#I have lots of ideas for this au so this answer was kinda long lol

[multiversal-madness]

Does Magwood!Simon still end up meeting Marceline? Does he start getting hairy and look like a werewolf over time?

Yes, Simon meets and looks after Marceline in this au. Things actually turn out better for them in this au since Magwood doesn’t drive Simon insane like the crown does and they have a sort of truce at this point (they have a shared mind scape of sorts where they can talk, though Magwood rarely speaks while Simon is awake). Simon can stick around to take care of Marcy into adulthood.

As for whether Simon gets hairy like a werewolf, that only really happens when he shifts into his fire dog form (the lava dog form doesn’t exactly have fur with all the lava). Also I wanted to further push the difference between this au and canon by having Simon not have facial hair since he has so much in canon.

Instead one of the biggest visual changes (aside from the shifting into fire/lava dog and the Ruby embedded in his forehead) are small cracks that form around his skin when too much heat builds up.

This relates to how Simon’s shifting works, instead of following any lunar cycle he needs to shift based on how much heat has built up inside him. The heat builds up and when it becomes to much, he shifts to a fire dog to release it, then he can turn back (this usually takes around half a day, or it could take longer depending on how much he’s been suppressing it).

Those cracks start to show when he’s holding back too much or resisting it. They don’t exactly hurt but they are uncomfortably hot both for him and to the touch since they’re essentially vents for the heat to get out while Simon isn’t transformed.

(Though another way he can release heat/go longer without transforming is by making his hair fire or turning into a fire-person kinda thing, but he doesn’t do that too often because he doesn’t want to accidentally burn Marceline).

[wonysugar]

working in retail 101 | ahn yujin

synopsis : what happens when a floor manager flirts with a floor clerk during an accidental, overnight lock-in inside the store? well, not anything professional, that’s for sure.

pairing : clerk!gpyujin x floormanager!femreader

genre : smut, kinda fluff towards the end too? coworkers trope, kinnndaaa boss x employee?? idk but THEY’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DATING!

tags : so! lot to unpack here lol, superstore au, yes that sitcom netflix show SUE ME, references to the show, you don’t have to watch the show to read this but it’d be better if you knew what i was talking aboutgiejdks, naturally all characters work at cloud 9!girlpenis!yujin, handjobs, teasing, oral sex (yuj receiving), missionary sex, marking up, sub!yujin, she’s hung halp, dom!reader, implied puppy play, jonah!coded yujin, so yes she’s a loser, amy!coded reader, dina!coded gaeul, cheyenne!coded wonyoung, glenn!coded jiwon, although she isn’t really mentioned ueueueue, garrett!coded rei!

warnings : mentions of alcohol!

word count : 5,1k (excluding texting ofc!)

a/n : THIS IS MY LONGEST FIC YET?? kinda not proofread so sorry for that but HAIII omg okay so this took me such a long while to write i’m SORRYY</333 i started it while i was in the PRIME of my superstore hyperfixation and ??? IT’S SUCH A FUNNY SHOW I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT OMG did i mention this was a superstore au— [GUNSHOTS] as for my other drafts, they’re being worked on as we speak!! i really hope you enjoy reading this and thank you for your time! :]

also. IF ANY OTHER SUPERSTORE ENJOYERS ARE READING THIS PLEASEEE INVADE MY INBOX IMMEDIATELY I BEGGG

yujin.

that was all that preoccupied your thoughts, just her stupid face plaguing your mind like it was some sort of virus on a computer.

you needed yujin, there was no way around it. it was impossible to focus on your job when all you could think about was her, you needed her right here and right now.

and that’s exactly what you were gonna get.

after making sure that none of your coworkers were watching you flee the department you were in charge of, you quickly rushed towards the photo lab, or as everybody in the workplace liked to call it, ‘the bang room’. you walked in, slowly closed the door on your way and immediately pulled out your phone, leaning on the table and grinning to yourself as you typed up a text to send her.

running.

..running?

visualizing her just running across the store made you uncontrollably giggle at your screen in amusement.

cute, you thought to yourself. nobody else you knew would go out of their way to run across a department store as an employee to get head, and you’d normally take that text as a hyperbole, but knowing yujin? well, she was known to be very literal in everything she said. if she’d one day tell you that she had bigger fish to fry, that’s probably because she was indeed at home, frying bigger fish on a pan. (and she’d probably even send you pictures of the bigger fish in question, because why wouldn’t she?)

barely 30 seconds had passed after her last message when you turned off your phone, slid it into one of your back pockets and waited patiently. looking around at the familiar environment, you thought of various ways you two could use it this time. on your last encounter with yujin, she laid you down on the same counter that the printer sits on and proceeded to dick you down there! another time, you thought that grabbing the professional camera that’s usually used for passport or id pictures on the metal shelf next to the table and recording yujin as you rode her cock was an amazing idea! and, it was.

so much so that you still have the videos saved onto your phone!

you didn’t know that reminiscing about all of these past occurrences again would worsen your original predicament, but it did; you needed yujin to show up as soon as possible. now more than ever. 

then, suddenly, as if your prayers were magically answered, you heard rapid and loud footsteps outside the lab, followed by a familiar voice exclaiming the words “oh shit—“ before being cut off by the sound of numerous heavy boxes falling on the ground, the thud of that person’s body immediately following. worried, you got up from your seat, the door swinging open before you even had the chance to take a step towards it.

a panting yujin is what greeted you, her chest heaving up and down.

she looked at you, and you looked back at her, eyebrows raised in surprise. her eyes were nervous, darting around occasionally, looking like this was the first time you would’ve ever sucked her dick in the photo lab. 

oh she definitely fell on her way here.

“…hi?” you said, amused by the thought.

“hello!” she responded, still short of breath, smiling stupidly. 

still preoccupied by the alarming amount of boxes toppled over behind her, you tried looking over her shoulder, wanting to confirm your theory. she reacted by immediately leaning onto that side of the door frame, attempting to hide her accident from your curious sight by acting casual. that gesture alone made you especially notice how messy her short hair looked, how the ‘ahn yujin’ name tag she had pinned to her blue cloud 9 vest seemed to be abnormally tilted to the left, as well as… how weirdly scratched her glasses looked..?

it, unfortunately for her, didn’t take long at all for you to connect the dots.

yup. she fell. 

“yujin— did you slip on your way here?”

she immediately started laughing nervously in response, her eyes darting around as she pushed up her glasses and cleared her throat, hand running through her soft short hair, “…what?! noo… who do you think i am? that’d just be clumsy of me..” she kept laughing, that is, until she mumbled under her breath, 

“i did jog a little bit and didn’t seem to notice the wet sign that was on the floor but it’s just a tiny little scratch probably, nothing too bad aha i’ll clean it up later before the other managers sees it— a-anywho!” 

so you were correct in believing her, she did run across the store just to get in here quickly. and, as expected of her clumsy person, she apparently also slipped and fell in the process.

you giggled at her. god, what an idiot, you thought.

your favorite idiot.

“you know you could’ve just walked here, right?” you told her, slowly walking towards her as you cheekily smiled. “we’re not in a rush.”

while you did so, yujin took the opportunity to finally lock the door properly behind her, not even looking back at it. she stared at you, then at your lips, then right back up at your eyes. “well— i did tell gaeul that i was gonna stock up the fridge after cleaning the spilled yogurt..” 

her hand scratched the back of her head nervously, “and.. i-i kind of was in a rush, i mean, you texted me...”

you chuckled, simply thinking that she was being sappy. that is, until she nervously bit her lip and motioned with her eyes for you to look down at her. “i couldn’t have anyone see me like this… so—“

your gaze was met with the incredibly visible hard-on she had. no seriously, it poked right through her denim jeans, anybody with average, functioning eyes could effortlessly see it, especially under the new, very bright lights that were recently installed by the electricians. you scoffed, incredibly amused by the sight, she got a boner from those innocent texts alone? that was a first, no wonder why she looked so keen to get here.

in her defense, it had been a long while since the two of you were last in this room alone. hell, it’d been a long while since the two of you even said actual words to each other, period. you guys aren’t friends or anything, you only ever text her whenever it’s work or sex related and there’s still barely any conversation then, let alone when you spoke to her in person.

therefore, the boner wasn’t completely unexpected, but it was still enough to heavily flatter you. then, you felt your ego get even more stroked when you remembered that… she didn’t know much about you at all, yet she got this worked up over texts like that from you? a simple coworker she knew and fucked from time to time?

i mean, you probably wouldn’t even remember what her last name is without looking at her nametag; in other words, you know absolutely nothing about her either! okay yeah, you know that she would always stumble on her own words when talking to customers, and that she has a tendency to always pick at her nametag that’s on the left side of her vest using her right hand. you also know that she always pushes her glasses up whenever she’s nervous and that she is overall incredibly handsome and that you catch yourself staring at her from any department you’re tasked in managing very often, but apart from that? you truly don’t know much.

she’s nothing more than just an inferior at work, to you. an acquaintance, at most, but that’s about it.

this whole approximately-twice-per-month ‘meet me in the photo lab’ ritual you two have going on wouldn’t have even existed if it wasn’t for that one time that the corporate team accidentally locked all of you in the store for the night. seriously, what else was there to do? every employee there (including yourself) took the opportunity to get drunk out of their minds to pass the time and.. honestly? yujin just looked that good that night. you couldn’t help but feel the desire to drag her to the photo lab and figure out what she tastes like, despite it being strictly forbidden to be having any sort of sexual or romantic relationship with your inferior.

the both of you were anything-but-sober, very hot individuals, and she’d caught your attention for the longest time prior to that moment, too, something stupid was bound to happen in the heat of the moment!

“photo lab, in five.” was what you quietly slurred into her ear that night, holding the biggest, most cliché, red, beer-filled solo cup ever. since the others were too busy drinking and playing ‘never have i ever’ in a certain corner of the store, nobody particularly noticed you two. she, in response, could only turn her head to face you properly with her eyebrows slightly raised, clearly taken aback by your sudden and unexpected boldness, whilst also subconsciously taking in all of your intricate facial features all at once. it’s not like she didn’t know what ‘photo lab’ entailed, everyone that worked at cloud 9 for more than a week did. maybe you were joking, she thought, perhaps you said that just to get a reaction out of her. saying that she was confused in the moment would be a big understatement, especially when she watched you get up from your seat and make your way to the spot in question.

yujin’s not stupid at all, she knew you were drunk as shit, the manner that you stumbled on your words, the way your hand sat on her thigh, the slight tint of blush on your cheeks and nose quickly gave it away. she also figured that it was most probably a very bad idea to actually follow you into that room, considering that you’re her manager, and all..

did she still do it, though? of course, of course she did. because despite everything, despite all of the ‘this is so wrong’ and ‘we shouldn’t be doing this’ she managed to get out of her,

she was equally as intoxicated that night, and it’s not like she even had it in her to pass up your invitation whether she was sober or not; as much as yujin tried to remain professional around you and not pursue anything outside of work, she always deemed you as intriguing, and she had thought about you in such a way occasionally. that being said, she was willing to accept the consequences that came with potentially having sex with you that night.

those feelings only got stronger when you eventually showed her what she’d been missing out on for all those months in one singular night. anything she’d have hoped for, you exceeded in.

as it turns out, drunken people don't always make the worst decisions after all! since, yknow.. you haven’t gotten caught by anybody yet, and hopefully never will. the only consequence she really had to deal with afterwards was you contacting her throughout random times of her shifts whenever you felt like sucking dick.

and that’s a perfectly fine outcome for both you and her.

but, that hasn’t happened in a long time, not until now, at least. hence the situation you were both put in now.

“should’ve texted you earlier, by the looks of it, hm?” teasing, you approached her, both of you now face to face. your eyes trained on her crotch, you pressed your palm onto it before looking up at her again. yujin pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose, then looked away from you in response to the intimacy, embarrassed.

you got to properly look at her features again. her eyes were still just as soft and fragile as when you saw them for the first time, staring back into yours with careful anticipation.

“m-maybe..” was what she mumbled under her breath, trying her hardest not to let out an accidental whimper from the slight friction she felt down there (which she failed to do), her thighs slightly clenched together. 

“did anybody see you walk in?” you asked.

“n-no! the only one near was wonyoung, i believe. and she was on her phone, as per usual..” reassured, you giggled at her usual nervousness, then, after keeping your eyes on her nervous lips for a few moments and licking your own in anticipation, you closed the minimal amount of distance between you two and made them meet after what felt like an eternity.

and once you did, she immediately got used to the familiar feeling and melted into the sensation of your embrace.

after such a long time of not being able to touch her like this, you felt like your hands glided on her entire body by themselves, feeling up the curve of her back and waist as you kissed her. she did the same, only this time more eager than your gentle movements, as one of her hands ‘accidentally’ grazed your ass.

one thing about yujin: she will always love your ass.

the only audible thing in the photo lab was her lips intertwining with yours, the kiss was undeniably messy, and while it might’ve been able to be heard from outside, you just couldn’t seem to care; at that moment, you just wanted to feel her body against yours, to pull her in closer than physically even possible. that’s what happens when you don’t get to have each other for a long time, after all.

“i missed you—“ she pulled away for a quick moment and whispered, pouting in a puppyish manner. her arms set around your waist and holding you, her fingers tugged onto your vest in desperation as you kept rubbing your hand on her clothed hard-on. 

“i know you did.” you whispered back, taking the opportunity to delicately unzip her jeans with the same hand you teased her with before going back into the kiss, this time, more longingly than ever. you did want to tell her how much you missed her too, but you refrained from doing so.

you had way better things to waste your time on.

your lips still on hers, she whimpered against the kiss. knowing her, she was wordlessly begging for you to do something about the raging boner you gave her. and knowing yourself, you wouldn’t give into her desires so easily, not until she used her words like a big girl. in other words, you wanted to see how desperate she would get.

smiling to yourself, you slowly slid your hand up from her crotch to her abs, you only kept tracing your finger on them, teasing her further.

“god, please—” her breath hitched, breaking the tense silence, the one that was occasionally filled with the sound of your lips uniting with hers. she whined even more, feeling her hard cock rubbing against the fabric of her already zipped down denim pants.

“please what, baby? you know i can’t do anything if you don’t tell me what it is you want.” you looked up innocently, now staring into her hooded eyes. she, in response, exhaled in anticipation, looking right back at you with her eyebrows slightly upturned. you knew exactly what she wanted, that much is obvious to her.

of course, she knew it wouldn’t be so easy, she knew she needed to work for it.

“i want you to t-touch me..” she desperately bucked her hips into your palm as a pitiful attempt at satisfying her crave for friction. “please..” was what she added afterwards, wearing her trademark puppy eyes whilst she pleaded.

“good girl.” you hummed, already getting familiar with the sound of her begging again. you planted a small kiss onto her lips and another onto her neck before getting down on your knees in front of her.

you looked up at her as you unbuttoned her jeans, your eyes locking with hers whilst you slowly pulled down her pants. once those as well as her boxers were completely off, leaving with nothing but her pretty dick springing up at you, you left lazy kisses all over her lower stomach and sides. 

you kept kissing her all over, giving attention to her inner thighs and hips, purposefully giving attention everywhere except where she specifically asked to be touched, watching out for any kind of reaction from her end.

and when you eventually got what you wanted, oh you were way more than satisfied.

“you’re so m-mean y/n.. please..” yujin whined quietly, too embarrassed to even look you in the eye anymore, hers all glossy with hot, desperate tears threatening to spill if this carried on any further. her dick said all of the words that couldn’t come out of her mouth through its slight movement, twitching and practically throbbing before you, aching to be taken care of.

she needed to feel your warm mouth around her, hell, just feeling the light graze of your touch against her aching cock would be enough; at least, that’s what it felt like, she was sure she’d go insane if you didn’t give her just that. if she could, she’d grab the back of your head and fuck your throat like she likes it, unapologetic and more than ready to make you swallow all of her thick load.

she knew she couldn’t, of course, she was very much aware that she needed permission to remotely even touch you, which, unfortunately for her, just contributed to arousing her even more.

taking pity on her, “i’m sorry for teasing, baby, you’re just so cute when you beg..” you admitted, smiling to yourself and running your hand up and down her thigh, before adding on, “you’ve been so needy, so good for me.. and just for that, i’ll take good care of you now, okay?”

just like that, her eyes were back on yours, this time wider and more excited, it’s like you could see her invisible puppy ears standing up in anticipation. she nodded at your words, her gaze still wet and pathetic with tears. 

it didn’t take long for you to finally wrap your hand around her hard shaft, stroking it up and down ever so slowly, to which the girl whose penis you were jerking off let out a heavy sigh of relief. your thumb brushed the slit of her tip, rubbing all of the precum that came out of it all over the surface of her cock, making her shudder. then, after what felt like an eternity of you teasing her, you eventually took all of her length all at once, holding your hair up. 

“ahh— y/n.. fuck..“ desperate moans escaped yujin’s mouth as you sucked her off, using all of her willpower attempting to not hold up your hair for you and ram herself into your mouth. 

she really wanted to, though, and you know her like you know the back of your hand, so that wasn’t hard to figure out. it’s obvious, especially with how her nails seemed to dig into her own skin due to how desperate she was to touch you. 

you saw that, and took pity on her; gently grabbing one of her hands and putting it on your hair, you nonverbally gave her the desired permission to finally touch you, and to guide your head however she wanted to.

mumbling quiet and desperate ‘thank you’s, she nestled her fingers in between your strands of hair for maximum comfort. unconscious about it, she dug her nails into your scalp slightly. it didn’t take long until she proceeded to finally move your head in a repetitive, back and forth motion.

“y/n..” she groaned after a while of having you suck her off, looking down at you and using all of her willpower to be as quiet as possible, but alas, “i can’t hold it in.. i’m sorry i— i need to cum.. so badly—”

no matter how hard she tried to keep it contained, she simply couldn’t: she moaned, finally shooting her long anticipated load into your throat, the warm and thick substance coating the entirety of the inside of your mouth. 

you weren’t done with her, of course, especially not after that.

now, you weren’t usually one to be into anything considered similar to ‘vanilla sex’, you always liked experimenting and trying different things, especially if it was yujin. however, you felt like keeping it simple today, your only objective being to orgasm from the girl’s, still very hard, cock.

therefore, what better way to do that than some good old missionary on the photo lab table? 

after making out with you and leaving marks all over your neck and visible parts of your collarbone, she ended up on top of your laying body, both your clothing and hers mostly still on. 

being positioned like this was the only time where she felt like she had power over you, and not vice-versa. it was the only time where she felt like she could do anything she wanted to you without any consequences, and she looked forward to it every single time. of course, she still thoroughly enjoys having you order her around, whether it’s for work or not, however, she also liked having a role switch every once in a while.

keeping her balance with one of the hands she has on the table, positioned right next to your head, she proceeded to take off the glasses from her face and set them somewhere near. you quickly stopped her by gently grabbing onto her wrist, which caught her attention. wide-eyed, she asked, “yeah?”

“don’t take them off.”

“...excuse me–”

“keep your stupid glasses on this time,” she was already committed to the action of putting them back on after you indicated that you wanted her to, but you decided to justify further, just for good measure, “i’ve always wondered what’d it look like for you to wear them while you fuck me.” 

and when she thought she couldn’t possibly be any more turned on and eager to fuck you, you proved her wrong with just that small, simple sentence.

she quickly pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose before leaning back into you, kissing you again, this time more eagerly. soon enough, she pulled away and started fucking you with slow, gentle thrusts, listening out for any sounds that came out of your pretty lips, gaze going back and forth between admiring how pleasure quickly contorted your beautiful face and watching how her dick disappeared into you.

the longer that went on, the harder it got to contain the noises that threatened to leave your already agape mouth, especially with how fast yujin’s pace got progressively faster.

“f-fuck yujin..” you whined, watching the girl on top of you lose herself as she thrusted the entirety of her length into your core. she looked at you through the lenses of her glasses as you whimpered sweet praises, leaving hungry, desperate kisses all over your lips, neck and even collarbone, marking you up even more.

soon enough, all of this turned into a constant cycle; all of a sudden, you realized that you wouldn’t actually mind staying that way for hours and hours on end. who knew that yujin could make hooking up on a shift for around the hundredth time still be so fun?

she eventually planted one last kiss on your lips before making you cum, your walls clenching all around her cock, which, of course, turned her on so much that she had to pull out to jerk off and help herself reach her own climax, in one last long moan.

lightheaded from the consecutive orgasms she’s put herself through, she laid there after you thoroughly licked her coated-in-cum dominant hand, as to remove any evidence of you two being ever here. her body rested on yours and her head comfortably nestled in the crook of your neck as she cuddled up to you, enjoying your body warmth. you panted, matching the rhythm of her own breathing, otherwise a comfortable silence settled between the two of you. 

that is, until her phone obnoxiously rang in one of her jean pockets, breaking said silence and catching the both of you by surprise. 

sitting up in a hurry, she quickly digs into said pocket and pulls out her cellular device, wasting no time to look at the caller and straight up just answers it, in case of an emergency. she puts it up to her ear before speaking up, clearly nervous, “..hello?”

silence. you stare at her with anticipation and curiosity, studying her facial expressions and looking out for any hint of bad news. thankfully, that never happened, as her eyes instead lit up in surprise.

“oh! yes, hello..”

“uh huh,” she added, nodding along to the words only she heard from the tiny phone speaker placed against her ear, “4 pm? yes! of course, i-i’ll be there. thank you so much.” 

she quickled fixed her posture and ended the call soon after saying that, turning back at you with a pleased and surprised expression.

“who was that?” you asked, curiosity eating at you.

“target.” she watched as your expression switched to a puzzled one, therefore explained further, “they called me to see if i was free for an interview later.”

“interview?” you repeated, making sure you heard her correctly, she nodded. “you applied to places recently?” is what you added.

she gave you another nod, this time reluctant, fixing her glasses and messy short hair, “i mean, nothing against cloud 9 or anything! i like working here and i love you guys, a lot! i simply just wanted a change of pace, i guess.. p-plus they might not even hire me, it’s not like i was expecting them to even call me back in the first place, so—” 

“hey,” you placed before she could stumble on another one of her words, wearing a sympathetic smile, “don’t worry about ‘not repping’ cloud 9 or whatever, it’s not like you sold your soul to jiwon when coming here. you’ll kill it there!” you joked, before continuing, “plus, you can always come back if things ever don’t work out; whatever happens, i’m rooting for you, we all are.” 

“even if you’re working for the rival company.” were your last words before leaving a kiss on her cheek and standing back up on your two feet, fixing yourself up. the sudden skin contact combined with the banter earned a shy giggle from yujin.

it was somewhat a ridiculous situation, feeling guilty for leaving your coworkers and going for another job, yujin didn’t know why she felt like this over trivial things such as this one. yet, you comforted her, despite how stupid it might seem. it’s only natural since you, out of all people, are the first person to know how much of a nervous wreck she is and how sensitive she always is to this kind of stuff, that was her charm, after all.

she appreciated you way more than she’d like to outwardly admit.

so, while you’re making your way to the door, getting ready to go to the break room to grab your things from your locker and clock out for the day, she calls out to you, “hey, y/n?”

“yeah?”

“are you maybe free, afterwards? y-yknow since our shifts both end at 2:30pm i was thinking we could maybe go grab a coffee together before my job interview and stuff but it’s like, totally fine if you already have plans or whatever—“

you smiled, flattered by the invitation. after all, today would mark the last day that you’re considered her ‘superior’, so you found it cute that she’d ask so soon. quite frankly, you were very tempted, this time having no obstacles in your way. who wouldn’t wanna go out on a date with the cute, charming girl who usually works at the dairy section? well, used to.

“sure, i would love tha—“

“ahem ahem.” you were cut off by the staticky sound of the words coming from the intercom, immediately recognizing the familiar and soft-spoken voice of your coworker, rei, “attention, dear shoppers of cloud 9, just a heads up to please proceed to not feel concerned about the following message, as it is destined to our staff, and our staff only, please and thank you. happy shopping!”

you and the puppy-like girl looked at each other in confusion, only to be thrown off guard by the same voice again, this time sounding more impatient. 

“now.. y/n, yujin, i know you can hear me; come out of that damn photo lab before i personally drag you out of there myself oh my god y’all aren’t slick, we all know what you do in there, you’re not fooling anybody. also, what happened to keeping it classy? what happened to doing this at home? not only that but it’s been like— an hour and a customer has been trying to get some passport photos done but you hoes— two, you two have been at it for forever. next time, if you’re gonna do this, make sure to at least keep it short and not have it last a whole decade.” 

then, you heard the intercom turn off.

yujin’s face went completely red as she listened to that, now not at all wanting to walk out of said photo lab. you cleared your throat, your whole body invaded with nothing but embarrassment as uncomfortable silence filled the space between you and the other girl. 

then, once you heard the intercom turn on again, it felt like your worst nightmare coming back to life for round two.

except this time, it didn’t come for you.

“oh and yujin, gaeul wanted me to tell—“ rei’s voice blasted through the speaker again before being obnoxiously interrupted by what sounded like gaeul’s voice, who was audibly angry and annoyed.

“yujin if you don’t get your ass back in the dairy section right now and clean that god damned spilled yogurt i’ll personally make sure that jiwon gets your next paycheck cut off by fifty percent, don’t test me. it reeks, yujin, reeks. oh and as for you, wonyoung, get off that damn phone before i—”

then, the intercom turned off again, which was probably rei’s doing, to both yujin, and probably wonyoung’s relief. 

you simply giggled, watching as she took off her name tag in an embarrassed manner, yknow, as to not be recognized by the customers she’d meet on her way to the row she had to clean. then, you cleared your throat, earning her attention before leaving. 

“meet me outside when you’re done?” you smiled.

she returned that same smile, immediately having forgotten the misery that was waiting for her outside that door, visibly excited.

“yeah, i’ll be there.”

[thesmollestsnek]

Death echoes

So a while ago, i found this dp x dc post that had a really interesting lore headcanon for Danny’s ghostly wail. Idk if I’ll be able to find it again, I’ll link it here if I do, but essentially it posited that every ghost has something called a “death echo”, which is an ability unique to them based heavily on their deaths. These echoes are the most powerful move in a ghost’s moveset, but they’re also extremely volatile and draining, typically damaging the ghost in some way when used, with Danny’s being his Wail because he died screaming. The original post then went on to some really cool halfa!Jason ideas based on these death echoes, but for this lil snippet with an extremely long intro I’d like to focus on Danny a bit more.

Edit: Apparently I may have extrapolated a lot of the actual lore behind these death echos myself? The inspiration post was a lot longer in my memories. Or I might've mushed multiple posts into one mental box and then forgot lol. So a lot of the actual detail from this point on is seemingly mostly original material? I think? Idk man, sometimes my brain spits out information without giving me any clues as to where it got that information. Anyway, this post got kinda long and since I'm... decently sure this is where I shifted from summarizing @ailithnight's post to writing all my own thoughts I figured here would be a good place to throw the cut lol.

So! with all of the context-for-the-context out of the way, let’s move on to the actual context for what I’m writing cause I can’t be bothered with writing an intro XD

Essentially, this is an au where Danny is an established member of the Justice League, or maybe one of the teen hero teams? I’m a slut for eternal teenager Danny, but maybe he’s enough of a powerhouse to be on the main team despite him both looking and acting like the dumbass fourteen year old he died as. Either way, he’s on a League/League-sanctioned mission and things go bad. Like, everyone-almost-dies bad. And so as a final desperation attack, Danny uses his Wail, a power he’s never told anyone on the league he even has. And it works, and they make it out, but after the fact everyone has. Questions. And because in this au death echoes are deeply personal, Danny dodges those questions, but the league coughbatmancough isn’t satisfied with that. So they push for answers. Answers Danny’s not willing to give, because. In my mind death echoes aren’t just based on how a person died, but also their experience of that death. What their last thoughts were. When Danny died the only thing that he could process beyond just an all-encompassing painpainpainpainpain was the sound of someone screaming. His screaming. And so his death echo is the sound of a fourteen year old child screaming in deathly pain and terror weaponized, which definitely gave the league Even More Questions than they would’ve had already. Which finally brings us to the actual snippet, which is a conversation between John Constantine, who was brought in for his experience with the supernatural once it became clear Danny wasn’t going to talk, and Danny himself. 

~~~~~~~

“So, kid. Batsy tells me you’ve been hiding some of your abilities, wanna tell me what's up with that? Call it an occultist's intuition, but somethin’ tells me you’re not just being stubborn for the hell of it.”

“It’s... complicated. And not anyone’s business, either!”

“Kid...”

“Why does it even matter?! It’s not something I want to or am even able to do on a regular basis! I saved the mission, can’t they just accept that and move on???”

Sighing, Constantine reached up to start massaging his brow. “Kid, you and I both know that ain’t gonna be enough. Now I know that some things are better left alone, but the rest of these idiots? They can’t accept that, Batsy especially. That man’s never left bloody well enough alone in his life”

He looked up just in time to see the otherworldly teen shrink into himself, looking every bit the child he was. “I know but... why? Why do they need to keep asking questions? And why do they only ask the ones that hurt to answer?”

A sharp glance. “The fuck kinda questions are they asking? Batman was speaking in more grunt than word, so I didn’t really catch all the details of what this power you’re supposedly hiding even is.”

Phantom shrinks even more into himself at that, and responds in a voice so small it’s more sigh than speech. “I... I can scream. And it breaks things and pushes people back. But it, it sounds. Bad. And it brings up bad memories and I don’t like to do it or listentoitoreventhinkaboutitandtheywon’tletmeforgetand-”

“Breathe kid. I know you don’t need to but just take a deep breath with me. Don’t you go getting lost in your own head on me now., Constantine reassured the kid automatically, the sheer hopelessness prompting action long before the words themselves could be understood. Then the rest of him caught up, and he had to pause. Looked up at the kid, saw just how distressed he was. A picture was starting to form in the back of his head, and Constantine didn’t like what he saw one bit. A last-resort power that the normally open Phantom was strangely reticent about. A scream so horrible sounding the rest of the league would not to stop asking questions about it. Terrible memories to match said scream. And one truly miserable child who couldn’t bear to even think about any of it. 

“Phantom... is that your Echo? Screaming?”

A miserable nod is his only response, the tears that had been welling up in the kid’s eyes finally starting to fall. Cursing softly to himself, Constantine stood to leave, bracing himself for the Bat’s inevitable questioning. “Well then you just take all the time you need love, and leave the rest to me. I’ll make sure the rest of those idiots know not to ask you about this ever again.”  And with that Constantine turned and strode towards the door, leaving the quietly sobbing child to collect himself in privacy.

~~~~~

I had a whole-ass lore dump conversation between Constantine and Batman planned here, explaining how death echoes are deeply personal, and asking about one is a taboo on par with, potentially even worse than, asking a ghost about their death outright. Because they are formed from an amalgamation of how a ghost died, their last thoughts, and their final emotions, in some ways asking a ghost about their Echo is like asking them to describe their death in painstaking detail. But uhhh... inspiration bug left. So yea. Side note, I’d like to apologize if my depiction of Constantine’s accent was Bad, I’m but a lowly USAmerican whose only exposure to British accents is through tv ^-^’

[cokoweee]

Okay last one I think…lovely stuff as always, I’m just juggling another brainrot right now, but I was itching to make some remarks. First off I’m glad midwesternvibes mentioned the text thing in the most recent update, because I was tickled to see that too! Probably the first time he had color since before their “spat” in the kitchen. As much as I know it’s still a roadblock in his recovery, I’m glad to see the voices coming back for Donnie. I kinda get this feeling they are hanging out with him until they know he’s going to be “okay”. And I have this little idea to myself, that when Donnie is able to start healing and processing his trauma, he stops hiding from them and is no longer afraid to see them. Of course that would be when they would start to slip away. (And that would be so rough for Donnie) Grief is kinda like that too. Sometimes you can be okay for a long time and you’ll have bouts where you still miss that person(s) even when you know you have accepted and moved on.

So I’m curious what is the situation that Donnie is on a watch. Is it just Draxum’s concern? Is it in case Donnie gets catatonic again? Is it in case he gets violent again? Is it to save his liver (those supersoldier genes only thing keeping it from failing)?

Also Draxum fixing Donnie’s sweater like a dad (only for Donnie to have his femme fatale shoulder thing as soon as the door is closed)

I’m a little surprised that this is the first time Kendra has seen Draxum do his mystic vine magic…or… he just hasn’t had too…or…all the mystic stuff happening lately has made Kendra more aware to it…or… but whatever the reason…appropriate reaction, lol

So something I have noticed that has me enticed is Donnie has been wearing his hand prosthesis more often.

Before the trauma induced episode, the only time we ever saw Donnie wearing it was when he was out or in “mission mode”. It makes sense, he needs to be able to save his ninpo for more than just temporary fingers. So why now… I was gonna suggest he is on edge, but I also remembered, as I was writing this, that you mentioned him having a slight disconnect to his ninpo…so yeah fingies is not a luxury he can afford right now. In any case…. Hmm…Donnnie….you know…if you didn’t shut your second dad outside…he mighta told ya that Kendra went out…ya know…? Also not sure if it’s just clueing us into Kendra still being sick or that trope of “if you sneeze three times it means someone is talking behind your back.” ? (I quote this one when I sneeze a lot, I’ll go “okay who’s trash talking me?!”)

Anyway please take care! Also p.s. if you do start to play Minecraft I hope you have fun. (I tried to play it but my laptop is too old and it crashes, so I can’t give much advice on it) also p.p.s I found a WIP of a thing I started writing for this AU in July, and I kinda…forgot I had it. It’s gonna be so out of place if I ever finish it, so just heads up for whatever was the hot topic then… <_<

GAHH I ANSWERED THIS BUT THE APP CRASHED AUGHHH. Let’s see if I remember what I said

I think I showed it a few times that despite Donnie constantly wanting said voices to stop, whenever they actually do, he feels uneasy. It’s quiet and he feels alone. I don’t write every single voice he hears all the time but just ones that feel right to show. There’s a lot he hears. The good the bad and the horrible.

Dancin a bit in that prosthetic part it’s a bit of a ref to sumthin y’all like to tickle a good bit sometimes lol

DRAXUM! A man not meant to be a father but ended up being a guardian. He hasn’t used his mystics cause there’s no need! Also Draxums reasoning for putting pickle boy on watch isn’t just his!

Casey is one that enforced it so harshly. That episode at the farmhouse was technically the first time she’s EVER seen Doobie in that state. Literally witnessed him break down, almost wipe out a farm and try to tear apart his own body. Both want no risk of not being able to get to Dibble so keeping him out of the lab that he can lockdown is a must for them

OOF THIS IS LONG HOPEFULLY I MADE SENSE. Cause I forgot a bit of what I said before

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  LadyKailitha! @ladykailitha has 33 fics posted to AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 32 of them are in the Steddie Tag.

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @ladykailitha:

Little Runaway

Staking My Claim

I'll Be Your Knight

Eddie's Big Stevie Rescue

"LadyKailitha is a wonderful writer both on Tumblr (shout out to WIP Wednesday, makes my day!!) and on AO3! They absolutely deserve all the recognition and respect for their work. And now I'd like to share the love 🫶"-- anonymous

Below the cut, @ladykailitha answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

I’m obsessed with them. LOL! On a more serious note, it’s because I relate to the two characters a lot and want to see them happy.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

Childhood friends. I just love watching them be friends as kids and then grow apart and then back together again. I could read it a billion times and do it again. As long as there’s a happy ending of course.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

AUs. Just all of them. I like canon Eddie and Steve, but putting them in different worlds and still finding ways to make them who they are. chef’s kiss

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

There are so many good ones but one that I’ve read several times is STRIKE TEN by oaseas. So good.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

That’s the best part of steddie is not knowing there’s a troupe I want to write for until inspiration strikes. Like I never thought I’d do a sugar baby/daddy AU, but I’m currently writing one. Ditto for omegaverse, but now I’ve written two from the same universe. But as I’m typing this… probably sentinel/guide. The idea has always intrigued me.

What is your writing process like?

First is day dreaming up an idea. Then depending on how long the idea is, I’ll do a short write up about. If it’s long, then it gets treated with plot beats I want to hit. I don’t consider it an outline, because they aren’t in order. Then I will sit down and start writing. I will do at least 400 words a day and keep at it until I have at least 3 or 4 chapters into it before I start posting.

Do you have any writing quirks?

I have to have a backlog of unpublished chapters because I worry if I’m not putting out stories people will lose interest. It’s also so that if I write myself into a corner I can go back a couple of chapters if I have to and change it to fit the new direction the story is going.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Definitely on a schedule. I’ve tried waiting until I’m done and I just get too excited for other people to read it and start posting.

Which fic are you most proud of?

Well Met By Moonlight. I’m really proud of the world building and mystery.

How did you get the idea for Little Runaway?

When I first got into the fandom, there was a severe lack of Eddie and Steve postseason 2 and I really wanted to lean into that a bit.

When writing Little Runaway, what was something you didn’t expect?

Max becoming a reader insert in a way. Where you see the characters through her eyes at the end.

What inspired Staking My Claim?

LOL! Steve licking Eddie’s hand like he was a cupcake he didn’t want to share.

What was your favorite part to write from Staking My Claim?

Jeff. I loved how he just kinda rocked up and said, “As Eddie’s boyfriend, you are now my responsibility and no, you don’t get a say in this.”

How do/did you feel writing I'll Be Your Knight?

I love this one. It really does not get enough praise honestly. I loved the idea of the sound of Steve’s lighter as he lights and puts it out over and over again. I just really loved the idea of Steve guarding Eddie because he’s part of the group now.

What was the most difficult part of writing Eddie's Big Stevie Rescue?

The subject matter. It’s one of my darkest fics because Steve gets slipped a date rape drug and the fall out of not trusting the people you care about with the deepest parts of yourself. Also, keeping the tension ramped up.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I absolutely love the scene with Billy and Steve from “Never Hold Back Your Step…” when Billy gets Steve’s lifeguard job and Steve calls him a washed up surfer. That whole takedown was cathartic as hell.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I’m currently working on a couple that I think are just so much fun. “The Hellfire Exotic Club” a stripper AU that has been a blast to write. And “Of Butterflies and Backstrokes” the Olympic swimmer AU. I’m proud of that title, too.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

nope!

Thank you to our author, @ladykailitha, and our anonymous nominator! See more of LadyKailitha's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[baskeigh-ball]

Loving your seperated raph au so far! So if Raph wasn't around, Leo must be the leader up til now? How did that affect his personality?

Thanks so much! And I actually have several ideas for their dynamic without Raph that I've been exploring, so prepare for a long-winded rant because I have Too Many Thoughts

I've brainstormed a lot about how the leadership role would work with Raph out of the picture, and my consensus is that Leo isn't a full-fledged leader. Instead, he and Donnie accidentally end up as co-leaders!

And by "accidentally", I mean "Leo elects himself as leader but Donnie hates the idea of being ordered around by his slightly-older annoying twin so much that he turns it into a competition for the leadership role". Actually in this context, I'd call it more of a president/vice-president dynamic, with Leo taking charge more often and Donnie occasionally stepping up if he doesn't agree with a decision. Poor Mikey kinda ends up stuck in the middle of all this, lol.

Outside of leadership, Leo is definitely more responsible as the self-appointed oldest brother, but that responsibility is more spread out between him and his brothers than it is with canon Raph. My reasoning behind this is how he's just barely the eldest. The difference in age between him and Donnie is so small that his younger brothers feel more inclined to help him out. Overall, the trio is more mature than in canon, but not by much (this isn't one of those super serious AUs where it's all about survival and familial issues, trust me. they're still a bunch of gremlins that love each other and do as they please, they just. know how to do their chores now.)

Also side note, without Raph around to be the tank/shield that takes the big hits, the trio's missions default to stealth if they're unfamiliar with whoever they're facing. At least until they get a handle on their mystic weapons; after that they can go into fights guns-blazing in all of their unhinged glory >:] (and i'd say Donnie with his tech takes up the mantle as the "tank" of the group, i mean did u see the first episode's fight with draxum? he was the only one getting effective hits in)

Exploring their dynamic is gonna be fun, especially how Leo and Raph might clash about leadership once things start winding down and Raph is finding his place in the family. He'd definitely feel like he should be the protector, what with his size, strength, battle skills, street smarts, etc etc, but I imagine the trio would be hesitant about the idea. After all, they've survived just fine up until now. Sure, they've got a few extra scars they could've done without, but they're still kicking!

To sum it up, Leo and Donnie somewhat share leading the team while also competing to become the True Leader, then Raph comes along and unwittingly joins in on the competition while Mikey has to just Deal in the background. Wonder how long it'll take for Dr Delicate Touch to step in?

Anyways, rant over. I hope this answered your question! (and sorry if it's kinda rambly, my thoughts usually come out as word vomit and this is the first time i'm posting them publicly ('._.))

[valeriianz]

For the fic writer asks:

4. Obviously you did research for BitB. I'd love you to ramble about it if you like I'm sure you've got STORIES

5. Did you outline it?

7. How'd you decide it would be Hob's pov?

25-27 I'd love to know a/some favorite lines, details, and any lore you might want to share

omg TJ what wonderful questions! thank you!! this is going to get LONG!

4: Rambling about research!

do you wanna see a screen shot of my bookmarks under my "band au" folder?

man, and that's only what could fit on the screen.

there is... SO MUCH i chose to ignore for this fic. ideas that i had to drop, lines or extra details about the other band members equipment. more logistics, what Lucienne actually does, what Mervyn has to put up with as the new touring stage manager... i realized very early on that i couldn't possibly cram all this (super cool and eye opening) information into the fic and still keep reader's interest and, most importantly, to not stray away from the fact that this is a dreamling fic. whenever i felt myself getting carried away with a side character or job or even social media numbers, gossip, outside POVs, i had to reign myself in and get back on track. there will be time for exploring everything i missed in side stories after BitB is finished. i just hope i still have the energy to write it all.

once, i was so deep into research that after publishing chapter 2, i went into work and when my chef asked what "GA" meant on my prep list, i answered with full confidence, "general admission."

(it means "get ahead.")

the worst part of this entire writing process is im still learning new shit. i havent rewatched or read a lot of what i've saved because, to be very honest, i was feeling a little burnt out. it's why we're kinda full steam dreamling now. it's why ive been glossing over a lot of technical stuff and being vague about conversations amongst the crew/not including it at all. i don't prefer ignoring my research, but at the end of the day i want to still enjoy writing this fic and finish it. even if i can't be as descriptive and detailed and nuanced as i used to be.

5: Did you outline the fic?

(also asked by @hardly-an-escape!)

i wouldn't call what i have a proper "outline," it's more like a 20k word document filled to the brim with notes that i skim at least a dozen times while i'm writing a new chapter (being in my brain is literally hell). i live multichapter life very dangerously. i copy and paste lines or sections (always scattered, never together! augh!) that are meant to go together and plop them in a new document titled "band au ch.#" and then i structure the chapter around what i want to happen.

but to answer this question in the plainest of terms: yeah. i know exactly what's going to happen up until the very end. even if its all in my head and the only concrete shit that's written down are beats/plot points. i'll figure out the rest later!

7: How'd you decide it would be Hob's POV?

i actually never even considered writing it from Dream's POV. this was my first fic in the fandom (which is so nuts to think about lol) and writing in Dream's POV sounded so scary lol. i also just thought Hob's would be easier because i have worked a few backstage shows, back in my college years. i figured eh, i can make this work. and i loved exploring how weird and mysterious musicians can be, from a normie's POV. making Hob a fan first and having him worry about developing a parasocial relationship... it was fun to explore.

25: Share your favorite line

oh god, i have so many haha.

“What are you thinking about?” starting in ch.2 and onward lmao

“It’s–” Dream laughs quietly, bitterly. “I don’t like change.” He says each word with emphasis, eyes trailing down to fixate somewhere past Hob. “And I still hold onto the things I can control, like my instruments–” his eyes swing up to regard Hob apologetically. “Or my clothes or my–” he brings a hand up and wiggles his fingers around his head. “My hair.” ch.4

"His majesty is pleased." ch.5

“You are obsessive,” he states, slow and cool and with a quiet smile cracking through his composure. “Just like me.” ch.7

“You look good.” Hob has to lean in to say so, unwilling to raise his voice amongst the roar of the fans. ch.11

“Del looks like porcelain, but she’s actually made of steel.” Desire swirls the contents of their glass before pushing their shoulders back with a deep breath. “She's tougher than all of us.” ch.11

“Everything. I want…” his fingers tighten in Hob’s hair, pulling him closer, speaking against his lips. “…Everything.” ch.14

26: Share your favorite detail

how intentionally coy Dream behaves. i love keeping him a mystery and deciding when and how much to allow his intentions to peek through has been so fun lol.

Despair is in fact covered in tattoos and piercings! i say this because i feel like sometimes i forget lmao. (but also her and Hob don't interact much so. my bad haha).

Delirium's constant explosion of color in the way she dresses <3

Hob's dedication to his job, Dream, and the people he cares about the most. i don't care if people think i'm making him too soft and good, im gonna project on that man and make him a sweet, sweet simp lmao

and ah, this doesn't matter anymore, and i kinda regret doing it but. i originally had Dream's favorite bass all black but the pickguard was white. so it actually looked like Jessamy. not gonna lie when @designtheendless drew it all black i decided i liked it better that way. and truly i do. that's when i went back to ch.1 and changed it haha. to actually see the guitar with Dream, all done up sparkling black and purple flecks... gosh it's just so him. but then i got up to the reveal that the guitar's name was Jessamy and i was like, "oh, right." lmao. no one seems to care so i'll leave it be.

27: Share a piece of lore you made up for the story

i have a lot lmao. and this post is already so long... im hoping i can get to some if not all of it in side fics in the future. but for now, here's some that's more like headcanons but:

Dream hates flying. he can full on go into panic attacks on the plane if he allows himself to get into his own head.

this was mentioned briefly in ch.4, while Dream was discussing the formation of the band, but Despair was in another band before joining Endless. she is the only character in the fic who gets to keep her English roots (lol sorry) and is the oldest in the band (30).

all of the band members ages: Dream, Desire, and Death are all 28 and Delirium is 22.

Dream can experience subdrop after going too hard during a performance.

Dream paints his own nails, it's very therapeutic.

as an exercise, i explored my own headcanons for Dream in this verse in a word doc, and one thing i will share from it that you might find interesting: If I were to ever give Dream a theological values, I would describe him as a satanist. He is a physical and pragmatic person, nonconforming, and although he is introverted, he enjoys being a part of a community (he loves his band).

also found this in my notes: How Desire and Dream got along was Death making them fight it out. Hob raises an eyebrow “like in a brawl?” He couldn't imagine Desire throwing hands. “No, in a pillow fight that escalated in hair pulling and verbal taunts.”

fic writer asks

[thetoaddaddy]

thinkin about an au i was building but didn’t want to bore people with a really detailed au that they would have to read in order to understand it just for smut for my fic series that was mostly short one shots so let me drop it here

a longish explanation underneath. Cut it so you don’t gotta scroll through a big post

it be a deity au. In which the sannin and other prominent figures were well deities. Heavy influence was from japanese folklore and some games. You know how the god and goddess lists are pretty huge so it’s not totally out of reason to kinda make ur own sort of tree using the same kind of logic? Sorta like that.

But the basic rules of the universe was that gods were actual beings. And the more prayer, followers, renown, and general admiration the stronger they were. They can do what their intended tasks are. Like rain or good luck. They can roam beyond their shrine(to which they’re bound to almost like that was their real body. So if it falls into ruin so do they)

And my idea with this was basically both oro and tsuna had devout followers. And thus were pretty powerful and free roaming. Oro had more sinister vibes, a god of war and trickery. Tsuna was a goddess of healing, wisdom and prosperity. And thus they also had a lot of prayers to answer. So it was more of a mutual expectation of gods to their followers. If that makes sense. Like a balance of devotion so long as the prayers were answered. Almost like genshin? But not as complicated lmao. (And i thought of this before i played the funny anime game so dont @ me)

But in this instance jir was more of a forgotten god. Bound to his shrine up on a lonely mountain, his memory and consciousness barely in tact. With no one to feed him with basically attention and belief he’s sorta stuck in a limbo. Basically circling the drain. He doesn’t even remember what his role is like oro or tsuna do(not that it’s hard to guess lol). The only thing really keeping him from fully dying are some rather cute kitsune (sunshine boi and his parents) who at this point make sure he doesn’t accidentally fall off a cliff.

idk. I know it could be a little indulgent. Especially if all he gets is one or two people who just sorta stumble upon him. Which means he slowly remembers who he is and if ya nasty fall in love.

I like thinking outside the box when it comes to aus for our muses. And this is a bit of a mashup of various lores from various sources and our own mentally ill mind.

But I’ve always wanted to do something with it. Especially with muses who tap into the japanese folklore. Its one of those worlds where it’s not just the gods its demons too. Onis, ghosts, weird sentient hair combs with a vendetta, goblins, ghouls. All that cool interesting stuff that makes japanese folklore so cool. I see it as the classic setting, more feudal fantasy than anything modern.

[nilboxes]

Hi! I love the way you write the relationship between Aventurine and Ratio in your fics and I wanted to know I'd they were each other's firsts? First kiss, first handholding, etc. Or if they had experience before meeting each other.

Hello, Anon! Thank you for the kind words, it's pretty nice to hear you enjoy them 🤗

I am firmly in the camp that Ratio isn't exactly clueless about relations, and has had some during all his years in academia and in his career. There would have been a handful of hidden away action late at night in the lab, though his partners never last too long. He'd just think dating is a little bit of a pain, but he does enjoy the "stimulation" so he figures he can just... do it himself most of the time when he needs release, which is a little far in-between. Essentially he is a beginner at these things, but not quite clueless!

Aventurine on the other hand, I think he's done a lot of things with others already. Kisses, being in bed, etc etc. But a lot of it is casual, never serious, he's the hedonistic sort, he would have experimented.

It is my little pet headcanon that he and Diamond had/have relations. (Imagine whatever's comfortable for you sorry XD, even if I wrote a fic between them I think a lot of it is still up in the air for now) Diamond would send people his way as a mole, or as a means of keeping him in-check, since I feel out of all the Stonehearts for now, he is the one who doesn't exactly *want* for anything, and therefore might be prone to getting ~ideas~ but this is also some mind games between them imo anyway Aventurine would have thoroughly enjoyed the company of those people before sending them on their way, so he's got some dubious relationship experience. I think this is necessary for my interpret of him because like, he's never had a healthy one before, but he knows what an unhealthy one looks like and doesn't do that with Ratio, he's got a little foundation to that I guess.

Anyway I do believe though that they are each other's first rather healthy relationship (situationship) and in a way, all manner of things are their first. Their first kiss and first time doing it will still be the Final Victor LC for me, but it's the smaller, more mundane things that matter with them.

I imagine, the first time they had like non-sexual contact would be probably a scenario sometime before Penacony project, Aventurine and Ratio would need to vacate premises really fast and Aventurine takes Ratio's hand and leads him out of there. First-ish kinda date MAAAYBE would likely be the shopping spree they did to create a mass negative feelings event in Penacony (I intend to write two versions of these probably, one in the omegaverse AU and another one as a standalone augh)

I also recall the first time either of them stayed the night was when Aventurine got sick. Nothing happened between them, but for Ratio, waking up beside someone is a highly novel experience I would think! He's just the type of guy who wouldn't like to stay over because he prefers his own pillows and beddings better but thanks to Aventurine's highly luxurious tastes it happened (of course I am joking it was because Aven was really sick but lol this was a big factor also)

Really thinking about a lot of their firsts also LOL I wonder where their first romantic kiss would be... like a legitimate I want to kiss you and you want to kiss me moment outdoors but they were alone if I ever wrote that out...

Anyway sorry for taking so long to answer! I was really wracking my brains for this HAHA uhh thanks for the ask again ♥

[enden-k]

hey I think your art is awesome!

I do have a question, how do you keep it consistent when you draw so often? for me it feels like if I don’t spend a long time on one art it doesn’t fit with the rest TT and your art is very precise and all colored— it’s really cool to me! (Like I absolutely don’t mean it in a dang you don’t put work in way but in a wow that’s really precise for not a lot of time. Way)

it may be just like. A different art brain kinda thing but I was interested if you had any tips or like general idea? Orr maybe it’s just a lot of practice also lol. and u know you can always delete the ask if you don’t wanna answer, especially if you’ve already answered it somewhere I couldn’t find it, I will just say hi !:) I really think your art is very cool! sorry for the anon I am the Shy

im not rlly sure i understand the question, sorry im stupid.......i keep it consistent because i draw so often. when i dont draw for a longer period of time, i get out of shape easily and tend to hate whatever i draw bc it doesnt look "right" (= how it usually looks) to me. thats why i try to draw every day, depending on my time its just sketches up to the doodles i post here. and bc i draw so often, i got faster over time so thats why i can pump out lots of doodles a day sometimes (tho hyperfixations/brainrot also plays a huge part in that, like with exorcist au comics recently)

also bc i stopped trying to achieve perfection long ago, i used to do that, spent hours drawing and often overdid a piece and then ended up not liking it anymore lmao. i kinda prefer the sketchy look in my art

when i do pieces like that tho i take more time ofc. unfortunately, im a very lazy person by nature so i draw such pieces once in a blue moon

anw idk what kind of tips to give. this is just lots of practice and hyperfixations/obsessions as fuel kjbjk sorry if im no help

[leviadraws]

hey loz! i was bouncing au ideas around in my head and got a little too invested, so now i'm here to askwhat do you think would have to change in order for there to be a viable roleswap between dra yuki and utsuro?like, with yuki as the mastermind and utsuro as the one around for the killing game. what do you think that universe would be like?

anyway hope you're having a great day LOL

Oh my this is such a cool idea! I'd love to hear more about it /gen

Under cut, since I waffled a load /lh

I will preface that I struggle to characterise Utsuro a fair bit compared to Yuki, just because we see so little of him, I took so long to answer this just because I had to go watch chapters 0, 6, and IF just for the refresher.

For the sake of argument, in this role swap Utsuro isn't aware of his own luck, like how Yuki isn't.

Which meant watching the footage didn't actually help all that much, since a lot of his apathy and confidence (arrongance? on how things will pan out) stem from his talent and the results of his talent.

Anyway

I think, who he does and doesn't get on with changes a lot. I don't think his kinda pessimistic realism would allow him to get on much with the more optimistic cast members (like the sunshine quartet, Akane, Kanata, Kakeru, Ayame, etc). I could see Akane trying to reach out in some subconscious way (something in the back of my head tells me I know this person kinda way) but I think the way he deflects and doesn't share the same "we got this! You just gotta not lose hope" would push her away.

I also think he'd have a lot of up and downs with Tsurugi and Rei. They'd probably get on with some things, like the idea that people often don't have good intentions and all and don't trust and all. But, I can't see Utsuro joining the large group in chapter 2 and chooses to go his own way like how Kizuna, Rei and Kinji did.

I think he gets along with Kinji the most, Kinji isn't loud and talks when it's needed, he isn't argumentative in the same way Rei is either. I think Utsuro would annoy early game Rei a lot, since he wouldn't rise to her quite outlandish points of view and just ignore her a lot.

I think there's a possibility that he'd get on with Mikako, kinda in the same way as the main game. But with the swap they kinda have different views on hope and getting everyone out so I'm not entirely sure how that'd pan out.

He takes a bit of a back seat in trials, he's cynical and so calls people out on very obvious lies and cover ups, but since he doesn't stick with the group all that much he often doesn't have an alibi outside of luck coming into play, so he ends up getting the blame pinned on him a lot. He doesn't really feel "Oh X could never do that", so he's ready to press threads regardless of the person on the other end.

I don't think the early deaths actually change all that much, in canon Yuki isn't actually all that involved in the cases all the way up to like, case 5? And even then he's not involved, more like well, blamed in a last ditch effort.

Case 3 would change a tad, since if Utsuro isn't all that close with the main group he'd probably not be around for Akane's episode and therefore not have an alibi. Kinji probably tries to subdue him like how he does Rei and Tsurugi but divine luck kinda intervenes in some really silly way and so instead Kinji tries to pin the blame on him as the only one not "attacked".

That makes the trial hard, he's been betrayed again, they weren't quite friends but to have one of the people that didn't berate him completely turn on him hurts.

I, also think eventually they soften up to him sometime after chapter 3. After being blamed and scapegoated so much in trials, the others start to see that maybe they were mean in their initial impressions. I'm unsure how much he'd soften up? Perhaps he becomes more patient in time, but getting the blame pinned on him and having the others admonish his more pessimistic nature when they're getting no where searching the facility gets on his nerves.

You know that bit where he slips talking to Mikako? (can't remember if it's chapter 3/4/5), it's a little more creepy. A smile comes through and a manic look that really spooks her.

In chapter 4 he's forced to dance with whoever you'd like haha

I can't see him spending all his energy looking for a way out of the ballroom, I think he takes a look around and then retires to his room to save his energy. Akane notices and brings meals to his room.

When the hunger starts to kick in he seems to slip a little more often, people catch him just smiling to himself and it catches them off guard, but then they look back again and it's gone so they think their minds are just playing tricks from the hunger.

I've been trying to think if he'd be there for Tsurugi's freakout. I think luck would probably mean he ends up in the right place at the right time to intervene.

Chapter 5 is weird, would Tsurugi die if they were never close? Would he still subconsciously save him with luck? I honestly don't know. I'm gonna go with the latter for simplicity but I think the former is an interesting path to go down.

So chapter 6, and if he found Akane occasionally annoying before she's unbearable right now. Seeing her gives him a migraine that he can't shake and he makes him harsh, curt and a little rude. Tsurugi approaches about how different he remembers Utsuro, how they used to be really good friends, and how he was well liked by pretty much the whole class. It puzzles him, they're really acquaintances at best and he really can't see him being the life of the party in class.

When Tsurugi won't drop it he just nods and assumes it must be his injury affecting his memory.

The final trial comes up, and the headaches are getting worse and worse. It goes black for a moment and he sees someone who looks just like him, just a little more neatly kept, eyes brighter than his, and a soft smile on his face. But there's something a little off putting about it all as he points to the red door infront.

He opens his eyes, smiles a little too wide, and laughs.

[lloydfrontera]

lmao picturing an au where instead of the system telling lloyd he's here bc of a wish he made, it tells him that he's here bc of JAVIER'S wish. maybe it'll change stuff, maybe it won't, but i wanna see lloyd reacting to that lol

i am curious about that tho. the novel kinda implies that the reason suho was isekai'd was because of javier's wish, after all it's right after javier wishes that og lloyd could wake up as a different person that suho gets inserted into his body.

but in the webtoon the system congratulates lloyd on being chosen to be granted a random wish

it's a very specific wording too. "chosen to have a random wish granted by the absolute". it's not the same as being told he got a wish granted already. are we meant to assume his wish was granted by making him a character in the novel?? lloyd seems to believe that

but i'm,,, not so sure actually. i think maybe his wish will be granted in the future and to do that he needed to be isekai'd into lloyd's body first. the "good luck! you've got this!" makes it seem like he needs to do something in order to be granted his wish.

my best bet is the wish he talks about with berkis, where he says all he wanted was to have a normal family, a family that welcomed him home after work, that didn't struggle with money and lived a calm life without worrying too much. and that that wish hadn't changed with him coming there, he still wanted that and to just live without working, relaxing for the rest of his life with his family.

that's the closest i can think to a wish by lloyd that would justify him being sent into another world by the absolute. and it would fit the system wishing him good luck because it's something he needs to achieve before he can have it.

so,,, are we meant to believe that in the webtoon they changed the reason for lloyd being isekai'd from being the answer to javier's wish to being an opportunity for lloyd's wish to come true??? because that would be,,, not a very big change in the grand scheme of things but i do think it would take away from the very, very poetic parallel of javier being the unintentional reason that suho comes into his world and javier being the one to purposefully seek him out in the ending to bring him back again.

which.... now that i think about would be the exact kind of change the webtoon would make :/

but! to address your au idea (after this very long rant lmao)! i don't know if it would actively change anything,,, but it would definitely make lloyd very smug about it aksjhdka

like look how smug he is when he gets told javier considers him someone he needs to protect and that he's pledge his life to him

now imagine him knowing it is thanks to javier that he's there at all ahskdhjka

he'd probably tease javier a lot about being all his wishes come true which would make javier soooo mad. right up until javier figures out that if he just agrees to it or heaven forbid brings it up first lloyd gets so flustered by the earnestness of it all he gets tomato red and can barely speak at all let alone make a witty reply akjshdjka

[iamamythologicalcreature]

An Ask Game for Writers to Procrastinate Working on Your WIP(s)

(Not like I need the assistance, but I'm so thrilled to be thought of as a writer that I'm totally doing this.)

Thank you so much for the invites @aristocratic-otter, @bookish-bogwitch, @shrekgogurt, @ic3-que3n, @ivelovedhimthroughworse, @drowninginships, @best--dress, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @monbons, @thewholelemon, @whatevertheweather, and @youarenevertooold! (I think I might be the last one in the 'verse doing this, but that won't stop me from tagging more people at the end.) I've loved reading everyone's answers!

Okay. Here we go. I am absolutely using my flimsy claim to authorhood to answer these. >.>

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

The Haunting of Simon Snow

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

Construction Worker!Simon + haunted manor house = a most interesting summer job

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

Well, it's a ghost story. You can draw some conclusions from that.

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

A Victorian's Gothic

5. ⚠️Which WIP your most likely to finish or update next?

It sure as hell better be Haunting. I mean, my goodness, it's looped around my brain like a too-patient boa constrictor, just sloooowly squeezing.

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

snowbaz.scriv is my catch-all Scrivener file for all ficcy things

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

There’s a person that I used to be. Magic I used to hold, magic that held me. I have done everything I can to forget that feeling, because it was never supposed to be mine. I was never magic. He’s magic. He’s magic, and I can almost touch him. He’s magic, and he can almost hold me. I live on the edge of almost all the time, so that’s enough. (It’s never enough.)

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP.

This was originally planned as a story written in letters. (Doing that with something else, now, and it works way better in a different story.)

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

I'm going to stick to snowbaz fanfic for this, because if I broaden it any further, this list will instantly become quite long. (I have a lot of original story ideas.) For snowbaz, though? Well, there's the one I'm planning for COTTA. There are a couple AU's that I've written way too many notes on. And then a Fangirl crossover fic that I sincerely hope to someday write. (Technically I started it, but only a few hundred words at this point.)

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

Actively? One. Maybe two. Kinda thinking two, but the second one is new and more of a game at this point, so we'll see. (Not quite so actively I also have my Baz fic, my "Silence" fic where Baz successfully steals Simon's voice. It's roughly (super roughly) outlined, and I've written several scenes, but it's on the back-burner for Haunting. And COTTA. No more new fics after that, though! I really want to tell that story!)

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

That's funny. What a question. XD YES. Yes, there are scenes. I'm designing Pitch Manor to get through this damned scene LOL

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

Thankee kindly!

On the off chance there are any fic writers left out there who haven't yet done this... Tags! @mooncello, @cutestkilla, @blackberrysummerblog, @hushed-chorus, @fatalfangirl, @onepintobean, @j-nipper-95, @facewithoutheart, @angelsfalling16, @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, anyone else who wants to. Cheers!

[wikiangela]

Weekend WIP Game

tagged by @jesuisici33 <3

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more)

1. WIP List:

alive shannon

sick eddie

buddie coffee shop

new buddie chris' school

roommates

bi eddie

buddie death cast fic

cheating fic

untitled natalia fic

buddie 2x01

5+1 nicknames

coffee buddie

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

alive shannon with 20k words so far

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

alive shannon, since it's kinda a canon rewrite and I still haven't decided to which point it's gonna go, we'll see when it'll feel right to end it haha

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

once again, alive shannon haha - it's just so fun to explore what all those dynamics could've been, and giving Eddie and Shannon some closure, and I love exploring Shannon's character, too, speculating on her thoughts and motivations, and diving into everyone's heads, and I'm so excited to see it all develop!!

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

I think it's either alive shannon or the cheating fic alive shannon bc I've never written s2/s3 buddie and I wanna get their characters semi-right, and I don't remember a lot of details so I need to get on with my rewatch lol - and also writing Shannon's and Eddie's feelings on their relationship and how it all ended is not easy haha and the cheating fic bc it's so not my thing but a song inspired it and it got stuck in my head and it's happening haha and I hope I'll make it make sense haha

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

tbh all of them - some more, some less, but there are moments, especially lately, when veeeery often I'm just like: everything I write sucks wtf

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

@giddyupbuck agreed to beta the alive shannon fic, and I spam them with snippets if I'm in doubt and it's sooo helpful fr ily <3 and I'll need alive shannon beta-read bc it's gonna be so long, and I keep changing my mind about things bc of how many ideas I have, so I just need someone else to look at it and tell me if everything makes sense haha - and Ro's helped me so much with some previous fics so they have my full trust with my baby that is the alive shannon fic haha

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block?

all of them at some point lol - a few of these are actually on hold bc of that - I will get back to them tho!

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them?

as of now there's no ocs in any of these, but we'll see haha

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

cheating fic and maaaaybe coffee buddie (if I'll ever get back to this one) - no actual smut in my wips yet atm

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

buddie death cast fic - if you've read 'they both die at the end' you know why lol this is not gonna have a happy ending

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)?

so far I'm loving everyone in alive shannon so I guess let's go with that haha

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

oh I am so bad this - but maybe let's say buddie coffee shop au bc i think it's the only one where I put even a little bit of focus on the setting lmao

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

alive shannon, been thinking about it and making notes for months before I started writing, and I don't think i've ever been this invested in a fic

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

alive shannon - - like I said, it's my most precious baby, and I'm so excited to not only write it but read it, and I hope it's gonna be as good as it is in my head, and I hope I'll make the story make sense with Shannon there, but also keeping some important buddie moments from canon hah

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs?

not sure if i've ever dreamt about a wip, but i do get new ideas in my sleep sometimes lol

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't?

alive shannon will have switching povs which i rarely do, so it's gonna be a challenge to write three distinct voices - and diving into Shannon's head and feelings and motivations will also definitely be hard

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour?

I think sick eddie - he's so ridiculously stubborn and difficult istg haha or buddie coffee shop with how fucking awkward buck's being

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

yep, once again, alive shannon - it's as much a buddie fic as it is a shannon fic, so it's not exactly outside pov, bc I'm just excited to focus on her equally as much, on how she's settling into their lives, becoming a better mom, being involved in Chris' life - she's gonna have as much focus as buddie sns it's not easy, bc it's alternating povs and once I get stuck in Eddie's head it's hard to leave, but so far it's been fun

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs

uhhh, I think I share like everything lol okay, so maybe: alive shannon will definitely go at least up until s4 and will include Eddie dating Ana 👀 purely bc I want a buddie-shipping Shannon to be like wtf eddie??? also, there will be more than one mcd in the death cast fic and coffee buddie was loosely inspired by a small thing from luke cage lol

no pressure tags: @daffi-990 @fortheloveofbuddie @elvensorceress @gaydiaz @diazass @thebravebitch @silentxxsoul @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @arthursdent @diazblunt @911onabc @eddiediaztho @housewifebuck @lover-of-mine @gayhoediaz @rogerzsteven @watchyourbuck @hoodie-buck @monsterrae1 @ladydorian05 @forthewolves @honestlydarkprincess @wildlife4life @theotherbuckley @weewootruck @thewolvesof1998 @disasterbuckdiaz @loserdiaz @underwater-ninja-13 @giddyupbuck @hippolotamus @eowon @callaplums @spotsandsocks

[bluegekk0]

hi I have a couple questions about the au. you can screenshot and answer seperately if a singular response would be too long lol

firstly, when and how did Vyrm realize his feelings for Grimm? I've kinda read betwern the lines that it happened pre-hibernation but I don't think you've ever elaborated on that

also when did he realize what Grimm's original intentions on their first meetings were? like as in how many years did it take Vyrm to figure that out? I need it cause I want to make one of those guys not realizing they are being flirted with memes

does Vyrm know of Grimm's and WL's past?

what did WL think of Grimm coming to the palace to visit Vyrm?

Hi! If it turns out too long I'll just put it under the divider, so no worry about that!

1 and 2 - There was a period of about 15 years between WL and Vyrm's separation and his hibernation, and during that time was when he eventually realized that what he felt for Grimm was love. Or rather, he finally found the most suitable word for how he felt around him - the two have been friends for decades at that point, and every time Grimm visited, Vyrm felt the most at ease and the happiest. He simply didn't figure out it was love because, well, he spent most of that time in a relationship that was supposed to be that of love and affection, but as we know, it was far from that. The problem was that he had no experience with love beforehand - ever since he was born, his idea of love was making the other happy even at the cost of his own happiness, and not expecting affection back. A constant race to avoid disappointing the other, with little to no reward in return. That's what his relationship with his mother was, and then later with WL.

So faced with someone who showed him that affection regardless of whether Vyrm even tried to make them happy was strange, confusing. It went completely against his idea of what love was, so it's not surprising that he struggled to realize that that's exactly what it was, that Grimm loved him, and that he loved Grimm. There's also the fact that he avoided thinking too much about his feelings towards others, since he wanted to remain faithful to WL, so he brushed off any suggestion that he felt something other than friendship towards Grimm. At that point he was still oblivious to it, convinced that there wasn't anything wrong with his marriage. Not to mention, while he had no problem with other bugs being in same-sex relationship, he never saw himself in that scenario. I mention it on his work in progress info page, but I see him as demi gay, so until he developed a close bond with Grimm, it was almost as if he felt no attraction to anyone whatsoever (even if he thought he did with WL, but again, no experience and a skewed idea of love came into play).

After WL left the palace, it left him in a confused state. Firstly, he was finally made aware that he was treated horribly and needed a lot of time to even process that. It was very difficult to come to terms with it, and it made him question everything. He needed a lot of time to process his thoughts before he even considered being in a relationship again, which happened years after the divorce. That's when he slowly started seeing Grimm in a new light. Not burdened by marriage and his irrational sense of guilt about the divorce, he slowly stopped rejecting the thoughts that came in waves every time he Grimm came to his mind. Granted, this all took a long, long time, he was very slow at figuring out his feelings, and Grimm's decision to give him distance to do so meant that their relationship didn't really progress that much, at least on the surface. What didn't help, was that Grimm was still simply visiting the palace, he wasn't a permanent presence in it, so Vyrm was left with his own feelings for the majority of time, with limited opportunity to do any significant progress. Sure, Grimm's visits became more frequent, but he would only stay in the palace for a few days before leaving again.

In the time before Grimm's visits, Vyrm tried reading some romance fiction he found in the libraries, in order to, for a lack of a better word, educate himself on love and romance. It opened his eyes to many things he never considered before, and as a result, he once again started looking at Grimm from a different perspective. What he once saw as friendly gestures, now gained a romantic or even suggestive undertone, and he would begin blushing in response to physical contact afterwards. To Grimm, that was a sign that Vyrm was slowly opening up to the idea of a relationship, but once again, he decided not to push it too much and let Vyrm figure things out at his own pace.

And with the new realizations, also came desire. He began noticing things about Grimm he didn't pay attention to before. His intense gaze that made Vyrm lose his train of thoughts, the shine on his torso that reflected the light of the palace, his neatly trimmed fur, especially around his abdomen and tail, the area Vyrm caught himself glancing at more and often, and so on. He didn't reject the thoughts that followed, though for a while he found them inappropriate, and that needed its own time to process. But more and more often, he started to feel that he needs him, and that yearning slowly began manifesting itself every time he thought about him. It's also when he finally realized what Grimm's intentions were all those years back. To answer that part of your question, I don't know how many years exactly, but they had known each other for decades at the point he put two and two together, so it definitely took him a long while.

It did make him question for a little bit whether Grimm only ever wanted to bed him, but those thoughts quickly went away the moment he remembered all those things Grimm did for him, the sight of his joyful interactions with Hornet, and all those moments Grimm was simply by his side whenever he needed him. No one's ever done that for him, no one showed him this much care, so why would he ever accuse Grimm of ill intent?

It all came to him slowly, but with each time Grimm visited, he became more and more convinced that he was in love. The problem was, he had no idea how to bring it up, and that delayed any possible confession further and further, until eventually the hibernation interrupted it before he was finally able to gain the confidence to tell Grimm.

3 - He is aware of it, yes. Grimm shared it at some point after they reunited, which I imagine came up when they were discussing Vyrm's previous relationship. It came as a bit of a surprise to Vyrm since WL herself never mentioned it, though he didn't think too much about it once he learned it was nothing but a casual fling. It was just a thing that happened in the past, but at least they had another thing in common.

4 - She wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Of course, since she knew Grimm and was aware of his promiscuous nature, she had some suspicions about his intentions towards her husband. She questioned Vyrm about the nature of his interactions with the troupe master, and he truthfully told her that they were simply discussing work and similar matters. She spent some time watching them from a distance, often sending some of her servants to spy on them, and they all confirmed Vyrm's words.

And they were true, again, at that point he and Grimm were just friends, and most of their interactions consisted of discussing Vyrm's workshop matters, the kingdom, Grimm's performances and so on. As I mentioned before, Grimm didn't push his feelings onto Vyrm, and simply enjoyed the platonic bond as a change of pace from his usual relationships. So WL really had no reason to suspect anything - even if Grimm occasionally flirted with Vyrm, it wasn't much different to how he talked to basically anyone else, and there was no response on Vyrm's part until after he separated with WL. So having received her confirmation that there was nothing going on between them, she decided to stop investigating and focus on kingdom matters instead. The infection came soon after, so she had more important things to worry about.

After the problem was (seemingly) solved, she was already aware of the distance created between her and Vyrm, arguments about their feelings on the vessel plan became common, so she wasn't even shocked at the suggestion of separating. Afterwards, she had some suspicion that perhaps Grimm played a part in it, but despite what she wanted others to believe, the guilt about her part in the vessel plan was still building up inside her. So when Vyrm mentioned that he was unhappy in their marriage for years, she was far more willing to self-reflect than look for someone else to blame. She came to the conclusion that even if Grimm had something to do with Vyrm's words, it was ultimately for the better. Despite how poorly she treated him, she did so unknowingly, Vyrm was surprisingly good at masking his pain, and she's always had issues with empathy. She did claim to love him, and she did, but just like Vyrm, she ended up realizing that her idea of love was wrong. So the separation was a wake-up call, and for that reason she ultimately can't hold a grudge towards Grimm, even if she often finds him insufferable.

---

I realize I went a bit off topic with the last one, but I thought the yapping wouldn't be complete without exploring WL's character a little bit more in the process. I admit that she's a character I probably struggle with the most when it comes to personality, I still feel like there are inconsistencies in the way I write her. She's not a good person, but I don't see her as evil. To me, she's a fairly complex character, and I think pairing her mean aura with a very toxic idea of love is quite interesting. I view her as a distant plant-like creature, that fell in love, but wasn't built to do it properly. What love is to her, seems more like possessiveness to us. When she scolded Vyrm for acting in an improper manner, she did so with good intentions, at least in her mind. And I think this aspect of her is very engaging to think about, I just hope that it makes at least some sense to everyone else.

[picopepin]

Heyoooo

I was doing my au scribbles and a random thought just popped up in my head 'bout ur 198x bois

As far as I get it, Neo and Ex had some squabbles before eventually getting in some sorta relationship. Sooo, is there anything they dislike/disliked in each other then and now? What are these things?

gehhh.. Imma sorry for the yap, I just got curious 'bout them

They still sometimes fuss haha they're a little less glamorized as a couple to me than like... ubetella for instance. It's two very intense personalities and levels of wit - Ex is a LOT of ego and acts with hubris and because of this he can say/do things that come across kind of mean or instigating. He likes to be perceived as brilliant and thinks nothing wrong of himself sometimes (see: the core storyline within the au) until he gets called out on it at which point he tends to sulk and overanalyze until he figures out he's a meathead. Communication is where the two sometimes fail horribly and thats where tidbits about Neo's shortcomings can come into play-

Neo is actually not nearly as showoffy as Ex but he's not shy and he's definitely not lacking confidence he just doesn't like to talk about his feelings. He really really really doesn't like to discuss his feelings lol. The little mood heart on his bellybutton area is usually covered up but he's tepidly responsive to having it convey something vaguely resembling his current state? Like... he doesn't want everyone to see it but when it comes to Ex he feels better letting that color/light do the talking so that he doesn't have to use his words- if that makes sense!

Things that they "fight" about again come down to that communication struggle and one takes it too seriously and the other doesn't take it seriously enough until it's a humongous mess. A messed up afternoon plans can turn into a two day cold shoulder event or it can explode into something else LOL Locker room jabs and silliness can go over well and then sometimes be really hurtful if one of them is feeling insecure and neither of them are exceptionally good at comfort they just kinda find value in the little things or actually just being quiet around the other (that whole being next to someone who is upset but they dont want hugs or words just another living body nearby)

Hope that helps a bit! Sorry for taking so long to answer ive had a lot on my plate

Edit: to be more specific about "dislike" we can start with the fact that they were literally trying to kill each other at the point in the au where they gotta rescue Frisk! ("Ex is hard to trust but Alphys is like I forgive you, here is a gold star for being good.. (nervous but optimistic)" -Ghost) So not everyone is like "aw yeah I totally trust this guy now" and that includes Neo. Ex is loud and annoying, Neo very much vocalizes how he would hotbox the car and stab his leather seats and you have absolutely no idea how serious that threat is lol. It's a small one, but taking up space, noise, etc when they first start rooming together prolly had a little to do with it. After they started getting more comfortable it pretty much transitioned into those buried insecurities coming back to the surface now and then