#Putting that tag in there since I talked a small bit about my personal experiences.

[cursingtoji]

❛ 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑼𝒔? ❜┊parting ways with Gojo then finding each other again. wc 1.5k┊The Clichés ™ ┊request

Megumi watched as you disappeared into an empty classroom sniffing with your head down and he knew better than to meddle in his sensei's private lives, but he couldn’t help himself, being so fond of you.

Ten years ago you were in his life pretty much everyday, the first day you introduced yourself as “Satoru’s friend”.

"I think I'll see you a lot. Between us, I don’t trust he’ll do a good job taking care of you and your sister.”

And you did everything, including showing up at his PTA meetings and to the director’s office when he got in trouble.

“I’m tired of coming up with stories of how i’ve become your guardian, from now on i’ll just let them believe i’m your teen mom” he remembers that conversation like it happened yesterday, he was eight.

“You would’ve been pregnant at 12” Gojo reminded.

“I had my period at 11, so it checks.”

“Please stop talking” Megumi asked sitting on Gojo’s shoulders after you both showed up to his school, being called because he fell and scratched his knee.

“Gojo-sensei? I think there’s something you need to deal with” Megumi called Gojo and pointed to the door he saw you entering.

Megumi never understood what happened, he never asked either, one day you just stopped being his… guardian. Behind the weird humor, he saw Gojo was shaken too, being a kid he didn’t know for sure if you were dating, but the fact Gojo never dated anyone makes he thinks at some point during the time you were part of his life you two started to date but then broke up, he only saw you again when he entered Jujustu High, a couple months ago.

Gojo looked to where Megumi was pointing, knowing the room as the classroom from when he was a student alongside you. The sensei put his hand on his protegee's head, a silent gesture of "thank you, I got this."

When Satoru entered the room he saw you sitting by the window, hugging your legs and looking far away. You didn't move your head even though you heard him entering, he knew you did, but he would be lying if he said your indifference didn't hurt him a bit.

Satoru thought about how small you looked. Since your young days, he grew a few more inches, not too much, but enough to assume a more adult aspect. Meanwhile, you still looked the same girl he teased and joked with. Only now, your eyes felt heavier, like you were tired of carrying all the piled up frustrations.

"You might be the only person who's safe place it's their old classroom" he slid the door shut. The room was dark, it was around sunset time but the day had been cloudy so instead of a warm orange glow, the room where Satoru was scolded so many times felt gloomy and shadowy. You turned your face to him, head rested on your knees.

"I don't get it, Satoru. What else am I supposed to do?" you sighed, remembering the nth meeting you had where you didn't get the promotion you wanted so much. Gojo walked to his old seat, putting his long legs up on the table.

Years ago, he wasn't sure of the consequences of having you tagging along his journey of adopting Megumi. It's not like he asked you to. He was too proud to ask for help, but you helped anyways, and he let you. He allowed you to help raise a kid that was taken away (even though he paid for it) from his blood relatives, simply the most influential clan of the jujutsu world. Satoru was too naive to think there would be no consequences.

Well, for him, there was none.

But the Z'enin elders directed their attention to you, someone that wasn't from any strong clan, or nearly as powerful as Gojo. In the beginning, you thought it was just a coincidence that they were only sending you in easy missions, dealing with low-level curses that any grade 4 sorcerer could handle. After two years, Gojo realized it was purposeful. They were punishing you for taking part in driving Megumi away from whatever their plans with him were.

And when you had no experience to justify being upgraded, you would be stuck being a level 3 for god knows how long. Gojo had to make a decision, he tried to tell you what was going on, indirectly blaming Megumi as the cause of your career plateau, he didn't expect you to flip like you did. In fact, you blamed him, Satoru himself, he was the one taking all the high ranked curses, being the strongest and outshining everyone else.

"That's why Nanami left, y'know? What's the point of staying if only the great Gojo Satoru is capable of saving people and killing monsters?"

Of course that was all frustration talking, but he didn't know any better and he fought back, accusing you of playing house with him and Megumi and neglecting your own skills and training.

"You became weak, that's why you'll never be a grade one."

Such strong words, coming from the strongest, followed you even after you ran away for the next few years, barely saying goodbye to the kid you got so attached to. You had to prove you could be strong, become a grade one then Megumi would be proud of having not one but two strong guardians, yet you failed to realize this search for power actually drove you away from him. Once you came back, your boy was taller than you, naturally more talented too, of course he was, he had the ten shadows, Satoru had the six eyes... and what did you have?

Even after all these years, sweet blood and tears, you were not even a grade 2, but a semi-grade 2. Gojo was well aware of whose fault it was: the elder's and a little bit of his too.

"I'm sorry" he said looking at the empty blackboard, the blindfold didn't allow you to see the sentiment in his eyes.

"What happened to us?" you murmured.

There were very few things Gojo regretted more than his words that day. If he kept his mouth shut, maybe you two would be married by now. Like he dreamed when he was nothing more than a teen.

Clearly, he wasn't happy either. Back then, he delusioned himself into thinking that having you away was for the best, that you would be off the radar and given better opportunities.

Satoru turned to you, raising from his seat and taking the space behind you, placing one leg up the window frame beside you and letting his other touch the floor on your other side, he didn't touch but you couldn't resist the proximity and leaned back on him, resting your head on his chest.

"Nanami returned, did you see him?" Gojo inquired, wanting to be with you in his space forever.

"Not yet, Utahime told me though" you confessed, not telling him the part where you cried like a baby the night she told you that, remembering how you used your former classmate against Satoru, to prove a point you didn't even truly believed in, and now he was back, it only served to prove you wrong and immature.

"And there's Maki too" he reminded, "You two are in a similar situation, she could use some help."

"Out of all people I'm the least—"

"Let me stop you there, sweets" the old nickname gave you butterflies, Gojo took your chin, making you look up at him, "It won't be easy but I think I can convince those old farts to make you a teacher too, that way you can help her and... be close to Megumi" you thought about becoming a teacher before, but it would be nearly impossible given your current grade.

"I dont think they're gonna let me," you exhaled.

"Don't you trust my incredible looks and influence?" he tapped your nose and for the first time that day you cracked a smile.

"Sure, give them your worst, 'Toru" the nickname escaped your lips without a thought. Felt so right, being in his arms, calling each other pet names, planning for the future…

"It's not too late for us to start over" he cupped your cheeks.

Is it not? Megumi was entering a new phase, one you could be more actively a part of; there was a new Z'enin that needed assistance too and even if you were not given recognition for it, you were stronger... Was it too delusional to think you had a new chance?

"Okay, Toru."

Also part of the Clichés event:

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

Tattoo artist!Choso

Morning sex — Toji

Bodyguard!Nanami

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

[mixes-archive]

SUPER GRAPHIC ULTRA MODERN GIRL ✰

Arcee x fem! human! reader

SUMMARY: Being unabashedly feminine while working in a male-dominated field is EXHAUSTING. But thank Primus Arcee and you have each other to cope.

TAGS: winners possibly winning, cute fluff, the stove is not even on yet-burn, shitting on men a bit in spirit of this song

A/N: I BET THIS WASNT THE COMBACK ANY OF YOU WERE EXPECTING LOLOL - I won’t bore anyone with a long story, my ask box is open if you’re curious about anything.

This is my first fic in years, and my first for Transformers, so I hope its atleast somewhat enjoyable??

Arcee was, well…

confused, if an Autobot can be, at herself and her emotions.

Servos tracing the round part of her helm as she loses herself to her thoughts - about you.

The little human who had somehow, some way, crawled itself into the deepest parts of her processor. And with no great difficulty either, she was almost enamoured with you since she’d first laid her optics on your little form.

Finding reason for that wouldn’t be as hard as anyone would think either - for being such a tough and independent bot, having purely masculine friends doesn’t get tiring. (After you’d told her about the human equivalent of her experience, she was glad she lacked a sense of smell)

Now, she loves her crew, she really does, but first being one of the few feminine-presenting cybertonians and now seemingly the only one on earth (with exception of Airachnid) - it would have been hard not feeling lonely, while also admired by too many.

It was overwhelming and so, so lonely.

They’d previously brought a few humans in on their situation, to put it mildly. Unfortunate souls that couldn’t overlook the brightly coloured, obscenely tall and heavy machines shifting almost magically, in a badly hidden spot.

Of course, luck had been on their side, because they were all willing to stay silent, sometimes even helping out with stuff the autobots couldn’t do themselves.

Yes, they were lucky. But Arcee did not feel that way because as it turned out, they’d all ben men.

Not that she’d treated them as anything less than because of that of course, but she still couldn’t help but crave that true connection of someone likeminded.

So when Bumblebee came crashing into their hideout with a frilly, pink… thing in his servos, she was excited.

You’d looked so adorable, sharing her colour-way even, as if sent by Primus himself, saying: ‘Here Arcee, for all your troubles.’

Arcee made it no secret that she’d claimed you as hers. From the start she was by your side, giving you a comforting glance when Optimus gave you the run-down, and having her servo on the small of your back when you’d eventually met all the others. The others don’t think they’d ever seen her talk that much.

And the sentiment wasn’t one-sided either.

As much as it was upsetting to be basically kidnapped by a (admittedly very cool-looking) Camaro because you’d spotted it- him shifting to bend into a humanoid shape to pet a cat, you did have to admit it wasn’t a terrible situation to be in. At least you now had the confirmation that aliens wouldn’t cause harm to you.

Though once you’d been informed that really, they hadn’t planned on staying on earth as a long as they did, and really, really couldn’t afford to be known about on a bigger scale, you felt sympathy for them.

And something deeper for the nice, pink robot comforting you through all these plot-developments.

You ended up chatting so much that the night ended at dawn, along with a private lesson in motorcycling from Arcee herself. Turned out you actually lived close by and you promised each other to meet again soon.

Maybe it was the excitement of finally meeting someone that you clicked with so well and so quick, maybe the tiredness clouding your brain or maybe the fact that the first person you’ve found yourself attracted to is a 9 foot tall robo-woman, but you kissed her display before running into the safety of your house.

If she had speakers, Arcee is certain the entire neighbourhood would have woken up to hear Katy Perry playing.

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 10 Look everyone! 10 days of Junkan! What could mark this epic milestone?

Junko holding Mikan.

So in the future I end up using every 10th entry in this project as an excuse to do something with a bit more effort cause why not be extra for the occasion. But it wasn’t until No.20 that I decided that would be a thing.

Since I don’t have anything interesting to say for this pic, time to divulge more lore! For Day 8 I made note of how fast I was working on these Junkan pics during the early parts of it, even while I slowed down I still had a really good pace up till No.60, but how was I able to pull that off?

Simple, I accidentally created a feedback loop of Dopamine and Serotonin.

You see, when it comes to art a big thing that keeps me going is validation for my efforts, I like to see the reaction my art gets from people. One of my main goals in life is to create a webcomic with the goal to have it hopefully influence people's lives positively, even if it’s just cheering them up on a bad day. But because I need that validation, it’s a bit of a hard sell for my brain to draw art of something where I’m too scared to show anyone (more on this later). I had a total of 3 people that I would show this art to at first.

Two of them were supportive and thought the art was good, but weren’t really invested in the ship like me, and the other was invested but still wasn’t as deep into it as me. 

Even for the small amount of effort the lack of positive feedback would have probably killed the project early on. However again thanks to one of those people pushing me forward, I messaged VanadisValentine! Remember her? Good.

She was someone like me starved for art of these two, so I nervously showed her the art, and she liked it! Keep in mind, I’m on good terms with Val now and can comfortably say we’re friends. But when I first talked to her she was still “The Author of Fanfics that rewired my fucking brain” and my self worth was a lot lower at that point in the year. So here’s where the feedback loop comes in. I draw Junkan > I show it to Val, who I really respect and admire > She likes it and says nice things about it > I am overjoyed from the feedback > I experience a rush of adrenaline from the euphoria > Loop repeats

Even now the loop still works. It's just significantly slower now both because after a certain point in the project I’m putting way more time and effort into each piece, AND I have other responsibilities other than drawing gay people. Like Webcomic, or commission work, or OTHER gay people. I also have other people now who I show this art to that like it who I’ve even heavily sold on it, so it’s not like I’m just relying on the opinion of a single person to keep me going. All that said Val’s really been a big help and influence on this project, which I’ll likely go more into later down the line :)

Reblogs, comments, and little notes in the tags are always appreciated!~

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Since Viv still somehow cannot decide on what Angel overdosed on. I am taking my liberties and doing it my goddamn self. I will also be formatting this into a summary of what I think a good small backstory scene could be like while also giving Angel a safespace and bonding experience.

It’s in the tags but WARNING there is discussion of drug abuse and overdosing in this summary.

Urg, okay, Vague but also kind of not vague angel backstory stuff because ig viv cant make up her mind on her own OCs backstory

Angel is lying in bed with Husk sitting at the edge as per usual, and Angel starts talking about a few mild personal things (mental struggles, work, general issues, etc) and Husk suggests taking something mild to help him relax and sleep so he gets up and gets him a few pills and puts them in Angel’s hand; says its Benadryl just to help him sleep a bit, but notices quickly that Angel is suspiciously reluctant to take or even look at the pills. Obviously, he asks what's up and is met with the answer of, “Nothin’ I just don’t… use that stuff.” It piques Husk’s interest, and asks if it doesn’t work for Angel, who responds with, “It definitely works.” but ultimately, Husk decides not to pry; however, he lets Angel know he’s open to listen if it’s something he feels like he wants to talk about.

Angel, being weirdly stubborn but also becoming a bit more open with Husk by this time, takes a few minutes to actually say something but eventually informs Husk that it was something he used to try and get high off and had some really good and really bad trips with, but it was the drug that ultimately led to him suffering an overdose and never waking up after it. Both of them are quiet for a bit until Husk gets up and searches for something else to help Angel sleep and, once again, places a few small pills in his hand and says he can try these, but if not, he can try something else without pills. Angel is still reluctant but ends up accepting the offer and proceeds to carefully assort the pills into little categories, saying it’s something he ‘needs to do’. Husk doesn’t push further than that and watches Angel take the pills before the other lays down again.

Things once again go silent for a good ten or so minutes until Husk notices Angel uncomfortably folding his hands over his stomach but mentions that pills always make him feel queasy to an extent and that he only takes them with other people around so he’s distracted from the discomfort they give him. In an attempt to calm Angel’s apparent nerves on the topic, he decides to sit with the other until Angel falls asleep. Eventually, Husk follows suit, with both of them waking up the next morning and Angel giving a relieved and grateful, albeit shaky, sigh. The next morning consists of Angel thanking Husk but ends with the two coming to an agreement that next time Angel can't sleep, a liquid medication approach would be better.

I don’t know if I’ll ever do a full fledged writing of this, but the concept of triggers is something I’ve personally yet to see stated in Hazbin Hotel. This would be a good way to discuss clear lingering trauma Angel has while still treating it with the gentleness the character needs and severity the topic needs. Benadryl was also just becoming a thing around the 1940’s so it makes sense for this to be something Angel very likely could’ve overdosed on. The topic of common triggers is something interesting too; I’ve seen that in other media obviously but even though I know we won’t get it, it’d be nice to see the caution around said trigger and very slowly seeing the character become more open to it if it is a common thing like this. Not everyone will get over triggers and I myself also used to have a strained relationship with a certain pill like this, but there is always the chance that you will be able to use it somewhat normally again.

If this were to happen I’d be fine with it if Angel never got over the discomfort of pills, but much later on in the series if we saw him take some kind of antihistamine casually and comfortably it’d be really nice to see that kind of growth. And as for Husk, I’d like to see him be less shame-y with Angel’s struggles like he was in Episode 6. Since we’ve basically lost Cherri Bomb as his safespace from external stressors, I really think Angel will benefit from an actually deeply caring friend, especially one that doesn’t overstep his boundaries and doesn’t encourage self destructive behaviour. The same goes for Angel by the way, I’m really pissed that they didn’t have Angel apologise for harassing Husk and everyone else. It really is not that hard to at least try to have him feel sorry about that sort of thing. Fuck, here’s something I wrote in like 20 minutes.

——————

It’d be really nice to have someone to talk to, honestly, even though he didn’t speak to Husk very much at all prior to this; he was looking forward to it a little more now. Coming home… er… coming back to the hotel after work and chatting casually at a bar was just… something about it sounded so… calm. Sure, he could go to a random bar and flirt with some rando, but talking with an actual acquaintance while having a few drinks seemed so freeing. Not having to worry about someone staring at him from across the room and getting approached about some kind of ‘offer’ outside.

God, he fucking hated that... “Fuck…” Soft smile melding into a grimace, Angel began to chew slower and slower until he eventually stopped altogether and harshly swallowed. He’d probably been making Husk feel gross like that for ages now. Obviously, he’d seen the disgruntled faces he’d get in return for flirting, but he’d never actually thought about it like that until now. He couldn’t even say, ‘for some reason, it made him feel gross’; he knew exactly why; coming to terms with that, on the other hand, was a lot more uncomfortable than he’d imagined. “Hey, uh… Not to damper the mood, but… I…”His chest puffed as he took a deep breath, and each word pulled Angel to avert his gaze further from his food and the cat sitting across from him. “I was gonna say… I’m sorry for bein’ weird and touchin’ your face yesterday…” As he spoke up, his voice lightly cracked near the end of his sentence. “And when we were filmin’ the hotel commercial… And every time I’ve put my legs on ya lap… And any otha time I did somethin’ like that.”

——————

I haven’t even finished this writing yet (I’ll likely add the rest when I do finish it) but you can see that it genuinely is not that hard to fit in an apology.

Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed my little Angel Dust ideas. Be prepared for more eventually

[meandheraresoulmates]

Drunk-dazed — a dodgerfox fanfic

Fandom: The Artful Dodger (2023)

Warnings: none

Relationship: Jack "the Artful Dodger" Dawkins/ Belle Fox

Characters: Jack "the Artful Dodger" Dawkins, Belle Fox

Tags: Fluff / missing scene from 1x06 / canon compliant / kissing / lots of kissing / just a hint of smut / Jack centric / 3rd person narrator

Word count: 2.1k

Summary: Belle had the audacity to huff, «Of course not, don't be ridiculous. I dismissed the coachman a few blocks from here so that even if my parents suspect something, he won't tell a thing.» «That was quite smart of you» Jack admitted, relishing in the satisfied smile that made its way up Belle's face. «But how did you plan on returning?» For the first time since they met, Belle looked almost sheepish. «I was rather hoping that you'd walk me home» she muttered, not meeting his eyes. or, the missing scene we all were waiting for between 1x06 and 1x07

AO3

Jack Dawkins had been drunk before - hell, he was a sailor. They handed him his first pint long before he could call those sparse blonde hairs on his chin stubble. But no amount of alcohol in his system had ever come close to the feeling of Lady Belle's body pressed on his front, her lips on his and her scent filling his nostrils, leaving him lightheaded and weak in the knees.

It was almost pathetic, he thought in a fleeting moment of clarity before losing himself again in the intoxication that came from her closeness - the way Belle had manhandled him and pushed a bewildered Jack against that pillar. She was the inexperienced one - not that they had ever talked about experiences of that kind, he just knew that Milady had never been with a man like that before.

Yet here she was, soft mouth moving fervently against his, hands laced in his ruffled locks, not giving a care in the world about what anyone could see and think. She was facing the physical aspect of their newborn relationship the same way she took on surgery and everything medicine-related: head-on, confident, and daring, taking everything in her path as it belonged to her. Jack would be lying to himself if he didn't admit that it was her brilliance, her sharp mind and even sharper tongue that pulled him in like a moth to a flame, that lit a fire in his belly and gave him a sense of euphoria that 'till that moment only thievery had granted him.

He almost didn't recognize himself when a low hum escaped his throat. Belle was running her nails down his scalp, and it felt heavenly. Goosebumps erupted on his skin and he needed her close, closer than what was deemed sensitive outside a beaten-up tavern, even if sensibleness was thrown out the window the moment he put her mouth on hers. His hands sneaked around the heavy clock on her shoulders to latch on her waist and he pulled her flush to his chest; a gasp escaped her now swollen and moist lips and Jack was all too eager to swallow it, slanting his mouth on hers and grazing her lower lip with the tip of his tongue.

He moved one of his hands up between her shoulder blades while the other anchored Belle against him when he realized something - and before all blood left his head and went south, he forcibly tore himself from her wanting mouth.

«Belle» he gasped in the small space between their bodies, trying to put a bit of space between them. She was not having it, as the deep frown that had settled between her eyebrows foretold. She looked at him briefly, eyes going from his flushed checks to his parted mouth, before capturing the young doctor's lower lip between hers again.

For a moment Jack forgot why he stopped in the first place and resumed kissing her with renewed vigour until his hand, which was moving as if it had a mind of its own, crept up her back and brushed hot and smooth skin. Suddenly he remembered why he was trying to halt this madness and abruptly moved away, putting Belle at arm's distance but still keeping her close.

«Belle, » he said breathlessly while his chest heaved. «Are you not wearing a corset? »

She looked at him as if he had gone completely mad, chest going up and down while she tried to regain her breath. «Of course, I'm not wearing a corset, » she told him as it was the most obvious thing in the world. «Why would I wear one if I am in my nightgown? »

«Your night-» Jack's eyes were the size of saucers. He closed them, breathed in deeply, and lowered his hands so that they rested properly on her hips. When he blinked, he found Belle looking at him with an amused expression, her eyebrows raised. «So, » he said slowly, looking at her intently to gauge her reaction. «You're telling me that you have gone out, in the middle of a Friday night, in your nightgown, and» he looked down for a moment «slippers? »

Finally, it seemed that the reality of the situation dawned upon Belle. «Well, » she gulped, looking away while the apple of her checks began to flush. «It seems like I didn't think that far when I decided to go out and look for you. »

She was so adorable that Jack couldn't help a soft grin from spreading on his face. «Well, » he mimicked her, raising a hand to brush away a soft curl that had escaped her hairdo and had fallen onto her face. «It seems like you didn't think at all, Milady. »

Belle huffed, clearly annoyed but at a loss of words. Jack barked a laugh, a feeling almost like pride running through his veins: she had been so eager to see him that she hadn't thought it wasn't proper for a lady to go out dressed - or more exactly, undressed - like that. It was intoxicating, he thought while he nudged her nose with the tip of his, to know that he had that effect on her, almost like the one she had on him.

Belle scowled, annoyed, and stepped sideways to move away from him. Jack strengthened the grip on her hips - the proper, chivalry reason for that was that he didn't want her to feel embarrassed and exposed in front of the drunkards going in and out of the tavern. The most selfish and true desire was to savour the sensation of her warm, velvety skin, even through the thin fabric of her gown.

«I jest» he said softly, swiping a thumb across her cheek. Normally, he wouldn't have dared to touch her like that. However, he thought he could blame his tenderness on the alcohol. Just this once. «But you have to admit that it was careless of you. It is dangerous for a lady to go out at night, even more so in this state of undress. » His voice had reached a more serious tone in the last sentence.

Belle smirked and, getting on the tip of her toes, invaded Jack's personal space, bringing her face at a breath's distance from his. Something akin to butterflies fluttered in the doctor's stomach, or perhaps the contents of his intestines were fighting a civil war with all the liquor he had put in his system.

«How chivalrous of you, » her voice had a teasing edge, hands resting on his chest under the pretence of adjusting his jacket. «I didn't deem you a gentleman. »

«Then you poorly underestimate me, Milady» Jack answered in tow, enjoying this playful banter fully. «Also, it is not safe for anyone to be strolling around at this time of the night near Cat and Bagpipes. Usually at this wee hour, the patrons go from blind weasels that dance to...» he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He swirled himself and Belle away from the pillar they were resting on before a poorly dressed man puked on their feet. «...to pesky badgers » he continued, unphased.

Belle on the other hand was trying very hard not to flinch. «Oh» was all she said. Jack laughed at her rare lack of eloquence. «Right. I think it is time you return to your chambers, milady. May I escort you to your carriage? » he offered her his arm.

She gladly took it, and together they made their way between passed-out men and equally drunk but still on their feet women. «I think now it is a good time to say that there is no carriage» she stated matter of factly. Jack almost snapped his neck upon hearing these words. «Wha- what do you mean there is no carriage? Did you come here all the way from Government House on foot? » he asked, in equal parts horrified and worried.

Belle had the audacity to huff, «Of course not, don't be ridiculous. I dismissed the coachman a few blocks from here, so even if my parents suspected something, he wouldn't tell a thing. »

«That was... quite smart of you» Jack admitted, relishing in the satisfied smile that made its way up Belle's face. «But how did you plan on returning? »

For the first time since they met, Belle looked almost sheepish. «I was rather hoping that you'd walk me home» she muttered, not meeting his eyes.

All thoughts about teasing her vanished from the young surgeon's mind. She was looking at him with those big, brown eyes of hers and reflected in them he could see a vulnerability that Belle had never shown before. Jack flashed her a small smile. «Then what are we waiting for? »

It wasn't that long of a walk from the suburb of Port Victory to Government House - two miles or even less. Still, it took them almost one hour to reach the back of the garden where Jack usually sneaked in. If somebody were to ask him why, he would answer that the shoes Lady Belle was wearing weren't suited for walking - but deep down they both knew it wasn't the truth. They wanted to savour the unique, peaceful stroll holding hands, pretending to be a typical couple in the early stages of courtship.

When they reached the bottom of the spiral staircase outside Belle's bedroom, Jack let go of her hand to help her climb and open the window shutters.

«Do you go all these lengths every time you come here when there is a perfectly functioning door? » Belle asked, making her way into the bedroom to light a candle.

Jack turned and was about to reply when the sight before him left him breathless. Under the candlelight, Belle looked ethereal - her hair had escaped the braid she had put them in to go to bed and was now framing her face like a halo. Her skin was golden, her eyes as deep as the oceans he had navigated all these years. She was the most beautiful woman Jack had ever seen, he thought, and she wanted him. She had kissed him. This mere notion made him euphoric.

«Jack? » Belle called, confused. His eyes snapped to her face, and in two long strides, he was in front of her. The surgeon took her face between his hands and sealed their lips together, a rough desperation he had never felt before cursing through his veins. Belle had just enough time to put the candle down before fisting the material of his shirt between her fingers and kissing him back with the same amount of passion.

Jack felt delirious and he knew that the alcohol had nothing to do with it. He wanted Belle as near as possible, to touch every inch of her skin, memorize and explore every nook and cranny of her body with his hands, eyes and lips. His mouth seemed to have a mind of its own as he moved away from her lips, trailing kisses down her jaw and along the soft skin of her neck.

It was only when a soft moan erupted from Belle's parting lips that Jack regained control of his actions. He forced himself to part from her skin and took a step away, putting some distance between their bodies. He was panting, and so was Belle. It took them a few minutes to catch their breath, and when they did, they were too embarrassed to look each other in the eye.

Reluctantly, Jack withdrew his hands from where they rested on Belle's waist. «So» he stammered, an uncharacteristic awkwardness slurring his words «I bid you goodnight. »

Belle nodded vigorously as if he had just uttered the most brilliant thing in the world. «Goodnight, Jack. »

He nodded back and turned around, making his way to the window. He already had a foot on the first step of the stairs when he turned, and found Belle looking at him from the same spot where he had left her - in her eyes, the same longing that was squeezing his chest and made each step feel like he was walking into the sea with rocks in his shoes. Jack's determination faded away and in just two swift steps, he found himself standing in front of her. He cradled her face between his hands and molded their lips together, tenderly, as if too much pressure could break her.

When they parted, Belle was already smiling, as was he. «Goodnight, lady Fox, » he whispered, brushing his nose against hers, basking in the smile she gifted him.

«Goodnight, dr. Dawkins, » she said softly.

Jack Dawkins had been drunk before. He enjoyed the feeling of a warm stomach, a buzzing head, and tingling skin, the way the world seemed to lose all its blunt edges, and people were more inclined to unfiltered happiness or unending sorrow as if the fumes made their restrictions disappear.

However, he would have given up alcohol forever if that meant he could see Belle's smile this close one last time.

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

...is anyone still here? hello fellow The Artful Dodger enthusiasts!! thank you for clicking on this story. this is my ode to the fantastic show and a gift to all of us who have loved it and are still waiting for a season 2. i can't believe my longest story is a brainrot about Jack Dawkins and Belle Fox but here we are, these two have all my heart and if we don't have a canon happy ending i will do something that will change the course of hulu's life forever. i hope you liked it and if you did i would love to hear your opinions and comments :") bye!!

[wondernus]

˗ˋˏ When We Meet Chapter 4 ˎˊ˗

synopsis: there is only so much forgiving and forgetting you can do when you end up getting stood up by your date over and over again. so when you're stuck between the best friend, the first crush, and their mysterious roommate whose existence seemed like a myth, you can only hope the decision you've been making is the right one.

pairing: kmg x reader

chapter tags: childhood rooms, video calls, confessions

wc: 1.3k

message from nu: hasn't hit me how I wrote "when we meet" like a year ago so much of my writing style has changed since then. thank you for reading "wwm" !!!

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“You know I had a crush on Minghao when we were in college?”

“Minghao? My Hao?”

“Hey.” Rolling your eyes, you bring your phone closer to your face so you can better see Mingyu on the other side of the screen more clearly. “Technically your Hao became my Hao when you left. But thinking about it now, it was probably the manbun.”

“Oh. So you like manbuns?” He leans into the frame with an amused look on his face and reaches upwards to try to bunch his short hair into a ponytail. “What if I grew out a manbun for you?” he teases, pausing in his position to let you weigh your options while strands of short hair gradually fall out of his hands in chunks and clumps.

“Aren’t you trying a little too hard for someone you never met?” You snort while turning to your side, adjusting your blanket so it covers your shoulder.

“It’s because I like you.” He pauses and drops his hands, some pieces of hair still sticking up in various angles. He doesn’t seem to notice his messy hair because he’s too busy staring at your dimly lit face through his phone screen, and he continues with much sincerity in his voice, “I like you a lot.”

The simple confession sparks a yearning you haven’t felt since you fell in love for the first time a few years ago. It’s a simple playground confession, and you stupidly hang onto his words like he’s making a promise he would never break. At that moment, you want nothing more but to spend your nights in bed imagining what your future would be like with Kim Mingyu written into the equation.

“I think I like you too,” you start slowly, a tiny tremor in your voice. “But it’s weird isn’t it?”

“What?” he asks, tilting his head to one side, causing his dark-rimmed glasses to slide down his nose bridge. He instinctively pushes them up – he looks nothing like how his roommates described him, but he’s not so different when it comes to his habits. He can’t even hide the small quirk forming on the corner of his lip, clearly very happy to know that you’re into him.

“We’ve been talking to each other for a while, and I guess we both like each other,” you mutter the last bit, feeling a little embarrassed to almost immediately confirm that you like him, “but we still haven’t met in person.”

“I want to though,” he professes in almost a whisper.

Simply put, Mingyu looks sad.

“I’m sorry for cancelling so much. Are you free next week?” he asks with much remorse in his tone.

It wasn’t like he was cancelling on you on purpose. You get it. Adult life happens. There was a time about a week after Mingyu moved back when the two of you were supposed to meet, but his high school friends decided to drop by without notice, and he couldn’t kick them out even when he tried. Another time a date was cancelled because your department’s emergency meeting turned into you having to work overtime. He offered to pick you up, but you declined, not wanting to keep him waiting for who knew how long you had to stay in the office that night. There was also this one time when he was stuck in traffic for hours because he didn’t know that the route he chose to drive on that day would be the same route to a stadium where a popular girl group was performing. If he was ever given the chance, he would’ve volunteered to drive five times to the airport to pick somebody up during rush hour rather than sit through the traffic he experienced that day. On the plus side, the girl group earned one new fan.

It never occurred to you how weird is his ice-breaker statement. Maybe it was because your mind tunnel-visioned on how strikingly handsome he was even while he was slowly adjusting from the jet lag that you nodded at or agreed with anything that came out of the man’s mouth. “I don’t know if the guys told you, but I do have to warn you that I’m extremely unlucky,” he tells you when you ask him if there’s anything that you should know about him before the two of you meet in person. Of course, you laughed it off. Extreme unluckiness? It sounds like a curse straight from a Disney Channel original movie or special Halloween episode from the early 2000s. But looking at Mingyu now, the only light in your dark bedroom, you wonder whether or not he was joking around. Probably.

This time his parents called him home.

He proves it by calling you from his childhood bedroom – not that you needed any proof (family should come first, and it would be weird if he brought you home to his parents on your first date). Hunched over his tiny desk, he talks to you for hours, not because he wants to make up for cancelling yet another date, but because, quite frankly, he enjoys your company.

In the darkness, his desk lamp shines brightly, washing the white bedroom wall in shadows in shades of grey. Old posters hang on the wall over his twin-sized bed, probably drugstore kiosk prints of various landscapes he captured with one of his old cameras. The bed is made neatly, but the owner is much too big for the bed – opting to sleep on the living room couch for the night. It’s a little boring, but you’d rather take boring than find out that he was the type to have posters of cars and half-naked models hanging on his walls.

And the tiny silver hard shell carry-on suitcase pushed snugly into the little nook between his bed and shelf. It’s his most prized possession. Stickers purchased from every major city are stuck on the exterior in beautiful variants of color and monochrome. It’s like a superstition, he explains. Like how theatre stagehands always leave the ghost light on or how people would wear their lucky undies any time they need a little bit of luck even if that specific pair of underwear is a decade old and is hanging together by a single yellow thread. Sticking a sticker on his suitcase means sticking to plans, the stickiness holding everything metaphorical and literal together.

You learn he’s respectful. A family man. He geeks out over videos of tiny dogs at grooming salons and won’t stop bothering you unless you reply to his text with your favorite scene from the videos. A giant bottle of wholesale Aquaphor sits on his nightstand because he still has to slug it over his cracked heels before bed. He sneezes into his hands, often consecutively, and wipes it on his designer suits almost like it’s in his second nature. And he likes you – the romantic type where he sees a future with you by his side.

And he doesn’t hang up the video call even after you’ve fallen asleep just in case you forgot to set your alarm for work the next morning. He calls you sweetheart with his deep and cracked morning voice when you wake up, and he jokes about the numerous warnings that popped up on his phone screen regarding his phone overheating from being on for that long.

As cheesy as it sounds and feels, you can’t help but fall deeper for a man who doesn’t realize how important he’s becoming in your life with each passing minute and day. Even you can’t fathom how he can become such a significant person in your life when you’ve never met him in person. But there are many things in life that you can’t understand so you stick to what you know. And you know that you want to see him soon.

Copyright © 2023 Wondernus. All rights reserved.

[korcariiwitch]

for all the fellow durge x astarion brainrotters out here.

Sooooooo I kind of wanted to throw this out there as an experiment/tentative prelude, but I’ve been considering for a good long while that I’d like to start posting some BG3 writing on here.

Specifically a dark urge x Astarion story that has been rolling around and banging against the bars of its enclosure inside my head. I think I could also make it a mixture of Astarion x reader/Tav and Astarion x OC!durge too. (And a sprinkling of durgetash too).

Please be aware if you read ahead and haven’t played the origin yet, there will be spoilers. So I’ll leave the rest under the cut!

Essentially I have begun to write about the dark urge origin and my character’s journey. Also about Astarion’s and various ways in which their stories parallel one another. Not that the game itself doesn’t already do an incredible job at this. I just have a lot of headcanons that I think could be fun to explore and flesh out and honestly the brain rot is so bad that if I do not put it somewhere, I will absolutely turn into a mindflayer.

I don’t really have anything linear in mind, closer to a cluster of a bunch of different ideas/moments that I just really want to get out of my brain and word vomit them somewhere. It would be a mixture of post-game adventures, moments during the game’s acts, and also quite a bit of pre-amnesia dark urge and some durgetash for good measure because I am a degenerate.

All that being said – I do absolutely want to be inclusive as much as I can. There will be moments where the story can be written in a more neutral way regarding gender and also not include appearance at all if people would like to imagine themselves/their Tavs/OCs instead. Not everything will be just my OC!durge specific and for those particular moments I will tag them as such (including things like content warnings, etc. so people are aware what they’re fulling getting into).

Don’t get me wrong, I still very much want to write about my durge and flesh our their story and  really get into the nitty gritty of what I felt their journey was like. Also just their own personal character development in juxtaposition with their relationship with Astarion.

It has been a very very very long time since I’ve posted anything online and I know there’s always a risk with doing so, but I’ve just been honestly so genuinely inspired not only by the writing in the game but the incredible content other people have been creating because of this game and I just want to give a shot. To be a small part of it, even if it truly is just only for me (not to sound presumptuous) and no one notices.

At least, I don’t want to make that the main point but I know there’s a lot of you dark urge enjoyers out here and was essentially just wondering if people would be interested in a story like this?

It’d also most likely be 18+ so I was considering either just making a whole other blog or a side-blog to post there since this account is very very old and I wasn’t sure if it’d be safer and more comfortable for people who might want read this.

Again, I really REALLY don’t want to sound pretentious at all. Just thought it might be cool to share and honestly, I’d love to have people to talk about this game with. Especially about the dark urge, I just have so many feelings about it and I enjoy getting to read all the interesting and insightful meta/thoughts/headcanons people have come up.

To quote our favorite fanged boy, “Honestly, I have no idea what we’re I'm doing. Or what comes next.”

[chevvy-yates]

WIP Wednesday Whenever

Got tagged by @elvenbeard, @gloryride, @cinnamon-mey and @morganlefaye79 ! thanks! <3 Idk if it was last week or two weeks ago bc I lost track of time.

I tag: @dreamskug, @humberg, @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @alphanight-vp, @wraithsoutlaws, @heywoodvirgin, @pinkyjulien, @kharonion and @rosapexa – also everyone who likes to do it as alway and no pressure!

—

Since I've been sick for nearly a week and before that more busy with blorbo bday shots during the last weeks I came not to anything new since then other than just thinking about blorbos.

but I can share this pic now, that was only a test to see how it is to have three spawned bubis in a game now:

Thyjs is so darn pale!

I had Vijay and Thyjs talk about Ryder in another answered ask the other day I would like to share here again first as not many have seen this and it means a lot to me so:

Vijay: "Ryder's a complicated dude, but a real lovely one. You can't hate him, even if you wished for it. Yes, he's got problems with his tonality an' is easy to erupt. If you only get to know him superficially you may not like him. It's not easy to become his choom, but if you are allowed to be — bro, he's the best choom you can have. Never met one as loyal as Ryder — at least not before meeting Thyjs — Ry's like that lil' pup phenomenon; the stray black lil' doggo you found wandering aimlessly in the streets and picked up to bring home with you. Result is a super loyal strong watchdog who will be alerted immediately once someone approaches. I can say of my own experience that he's extremely protective if you happen to be in his rather small friend circle. He will do anything to protect you from the bad. He's a good boy and therefore my best friend forever."

Thyjs: “I didn’t know what to think of him in the first place. He talked to me with such an arrogant tone, on top in German. Ik was totaal geïrriteerd. Unsure if I would like him. He's got quite some personality. But knowing him better now, I see who he truly is and when it is the ‘other Ryder’ coming through. There is something about him I did like from the very first moment: his honesty and straightforwardness and his strong will to withstand the pain he endures every day. I can only imagine how he must feel. So I decided to give him a chance. En ik ben eerlijk — he's one of the kindest people I’ve met. Ry willed to show me the city — he hardly knew me. Hedecided to trustme even though I served those who he despises most. He offered me to stay at his place, as I had none, until I made some eddies for an apartment. I enjoyed spending time with him more and more. He made me put down my strict soldier shell I usually keep up, allowing me to appreciate the more casual life now as I cannot pick up my soldier career anymore. Thanks to him I’m a little more of an outgoing person now too I guess. Ryder saved my life! I owe him my protection and he magically made me fall in love with him. It was the least I expected to happen. He helps me explore my own feelings as I struggle with emotional numbing even though he has a hard time to express himself either. In private he's the loveliest and most caring man I've ever met. You can only fall in love with him."

I'm currently spending some time when I find the energy for it to write on a monologue Ryder is doing (he pretends he speaks to Tommy though) how he feels about Beast and Vijay saving him. It's lots of feelings I struggle to put into written form atm. In my head it sounded so good and it made me cry but writing it down myslef is a bit disappointing. Dunno how long it will take me until I think it is good enough but if I ever finish it I'll post it for sure.

[sssssaarn]

Hi there! Today is day 10/11 (I missed a day so I'm trying to catch up)!

First post, tag on blog.

General #2: 10. Kintype(s): Common misconceptions

I've already talked a bit at length about the giant misconceptions surrounding 'alpha' wolves, and how I absolutely hate the trope in all its forms. So, for the sake of not repeating myself, I'll simply skip over that misconception.

Another very common misconception is one I see with crows; that being, that crows 'like' or prefer shiny objects. This is just… Untrue. Yes, crows are quite varied personality-wise just like humans are, and so of course there may be some specific crows that do prefer shiny objects… But there's just as much of a chance of crows absolutely hating shiny objects. It depends on the crow!

Saarn, as well as the nälkä religion as a whole… Have a massive amount of misconceptions, even on the official SCP website itself! Probably the most glaringly painful and incorrect if you do one minute of research yet is still somehow wide-spread misconception I can think of is that the nälkä are Yaldabaoth worshippers… Ignoring the fact that we literally want to kill Yaldabaoth, are we also just completely forgetting Ion here? Ion is closer to being the 'worshipped deity' of the nälkä religion than Yaldabaoth ever was.

General #1: 11. If you’re out, talk about the most accepting person you’ve come out to. If you’re not out, talk about what you would hope a coming out experience would be like.

Funny enough, I just 'came out' to one of my moms about being fictionkin today. I didn't use the exact same language/wording (for example, I didn't just say 'I am fictionkin of Klavigar Saarn' because I knew she likely wouldn't even know what fictionkin are or who Saarn is), I more or less used similar concepts that she already knew to explain myself. Since she is already a very spiritual person, she didn't even question it, and even encouraged me to talk about my source. She even listened to the possibility that I might've been Saarn multiple times over. I feel like it was pretty close to what I would want a coming out experience like that to be.

General #2: 11. Community: Online

I am… A bit conflicted by the current state of the online otherkin community.

On one hand, there are definitely some enjoyable beings I've met here! On the other, I do feel that, the Tumblr community especially, has become less carefree? As in, there is a certain tense atmosphere around worrying if what you say is 'wrong', especially from newer/younger members. I can unfortunately completely understand this feeling, speaking from personal experience I can tell how it is choking out the creativity from newer/younger folks.

I recently read 'The Dragonheart Collective's Testimony on the KFF Phenomenon', and as I mentioned in a small ramble post of mine, I feel like the combination of the rise of KFF and cringe culture certainly has not helped the atmosphere of the community. And thus why I also think why so many fictionkin prefer to share their experiences on 'kinfession' blogs, because it's safer and easier.

I wasn't actually around in the community during the period of either KFF or cringe culture, but I was heavily into cringe culture in self-shipping (AKA 'Sans fangirls') and fandom spaces, and I can certainly tell you that both self-shipping and fandom communities have decidedly gotten worse (TikTok also didn't help, but that came far later). This could, as always, be nostalgia putting rose-tinted glasses on for me, but I always remember fandoms before cringe culture being more out-going, more free, and definitely more cringe. All of this made them more fun.

But after cringe culture, I remember how fandoms seem to go… Quiet? In a way? Basically, people are afraid of interacting with each other now, everyone is keeping each other at arm's length.

All's this to say, the 'quieting' of fandom spaces is reminding me of the 'quiet' of current alterhuman spaces, and it makes me very sad.

[bluegekk0]

I'm not gonna respond to the ask I just got but for some very rough context: it's about the recent ask about me not tagging some things properly. I just wanted to clarify some things and at the same time ask people to drop the topic.

The issue wasn't just about a single post or a mention of the subject. It was about quite a long arc that I did a while back, one that went on for some days up until I revealed Lewk's design, and one that included many asks related to the subject that weren't just small mentions (which, looking back, could be a bit much even for people who are normally okay with the topic). I'm not going to question people about what subjects trigger them, that is their business, and as long as they're respectful when asking me to tag things and it's something I talk about relatively often, I have no reason to ignore that request since it costs me nothing to add a tag, and I'm certainly not going to mock it.

I appreciate that some people want to jump in my defense, though putting down or mocking someone who didn't mean to be hostile isn't something I'm okay with. If they were being rude about it, sure, telling them that this isn't how you handle those things is a good idea. But that wasn't the case here.

I wanted to say this privately to the person sending the ask, but they're anonymous, so I'm just dropping this here instead, to explain it without sharing the content of the ask, and to discourage other people from sending more asks about the topic. It really wasn't that big of a deal, if I overreacted and made people think otherwise, then I'm sorry. I sometimes do that, I've had quite a stressful past few days so it did make me feel a bit bad, but I don't blame the person in the slightest, that's just my brain doing its usual thing. So really, it's fine.

This is my blog, yes. I will not stop talking about subjects that aren't harmful by themselves, just because they may trigger someone, but again, if it's something that appears relatively often, I'm always open to using tags to help people block those posts and have a more comfortable experience. Especially in cases where it is a subject that, while not always a trigger, may not be to everyone's taste (if I'm being honest, going too much into detail about this specific one isn't something that I'm super comfortable with either). The internet is an escape to many, myself included, and I can understand not wanting to see certain things from artists you like and want to keep following. Just be respectful about it.

That's all I'm going to add about this. Like I said, this was already made into a far bigger deal than it really is, so I think it's best to move on.

[beansandsprouts]

Enough

Chapter 3

Dean Winchester x fem reader

Chapter 1

Previous chapter

Summary: Wanting to see you in action again, Dean tags along on a hunt

Warnings: violence, blood, cursing

A few days had passed since you'd started staying at the bunker. It was an interesting experience, living with people after being on your own for so long. Despite the largeness of the bunker it seemed like someone was always nearby.

You'd made a grocery run with Cas, offering to tag along with the angel. He intrigued you. You'd seen plenty of strange creatures during your time as a hunter, but never an angel. He was gruff, quiet, and very straightforward.

Though he looked relatively harmless, his rumpled clothes and messy hair made him seem like a little kid, you could sense that he was a dangerous person. You wondered if you could beat him in a fight if it came down to it. Probably not.

He was kind to you, a bit awkward, but he'd tried to make you feel welcome. He let you pick out a cereal for yourself, insisting that since you were a part of the crew then you should have your own food. It'd made you smile. You supposed it was Mary's influence that had made him feel more open to accepting you. He'd probably be more reserved if she hadn't talked you up so much since you'd met her and Bobby.

Speaking of Bobby, he'd returned the day after you and Mary and the boys did. He was delighted that you'd be staying with them, clapping you on the shoulder and grinning at you. You must've made a good impression with him as well. You had mostly kept in touch with Mary, but he'd check in on you every now and again. And you'd called him a few times with lore questions and to ask for advice.

You were all sitting in the main room, you were reading a very interesting book on hellhounds, a creature you'd never seen before, when Sam spoke up.

"Looks like we've got a case, Kent, Ohio. A girl was found in an alley by a bar, throat ripped out. Third one this week."

"I'll take it!" You piped up.

"Mind if I tag along?" Dean asked.

"Uh not at all." You said, giving him a smile.

You didn't typically want or need a partner on a straightforward case like this, but it felt kind of weird to say no. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to get to know your housemate right?

Within a few hours you were packed up and loaded into Baby and on the road. Dean had put on some music, which you recognized as Metallica.

"Alright, Metallica, you've got good taste."

"Finally, someone who appreciates my great taste in music." Dean grinned.

"Don't tell me Sam doesn't like the classics."

"Despises them. He prefers to listen to podcasts on the 95 theses or whatever."

"Your brother has no taste." You chuckled.

"You're tellin me."

The drive to Kent was pleasant. Dean's music and the scenery kept you entertained. He wasn't much for small talk, which you appreciated. A quiet drive was one of your favorite things, a peaceful moment in this chaotic mess of a job.

You arrived at a motel near the center of town when Dean parked and turned to you.

"Do you want your own room? Me and Sammy usually share, two beds, but seeing as you're a lady and you don't know me very well..."

"Nah its fine. Get one room. I'm not worried about you trying anything, Mary would have your ass." You winked.

Dean grinned, "That she would. Sit tight, I'll be out in a minute."

After a few minutes Dean cane back out, moving the car to a spot in front of your reserved room.

You went and dropped your stuff on one of the beds, stretching your legs after being in the car for so long. You'd been in the car for longer, but a 15 hour drive still left you feeling stiff.

You decided to take the rest of the night to sleep, and get an early start tomorrow. Dean was asleep within minutes, you could hear his light snores.

You turned over to look at him, he looked softer when he slept. Not as cocky and definitely not as tense. Seemed he held onto a lot more stress than he probably realized.

You sighed and turned to lay on your back. You hoped this hunt would go well. You didn't like working with someone else, but you were determined to make a good impression on Dean. You wanted him to be willing to let you stick around.

Eventually, you fell asleep. Dreaming of an old life.

The next morning the two of you made a quick breakfast run, stuffing your faces at a diner across the street. The pancakes were pretty decent, and the coffee was strong. It was a good start.

When you returned to the motel, you and Dean changed into some suits, ready to go talk to the local police about the crime scene.

You had changed in the bathroom while Dean changed out in the room, when you walked out, you were taken aback by just how good he looked in a suit.

It made him look good, though suits really just had a tendency to make any man look good. You couldn't help but rake your eyes down his form, admiring the way the shirt stretched over his biceps.

"Like what you see?" He had a cocky grin on his face as he winked at you.

"I like suits." You shrugged.

"You like men in suits." He corrected.

"What can I say? I've always liked a cleaned up man."

"Fair enough. Ready to go?"

"Yup."

The police really hadn't given you much. What they had given you was that all the victims had been seen at the same bar the night of their deaths. All women. You and Dean figured it was a male vamp, flirting his way into a meal. You'd decided you'd go in as bait.

You hadn't thought to bring anything to try and seduce a vamp so you had to make a quick shopping trip. You were in some small boutique in town, going through their dresses.

"How about this one?" You held up a white dress with floral print, it was cute, innocent.

"Nah, the victims were all wearing sexier stuff. Short. Tight...like this." He held up a small black dress, it had a plunging neckline. Definitely a lot sexier.

"Alright, let's ring it up."

"Not gonna try it on?"

"It's my size isn't it? It's fine. Besides if it's a little small it'll just add to the look."

Dean shrugged, "Alright."

When you came out of the bathroom in that tight dress and your hair done up in an elegant style, Dean wolf whistled.

"Damn, I'd eat you up too." He grinned.

You snorted, "Whatever. Let's go."

When you arrived at the bar you sat alone at a table, a whiskey in hand. Dean sat a little ways away, when you looked over in his direction he winked at you, causing you to smile a bit. You had to admit, he was cute.

Eventually, a man approached you. Arm around the back of your chair.

"Mind if I buy you a drink?" He stared down at you hungrily. You figured this was the vamp, no one else had approached you tonight, and he had that predatory look in his eyes that you'd come to recognize after years on the job.

"That'd be great." You said, pretending to check him out. He really wasn't your type. A bit scrawny for your tastes.

He disappeared for a moment before bringing you another whiskey, you'd made eye contact with Dean and had given him a nod. He was ready and waiting.

You were suspicious of the drink, all the girls autopsy reports showed that they'd been roofied. You bit the inside of your cheek, the only way to avoid this was to fake a few sips and start acting woozy. Hopefully he wouldn't notice.

And he didn't. 15 minutes later he was leading you out of the bar, you were stumbling after him. He led you to the alleyway, the same one all the other girls had been killed in.

He pressed you up against the wall, getting ready to bite when Dean turned the corner.

"Hey bloodsucker!"

The vamp whipped his head around and took a step back, growling at Dean. Dean tossed you a machete, which you easily perked up and caught.

"You stupid bitch." It hissed.

"Au contraire my friend. It seems you're the stupid bitch, taking a hunter into an alley." You grinned. The vamp saw the shift in your demeanor, a look of shock overtaking it's features.

Dean lunged at it, but it pushed him away. Then you lunged at it, slashing at its abdomen. It cried out in pain, clutching it's side. You pushed forward, blocking the punches it tried to throw before swiftly decapitating it, blood spraying in your face.

You turned to Dean, grinning. He just stared at you.

"I think that's the fastest I've ever seen someone take down one of those things."

"I'm just another breed of hunter." You winked.

Dean hadn't missed the feral look in your eyes once you got your hands on a weapon. You'd been delighted to have the opportunity to take down the pest. He liked it a little more than he'd like to admit.

You returned to the motel and cleaned up. You'd managed to get the case solved in less than a day. That was a record even for you.

You and Dean made a pretty good team you supposed. You wouldn't mind going on more hunts with him in the future, he didn't hold you back or slow you down. He managed to keep pace with you the entire time.

The drive back was nice, Dean even let you pick a tape to play. You chatted a bit here and there, he told you about what Sam was like growing up. A scrawny little kid until suddenly he shot up and was taller than Dean.

"So what were you like then?"

"A real ladies man," he grinned, "I had girls all over. Left some heartbroken. I hunted with my dad sometimes but usually took care of Sammy. How bout you?"

"I was pretty normal honestly. I did well in school, snuck out to see my friends at night. Bit of rebelling here and there but nothing too wild."

"Sounds nice."

You smiled softly, "It was. I miss it sometimes. The simpler days. But nothing really compares to the life I have now."

"Hunting really is it's own thing."

You hummed in agreement.

You really did miss your old life sometimes. You missed working a regular job, you missed going out with friends. You missed your parents. You enjoyed what you had now, but you couldn't help but wonder what would have become of you if you hadn't gotten into hunting.

Jack and Cas were there to greet you when you and Dean returned. Mary and Sam had left on another case. You greeted them and talked about the hunt before retreating to your room.

You pulled the dress out of your bag as you were unpacking and held it up.

"Might as well keep it. Could come in handy one day." You murmured before folding it and placing it in one of your drawers.

You heard a knock on your door and opened it to find Dean.

"Whats up?"

"Just wanted to say good job on the hunt. You did well."

"Thanks, so did you." You smiled.

"Uh, we were gonna go watch a movie if you wanted to join us. Beer and popcorn, and Cas bought some candy earlier." He offered.

"I'll be there in a moment."

"Great." He nodded and walked off.

You smiled, you appreciated that they wanted to include you. Maybe it wouldn't be too difficult to fit in here.

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Next Chapter

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Dm me if you want to be tagged when I update!

[sege-h]

Storm the Hedgecat

OC ramble time for my pinned, in case people see him on @sonic-oc-showdown​ and end up wanting to know more without digging through lots of non context art and shitposts in my Storm tag! (Tho do that if you want anyways)

I’m gonna answer a buncha questions from an ask game now and since it’s kinda long + I might end up rambling anyway, I’m putting the rest under a readmore

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

A long time ago before I was smart enough to know not to name my sonas or give them even a bit of OC backstory or they WILL become their own characters, Storm was meant to be my Sonic-sona. Back then I’d name my sonas Storm, or other words fused with ‘storm’. And since this was Sonic, I just named this one Storm. But it wasn’t long before he wasn’t my sona at all, and developed into his own standalone Sonic OC. But the name stuck.

In universe, his dad named him Storm because his bit of grey fur on blue reminded him of a clear sky with a storm cloud on it

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

In the ‘present’ time, Storm is 35. However due to shenanigans involving experiments, and an accident similar to a small contained super genesis wave, he is stuck forever looking like he did when he was 20, or younger considering he’s always had a baby face.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Nope! Storm is acearo, and uninterested in romance! If any poor soul was stuck having a crush on him, he’d be none the wiser as flirting flies right over his head, as do any advances.

He is however a very affectionate person, and likes cuddling and being affectionate with his friends. I’m acearo and uninterested myself, so seeing stories like his where two (or more) people understand each other deeply, and would do anything for each other, and where they get to be affectionate without any of it developing into romance is very important to me

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Waffles! He has good memories of his dad making them for him, and they have since developed into a comfort food for him

💼 - What do they do for a living?

He doesn’t need to do anything to get by, but he has made a company he kind of semi-runs that he makes very advanced prosthetics with. His patents come with clauses that they can’t go above a certain price, and sometimes he will just give them away to people anyway.

Nobody even knows he’s the owner save for his close circle, and if anyone else does know he’s with the company they think he’s just an engineer and the boss’ personal assistant. He’d prefer it stays that way, since he values his privacy

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Yes! He participates in underground fights. He gets really frustrated sometimes, and he’d rather blow off steam that way. It also started out as a way for him to earn his own money on the side so he wouldn’t feel like he’s relying entirely on his brother.

He also likes tinkering with machines. It’s a good distraction and something he likes doing. He likes coming up with concepts for weaponized robotic arms (these are never for sale), whether they make it past the blueprints and prototypes depends entirely on if they hold his interest or not. Sometimes he makes ones he actually uses.

He plays guitar whenever the mood strikes also.

🎯 -What do they do best?

In his own opinion? Fighting!

Storm is an individual that isn’t very confident- but the one thing that’s an exception to this are his fighting skills! Even when he loses, he’s not hard on himself over it like with other things, and sees it instead as something that was fun and that he can learn from. He’s also an excellent swordsman

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Loves:

Fighting/sparring, tinkering with machines, eating homecooked food, cuddling with his closest friends, learning new things about other zones/dimensions and how they’re different from his, playing guitar, listening to friends talk about their interests, listening to loved ones sing, going on motorcycle joyrides with V, driving his truck, causing (non-malicious) chaos- especially in the lives of people he finds annoying

Hates:

Doing mathematical calculations, listening to arrogant people talk, eating spicy stuff, fighting people that were given no choice BUT to fight, looking up at tall people (friends are an exception), being surrounded by water/being on boats, going to the hospital

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Getting to watch/listen to his dad play the guitar just for him. It’s what made him want to learn it himself

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

The day he almost lost his brother. This memory only got worse down the line as he ran into an evil alternate of his- their lives/timelines had been the same up until that point. Storm is all too aware of exactly the moment his alternate chose his path, and that he himself had been seconds away from it, with the only thing saving him and everyone else around him being that his brother took in another breath and came back.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

It’s pretty close! Artistic growth aside, his quills used to be longer and less messy, his bangs were also less messy, he had no pants, his boots used to be shoes, and he had a triangular bandana. He still had the smaller back quill though, and though you can’t see it here he used to have a huge scar on his chest.

His color scheme has stayed relatively the same, it’s not as pale anymore now that I have a better grasp of colors and coloring digitally

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

The Sonic franchise obv- though he was also made as my first non recolor OC! I’d had plenty of recolor OCs, and I’d had a bit of a pause between making them and Storm. So when I decided to make another OC I decided to finally make one where I wouldn’t be recoloring a Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles base

The current iteration of Storm was inspired by me seeing the GUN truck from Generations in 2011, the one with the saws, and thinking ‘who would drive that truck?’ and then putting my blorbo in the drivers seat

Here’s a character inspiration meme I did some months ago that also puts together some of his inspirations-- not all of these are direct inspirations and are rather characters I found later on that were similar to Storm and that I could point to for people to better understand him like ‘see this thing this character does? That’s what Storm’s like’

(I’ve since watched the original ‘98 Trigun anime, and Vash would DEFINITELY go on there now. I didn’t know anything about him before, but there’s just so many parallels between him and Storm)

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

I don’t really slot my OCs into genres, since I feel like that can get pretty limiting for me. Like I could say shonen, but even that only fits as far as ‘character getting stronger as the story progresses, also seemingly has willpower and friendship powers’

Maybe whatever Trigun ‘98 has going on?? SHDGSH A mix of tragedy and comedy, a story about a seemingly goofy that’s more than he seems, from his life to his skillset

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Storm is cis but doesn’t care much for any gender roles or how he presents himself, and he’s acearo!

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

He has no biological siblings, but has a few that are either adoptive siblings or adoptive sibling adjacent! Exe (who belongs to rMADA on FA) and is his oldest adoptive family (though Storm no longer remembers the early years before he met Exe again)

V (who belongs to riftclaw on here and is also part of the tournament!)- they both consider each other ‘pack’, but there’s enough sibling energy here that Storm can introduce himself like either Vs brother or weird sibling if it’s easier.

Luka (who also belongs to riftclaw) who he tends to have sibling “arguments” with a lot, even though at the end of the day they’ll cuddle together (while still “arguing”). It lets Luka let out a lot of pent up energy, and Storm finds the whole thing hilarious and to be familiar territory so he’s more than happy to play along

He also has a couple alternates that he’s ran into, or will run into along the course of his story, that he considers his brothers.

He has a whole adoptive family, but these are the people that he’d label ‘siblings’ if he has to put any label on them, though that they’re family is enough for him.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

OUGH. Storm’s relationship with his dad was shaping up to be a great one, before it was cut short in a tragic accident during a training session with Exe. Atos was a great dad. He wanted his son to have everything he couldn’t have as a child- normalcy, love, and no expectations that could never be met.

After he died, things went downhill fast with Storm’s mom. Storm’s terrified of her to this day even though she’s no longer alive either.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

How long he’s stuck around, and how I can use him as an experiment to try out new art styles because I’m just so used to drawing him.

Story-wise I like that he can zone hop/travel dimensions, because I can fling him at whatever setting feels fitting, along with him meeting new people being no problem

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

TOO MUCH PROBABLY. Even when I don’t do serious art I like doing little doodles of him with stuff that pops into my head.

He’s the character I draw the most, and the character I write about the most

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

NOPE not the main version of him. There Is a verse where he’s ended up dead. But his main verse story hasn’t had him die

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

LORT for someone that flings himself at danger whenever he sees fit, he also fears a lot.

He’s terrified of deep water. He CAN swim, but would prefer not to. He’ll swim in the shallows if he has to cool off badly, but deep water makes him panic.

He’s afraid of clowns and also puppets He’s afraid of needles

Not quite a phobia, but he hates the sound of loud wind, especially when he knows a blizzard is happening outside.

He’ll panic if he wakes up to the sound of a drill

He hates the smell of whiskey

And again not a phobia, but a trigger- it’s activated if he’s sparring someone and they rest their foot on his back while he’s already down. It has to do with the day he lost his arm

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

He doesn’t quite have any! If anyone considers him a rival, it’s pretty one sided because he’s oblivious to it

His arch nemesis was the guy that took his arm, but through story progression he became his rival, and now their relationship is more of a friendship that neither will admit to. They’re sparring partners. Storm likes to annoy him

(Art by rMADA/Xx_G.U.N_xX on FA)

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Since 2011! I THINK I made the first iteration of him in either late 2010 or early 2011. But then Sonic Generations came out with THAT TRUCK, and me and my friends started doing a silly GUN Agent chat rp. So I made an au of Storm called ‘Agent Storm’ that drove the be-buzzsaw’d GUN truck. But then as the story progressed, I began to adore that version of the character so he just became the main verse for him

His story has remained fairly same-ish. Even though at the start you can see a definitive sign of that good ol ‘teenager writing angst’ type of story, I’ve left it fairly intact. I’ve only changed parts that were like ‘yeah this is too much’ or where I just couldn’t fit in some characters or storylines anymore. I like having it as a sort of timeline to how my storytelling has developed

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

17!

SOME EXTRA FUN FACTS:

-Storm was the one that added the buzzsaws and jet boosters to the GUN truck. They didn’t let him do much but transport cargo, so he started reading up on engineering and robotics and tinkering in the abundance of spare time he had. He added those thing to the truck out of boredom, and didn’t think he’d ever really use them- cargo transport is rarely ever that exciting.

But then he was in the middle of a drive when he heard over the comms that Sonic the Hedgehog had escaped captivity near his area and. Well. The rest is history

-He’s since left GUN and stolen took the truck. He and his brother Exe have formed their own team through which they feel they can help the world more. Part of their activities include tracking down facilities (that are often GUN supported) that deal in Mobian experimentation, and shutting them down/destroying them (not with the experiments still in them)

-He’s Terrified of Shadow due to events in his universe. He’s trying to be better about it

-The ‘goofy clueless idiot’ behavior is all an act

-He has a fake southern accent as part of his facade. Yeehaw. A reminant of a childhood ‘dream job’ of being a cowboy that wanders around helping people where it’s needed

-Because he can zone hop, he has a few universes where he’s decided to stick around. One of them is a game/IDW verse. He went through the events of Forces there, and his initial plan was to just help out with the war and then leave forever. But then he became friends with that universe’s Sonic whoops.

He lowkey cursed the friendship when he also went through the zombot arc, but he’s never actually regretted it

-He platonically adores Rough and Tumble just from what he’s heard about them and what little he’s seen. He doesn’t take them seriously and thinks they’re so goofy and hilarious. He’s like “LOOK at them, they’re brothers! They got each other! They think they’re doin’ crimes!

-He often introduces himself as just a cat since it’s easier

-He has an ic/rp blog here in case you have any questions and wanna ask him ‘directly’ @sentientquillbeast​

IF YOU READ ALL THIS, thank you!

This post is already long enough so I don’t regret adding one of my favorite pics of him that I did for a zine

[toastthewolfie]

thinking a bit more abt alicia

(note: this’ll probably be updated but ive been working on this for a while and just want it to be DONE. Also i have NOT spellchecked this so apologies for any mistypes or incorrectly spelled word's (and grammar), but i am happy with it right now so here :3)

Small Overview: Alica ‘Cheetah’ Norris is my rainbow 6 siege oc. She’s a three speed one armor attacker and her ‘skill’ is a dart gun (the darts have a agent in them that causes temporary paralysis)

Small information thing that i dunno how to title: She’s 5’6, uses she/they, and is mixed (Latina/white, but she grew up in a mostly white American family so she’s not really in touch with her heritage).

Weapons: unsure what weapon she’s gonna use specifically but probably an assault riffle of some sort. Extremely unsure on secondary and gadgets (though probably flashbangs or frags)

rest under the tags bc LENGTH

Background/Past Experience Revamp: as ive said before, she’s a hostage negotiator. Except im changing her background quite a bit (she was part of the American ATF as a field agent before becoming a hostage negotiator but upon further research, she was part of SWAT (after a few years of being a patrol officer) after failing to get into the FBI and, despite how many of her instructors viewed her as mildly incapable due to ✨crippling anxiety✨(shes just like me fr), she managed to prove that she was in fact highly competent and able to defuse situations without too much training prior hence how she became a hostage negotiator at the age of 25 (shes older now so yay (EDIT: was reading over it and noticed i put 35 instead of 25 so sorry about that!)) and, despite not being military fbi, her skills on the field caught Rainbow’s attention, hence how she got in).

(fun fact: most of her scars actually come from setting up barbed wire, she hasnt had a lot of experience with it so she ended up cutting up her hands and lower arms when trying to learn it.)

Personality Revamp: While she’s still incredibly anxious, I’ve made her way more capable on the field. While off the field, she’s quite literally the definition of a ball of anxiety with legs, on the field the adrenaline steadies her nerves and throws her into the correct headspace to fight, though it’s kind of like a light switch. One moment she’s quietly freaking out and the next she appears completely calm and is talking strategy.

Counters: i dunno why ive just been thinking about this quite a bit 😭 Kure - I mean. She operates 2 robots. Im not an expert on robotics (far from it, i literally want to become an air traffic controller DO NOT QUOTE ME ON ANYTHING I YAP ABT) but im pretty sure that they’d be immune to a dart of paralytic fluid (unless maybe Alicia hits it in the right spot, and even then it’d be damaging the actual robot). Doc - Kind of in the sense that his stim pistol can reduce the affect of the dart (especially on himself) but im not 100% on this yet. Fenrir - This is more ‘lore’ based than game based but I imagine that Fenrir’s dread mines affect Alicia’s performance (aka exacerbating her already present anxiety). I was thinking about it and thought that the idea of Alicia nerfing herself via failed reloads would be really interesting! And then the idea that Fenrir’s dread mines (since they affect the mind for a short period of time) exist, what if Alicia has a chance of failing a reload while in the affected area, the chance increasing the longer one spends in the area.

Relationships: (Alicia is AroAce so none of these are romantic :3) Quite literally terrified of 90% of people on base. Most notably all the Russians, Zero, and Ash. She’s friendly with Blitz and Mozzie and acquainted with Fenrir (mostly due the fact that she has enough confidence in his loyalty to Rainbow) and Doc as she’s part of Wolfguard and likes being semi-acquainted with her team leader. (She is trying to expand the amount of people she’s acquainted with but it’s kinda hard when you’re scared of most everyone.)

Backstory: Okaaay Alicia’s backstory wasn’t really defined in the past but since my writing skills are better now, im working on it a bit more :D

Alicia was adopted by her parents (she doesn’t know her bioparents nor does she have any real interest in finding them) when she was 4. Her parents, however, were killed in a hit-and-run incident when she was 12, her aunt (Aurelia Norris)) then took custody of her (fun fact: both Aurelia and Alicia have poliosis!).

At the age of 18, she went into college for a degree in criminal psychology. After receiving her degree, alicia applied to her local police department (and the FBI but she was rejected, obviously), managed to become a patrol officer, and eventually joined SWAT where she proved her ability to defuse hostage situations in a pinch (despite almost everyone not believing it due to the fact that alicia was incredibly jumpy and panicky) hence her promotion of sorts to a crisis negotiator (that mostly focuses on hostage situations).

at the age of 32, she caught the attention of a few rainbow recruiters and after a bit of digging, she wasn’t considered for recruitment. It was only a year later when Rainbow was working with her unit and they finally got to see her operate, hence how she, after being recommended by her commanding officers, ended up in Rainbow.

Of course, there was a very large gap between her and the others as she was a crisis negotiator from a random ass town in who the fuck knows where (not me, thats for sure) America while these guys are the best of the best of their respective militaries (She does always try to keep up but she’s still a little behind on a few things) and that combined with her anxiety around change and these new people just kinda left her as a outsider (not that she really minded. It hurt sometimes, sure, but she already didnt talk a lot so..).

Callsign: Alicia got her callsign (Cheetah) from her speed, mostly. Cheetahs, while fast, are incredibly anxious, hence why people thought it was a good idea. Alicia hasnt really ever had a callsign so she just kinda rolled with it because what else was she to do. (She’s still not the most experienced with military culture and whatnot)

[zmediaoutlet]

twenty questions for fic writers

tagged to do the do by @prince-of-elsinore, ty ty for thinking of me

How many works do you have on ao3?

211 (and elsewhere, maybe a dozen we don't talk about, bc they suck, on livejournal; maybe a couple dozen short pieces here on tumblr that have never migrated to ao3)

What's your total ao3 word count?

1,515,103

What fandoms do you write for?

Almost all Supernatural, but also some video game fandoms (FF, DA, maybe BG3 soon), MCU, etc. usual suspects.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. oh so good, oh so fine -- 993 kudos 2. there will be better days -- 846 kudos 3. see things so much clearer -- 621 kudos 4. into the flood again -- 602 kudos 5. side two, track one -- 558 kudos maybe someday we'll break 1000, lol

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely I do, and would find it rude not to. I know other people have all kinds of reasons they don't respond but I don't have any of those reasons, especially since I'm pathetically grateful every time someone bothers to say they liked something, lol. If anyone's even a tiny bit encouraged to become a repeat reader by the writer responding, I want to encourage that as much as possible. Plus, every once in a while, you can get a dece conversation going in the comments! Find a like-minded fan! That's worth any effort to compose a few sentences of thanks. The only comments I don't respond to are emoji strings or cut-and-paste 'another kudos here' comments, because they're not actually comments. (I appreciate the thought, but... I don't want them.)

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have had some beta friends who would argue about this one, lol. I guess the saddest is probably the hollow summer, since the whole plot is kind of hurt/no comfort. I don't believe in a successful boy king, let's say that.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

again, probably depends on how you define 'happy'. glory days is probably the most cheerful; for me, the happy comes better with more experience behind it, so the thirty-third yard would maybe be my personal choice.

Do you get hate on fics?

nope; worst I ever got was some twerp who actually responded to someone else's comment, bitching that I didn't put the right peepee in the right poopyhole. But only one of those, ever, and safely ignored. idk, I don't attract that much.

Do you write smut?

...yes.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

only one, and it only sort of counts -- i heard love was blind, which is Cordell Walker/Dean Winchester, but of course the point is that Dean's getting the body of his brother by other means. I like crossovers but I usually want there to be a point beyond 'let's mash these two faves together and see what happens'; I'm more inclined toward doing a whole-universe fusion, e.g. fully placing characters with what you can salvage of their key backstory elements into a universe not their own... which I guess would also count as a crossover, wouldn't it. so I also did that with putting the Winchesters into the Dragon Age 2 plot, in whatever we were before. definitely 'crazier' than the first one here, lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I think that's the kind of thing that happens on WattPad. Who cares.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, a few.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I tried; it didn't work. Both people need to be contributing to the writing for it to really count as 'co-written'; nevertheless it's stuck with both author names on ao3 because I don't think there's a way to change that.

What's your all-time favorite ship?

I think from context this should be clear. Although will also forever hold many small candles for the little guys.

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

the aforementioned "co-written" fic, which was meant to be a huge series. The first fic is finished because I brute-forced my way through it, but there was a full five-season arc we were going to try to get through. Alas. The first one is decent, though, and works as a complete fic on its own: In a Cursed Hour.

What are your writing strengths?

voice, pacing, naturalism; characterization, though that can be argued in a fan-space

What are your writing weaknesses?

plot -- I find it intensely boring. Avoidance of plot then tends to flatten stories into similar non-arcs; I don't mind that, but it's a skill to exercise.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'll only do Spanish, and that's only because I studied it for eight years. Even then it's usually the wrong choice, unless it's a fully blended multilingual story (which most are not, and in the wrong hands it comes off as absurd); better to convey through the POV character either understanding it or not, and dealing with it in narrative instead of straight dialogue. Although a word or two here or there is nbd, clearly.

First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy VIII

Favorite fic you've written?

well, questions, you got me, because I don't believe in favorites. at this moment in terms of writing skill I think the best might be asceticism, but in terms of one that sits in my head and fully just is canon, lol, it might be there will be better days, mentioned above. the only heaven fic I need. I guess that says something.

kind of interesting to look at the stats, if also stressful. let's get some other writers to be interested/stressed -- uhh @redmyeyes, @phynali, @hellhoundsprey, @stillwaterseas, @whiskeycherrypie

some shots in the dark :)

[logically-asexual]

hot take but i think that if we want thomas to put out content more frequently by making shorter things that require less effort then we also have to do our part.

thomas has a lot of pressure because he probably feels that he must keep this reputation of a perfect guy who never fails to make children smile and teach people of all ages important lessons on mental health etc. in order for him to be comfortable putting out simpler content we have to understand that he will make mistakes while doing it. because if he has to ensure every video is perfect and has months of dedicated research to back it up, then that causes videos to take so long or never get made.

if thomas decides to try putting out content like that sleep documentary more often then we have to be prepared to forgive him for mistakes instead of scaring him off by scrutinizing every single word he says.

i know thomas is an adult with a decade of experience on social media and i’ve said before that most criticism on this site is probably pretty inconsequential since it’s properly tagged and easy to avoid. but i want to just talk about this because probably people talk about criticism points from tumblr also on twitter where it will unpredictably show up on thomas’s timeline, or on youtube comments.

and i’m also not talking about big stuff and also the difference between what is a “small” and a “big” mistake and what each person is prepared to forgive is very subjective* but. but i just think we need to be aware of this. if thomas uses a word that’s a bit insensitive, makes a joke that’s out of touch, references something problematic, relies on a stereotype to portray a character, stuff like that then. we can try to bring it up so he is aware of the mistake but in moderation (making an attempt to see if there’s not already a hundred comments about it already, for example) and with kindness and just… approach the issue with good faith.

because if he puts out a short sanders sides inconsequential episode and uses a word he shouldn’t have and a bunch of people interpret that as him not caring about an entire demographic or him having terrible bigoted beliefs or him not caring about the show at all or stuff like that then he will feel discouraged and then we all lose. he must be held accountable for his actions but there are ways to do it that don’t involve interpreting an unfortunate phrasing or joke as him having the worst intentions in the world.

we cant demand perfect content that is also frequent. and most of us understand by that that we don’t need big big productions that address big big issues, but also we have to understand that we shouldn’t demand perfection in thomas’s awareness on social justice issues or in his keeping track of plot details or in his vocabulary or his use of language either. he’s a youtube comedian, after all. not a politician or somebody working at marvel or netflix or whatever.

i don’t know what’s right or wrong and i don’t know what exactly constitutes the set of “small” mistakes that we should be prepared to forgive but i think that if we all take a minute to think twice before judging him then it’ll be better and maybe he can feel more calm about creating content. which would be awesome because i love him and i want him to enjoy the process of creating. so. these are my thoughts.

[privateolives]

I saw people talk about their Zero Time Dilemma fixes around the tag so I thought I'd dump in my convo on the topic too (With shout-out to @oriko-magicas's galaxy brain read on Akane and Junpei)

Absolute wall of text below.

Me: I'm having trouble finding it, but there was a post talking about Akane and Junpei in Zero Time Dilemma that I really liked the interpretation of It's essentially talking about how Akane don't want anything but the perfect future with Junpei. She went through so much and spend so long aiming for fhe one needle hole solution to live that she can't settle for anything but her ideal fantasy ending anymore. Meanwhile Junpei still experiences time the way it normally goes and he was burned by 999. He knows things will never be the same cause THEY'RE not the same, but he's willing to work with that to stay with her And I think it's a super thematic read, especially when you consider their VLR attitudes

Friend: Yeah, you know, that actually makes a lot of sense to me

Me: https://www.tumblr.com/privateolives/730880206913552384?source=share

Okay I’m thinking of ztd again, and it’s how Akane only accepts a future with Junpei if it can be fairytale perfect. She wants so desperately to be that kid who died in the incinerator again, the one… There it is

Friend: That would certainly explain the way she frequently reacts to this new cynical, jaded Junpei

Me: I don't think that's her exact motivation for that ending but the sentiment is perf Yeah

Friend: It makes much more sense to me. Every time she shakes her head and says "what happened to you" it's because she's hopeful to see that same boy she used to know

Me: I think Junpei's attitude would make a lot more sense if the assholery was played up when Akane acts like he should still be the same like he was before 999. Or like the world could be how they saw it before then. It'd underline the dynamic better of "I need you to be the person I cried out to back then" and he's like "I love you but you literally made that impossible" … paired up with Carlos like "I am begging you to just talk" Carlos: you are both cute and valid but I NEED you to communicate

Friend: I think maybe part of it is that Junpei's jaded asshole net is thrown a bit wide. 'cause on one hand it is like he's upset at Akane for 999 and part of it is like he's upset that she acts like he should be the same after that, but then there's also all the shit that he went through since then and it feels like he blames her for that as well He's been through a lot in what has somehow just been one year and it feels like, perhaps fitting for someone who has also become an alcoholic, he's looking to put the blame for it all on someone

Me: Yeah Also I've been thinking, and I think there's an easy fix to the stupid "complex motives" crap. And a lot of Delta honestly

Friend: hell yeah let me hear it

Me: The whole frame he jeeps setting up with the snail. It's all about a series of small butterfly effects that cause an extremely specific outcome. That's what he wants to do too, same as the other zeroes, but he has one particular handicap: he can't shift or read timelines. He won't just know how to make the bricks fall to get the exact outcome he wants. But if he could gather enough shifters, he could read their hopping around through their minds. Because resonance would make the memories clearer. So he sets up the game that can only be completed by getting the exact result he wants and then introduces the piranha - Mira - to the equation to ensure it won't be a dead end stalemate Then in the end he can explain that yes, his motives are complex. Because the solution to save 8 billion without killing 6 billion is a hairline precise set of circumstances that he wouldn't be able to figure out what is naturally. So he had to make them create it. He had to make them all resonate to read them and make them all resonate to give them all awakened shifter powers for the future and to read at all. Furthermore I would play up his ego. The smugness of his own intelligence being double edged to believing he has to cause this himself because he's the only one who can. A staunch belief that he HAS to be what causes the bricks to fall as they should. And it'd make his point of "but I didn't do anything in this timeline. Everyone is prepped and noone is dead" more valid. Because he doesn't shift. He doesn't emotionally register all the timelines he massacred to get this one. He only know the actions that caused his personal outcome as a list of checked boxes checked off through their memories

Me: Furthermore, there could be another reason why he has to be the one triggering these events. I was super annoyed that it was like "Oh so now free the soul isn't enough. We need another terrorist group with a world ending leader. And what was the left thing about?" Well what if its not a separate terrorist group. What if the religious fanatic he's talking about is himself, transported forward in time. A younger version of himself is ending the world to create the ideal existence Dio was talking about. But the Delta who arrived in the original way back when doesn't shift. He has to live all those years. He meets interesting being like Sean that makes him realize that the differences between people makes for various choices that makes life beautiful. So now he has to find a way to out-checkmate himself to stop himself. How? Prep a group of people capable of doing what he can't to try and outsmart him. And set up a winning condition entirely set on being able to do that.

Friend: that's actually so brilliant because yeah I think definitely the weakest part of this outcome is that it doesn't really solve the problem that he set out to solve "You're all really motivated now!" oh so… what they wouldn't have tried to stop a terrorist attack if he hadn't made them all kill each other? the heck is that also, yeah I was going to ask you about that at some point. like, he doesn't mention Left at all in ZTD and I was confused if Sean was supposed to be related

Me: I don't think so. Because he was an old man when he met Sean in the hospital. But I think he was fascinated by Sean's approach to life And maybe made him consider that something could be beautiful outside of Left

Friend: this man just goin around creating marvels of science to preserve dead little boys

Me: I'm thinking part of it is also like Solving the conundrum of giving him whatever he wanted. He has his dreams of the future. He can give him that. But he's not in despair of having to die before that reality. So he gives ukm the option of death too By just giving him the option at all, he's ensured both will happen somewhere Thus the ideal outcome of how he can have both comes true Lastly, Mira's ending. I think they should have empathized more that she became a killer to understand experiencing emotions instead of just pretending them. She chases Eric because she thinks she wants to feel that rush again, but her connection with Sean could show her something different. That either through resonance she could experience emotions through others OR that you can still essentially be human even if you're only able to "simulate" having those emotions, like a robot (:Sean) does.

Me: Meanwhile Sean both wants better for and cannot forgive Mira for her crimes. But thanks to the choice with the bad and happy ends, he has an answer for how to both make Mira live with her crimes and ensure a future where it doesn't happen. By creating a split timeline where she goes back and stops her crimes from being committed. In this case, the original Mira would still know and have to live with what she did. But in the other timeline a young Mira never becomes the heart ripper and the crimes are undone. The sins are therefore both being punished and remembered for happening and erased to begin with at the same time.

Friend: you know what I like that one. that's a good way of interpreting it, especially with the way the transporter works also, doubly digging this idea. Mira being shown this robot child who either somehow experiences emotion or at the very least simulates it in such a way what it fools everyone (and also is capable of calling her out on her own emotional mistakes) should have so much more of an impact on her

Me: Yeah Like I genuinely think you could fix this game either a few tweaks

Friend: yeah absolutely also I'm not sure what the amnesia element really did for it? I guess it was to confuse the SHIFTers so they wouldn't know they had already SHIFTed but to what end?

Me: It might be to confuse the computer. Keep it from figuring out its not the real Sean too fast If it remembers being Sean it'd be easy to compare and contrast all the things that Sean definitely couldn't do or know and reach the conclusion If it doesn't remember being Sean, there's nothing to compare any contradictions to. It can only just assume that the reasons are things it can't remember Also, if the computer ONLY has Eric and Mira, it makes it more incentives to latch onto them and care about their situations, despite them both being monsters in their own right Oh Also The Carlos thing Rather than just "I couldn't have met you guys" you could do: 1) in order to fix this we need phi and Sigma here. That means we need a timeline where Akane and Junpei escape but don't stop Zero or the radical-6 outbreak. So he breaks in to bust them out. 2) they need the timeline where Delta gives them answers. Meaning they need a timeline where Zero "wins". So he can't interfere. 3) split worlds principle. By just introducing the choice to stop zero's plans or not, he's creates both options. This is the world where he doesn't stop Zero. But because he comes pre-packadged with the knowledge of what's gonna happen, he can still tail actions to secure the timeline that'll allow for them all to stop zero So there is a timeline where he stops Delta before DCOM, but because of the anthropic principle (there must be a perciever for the option to be percieved) Akane and Junpei never see it because they never had to go through the game. They only percieve the option where Carlos didn't stop Delta in time

Friend: that makes perfect sense to me gosh imagine that timeline, though. Akane and Junpei never go to DCOM so they never meet there poor Junpei is probably still chasing the ghost of this woman who …wait what was her reason for going to DCOM again?

Me: So her and Sigma could stol the outbreak Stop Of radical-6 ALSO also

Friend: yeah that's what I assume but I swear the game acts like she doesn't even know about Sigma or Phi or the outbreak

Me: (I've thought about how to fix this game a lot idk if you can tell) The thematic relevance of "but then I couldn't have met you guys" can actually be valid if you flip it around.

Friend: hahaha understandable how so?

Me: Because of Carlos, Akane can come to terms with the changes in Junpei and see the validity in the "broken" futures by showing there's things worth remembering even in the imperfect ones. Like the argument Junpei makes at the end of VLR, the relationships after the disasters still mean something to the survivors. And Carlos helps Junpei realize there's still fundamentally good people in the world and come to terms with Akane and what she did and who she is now. By inserting Carlos they're able to help mend their relationship. And if Carlos never met them because the DCOM experiment didn't go down like it did, their relationship wouldn't have been mended either They'd still just end up like how they did at the end of VLR. Essentially dead to each other "You're not who I thought you were, goodbye"

Friend: very true it certainly seems like by this game they were never really going to be able to talk it over on their own he was a necessary mediator

Me: Not to mention If Carlos never met THEM, he'd never realize the cause of the reverie syndrome to save Maria

Friend: True! Gosh she's kind of a whole anomaly herself

Me: Yes! I think it could be cool if the they worked her more into Carlos and his abilities tbh Let's think back to the 999 lore The idea of the Sender and Receiver If Maria was the "sender", she could have gone into reverie when she was stuck in the fire, trying to save herself and her family. She continues to be stuck in reverie because she keeps simulating how to a) save her family totally and b) save Carlos from all his other eventual dooms The problem with saving her family is that there is a huge world crisis going down soon that's gonna wipe out most of humanity anyway! So? Make sure Carlos goes to DCOM to save her and have her essentially be a satellite quantum simulator to feed Carlos his insights And through that also learn from Akane and Junpei (or just the experience itself) that either the timeline where their parents was also saved still exists but isn't percievable Or come to terms with their death by still having Carlos that survives both DCOM and the would-be apocalypse And thus be able to lay the endless simulations to rest and wake up (With the added cute twist that she already knows Akane and Junpei and their relationship with her brother when she wakes up. Thus why she's so invested in it in the epilogue)

Friend: that is a bizarre kind of adorable and sweet! she's his own quantum computer though I wonder if they'd be able to still use those abilities after she wakes up in that case

Me: I'm guessing it'd just go back to working like it did in 999. Carlos himself might be able to do it on his own from longtime exposure too, who knows.