#I love long tags!!! uhh I think.. it helps me draw like 5 more pieces each time I get one

[yuseirra]

Omg though, I had this happen for YEARS but there are times when I draw something in a very serious manner, going 'ohh this is so angst...' and then, I see people responding to it saying "it's so cute!"

I love that (while feeling a bit perplexed-is perplexed the really right word for this- I get a bit confused, but I'm happy!) um.. But I hope what I meant does still get through...! I really am serious abt conveying feelings and all? Although it can't be helped if it isn't!

So maybe I should go for "cute" in terms of creating things. I can make even sad things cute. I don't actually intend for things to be that way! So maybe it is a speciality that I just have! I'd like that! Then I have something more to be confident about you know?

Reactions really do help you learn things about yourself you can't find out on your own. I enjoy them, so thank you very much...I sincerely enjoy reading them when it happens. I want to know about how you feel about my things(please be kind because my heart is so very tender)

I'll go out and have fun! And draw more, hope you all have a good time today too! I've been here for so long, and there wasn't a single year I felt unhappy about being here, I felt so lucky and excited and fortunate and I believe I keep meeting the best people. That's true luck on my end and I know that well, so I HAVE to say my thanks when I could. On every platform I've been on, I should. I do it time to time... I'm grateful, so I wish to get better so that I can give out better things. That's what I'd like to say!

[nerdywriter36]

Fanfic Writer's 20 Questions!

Thank you for the tag, @pagesofangels! This is a really cool tag and gives me something to do while I'm bored in class haha. I just threw it into its own post so the reblog wasn't ridiculously long.

1) How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 7!

2) What's your total AO3 word count?

332,353. Sheesh lol.

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Just the one, and that would be Phantom of the Opera.

4) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Starting Fresh

Our Little Home

Like Father, Like Son

Say You'll Share With Me

To Help the Helpless

5) Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I love getting to interact with the people reading my fics and acknowledge the fact that they're expressing their love for the story/characters/etc, and I always enjoy when my comments are responded to, so I want to make sure that goes both ways.

6) What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

The Day My World Crumbled. Killing characters that you love and that other characters love is never fun.

7) Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

No, crossovers have never really been my cup of tea.

8) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I mean...I guess, technically, I have? I got a couple of comments from a guest account on AO3 just criticizing really trivial things in Like Father, Like Son, like how much my characters were in their houses and practically requesting that I change the setting. Safe to say that those were swiftly deleted haha.

I've also been given some "constructive criticism" about the actual structure of my one full fic that was just presented in a not-so-great way and really made a negative impression on me. I've never really completely second-guessed my characters and how I wrote before, but after those sorts of comments, I went back and forth on completely changing the format of my story because I didn't think what I had done was good enough and that no one liked what I wrote anymore. So long story short, just be kind and careful with what you say to fic writers; we're people too, so you just have to think about how you're phrasing it. If your criticism is kind, coming from a good place, and truly is constructive, you're definitely helping a writer grow and I'm open to that :)

9) Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No, I don't write or read any kind of smut.

10) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have not and I hope that that never happens.

11) Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but that would be amazing!

12) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have! Like Father, Like Son, my first completed full-length POTO fic, was co-written with my lovely IRL friend,@buddy-2002. That was our brain baby for the better part of two years.

13) What's your all-time favourite ship?

I know I'm cheesy and sound like a typical phan here, but I love E/C. I just enjoy reading that one the most.

14) What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

Probably Starting Fresh? Not for any particular reason and I like the way I started it (I loved the first chapter of it), but I just haven't had the inspiration to keep it going.

15) What are your writing strengths?

Uhh. Probably dialogue is a big one? I've always considered myself as someone who's good at using that and being able to create solid lines and interactions between characters. That probably draws from the fact that I plan almost all of my dialogue in advance for works that aren't oneshots, so I have a lot of work with dialogue alone and fill the rest of the story in around it.

Other than that, I think building characters and their relationships is something I'm good at. That is one of the things that makes me the proudest of Like Father, Like Son - the fact that people consistently comment about how much they like Erik and Gustave, pre-existing characters, but even more so, how much they love the OCs involved. That means a lot to me.

16) What are your writing weaknesses?

Hahaha being concise, for sure. Writing short chapters or oneshots or anything like that is NOT my strength, and that is part of what contributed to LFLS being almost 300,000 words. To be fair, I was writing with a co-author, so it makes it a little bit harder to be short and sweet, but it's never been my thing to manage short pieces. Thankfully, most people don't seem to be too bothered about that and continue to support my work anyways, which means a lot.

17) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I think it definitely adds a nice extra detail to a story, but because I'm only fluent in one language, I try not to do it consistently? The beauty of writing Phantom fics, however, is that I can write in French fairly confidently because, being Canadian, I took French in school for upwards of 6 years, and my co-author happened to be in French Immersion and took French for 12 years of school, so she's fluent, which makes it easier. When it comes to other languages, if I choose to include them, I always try to keep it minimal so I'm not writing conversations that don't make total sense. Google Translate is only good for so much.

18) What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Marvel, as funny as that is to say. I was young lol.

19) What's your favourite fic you've written?

Definitely Like Father, Like Son.

20) Who do you tag?

I'll take @jennyfair7 @ofserien @sloanedestler @pianomanblaine @wheel-of-fics @keepcalmandbrewtea and any other author who wants to share their writing experience! <3

[indipindy16]

im on a roll woah. this is the third piece i’ve posted today 

empty template 

okay so under the cut there’s a very long rant (with pictures!) about why shinsou is my fave character, if you’re interested

ALRIGHT

this boy - nay, this man - is the only sane one in this whole manga i swear. and he’s only there for a few scenes in a couple arcs, yet he’s brilliant for every second onscreen

hero society is absolutely broken, and shinsou has been dealt with the brunt of it in very similar ways to midoriya. except for shinsou, there’s no deus-ex-machina coming to give him a perfect quirk and a perfect future. no. this guy has to fight for his chance just to get a seat at the (metaphorical) table. despite everything, all he wants is to help people. 

shinsou calls people out on their bullshit. he calls out bakugou for acting like he’s above everyone else literally within 5 seconds of meeting him, which is more than any of the students or teachers at mido and baku’s middle school. 

his LITERAL FIRST ACT IN HIS FIRST EVER APPEARANCE is to defy the kind of ‘quirk hierarchy’ in the bnha universe (a person with a villainous quirk daring to criticise a person with a heroic quirk? how dare they!) and this really tells you all you need to know about shinsou: he’s here to kick back against hero society and change things for the better, and he’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers along the way.

and he gives izuku a wake-up call during their fight. while izuku has been living it up with a great quirk, at this point he’s forgotten his roots. he’s forgotten that there are people out there who are denied the opportunities which come easily to him. speaking with shinsou inspires him to call out todoroki’s complacency with his quirk, and then to choose deku as his hero name (which is basically a big ‘fuck you’ to bakugou and defiance against every time ppl tried to put him down for being a ‘quirkless, useless deku’).

of course, shinsou is not without faults. every good character has them. he starts off completely unwilling to open up, and isolates himself from others - likely a self-defence tactic, knowing that others will isolate him for his quirk and doing it to himself first to avoid the hurt. he himself falls victim to society’s stereotypes, assuming that midoriya will be an arrogant asshole just because he has a powerful quirk. he spends the first half of the sports festival using his quirk on ppl without their consent, pushing them down just to pass.

however. shinsou grows and learns and never gives up. while writing this i’m looking at some panels during the joint training arc and it’s just - HE’S WORKED SO HARD AND HE’S FINALLY GOT THERE AND IM SO HAPPY FOR HIM. all he needed was for one person to give him the chance, and he ran with it. 

he’s been put down and denied opportunities for something he can’t help, that he was born with, since his quirk is something which other people would consider inherently dangerous or predatory. 

on that note, can i just briefly mention that i think he comes across as kinda queer-coded?? idk that might be just me. i could be making something out of nothing, but in my brain he is and this post is about my opinions of him so uhh. if you disagree, don’t @ me

ALSO his quirk is actually INTERESTING and has so much potential. there’s a lot of really boring/cliché/self-explanatory/plain weird quirks in 1-a (permanent invisibility has no possibility for improvement, elemental quirks are basically avatar, and mineta and sero’s quirks are just... strange. i honestly don’t know what horikoshi was thinking with those two) and i really want to see shinsou in action more.

LOOK AT THIS ANGSTY MAN. MIDORIYA IS PROBABLY THINKING ‘I WANT TO BEFRIEND HIM!’ AND JUST - SAME. 

every panel he’s in, he genuinely steals the show. he’s not a comedic character and yet his interactions with the class in the joint training arc and with mido after their fight at the sports festival are so funny and he brings the best out of any character he’s in a scene with. i bet that if he joins 1-a and becomes a more recurring character, he’ll build up some great chemistry with characters and we can finally see him shine. 

as much as i love his interactions w/ monoma, i don’t want him to go in class b because then he’ll be sent back into Minor Character Hell which he DOES NOT DESERVE. he’s too good. please horikoshi, don’t do him dirty like that.

in conclusion, i love him

he is so damn relatable my dudes. evidence:

-likes cats 

-fights back against discrimination in society

-serial insomniac (along with everyone else on this hellsite, i bet. it’s currently 3am here)

-introverted (haha talking to people?? hanging out just for the sake of it?? no thanks, i just wanna draw in my room with my cat)

-rubs his neck as a nervous tick (try and tell me u don’t have some kind of habit like this. i personally pick at my fingernails/wrists but i know that a lot of ppl rub their necks as well. 

(also it’s a very easy piece of body language to draw and convey nervousness - he does it all the time in the manga even when his expression is serious, so i think it’s horikoshi’s way of showing that he’s nervous without compromising shinsou’s resting bitch face lol)

-comes off as abrasive/rude at first (i spend my first few days in a new place giving everybody the silent treatment haha. it’s not even meant to be rude, i just have to get used to them before i open up. so this is relatable to me, idk about you)

-he has aizawa as a dad mentor and don’t we all want that? there’s a reason the ‘dadzawa’ tag is so popular

-the rest is fanon but: big fan of underground heroes which is the equivalent of being in a niche fandom (cough anime cough) irl, shitty or nonexistent parents, possible ideals of vigilantism, awesome big brother to eri

-did i mention he likes cats

[ceealaina]

Title: Still Anticipating Love Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card Number: 3088 Link: AO3 Square Filled: Adopted - Cock-Blocking Bots Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Teen Major Tags: 5 + 1, Fluff and Humour, Protective Bots, Love Confessions Gone Wrong Summary: Five (plus one) different times over the years that Rhodey's attempted to show Tony how he feels about him, only to end up foiled by the bots. (But it's hard to really be upset when they just happen to love Tony as much as Rhodey does.) Word Count: 3993

Rhodey drew in slow, deep breaths as he made his way across campus, doing his best to quell the fireworks that seemed to be going off in his stomach. After spending months ignoring his feelings, and then a few more weeks dancing around them, and then a few days finally coming to terms with it, he had decided that this was it. Today was the day that he was going to tell Tony about his feelings for him. 

He almost turned back three different times, his nerves getting the better of him. But somehow he made himself keep going, and before he knew it he was standing in front of the door to Tony’s rented lab space, drawing in one last deep breath for courage. 

“Tones?” he called, stepping through the doorway. “You in here?” 

“Rhodey!” Tony popped up from behind a table, face lit up in manic delight. “Just the man I wanted to see!” He practically bounced across the room, grabbing his arm and getting all up in his space in a way that made Rhodey swallow hard and fight back a shiver. “I did it, honeybear!” 

“Did what?” 

“Just… Just watch, wait.” He pulled Rhodey back closer to the door, and then made a show of clearing his throat. “Dum-E?” he called, and the machine he’d been working on for months lit up. “Come here!” 

Dum-E whirred to life and then, to Rhodey’s surprise, he started rolling across the floor -- in the opposite direction to Tony and Rhodey. 

“Shit, no!” Tony protested, but he was laughing and sounded pleased. “Wrong way, you doofus, over here.” 

There was a pause, and then Dum-E spun on his wheels and started trundling over, going the right way this time. He stilled when he reached them, and Tony threw his arms around the claw neck. 

“Aw yeah,” Tony crooned. “You did it, Dum-E! Who’s my big strong robot, huh?” 

He turned to Rhodey then, his entire face lit up in a bright, beaming smile, looking as happy as he’d ever seen him. Rhodey couldn’t have kept himself from smiling back if he tried, feeling a little weak in the face of it. He could hear his own heartbeat, pounding in his ears, and god, he just loved him so much. 

“I did it, Rhodey,” Tony was saying. “He responds to voice commands. I built a learning, thinking robot. And the wrong direction thing was just a glitch, I swear. He’s gonna get so much better.” 

He was watching Rhodey expectantly, that hopeful look on his face that Rhodey knew meant he just wanted someone to be proud of him, even if he’d never admit that out loud, and Rhodey knew this wasn’t the right time to tell him. Feeling a weird mixture of relief and disappointment, Rhodey beamed back at him. “He’s already perfect, Tones,” he assured him, wrapping him in a hug. Tony immediately melted into it, and Rhodey felt pleasantly warm all over. “He’s amazing.” 

Just like you. 

***

Rhodey was grinning like an idiot as he ran up the front steps to the Stark Mansion, but he didn’t much care. He hadn’t seen Tony since his parents’ funeral just over a year, and he had missed him like crazy. They had talked as often as possible, had even taken to writing letters (despite Tony’s complaints about both being allergic to penmanship, and the speed of the postal service), but it hadn’t been the same. Rhodey had half expected that his crush might fade with some distance between them, but instead he’d missed Tony in a way that he hadn’t ever experienced before, like an aching hole in his chest, and it had only gotten stronger the longer they’d been apart. It was almost embarrassingly sappy, but he figured that was as good an indication as any that it was true love. 

Bouncing impatiently as he waited for someone to answer the door, he fidgeted with the little box in his hands. It was a completely goofy gift -- he’d met a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy and so on until he’d managed to get his hands on a discarded nut from the Voyager 2 spacecraft -- but he knew it was exactly the kind of thing that Tony would nerd out over. He couldn’t wait to see Tony’s face when he opened it. And he was hoping that Tony would recognize it as more than just a piece of metal, would see the intentions behind it and then, when Rhodey told him how he felt, he wouldn’t be completely taken off guard. Because he knew he had to tell him, felt like he might explode if he didn’t. 

The door swung open then, Jarvis welcoming him in with a warm, pleased smile, looking almost relieved. Rhodey did his best to be polite, but he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. Jarvis didn’t seem to mind at least, still smiling as he directed him to where Tony was apparently busy in his workshop. Rhodey had only been here a handful of times -- it hadn’t exactly been Tony’s top vacation destination in school -- but he knew the way instinctively, taking the stairs to the basement at a run. 

“Tony?” he called. The lights were dim for some reason, and he blinked as he stumbled into the room before his eyes had properly adjusted. “Guess who’s back, baby?” He waved the little box in his air. “And I brought you prese-ah, fuck!” he hollered as he was suddenly doused in a thick, bubblegum scented foam. “What the fuck?” 

A second later the room was flooded with bright light, nearly blinding Rhodey, and there were footsteps coming toward him. 

“Honeybear?” Tony said, sounding a little shell shocked. “Oh shit, okay. Just… Hang on a second. Don’t open your eyes! And, uh… Try not to breathe too deep either.” 

He was gone before Rhodey could question what the hell that meant. Left sightless, Rhodey listened to the sounds of Tony’s footsteps, disappearing to the far side of the room. There were sounds of scrambling, and then water running, and then he was jogging back over again. Rhodey nearly jumped at the feeling of Tony’s hand, warm against his upper back, and then again when a cool cloth was pressed against his face, sliding carefully over his eyes with painstakingly gentle motions. When they felt clear, and Tony gave him the okay, Rhodey blinked them carefully open. Tony was staring back at him, his own eyes wide and concerned, though that was starting to ease a bit.

“Hey,” he said, his smile uneven. “Sorry about that.” 

Rhodey smiled back, but felt his heart sink. Tony looked terrible; there were dark circles under his eyes, he was way skinnier than Rhodey had remembered him being, and he was pretty sure he could smell alcohol on his breath. None of this had been in Tony’s letters, and Rhodey couldn’t help wondering what else he’d been missing over the past year. Suddenly the relieved look on Jarvis’ face made a bit more sense.

He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, beginning with, ‘what the actual hell?’ but Tony was watching him nervously, and Rhodey could practically see the anxiety spreading across his face. He sighed, scrubbing a hand through the foam still gathered in his short hair. “What was that?” 

“Oh, uh…” Tony rubbed at the back of his neck, smiling that same crooked smile. “I was working on a new, non-lethal thief deterrent? There’s so much proprietary information here, and Dad had this crazy organization system that I don’t understand, and there are so many people and they all want things…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, making it stand up wildly. “So I thought, you know, I could train Dum-E? If he sees something he determines as a threat, like a weapon or something, he’s supposed to douse them with this foam that’ll stop them long enough for me to get away or call the police or set off an alarm of whatever. But uh, I’m still working on the formula for the deterrent, and then, you know, it’s Dum-E, so getting him to understand what constitutes a threat is pretty much impossible. Right now it’s just about anything that’s bigger than a wallet. You definitely shouldn’t have been on the list.” His rambling trailed off, still looking nervous but also so relieved to see him that for a moment Rhodey thought he might actually start to cry. 

“Okay,” Rhodey said, offering Tony a smile in return. “Does it have to smell like bubblegum though?” 

Tony gave a startled laugh, and then he was launching himself at Rhodey, wrapping his arms around his neck and practically crawling into his lap, foam and all. Rhodey returned the hug automatically, feeling Tony’s back shudder a little as he pressed his face into his neck. 

“God I missed you, Rhodey,” he whispered, voice cracking. 

Rhodey cast one last glance at the box he’d wrapped so carefully, now lying forgotten on the floor. This wasn’t the day for love confessions. 

He wrapped his arms tighter around Tony’s back instead. “I missed you too, Tones.” 

***

Rhodey frowned as he stepped through the front door of the Malibu mansion, but the lights stayed dim. “Uhh…” He blinked into the dark space. “Hey, J? You offline or something?” 

“I can assure you that I am fully functional, Captain Rhodes,” JARVIS replied. “Welcome back to Malibu,” he added after a beat, and Rhodey’s frown deepened, because he could swear that JARVIS sounded… Colder than usual. 

Telling himself it was his imagination, Rhodey waited a moment. There was no additional commentary from JARVIS, and he sighed. “Could I get some light, maybe?” 

JARVIS didn’t actually respond, but after a few seconds the lights came on, just a little too dim to be quite comfortable. 

“Okayyy,” Rhodey muttered. He shook his head. “Where’s Tony?” 

“Sir is indisposed at the moment, Captain Rhodes.” 

“Indisposed?” Rhodey repeated, taken aback. He’d been talking to Tony less than an hour ago, he’d known he was on his way over, and while it wasn’t exactly uncommon for him to get distracted with something and forget, Rhodey was always given full access to everything. “What do you mean, he’s indisposed? And I’m a Major now, JARVIS, you know that. What the hell is going on?” 

There was another long silence before JARVIS spoke again. “Sir has been encouraging me to consume media and information, to help me better understand the human experience.” 

“Uh huh…” Rhodey knew that; Tony had mentioned as much to Rhodey, talking about how he wanted JARVIS to learn and make his own conclusions independent of what Tony thought or believed. “And?” 

“And I’ve noticed similarities between your own actions and behaviours in certain popular media.” 

Rhodey arched an eyebrow, flopping down on the long sofa and folding his arms over his chest. “I’m not following.” 

“I believe, Major Rhodes, that this is the point in which I ask what, exactly, your intentions are with Sir.” 

Rhodey choked on air. “My intentions?” he repeated incredulously. “Are you threatening me? What the fuck, J? I’ve literally known you since you were born.” And then he clued into what, exactly, JARVIS was saying. “Holy shit,” he hissed, looking around frantically in case Tony had suddenly wandered into earshot. “You… I mean, you can… How… You know??” 

JARVIS sounded confused. “It was a simple matter of observing your behaviours and comparing them to the media for analysis, and then observing the physical changes to your body when in proximity to Sir -- primarily a mildly elevated heart and respiratory rate.” 

“Oh my god,” Rhodey moaned, burying his hands in his face. “How is this my life?” 

“For what it’s worth,” JARVIS offered. “I believe Sir remains unaware of your feelings toward him.” 

“Yeah, no,” Rhodey agreed, still mumbling into his hands. “That is a fact that I am all too aware of.” He heaved in a deep sigh before letting his arms drop back down to his sides. “Okay JARVIS. So first, we’re gonna have to have a talk sometime about monitoring people’s vitals without their knowledge or consent. But, uh, in answer to your first question…” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Shit, J, you gotta know by now that all I want is for Tony to be happy. That’s all I care about. Everything else is just… Whatever.” 

“And you think that he would be happy with you?” 

“I think that ship has sailed,” Rhodey admitted, feeling a pang in his chest as he finally said the words out loud. “It’s been years. If something was gonna happen… I think we’d have found our way there by now.” 

It was quiet for long enough that Rhodey thought JARVIS had gone into sleep mode, or whatever AIs did in lieu of unconsciousness. He was about to try his luck again at figuring out where Tony was in this ridiculous palace of a home when JARVIS spoke again. 

“Well,” he said, his voice warmer. “I wouldn’t give up hope entirely, Major Rhodes.” 

***

Rhodey and Tony were sprawled in the front seat of one of Tony’s roadsters, two and a half movies deep into their Evil Dead marathon. Like the dork he was, Tony had decided they were going to project the movies onto the wall of his workshop, so they could watch from the car like they were in some kind of 1960s drive-in. 

He hated how much he loved him sometimes. 

RIght now though, he was feeling lazy and satisfied, full on pizza and wings, and just the right side of tipsy on the beer he’d brought, laughing as Tony recited the movie word for word, complete with altering his voice to try and mimic the characters. 

Stretching out his arms and back (and resisting the urge to take advantage of the movement and hook his arm over Tony’s shoulders, because he wasn’t twelve), Rhodey kicked his feet up on the dash, shifting on the seat a little in the process.

“Hey,” Tony protested, not actually sounding that concerned. “That’s a custom dash, asshole. Feet off. Or else.” 

“Oh yeah?” Rhodey snickered. “Or else what?”

He rolled his head to face Tony, eyebrow arched, and then blinked. Tony was much closer than he’d realized. He’d slunk down in the seat, leaving him a few inches lower than Rhodey, and he was looking up at him with lazy, hooded eyes. He was Rhodey’s favourite version of Tony, comfortable, and happy, and beautiful, and his breath caught a little at the sight of him. 

Something changed in Tony’s expression then, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was trying to get a read on Rhodey. Whatever he saw made him swallow, tongue sliding out over his upper lip. Rhodey couldn’t tear his eyes away, only vaguely aware of the fact that he was moving closer and closer to him. Tony didn’t seem to mind, lips parting slightly before he shifted just enough to face him more squarely. Rhodey could feel his heart racing as Tony got closer, eyes dark, and --

There was an almighty crash from the corner. Tony pulled away, whipping his head around to stare over the back of the car, eyes going wide. “U!” he cried, launching himself over the back of the car. Rhodey let his forehead fall against the seat of the car for just a moment before looking up to where U had apparently managed to crash into the wall and tip herself over. 

“Seriously?” he whispered to himself before climbing out of the car to help Tony get her righted. 

***

Rhodey hadn’t been able to get that almost kiss out of his mind. At first he’d thought he’d imagined the moment, that his horniness had taken what was a normal, friendly moment between the two of them and twisted into something more. He didn’t think that was it though. There had been something in Tony’s eyes when he’d leaned toward him, something hopeful and yearning. And then there had been that look he had given him as they’d called it a night, looking, well, sad, like he’d missed an opportunity. 

Rhodey had been so convinced that any romantic feelings on his part were unrequited that he almost wasn’t sure what to do with the idea that they might not be. But he knew, no matter how many times he’d failed before, if there was even a sliver of a chance that Tony felt the same way, he had to at least try and confess his feelings. 

Of course, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t change the circumstances as much as possible. 

Rhodey waited until he knew with absolute certainty that Tony was out of town, settled solidly in Hong Kong for five days worth of meetings with no quick way back to California. Then he headed for the Malibu mansion, waiting for JARVIS to get through his cursory greetings.

“J? I need your help.” 

*

Tony shuffled in the front door, exhausted. It had been a long week of meetings, and things going wrong, and while he wasn’t generally much of a sleeper, all he could think about was crawling into bed and sleeping for the next three days. 

“Hey J,” he mumbled, dropping his briefcase right there inside the door. “‘S good to be home.”

“Welcome back, Sir,” JARVIS replied, his familiar voice soothing something in Tony. “Uh, Sir, if I could direct you to the workshop, your assistance is required.”

Tony couldn’t help his groan. “Come on, J. I left you in charge. Can’t you handle it?”

“Sir, it’s absolutely imperative,” JARVIS told him. There was an almost imperceptible pause before he continued. “DUM-E is a hazard to himself.” 

Cursing under his breath, Tony headed for the stairs, stomping his way down to the ‘shop and then glowering when the lights stayed dark. “JARVIS? What the fuck? Are you malfunctioning or something?” 

Then the lights came on all at once, and Tony found himself blinking at the sight in front of him, wondering if he’d fallen asleep on the flight home and was, in fact, dreaming. “The fuck?” he whispered, a slow smile crawling over his face. 

Rhodey was standing on the far side of the room, lined up beside Dum-E and U, all three of them holding signs. Dum-E’s read ‘WILL YOU,’ U’s said, ‘GO OUT,’ and with a crooked smile, Rhodey was holding up his own sign reading, ‘WITH ME?’ 

Dum-E’s sign was upside down. 

Tony started laughing, couldn’t help himself. “You serious with this, Rhodes?” he asked, not even trying to hide how absolutely delighted he was. “This is some sappy shit, even for you.” 

Rhodey shrugged, unapologetic. “Tony, you have no idea how many times I’ve tried to say something to you, and it seemed like every time your kids got in the way. So I figured… Maybe it would be easier if I got them to literally spell it out.” 

Tony cleared his throat, feeling his throat go tight. “Only you, Rhodes,” he said, his voice rough. 

Rhodey huffed out a laugh, then shifted a little awkwardly, a tinge of nervousness creeping into his smile. “So?” he prompted. “Is that a yes?”

“Are you kidding?” Tony demanded. Without waiting another moment, he strode forward, hauled the sign out of Rhodey’s hands, and wrapped his arms around his neck. Meeting Rhodey’s eyes steadily, he didn’t bother hiding the way his own were tearing up slightly. “Definitely, one hundred percent, a million yeses, would you hurry up and kiss me already cause I’ve been waiting like fifteen years to find out what your mouth tastes like, and -- mmph!” 

Tony made a startled noise as Rhodey cut him off with a kiss. An instant later, he was moaning softly instead, curling his hands tighter over Rhodey’s back as he returned it, slow and soft and perfect. When they pulled back a few moments later, neither one of them could stop grinning at each other. 

“I um…” Rhodey hesitated a moment, twisting his face up like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to tell Tony this or not. “I asked the bots for permission to ask you out? They gave us their blessings, so we’re all good there.” 

Tony couldn’t help laughing, still giggling as he kissed Rhodey again, harder this time. “God, only you,” he muttered. “Nobody else would even think to do anything like that. I love you so much.” 

And probably it was too soon to be saying that, when they hadn’t even been on a single date, but if anything it felt overdue. And judging by the look on Rhodey’s face, he felt the same. 

“I love you too, Tones.”

***BONUS***

Rhodey resisted the urge to yelp as Tony pulled into the garage at a breakneck speed, parking the Audi haphazardly in its spot. “God, c’mere,” he mumbled, grabbing Rhodey by the tie and yanking him across the seat to kiss him, hot and heavy and wanting. “Fuck, you were so hot tonight. Love the way you look in a suit.” 

Fingers scrabbling at Tony’s chest, Rhodey let himself be manhandled, moaning into Tony’s mouth as they made out all hungry and desperate. He yanked at Tony’s shirt, hauling it out of his pants and getting it most of the way unbuttoned before he remembered himself and pulled back so he was breathing hard against his lips instead. 

“No, no wait,” he protested, head tilting automatically as Tony started to bite down his jaw. “Not here, come on. Last time we did this in the car, you bitched for a week straight about the stains on the upholstery.” 

Tony snickered against his neck, the sound turning to a hum as he slid the palm of his hand up Rhodey’s thigh. “I can’t help it if you look incredibly good in my car,” he insisted, pulling back to grin at Rhodey with dark eyes. “Come on, honey. I promise not to bitch you out this time.” He leaned forward to kiss him again, thumbing at Rhodey’s nipple through his dress shirt as he did. For a minute Rhodey almost gave in, distracted by how good Tony felt against his skin.

“No, come on,” he said, reaching his hand down Tony’s open shirt and scratching blunt nails over his abs. “I got plans for you. Wanna take you apart. Take my time, stretch you out on the bed and fucking ruin you.” 

Tony stared at him, and then, with a high-pitched wheezing noise, started nodding almost frantically. “Yes,” he said quickly. “Yes, please, let’s go.” 

The two of them tumbled out of the car, heading for the stairs, and only made it as far as the closest table before Rhodey had to haul Tony in for another kiss. He pressed him up hard against the metal, shoving a thigh between his legs and grinning against his lips when Tony practically melted against him. Tony’s long fingers grabbed at his shirt, pulling it up to get at the bare skin of his back before sliding them lower, moving beneath the waistband of Rhodey’s dress pants to grope at his ass. Rhodey thrust his hips up against him and then cupped Tony through his pants in retaliation, biting at his lips. 

“Fuck, Tones,” he mumbled. “Driving me crazy.” 

“Can’t help it,” Tony retorted, panting against his lips. “I want you so bad.” 

Rhodey was seriously considering delaying his bedroom plans -- they were both young, they could go again, probably -- unable to move more than a few inches away when all of a sudden there was a sudden shock of cold through his body. Gasping, it took him a second to process what was happening until he looked at Tony and found him just as shell shocked and just as soaking wet, water dripping into his open mouth. As one, they turned to stare at the guilty looking robot holding an empty bucket.

“Dum-E!”

@tonystarkbingo

[early-sxnsets]

writer’s tag

i was tagged by @basic-banshee (thank you for the tag!!!)

1. how did you start writing?

ooh boy this is a Story. okay uhh i was raised in this cult thing (long story that i’m willing to tell ltr) and part of our education process was writing books so uh i wrote a full length children’s book at like 6 y/o (maybe 5? i think i was 6 tho) and i wrote a couple more before we left. i kept writing tho and i’ve always sort of creatively wrote for myself, then at the end of 6th grade into 7th grade i found the wonders of fanfiction and i was like holy shit so i started writing johnlock fanfics (oof) and uh here i am now

2. what was your first writing project? tell us a little about it.

it was uh about some horses and girls and i’m not saying it was horseland but it was basically horseland. i don’t remember much except one of them nearly died after falling into a ditch because i was a dark and disturbed child (and an even more dark and disturbed adult now tbh) but there was that happy ending. so yeah. that.

3. what is your preferred mediums for writing first drafts?

word docs. i usually move it to a good doc after i’m done, but i like starting with word

4. what rituals or habits do you have around writing?

there’s a good couple. i usually get ideas on a whim, so i do a shitty outline on my phone (honestly it’s laughable if you look at them. i showed a friend a plan list and she started cracking up because most of it is just “??????”) and try to set up a plot flow first before writing. for original works, i actually draw the characters first so i can kinda have a fully put together mental image before i work. while writing, i put on (typically instrumental) music that goes with the mood of the fic (for example, for my demon fic, i put on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey album) whenever working to kinda put myself in the mindset.

5. we all have a “type” - of character, plot, theme - what is yours?

oohh boy. uh, pain. i like writing people hurting and in distress. angst? hell yeah baby. character wise i write a lot of kinda bitter or sarcastic queer people who are secret softies. plot wise i usually go with a “man vs. self” shit. love that internal struggle.

6. introduce us to one (or more!) of your OCs!

heheh okay uhh i’ll start with my current project, a sapphic graphic novel i’m working on. there’s Summer, who’s a high femme lesbian. she’s like... the proper looking girlfriend who likes sweaters and long flow-y skirts and makeup but she’s the rebel and gets into trouble and smokes and gets fucked up on stolen vodka way too often. she’s short and a lil chubby and she’s just the problematic fave. her girlfriend, (who’s actual name is still up for debate, but i just call her Matchstick because she dyes her hair bright/unnatural red and that’s what Summer calls her) rides a motorcycle and wears leather and jeans, but she’s a straight (heh) A student who meditates in the morning and writes sappy poetry for her girlfriend. she’s like... average taller and kinda awkwardly lanky in that way, too. this is set in suburban New Jersey and Summer has a thick NJ accent while Matchstick moved around most of her life because her dad was military (nasty divorce about 3 years prior to when the story is set) but she finally settled with her mom and little brother.

i have another OC that i abandoned that i might bring into the graphic novel (despite her having her own story that i don’t quite know if i’ll finish? it was something i started working on like 3 years ago and abandoned because it’s a tad cliche). her name is ayala and she’s a mixed jew (half ashkenazi, half mizrahi) who’s got a grunge punk aesthetic and she’s the classic bitter bi bitch who just drinks black coffee and complains. honestly? light of my life. she sneaks butterfly knives into NJ and takes a grater to her jeans and just ugh. fave.

7. what’s your favorite genre to read?

fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and queer YA romance (i have a building library of these)

8. favorite genre to write?

fantasy, queer YA, and not exactly horror but dark stories (i’m writing a morbid children’s storybook rn to just str8 up submit to college board for a drawing portfolio)

9. how do you conduct your authorial research?

hah. google, usually. sometimes i ask my roommate shit, like once i leaned over my bed, looked at him and said “do demons have lairs?” and he thought i said layers so he looked at me, squinted and said slowly “like ogres?”

10. what does your editing (gasp) process look like?

hahAH nah it’s usually me writing shit out, like SLAMMING that shit out, then sometimes reading over it before i put it on my doc to edit. once it’s on the doc, i set my betas to it (sometimes more than my usual beta or two) and i usually read over it while they’re reading too so i edit then too? once they’re finished, i edit whatever suggestions. then i usually do another comb through, looking for little shit, then i share that shit.

11. what are your favorite tropes?

*chanting* MAN VS. SELF MAN VS. SELF MAN VS. SELF i love me some internal struggle. that and miscommunications and poor communication. basically anything that creates angst.

12. show off your writing space

i’m too tired rn but it’s just my loft bed. that’s it. it’s an ikea bed with a bunch of pillows and blankets on it, fairy lights wrapped around one side, and a shelf next to my head for my laptop/food/drinks/anything else i need

13. what is the most useful piece of writing advice you’ve ever used?

it’s odd because it isn’t exactly writing advice, but i use it in reference to my writing. i’m told that i tend to over-complicate shit, that i explain too much and i need to take a step back, and i kinda use that in my writing. it makes me look over paragraphs sometimes and just cut it because hey, that’s either not needed or i can explore the character in other ways than just saying how they’re like. i feel like it really helps because rather than saying shit about the character, i try to make them show it in their actions. it helps, i suppose.

14. what’s the least useful piece of advice you’ve ever ignored?

“do they have to be gay?”

15. your writing beverage/snack of choice?

oh boy okay this really depends on when i’m writing. if i write during early/mid-day, it’s usually a huge mug of breakfast tea with two spoonfuls of sugar, milk, and some kedem tea biscuits (usually original, but sometimes vanilla). sometimes i’ll make myself some instant noodles, if i’m really hungry. if it’s night time, it’s black coffee, and a lot of it.

16. how do you compile your ideas?

fffff uhhhh my note app on my samsung akdsfdsh okay i hate me too but all my ideas go into at least 3 unorganized note files because they always come to me in a whim and i don’t like putting a plot note with a summary note, so i have different note pages for different elements of the story.

17. what are your controversial opinions™ on the craft of writing?

oof uh... don’t write any romance that’s unneeded. also making characters do something shocking doesn’t make the story interesting. writers who feel the need to make a shocking twist aren’t good writers, because if that’s all that’s keeping readers entertained, then it’s not the writing itself, it’s them just trying to figure shit out. i’m not referencing horror or suspense, but let’s say a character who’s known for being aggressively loyal suddenly cheats on their partner for no truly viable reason, then that just feels like sloppy and boring writing that’s supposed to be interesting but isn’t. so, controversial opinion, but if you’re a good writer, you don’t need that kinda shit.

tagging @jessethejoyful @ravenclawbaz @angelsfalling16 @bazypitchandsimonsnow and any other writers who wanna do this (just tag me because i’d wanna see it!!!)

[haydenstudiesblog-blog]

Paper Tips + Tricks in Lit(erature)

Sorry for that super lame title

Tip #1: Summarize in Lists

It’s always a good idea (BUT NOT REQUIRED) to include some sort of brief summary in your paper, but a common problem is allowing this summary to take up too much space on the page. We don’t need a run-down of the entire story; whoever is reading this paper has already read it. You just need enough to jog their memory. I suggest making a list of the important events in the story, the events that relate to your thesis, and pick the most important ones to use in the summary.

Tip #2: Include Author and Title 

It’s 100% required to mention both the author and title of the story you are analyzing or discussing in your paper. Like, non-negotiable. This may seem annoying, but there’s a super easy way to accomplish this... Just put it at the beginning of the thesis. Super easy, right? 

Here’s an example of an introductory paragraph I recently used in one of my paper, which got high marks (9.5/10 points) - 

Although many refuse to believe it, Christianity has a history of absorbing Pagan traditional values and forms. In her short story “The Company of Wolves” Angela Carter uses the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood” to demonstrate the complex relationship between Christianity and Paganism through the use of symbolic religious imagery.

So. Simple. And I didn’t even include a summary (which I did not get docked points for doing).

Tip #3: Include Genre

I took note of this the other day in my literature class. We cover up the name of whoever wrote the paper and project it onto the board to talk through together. One person included the genre in the middle of the author and title mention, so it looked something like this - 

In her fantasy-horror short story “The Company of Wolves” Angela Carter blah blah blah...

My professor commented on that, how she loved the inclusion of the genre, so I took note of it. It’s always nice to take note of the little things your professor likes to see in papers.

***However, I only recommend doing this if you’re super confident in the story’s genre. Or you can always look it up online.

Tip #4: Vampires Don’t Always Work

You may be thinking, “Uhh, vampires? When are there ever really vampires in literature? Why would I assume they always work?” Well, my friend, listen to this... There are more vampires in literature than we think. No, not the literal kind. I’m talking about literary vampire imagery. Example? You got it - 

Karen Joy Fowler’s “Heartland” is a short story about a young girl, Willina, who feels trapped in a tourist-trap version of Oz. She finds solace in a tourist who flirts with her at work, and she makes plans to run away with him. Then he leaves her behind, and she is so lost in anguish and longing that she decides the only way out is to take her own life. In this short story, Fowler plays with feelings of longing, ambition, and love; she successfully connects these feelings to victim-shaming and sexual assault through the use of vampire imagery.

Not my best introductory paragraph OR thesis, but you kind of get the idea, yes? It’s easier to understand if you read my paper, which you can; I posted it on my blog recently, the paper is titled “Vampires in the Heartland” and you can find it by going to my tag. But anyway.

Vampires in literature are any selfish character. They destroy others for selfish reasons. In the case of this story, the tourist is a vampire on this young girl Willina. He does not literally suck her blood, but she does end up killing herself so maybe in a way he sucked the will to live out of her. Vampires can be found in a lot of stories. But they don’t always work, so you have to be careful. If someone is acting purely out of desire and not selfishness, they aren’t a vampire.

Tip #5: Plan Structure

Let’s get straight to the point here - the best way to give your paper good structure is to just word vomit all over the page. But organize it into paragraphs. Word vomit everything you need to say about one point or one piece of evidence, and keep that all in one paragraph. Once you’re done, move on to the next piece of evidence or point and do it all again. Just keep it all separate.

I have a few ideas on how you can stay organized this way, whether you prefer to type or write everything down first.

Typing - Use a Word document, or your preferred place to type (I love Scrivener) and put each major point that you use to support your thesis on its own separate page. Word vomit on each page, then go through page by page and organize what you did until each page has a paragraph for that particular point that includes all of the evidence you want it to have. Once you’ve done that for every point, you can start organizing them in the order you want. The way they all flow together the best from one point to the other. After they’re in the order you want them, you have to create transitions between each point/paragraph. This is always the trickiest part for me, but once you have everything in the best order it makes it a lot easier.

Writing - Use a notebook and do the same thing; put each point on its own page and word vomit on each page. Keep it all separate. Once that’s done, mold each page until they are paragraphs instead of word vomit all over the page (also don’t worry about being neat with the word vomit, just make sure you can read it). Then consider ripping out all of the pages and physically laying them out in front of you, that way you can sort them into the desired order. Then of course you have to create transitions between each point/paragraph. 

If you are unsure about whether or not your points are in the best order, just hold tight...

Tip #6: Evidence/Points Order

Super basic advice here - decide what evidence is the strongest that supports your thesis and put that last. It’s easy to jump right in at the beginning out of excitement to talk about the best evidence you’ve ever found in your life that will make your thesis amazing and your paper a banger, but that leaves a very serious problem. What happens at the end, right before your conclusion? Your reader will be left disappointed. You got them all excited with that amazing evidence at the beginning, and left them hanging with the weakest evidence you had that really doesn’t do much. No. Leave them in amazement and put your best evidence last. Also a good reason to practice those structure processes I just talked about above.

Tip #7: Reevaluate Your Thesis

There’s a great chance that your thesis has somehow wound up in your conclusion. As you were writing, you probably got more and more excited and inspired and your mind created an amazing thesis and disguised it as a conclusion sentence. No. No. No. We’re not letting you get away with that. Hopefully you went ahead and waited until the end to do your introductory paragraph, because everyone knows those never hold up once you finished the rest of the paper, but in case you didn’t - go back and read it. Your thesis probably isn’t amazing anymore. Consider changing it.

Tip #8: Edit Forever

Up until now, you’ve just been writing your life away and organizing. Now, after you write your introductory paragraph (maybe before?), print out that paper and read it. It’s actually super important that you print it out to proofread it because our minds process it differently this way. You’ve been staring at it on the screen for a while now. Not only is your mind used to it, but our brains automatically skim things we read on screens. We read more thoroughly when things are in print. So print it out and proofread it. I recommend making marks in a color that’s NOT black, so it’s easier to see. And when you make a grammatical correction, circle it so there’s not a chance you’ll miss it when you go to fix it later.

Tip #9: Sentence Structure

Have you noticed that the rest of these tips are shorter? That’s because we’re almost done! But not yet.

You have limited space in this paper. You have a lot of points to make, and not a lot of room to do it. So you don’t have time for ramble-y sentences. Go through and get rid of those unnecessary words, like “that” (yes, 9 times out of 10 you actually don’t need the word). Where there are a lot of words where one will do, change it, but don’t do this so much that it doesn’t sound like you anymore. Your professor will notice if you sound like you have a PhD on paper and in person you couldn’t even tell them what half those words even mean. That doesn’t make you sound smart, it makes you look silly.

Also try to avoid going on long tangents in your paper. It can be hard, but try to notice them when you’re proofreading. Be concise in your sentences. Short, sweet, and to the point.

Tip #10: Double Check Citations

I’ll make a completely different post next week(ish) dedicated to citing literature papers. Until then, good luck. 

Tip #11: YOUR Title

You didn’t think I’d forget to address the title of your own paper, did you? Gosh. The key here is to just know your professor. I know my professor loves puns, so I try to make my titles appropriately punny. 

Here’s a secret - you actually aren’t allowed to just use the name of the story you’re writing about as the title of your paper. Annoying, right? Because that’s totally what I’d do if I could. You can use words from the title in your title. For example, the title of my paper of Karen Joy Fowler’s “Heartland” was “Vampires in the Heartland” but there’s a reason for this. The term “heartland” is actually what is used to describe the midwest, which is why it’s the name of the story. It’s used as a clue that this story takes place in Oz in Kansas, since that’s never explicitly stated in the story. There are just a ton of clues and hints dropped in that are meant to help you draw that conclusion. So I decided to use that in my title. And since my paper was about literary vampire imagery in this story, I settled with that name. My professor put a little heart next to it.

It’s fun to come up with punny names for your papers. Another example is my most recent paper, which was over a re-imagination of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale as a short story that demonstrated the history between Christianity and Paganism (my thesis statement for this is above). So for the title of that story I used “The Better to Preach to You With” which is actually super corny and I didn’t get a little heart next to it, but I almost got full points on the paper so she must’ve been fine with it.

You have to take the time to come up with a name, you might as well have fun with it.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope this was helpful. Feel free to add your own tips. Most of these are tips straight out of my literature professor’s mouth. Look for my post next week on citing a literature paper, which will be 100% tips by my professor. Of course every professor is different, but I’ve been using all of these tips on another literature professor of mine and she’s been good with them as well.