#I don't know if I'll actually write this fic

[scribeofmorpheus]

I hate how LLMs have made it very untrustworthy to regard what one comes across as genuine craft anymore. i know artists are struggling big time with scrapping. I even wrote a paper on how openai was scrapping ao3 based on their early story prompt structures reading like a lot of popular fanfics i'd read before.

i was actually so paranoid that i locked most of my fics on ao3. sometimes i roll back the lock when i work on a fic again, but i usually lock em back up again after a while. scrapping is abhorent and i hate how much ai has shifted digital art paradigms and is now seeping into fandom culture.

I will say that i do find the "nonsense description" portion of this post a bit hard to align with. I'll get into it below the cut. but this is purely discursive, I'm not condemning or abstaining (I'm on op's side here), I'm just pointing out some factoids of my own for perspective!

here it is:

""her nimble fingers worked with quiet precision" (ct. 1), "his grip firm but tender" (ct. 33), "her gown pooling around her like embers" (ct. 1)."

See, I write like this, becuase i was trained in poetry first and then moved on to prose later. i use imagery, i use atmospherics, i use sensation in place of actual telegraphed motion or action that one expects of an action alone--it flows better, sounds sweeter and sometimes, yes, nimble fingers can move with quiet precision (not quiet as in "sound" but as in "understated", as in "draws little attention to the movement"). Firm but tender is another of my favourites--juxtaposition, contrast between the outward seen and felt execution of the action and the internalised, more personal mode of emotion conveyed so as to angle how we broach the situation. "firm but tender" is assuring, it's safe. "firm and rough" is more edged, and since we're left with little assumption of the setting and intent of such action, we cannot tell if the action and the emotions align--if its sexual, is it also consensual? if it's violent, is it because of haste to act, fear, annoyance, etc, etc. now "pooling like embers" is odd. embers spark and bristle and fly and catch things on fire, they disperse and scatter, never hold a body of matter congealed enough to pool. pooling like unfurled flame from dragon's breath? yeah, now that works! especially if it's a magic setting.

all this to say, ai is making it exceeding harder to prove craft is genuine if you work outside structural modes one can fact check. if you try to be more experimental, there's high chance you'll end up like me, and chip away at rigid writing structure in order to form your own voice. repetition and favoured descriptions is also a known trait of writers. one of my fav fanfic writers back in the day used to love "hard" after a pause. like: "he slammed the door, hard." or "his kiss pressed deep into me, hard." and it was noticeable and i loved seeing they had a tell.

though, i do agree that one of the things that need the least repetition in fiction is hair colour. but even published books like to remind readers of physical traits id it's something the author is so beguiled by. poor writing, but writing none the less.

i did suspect something was off with TSATS because of how fast the updates rolled. because damn! 23k word update after a 13k word update with less than 48 hrs between? crazy if true. but alas, i don't think i have it in me to be disappointed if i go seeking and do indeed find a pattern that proves LLM usage.

but to all my fic writers that take like half a day to write 3 pages and the other half procrastinating, if you (like me) got notified of all the updates and wondered if you weren't "productive" enough, you are not making a product, these are labours of love, keep at it, at your own pace, with your own skill, the process is the process!

we need to talk about The Silence and The Song

as per my last post, i have received a lot of encouragement to go public with this, and the more disappointed people i have in my dms, the angrier i get. so i will.

the silence and the song is an ancient arlathan au DA fic on ao3 by luxannaslut, and it is partly, if not entirely, written by an ai. i have no wish to be involved in any kind of fandom drama or witch hunting or bullying, but as a writer myself there are few things that piss me off more than watching people steal the work of others because they can't be fucked to write. it's disrespectful to your fellow writers, it's disrespectful to your readers, and it's disrespectful to the authors of the works the ai is stealing from.

ai is a plague that has no business being in creative spaces and you must do better.

the writing pattern

there was something very odd and monotone about the sentence structure of tsats that i couldn't quite place, so i fed chatgpt a prompt along the lines of "two people in a fantasy novel hate each other, but they secretly desire one another, and they kiss", and the screenshots above are the results. the third one is an excerpt from chapter 40 of tsats. the writing pattern is identical and it doesn't seem like the "writer" has even bothered to pretend they wrote it. if you're going to use ai, at least be sneaky about it. you know, paraphrase a little.

nonsense descriptions

"her nimble fingers worked with quiet precision" (ct. 1), "his grip firm but tender" (ct. 33), "her gown pooling around her like embers" (ct. 1).

fingers don't make sound, so what does quiet precision mean? as opposed to what? her joints cracking with every movement? how is a grip firm but tender? what does that mean? since when do embers pool?

the entire fic is littered with these adjectives that contradict each other or just straight up do not make sense, because all an ai does is generate descriptive language with no understanding of what the words it's spitting out actually mean. i could spend hours picking out examples from the seven billion pages worth of text, but i quite frankly have better things to do and would simply challenge you to try getting through a chapter or two without noticing the pattern.

repetition at structure-level

all the scenes in this fic are described in pretty much the same way. they open with purple prose vomit of the surroundings; solas is standing somewhere looking "unreadable as ever"; ellana's fiery golden molten fire copper ember ginger red hair is flowing this and that way; there's some dialogue with whoever is present and it leaves ellana feeling different variations of "something she couldn't name". this is, once again, a blatantly obvious sign of ai. below is the result of me feeding chatgpt the line "write me a scene from a fantasy novel where a woman with red hair is sitting on the ground in a magical garden at night", and side by side with that is the opening scene of the fic. make your own judgement.

repetition at word-level

this one speaks for itself. we fucking get it. her dress is orange, her hair is red, mythal's presence is heavy in the room, solas looks unreadable, compassion is sitting on her head like a crown, solas' ears are betraying him and ellana's move with every thought she thinks. we get it. the issue here is that an ai remembers the info you feed it, but not necessarily the info it shits out. if it's being told to write scene after scene of an elven woman with a gown that looks like fire doing xyz, it's going to do so with no regard for how many times the reader has already been informed of these details.

lastly: the breakneck speed

359,6k words in four weeks by a person who allegedly is employed and married and hasn't pre-written anything? no. any writer will tell you that this simply isn't possible. it absolutely infuriates me to see how much praise this "writer" gets for posting up to three full chapters in a day without anyone calling bullshit. i am pulling out my hair, you guys.

why i'm not going to live and let live this one

perhaps i would be less angry if the fic was some silly bullshit court intrigue Y/A stuff, but this is a text that handles very heavy and triggering topics such as SA, coercion, domestic abuse, and other things of the same vein. to sit back and put your feet up while having a robot write these extremely sensitive and very real human experiences with words it has stolen from texts written by actual persons is fucking heinous. the "writer" should be deeply ashamed of themselves and i'm sick and tired of watching people eat up their bs.

and on that note: the amount of people in my dm's telling me that they feel stupid and naive for not clocking this has infuriated me more than anything else. you're not foolish for this. being fed ai-generated bullshit is not what is supposed to happen on any creative platform and much less a fandom-centred one, so of course no one approaches a fic through that lens. fandom and fic writing is supposed to be about passion and the only person in this situation who needs to do better and change their behaviour is luxannaslut. polluting our creative spaces, wasting the time of your readers, and minimising the effort of actual writers who are working hard to provide content for us all to share and enjoy is vile and so, so lazy. i beg of you: do better.

[protect-namine]

yingdu episode 5 spoilers

ohhh my god this is everything I want from cheng xiaoshi. yes. perfect. sorry, but I'm a cheng xiaoshi whump liker and link click always brings out the best of them in episode 5 of each season.

there's just something cathartic about how when cheng xiaoshi becomes an emotional mess, it's also when he's most disconnected with the people he knows (physically, as he's diving in a photo and his only link to his home timeframe is a disembodied lu guang in his head) but it's also when he's most connected with strangers (when their own personal trauma lines up with his). to me, it's a showcase of empathy and a strange manifestation of his own agency. something about how the disconnect gives him the space to blow up, and the connection heightens it and grants him permission, almost, to express his anger more freely for his own sake and for another person's behalf.

like. listen, okay, I'm gonna ramble now because cheng xiaoshi is my favorite character in this entire show, but listen. sometimes some fans will conflate adjectives to his character that are usually associated with his character archetype, but they aren't necessarily true about him as a character. and I don't mean it in a, "he's not like that because he grows out of those traits" kind of way. I mean it in a, "he was never like that" kind of way.

one of those adjectives, for me, is when people call him immature. he isn't! to me! imo! he's got big emotions, yes, but I personally don't think the presence of big emotions indicates anything about maturity. because you know what? as long as his primary trauma (feelings of abandonment) isn't touched, he is very good at handling interpersonal conflicts, and that's what's interesting to me.

qiao ling hides relevant information from him? he removes himself from the situation to give himself space and sort out his feelings. he tells her he's fine and that he'll be back.

post-earthquake arc? I'll just copy paste what I already said in a previous ask:

what initially got me was when I was first watching S1, I thought the earthquake arc would have devastating effects on [shiguang's] relationship. listen, I didn’t know what I was getting into with link click, but I thought that was expected. it’s ripe for drama! but how do they handle the fight? they put their side business on hold but they still keep being roommates. they still do their day job. they still talk. they’re still upset but they give each other space but not to the point where they can’t stand existing in each other’s spaces. that’s when I realized that oh, they really trust each other. they have a very solid foundation for their relationship that not even the earthquake arc can break. they’re pretty level-headed about this, actually, all things considered? all the doomed yaoi stuff came later, but that’s just the cherry on top. it’s the way they handled conflict and disappointment in S1 that got me.

okay, protect-namine, why go through that whole tangent? BECAUSE! circling back to yingdu episode 5, we finally, finally get to see cheng xiaoshi let out some of his anger. and it's precisely because his primary trauma point was on the table. he can forgive a friend lying, and he can forgive being told not to change the past. because at the end of the day, qiao ling and lu guang stayed. they never left him.

but he cannot handle abandonment. he cannot understand why people leave. he cannot understand why he's been clinging on to false hope this entire time. and more importantly, he cannot understand how someone can be such a hypocrite about it. "a man who'd rather be kind to strangers than face his own son" like fuck man. cheng weimin you fucked up so bad.

it's the disconnect/connect thing again too. thematically, it makes sense. when does cheng xiaoshi blow up? when he's alone, far away from the people that ground him. alone, the feeling he hates the most. he's not even in his own body. he blows up when he's inhabiting a stranger's. he doesn't even get to be angry as cheng xiaoshi.

how fucked up is that. man. I love him so much.

also I'm going crazyyyy over the family themes going on in link click. much to say about the show itself across all seasons (the twins, qiao ling and cheng xiaoshi, even the liu siblings), but for this episode... god. okay this is slight speculation territory now and I'll try to keep this very short, because this is only tangential to the post. but. imagine xia fei getting the good parent figure in cheng weimin that cheng xiaoshi never had. and he doesn't know!! he's bitter inside about his dad and he's having hotpot with xia fei and he doesn't know he was in that school!! fuck that's so good. that's so juicy.

okay, sorry, I have a lot of feelings about cheng xiaoshi. he's my link click blorbo of all time, and I love when he experiences The Horrors™ because it's also when other sides of him gets to shine.

on a brighter note:

VEIN AND CHENG XIAOSHI MEETING AGAIN!!! their greeting was so cute. also omg does xia fei know? that his boss is maybe possibly a cannibal? actually, wait, I don't think I'd be surprised if he does know.

ah and finally. finally:

I've been having many thoughts on how yingdu approaches "friendships" and their transactional nature (mostly with regards to liu xiao) but I mostly thought they're headcanon stuff. but now. I'm so so happy that episode 5 is bringing out more of the quid pro quo theme. liu xiao with the gift giving. wang qing's "friends" (bullies) demanding her to cheat on the exam for them. and now, vein and cheng xiaoshi having a friendly greeting but also exchanging favors. so good. so good. it goes along with how there's so much handshakes and handholding this season (not just with lu guang and cheng xiaoshi, but with cheng xiaoshi and the the antagonist trio too, who have all met him by "helping" him in some way). something something trust and favors. probably something that deserves its own post though, but I wanted to point this out because I am soooo here for that. it's goes hand in hand (ha!) with the whole fraud/lies vs innocence/honesty theme this season, and deals/contracts being an equalizer to the two. very good. very tasty.

edit: ooh they also point to this in the YE6 trailer too. nice, nice. if you knew someone's true colors, would you still be their friend?

man, I love episode 5. it just hits all the stuff I personally wanted to see. the only flaw is that we still haven't seen the older version of wang qing, but yeah I kinda expected that they'll hide her until episode 6. they're giving her the liu xiao treatment from season 2. sigh. really wish she'd keep showing up in S3, we need more female characters in this show 🙏

[floofanflurr]

With you having done a few underfell fics, I was wondering if you had any headcannons for underfell gaster specifically?

Since in your finding home series hes a big softy and I want to know if you see that extending to the fell universe

EHEHEH!!! Thank you for asking!!!! :D I freaking love asks.... So for your question! I tend to change up my headcanons depending on what story I'm writing, so I'll just answer this for How To: Gaster specifically, I suppose?

Underfell Gaster Headcanons:

He's not actually related to Sans or Papyrus at all.

He's a dickwad, and harsh, and spits insults and threats at anything that moves...

He also tosses bread and scraps to the skeleton orphans when he passes them on the streets simply because he doesn't need the trash anymore, okay?!

...He remembers a time when the world wasn't so cruel. When he would have taken in those skeleton children in a soulbeat.

He upends his garbage can over Sans's and Papyrus's head sometimes. (It's nobody's business if that trash can has some gold and a few papers advertising under the table jobs that need someone scrappy to work for them, and very little actual trash.)

(It's also nobody's business if he threatens said places that if a small skeleton shows up, they will hire him.)

As soon as Sans looks old enough to ditch his stripes, Gaster yoinks him off the streets and glares at him as he sets him in the lab. "WELL? GET TO WORK! I DON'T KEEP TRASH EMPLOYED."

(Sans is not, in fact, old enough to remove his stripes, but no one else needs to know that.)(Gaster knows.)(The entire lab knows.)

(None of them say anything.)

Those that work at the labs are off limits to other monsters. Everyone knows Gaster will be pissed if something happens to one of his employees or their families, because he despises inefficiency. And Gaster is not a monster to get on the bad side of.

No one mentions anything about the small area in Gaster's office that's set up with a few desks and education materials that are much too entry level for anyone that should be working at the lab—elementary school level, really.

No one mentions Papyrus showing up when Sans works.

Gaster will spit insults at Sans and Papyrus, but he also makes sure that if Sans is coming in in threadbare clothing, or the boys are looking a bit dim from lack of food, that Sans gets a raise. They live much better than orphans should, really. (It's still not enough. But it's as much as anyone can have in this fucked up reality)

Gaster is harsh to his employees, but he does still praise them in a standoffish way when they preform well. Positive reinforcement is scientifically proven to be important, after all. He's not particularly kind about his praise, and much of it is backhanded, but he still gives it.

He refuses to admit how much he loves that Sans pokes fun at him and teases him. And his heart certainly does not melt when Sans drags Papyrus in on their lunch break if Gaster hasn't stopped to eat yet. He's quite annoyed by how Sans won't leave until Gaster eats too, in fact. (He's not)

When Papyrus is a bit too bright and optimistic, a large part of Gaster wants to scream and clock him on the skull and hide him away because he's going to get himself killed.

He can't. Every time he'll meet Sans's sockets—too young, too tired, too jaded, and yet still not scolding his brother—and clam up. If anyone else in the lab tries to harass Papyrus or Sans, Gaster will simply yell and threaten them about something unrelated until they shut up.

(The lab is a haven of safety. The employees love Gaster for it. They also have a soft spot for the boys. In a way, they're a community, committing the treason of caring for these children instead of killing them.)

(They're harsh and sometimes cruel, but Gaster does not tolerate dust being spilled in his lab for any reason. Arguments must be taken outside. And really... none of them care to take those arguments outside.)

Gaster is thrilled by how intelligent both the boys are, and he can't really hide it. The children are brilliant, and Sans has moved onto graduate level texts while he's still young enough to be in stripes, technically. Papyrus isn't far behind.

Gaster is the only one Sans trusts to babysit Papyrus.

Gaster loves babysitting Papyrus. (even if none of them call it that)

Gaster starts to melt behind closed doors when it's simply him and the boys. His insults falter. His digs lack the barbs they once had. The praise softens and becomes more commonplace.

(Gaster is one of the reasons Papyrus learns kindness.)

Gaster starts to clean out his apartment and reevaluate if he has the space for three. He knows its dangerous—that being claimed by him would put a target on the children's heads... but he can protect them, can't he?

Perhaps. Just maybe. There's a possibility. That Gaster is planning on asking Sans and Papyrus if they want a place to stay—with him.

...But you know how the story goes from here, I imagine. Just when he's trying to gather himself to ask, he falls into the CORE.

And he shatters.

Sorry boys, better luck in another universe.

(...He's still watching over them.)

[stump-not-found]

Can't tell if you're reading or creating a 60k+ smutfic about Ford or doing both but would love to hear more.

Also in general if you have any fic reccomendations.. while we wait..

im writinggggg . im going insane writing like 5k every other day . the devil has taken my hands and demands i use ford's body like you might use a storage cabinet

i gave a more SFW reccs list a while ago lets go E rated now babes . at some point i'll learn to use the bookmarks feature.

rec's under the cut

Because & Despite

what if ford pines fucked . what if he fucked crazy style . honestly on of my favorites and i love that it's like the one sex fic that acknowledges the dude can and will do weird stuff w/ his genitals . he fucked a triangle lets get a little weird with it shall we

this is the same author who gave us gene wilder sex spiders which will imprint itself on me from now 'til my dying breath . it fucks me up because i also want to write sex spiders but i know i'm just chasing the shadow of a goliath i can never stand on the shoulders of

Every planet we reach is dead

classic "bill is back for XYZ reasons yay theraprism" scenario . some fun scenes but nothing will ever beat fiddleford walking in on an epic JO session . learn to knock, man

Property of Bill Cipher

if you like the more violent billford check this one out . gets his arm cut into and jerks off about it . such a fun dynamic i love when they're nasty about it . please for the love of god mind the tags

Anything at fucking all by @ancharan

it's all fucking good . im a particular fan of daily maintenance . master of taking weird scenarios and being sincere about it . also just really fucking good with words okay this is an author who inspires me to try even harder every day

there's probably a lot of oneshots ive lost track of because whoops i don't know how to use websites . someday i'll actually curate the fics i like . someday

[livesworthlivingau]

Memory of Lost Letters

Spoilers for ISAT and Two Hats below! CW: Panic Attacks, Suicidal/Death Ideation, Unhealthy Obsession, Grief/Loss

Yet another memories chapter! Heavily inspired by this fic I read recently and I realized it would be prime angst to make an LWL version of the idea, 30 years of 'lost letters' to Loop.

("… Hello?… Are you there Loop?… Does this still work?")

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

("Thank you again, Loop... I don't know if you can hear me, but I think I can still feel you somehow... I can't wait to see you again, whenever you're ready!")

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

("Loop... I understand if you need some time, you can take all the time you need, I'll be there for you whenever you want it... but please say something, anything... I just want to know you're okay...")

...

(Sigh)

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

("We're gonna be leaving Dormont soon, last chance to come accept everyone's thanks in person, if you want... We're heading to Bambouche so uhh... hopefully we'll see you there if not.")

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

("... It still doesn't feel real... leaving Dormont, being out of the loops... I can only imagine how it might feel for you... I miss you Loop...")

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

("PLEASE JUST ANSWER ME!! I CAN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!!")

|"Sif, please hold on a second-!"|

("NO! YOU DON'T GET IT!! NO ONE GETS IT!! ONLY THEY DO!!! WHY WON'T THEY ANSWER ME?!?! I KNOW THEY'RE THERE!! WHY-")

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

("I can't do this… I can't do this anymore Loop… I don't deserve them, I don't deserve any of this… You do. You should be here, not me… Please come home. Please take it all back… Please…" Stifled sobbing)

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

(Deep breath "... I'm sorry Loop, it's been... a lot to deal with... I think I'm doing a bit better now... We met Nille finally, she's really nice, tough too, I think you'd like her." Chuckles "... If you don't want me to call you anymore, all you gotta do is say so, I'd understand, I promise...")

...

(Sigh "Thanks again for everything...")

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

("Happy birthday Loop!... At least I think it's our birthday, can't know for sure, can we?... I hope it's a good one for you!")

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

("Everyone helped me find a therapist, a really nice one too... Would you mind if I... told them... about you? 'Us'? They said it's all confidential, they wouldn't tell anyone else if I don't want them too... It would help me explain everything a bit more to them... I promise I won't tell anyone else, not without you...")

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

("I TOLD THEM! I TOLD THEM AND I'M SORRY!!")

...

("... Is it bad that I kinda wanted you to scream at me for that?... at least I'd hear your voice again... They actually recommended that I write letters to you, as a little therapy exercise... I told them I was kinda already doing that, heh... They also said I should start being more true to my feelings and tell people what they mean to me so... I love you Loop... I really hope you're okay.")

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

("They're throwing some big gala for the saviors back in Dormont soon. It's gonna be really weird going back there, but I think it might be good for us... You're invited too of course, we wouldn't have saved everyone without you after all! So we'll be back in Dormont in... 33 days, if you're still there or wanna meet up... I love you Loop.")

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

("... I'm at the favor tree... I told myself no more wishes... I told myself it's a bad idea and would only bring more pain... b-but..." Heavy sobbing "I-I found a leaf... a-and it looks like you Loop... I just want to see you again... please stop me Loop... please... I-I...")

|"Siiiiiiiif? Siiiiiif, where'd you go?"|

("No... Not now... I need you! YOU PROMISED LOOP! YOU SUPER DUPER PROMISED!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!")

|"SIFFRIN?!"|

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

("... Why didn't you do it Loop?... Why didn't you kill me?... You should have, you know... You deserve it all, not me... I... I love you Loop...")

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

("...")

(Soft snoring)

("Mnffff..." Yaaawwwwn-)

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

("Sorry... about the other night... I thought I was doing better but... My therapist warned me it's common to have a relapse now and then, especially so close to the source of trauma... I ruined everyone else's night, I'm sorry I had to ruin yours too... Thank you again Loop, I love you...")

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

("Heh... I'm so pathetic Loop... I can't even see a shooting star now without crying... Thought you'd get a chuckle out of that at least... I love you Loop.")

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

("Happy birthday Loop! Hehe~! Odile-" Hiccup "Odile bought some reaaally nice Ka Buan liquor, and IIIII'm drunk~!" Hiccup "Heh... Remember how you said you didn't know what you looked like? Well just between you and me... You were reaaaal pretty as a star~." Hiccup "Is it weird that I kinda wanted to kiss you~? Hah! I wonder if it'd tingle... Do you even have a mouth? Heh... I loooove you Loooooop~.")

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

("... Stars I really hope you can't actually hear these...")

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

(Sigh "Still thinking about you... I love you, Loop.")

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

("Happy birthday Loop! So much has been changing around here, I don't know if you really wanna hear about it all, but life's been good! Still think about you a lot though... I'm in Jouvente now if you ever wanna stop by! Just look for the 'Savior's Style' shop and you'll find us! I love you, Loop!")

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

("LOOP!?... Loop?... I thought I heard you, are you there?... Was it just a dream?...")

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

("Happy birthday Loop. Sorry I haven't been calling more, but I'm sure you're sick of hearing from me anyways. Everyone says hi by the way! I haven't told them your secret, don't worry, but they got curious why I kept sneaking off for a little bit every year, so I told the truth, just a little ritual of mine to stay connected with you in some way... I love you, Loop!")

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

("Okay, now!")

{|<=-"HEY LOOP!"-=>|}

("Hehe, everyone wanted to say hi themselves this year! Nille too! I love you, Loop! And happy birthday!")

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

("Mmmm.. Happy birthday Loop... Long busy day, so had to sneak it in before bed..." Yaaaaawn "Good night, Loop. I love you...")

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

("Happy birthday Loop! You know you're still more than welcome to come visit anytime, right? Just wanted to make sure you knew. I love you!")

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

("Happy birthday Loop! I love you!")

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

("Happy birthday Loop... I miss you... Love you...")

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

("I love you Loop, hope you're having a good birthday.")

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

("I hope you're not sick of this yet because you bet I'm gonna do it every year, only way to stop me is to come and make me~! So happy birthday Loop! I love you!")

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

("I love you, Loop. Happy Birthday.")

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

("Happy birthday Loop... I hope you're doing well, really. I love you, so much Loop.")

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

("Happy Birthday Loop... I love you...")

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

("... I miss you so blinding much Loop..." Shaky breaths "B-But I think I need to let you go... for both our sakes... I really hope you found the peace you were looking for... I love you, Loop... Happy Birthday...")

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

...

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

[...]

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

...

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

("Loop... It's Odile... She..." Choking up "She's not doing well... I-I don't think she has long left... I-I just thought you should know... I love you, Loop...")

[just-some-user-hunny]

Your post is making me think of Nikto with a reader who is just, a total sunshine and lover girl coded, so empathetic and loving and kind and concerned with doing good to and by others, generous with expressing appreciation and affection but their heart is actually pretty guarded. Like just doesn’t expect to be loved back, doesn’t know how to accept compliments, is quiet about their interests and joys even with friends. Yes Nikto has bared out his soul to you but what if at the core of things, you’re the one who is afraid of others getting close to you at all, romantically speaking? DO YOU SEE MY VISION??? I love your Nikto posts they fuel something in me heal something in me build me up and I check the tags everyday just to see if there’s anything new. I finally have a blog dedicated to fics so hopefully I can contribute to this tag!!!

Anon you have dissected my very soul and I adore you for that 💕😭 this ask is so very important to me.

Yes this is exactly what I have in mind! He's a troubled soul himself, so when he's confronted with someone so soft and warm and kind he wants to eat up every single part of them- even the 'insignificant' parts of them and the parts that they shield and hide out of fear.

He has bared everything to you. His face. His scars. His voices. His nightmares. Don't you know you're the safest you could ever be in his hands? That he'd do anything for you? You've managed to love his soul, loving you will be easier than breathing. It'll be the easiest thing he's ever done- and there's no stopping it. You have been unconditional with him- allow him to return the favour :( 💕

I'm so beyond happy you like my nikto stuff :') check out @fishsinsareacknowledged and @charliemwrites , they write excellent nikto content!!! :3 I'll keep chipping in on dear Nikto now and then!

[pynkhues]

That anon is so fucking creepy and vile. It would be creepy and vile and disgusting no matter what, but to threaten to do that to two CHILDREN and someone facing domestic violence is just evil. Can you block specific anons on tumblr, or report them? Some people are just so pathetic.

Thank you to both of you, genuinely, it means a lot in a situation that now feels like - - y'know, Yeah. A Lot. I do think I was probably a bit naive with this fandom (although I do think it's the biggest one I've ever been in, honestly), but I think the mention of my sister's children is genuinely just so disgraceful and it actually is a criminal threat. So I hope that anon and the apparently boundaryless group of people they engage with realise that (although if they don't by now, hopefully they will at the end of this reply).

I was already getting dinner with my mum tonight before all of this happened, but I texted her on the way to tell her that I had Stuff to talk to her about, and y'know, I'm in my thirties, and me and my mum have always been close, amd she vaguely knows I'm 'in some fandoms', but to tell her about all of this bullshit tonight and have her opinions not just as a mother, and a grandmother to those two little boys, but also as a friend (which I'm very lucky to have her as at our big ages), and as a professional woman with a science, legal, political and journalistic background, was honestly the best possible thing to come back to earth to (so lowkey thanks for that anon, I guess?). She was outraged (and said things I could never type, haha) and funny and considerate (she already knew I wrote fanfic, but her response to me reminding her and showing her my ao3 was 'i love you, and i don't care' lmao) and, perhaps most importantly! Practical!

Which is all to say I've opened a case tonight, at her urging, with the Australian eSafety Commission, which they are taking quite seriously because of the threat of involving minors. But also generally!, So I guess well done on that, to the anon who's sent me those asks, your attempt to shame me for writing about consensual sex is actually now about you threatening a sex crime, because sending anyone porn over the internet without their consent, is, in fact, a sex crime, even before you threaten to involve literal children. I have to give them my tumblr login, but y'know what? That's okay to me, actually, given they can now track your IP Address!

(Sorry to the anons I'm replying to, this is now becoming a direct address of this [+ the friends of this] anon but - - )

I suspect you won't read this rationally, because I don't think you read much that I write rationally, but I do think you should know that you're assaulting people by sending them explicit material out of the blue, which I write, yes, and I'm going to own it if you do send it on, regardless of who you send it to. Again, yes, I'll probably be embarrassed if you share my fic and replies with people in my life, but I'm not going to be ashamed of any of it. I share it with consenting adults, you're saying you'll share it with adults who you dont give the chance to consent, and also literal children (not to harp on the point, but, anon, my nephews are 7 and 8 years old. They are currently navigating their mother's divorce from their abusive father - real people, real children, not made up ones like Louis and Lestat and Claudia - I'd ask you, genuinely, what you felt bringing them into this conversation was supposed to achieve beyond threatening me into silence? Which is - - I hate to say it, anon - - abusive behaviour).

I also do question what it is about writing sex that you find worthy of sending to family members at all? Do you think I should be ashamed of writing smut? Because that's the interpretation I get from your asks, and, again, that says more about you than it does about me. That tells me the reverse would threaten you, if I could send your behaviour or fandom engagement, or fic history to your family, you would feel threatened.

Because, okay, what's the alternative? You threaten to send my fic to my sister, okay, why do you feel that gives you leverage if you don't inherently find it shameful? I'm sharing work in a community of consenting adults, you'd actively choose to take that out of that (and before you argue this point, you are consenting, by clicking on the links of my fics). In fact, you'd choose to bring my family members into that. Why? Me and my sister talk about sex all the time, we're sisters, my fics aren't going to land on her doorstep as the surprise you think they will (but also, again, the implication of you thinking this should take priority over her literal divorce and custody case from her actually abusive husband, driving what? A wedge between us? While purporting to champion a fictional victim of it.....it's pretty transparent at this point, anon, and honestly I'd say ugly too).

Why do you think I should be threatened by her opinion of what I write? Do you think you know my relationship with my sister and brother better than me? You don't know her or him at all (that actually wasn't even his birthday btw), you don't know me, so then it's - once again - about you - and your opinion - of what I write, but is it? Because I'd posit that the degree of shame you try to place on me isn't about what I like, it's about what you like, because okay. My fics feature Louis often topping, occasionally elements of bdsm, which are literally canon at this point, your subset of the fandom has male lactation, mpreg, ABO, heavily fetishised drag, and feminisation up the wazoo, and it's not to my fancy, but I live and let live. Those are though also objectively far nicher kinks / fetishes than what I'm writing, which is two men trying to pretend they're fucking instead of making love, so y'know - - why am I the hang up, anon? If you send people I know to ao3, I'm not going to be the person they judge.

Anyway, look, you should know that my mum has also organised for me to consult with a lawyer specialising in cyber safety and international law in the next few days, and I had also started the (yeah, sure, admittedly awkward) conversation with my main workplace too about you potentially sending posts or fic to them. We've had an actor doxxed already this year, which opened the doors, and I figured, well, gosh, may as well tell them about you guys too. Again - - you might be able to embarrass me, but you can't shame me out of existence, especially when you're apparently literally willing to commit sex crimes over it. You said I was two-faced in those last asks, and y'know, I don't think I am. I think (hope) i'm someone friendly, empathetic and thoughtul, but there absolutely is a resolute, stubborn cunt in me that I inherited from a generation of Australian women, and the number one thing I was raised on by those women was that you don't bend the knee to bad behaviour.

[thievinghippo]

Everyone, I have been stressing myself out a ridiculous amount this past hour and now I'm at the point where I just need to laugh

What am I stressed over? My world states in Dragon Age. Which is a completely normal thing to stress about

This will probably get long, so let's put it behind a cut. And promise me. If you read to the end, that you'll laugh at me in the comments, because I will deserve it

So, I'm outlining a post-game Emmrich/Sonnet fic. And I was daydreaming and I thought, how cool would it be for Bethroot and Thom's daughter to choose necromancy as her mage specialty! Because that's what she knows! Aunt Rook, Uncle Emmrich, Uncle Dorian, all necromancers!

And then I thought, oh no. Bethroot is part of Edda's world state so that won't work. What Inquisitor does Sonnet have? She has Frae, my Solas romancer who goes to the Fade with him. Damn, I told myself. I guess I can't have this really cool thing

Then I think... well, could you switch them? And here's where I'm so dumb, you guys. I told myself NO. NOT ALLOWED

And why isn't it allowed? Because Bethroot's world state is called 'ash in the sun' from the tavern song 'oh grey warden' therefore the Rook in Bethroot's world state has to be a warden or romancing Davrin

End of discussion

For almost ten minutes, I sat here and said, but it would be so cool to have the thing and every time my brain responded 'don't care. you set the rules ten years ago and actions have consequences. you cannot have the cool thing'

But you will all be proud of me. I finally told my brain to shove it and that I'm gonna have the cool thing. Which means I'm switching some world states around and I'm pretty sure I will literally be the only one who cares about this. Because at the end of the day, I'm pretty sure anyone actually reading this post wants me to have fun writing. And if switching my world states around leads to more fun hence more writing, I think you'll be cool with it

Like, I'll admit that I'm a little bummed on Edda's behalf. She's getting the short end of the stick, because I'm gonna put Frae (along with Aubrey Hawke) with a Harding romancer for reasons. Which means I'm not even sure who Edda is gonna end up with

And I sort of feel bad that I'm so much more invested in other Rooks than her. I assumed she'd be my main. The one who I wrote the most about. I thought I'd be all dwarf all the time, but Sonnet and lich Emmrich are eating my brain. (I also think I resent Edda a bit because I wanted her to be older and serious and Rook is... not that)

So yeah. Sonnet is going to team up with Bethroot, Wynneth, and Anelle and my brain is just going to have to be okay with that

[ogsherlockholmes]

Despite the fact that I've never actually posted any of my fics so I don't really have the credentials to give advice, I'll try to answer this.

As much as we want to be logical, precise and realistic, we have to remember that major crime writes (including Sir Doyle himself) might fumble details slightly for the sake of drama or just making life easier. It might seem a little bit lazy to rely on the audience suspending their disbelief but writers do that all the time, and it can mean that the plotline won't be bogged down by overbearing details (one example being The Speckled Band- snakes can't actually climb up rope, but for the sake of the story ACD said his could). So, if you do want a character to come back to life by the mere thought of their friend (cough cough Moffat) it's still reasonable as long as you it with confidence.

Outline a distinct plan as to what you want to happen to the story, step by step, even down to specific lines of dialogue you want to add in. I like to do this 1) because my autistic brain automatically loves and follows lists 2) it'll keep you organised so you hopefully will know what to do next and 3) the satisfaction of ticking off an item on a list is unmatched.

And lastly, research research research! (Data data data- I can't make bricks without clay!) This is controversial to my first point, but researching so you get a good outline of what you want to happen is still important, and can help you discover certain plot points you mightn't have realised were a possibility. Sometimes, in very special moments of course, you unintentionally added a detail which perfectly slots in with a real life circumstance and allows the work to become more cohesive. Also, and this one is whispered, this is a good way to be productive when you have writer's block (me saying I am still working whilst doing a deep dive on different types of butterfly wing patterns).

Again, never published a fic, so this could be absolute horseshit, but there might be something of value here.

Hello hello!

Does anyone here have any tips and tricks for writing case fic?

How do you figure out the plot for a case? Is there a model or "recipe", or do you know any helpful resources?

I'm not trying to write a best-selling crime novel (yet xD), but I would like to get better at including cases and the process of solving them into my writing!

If you don't have any ideas, please consider reblogging for reach. :)

Thank you! :)

[grassbreads]

I'm two volumes (three chapters) into Pet Shop of Horrors: Passage-hen, and honestly, I'm not incredibly into it so far. I was hoping that focusing on one of the earlier Counts D would mean a return to horror, but it really hasn't been so far. D does kill some people in the second volume, but there's no particular attempt to make his doing so frightening/unsettling/atmospheric imo. He only kills a handful of rich people that we're specifically made not to sympathize with, whereas the killers are made extremely sympathetic (and honestly pretty nice). And besides those killings, D has been shockingly chill toward the people he meets so far. Bit of a letdown coming from spooky grandpa, tbh.

However, there is one thing about Passage-hen that's sucking me in so far, and that's the setting. It's set in Paris at the turn of the 19th/20th century. It's set, as of the second chapter, right when the 1889 Paris world's fair is about to start. That is exactly the same time and place that VnC is set.

Needless to say, I'm already thinking about the potential for a VnC/PSoH crossover fic. The alignment is just too goddamn good to pass up. The worldbuilding for each series absolutely does not play nice in combination, but does that matter for a spooky oneshot?

If Passage-hen won't give me the atmospheric horror I want from this series, then I can put the goddamn horror back in myself by force and inflict it on one of my funny little french vampires. Noé does love wandering the shops of Paris and buying miscellaneous crap, after all >:].

[sleepy-grav3]

DCxDP Prompt

Danny and Phantom were always separate beings, and Phantom becomes the Ghost King.

BUT Phantom's ghost species is a phantom, which Danny didn't know when naming him (inviting him to the Fenton family thing through a ghost pun)

And phantoms collectively haunt a region in the infinite realms. Specifically, what DC calls The Phantom Zone.

The cherry on top? Phantoms are genuinely malicious ghosts; Phantom just favors Danny enough to act like a hero. He only seems innocent and kindhearted when Danny looks his way, then second he turns his head, he's all creepy and evil looking.

And it all comes to head when there's a summoning.

Bonus: Danny is edging closer to insanity.

Mad scientist, traumatized to villainy, one seriously bad day away-

Meta or just a genius?

Extra bonus! Phantom doesn't care about mortals and he's the one holding Danny back and keeping him from falling to the deep end.

If this prompt has been done before, please comment some recommendations :)

[wandixx]

"There is only so much you can for the dead" part 2

continuation to this, I should probably make an original title at some point

trigger warnings: graphic describtion of Danny's death

Moments of blissed, deadly stillness felt unfairly short. It was less than blink of an eye, less than a drop of darkness after he asked Team for the last time to leave and before he woke up, in exactly same state that he was when portal spat him out. He could barely perceive his limbs, and what he could, was consumed by agonising pain.

Fuck, he hated Death Days. Absolutely horrible experience.

His nerves were on fire, electricity dancing and burning across them. His veins and lungs and nostrils and ears and stomach and eyes and mouth and every little crevice of his body was filled with ectoplasm, like liquid fire and evaporated ice, drowning him at every attempted breath. He was crushed by an unimaginable weight, at the same time as his body exploded. He was just coherent enough to feel his bones breaking, cells bursting, his very molecules being rearranged and destroyed and rebuilt but not coherent enough to tell if his scream was anything louder than a whimper.

He was in the middle of the crowd that screamed louder than he could handle, as if every person who ever got to Ghost Zone used this exact moment to let out all of their anguish, hands dragging and pulling and squeezing and brushing at every inch of his skin. He was alone like no one was ever before, in silence that was deafening. He could be stomped to death any second without anyone turning his head, and so separate from everything that he could be only existing being.

He couldn’t help but wait for Death, merciless and brutal, whose twisted children invaded his bed time stories since he could understood words, whose corrupted children he was taught to hate. She was hideous and horrifying, but against everything, she was familiar and he wanted, needed, to see one intimate face in the situation that was so wrong, wrong, wrong. He waited for her to rip his last breath away so everything would stop.

If he had a scrap of himself that could feel worse, it’d cry when he felt her getting away from him, slipping between the fingers that were both tense and limp, impossible to control but possible to feel, broken and twitching. She was getting away but pain wasn’t lessening, maybe even getting worse, to the point where it was only thing that filled his brain.

And then it all stopped. No pain, not even any left over typical to how injuries worked, just a moment of weird pressure against his palm (just like the button), that soon stopped too.

He was in his human form, but in the hazmat he wore just before the accident. Something was wrong about it all. Something in his body made it feel like not his. Something in his chest was too light and too quiet and some intrusive thought made him want to claw on his rib cage until he ripped it open and realized what was missing.

Breathing seemed to easy, enough that he got lightheaded. It got a lot harder when he realized.

He couldn’t feel his core.

Before he managed to come to terms with that, there was a gentle pressure on his hand again.

And the pain returned.

*-*-*

Danny didn't wake up abruptly, with a choked scream and phantom burns. He also didn't wake up slowly, not in the nice, relaxed way at least, when the line between dream and reality is blurred beyond recognition. He woke up in pain, feeling like he wasn't even sleeping before, just… somewhere else while his body was destroying itself again for what felt like decades.

It took some effort to connect with his body after he woke up. To be able to move even a finger. Even longer, to open his eyes. Actual ages to sit up without urge to scream.

After seeing the absolute wreckage of the room, he kinda wished it took him longer. It looked like a warzone. Electrical burns on the walls and ceiling, random puddles of bubbling ectoplasm eating away anything they touched like an acid, and what little stuff there was before, was almost all broken beyond recognition, either by whatever force was doing its thing during his death day show or ecto. When he looked at it a bit more, it seemed to go in spiral around him.

It was kinda sad that the cookies went to waste like that. He was curious who brought them in though.

Thank fucking Ancients that Team listened to him and nobody was there when the whole mess was going down. They would probably join him on the other side of the veil otherwise.

He saw it all only because of his ghost enhanced in dark vision (thank Ancients he stayed in the ghost form) because apparently his Death Day shorted out both main electrical circuit and the emergency one. Thankfully, according to his ears, it only reached this and rooms next to him, instead of the whole Mountain.

Fuck. He really hoped Robin gave him some sort of back-up back-up room because otherwise he was dead. Or well, dead-er.

He rolled out of the bed, barely catching himself from smacking on the floor like a sack of potatoes. Though some would argue he didn’t catch himself if only his face didn’t fall to the floor like the sack of potatoes.

Only then he caught sight of big, ecto-green circle that embed itself into the wall right over the bed. It had familiar vibes. Really familiar…

He had to tell the Team about it yesterday.

*-*-*

M'gann was sitting on the needles, just like everyone else. Sure, Phantom asked them to forget about him and essentially ignore whatever was happening to him, but there was no way they'd actually be able to do it. Case in point, first time alarms about shorting out of the electrical circuit in the room. They run there so fast that they had door open to see what was wrong before the absolute onslaught of electricity and ectoplasm and something else turned off the alarms thirty seconds later. Truth be told, they couldn’t do much, not without risking becoming second ghostly member of the Team, they’ve been there and ready. Conner tried to come in anyway, with his invulnerability and such, but they had to drag him out when despite extensive dodging he got hit five times by the time he got two steps into the room. Also, there wasn’t really anything he could do to help.

So they just spent last almost twenty hours alternating between different things to keep themselves occupied enough to not fall asleep and distract themselves from quilt but not enough to not be able to drop it at the moments notice if it was needed. First plan was to nap in shifts if it was necessary but it quickly became apparent that sleep was impossible with how worried everyone was and when M'gann proposed to just shut down their brains with her powers, everyone got really defensive. Well, no was no. So they just sat, at the moment in awkward silence because every topic that wasn't Phantom felt too inane and every topic that was Phantom felt too… just no. No name for why, just no.

M'gann was about to get up to make another batch of peanut butter and oatmeal snacks that took few minutes to make and could be dropped at any second, when Conner practically jumped in his seat, tilting his head to hear better. Robin perked up from whatever he was doing on his wrist computer at the same time.

"Phantom left the room!” they exclaimed at the same time, jumping out of their seats.

This head start didn’t matter by the time everyone ran or flew out to the corridor, racing against clock to the room where they left Phantom. It didn’t seems so before, but now M’gann just cursed their past selves for not waiting somewhere closer. There wasn’t really any place where they could stay instead, unless they set camp right outside his door, but it still. They should be there five minutes ago, like Wally, who obviously run off.

They heard Wally speaking before they’ve seen him.

“Hey, hey calm down. It’s fine, they’ll be there in a second, just chill. They’re right after me, whatever happened, we’ll help you in just a moment, you don’t have to run. You’re barely standing. Phantom, calm down”

M’gann barely made it around the corner and she thought she had seen Kaldur actually smacking into the wall. He brushed it off.

Phantom looked beyond rough. It seemed like Wally, who had ghost’s arm across his shoulders, was only thing holding him up. His feet were firmly on the ground, not in his usual way, when he looked just a breeze away from flying, but in this fully human way, which was unsettling. His face was gray instead of his usual almost tan, eyes wide and terrified.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he muttered, not looking at anyone in particular “I’m sorry, I’m sorry”

“Phantom, it’s fine. It’s fine, we know about the room, it’s fine,” Robin said, trying to placate him. It didn’t quite work. Ghost was on the verge of hyperventilating, which was a bit weird to see on someone for who breathing was voluntary.

“It’s not about room”

“I’m sure it’s fine anyway”

“It’s anything but. I’m sorry-”

“Shut up and tell us what happened if you’re so sure we will be pissed”

“Artemis!”

“Portal”

“What about it?”

“Portal is what killed me.”

M’gann didn’t like how the whole situation looked before, but it suddenly became much worse.

“My Death Day made another one”

[thekittyokat]

you ever just have a lot, a LOT of feelings all at once about a character and not even remotely enough words or brainpower to FORM the words to describe everything you're feeling. so it feels like you may explode. yeah

[artiststarme]

Eddie saw the kids treating Steve like he was the dumbest member of the Party. He saw them ridiculing him about his verbiage, his confusion over DnD, and his lack of dating. Hell, they found fault in basically everything he did. Eddie saw Steve losing more and more of his confidence until he had hardly any left. He would wilt under the force of their judgment, his smile would dim, and he’d make his entire being smaller. 

It made Eddie furious. Steve might not be the best at reading or playing roleplay games involving excessive amounts of math but he had his own strengths. He knew how to survive. Steve had told him about being left alone at home from a young age and having to figure out how to change the batteries in the smoke detector. How he’d had to figure out how to clean the pool and handle the chemicals when he was eleven because his parents wanted to come home to a clean pool. He’d seen him decipher sports plays on TV that had Eddie’s mind boggling.

Not to mention the fact that Steve had been keeping those bitchass kids safe for the past three years. He’d provided first aid, fought monsters from hell, and still managed to keep those little shits alive. So, the next time he hears one of them say something derogatory about Steve, Eddie might lose it a little.

Importantly, his words met their mark. There was some screaming involved, some finger-pointing, and blame thrown around. The kids may have been in shock for part of his tantrum and in tears for the rest of it. But from that day forward, they treated Steve with the respect he deserves. They stopped calling him names and insulting his intelligence. They stopped expecting the most of him and treating him the worst. Most of all though, they started showing their appreciation. 

And it made Eddie happy. No one, according to him and everyone else’s opinion that mattered, deserved it more than Steve. He let him know as often as possible, whispering it into their kisses or into his ear as he cuddled him at night. For the rest of their lives, Eddie would make Steve understand how smart and how important he is.

[xvxblahhhxvx]

Concept: After the Guild arc, the news wants to do a live interview with the people directly responsible for stopping the Moby Dick from crashing and saving the city.

AKA. Atsushi and Akutagawa

It takes a bit of deliberation on both parts, but the Agency and Mafia eventually agree, because they feel it will be good PR.

They both get trained, as well as doing some join practices, for how to speak on live tv and not sound like they want to kill each other.

On the actual day of the interview, Atsushi and Akutagawa are there on screen, Dazai and Chuuya are behind the camera to guide their respective orphan's and get them to smile more (or in Akutagawa's case, look a little bit less like he wants to murder the camera), and Mori and Fukuzawa are there as the leaders of the organizations.

So. Three generations of skk under roof while the tv is live? What could possibly go wrong?

(hint the answer is everything)

[magnusbae]

The first time they share a bed, actually share, not collapsed after a feverish fucking or exhausted into nothingness after an endless battle, but a real get ready for sleep, bedtime routine and all—Anakin cannot stop moving.

Restless and uncomfortable, he is hyper aware of every dent in the mattress, every ruffle of the sheets. His mind is not numbed by an orgasm or a complete fatigue, instead it's left to boil with awareness, with unrest.

"Anakin." Obi-Wan sounds only a little annoyed. The man is exhausted, Anakin doesn't need their bond to hear that. He is tired and in need for sleep. "What is the matter?" he still finds it within himself to ask, sounding genuine enough, concerned enough.

"Noth—" Anakin begins, and thinks better of it when Obi-Wan's silhouette tenses up, a barely there shift in the shoulders. Tonight is not the night in which he wishes to test his Master's patience, not when they both are so clearly not up for bickering.

Anakin sighs, admitting, with no small amount of embarrassment in his hushed voice "—I usually sleep on the right side…" It's close enough to the truth, he thinks, cheeks warming.

A moment of silence is broken by a muffled and genuinely amused snort. His Master doesn't even pretend it was a cough. He just laughs.

"Oh Anakin." Obi-Wan sighs once his shoulders stop shaking with his silent mirth, sounding painfully affectionate.

"Master! You—" Anakin's protests are cut short by a pair of strong hands, maneuvering him easily to the right side of the bed. Anakin can practically feel the huff of laughter against his neck when he is drawn closer, back pressing snugly against Obi-Wan's chest.

"Better?" his Master purrs against his ear.

Yes. Yes, better.

"Thank you, Master."

The smile in his voice is so obvious, laid bare. He sounds like a besotted fool. With how easily a mere hug could easen all of his uncertainties, lighten all of his concerns— perhaps he is.

"Good." his Master takes it for the answer that it is, pressing his nose against Anakin's nape and exhaling a gentle: "Good night, Dear One".

The wrong side of the bed was the least of Anakin's worries and even that is forgotten in the sleep that soon follows. So easily. He smiles.