#I'm terrible at keeping these short ffs

[drconstellation]

The Assistant Book Seller

Edit 1 Dec 2023 - added missing information on the "ribbon pattern."

Edit: 3 Dec 2023 - correct information about middle pattern from creator

GABRIEL: Greetings! I'm Jim! It's short for James, but I don't need to keep telling everyone that. I'm an assistant book seller.

I'm sorry. Before I do anything else, I need to apologize for something I need to write further in. I didn't plan to write it, I just kind of bumped into it and, well, I can't ignore it. So...sorry. It's said. Forgive me for what needs to be done.

Although he arrived with nothing but a cardboard box and Rodney the Stunt Fly, Aziraphale made sure Jim was clothed in appropriate raiment while under his protection. We'll forgive him that he took a step back about, oh, fifty years or so to the 1970's, as Jim's overall look is a nod to the famous old sitcom "Open All Hours." So if he looks a little bit out of place, or, a little bit familiar, even, that's why.

While we are used to seeing angels in overcoats, it's Jim's vest that is the particular feature here. But I will take a moment to comment on the overcoat - not just the colour but its lapels. Aziraphale has obviously given him a colour with an earthly connection and one that indicate that he has bought Jim under his protection, but the lapels look quite neutral, with one up and one down. (Muriel is the same in their Inspector uniform, btw) This is the first indication they are between two things at the moment.

Onto the vest.

There is so, so much work and thought put into this vest! It was a one-off commission for the show, and the creator, Sandy Higgins, has said she is not allowed to give away the final design pattern. I have tried to contact her, and I'm waiting for a reply, so in the mean time I thought I would ask my keen knitter of a sister-in-law about one of the patterns I'm not sure about. "Well, that's Fair Isle knitting," she said, but she knew nothing about the individual line pattern I was interested in. Hmm, I kind of know that already, its in the notes that are guiding me for this meta, but hey, why not do a broader search and see what comes up?

So once I got back home I did. "Fair Isle knitting patterns" hmm...Wikipedia page for starters...what on *earth* is that at the bottom of the page...? YOU ARE. FRIKKING. KIDDING ME!!!!!!!

"See also: Gumbys"

oh ffs

I am so sorry that needs must make me mention Monty Python yet again, but here we are. And we must mention them, because this link is just too...unbelievably, deliciously good.

If you aren't familiar with the Monty Python catalogue, and don't recognize the mention of Gumbys, they were a set of characters that dressed and spoke in a certain way but the main points to take away were they wore woolen vests in the Fair Isle knitted style and their catch-phrase was - wait for it - "My brain hurts!"

I think we've heard that somewhere before?

CROWLEY: When you first arrived, you said you were here because they were planning to do 'Something Terrible' to you. So you remembered it then. Remember it now. GABRIEL: It hurts to remember. My head isn't built for that.

Right. Now we've got that out of the way...back to the serious stuff.

The colours used in the vest are not your typical angel colours. There is a base of angelic off-white and there are some bits of purple for his royalty around the shoulder area - sometimes you need to look carefully for it. Otherwise it is dominated by vintage shades of red and green. Well. Who's an agent of change driven by love, then?

The horizontal stripe pattern is partly to remind us of the classic biblical robes with stripes that ran along them, much like the style of Crowley's black and red robe in the Job minisode, but is also part of the traditional Fair Isles pattern work. And each row only has two colours, but up around the shoulder area we do see purple start to sneak in as a third colour.

On to the incorporated symbols! I'm going to go from bottom to top.

On the lowest two we feature Crowley and Aziraphale. We have Crowley's demon satyr tail from the Good Omens logo on the lowest stripe - the double-headed arrow.

The next stripe is Aziraphale, with a variation of the classic OXO pattern ("hugs and kisses.") The X is meant to represent his angel wings, and the O is modified to mimic the "o" with a halo in the Good Omens logo. I've highlighted all three in the image on the right.

The third row up is a Sumerian Star pattern that represents one of the flowers associated with Gabriel, the lily. They are supposed to represent the purity of Mary, mother of Jesus, as he had one in his hand when he visited her during the Annunciation.

The row above that is what I believe to be a Byzantium pattern, and is included to show "an Angel's ability to be timeless."

The next three rows are still under a bit of a question mark as I write this. I plan to come back and edit it in if I find the answer.

The bottom of the three is the Duke of Buccleuch pattern, "to celebrate the long and necessary contribution that the cottage industry of hand knitted items."

The middle one - ? (perhaps you, the reader, know? It looks like a spiralling ribbon if I stand back, but that isn't sparking any connections, either.)

Edit: @noneorother tells me in a reblog (below) that this pattern represents the shoelace from the magic incantation Aziraphale uses "Banana Fish Gorilla Shoelace." So it is ribbon-like! This then points to the Second Coming, as it the shoelace references the end of the book, and the last paragraph of the book references Yeats poem "The Second Coming" as well as the novel 1984. To me it is then also telling us there is a cycle occurring, or a cycle that needs to be renewed. This fits in with some other clues other meta-writers have been picking up.

Edit 2: Turns out none of that was correct - I heard back from the creator herself and it's actually the double-ended satyr tail pattern again! It just seems to make a bit of an illusion of a ribbon or shoelace.

The pattern below is a modified OXO pattern.

The top one looks like two rams horns facing each other. A hollowed out rams horn can be used as a trumpet, and is known as a shofar in Jewish religion. Gabriel was traditionally known to carry a trumpet.

The ancient meander pattern would be recognized by most people, included as another classic timeless pattern found all over the world. For some it symbolizes eternity and endless flow.

The wheels here appear to be Michael's ophanim wheels, that would have eyes around the rims.

The hourglass is to remind us that time is running out. Memento mori - "Remember that you die." It is a major theme in both series.

Right up high, just before we lose the rest of the vest inside the overcoat, we get a glimpse of a large diamond-shaped icon. I wonder if this is another stylized set of angel wings, like we saw in the Job minisode on Aziraphale's golden collar.

To finish off the outfit, he is wearing dark gray trousers with sneakers! I'm sure that's so he could keep sneaking up on Aziraphale in the shop, haha. His shirt seems a little too large for him and the tie is knotted too high and is not settled along his centerline. It's all at odds with his previous neat and sharp appearance as Supreme Archangel Gabriel.

I'd like to say a big thank you to @aduckwithears for helping me with information on the vest and finding the creator's other social media sites. You can see their two posts about it here and here.

[punk-chicken-radio]

complaint department....

my first complaint is that i, @loveaxiomatic, for ONCE actually started a playlist....this one....and i wanted to use it this week. guess what? it wasn't finished like i thought it was because youtube was showing an inaccurate count because of deleted videos 🙄

so, i scrambled for more, after struggling through drafting 2/3 of the songs when i realized we didn't have 30 songs (and you KNOW @theoldsmelly likes the playlists to have at least that many songs).

he's always got a complaint about the 'short' ones....

my next complaint is that right as i started to write this intro early (because i may not be able to later - more on that later) my wifi kept dropping and i had to connect to my hot spot, which i always find terribly annoying. what is the point of having this stupid unreliable box in the same room as my laptop if it's not gonna gimme the juice when i need it? it always seems to be weakest on my airbook, while the other laptops, phones, tv's....even the stupid thermostat will have an excellent signal.

sheesh. okay, i'll stop now. mostly because i shouldn't work myself up too much.

funny thing. some of those who know (and mostly love me ����) often complain of me thinking i've got the biggest brain around. well, it turns out i wasn't completely wrong. well, rather, my skull is a little too small for it. so pretty soon, the quacks are gonna rectify that and give the old bean a little more space to breathe. wasn't my back or neck that's been fucked up at all....it was just my fucking brain sitting on my spine 💀 i'm not too worried, but y'all...smelly will be running things on his own for a bit once they get a duran duran branded nutcracker to take to my skull.

scary thought, i know....for him at least. he hates having to do the parts that i do, so he's a bit complain-y about the whole thing, and has issued a statement -

he will be fine, i will be fine, we will ALL be fine...just need to keep the complaints to a minimum. which these songs def do not.

love (you might have to take a couple weeks solo) axiomatic and the old (FFS) smelly

[inalandofsadclowns]

Cas gets to be around Dean so-so terribly little it's sad, actually. Like, before the bunker, there's practically no space for some peaceful domesticity at all. Even then it's a mess, their relationship, but at least there was a home to call their own.

Not even kidding, look

Cas pulls Dean from Hell, but can only appear rarely, or only in Dean's dreams, because Heaven is observing his every move. Apocalypse is prevented, he goes back to Heaven. There's a year of unanswered praying from family life!Dean, then Cas comes back only after soulless!Sam appears. Followed by some brief appearences from Cas, because he's teamed up with Crowley and is keeping his distance from Sam and Dean. Then Cas dies and is gone for another long while. Then he's back, but he's got amnesia. Then he remembers, but the same day he loses his sanity. And he's insane all the way until the Leviathan are tossed into Purgatory, and so is he and Dean. In there they exchange like two words, and Cas is gone again for one more year. Then Dean finds Cas, whose brain is clear again, it's great... for a few days, because they find the portal, and Cas stays behind. Meanwhile Dean is back on Earth, angsty and eaten alive by guilt, until Cas shows up again. Now Dean is "freakin' thrilled", but suspicious, while Cas is being lobotomized, because Dean was right to be suspicious. Fast-forward a few brain-drills and a thousand murdered Dean-simulations Dean's pleading the Angel Tablet breaks Naomi's connection, and Cas gets the fuck away from everybody. More time off, then he's back again, but Dean is angry and is ignoring him. The angels fall, Dean is not mad anymore, but now Cas is human and unavailable again. Sam and Dean finally find him, he dies there for a moment, but it's fine. Human!Cas only arrives in the bunker to share that he's banged a reaper, to be sent away that very day. Later Dean brings him back, but Cas still has to distance himself. Then he's angel again, but now Dean has the Mark of Cain.

......Eye-

Just give those boys a break ffs

I'm just saying, quite impressive, how much burning sexual tension those two had managed to fit into their short periods of meetings. Of course it had to be a workplace relationship, when they barely had any chill-time together. if Cas got to be around more, and not only in life-or-death situations, Dean and Cas would have been in each other's pants so fast-

[golbrocklovely]

the way corey just doesn’t publicly acknowledge colby’s cancer whatsoever. he was just live on tiktok(i don’t follow him it was just recommended to me on my fyp) so he obviously is on social media

jake said on twitter that he misses snc and he has been supporting colby since he first announced his cancer. he was shady a few times but he still supported his once dear friend when that friend needed it the most which is more than some people (ex snc friends) are doing.

it actually blows my mind that some people really are just not acknowledging it at all. like corey ffs lived with snc for years and they were friends for what feels like forever. if my once good friend got cancer i would most definitely support them. even if that friendship breakup didn’t end amicably. life is too damn short to be so cold. and i don’t wanna hear that corey could be supporting him in private bc they’re both influencers and it has a lot of people under the impression that they’re not friends anymore, not even a little, and that corey doesn’t care

i used to miss the traphouse days and corey’s addition to the videos but now i think both sam and especially colby are better off without him. jake seems to be coming around a lil

part of me wonders if corey’s lack of support has something to do with how good of friends he is with l10

yeah, i'll be honest; i thought after a couple months back when colby, corey, and jake were seen at the same concert, i thought that maybe the hatchet got buried even slightly and while corey still didn't say anything back then about supporting colby, i thought "you know what, maybe he said it in person."

but with this go around, and colby starting chemo, and corey still not saying anything…. he's absolutely trash to me. and so is any of snc's old friends that haven't said anything.

and i truly do not want to hear "oh they probably said something behind the scenes" bc that's bullshit. that's a cop out answer. it takes two seconds to just comment a heart or even "you got this". no one is asking for you guys to become best friends again. you are a social media person and have been for years. everyone is watching you and waiting for you to say something.

and that's the thing that upsets me. i get they aren't close anymore. that's fine. friends drift apart, it is what it is. but corey, bffr. you wouldn't have a career if it weren't for snc. you would have died out with vine when you stopped dancing. you couldn't even keep up making dumb vlogs when you lived in the trap house. the only reason you remained relevant was bc of snc and the videos they allowed you to be in. and now, when sending just an ounce of love colby's way would be the right thing to do, regardless of whatever fallout yall had, you can't even do that? you're a piece of shit. there's no other way around it.

i'm not close to any of my old friends, but if any of them ever said they had cancer i would reach out and send them love. even my ex best friend, who i've basically blocked on everything. i would still reach out and let her know i'm here if she needs anything. bc ppl need support when they're at their lowest, when they're sick. but you not being able to even pretend to care is fucked.

and while i do think it's easy to blame elton on this to some degree, i don't think so. corey himself said he's a grown man, he should act like one then. make your own decisions. if elton kicks you to the curb bc you reached out to an old friend bc he's going thru cancer treatment, then elton is a terrible person and doesn't deserve any success.

elton's also a piece of shit for not reaching out. but at the same time i expected that of him.

[loxare]

Good omens 2 ep 1 thots under the cut!

CROWLEY LOOKS!!! SO HAPPY!!!!!! MAKING HIS NEBULA!!!!!!!!! I'm so sad he got the wind taken out of his sails. And I know exactly how much trouble he got in just for asking a few questions. Theory: God is omniscient, and as such knew Crowley needed to be a demon to save the Earth. It sucks, but it's growth for both him and Aziraphale, who needed to learn to duck around the rules, and growth tends to hurt. I'm just sad Crowley got hit that hard

Aziraphale only valid landlord???

Crowley ornithologist?????

Wait, why is the mail getting delivered to the Bentley rather than Crowley's apartment? What happened to his plants? Is he just never in his apartment so it's better to deliver to the car?

Record shop coffee shop ff slow burn

John Hamm's john & hamms are on display

This is unrelated to GO but I made wonton soup to eat while watching this and it is very good. Mmmm

Those poor tomatoes

Aziraphale's music interrupted by nudity and amnesia

Oh god heaven still hurts my eye holes. So shiny

No one tell naked amnesiac Gabriel about the existence of twins

Someone get him some pants. Aziraphale please get him some pants not just a blanket. What if he stands up?

Trailer ship bait line is a good line. Aziraphale thinks of Crowley and goes all soft

"The thing" is probably the box that was doing a lot of heavy lifting to keep this show PG, that was also dropped when the door opened and left in the street. Someone should probably go pick that up before someone else takes it

Ah. Good, it's still there

Oh her name is Shax. Neat! I love Crowley's hair swirlies. The ones on top. They're nice

Gabriel's Jim's terrible short term memory will absolutely be remembering Gabriel and not retaining anything else

The reaction to a bit of litter in heaven is killing me

So Crowley is one of those coffee drinkers. Also, if I were the record shop lady, I'd bake Aziraphale a thank you cake

Getting tired of writing out all the names, sk they're just A and C now

Oh no, the coffee shop lady is taken. Poor record shop lady

Blanket toga is not a substitute for clothes

I thought "ask him properly" would lead to some magic angel stuff, not asking more aggressively

ARGUMENTS. I feel like A is playing on the time last season when C left, saying he was going to go to another galaxy (Andromeda?) and then ended up regretting that. To clarify, I'm currently paused so I haven't heard C's response yet so this entire paragraph could become moot

I feel like C's going through some stuff that he hasn't told A about

Man drinks six shots of espresso, spontaneously combusts, gets struck by lightning

The relationship and circumstances around these two shop keepers is so fanfiction. If they don't get together, I hope they can spend the time trapped in this coffee shop bonding and becoming besties. Also, there should be a manual override for the security system. Not having one is stupid, because of things like this. What if they were trapped in the record shop instead, and there was no readily available food? An internal manual override is crucial

I like Micheal's sleeve cuffs

Ooo, disabled angel!

Muriel I hope you get some confidence. And also I want your skirt

Small bit of litter confuses and confounds angels

Oh, wonder why Beelzebub got recast. (Don't go out of your way to look it up I don't care enough to check myself and definitely not enough to inconvenience someone else)

So. The conflict here is that C could give up Jim, get a promotion and that's a problem taken off his hands, but A would be mad at him. Or, he could do not that and risk both him and A getting erased from existence entirely, which will uh, make it so the apocalypse last season did not get stopped. Oh boy

Oh this coffee shop lady does not care for records. At all

Crowley "my bad" actually made me die laughing so that was excellent and also my ghost is now typing this

Oh I do not care for the tone of Lindsay's texts. At all. Nina you deserve better. I do like the format of the texts coming up though. The paper and red pen makes it seem a lot more personal and angry and uh. Not good.

One of those said "remember what we said about mutual respect" and blowing up your partner's phone angrily because they're late isn't respect, which is necessary in the "mutual" bit of mutual respect. I would personally be concerned that something had happened. Maybe walk down and see if they're alright. Assume that their phone had died maybe, idk

A: glasses on. C: glasses off

"You were right" does not contain the word sorry and oh good, A knows that. Oh there's a dance? 👀

Why. Why do they do that. This is hilarious, but I feel like it makes it more difficult to apologize for things if there's a humiliating dance involved. Which also still doesn't contain the word sorry

Jim go back upstairs. Also, why does he still not have clothes?

See, in the trailer, Muriel didn't recognize Gabriel, and I thought that was just because they've never met. Interesting to see that, no, there's an active reason for that

Being persona non grata with heaven means A isn't allowed to do miracles anymore? Or just that the miracles he does are more heavily scrutinized?

Ah, the old "immediate proof that the last thing said was completely wrong" trope. Also, weird seeing heaven with a red filter

Ah. Bit of warning for people sensitive to flashing lights. I don't think this flashes fast enough, it's a hard cut between red filtered heaven and white heaven, with a second or two between each cut. But like. Go carefully. It only lasts for a bit and there aren't too many interesting visuals during it. Right after C says "no one will have noticed a thing", stops when Uriel asks for the alarm to stop

Oh A. Can't stay out of trouble to save his life

All in all, I liked it a lot! I'm looking forward to the hijinks A&C get into, I really want to know why C's mood is so foul rn when he was generally cheery at the end of last season, or as cheery as he gets, wondering about all the empty boxes. One empty box is fine, but two? Suspicious. Hoping Nina dumps Lindsay, has a nice long recovery period where she can enjoy being herself, and then gets together with record shop lady, whose name I will remember sometime probably. But I'm out of soup, out of tea, and out of excuses to not pull nails from my wall, so I'm gonna go do that now

[signedeclipse]

Omg I love your writing sm!!

Since I saw your requests open, could I request a matchup?

Preferably a male demon and/or demon slayer :)

I'm a 5'2" trans masc gremlin with short, side-shaven brown hair and eyes. I mostly dress in black, goth clothing and accessories (i.e., pentagram earrings, bird skull rings, chokers, etc.) but I have a hoodie collecting problem (I can think of at least a dozen I have lying around rn).

Since I have adhd, I'm very forgetful and have a bad habit of fidgeting when I'm under-stimulated and over-stimulated (they range from shaking my hands violently to scratching and biting myself, not too bad tho at most all it does is leave a few marks). I'm also introverted, preferring to keep to myself, only really talking when someone talks to me, but when I'm with people I'm comfortable with I'm pretty much the opposite, always talking and joking around and being an overall menace >:)

That said I'm always tired and can fall asleep anywhere (I'm also a huge night owl which might be part of the issue)

My love languages are words of affirmation, physical touch, and quality time since I'm really vocal about how much I adore my s/o, I'm kinda clingy and quite touch starved (i mean i collect plushies ffs), and whenever I'm out of energy, I enjoy just being in their presence, doing my own thing while I recharge.

Sorry if that was too much/not enough I never know how much to put in these things lol

Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do it/can't think of anyone who'd fit my desc :)

Anyway, take care of yourself (drink some water, eat a snack, and take a nap/go to bed depending on what time you see this) and have a lovely day/night! ♡

You got…Sanemi!

Being polar opposites, Sanemi loves you because you bring the gentle personality he hides behind all the macho attitude. He gets frustrated as fuck about stupid things all the time, and you'll just chat to him while he beats up a punching bag till it breaks, not judging him once.

He's had people try to calm him down, try to interfere and change him, but he just wants someone who likes him now and not for what they want him to be, which you are great at.

In turn, he understands your habits of scratching at yourself aren't doing  a terrible amount of harm for how well it soothes you, so he won't try to stop you aside from trying to find something for you to do so you aren't so bored.

Sometimes he just offers his arm to you, and lets you trace all the scars he has left in his skin, or fidget with his hand.

Sanemi isn't very demanding, so he'll do whatever you feel like doing. He prefers to have you there with him while he trains, though, so he's gotten used to training somewhere next to a porch where you can hide in the shade/away from bad weather.

Makes fun of you for dressing so dark, because he thinks of you as very flowery and sweet. Might say its some kind of scare tactic since you couldn't hurt a fly, but otherwise he doesn't care much for how you chose to dress yourself; so long as you are comfortable and happy.

Your hair reminds him a lot of his younger brother, and your sleepy nature only makes you two more comparable, so he feels this need to protect you in ways he couldn't his brother.

Authors Note - My last matchup and you are very similar it's almost scary! But yes, please enjoy <3

[eggs-can-draw]

you: Ok but what if v3 was actually broadcasted me: they would not livestream it to the public, not with their name attached to it, at least you: They use Junko’s old twitch account “How did you even get the password for that???” “Tsumugi is very dedicated” me: but I still feel like they'd want to keep it secret & maybe reveal it if they succeeded, maybe still keep their method secret, because they don't want people to know if they fuck it up, but even more immediately, they don't want people to believe they failed to protect the Ultimates in the meantime Yin: oooo and this is how the parents learn what's happening to their kids! they didn't broadcast the other 49 but they broadcasted this one! "you used MY SON AS A BACKUP SHUICHI?!?!?! and made him PARTICIPATE IN 49 OTHER KILLING GAMES?!?!!" you: And even then if things go too terribly they could easily just blame it on the remnants me: the Remnants they have supposedly taken down during DR3? you: “Oh noooooo the remnants escaped and kidnapped some kids! In their desperate attempt to appease the late Junko they recreated her killing game with these innocent NHPA students!” me: if they blame the fanatic stragglers it makes them seem useless, if they blame the main RoDs it reveals a previous cover-up, if they claim the project as theirs there'll be huge backlash and then doubled, tripled when it doesn't even succeed. I assumed "taken down" means killed. you: They can be vague if it fits the story me: but why would they want to make it public from the start? it causes those complications for them you: Don’t worry about it guys (I don't think I'll listen to that)

firedemongaming: The irony that they tried to make Shuichi the ultimate hope and had Rantaro as a back-up, but neither of them were actually the ones to become the ultimate hope, it was canonically Kii-bo

Nanami anon: “The Remnants of Despair are not a threat anymore” [16 years later] “So um. About the Remnants of Despair…” One overworked PR employee sobbing in the background

Yin: to show off "LOOK WE MADE A NEW ULTIMATE HOPE!" "and how did you do that?" "uhhh no comment" me: that's what would happen if they only made a reveal after succeeding, otherwise people will know HOW and that's an issue Yin: shrug maybe they livestreamed accidentally instead of video lol me: just. accidentally making a several weeks long stream without realizing you:Oopsie woopsie someone accidentally hit start stream

firedemongaming: Branch 14 is PR, Branch 14 is the branch naegirigami belongs to. The pr team is definitely not helping them this time XD I was explaining what branch 14 is in canon. I'm aware Byakuya and Kyoko aren't in it anymore in the AU. Doesn't change the fact that they pissed off their PR team AND their mascot Nanami anon: The project heads poached one (1) member of branch 14 to help with this. It’s not going well Yin: ......they purposely pissed off their PR team? lol me: the person, supposed to click "record" got distracted by seeing Makoto trip, clicked stream instead Nanami anon: … midway through V3 Makoto hosts a press conference since they kicked him out of the observation room. The FF is FUCKED

firedemongaming: Is it the eggman callout post of shadow? Nanami anon: Makoto: I'M WRITING A CALLOUT ON MY TWITTER DOT COM firedemongaming: 'BUT I'M GOING HIGHER! I'M PISSING ON THE MOOOOOOON!' you: “I'VE COME TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT THE FUTURE FOUNDATION IS FULL OF BITCH ASS MOTHERFUCKERS”

firedemongaming: long story short. FF is overthrown. The people try to install Makoto as emperor. Makoto has to quickly find legitimate reasons to convince them not to. Byakuya is just in the background 'do it coward' Yin: Makoto: I appoint my husband as emperor as I think he can do it better than I can Togami: oh I know I can do it better firedemongaming: 'i know I can do it better. But I'm not about to steal the glory from you. I'm more than happy to be a shadow ruler from the sidelines' Yin: Makoto: I don't want the glory! I want to be a house husband! you do it! me: Togami proceeds to dismantle FF into several smaller organizations with less power to avoid that shit happening ever again, like, sorry, but we can't have one organization that's above the law and does whatever they want because they're saviors if society is ever to properly recover firedemongaming: 'instead we'll install this one family that's above the law and does whatever they want because their family heads are saviours' me: no, no, he doesn't stay as the leader of all of them firedemongaming: I was making a joke about the emperor bit

... but I still think about the logic of immediately trying to fill up the position of absolute power when it's being taken down, why is this actually a realistic thing people would do. Eh, on to the next bomb in your askbox

Love me some sonic snap cube duo references

[hidekomoon]

Hey friend sorry i'm bad at keeping up w asks i'm terrible. I think the last time i sent you a message was literally MAY ffs. I guess i was caught up with exams??? Well. I've graduated and I'm working now. People actually call me Doctor??? Madness.

How are you? How is your mental health? Have you been looking into therapy?

It's been so long so idk if this is still relevant but how is that zine going? How is art? How is life? How is school?

hi!!! i'm happy to know what you've been up to. was your last message in may really? time goes so fast. so you're actually a Doctor now?? congratulations! you must have worked so hard, i hope now you have some time to rest and appreciate how far you've come!

my mental health is.. stable, at least, and i haven't been looking into therapy at all but i might once i'm back in the city (i'm on vacation right now).

i finished my zine!! i even translated it to english, so i can send it to you if you want to read it (i think i guessed your username). i'm working on a short story right now, & yesterday i was at 18 pages so it's probably going to be just above 20 pages long i think. it was really a genius idea to have one artistic goal to accomplish over the summer because it has really helped with the whole 'my life makes no sense & i'm worthless' thing my brain does.

i'm going back to school in september, it's not something i particularly want to do (it's to get a bureaucracy type of job) but at least i might be employed & earn a decent salary at the end of it. a lot of my friends/acquaintances irl are working or soon will be, so i sometimes feel like i'm running late.. but i try not to compare myself to others and to tell my family members who point it out to fuck off

anyway, i hope you're doing good & enjoying life; write me again soon!

[stilesssolo]

16 for kisses prompt!

Lol I’ve been considering writing this for wtwta forever 

16.  Kisses Meant To Distract The Other Person From Whatever They Were Intently Doing

There’s really no point, Dany thinks, to having Jon still come in for sponsorship meetings now that he spends about eighty percent of his time at her apartment. She’s not exactly mad about getting to see him more during the day, but there is a definitive downside-- having him around is distracting.

Dany chews on her lip as she scrolls through emails, Jon typing out a post on his phone for Margaery’s new marketing campaign she’d looped him into. Her office is comfortably quiet, the only sound the clicking of her nails against her desktop. She’s trying to stay focused, but it’s very hard with her boyfriend sitting so close to her.

All those fantasies and daydreams from months ago-- well, they’re even more distracting now that she knows what the real thing is like.

She sneaks a glance over at Jon, the way his brows are pinched together as he focuses on whatever he’s writing. She exhales slowly, letting her eyes skate over him, her heart thumping at how bloody handsome he looks, without even trying.

It’s infuriating, really.

Dany turns back to her email, determined to focus while he finishes his posts. She wants to be able to leave on the earlier side today, and that’s only a possibility if she finishes up all her work first. She reads over what Loras had just sent her for the third time, determined to actually comprehend it this time.

Somehow, she’s successful in tuning Jon out this time, whipping through her emails, firing back responses while he’s occupied with his own work. Maybe she really will get to go home early today. 

“Dany,” she hears, but she holds up a manicured finger to silence Jon, trying to finish typing out her email before she’s distracted by him again and loses her train of thought. He waits, patiently, while she types.

Until she hears the distinctive sound of something hitting her carpeted floor. 

Dany’s eyes flick over to Jon, whose phone is off and on her desk, unlike her pen jar-- its contents are scattered all over the floor. 

“Jon,” she says, eyes going back to her computer. “Don’t distract me.” 

“You’re ignorin’ me,” he teases, pushing at her stack of her post-it notes until it too falls to the ground. 

“And you’re acting like one of my cats,” she says, arching her eyebrow, gaze still fixed on her screen. 

“I thought you liked it when I cleared off your desk?” he says, standing and walking until he’s behind her, arms caging her in, his mouth right by her ear. She rolls her eyes, though she can’t help herself from leaning back into his touch. 

“I should have never told you about that,” she responds primly. Truly, confessing the details of her sex dream to Jon may have been a bit of an oversight on her part. Especially the way he’d swept everything off it before laying her down on the cool glass surface.

“C’mon, Dany,” he murmurs, breath warm against her neck. A shiver races down her spine, her belly filling with heat just like it did all those months ago from Jon’s imagined touch. 

Gods, she’s terrible at resisting him. 

She turns in his arms, and the glint in his gorgeous eyes is victorious as he leans down, capturing her lips in a hungry kiss. 

“When I get home late because of this, I want you to know it’s entirely your fault,” she whispers into his mouth, but Jon just laughs, lifting her up, shoving the rest of her things off her desk so he can lower her down onto it, stepping into the space between her spread legs. 

“Gods, I’m so grateful you finally got blinds for your windows,” he says, kissing her again hungrily. 

“Just for you,” she tells him, and Jon groans as he coaxes her lips open, tongue sliding against hers in a way that makes her toes curl, fingers fisting in his shirt. 

Yes, she supposes, working late will be worth it for this. 

prompt list

[bengiyo]

Coffee Melody Ep 7 Stray Thoughts

Duen Yi is so obnoxious. Let Plengruk explain what his ex who was so bad he didn't want to date again first. FFS. I just do not have the patience for this emotional breakdown.

What an absolutely terrible read on what happened. Plengruk was not happy to see ole boy, and as a reminder To has been the one insistent that they be a couple.

I'm really not enjoying the implications that Plengruk is in the wrong here.

I'm glad this show keeps putting the Call Me By Your Name poster in the background. Another extremely flawed relationship that folks consistently read as ultra romantic.

I'm glad Duen Yi has a supportive family, but I remain deeply frustrated with him.

Oh good. The side couple. Let's take a break from the main couple's nonsense.

This loud highway is a character in this story.

Oh no, now it's the annoying straight boss.

No sympathy for this dude. She told you what she was worried about and you proved her right immediately. Get out of here.

I forgot Warhammer 40k sponsored this. Such whiplash constantly. I hope a bunch of Thai girls and gays start playing Warhammer.

I keep forgetting these children also have a subplot. There's just so much happening in this show.

Wizards of the Coast is pushing into Japan with marketing. I need to see a BL about the drama around a D&D campaign and the player romances.

I hate how stiff Thai BL actors look when they're fighting. I want to see them moving around the space. I want to see physicality. I want to see someone get thrown through a window. Just standing there with your arms at your side trying to delivery emotionally intense dialogue with minimal audience context is super tedious.

Like, I like Pavel, but I feel like he's been short-changed by a lot with this particular role.

And Duen Yi just shows up at the end? Ugh, this episode was kinda lame for me. I'm so frustrated.

I still don't think Plengruk needs to apologize.

Well, that was a penultimate episode of Thai BL.

[theesteemedladydebourgh]

Omg please I'll volunteer as any kind of GOFLL spokesperson 😭😭 I literally live and breathe waiting for those extras, while rereading my favorite moments 😭🧡

haha thank you! well i did actually work on it a bit today—i think part of my problem is i have multiple extras in the works.

There's James's POV, The End of the Line, which is turning out to be more of an endeavor than i expected lmao AND i have to reread GOFLL to fully do it justice but i'm lowkey terrified i'll read it and realize it's terrible 😅😭

plus like possibly two (?) oneshots at the end of the 16 months but i'm not sure how long or what those will cover (and that also depends on how much I want James POV to cover ffs i have too much imagination and not enough time)

and then ofc there's the night in the hotel smut outtake (rated hard E) 👀

plus a secret something else that i, ironically, have the most inspiration to write, but chronologically I have to finish all of the other ones first loll.

and now i'm writing a short little funny something about how Marlene and Sirius ended up living together!

long story very short haha, thank you for the love and encouragement. I love the GOFLL world and every time I get an ask or a comment like this it makes my heart so happy, and keeps me wanting to write more. 🥰❤️

[wolfinshipclothing]

SIGH. So, i'm an actual ass because i accidentally deleted an ask.

It was about the Angel of Death Anne AU. I wrote the answer, tried to save it for later and now i can't find the goddamn ask.

The questions were (and i am not exactly quoting):

what is Anne relationship with Littlepot, the Grim Reaper from the Hallowen special?

Will Polly or Anne's parent's hear her voice?

So, i don't know if this answer will reach the right anon, but i hope it does.

-

First of all, thanks a lot for asking!

Second, I'M SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY. Work and college have been a pain.

I'll start with your second question, which was sort of answered here and here, but esentially Littlepot is just THE Reaper, from which Anne is just a fragment. DEATH took different shapes to fit the living person's perception on how DEATH looks like. Anne doesn't have this power yet. Long story short: he's Anne's supernatural dad.

As for question 1... well it took me a while because you actually inspired me to write a fic about the Boonchuy's hearing Anne's voice!

It was originally supposed to be something short and cute, but ideas just keep popping into my head and i kinda added plot into it.

So, i know its probably not what you expected, but i hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

(Also, Mr and Mrs Boonchuy name's are Aran and On in this fic)

EDIT: Added AO3 and FF links because reading fics in tumblr is pure pain.

---

Anne was six years old the first time Aran Boonchuy heard her special Voice.

He was on cashier duty at the restaurant when a terrible scream tore his earbuds—and all of the customers'— apart. It was Anne. Aran threw the change to the face of the man he was serving and flew to the kitchen. How wife, On, was sitting on the ground, holding a weeping Anne. Marcy and Sasha were there too. Anne's little friends had come for a playdate but the Boonchuys had work. Not that it mattered —the little girls loved to play in the kitchen. Marcy had a knack for setting on fire things that were not flammable, and Sasha just loved to play Knight-And-Princesses with actual knives —she was always the knight. Having the girls in the kitchen was a constant pain in the butt for the Boonchuys but endless fun for the girls.

No one was laughing now. On was fine; Marcy and Sasha seemed alright too. The only one not fine was Anne. She let out a particularly long wail and Aran’s heart nearly stopped.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Aran looked accusingly at the other girls.

Sasha gasped and seemed ready to yell a protest, but Anne took the mic from her.

“She’s going to die,” Anne whimpered.

That phrase became one of the Top Five Creepy Things Anne had ever said. And boy, it was a long list.

“Die? W-who’s going to die honey?” Asked Aran

Anne lifted her miniature finger. She pointed it at Marcy. Then descended to point at the critter in Marcy's hands.

Let's be honest; as a restaurant owner, Aran knew you were not supposed to have animals in the kitchen. Not living, breathing, disease-giving ones. But he figured out the three little girls with On could take care of Marcy’s pet for a few hours

Also, it was a stinking turtle, for crying out loud.

"Anne, don't say things like that. You're going to scare Marcy," On reprimanded her daughter.

Marcy wasn't scared as much as uncomfortable and wanting to hide from all the undesired attention. But this was Marcy's de facto look, so it was hard to know what she was thinking.

“But it’s true!” Anne retorted and went back to her wailing, muffled only by On’s tight grip on her.

Anne was inconsolable until Sasha rubbed a hand over her curls. It was like an OFF button.

"You're being dumb, Anne," said Sasha in that particular 'you better listen up' tone she often used. "Don't you remember? Marcy told us turtles live forever. Right Marcy?”

Again, it was like a button was pressed, because Marcy began to ramble. "Yeah, it's true! They can live up to 100 years. And Mr. Matt is just a baby. He will grow with us and be with us forever. See? He's fine."

To prove the point, Marcy brought the turtle to Anne's face. Mr. Matt stretched his neck to take a peck at Anne. Then retreated back inside its shell.

Aran never spoke about it, and neither did On, but they both knew Anne's pupils weren't regular spheres like anyone else. She had skulls for pupils. And at that moment they shined bright and smiled sadly. The air got cold as Anne spoke in an otherworldly voice.

“NO. IT WILL DIE IN A WEEK.”

The strangest thing was, Aran could hear Anne's voice; but at the same time, he heard his wife's screaming. He'd heard it before. Six years ago, when the doctors dragged On from the maternity ward to the operating room, because little Anne had gotten the umbilical cord tied around her neck and they had to take her out now or both mother and baby will die. Aran told his wife everything will be fine, as the nurses held him down so he won't follow her. Then she screamed. Out of pain, out of fear. Out of rage because Anne wasn’t even born yet and she could die.

Aran lost his father as a young boy. But he had to wait until that day to know the fear of death. Anne's voice brought that memory back like a fist in the face. He shared a look with his wife; did she hear it too? He would have to wait to know it.

After expressing the cynical omen, Anne went back to her usual self; the air in the kitchen slowly warmed as Anne calmed down.

Aran didn’t flinch when, one week later, he heard from Marcy’s father that Marcy’s turtle died. ‘Older than what the clerk said. What a jerk! Can you believe it?’, rambled David Wu and Aran pretended to listen, but his blood had gotten cold.

It was too much. Too big of a charge for a little girl. And out of all little girls, why did it have to be his Anne?

On heard Anne’s Voice several times through the years and, although it went against her vows, she never told her husband what it sounded like.

Until that disastrous tennis match. It was the finals and Anne had been killing it the whole tournament. Not literally though, but in skills. She was a natural at tennis. But at that final game, something went off. On lost count of how many times Anne felt, or how many easy hits she missed. It was a total loss. Zero points scored on Anne's side. On didn't care a bit about the crowd's comments about how there was more dirt on Anne's body than on the floor, nor the sneer remarks of the winning girl's mother. All she cared about was Anne.

They were in the lockers, Anne seated on the corner of a bench. She was small for a ten-year-old. There was that 'about to cry, but don't want to' look on her face.

On sent Aran to warm up the van —a pathetic excuse to be left alone with her daughter. Often, Anne would be more open to her mother than to her father; other days, the opposite was true. On hoped today was a mom's day.

She picked a towel and dampened it with water, rubbing the material over Anne’s dirty face.

"It's no big deal, honey. We all have bad days," she said, although bad was selling it short. "There'll be other tournaments. You just have to work on your speed-"

“I don’t want to play tennis anymore,” Anne whimpered, eyes red from holding down the tears.

That made it for On. “Come on, Anne, you can’t give up now. Not after your first tournament. Not after a bad game. Not after your first bad game! Some people have to work their whole life to achieve what you did this season. You have real talent, and I won't see you waste it." On firmly scraped the thick layer of dirt covering her face. Anne was hissing like Domino on bath day. “I want to know what happened today. Are you mad? Hungry? Low on sugar? Cramps?”

Anne hugged her legs to her chest.

“Anne, look at me.”

Anne tilted her head even further away.

On lifted a hand. “Anne-“

Anne flinched and was in the middle of 'Don't touch…!' when On’s hand squeezed her shoulder. The world turned grey.

“She’ll never win because she’s a failure.”

On nearly jumped. Neither woman had said that.

Leaning against the lockers was a man, maybe in his thirties, with long hair held in place by a headband, and dotting a tennis uniform. The grayish tone of the world and the blue hue the man haloed revealed him as a ghost. That and the fact that his head was backward 180 degrees, meaning he was giving them their back and staring down at them at the same time. He had that obnoxious 'I want my order done by yesterday' customer face.

On, who was more used to spooks than a regular restaurant owner should calmly asked him: "Hello. Who might you be?"

“Nadil," the ghost bowed forward, but since his head was backward, it kind of lost its effect. Lifting one's butt was hardly a way to start a conversation "Ralph Nadil. Tennis player extraordinaire! Number one in all magazines in 1976. I was fated to be the best in the world. Until the 1976 tournament final.” He straightened his head with his hands so it was facing the right way. As soon as it let it go, it whipped back to its unnatural position. “It's funny, these necks of us, aren’t they? One small fall and your career’s over. As is your life.” He hunched over like a whining child. "I was this close to the US Open! Unlike your daughter here.”

“Excuse me?” On snapped all too fast, in the same voice she used when the health inspector showed his face by the restaurant.

“Just as I said. She’s a lost cause. A bad shot. A loser.”

Anne covered her reddened ears. A picture formed inside On’s mind. Ghosts were a constant in the Boochuys' life. The spooks were attracted to Anne for some reason. She could hear, see and talk to them. And if Anne touched someone, or someone was touching Anne (like On was now), she could pass that power to the other person. Sounds nice, right? It's not. Having ghosts following your daughter around everywhere she goes is just as stressful as managing a restaurant in this economy. It was easy enough to keep them away from the house; a circle of salt around the perimeter usually did the trick. But they had yet to find something to keep the ghost away when Anne was outside. The whole season was played on smaller courts, but the coordinators picked a semi-pro one for the finals because it was bigger.

"Oh, I get it," On spat. "I take it you've been bothering my daughter the whole game, didn't you?"

"Bothering? I've been trying to help her!" Ralph stomped his feet silently. "This is the court where I died! I think I have the right to give pointers if I feel inclined to. And finally, I had someone who could actually listen to what I had to say. Unfortunately, it had to be your useless-"

On was up and front faster than the time it takes for a match to be lit. Her hand kept squeezing Anne's shoulder. On wanted to see this spook's face when she's done with him.

"Now you're going to listen and listen well because I will only say this once. My daughter is beautiful, talented, and smart. I mean she could have better grades if she worked harder but that's beside the point. AND she's a great tennis player. Definitely better than the other girl, and absolutely better than you. So you're going to apologize to her and then you're going to leave her alone. And I know what you are thinking." She shoved a finger inside Ralph's nose; literally since he was made of ghostly smoke. "You're thinking 'this is an old woman. She can do nothing to me. And yes, I might be old. But my daughter's only ten years old and she can see you. Now, tell me, what do you think her old mother can do to you? Mmh?”

On held a stare-off with Ralph. Eventually, it crossed the ghost's flipped head that a woman with that much self-confidence was either too good at lying or too dangerous to mess with. With this thought in mind, he lifted his hands in defeat, said a pathetic apology to Anne, and backed away until he disappeared behind the wall.

On breathed off. She smiled brightly at Anne and hid her trembling hands behind her back. The world became colorful again.

“Well, that’s over with,” said On and sat next to her daughter. “From now on, I want you to tell me whenever a shriek or a spook or a banshee or whatever is bothering you, alright?”

Anne mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

On shrugged it off. “It’s just a tennis match.”

Anne shook her head over and over. “The kids at school think Marcy and Sasha are weird just for hanging out with me. You guys are haunted by spooks all the time. And I can’t even win a stupid game because I’m… because I’m not…”

Anne’s hands went to her face but it was too late; the tears began to fall freely, as Anne painfully hiccupped. On pulled her daughter to her chest and let her weep. Then she heard it.

“I JUST WANTED TO DO SOMETHING… SOMETHING TO FEEL NORMAL. BUT I’M NOT. I-I’M SORRY”

On too started to weep. She'd heard the sound of a crying baby. The same wail Anne made as she finally began to breathe, after several minutes of infinite silence, the day the doctors did a C-section on On. It was the sound of Anne coming back to life, and it should've been the best sound in the world but it haunted On in her sleep because it reminded her Anne had nearly died. From that point forward, every time Anne cried, no matter how insignificant the reason, On remembered how she'd almost lost her before having her.

Never was that memory as strong as it was now. It felt like Anne was dying in her arms again. But she wasn't, because her little Anne was a fighter. There are things in this world, things that are coming for her, from which On couldn't protect her. Anne will need to be strong

“You’re everything I ever wanted you to be.” On said, slowly and full of pain. “Mine. My Anne. My littlest angel. And you don’t have to play tennis again.”

Anne laughed childishly and for a moment it felt that all the monsters —the outside ones, and the ones living inside Anne’s head— were gone.

Eventually, Anne did play tennis again. And she won several tournaments. She played in that same court several times. They ran into Ralph every time.

And every time, Ralph would make a turn and fly away like the wind.

Learning Anne was the Angel of Death, the Collector of Souls, the Final Reality, AKA Death itself was, hardly, a surprise. Honestly, the giant, talking, anthropomorphic frogs were way more of a freak-out. Anne being the Grim Reaper? It was so obvious one was left to wonder how nobody figured it out before.

But the bag was out of the cat —or however, the saying went. It was a blessing; the truth. Anne really had grown out as a person. And as the Grim Reaper. She obviously didn't need her parent's protection anymore.

Truthfully, since Anne came back, the Boonchuys' haven't heard her Voice, not even once. Until the very moment, they thought she was going to die.

Mr. X has been a pain in the ass ever since Anne returned to Earth. The FBI Agent was onto the Plantars, them being actual 'aliens'. And he was onto Anne too. It was hilarious. Poor guy didn't even have a clue of what Anne really was. What her 'job' was. He wasn't too bright.

Or so it seemed. Then he showed up with a dozen FBI vans and a hundred agents. Anne went for X's neck —not that she could be blamed; On would've done the same. Then Mr. X pulled out a baton. It was electrified and shone with bright, sickening white light; like a hospital neon sign. With a single touch of the weapon, Anne was reduced to a convulsing form on the ground. The patch of skin the weapon had touched was burnt and black. It healed quickly but left a nasty mark. X took the Plantars into 'custody', and he would've taken Anne too if it weren't for Aran's reflexes at dragging Anne to the van, and On’s mad-driving skills in getting away.

So, to recapitulate: X had taken the Plantars hostages to a secret FBI compound where he would… Well, let's not think about the details now. The portal Terri had built to bring the Plantars home was kind of a bust. And, of course, X now had a weapon that could harm and or kill Anne. Where did he get it, it was anyone's guess. Perhaps the Killer Frobot that was sent to exterminate Anne; that had been the only time something gave Anne a pause.

Weapon or not, Anne wouldn't let the Plantars at X's hands. Neither could her parents. Family never left family behind. And so, together, the three Boonchuys devised a plan. And when Anne wasn't listening, Aran and on devised another, secondary plan.

Plan A was a success! The Boonchuys, the Plantars, and all the allies they’d gathered escaped the FBI compound, reached the storehouse where they’d built the portal, and with the new power source they 'acquired'  for it, the Plantars would be home in a flash. Everything worked well.

That's the funny thing with life. When you’re down, the only place to go is up. And when you're too high, the fall hits harder.

Everything happened too fast. The portal was too small for even a hand to go through. A hundred FBI agents, armed to the teeth, invaded the building. And as soon as he spotted Anne, X slashed her with his baton. One attack to make her fall, and a second one to keep her down. Both times in the face. Anne howled in pain. She was conscious but badly harmed, twin burnt marks like an x crossed her face.

On and Aran had to watch it all. Their allies were being held down like common criminals. The portal coming to a close. And Anne, their precious Anne, their little girl, lying on the floor, hurt and scared.

X taunted them. "Not bad, Anne, not bad. You really are full of tricks, aren't you? I'm tempted to have you dissected as well, just to see what makes you tick." X lifted Anne's face with the tip of the baton, making the girl hissed. "But in the end, you failed. Because no matter what you do, or what you are. In your heart, you're still. Just. A kid.”

The smell of burning flesh filled the air. On didn't have the guts to look. Then X gasped.

Anne had grabbed the baton with her bare hand.

“You’re right X. I am just a kid,” Anne’s smile was calm and pure. “But today reminded me that with the right people by my side, I can do ANYTHING.”

X didn’t even get to yell ‘what the-‘ before the baton split into a million pieces under Anne's grip. The surge of power sent everyone flying against the walls, blinding them with that sickening white light.

When the Boonchuys’ came back to their senses, they saw an Angel.

Well, kind of. There was Anne, but she wasn't just Anne. Her clothes had morphed into a black and golden suit of the finest kind, with a golden chest plate engraved with scythes protecting her chest, with metal shoulder pads and boots of the same material. A cape made of the night sky fell from her shoulders to the ground; shooting stars danced down its length. A circlet of black fire, in the shape of a lotus flower, hovering above her head, completed the royal look. One thing that caught On’s attention was the blue tennis gloves. They were similar to the ones On had got her, so many years ago. They didn't really fit the queenly outfit, but hey, when you are Death and can create your own clothes on the spot, you become immediately immune to fashion rules. Then there were the wings. Golden, dragonfly wings, sprouted from Anne's back, nearly as large as she was tall (and she seemed taller now than ever before).

So yes, she was an angel. The Angel of Death. On and Aran’s angel.

Oh, X was gonna get it. He realized it too and crawled back away from Anne.

“What are you?” X asked, almost offended by his own ignorance.

Anne laughed and made a show of flapping her pair of wings and showing off her cape of stars. Her whole body haloed black light.

“TAKE A WILD GUESS.”

It was anyone’s guess what X heard, but both Aran and On heard the same thing.

Nothing. Silence. Anne’s words reached their brains without going through their ears first. It was an empty room that could never be used again. A house without a teen’s laughter. A final 'I love you' that will never be said. It humbled and broke both adults to tears.

Being done with X nonsense, Anne kicked him. X flied like a ragdoll right at the Boonchuys’ feet. Just where they wanted him. They rushed to hold the man down, On making the special point of faceplanting him, breaking his ugly-ass glasses. The other agents, seeing their boss being bossed by a Divinely-Powered teen and her parents, did the smart thing and surrendered. Anne hummed and lifted her hands. Tendrils of darkness, black tentacles made of goo, emerged from the ground, tying down all the agents. Better to be safe than sorry, right?

And they were finally, finally actually safe. That was the good news.

Bad news? The portal was a complete flunk. Terri and Dr. Jan worked desperately on the controls and the structure, but they only got it to spark once before it turned off for real.

“I’m so sorry guys. I… it requires more energy than we thought,” said Dr. Jan. “I don’t know if we can even reopen it.”

Through all this, Anne stood in front of the portal, still wearing her new form. Her dragonfly wings flapped quickly as she rubbed her chin.

“Maybe we don’t need to. Maybe there’s another way,” said Anne and her voice still carried that otherworldly silence, but it didn't hurt nor did it sadden the Boonchuys. Like Anne was more in control now.

“Give me some room.” She ordered and everyone backed against the walls. 

Anne joined hands around the black lotus flower over her head. From it emerged a large staff, a whole head taller than Anne, all black, with a heart-shaped golden stone at the top. Nobody gasped when a large blade, in the shape of a crescent moon emerged from the heart. Anne twirled the scythe above her head and shadows danced around her. Everyone was pushed further away as the room became bigger, and the sheer strength of Anne's gravity push keep them stuck to the walls that keep getting farther and farther away.

 On and Aran could barely see when Anne lifted the scythe above her head. Then she sliced it down and the sharpest cut ever was heard. Like scissor-cutting a steel beam. At the same time, the room shrunk down to its original size, pulling everyone down and at the portal machine's feet.

"I think my bowels and my lungs just shifted places," said Ally while Jess patted her back.

Hop Pop beamed. "It might have, but it also did wonders for my back." He made a wide circle with his hips. Something inside him cracked. "Eh, never mind," he said.

Sprig shouted. "Guys, look at that!"

There was a… gate? Chasm? Hole? It was hard to describe because it didn't resembled anything the Boonchuys had seen before. In any case, a fissure, in the slight shape of a triangle, had opened, and on the other side, a familiar frog world could be seen. Anne had just cut open a portal to another dimension.

Molly Jo broke the silence. "No offense, Frogman, but I think she should've been the superhero." She teased Sprig.

"Give me a break, would ya? I have cool ghost powers too! Sort of… but I can't open portals to another world."

Polly broke in. "Yeah, cool power and all, but it would've been great if you had used it like, one or two weeks ago. I'm totally complaining, by the way."

Anne gave a meek laugh. "I know," she said in her usual voice. "I thought it was possible but I never knew how. I guess I was holding myself down. But not anymore," she turned to face her parents. It was strange, how someone so majestic could look so fragile. "This is me. I mean, part of me. And the other part too. Human and Reaper. I'm the whole I can be. I hope it's ok?"

On caressed Anne's cheek. It was freezing cold but it quickly warmed to On's touch.

 "Yellow has always been your color. And everyone looks good in black," On joked, and why not? She was happy.

Anne groaned t the joke but didn't try to hide her smile.

There wasn't much left to say. Hop Pop said his farewell to his actor friend. Polly rambled to Jess and Ally about all the upgrades they'll do to Frobo when she returns to Earth. Sprig high-fived Molly Jo (who, on second thought, was too young to come to this mission, to begin with). Dr. Jan and Terri were too busy doing circles around the gate, going on about how "impossible" this should be.

They haven't known Anne long enough if they still believe in 'impossibles'.

Speaking of, it was time for Anne to say goodbye to her parents. From the look on her face, this was even more painful than she ever thought it would be.

On showed Anne the backpack she had brought for her. "I packed some stuff for you. Just the basics. Phone and charger, toothbrush and paste, your hormones so you don't have to be without for months again, and some spare clothes and shoes." She blushed. "Oh, but I guess those are useless now you can make your own clothes."

Anne held dearly onto the backpack. "I'll make sure to use it all. Especially the toothbrush. It's pretty lightweight, 'tho. I figured you would've stuffed it with photos to remind you guys with," Anne said to her dad.

Aran's smile was wicked. "Oh, you won't need anything to remember us…"

"Because we're coming with you." On finished brightly.

This was Plan B! Which was essentially Plan A with an extra step.

"WHAT?" Anne shouted, rattling the walls and cracking the windows. Dust fell from the ceiling and burnt over her fire circlet.

"We decided this a while ago," Aran elaborated. "You're not our little girl anymore, we know that. You've proven yourself capable of anything you put your mind to and more. In fact, if we go we'll probably just get in your way and you'll have to prevent us from getting eaten by some kind of giant monster or something."

Aran's speech didn't help their case at all. Then On took the reins.

"But we also decided that we can no longer go back to that house without you. Knowing you're far away, fighting in a war, saving people. I may be selfish but I can't sit by and let you do it, not if I can be there myself. Even if all we can do is cheer for you and give you thumbs up, then that's what we'll do"

"We'll be the best thumb up-givers ever." Aran lifted both thumbs high up.

On touched her daughter's face. X's wound had healed but the x-shaped scar over Anne's eyes remained. On traced her fingers over it, wondering if it'll ever heal.

"Even if you don't need us, we still need you. Please, let us be with you."

Sprig and Polly jumped in to the talk, by jump-hugging Aran's legs. "You really mean it, Mr. B? This won't be the last time we see you?" said Sprig, teary-eyed.

Aran patted the kids' backs. "Daww, of course, you won't lose us. We won't let you guys go that easily. You're all family now."

Even as he said this, Aran knew Anne had the final word. If she asked them to stay behind, if she said they would just get in the middle, and that they didn't know what they were doing, they would do as she said

Anne examined the portal, wings flapping slowly. "You know I won't be back, right? Not in a good while. Not until everything is over."

They knew. They'd never been more sure about something ever since they decided to move to the United States. They had stood their ground to Aran's mother, and now they stood their ground to their daughter.

Anne got red-faced and jumped into their arms, tying her parents in a soft, weak embrace. Like she was still a child that needed comfort.

"You guys are the best," said Anne, the little skulls inside her eyes crying fat tears.

On chuckled. "Well, you have to get it from someone."

The choice was made and the portal was open. No reason in wasting more time. The ladies of the Thai temple told them they'll take good care of the restaurant —and of X. The agent shuddered and turned green-faced.

The Plantars stood in front of the portal, to the left. The Bonchuys did too, to the right. Anne stood in the middle, joining both families. On the other side was a new world. A new land, with new people. A new culture. A new life they'll need to get used to.

But Aran and On were no strangers to that and joining hands with their daughter, they took a step forward.

To their new home. Their new fate. 

[kazliin]

I'm sure you've answered similar questions so sorry ahead of time if you have answered these questions before.I re-read Until My Feet Bleed and My Heart Aches for like the sixth time. I tend to go back and re-read some of my all time favorite FFs throughout the years and I was once again blown away by your writing so I have some questions! 1. Do you find that it's better to write everyday or just when motivation hits? 2. How many edits/revisions do you usually do? To be cont....

LOL I'm back- continuing with question 2, how do you know when you've edited a chapter or even an entire story enough? 3. How do you know when you've written too much? Everyone knows the rule of 'show not tell' but where is the line between using too much of that flower language and just getting to the point? 4. Have you worked on an original story or have you been published already?! I would love to read an OG work. :)

Last few questions haha- I wish there wasn't a word limit on these things...5. Any tips for how to not compare yourself to other writers? I have this problem in both writing and art. I do a piece and then look or read something that someone else produced and then table flip my desk because their work is significantly better and then I'm that 'this is fine' meme. 6. Have you found that writing FF has helped you? Thank you for taking the time to read these. ^_^

 ----

No worries, I love getting questions about my writing! I’ll answer them all in order so it’s easier to read.

1)      Do you find that it's better to write everyday or just when motivation hits?

For me, if I’m in the middle of a multi-chapter fic or series, I find it better to write regularly. Motivation is a fickle thing, so I found having a set writing schedule helped me put out chapters regularly. I didn’t write ever day, but I had set days/times every week that I would devote to writing. I can be pretty lazy at times so if I hadn’t forced myself to sit down and write, I never would have finished anything!

When it comes to oneshots though, I definitely only wrote when inspiration struck. Because they are much shorter and easier to write, it was much more fun for me to frantically write one in a burst of inspiration than to try and force one out when I wasn’t feeling inspired. But those strokes of inspiration aren’t a regular thing for me so I can’t rely on them for longer fics. So, for me, I write differently depending on what kind of fic I’m writing (not a very helpful answer I know!)

 2)      How many edits/revisions do you usually do? How do you know when you've edited a chapter or even an entire story enough?

I am a horrible little writing gremlin who edits something once and then tosses it out into the world for all my readers to suffer my many writing mistakes. Is it the best way to do things? Absolutely not. But I find the more I edit the more I hate things and delete huge chunks of writing and I’m never fully satisfied. So I limit how much time I spend reworking a chapter or I’d never post it. I should definitely edit my writing more but fanfiction is a hobby, not a job. I’m not going to spend hours agonizing over a fic that I was supposed to enjoy creating for the sake of editing it to perfection. So I’d say, once you get sick of reading your own writing while editing, it’s probably a sign to stop and just put the story out into the world because fic is meant to be fun, not stressful!

 3)      How do you know when you've written too much? Everyone knows the rule of 'show not tell' but where is the line between using too much of that flower language and just getting to the point?

This is a really tricky one because it depends on what kind of fic you’re writing and your own personal preference. I like writing a lot of introspection and have a bad habit of

making my chapters far too long. Some people like reading that kind of writing but some people absolutely hate it. The majority of the negative comments on my fics are about how there is too much introspection, my chapters should be more concise, and I need to learn how to edit down my work. Which is all fair critique but hey, it’s fanfic. I like to write like that and so I’m going to keep writing like that. And people who like short, punchy fics that get straight to the point are going to keep writing they way they like too. There’s no right or wrong way to write fic, just the way you like it.

When it comes to writing your own fic, whatever is best for you is usually whatever you find most natural to write. If you naturally write shorter chapters there’s no need to make yourself bored and unhappy by trying to drag them out with lots of flowery language. But if you naturally just let your words flow free and write lots of flowery descriptions, there’s no need to frustrate yourself trying to edit it down too much. I’m a firm believer in fanfic being fun. So write in the way that you enjoy. If people don’t like it, they can go read another fic. Different people have different tastes, so you have to write for yourself first and everyone else second. A fantastic chapter could be 1,000 words or it could be 30,000, as long as it’s written from the heart.

 4)      Have you worked on an original story or have you been published already?! I would love to read an OG work. :)

I unfortunately have not! I may one day but I don’t currently have any plans to

 5)      Any tips for how to not compare yourself to other writers? I have this problem in both writing and art. I do a piece and then look or read something that someone else produced and then table flip my desk because their work is significantly better and then I'm that 'this is fine' meme.

The best way I’ve ever seen someone address this situation is in this comic.

 In fandom, it’s really hard not to compare yourself to other people, especially with so many talented people producing content! But there are a few vital things to remember, the first of which being the two cakes philosophy in the comic I linked. Sure maybe someone produced something that you think is better but I guarantee the audience isn’t thinking “oh this thing isn’t as good as that thing.” They’re thinking “hell yes, more things!!” All content is good content because it’s content that keeps fandom alive.

 Also, we are all terrible judges of our own work. I guarantee if you asked the author/artist of your very favourite fanwork about their own work they’d be able to point out 100 tiny flaws you’d never seen. So when you’re looking at your own work, remember that you’re probably being overly critical of yourself and your intended audience are unlikely to notice even a fraction of the problems you see in the things you create.

 And finally, don’t be too harsh on yourself because the more you do something, the more you improve! Some writers/artists in fandom also do writing/art professionally. And even if they don’t, some have been producing fanfiction/fanart for many years, so they’ve had huge amounts of practice. So you’re doing yourself a disservice by comparing yourself to someone who might have been drawing/writing for years more than you. I guarantee if you read the first fics I wrote when I was 12/13 (thankfully purged from the internet now because god were they terrible) you would think they were a flaming pile of trash because they were. And I used to look at other writers and think I’d never get as good as them because they just seemed to write amazing things so naturally. But it takes years and years of practice and gradually you get better and better. So if you find yourself comparing yourself to someone else and getting disheartened, try to remember there was probably a time they were doing the exact same thing! And if they kept going then so can you!

 6)      Have you found that writing FF has helped you?

It definitely has! I started writing the Rivals series when I was at a very low point in my life and it was a very cathartic experience for me. And it was also such a great feeling to know people were liking and reading my work! It helped me through some tough times and even though I haven’t written in a while, I still sometimes get comments on my old fics that absolutely brighten my day! I love fanfic, both reading and writing it, and it’s been a very important part of my life for a long time

[demonboidies]

𝓼𝓲𝓬𝓴𝓵𝔂 - 𝓽𝓸 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀

pt. 3

word count: 1, 802

●WARNING: mention of several mental illnesses (eating disorders, depression, anxiety, psychotic disorders, OCD, alcohol abuse, and more) I do not go into deep detail of each, more so simply mentioning the names, but if you are easily triggered please don't read. the reason I am mentioning these illnesses is because the boys(in my ff) suffer from several of them. all the mental illnesses mentioned in this chapter and their corresponding member are not based on true facts or actual evidence. this is fictional.●

"ah, well i graduated from college a while ago. majored in world language, i had this crazy dream of being a translator. but i obviously don't do that, although i've recently applied to several companies, i haven't heard from any." you ended with a neutral smile, making eye contact with the oldest who was nodding in understanding. "but i asked Jungkook which classes he took, since he still is a youngling."

you chuckle at your wording, along with the others. Hoseok even ruffling the man's hair teasingly.

"uhm, i do programming, computer stuff...yeah, it's nothing interesting like the arts b-but it's what i d-do best." a weak smile was on his lips and you chuckle softly.

"no, that sounds cute. you seem to be like a tech nerd, please take no offense. i mean to compliment you." you said, saving your mistake last second. even if they were younger than you, the level of respect and professionalism still had to be present between all of you.

red was painted across jungkook's face...he was cute to you? taehyung and jimin clenched the utensils on their hands, annoyed with how jungkook unknowingly one upped them. yoongi and hoseok sent glares to jungkook. namjoon and jin simply smiled, although they were fuming internally.

"oh, thank you..."

you nodded, biting into the food present in front of you. the taste was extravagant, even if it was a simple dish.

"my gosh, who made this? it is delicious." you moaned out, wiping your mouth. "this is so good, and home made?"

"that would be me, darling. and of course, home made. i like being able to overlook the food the boys eat, make sure they get their nutrients and stuff. i try to limit the amount of time they eat out,but sometimes i can't control it. especially if i'm in another country." you nodded impressed with the subtle fact he dropped, whether he did it on purpose or not.

"what do you guys do? i'm intrigued now with your professions." you said, resting your heaad on your hand.

"well, i graduated already...but i run my own dance studio. you should stop by sometime! we've won a couple awards, i'm very proud of my students!" hoseok smiles wide, and you could easily tell how much dance meant to him.

"i'm taking online classes for psychology. going to college is such a hassle, online is so much easier." namjoon says with a heavy sigh which you jokingly cheers to. making the males laugh at your humor.

"we, my friend, are on the same page!" you said and he laughed, making you smile widely.

"i produce music. i post my works on soundcloud...i promise i'm not like every other soundcloud rapper. i actually care about what i make, rather than the views it'll give me. i also have interest in photography, but tae is much better than me." yoongi was quiet and fidgeting when he saw the gaze of you on him. but at his last statement, you pouted a bit.

"i'm sure you two have your own styles and qualities in your work. also i've never met a producer before, i look forward to listening to your work as your career prgresses." you smiled kindly at him and he ducked his down to hide his blush. you chuckle before moving your gaze to the eldest at the table.

"oh, my turn. about time~" the boys scoffed and his attitude when you chuckled, at ease in his presence. "i mainly stay at home and do work in my office, but when push comes to shove i do have to leave the country. i'm heir to my father's company, so i have to take responsibility sometimes...and you must be wondering. so i'll answer the question now. the reason why i'm in this wheelchair is because i was in a bad accident when i was young." he nodded solemnly, although he was smiling weakly. there was a silence as you took the words in. "thank God my face was spared though."

he cupped his cheek, initiating a innocent look as everyone broke into a smile, looking over to the man with a wonder.

how could someone be so positive after such a horrific event? which was what you were thinking.

but the rest of the boys simply sighed in relief at their hyung. he was always a good liar. and they were lucky you were completely politely innocent and oblivious to their hyung's lie. he had lied more than once to you already, cheeky person he was

"yes, your face was surely spared." you said joining in with the joke.

the rest of the dinner consisted of you bonding over little things. your love for all kinds of games (including pranks) was shared with jungkook, love for animal life with namjoon, sleep with yoongi, culinary with jin, free expression with hoseok, puppies and dogs with taehyung, and family and friends with jimin. the general direction of every conversation was satisfying as it ended with everyone having a smile on their faces.

you had helped clean up, already beginning your new task as a house maid/nurse. "so what would like me to focus on as my first days?" you asked after everything was cleaned. the youngest had to go to their rooms, to begin getting ready for bed since they had school tomorrow. all their classes were in the morning which was fortunate for you since you would be driving them there from now on...and it didn't seem like fun to constantly drive back to the house and then to the university.

namjoon, who was standing in front of you, moved to the study table in the living room, and took a Manila folders into his hands. it seemed like a thick stack of papers and as you looked closer, there were a total of 7.

"no formal work, but all 7 of us saw it appropriate to give you an introduction to our needs. what exactly is wrong with us, y'know? we trust you're experience enough for this so we are confident you'll do just fine."

you took the stack of papers and thanked him. you walked through the house to find your room, which hoseok had shown you right after dinner was finished, and you still marveled at the sight.

it was a grand gray and white minimalistic bedroom with a huge bed in the center. there was also a large ledge with a window that you could sit on to see the night sky. you maneuvered your way over to the study table, turning the lap on to begin "studying" the males.

●𝖐𝖎𝖒 𝖘𝖊𝖔𝖐𝖏𝖎𝖓 / kim seokjin

disabilities/disorders: unable to move bottom half of body, a light case of schizophrenia, requires special attention on getting ready in the morning (may include dressing and showering)

meds: need daily dose for schizophrenia

your brows furrowed. that existed? you knew schizophrenia existed, but meaning a light case would specifically show what? you just shrugged and decided to what the papers were saying.

●𝖒𝖎𝖓 𝖞𝖔𝖔𝖓𝖌𝖎 / min yoongi

disabilities/disorders: OCD, severe depression, social anxiety, prone to panic and anxiety attacks in a crowd of many people, values his personal space-do not enter his personal bubble unless asked

meds: needs dose for OCD, depression

you nodded slowly, understanding the conditions and seeing the familiar names once again. you've had patients like him before, but everyone is different, so you will still be careful.

●𝖏𝖚𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖔𝖐 / jung hoseok

disabilities/disorders: bipolar disorder, ADHD, OCD, fits of anger are dangerous, act hostile in any case and alert one of the other tenants immediately

meds: dose for ADHD & OCD

sudden shortness of his list made you a bit hopeful that taking care of 7 males wouldn't be as hard as it seemed. then again, you willingly signed up for this so you shouldn't be complaining in any way.

●𝖐𝖎𝖒 𝖓𝖆𝖒𝖏𝖔𝖔𝖓 / kim namjoon

disabilities/disorders: depression, OCD, past with alcohol abuse (currently in rehab)

meds: dose for depression and OCD

you pouted slightly, only being able to imagine how hard it must be to recover from alcoholism. and it was saddening to see such an intellectual and kind person such as Namjoon suffer from the mental illness, although that could be said about everyone you had previously read.

●𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝖏𝖎𝖒𝖎𝖓 / park jimin

disabilities/disorders: ARFID, anxiety, prone to panic and anxiety attacks

meds: none

reading the single line you let yourself think of the moment he introduced himself. he was enthusiastic about meeting you, it made you smile at the memory. you were suddenly thankful for getting such a sweet and honey-like expression out of the man.

●𝖐𝖎𝖒 𝖙𝖆𝖊𝖍𝖞𝖚𝖓𝖌 / kim taehyung

disabilities/disorders: OCD, ADD, brief psychotic disorder - periods are short and caused by stress, not dangerous unless triggered by something you do or say

meds: dose for OCD, ADD, and best if given sleep meds during pyschotic episodes

you nodded slowly, understanding and keeping the directions in the back of your mind.

●𝖏𝖊𝖔𝖓 𝖏𝖚𝖓𝖌𝖐𝖔𝖔𝖐 / jeon jungkook

disabilities/disorders: DID, psychotic, anxiety

meds: dose to limit psychotic episodes

the 3 things on the list made your eyebrows furrow. the 3 seemed to make a terrible combination and you began thinking of how calm Jungkook was before. You hoped you wouldn't encounter any bad alters of Jungkook, if he had any bad ones. and, honestly, you were a bit uneducated in the DID field, so you were determined to learn more tonight with the help of the internet.

and the last sheet in each file were filed letters to make sure you caught it :

THEY SHOULD NEVER BE KEPT UNSUPERVISED FOR A LONG TIME. MEDICATION IS IN THE CABINET IN YOUR ROOM WITH PADLOCK TO AVOID OVERDOSES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND COMPLIANCE.

you took the words seriously, seeing the urgency in the message. shutting the folders, you stacked all of them in one pile and moved to freshen up. a shower was needed as you climbed into the steaming bathroom. after washing yourself, you climbed into bed and soon you were falling asleep. you fell asleep thinking about how tomorrow would be your first day of your new job.

a/n- thank you so much for the support of this book!!! I hope you guys stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the journey with yabdere!bts

oooh, curious question

》what other times do you think jin lied to you? hmmm?

♡♡♡♡♡SEND ME UR ASK ON WHAT U THINK ABT THATTTTT♡♡♡♡♡

[melissatreglia]

hey hey! I hope you and your husband are alright in this current situation/quarantine lockdown or something like that ^_^ Anyways, I'm curious if you know about the website called fictionpress? Because my friend suggested me to check that out if I wanted to post my original stories there... and it's also a good excuse to ask about these things since you're like my go-to person for finding good fanfic websites and all of the sorts 😂 and as usual, have a nice day!

Hey! Long time, no hear from! Quarantine is a bitch, ain’t it? But me, James and my mom are all doing okay under the circumstances. Taking care of ourselves and helping to flatten the curve. Hope you and yours are hanging in there too! It may be tough right now, but we can all get through this together.

Anyway, to answer your question...

Fictionpress.com is a “fork” site run by the same people who run Fanfiction.net. It was created as a result of people having posted original works (such as short stories and poetry) on Fanfiction.net, and those works having been summarily banned from FF.net when they first started changing the rules for Fanfiction.net back in February 2003.  I wouldn’t truly recommend it, unless you’re already familiar with Fanfiction.net’s system and are comfortable with the idea of stricter posting guidelines.

I’ve also had bad experiences from back in the day using FF.net, before they paired off the original works to Fictionpress. Several of my works from back in the day were deleted back then. (Good thing I had backed up my work!)

The FF/FP moderators also tend to be aggressive in regards to adult material, so I would only really recommend writing on Fictionpress if your material is “kid-friendly.” Also, it’s not a terribly popular site to use, so I don’t know how you’re gonna get people to read your work.

Ultimately, though, from what I can see of the various tags, the site is definitely past its prime now, with a much less active user base in the past month. And I honestly can’t remember the last time I was recommended a story posted on Fictionpress.

But! I have a few suggestions in its place.

Believe it or not, AO3 also provides an option to post original work. Not a lot of people realise that or avail themselves of the “Original Work” tag, but it is there! So, if you already have an AO3 account, you can easily post your original stuff there too. Despite that, at my current glance at the tag, there’s more than 85k pieces of work under the tag! It’s also a highly active tag, as the first 5 pages of results offer pieces that have just been updated today!

And, with AO3′s history of protecting transformative works and their extensive tagging system, I’m completely confident that your work will be seen by the people who are looking for the particular tropes or style of work your piece will fall into. You have a better chance, oddly enough, of having your work discovered and enjoyed there.

Alternatively, if you want to (possibly) monetise your original works or are considering eventually becoming an independent author, I recommend using either Smashwords or Kindle Direct Publishing. I’ve had very good experiences with both of them. 

Smashwords is an independent ebook distributor that will make your work available to places like Barnes & Noble’s online store and Google Play. I first used them to release my poetry collection back in 2015, and I honestly can’t recommend them highly enough if you want to consider getting started as an indie author. They make tracking downloads and getting your royalties a snap. They also run regular site-wide promotions that you can enter your books in to give them a boost in promo.

Kindle Direct Publishing primarily works with Amazon, but gives you the option to also publish in paperback form as well. You can also use KDP to make the book available to Kindle Unlimited subscribers on Amazon. I’ve been using them since 2018, and I’m very happy with the quality of their paperback production, though their system takes a little bit of practice to get used to.

(You can also make the ebook free on both sites, and KDP has a cover creator option if you’re not a digital artist... but I also have recommendations for that, if you’re interested.)

Basically, you have to ask yourself what you intend to do regarding your original work before tossing it up online. If it’s just something you want to throw out there and let people enjoy without thinking about how to promote it and without earning anything from it (beyond kudos and comments), then posting under AO3′s Original Works tag is your best bet. If you want wider distribution to online booksellers (and therefore people who might not be reading a primarily fanfiction-based website), Smashwords is a good idea to get you started. If you want to be published not just digitally but in physical form, go for Kindle Direct.

I know that was probably a much longer answer than you might’ve expected, but it’s all based on my longtime experiences both putting my work online (since circa 2000) and as an indie author (since 2015). I hope I’ve answered your question satisfactorily and given you some food for thought.

Have a good one, and keep writing! :)

[stephicness]

What do you think of the way some of the xv fans handled the verum rex thing? I saw that one blog had kind of called them out and I'm glad about that

Well, as a FFXV fan myself – and one who went through not only KH’s long wait, but also FFXV’s massive wait too – I actually found it rather fun that Nomura was able to slip in something as majestic as the Verum Rex trailer into the game. At first, I was absent-mindedly waiting for the boring intro dialogue to appear in the game to introduce Toy Box, but then I suddenly look up and goes ‘What the fuck? Visual Works?!’ I dropped my phone and burst out laughing because that commercial was so try-hard compared to the rest of the game.

But funnily enough, it didn’t dawn on me the FF Versus XIII comparisons until I came onto Tumblr. Silly to think about, considering that I was there from the very first E3 reveal when Versus XIII was a concept along side Final Fantasy XIII. I ended up looking again and then I began to see the influences of what Versus XIII was in what Verum Rex showcased in that commercial.

Supposedly, it was Nomura’s ‘screw you’ to Square Enix for leaving Versus in developmental hell, and I honestly don’t blame him for that. Nomura’s already been pretty open about how disgruntled he was having to leave the project, but it was for the better, I feel…

I have a more detail explanation below the KEEP READING, since I love rambling more than a monologue Xemnas and Xigbar combined. So kick back with a cold one, and get ready for me rambling. c:

Though a starting statement/summary before you go into this: I like Verum Rex. I like FFXV. I like Kingdom Hearts. I don’t like the ridicule and blame game being put on everyone and anyone.

For me, I don’t feel this is necessarily Nomura lashing out for the sake of lashing out/spite. So FFXV fans being grumpy over the Verum Rex trailers – despite their bitterness over Versus XIII being lost in developmental hell – is kind of not justified, kinda is? Despite it not being an official game, Versus XIII/Verum Rex is technically still Nomura’s ideas and concepts. And I dunno about you, but modifying an old idea and shaping it into a new idea truly isn’t anything unheard of. I know I like to do it myself with OCs, re-purposing them into new stories/concepts if they didn’t have much use before and all. Nomura, I feel, had the right to do so, considering that he was pretty much one of the main honchos to write, design, create Versus XIII before Square executives took the project from him.

Perhaps a rather unpopular opinion overall, but I actually think that it was good that Nomura was taken off the project. And no, I’m not saying Square violating Nomura’s right to his characters and creative ideas was right. What I mean mostly is that with Nomura being taken from Versus XIII/XV to focus on Kingdom Hearts was a good idea. The sheer scale and promise for both games from two of Square’s most massive franchises is overwhelming in general for one person to manage and oversee completely. And despite me respecting Nomura and his ungodly skill at game design and art, it’s alot of pressure over all. Heck, I can barely handle designing the one game I’ve been trying to get together. But he was given two major titles to try creating? That’s alot of pressure overall.

And that’s why the two games took so long to begin with, I feel. Versus/XV and KH3 were both in developmental hell, and – from the gossip I recall – Square Enix didn’t even want to keep pushing on with Final Fantasy Versus/XV. Nomura, as much as he wanted to keep it alive, couldn’t be the one to do it when Kingdom Hearts was a bigger priority to Square.

So that’s where I think Tabata came in. Not to steal Nomura’s thunder or characters or concept, but he stepped in to make sure that the Final Fantasy title people have been waiting for would finally be released. Kingdom Hearts 3 for sure was going to be released, but FFXV could have died six years ago were it not for the hard decision to keep FFXV alive – at the expense of the four years of prior concepts being scrapped.

It sucks when your idea is ultimately discarded for a reason beyond your control – or outside meddling too – so I don’t blame Nomura and his spite. But at the same time, instead of viewing it as nothing more than a revenge trailer/easter egg to get back at Square, I like to imagine it more as Nomura re-channeling ‘old OCs’ and plot points to fit it into something that, you know, actually works for everyone – especially him and the ideas he wanted to bring to life before Square Enix made him focus on one project.

If anything, I feel like Tabata was given the short end of the stick in all of this too. And before you guys get on me for being a Final Fantasy XV apologist or… Whatever the term is… I’m not, by any means, saying that FFXV is a superior game over KH3. I know XV has its flaws and strengths, just as KH3 has flaws and strengths too. But I feel like people don’t give Tabata enough credit for, you know, trying to make what he was given work, so both games wouldn’t have to suffer such insane developmental periods and hells. He was basically thrown into a dying project and was expected to revitalize it with characters that weren’t his, a plot that he didn’t establish entirely himself, and a world that he couldn’t really modify after Square’s notorious habit of releasing trailers way too early for their own good.

If Tabata was allowed to start from scratch with his own timeframe and plot, and give everything that Nomura worked on back to him, you probably would have gotten an amazing game then too – and one that would have annihilated your feels, because Tabata (still not over Type-0 and it’s damn opening…!).

But I feel like regardless of my defense of FFXV, it doesn’t matter. Because regardless of the comparisons between what Versus XIII and FFXV has and what Verum Rex became, it’s not either of them. Verum Rex is Nomura’s idea, just re-purposed because of how passionate the man is for his game. People should be pleased with the fact that instead of one game or the other dying to developmental hell, we were able to get both. And getting Verum Rex – whether as a bonus in Kingdom Hearts or as its own concept in the future – should be a bonus too!

I think the only thing to blame for the conflict overall is Square’s terrible way of over-hyping things to the point of disappointment, and the people that Square, unfortunately, made bitter and saddened with their actions…