cuddled.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[oonajaeadira]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you for the tag, @insomniamamma. For the record, I think you write beautiful smut. I appreciate it for its realness and connection.

How many works do you have on ao3? Aw man, you made me log into my AO3 account? I haven't been around there recently because I feel bad about leaving some messages unanswered. Tumbletown is my main fic home and I haven't really had the time to post here, much less on AO3. (Answer the question Adira.) It says I have 19. I don't post there until they're here and sometimes don't crosspost. Mainly I've been posting over there only if I have a complete series, although sorry LMR readers both there AND here.

2. What's your total ao3 word count? 260,317. Seeing as how not even half of my fic is up over there, I cringe to think of what my actual wordcount is.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Pedro Pascal. Which is an umbrella for the actual fandoms contained therein.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos According to AO3? Losing My Religion, A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop, A Rare Treat, The Sweets Series, Eyes Closed, Comm Open. According to Tumblr: Good. Things. Take. Time. (this one's a Tumble exclusive, dunno if I'll ever AO3 that one), Losing My Religion, Dulces Suenos, The Sweets Series, A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop.

5. Do you respond to comments? I do. Every one. I know I'm behind on some and I'm sorry about that. I let that bother me enough that it's getting in the way of my writing and I shouldn't do that.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't like to leave angst hanging and only use it as a trampoline for a happy ending, but I guess the closest thing I have would be A Kiss Before Dying and in Death We Combine. Even if it ends in "death," at least they get to be together.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them? LOL. Of the multi-chapters I've actually finished, probably A Girl Walks Into a Bookshop.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Only in passing. There were the mean girls that were kind of being catty over on a few other blogs about GTTT when it blew up much to my surprise (yes, of course I saw all of that, mean girls gonna mean). I remember some comment about not trivializing massage therapists just because I have a shitty back.... and all I could think was, hey. First of all, I can tell you didn't even read it, you're just mad about it blowing up. Not my fault. Next. Don't talk about my back. You wouldn't like being injured and having people talk smack about a piece of your body that gives you pain beyond comprehension, y'bigot. Also not my fault. Once I realized they were just mean girls meaning, I let it roll off and got my own satisfaction by writing a pretty bomb series based on some of their prompt lists that I never would have seen if I hadn't been clued into the smack. Turn that hate into something great!

9. Do you write smut? I do. Not exclusively and it's never the main dish of the story. If it does show up, it's usually the result of a long period of longing and/or feelings exchange.

10. Craziest crossover? I'm not a crossover gal. Every once in a while I'll write an easter egg into another fic (there are several in GTTT), but nothing heavy duty. There was the time The Mandalorian got something of a cameo in a Sweet's fic tho....

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Oh gods, I hope not. That would suck. I hate blocking people.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? YES! But not in the way you might think! @katareyoudrilling did an amazing job translating the first chapter of Good. Things. Take. Time. into a sexytime roleplay script!!!! I'M STILL SQUEEING ABOUT IT.

13. Have you co-written a fic before? In a way. For a while when RP accounts were in full swing, I was falling very much in love with the adventure I was creating with @morally-gray-prospector. That account was so amazing, run by one of the smartest writers I've ever known here, but they were TOO good and poured themselves generously into their responses, which got them quite a following...and they burned themselves out! While my story with Ezra didn't have an ending, I never expected it to. I meant it when I said it to the writer: I'm just so happy to have an adventure with Ezra and every minute working on it was a joy that I will love forever. I'm glad they had fun too and didn't keep pushing themselves when it was no longer sustainable. <3

All time favorite ship? It's Din and Little Bird. Now that I know how that story is going to soft-end, they're my favorite couple of all time.

What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will Oh, I'll finish them all. Right now, Branded is in the most danger of lingering, since I have to figure some stuff out with them. But if I could solve the puzzle of Losing My Religion, then I have no doubt that I'm eventually going to get on with that one too.

What are your writing strengths? I don't know what my strengths are, but I like the magic of showing without showing. I like pacing. I enjoy trying to get the characters' voices right and make the dialog real.

What are your writing weaknesses? I am slow. And I make a show of "not following the rules" as if I'm some kind of rebel, but really, I'm just bad at following rules!!!!

Thoughts on dialogue in another language I try to avoid it for the most part because I usually mess it up pretty badly. I generally don't write Din in Mando'a because I haven't really heard him speak it in the series and he seems to always default to Basic even if he understands it spoken to him, so I can't shake the feeling that it's out of character. But Little Bird is a Mandalorophile, so she'd definitely know it and use it. I do sometimes pull in Spanish for Sweets, but it's usually because it's two characters who actually would speak it when Sunday's not around, and even then I try to make sure it's basic enough for folks to follow. The one time I tried to put Italian in I messed it up pretty good, but a beautiful reader helped correct it for me and I'm so so so grateful. <3

First fandom you wrote for I know I have a Doctor Who piece in a notebook somewhere hidden away. And I most likely have a slew of Ranma pieces from my college days. Were there any before that? Possibly.

Favorite fic you've written I have too many. I write really slow, so if it's actually made it to Tumbles, that means I loved it enough to manifest it. Some of them I love because of the fandom, some because of the relationship, some because of the world building, some because of the interaction, and most because of the good time I had writing it. Right now I'm seeing people reading Losing My Religion, and I've had reason to dip into some of those chapters and re-read a little and it's reminded me how much I love writing for the Star Wars universe, how much confidence I have in it. That was the first fic I really wrote, and I put so much of myself into it... so if I choose a favorite, I'll point there first even if it's not really finished yet.

.

tagging: @blueeyesatnight @ezrasbirdie @missredherring @leslie-lyman @prolix-yuy

[mentallyshattered]

This is part 14 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

"A nightmare? Both of them? I've heard of familiars having similar dreams, given how common it is, but it's generally accepted that having a familiar is a nightmare deterrent." Vil pauses, his face pensive. "Generally, though, having a familiar means you won't have any nightmare you can't be woken from. And you're sure it was a bad dream?"

"Positive. He kept begging some unknown figure for help; it was something like 'please, make this stop' over and over again, quietly."

"Hmm. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll see what I can do."

"You know, Roi de Poison, I have seen Monseur Smoke go and punch trees quite often, until he bleeds. Every time, his attacks last one half-hour, if uninterrupted."

"That does sound like it could be related." Vil turns his head towards me and Grim rather suddenly, as though he forgot we were there. "Yuu, Grim, go and eat. You need the energy, and you've already done enough here. Make sure to drink some water; you two haven't been drinking enough."

Grim and I follow Vil's instruction and leave. Breakfast is avocado toast, which I'm pretty sure is our housewarden's way of making sure everybody eats a decent amout of something green instead of living on fish like the whole dorm seems to try.

While the ice water is nice, I can't bring myself to enjoy it. What of my friends? What of Ace and Deuce, with their tyrant housewarden? What of Korrak and Mandible, with their unknown nightmares?

"H-Hey, Yuu."

"Hi, Korrak! What's up?" Looking into his smokey grey eyes, I can understand why Rook calls him 'Monseur Smoke.'

"Not much, but I'm p-p-pretty sure we have t-t-t-t-to join a club. What club are you joining?"

"Myeh? We have to join a club?"

"Yeah, by the end of the week," Mandible adds, "have you seen the options?"

"Uhh, nope." Grim and I speak in unison this time.

"Well, w-w-we can all g-go and look at the opt-t-t-tions lat-t-t- Mandible, you know what I was g-g-going t-t-t-"

"Sure do. Anyway, do you two wanna go to the courtyard later today and look at the options?"

"Sure! Sounds fun."

Korrak looks relived. "Thanks, bud. You've always b-b-been there f-for me." Korrak turns to Grim and I. "Th-th-the speech issue is w-w-w-worse when I haven't eat-t-t-en."

Grim and I nod. "Isn't everything?"

"Fair point." Mandible seems to share Grim's sentiment. I hand Korrak a piece of toast, and he starts adding butter and avocado almost immediately.

When Grim and I get to class, we discover a well-rested Ace with no collar on.

"Yeah, housewarden Riddle must've had a change of heart or something. He's stopped enforcing most of the rules, and now Ace's punishment for stealing is helping Trey bake the tarts for the party. We still can't play croquet after 5:00pm, though."

I smile. Grim and I were right. Riddle did just need a hug and some time to himself.

The rest of class goes by without incident. It would be boring if I weren't learning the history of an entirely new world, but, hey, I'm in luck!

Alchemy sees me successfully using magic to catch a glass jar that got knocked off of a shelf. It "certainly would've shattered" on the stone floor if not for my "catlike reflexes-" or so Crewel says, anyway.

To be honest, I didn't even realize I knew a spell that could save that jar. I just panicked and attempted one I've read about. Good for me!

P.E. sucks, as usual. Ace stays conscious, though! Not without a bad sunburn that got him sent to the nurse anyway, but baby steps.

Lunch is tomato soup, which is the first time the main dish of a Pomefiore meal does not and cannot include fish. Even this morning, there were pieces of salmon for the avocado toast.

"So, Epel, w-what club are you in?"

"Spelldrive. Cain't wait fer practice t' start up, lemme tell ya! Hopefully I'll git bigger an' stop lookin' so-"

"Epel, Vil's in the room." Epel, despite having just been interrupted by four people, one of whom is a cat and another of whom is an opossum, does not delay his speaking. That's gotten pretty normal, after all.

"Whoop, sorry. Thanks, y'all. 'Nyway, I'd jus' like t' be a little less girly, y'know?"

"I g-get that. I got mist-t-t-aken for a girl all the t-t-t-"

"Take another bite of your soup, Korrak."

"Thanks, Mandible." He obeys. "Anyway, people u-used t-t-to think I was a girl all the t-t-time. They'd p-pick on me 'cause of that- you should've seen th-the looks on their faces when I beat the shit out of them."

Korrak laughs. I recall what I heard Rook say about Korrak punching trees until he bleeds, and spilling no blood for half an hour every time. Guess that's just what he's like.

Korrak doesn't strike me as a violent person so much as the retalliative sort. Why would he be violent? He doesn't start fights, he doesn't bully people, and he doesn't tolerate bullshit.

"It was always real f-funny, watching them s-s-suff-"

"Korrak." Our housewarden now stands tall behind the Korrak's confident figure.

"Uh, when I beat the bully out o-of them."

"Perfect." With that, Vil walks off. I wonder, why did it take him so long to react? Then again, this room is full of teens. Epel can't be the only potty mouth.

Korrak watches Vil go and shrugs. "That's life, I s-suppose." His stutter has noticeably improved since eating more of his soup, but is still present.

"Do you fight often, Korrak?"

"Only when I g-gotta. Kids back a-at my elementary school called me th-the gas st-t-t-ation, cuz I w-was nice t-t-to have around unt-il there were s-sparks."

Yeah, that makes sense. It's a little hard to imagine people pissing him off at all, but especially recalling the tree-punching thing. After all, Korrak stands tall and confident, with square shoulders and a smirk that suggests anyone who goes looking for trouble with him will find more of it than they bargained for. There's a spark in his eyes, like the sun peaking out from smoke, that makes it obvious: you fuck with Korrak, you've fucked up.

He's not shy, that's my point. He is kinda cute though, what with the hair- ashy purple and super fluffy. Combine that with his beautiful eyes and some teenage jealousy, and you've probably got at least one kid challenging him to make sure he stays away from their lover.

"Myah, we have class!"

Everybody's eyes widen. Evidently, the whole room forgot we aren't eating dinner.

Then, from various voices accross the room: "run!"

Luckily, Grim and I make it to class on time. Biology class is about morays today- specifically, the differences between cold sea morays and warm sea morays.

According to Trein, there's a trench that separates the sea. Morays who lay eggs on the south side lay two connected egg sacks. One side only has babies with magical left eyes, and the other only has babies with magical right eyes. The babies in each side fight until only one is left, and the survivors are twins.

Warm sea morays have nothing of the sort. Eggs can't be carried over the trench because the temperature change kills them, and keeping them on the side they weren't laid on requires keeping them at the temperature of the other side.

Cold sea morays can lay warm sea eggs, and vice versa. It's all location, and it's all very facinating. But, alas, class cannot go on forever.

MacGyvering shows us using drills as motors for fans, boats, and a variety of other things. Not really, though- we're making blueprints. Reasonable enough, if you ask me.

Finally, class is over. I hold Grim and carry him to the courtyard so he can sleep on the way. Korrak and Mandible are already waiting.

They wave. I wave back. Korrak motions to me to stand over by him, and I follow his lead. Beside him is a big list of all the clubs, pinned to the wall.

"I was thinking of joining the track and field club, but I'm not really sure. What do you think?"

"Well... what kind of stuff do you like?"

"The science club sounds fascinating. I've always liked all of it, anyway, but..."

"But what?"

"Well, I want to be more physical."

"You don't have to be in a club to use the gymnasium, Korrak."

"Yeah, great point. Science Club it is!" With that, he starts filling out an application that apparently just needed a few more fields to be filled in.

"Myeh?.. what time is... oh, I took a nap." Grim yawns, putting his, frankly, adorable little teeth on display. "What club are we joining?"

"I don't know yet. That's why we're here, Grim."

Grim hops onto the ground, does the iconic kitty stretch, and hops onto the bench. Before I can wonder why, he jumps onto Korrak's shoulder- the one that doesn't have Mandible on it- and onto my shoulder from there.

"You can just ask me to pick you up, Grim."

"Where's the fun in that?"

I sigh and roll my eyes. What clubs are there? Board Games, Mountain Lovers, Gargoyle Studies... out of those, Board Games seem like the best option.

"Where are the applications?" Korrak hands me one.

"Hey, you didn't even tell me what club you picked! We're both going, so we both need to approve!"

"I picked the board games club, Grim."

"Ooh. Sounds fun, I'm in!"

I grin. "We sure are!"

[transmascrage]

TLOU Episode 3 and Masculinity

(Crossposted on Reddit, that's why I'm explaining that I'm trans)

I hadn't cried this hard in so long. This episode broke me in the best way.

It's not just the beautiful life Bill and Frank have together, it's how deeply I felt their first meeting. Bill being so hunched over and stiff until he realized Frank was safe to be queer and vulnerable around, and them crying because they found another person like themselves in the apocalypse.

Queer people still experience these emotions without all the zombies around, and it was so great to see happy queer people in a genre-setting where many fans assume a patriarchal and heteronormative system will be the norm, and that all civil and social rights "won't matter anymore". Lord knows how many times I've heard people say "If we were in the apocalypse, no one would respect your pronouns" like that's supposed to hurt my feelings? Bring back the attack helicopter jokes at this point.

I feel like unless you're queer yourself, you won't understand why Frank asking "Who's the girl?" and Bill replying "There is no girl" and bursting into tears says so much with few words.

Frank is testing the waters, he can tell Bill has some queerness to him (gaydar is real, it's just being able to pick up on subtle cues, and the only reason most cishet people are bad at it is becayse you need to engage with queer spaces and media to see them), but he's testing how aware Bill is of it and how he'll react to a gay man near him when he's repressed it for so long.

And Bill breaks down because he feels safe enough to do so around him, and he can tell Frank will understand why there is no girl.

And then later, Frank asking if he's ever had sex with anyone before, and Bill saying "There was a girl, a long time ago" and Frank saying "I know" made me so emotional because Frank is saying "I know you tried to fit in, and it didn't work".

And then I cried again when Frank asked him to spend their last day together. And then again when Bill decided to die with him.

Bill's message to Joel reminded me of some old queer books, like Stone Butch Blues, I read where butch lesbians defend their femme lovers, or where sensitive, femme gay men are defended by masc gay men. Not as a "simulation" of het relationships, but as a way of protecting the less vulnerable members of the community.

After all, while Bill is the one mostly protecting Frank, Frank also defends Bill when the raiders attack. He jumps in the line of fire to take him back inside and tends to his wound, saving his life. And Tess isn't just a "defendee" either, she's very capable and protects Joel and Ellie (as well as herself) in the short time we see her. Furthermore, she's never treated by Joel as just someone to protect. While he wants her to be safe, he lets her do her thing while guaranteeing her backup if she needs it.

It's like when adult queer people (the mature ones, at least) defend younger queer people with tooth and nail, because they can be really obnoxious and open about their queerness (in an endearing way, I promise!) and we won't let the world hurt our young. It's saying, "Actually, making your entire personality about being gay/trans IS a necessary part of the process, so fuck off!"

I saw someone on TikTok say episode 3 made him want to be a better man, and I think protecting the people you love is an amazing ideal of masculinity to uphold. I'm a trans man, which means I've had to analyze my view of manhood and masculinity than most cis men do, and I also think this is the conclusion I've gotten to.

Lastly, I'm actually pleasantly surprised at how the fandom took this episode! I mean yeah, there were the expected homophobic comments, but they're so cartoonishly hateful it's hard to take them seriously.

The rest of the public saying they disliked it seemed to be people who wanted the episode to be like the game, and for Joel to meet up with Bill. Which is fair, honestly (though I disagree).

The rest has been really accepting! I've seen so many cishet men saying they loved the episode and even cried watching it. It makes me hopeful that things are getting better even in fandom spaces that are traditionally homophobic, like gaming communities.

[newwwwusername]

Zootopia - Nick & Bogo - Bad Things Happen Bingo Prompt : Fantastic Racism (Speciesism)

@badthingshappenbingo

Warning : Predator (specifically fox) discrimination as an allegory for other forms of discrimination, trauma involving restraint (muzzling)

Chronology : Post-first movie

Author's note : I'm not sure if Zootopia counts since they're not fantastical species but this was just what came to mind when I saw "Speciesism" so here we are

Nick was ZPD's first fox officer, much to the dismay of certain prey-superiority groups and even a lot of other predators.

Foxes were dumb, sleazy con-artists. How was a fox supposed to protect the people who needed it?

"Officer Wilde" Chief Bogo said at the end of a meeting with his force. Nick's head snapped up and everyone in the room looked at him in confusion. "I want to speak to you privately after everyone disbands"

"Yes, sir"

Once everyone else was gone, Nick timidly walked up and sat across from the buffalo.

"I've been getting in a lot of complaints about you from the general population" Bogo informed. Nick's heart sank. He didn't know what he'd done wrong this time. Truly, he'd been trying to be good. "You're not in trouble, don't worry"

"What were the complaints?"

"Certain people don't like that we've recruited a fox into the force" Bogo sighed. Nick wanted to cry. "You're job isn't in jeopardy, I promise" Bogo tried to reassure, though that hardly helped. "I'm just letting you know so you heard it from me first"

"I mean, I knew coming in that taking in a fox wasn't the norm" Nick replied. "I just didn't realize people would feel strong enough to phone in about it..."

"Your job is protected" Bogo assured him. "There was a policy put in place after everything with Bellwether that protects predators' jobs from being taken away on the basis of discrimination, along with other things"

"The Predators Protection Act" Nick nodded. "I'm aware"

"So why do you look so worried?"

"I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this anymore" Nick admitted and he looked so small in that moment. "Maybe that was naïve but I thought, after everything, people would finally stop seeing me as just some slippery con-man"

"Wilde..."

"I was muzzled as a kid" the fox told him. Bogo's eyes widened. "I had joined the Junior Ranger Scouts and I was the only predator but I didn't realize that would be a problem" he explained. "The other kids were nice at first but then, they..."

"Oh, Nick"

"I just..." Nick sighed. "I don't like that people still think of me like that"

...

"I want you to take an off day" Bogo said, sitting up straight. Nick's eyes widened. "Not because of any of the complaints" the buffalo was quick to reassure. "But I can tell this is hard news for you and I want you on your A-game, so I want you to take the rest of the day to relax" he explained. "Maybe get yourself something nice"

"Thank you, sir"

"Don't mention it" Bogo smiled. "Now, run along"

"Yes, Chief"

Do not repost on other platforms!! I will be crossposting this to AO3 under the same username

[rose-madder-gaze]

A lot of growing pains, a lot of playing it safe.

February - March - June - July - August - October

Goodbye, 2021.

Image description: A grid of twelve cropped images representing each month of 2021 and the art that I drew during them. January is a portrait of my OC, a ship captain with dark curly hair and large gold earrings in his ears. February is the portrait of Crowe I drew for the FFXV Changing Fates Zine. March is the fashion AU commission I did of Noctis. April is the anniversary art I drew of Chandra from the webcomic, "The Otherknown." May is the birthday art I did of my TTRPG Dante with his dark hair grown out. June is the other fashion AU commission I did; the crop is on Ignis. July is the portrait of Dr. Sania I drew in my geometric style. August is my space AU Gentiana and Luna. September is another geometric portrait, this time of V from DMC5. October is a portrait of my half-Goliath, half-orc, Jendregar. November is pixel art of my farmer and Elliott from Stardew Valley. December is art of Gentiana. This year's summary background is the foamy surface of the ocean at sunset. End ID.

[sindrafalcone]

This might be long so please bear with me. I'm sorry you didn't get the response you were hoping for with your latest scenario. I've noticed this with a lot of writers after they come back from a long hiatus. I ask that you consider a few things before giving up hope: recognize that you haven't written in a while (for good reason) and that some of your followers may no longer be active on tumblr. VIP fandom is pretty quiet right now, especially on tumblr. 1/6

I personally don't even search the scenario tags for Big Bang anymore because there is rarely any new content. I'll admit I didn't read your latest piece until I saw your post about being discouraged and felt bad. I'm not crazy about the Nannyverse (please don't hate me it's just not my cup of tea!) and tend to skip updates on it, but after reading it, it could be a standalone oneshot. 2/6      I appreciate that you tackled things that writers typically don't, because I feel like Seunghyun would/does suffer from body image issues. Usually with scenarios involving him it's very one-note and people don't bother to explore anything outside of his domineering T.O.P persona. So thank you for that. And as usual it was well-written and easy to visualize the scene you created so please don't think you've gotten rusty or anything! 3/6Which brings me to notes on scenarios. Fanfic is free & feedback is important to authors in order to keep content flowing, we as readers should know & respect that. I find it easier to give "notes" on sites like AO3. I can read the story & leave a kudo whether I'm logged in or not. I use the Likes system on tumblr as an archive so I don't usually "like" scenarios unless they blow me away & I plan to read it multiple times. That sounds super harsh, but it's how I keep my account organized 4/6On tumblr I prefer to write to the author (like I'm doing now) to let them know what I liked about the story. That way I'm doing my part as a reader, but it's still a double-edged sword because the notes on the post don't change and I know they’re important to authors. I always feel guilty about that, but there's no real anonymity option on tumblr besides writing feedback this way so I feel stuck. 5/6         ANYWAY, what I'm trying to say is that: your writing is still amazing; VIP fandom on tumblr is dead;  maybe you can explore options like AO3 (crossposting your work?) to reach a larger audience. Also, your first 5 tags on a post are the most important so make sure you're hitting active/relevant tags first. I hope that made sense and was helpful in some way. Please don't be discouraged, and I look forward to reading more of your work! 6/6            

Whew! That’s... a lot. lol So, I’ll stick my reply under a cut because it will probably also be a lot.

I realize that I was just being needy and whiny with my post. I know that the VIP tumblr fandom is dead right now. Almost every piece of writing that I’ve put up for the past year has maybe 25 notes max. So, I knew it was coming... I just didn’t expect it to be (essentially) just one note.  

I don’t hate anyone for their reading preferences. That’s why there’s so many different kinds of literature out there... something for everyone! Slow burn, domestic bliss romance is not everyone’s cup of tea & I totally get that. Please don’t feel bad for not reading it if that’s not the type of thing you like. But I do give you credit for trying it out anyway. Thanks for that!

I am working on transferring (most) everything over to Ao3. https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sindra_Falcone/works

Unfortunately for you, I’ve started with The Nanny. (Sorry about that!) But I hope to get it all over there eventually. Although I find that Ao3 seems to be geared more toward shipping fics & less reader fics. (If that makes any sense?) So I don’t know how much interaction they’ll get there either.

And I do understand what you mean about tumblrs notes system. You’re actually smarter than I am, using it to keep things organized.  I’d never thought of that & now I wish I had! lol So, yeah... that makes reader feedback limited, unfortunately.

Thank you very much for your reassurance that I haven’t lost the touch completely. I can’t help but wonder sometimes, ya’ know? I think the next oneshot is going to be Jiyong. (I’ll try posting it both places & see what happens.) I’ve been itching to write him again for a while. It’s just I have a tendency to go back to Nannyverse because it’s familiar... comfortable. I really do need to branch out though.

I want you to know, anon, that I am extremely appreciative for this ask. It’s given me some perspective & encouragement.