#So also. By the way. I was rereading chapter 13 but now I want to go back up to 11 so I can post it asap

[michael-runs-hot-guerin]

Good morning! Haters? I'm the comments of my fic? Girl you already know

The back button is free my good bitch

[duchessonfire]

Savior Carl!AU re-read Part 2 Chapter 5

Follow-up of my re-read of Part 2 Chapter 4. If you're not interested and don't want to have your dashboard spammed, you can block the tags Duchess reads and Savior Carl AU reread.

Commentary for Part 2, Ch 5 below the cut (spoilers for part 2 ahead):

So funny thing, this chapter ("Claimed") was supposed to happen much earlier but I kept being sidetracked by Carl and Negan's slow burn. The Claimers were always going to be a part of the AU series, and they were one of the first things I added to my draft for part 2.

I will never tire of saying this: the way the series just handwaved away the trauma of Carl's near sexual assault is absolutely infuriating. Plenty of characters have had better exploration of their abuse and the lasting effect it had on them (Daryl and Carol, just off the top of my head, but also fucking Maggie who has been carrying her PTSD from the line-up for 5 seasons and one goddamn spin-off), but apparently we're all supposed to believe that Carl, who was anywhere between 13 and 16 in the series, just brushed off the time a man pinned him on his stomach and almost raped him in front of his family before watching his attacker get brutally gutted by his father? That doesn't deserve more than one passing mention by Michonne, which was more about the fact that Carl was giving the cold shoulder to Rick than about the trauma he just went through? Yeah? Okay...

My boy deserves better than this so I really wanted a story that focuses fully on the Claimers episode and explores the lasting consequences it will have on Carl. Also, I'm always a sucker for any opportunity to show what an absolute badass Savior!Carl is. Obviously he's 18, so he's not a brutal killing machine nor does he have the physical strength for it. But he's like Carol in the show (or at least before they absolutely butchered her personality and story arc in seasons 9+): shrewd and quick on his feet.

I also knew the Claimers would be the perfect characters to introduce a line-up. You can't write an apocalypse Negan story without a line-up, and I knew this would be a good opportunity to have Carl do the line-up with Negan, for him be on the side of the attackers for once, the hunter and not the prey. Back when I wrote part 1 in 2021, a lot of Cegan fics were variations of the line-up episode: some were about how Carl and Negan already knew each other from before and got reunited when Negan lines up Carl's group, other fics were about Carl working with Negan and being the one who put Rick and his ground on their knees in the clearing (I think I even read a few where Carl and Rick had been separated and this was how they reunited). This is to say that the line-up is a big and powerful moment in the Cegan fandom so I knew I had to include one. However, I also knew I didn't want Carl wielding Lucille in this one. Carl had already done that when he killed Shane and I really wanted to preserve the singularity of this moment, which would have been somewhat trivialized if Negan just started handing Carl his bat to kill people with left and right. So instead, I went with the screwdriver.

For the life of me, I can't remember where I got the screwdriver idea from. I definitely think it's from a TV series or movie of some kind, but I can't tell which. However, I can tell you that any time Carl is being a badass in the Savior!AU, it is one way or another inspired by Marvel's The Punisher, which I re-watched obsessively to get inspiration for Shane in the Savior!AU (and I am so excited that Frank Castle is back in Daredevil:Born again!!)

Okay, now that I'm done babbling, let's get into the chapter:

Carl dreams about the first night they spent in Alexandria, all of them huddled together in the living room of one house, not wanting to be split up, so suspicious they took turn to keep watch, every single door and window barricaded. They were all wary after Terminus, and this fairytale town seemed too good to be true, everyone a bit too quick to welcome them with open arms. They didn’t sleep, just dozed off in turn, jerking awake before they could start falling into dreams.

This flashback was directly taken from the series, when Rick & co arrive in Alexandria. Deanna gives them two houses but they all pile up in the one house that first night and sleep together in the living room while some of them keep watch. There's this delightful moment after, when Deanna comes to check on them in the morning and finds them all huddled together like a pack of feral dogs and is just awed.

It happened several times during the night, too many for Carl to count, but every time exactly the same. Shane would jerk awake and look at Lori, look at Carl, and look at the door. Again and again. Lori, Carl, the door. A holy trinity. Lori, Carl, the door.

Little moments like that are so important to me because, yes, Shane was a grade-A abusive asshole, but his abuse was rarely gratuitous. 90% of the time, Shane's actions were fuelled by his need to protect Carl and keep him alive. Shane only let go of Carl after Carl lost the eye and even that stemmed from Shane's honest belief that Carl would be safe inside the walls of Sanctuary, that Negan would feel indebted enough to Carl to keep him as a worker of some sort and keep him protected inside the factory. Shane weighed Carl's options and found Carl would never make it out in the wild with him, so he just left Carl on Negan's doorstep the way people will abandon a dog in front of a pet shelter. Like, yes, it's a shitty thing to do, but it's still better than leaving them in a dumpster.

Everyone is so focused on her, no one pays attention to him. He makes his way into an empty space toward the back and Carl thinks he is out of the woods when Negan suddenly looks up, and his gaze hones in on him like a missile. Carl’s breath catches in his throat. Negan inspects him for a second before smiling slyly, like they’re sharing a dirty secret. The motions of his gloved fingers on the bat turn intentional, long up and down strokes along the smooth handle that make Carl’s stomach squirm. He knows, Carl thinks with horror. Somehow, he knows. The tip of Negan’s pink tongue darts out to wet his lower lip, his eyes dark and seductive, before he shifts his attention away from Carl and back to Regina.

I love, love, LOVE those little moments when Carl and Negan look at each other and the rest of the world disappears. There are so many moments like that in the Savior!AU and, in most of them, they don't even talk to each other, just exchange a glance, and yet there's a whole conversation happening, a conversation that only they know, and everyone else either doesn't notice or is left confused by it. These two are so connected, they (almost) always know what the other is thinking.

“You were late,” Negan reprimands. “I’m sorry,” Carl apologizes immediately, hoping he’ll just get an earful and maybe thrown into a cell as punishment. Instead, Negan grins from ear to ear. “I bet. Long night? I take it you enjoyed my gift? Put it to good use? Maybe you need another bottle already?” Carl’s cheeks turn crimson and he keeps his eye down on the concrete floor, hoping that a show of deference will appease Negan, make him so bored he’ll put him aside in favor of another chewtoy. Of course, it’s never that easy. Things go from bad to worse when Negan presses the blunt head of the bat to Carl’s chest, forcing him to step backward until he hits the door. Carl grits his teeth and he drops his mask of subservience, fed up with being herded and cornered like a sheep for the second time in two days. His glare adds fuel to the fire of Negan’s amusement and the man leans forward, his hand pushing until the hard weight of Lucille presses painfully against Carl’s sternum, squeezing the breath out of his lungs.

One thing I completely forgot and that I'm now rediscovering during this re-read is how often Negan touches Carl with Lucille. I remembered all the times Negan used her to touch Carl's shoulder in part 1, but I forgot how much Negan uses the bat to push Carl around in part 2 (and later part 3). It goes without saying that the bat is phallic symbol 101 so do with that what you will.

"But guys like Pete?” Shane chuckles, and there is nothing nice about it. “They’re vicious. They’ll beat up their own kids just because it makes them feel like a man and then they’ll go around and pretend they’re God’s damn gifts to the world. So if he comes to you again, you run to me. You don’t fight, you don’t stop, you don’t go to Glenn, or Maggie, or Abraham. You come to me, alright? I’ll deal with that piece of shit for you. Got it?” Carl looks at where Ron and Sam are arguing next to their dad, a perfectly normal family. The kind his parents always wanted them to be, trying so hard to pretend that everything was fine even when they spent entire evenings locked in a screaming match, until his dad inevitably gave up and walked out the door for a drive, leaving Carl alone with a frustrated mother. Then, the next morning, they would all gather around the breakfast table and eat the awful pancakes that Lori made them, chuckling quietly when his dad would ask who wanted the last piece, more floury lumps and pieces of eggshells than cooked batter. That’s what families in the old world used to do. Pretend. Pretend to be happy and satisfied and normal. It wasn’t an act aimed at other people, to make them lower their guard and put down their weapons, like the Cannibals at Terminus pretended. It was an act designed for the family itself, to fake happiness and contentment and normalcy, in the hope it would eventually turn into a reality. But in Alexandria, just like at Terminus, Shane could sniff out the bullshit quicker than anyone else. “Got it,” Carl answers.

That flashback is very dear to me for several reasons. 1. It shows that Shane wasn't always delusional. In fact, he was often more clear-sighted than most people around. 2. It's a reminder that things in Alexandria weren't rosy before Shane & co showed up, and that they still aren't now that Negan is in charge (Spencer, your days are numbered, buddy). 3. It's another instance of Shane being fiercely protective of Carl. If the Claimers had happened on Shane's watch, you can bet that he would have pulled a Rick and chewed out Joe's jugular as well, no questions asked. 4. Even when Shane is protective, he's also deeply possessive, telling Carl to go to no one but him, because protecting Carl is his job, because Carl is his. This, of course, is especially important to understand why Carl is so deeply attracted to Negan. After his mom died, Carl's only source of parental love came from Shane, who was defined by possessiveness as much as protectiveness. For 4 long years, this is what Carl has come to understand as love and affection. And of course, because fate works nicely like that, it's exactly the same way that Negan expresses his own love and affection: through protectiveness and possessiveness.

“I feel bad for what happened to that Savior girl,” Eduardo says at one point, interrupting Davey’s frustrated monologue about Richie’s choice of music. Behind the wheel, Davey scoffs. “You ever met Lara Lee? She would have shanked her own mother for a fix.” Eduardo shakes his head. “Still, man. She didn’t deserve to die like this.” Then, more quietly to Carl, “My cousin got gangraped. Before. Some white college douchebags at a party spiked her drink, even filmed it. That video went through the whole school. It was sick.” In the rearview mirror, Davey rolls his eyes. “Your cousin said she was raped. Girls always say that when they get found out. They go to parties and get frisky with the guys, shaking their little ass at them and then they change their mind when people start calling them sluts. Am I right?” he asks Big Richie next to him. The Savior shrugs, uninterested in the whole thing. Eduardo frowns. “Negan’s right. Rape’s fucked up. We can’t call ourselves Saviors if we let it happen.” “Give me a fuckin’ break. Negan’s only saying that because he’s got all the pussy he wants. If the wives weren’t lining up to be his private buffet, he’d be singing a different tune, let me tell you that. Same goes for you, by the way,” Davey mutters, his eyes narrowing at Eduardo in the mirror. “You think we don’t know how you’ve fucked half the lady workers on the floor? Is that why you always take their side? So they’ll keep serving you their pussy on a silver platter?”

Can you tell that Creepey Davey is a creep even in part 2? Also, RIP Eduardo, you were a nice cinnamon roll and you didn't stand a chance in the apocalypse. Also RIP DJ, I still don't know why I killed you off when you lasted so long in the series (if I remember correctly, DJ is one of the few Saviors we see fully integrated in Alexandria after the war, like Laura).

Obviously I'm not going to quote the whole Claimers attack, but I'll just say that this was the first Shane hallucination and it will not be the last. In fact, I always planned on Shane haunting Carl, and the Claimers episode felt like a natural beginning for that. A friend said in the comments of this chapter that Shane has his claws in Carl even after being dead, but this time it was for good, because it's what allowed Carl to escape the Claimers. This is 100% right. To me, the Savior!AU is as much about Carl & Shane as it is about Cegan. Shane is not going anywhere, whether it's in flashbacks or adrenaline-fueled hallucinations.

In front of him, Dwight whistles, and a girl he recognizes as part of Regina’s team hands him a walkie. “It’s Dwight,” the Savior says. “No sign of them but we found the kid, about two miles north from B point.” A voice crackles on the other end, and Carl freezes when he recognizes Negan, his tone unusually flat through the speaker. “Is he dead?” Carl finally puts the bottle down, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. The dirty fabric comes out red from Eduardo’s dried blood still on him. “No. He’s alive and well. Doesn’t even have a scratch on him,” Dwight answers with a shake of his head, slightly awed. No response comes back, and the both of them wait expectantly. After more seconds of worrying silence, the blond Savior frowns down at the walkie. “You copy?” Static buzzes. “Yeah,” Negan finally says. “Tell your team to keep looking but bring the kid home. I want to hear what happened.”

I debated a lot on how to make this scene happen. In the end, I went with complete silence on Negan's part because I felt like it would be the best way to subtly say a lot while saying nothing at all. This conversation on the walkie was of course a direct echo in the series to when Rick tells Negan that Carl is dead over the walkie. Negan's silence, his closed eyes and deep sigh, conveyed a lot while at the same time being extremely subtle. Same went for when Michonne read him Carl's letter over the walkie. JDM, the actor that you are <3

They drive in silence, and Carl doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but he just does. He drifts off without even realizing it, his head tilted against the window, warmed by the comforting rays of the sun and lulled by the roaring engine of the car. He jerks awake when the door suddenly opens. It takes him a second to figure out what’s happening, to recognize the moans of the walkers on the fence, the smell of metal and rotting flesh of the parking lot. He’s home. A pair of legs topped by a familiar belt buckle stops right in front of him and Carl blinks back against the blinding sun, suddenly high in the sky when it seemed to be morning only a few minutes ago. When he can finally see clearly, he finds himself face to face with Negan, bent down to peer at him in the passenger seat. He looks tired and angry, the circles under his eyes deeper than Carl remembers. But then their eyes meet, and the frown over his brow clears up as his lips stretch into a slow, slow smile. Negan laughs, a rough, warm sound. “God damn, kid. God damn.”

Another scene where I debated on how to make it happen and ended up settling on minimal words from Negan. Instead, it felt more right to give subtle signals of what this must have been like for Negan to think Carl was dead: the dark circles under his eyes showing he hadn't slept, his angry temper that clears when he finally sees Carl... When the Negan pov is ready to post in some more or less distant future, I'm really excited to share what this event was like on Negan's end, spending a whole night grappling with guilt over the fact that he likely sent Carl to his death.

Okay so I was trying to find a short passage to quote from the infirmary scene when Negan discovers what happened to Carl, but I just can't decide on a few lines so, to avoid copy/pasting everything, I just won't quote anything. BUT it was definitely so fun to write. Negan knows Carl better than anyone so he can tell that something happened that Carl isn't admitting to. He's frustrated by Carl's silence but at the same time he wants to be gentle so he has to refrain from just grabbing Carl by the ankles and shaking him upside-down until the truth falls out. He plays a guessing game until he finally gets it, and when he does, he has to physically restrain himself from going berserk and instead put Carl's medical care first. I love those moments when several emotions are battling inside of Negan at once: his rage, his heart, his reason, his needs, his duties... He's a complex character and far less impulsive than people might assume.

Same thing for the line-up episode, I'm not going to quote everything, but I'll just say that when Carl has to inflict violence, Shane always appears, because Shane will always be the embodiment of violence for Carl. He's the one who taught Carl to fight and be angry, he's the one who created Carl's violent tendencies and encouraged them to flow. Carl isn't a showman like Negan. He doesn't hurt people to teach them a lesson. When he hurts someone, it's either for survival or payback, nothing else.

Also, can we talk about @besosderuina's amazing fanarts of Shane and Dan???? Forever in love with their fanarts for the Savior!AU <3

Finally, he turns toward Carl and says, “Look, I know you and I had that moment in the parking lot before… And I just wanted to make clear that… well, that…” He fumbles for a moment, then seems to give up. “Holy hell, I’m not good at this touchy-feely shit,” he grumbles. “I’m sorry, is what I’m trying to say.” And it’s the first time that Carl has ever seen Negan apologize, to him or to anyone. “I thought I was helping you back then, being all sex-positive and shit. But after what those scumbags did…” His face scrunches up, like he just smelled something foul. “It was just really, really shitty timing.” “…Okay,” Carl says when Negan gets quiet and looks at him expectantly. He wonders if this is it, if Negan came all this way to apologize, but he doesn’t seem to be done. “I want to make one thing crystal clear: no one gets to touch you like that. Not them, not me, not anyone. And what you do—or don’t do—on your own free time is no one else’s business but yours. I screwed up, before. I crossed a line. And, Carl, I need you to tell me the next time that happens,” Negan pleads urgently, stepping forward before stopping himself, like Carl might get spooked if he gets too close. “Look, I know who I am. What I am. I’m the kind of guy who can waste people all the goddamn day. I’ll bash their heads in, iron their face off, make their wives and kids widows and orphans, but I don’t just do it for the kick of it. I’m trying to make order out of chaos. I’m bringing civilization back from the ashes and that means getting my hands dirty and scaring the living shit out of people so they follow the rules. Same thing goes for you and the rest of my Saviors. I’ll throw you in a cell and let the guys beat a lesson into you once in a while. Hell, I might even fantasize about having a go at you myself,” Negan says with a wry smile. Then, he sobers up, his eyes grave and steely once again. “But that’s it. I’ll never touch you below the belt like those assholes did. Whatever next rebellious little act you pull out of your hat, no matter how absolutely insane you drive me when you refuse to obey, that will never be part of the punishment. You hear me?” Carl nods, mystified. Negan opens his mouth like he’s about to say something else, but then bites his lower lip. He sighs and lets himself drop on Carl’s bed, his elbows on his knees, his leather jacket half-open like a crack in the armor. He looks exhausted, nothing like the excited showman of last night, making knock-knock jokes as he bashed in the heads of the Claimers with effervescent brutality. “Carl,” he sighs again, “I know you were all traumatized yesterday and that’s why you couldn’t talk to me… But I’m goddamn serious here. I need to know if anything like that ever happens again, especially in Sanctuary. I had a couple of guys a few years back who thought they could force workers to give them blowjobs in exchange for points, and I straightened that shit out the second I heard about it. So, if anyone tries something with you—or if you even see it happening to someone else—you come to me directly. I’ll take care of those dickheads for you. You understand?”

My favorite line here is the simile of the open leather jacket being "a crack in the armor". My second favorite line is me shooting myself in the foot by making Negan say he will never use sex as a punishment and then having Negan use sex as a punishment several times in part 3 (just off the top of my head: the failed blowjob, the sex against the door after the inhaler drama, the failed masturbation in the cell, the dick in the eye scene...). I'm a clown. *sad honking noise*

Conclusion; tldr: The Claimers never stood a chance against Negan. Carl is a badass. Negan doesn't know he's in a throuple relationship with Shane's ghost. Rick & co will appear in part 4 once I figure out how to make it happen. If TWD writers can handwave the plot away then so can I.

You can find the commentary for part 2, chapter 6 here.

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

March 5th

~*~

1. I’m pretty sure the fic im looking for is a one shot, but it’s been so long I can’t remember: LXC brings WWX (who he’s been teaching musical cultivation) to LQR and is like “he’s never learned this song, watch” and plays something. Then gestures to WWX who plays it perfectly from memory. LXC gestures to him while looking at LQR like “see?” and LQR is impressed

FOUND! multitude Chapter 13: good teacher lan qiren by bunny093 (bamf/genius wwx, the lans are better are sect-ing here, lightly based on a lilo&stitch scene, not yunmeng jiang friendly)

~*~

2. Hello! Looking for a specific fic, at some point wwx transmigrates or reincarnates into the modern world where he is a ceo (?) and was trained by a teacher his whole life about sword fighting etc, and then he eventually gets his memories back and invents a way (i believe it was a device) to dimension/time travel to get back home. @vulpeculatee

~*~

3. Hi, I'm looking for a Wangxian fanfic, where Wei Wuxian is in the Lan sect and he grows mushrooms. I just know that mushrooms were an important part of the fanfic, there was a scene where the other sects followed the Lan disciples to see where they bought the mushrooms. Thanks.

~*~

4. hello! i just finished rereading "switched" (wwx switched with xz) but its ending was wwx finding out that he's pregnant. i remember that there's a part two of that where he gave birth in modern world, and they even cut their own hair but i cant find it. does anybody know where can i find it? or maybe im talking about two different story? im not really sure. thankyouuuuuu!

~*~

5. good day! for the enxt fic finder, do u guys know tha time travel fic where wwx came back during the lectures then he let himself fall from the cliff where lwj was there and told him to let go? thank u in advance!

FOUND!🔒 Without end by barisan (M, 69k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Depressed WWX, Good Uncle LQR, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm,   PTSD, Panic Attacks, Yunmeng Jiang bashing, Sentient Resentful energy, Medical inaccuracies)

~*~

6. Making a deep dive into my AO3 history is an Exhausting prospect right now, so I must turn to the hive mind. Three fics I'm looking for rn.

A) Meng Yao is running an errand and finds his car beset by a swarm of bees! 🐝🐝🐝 Cue LXC to the rescue.

B) Wei Ying is out on a first date and it's going poorly. Lan Zhan overhears. Tea facts are relevant. 🍵

C) Post-canon case fic, where the case is a mysterious energy that some people can see/sense and some cannot. Can't remember whether WWX just happened to bump into LWJ+ducklings or if they were already hanging out, but the two of them figure their shit out whilst investigating. I think there was a garden involved. And energy-induced kissing (possibly even sex?). @linderel

6A)

FOUND! save the bees (ride a beekeeper) by Ariaste (T, 4k, LXC/JGY, modern, Fluff and Humor, Meet-Cute, Bees, Flirting)

6B)

FOUND!🔒 Heaven, Wait by sunflowersfield (T, 2k, wangxian, Modern, Fluff, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Neurodiversity, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Happy Ending, First Dates, First Kiss, Hyperfixations, Strangers to Lovers, Meet-Cute, The bad date with the original character is brief and he never sees that guy again)

6C)

FOUND! Not What We May Be by brooklinegirl (E, 29k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Mutual Pining, Bedsharing, casefic, Hurt/Comfort, background Jingyi/Sizhui)

~*~

7. Hi. Hope you are well.

I'm trying (and failing!) to find a WangXian fix I read years ago on Ao3.

From what I remember, Wei WuXian was a Captive of the Wen and kept in a high tower where is tortured and chained with a small window and Lan Zhan also gets captured and put in the same cell of Wei WuXian.

Lan Zhan is there when the Wen soldiers drag Wei WuXian away for torture and they bond. Later Lan Zhan finds out Wei WuXian is a Phoenix and the Wens want his tears. Wen Qing and Wen Ning are his only friends.

Wei WuXian helps Lan Zhan escape and Lan Zhan has to convince the cultivation world to save Wei WuXian but by the time they reach the Wens, they see that Wei WuXian lost control of the Phoenix and Lan Zhan calms him down amidst the fire.

I also remember the fic mentionimg that a Phoenix meant Goodluck.

Thsnk you in advance!

FOUND? a thousand hills, no birds in flight | 千山鳥飛絕 by defractum (nyargles) (E, 26k, WangXian, Mythology, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon adjacent setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort)

~*~

8. thank u so much for all u do! i actually have two fics i’m searching for! i remember reading both in 2021 so i believe that narrows things down!

A) first one is canon divergence from qiongqi path, i remember that wwx almost dies but puts his consciousness into a paperman and his body is somewhat preserved by wen qing till they can find a way to heal him and then transfer his consciousness back but they pretend he died to the other sects (i remember they even go check his body) i remember the wen remnants go to lotus pier pretending to be related to ppl from yunmeg and jzx survives. the whole mess with mxy and the summoning array happens but it fucks it up a little since wwx isn’t actually dead and he becomes something like a spirit/ghost for a while and ends up meeting lwj by accident when he’s taming mxy back to lotus pier. they manage to heal his body and he transfers himself back in and they all live happily ever after.

B) the second one is a fic in a fic series of wangxian having more children and being very domestic that includes past lwj changing places with present lwj for a day and he basically spends the day with wwx, they go farming he helps with the kids, they see lsz for a time, unfortunately that’s all i can remember from it.

8A)

FOUND? 🔒 something like by silversshadow (T, 69k, wangxian, Major Character Death, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives AU, Temporary Character Death)

8B)

FOUND? These Two Most Powerful by stiltonbasket (G, 4k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, Married Life, Family Feels, Parenthood, Temporary Amnesia, Time Travel, it's amnesia but it feels like time travel to LWJ, wangxian have more babies, and they are the cutest buns, not your average amnesia fic? there's no drama here tbh, just soft husbands carrying on with fatherhood, And loving each other, Mild Angst, Happy Ending)

~*~

9. Hello! I am looking for some help to find a fic. It's a story where Wei Wuxian becomes the ruler of afterlife essentially. All the characters who died before him are there but he has no memory of his past. The only way to get his memory was to go to earth and retrieve them(?). The last chapter I remember is MXY calling him, allowing him to return to the earthly realm.

Please and thank you 😊 @myblurryreality

Thank you for the suggestion but that is not it, unfortunately. The one I'm looking for starts out with Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan being in this after life city. They had to struggle for a bit because there death offerings(?) were delayed. Wen Qing was a doctor in the town and helped heal Jin Zixuan from an injury at one point. The reason everyone's offerings were delayed was because there was a new Ruler, who ended up being Wei Wuxian. He had absolutely no memory of anyone, but allowed Jiang Yanli to visit him. He would hear a song (Wangxian) played as a tribute(?) but didn't know who played it.

NOT FOUND!🔒 A Secret Never Shared by Vrishchika (T, 28k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, frankencanon, Pining, Soft LWJ, Deity WWX, BAMF WWX, Alternate Universe, LSZ is the best boy)

FOUND! A Celebration In White by Enigmatree (T, 20k, WIP, WangXian, XuanLi, Afterlife AU, Underworld, god AU, 13 years of Inquiry, Happy Ending)

~*~

10. Help!

I lost a Twitter threadfic! I could have sworn I saved it, but either I accidentally deleted it or the author did. And they were about to update it too!

It was about WWX who, during the first Burial Mounds siege, was transformed into a rabbit, and now lives as an immortal bunny. Now it's modern times and he's been rescued by a reincarnated LWJ, who is about to leave for college (veterinary) and doesn't remember anything about his past life. WWX is wary of him at first (he thinks that LWJ was amongst those who led the siege), but he eventually warms up to him and manages to tell him the truth using a computer.

Please help me find this! @blueghost13

FOUND? Here's the link for the Twitter Thread And I just discovered that it got updated 2 days ago when I had expected no more, so thanks for making me check 🤗

~*~

11. Hi! I've been searching this fic for so long and couldn't find it. As far as I can remember in this fic Wei Ying survives the siege and he goes away with Ayuan. He invents a silver core type of thing. some kind of mechanical/physical core. And later I think the jins capture him or something. Do you have any idea about this fic?

FOUND? 🔒❤️ kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf, tardigradeschool (T, 75k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Together, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Inspired by The Parent Trap (1998), Kid Fic, teen shenanigans, two a-yuans, Fluff and Angst)

~*~

12. Hi. I love your Fic Finder and Recs and your suggestions have kept me busy reading for almost 2 years now 😍

I was hoping you could help me find a fic I've recently read the summary off. Something about WY accidentally domming LZ Z somehow and turning him into a sub without realizing? And I think WQ pointed it out to him? I believe it was a modern setting, and the summary sounded very light-hearted and entertaining.

I'm not sure if that's enough info to go on, but thanks for your help in advance 🥰 @papperlapapp1

FOUND! And They Were Roommates! or The Accidental Domming of Lan Wangji by DizziDreams (E, 21k, wangxian, Dom WWX, Sub LWJ, inexperienced BDSM practices, un-/under- negotiated kink, horny climbing, horny cohabitation, horny on main except by main I mean at a party surrounded by innocent bystanders, Praise Kink, Masturbation, Bondage, Lingerie, Orgasm Delay/Denial, omg they were roommates, Modern, BDSM, debatably a bit of dom drop, Public Masturbation, Edging, Getting Together, WQ has to come in and straighten this shit out)

~*~

13. I was reading a great fic and then Tumblr updated and ripped out from me when I was only in chapter two! Devastated. Its world building at its finest, you are not folks directly what's happened or happening. WWX is the proprietor of Yiling Garden, a cafe that offers sanctuary. Mo Xuanyu arrives in the first chapter seeking sanctuary from the Inquisition. Lan Wangji arrives, saying he's sanctuary and there for Mo Xuanyu, but WWX assumed he was inquisition at first. They have not seen each other for years. Clearly something happened to separate WWX from everyone he loves except Wen Ning, who works for the shop too, and had been raised from the dead. For unknown reasons, Wen Qing is elsewhere and happy. Wen Yuan is mentioned, but WWX doesn't know what happened to him. There are phones so it's a modern au. And... That's it. Tumblr died right after Lan Wangji asks WWX out for dinner. Help! Thank you VERY much! @lurkdot

FOUND? transmuter by WithLoweredVoices (Not rated, 113k, wangxian, Modern with Magic, Magical Realism, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending)

~*~

14. Hi 😃 I need help to find a fic because I only remember a tiny bit! LWJ isn't wearing his forehead ribbon and LQR/Lan elders are trying to get him to wear a new one, the bit I really remember goes like this:

LQR: gives LWJ a new forehead ribbon LWJ: it's not the same 🥺🥺🥺

FOUND? A Future Family In A Broken Past by Hauntcats (T, 121k, wangxian, WWX & Wen Remnants, Jiang Family & WWX, WQ/MM, JYL/NHS, LXC/NMJ, Not Jiāng Family Friendly, Not Cultivation World Friendly, WWX Needs a Hug, Family Dynamics, What is a good family?, Fear of emotions does not excuse abuse, Not Jiang Clan Friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Travel fix-it, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Divergence, LXC needs a hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Not YZY Friendly)

~*~

15. Hi! Hope you are well. I am desperately searching for a fic I read once but cannot find it anywhere. In this fic WWX survives the siege and leaves with A yuan. He and a yuan live in hiding. wwx also builds a golden core-more like a silver core as he invents a physical core that works the same as a golden core. I can't remember how it finishes but I think Jins capture him and A yuan seeks help of LWJ. Hopefully you can find this!!! Thank You!

FOUND? 🔒❤️ kick at the darkness ‘til it bleeds daylight by AlfAlfAlfAlfAlf, tardigradeschool (T, 75k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Together, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Inspired by The Parent Trap (1998), Kid Fic, teen shenanigans, two a-yuans, Fluff and Angst)

~*~

16. Hi! This is for fic finder. Its cql post canon i think. WWX goes to some place near ocean and he resque a men who battling a ghost ship? I think he was a cultivator from a nearby sect. WWX then teach them a little bit before he continue his journey. He went to Jinlintai. In the road he met a woman who goes to the same destination as him to met her wife. They become a fast friend. Thats all i can remember. Thank you! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

FOUND! Linger by the Door (I’ve Always Been Yours)by piecrust (T, 78k, wangxian, slow burn, canon compliant)

~*~

17. Hi! I don't know if I'm doing this right bc I'm new to tumblr... I've seen your blog before though and it's so helpful! I have a fic finder request - I remember it was a harry potter au where wwx has been gone from lwj's life for 13 years. he came back (as an animagus?) as a black rabbit and lwj was a professor at hogwarts. lwj takes care of rabbit wwx and then jgy comes with aurors at the end of the fic to attack hogwarts and lwj fights him. When lwj is almost going to be killed, rabbit wwx turns back into a human and protects him. Thanks so much!

FOUND? an armful of warmth by Alaceron (G, 3k, wangxian, Harry Potter Setting) It has a sequel, too!

~*~

18. I seem to have read a summary or a review of a wangxian fic and can't recall if it's from this blog so i am putting in a request for help in finding it so in that summary it was mentioned that wangxian had travelled to a village and met a lady on bank of the sea but she was actually a sea monster/creature don't exactly remember what and she consumes hearts of her victim and LWJ becomes her target but he distracts her by tell her his and WWX's story while WWX tries to save LWJ as the body of the victim comes to shore after a week or so don't remember much or more so I hope this suffices also it was most likely to be a multi chapter fic with less than 10 but more than 3 chapters and that it was probably on ao3 . Thank you so much for your work.

FOUND! The Eater of Hearts by ElDiablito_SF (T, 17k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, LWJ is Scheherezade, WWX and LQR speak to each other agenda, Angst with a Happy Ending, WangXian are very in love and very disgusting, Case Fic, Gratuitous kissage)

~*~

19. Hi!

For the next fic finder can you help me with this ao3 fic, Modern Au where wwx gets kicked out of the Jiang family house so he has to stay (I think) in a shed close to his school, and also he has to take extra food from the school cafeteria and that’s how (I think) LQR finds him stealing after class

There was missing food so they also checked the cameras but wwx dodged them also NMJ in this AU is a cop and close to LXC

When they find out about wwx situation he’s taken to the lan house, eventual wangxian

And I don’t remember more

Thank you a lot for the help!🙇‍♀️❤️

FOUND? Where is home? By SpicyRamen_10969 (M, 80k, WIP, WangXian Modern AU, High School, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Coming Out, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Supportive LQR, Good Sibling LXC, Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, JC Being an Asshole, Possible Smut?)

~*~

20. There is this fanfic where Sizhuai(sp?) And Jingyi are night hunting with other Lan juniors. Nearly everyone dies, except him and Jingyi because out of desperation, Sizhuai uses demonic cultivation but he gets whipped a lot with the discipline whip because of it. Because of this Jingyi leaves the Lan sect. When he wakes up, Sizhuai is devastated. Cue angst, and Sizhuai eventually tracking Jingyi down and reconciliation. Unfortunately I can't remember this fanfic title and I would love to reread it. @andyousaidtruelovedidntexsist

FOUND? Give Me A Reason by useless_slytherclaw (M, 25k, ZhuiYi, LSZ & LWJ & WWX, Junior Quartet, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Friends to Lovers, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Mutual Pining, Minor WangXian, Minor JL/OYZZ, Aged-Up Character(s), Grief/Mourning, PTSD, Dreams and Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, Rogue Cultivator LJY, Family Feels, Demisexual LJY, Injury Recovery, Love Confessions)

~*~

[openphrase123]

What's your workflow for planning and then executing a long-term project, like the massive fics you write?

this is how i do fanfics And also original stuff and it's how i've been writing for like ten years (your mileage may vary though i think long project planning is a different kind of beast depending on the person.

also this is the same process as i have for making other media too but obviously with the language tweaked to fit the media (like this is how i plan and execute my game, too!)

have a scene or concept haunt me so thoroughly that i write a short speculative piece about it. if you get here and it's good but can't get past the next step, that's a sign it's meant to be a cool oneshot instead of something multichaptered

decide why i'm making it. what question am i trying to answer, what themes am i trying to explore?

write 2-3 chapters of it freeform style, not caring about where these scenes are going or how they flow into each other (for things that aren't fics, this can just be like. a small section of what it Is). if you're not feeling it here this is a sign to make the scope smaller and make the piece as short as you can tolerate it for. if you are feeling it, this is where you're figuring out the overall tone and style of how the wider work is going to go

figure out the ending. write the ending scene now if you have to. you can change it later but you need to know generally where you want to go

make an outline. how many sections do i need to get from the opening scene to the ending scene? what happens in each chapter?

for ME and how i post, if this is a fanfiction, write at least 25% of it before posting a single thing. or if nothing else write 3 weeks of updates.

start posting

vibe and write at least 3 weeks in advance. if you need a break you need a break. it's free fanfiction, people get it.

now, some creators will be like "whatever you write, take out 10% of it to be economical" this is the modern writer's equivalent of the devil talking. you need the fluff. you need the downtime. you need the epilogue. slow your fucking stories down. let people marinate in them. yeah if you're writing something short form or in a specific format you might need to take stuff out but if you're writing fanfiction or a novel or a game and there's no limit on how long it is. don't worry about spending a couple pages dicking around. every piece of human media from the dawn of time has had interludes, B plots, long meandering pieces of fluff... it makes the parts where the story Hits really stand out. inutile's tragic moments wouldn't be as effective if there weren't fun jokes or levity interspersed in between

that said you need to know when to stop adding shit. only put things in that you think you have a reasonable time to address fully and completely. you will learn this the hard way one day and i cannot teach this or stop you from making this mistake. i learned this mistake writing homestuck fanfiction when i was 13. but in my defense it's really easy to go overboard with homestuck fanfiction

panic because i'm like 90% of the way through and tired of it and start doubting whether the story was ever good at all and if this was wasted time

finish it. celebrate. wait like two months

reread my own work and say "this is sick as hell"

(if this is original work, this is where you start editing it. this is a different beast. i will not elaborate here. fanfiction is for fun and is at the same level as my original fiction drafts. on a rewrite everything will be more polished and purposeful)

repeat forever and ever as long as there are stories to tell

also. this one is just me because it's how my brain works. but ideally i work on two/three longform projects at once, so that when i get tired of working on one my brain will go "ooh shiny" and latch onto one of the other ones effortlessly. if you have adhd this will either work for you perfectly or it will ruin your life

[mikeblocky]

Misaki Takamatsu's January 13th Space (Translation)

Warning: Insanely long! Please be careful :D

(00:07:17)

Takamatsu-sensei: Hello? Hello? … Was my mic off? Can you hear me now? If you can hear me, please give me some kind of response. If you can hear me, could you say something? … You can hear me? Okay, good.

(00:07:44)

Takamatsu-sensei: …Nothing?

(00:07:44)

Takamatsu-sensei: I’ve been talking by myself until just now. Can you hear me?

(00:07:48)

Takamatsu-sensei: If you can hear me, please react. Ah—there it is?

(00:07:50)

Takamatsu-sensei: Finally!

(00:07:53)

Takamatsu-sensei: So, I’ve been talking all alone for a while now.

(00:07:58)

Takamatsu-sensei: Um… so, Aiko-san, are you here?

(00:08:07)

Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you so much for being here. Sorry it’s so late. Yesterday, I got to have a signing event at Junkudō Ikebukuro after they started doing events again. They kindly let me do it. I really appreciate that. Apparently, only a tiny handful of people were able to come—hardly anyone. So…

(00:08:50)

Takamatsu-sensei: For those who couldn’t attend, if you have questions, I’d like to answer them here. Also, I want to say, “Please apply again next time!” I’d really like to do another event, so I hope to see you all in person one day. So yes, feel free to send in questions.

Q&A Begins

Q: “I’d like to know your favorite manga. I’m always cheering you on!”

(00:09:01) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you so much for the question. I have so many manga I love. Recently, I participated in a Fujiko F. Fujio Tribute. They reached out to me partly because I kept saying how much I loved his works, especially his short stories for grown-ups. Of course, I also love Doraemon and read it obsessively. All of those are highly recommended.

Another thing: there’s a new edition of Animal Doctor (Dōbutsu no Oisha-san), so I’ve been buying and rereading it little by little. I read it back in the day, but I loved it enough to buy the new edition and read it again.

Q: “I couldn’t attend your signing event, but I always enjoy your manga. Thank you! I’d love to ask: in your opinion, what’s the most important thing in human relationships?”

(00:10:42) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you! As far as “most important thing” goes… Well, I do write about human relationships, but I’m not really an expert myself. When I was in my teens, I was so self-conscious and overthought everything, so I actually handled relationships pretty poorly back then.

But if I had to pick something, I’d say: Don’t over-imagine what the other person might be thinking. I personally imagine way too much, which can be counterproductive. It’s good to have some empathy—like, “They might feel this way”—but you can never fully know someone’s exact feelings. So if you fixate on your assumptions, you can end up getting irrationally angry or jumping to the wrong conclusion. Instead, try to accept things calmly as they come. That’s my best advice.

Q: “Thank you for all your hard work. When do you have the most fun drawing manga?”

(00:12:19) Takamatsu-sensei: I think the best moment is after I finish everything—when the chapter is finally complete. While I’m in the middle of drawing, I do enjoy certain scenes, but there are also panels that feel tedious or that I can’t get right, which drives me up the wall. So the process itself isn’t always fun. But looking back when it’s done, I can be like, “Oh, that was actually kinda fun!”

As for a favorite stage, lately I do enjoy inking (pen work), because I can chat with friends while I ink and it’s pretty relaxing.

(00:13:14) (Reading a fan comment) “Congratulations on getting a second season of the anime!” Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you so much.

Q: “Will you do a signing event in Kansai? I’d really love for you to come.”

(00:13:41) Takamatsu-sensei: About signings: the recent event at Junkudō happened because I said, “I’d like to do a signing,” and they made it happen. Typically, bookstores send the offer, and if I agree, we do it. So maybe when Volume 12 comes out, if a bookstore in the Kansai region says, “Let’s do one,” we’ll do it! I’d really like to go. Also, I’d love to do one in the Hokuriku region (my hometown area), like Ishikawa Prefecture, since it appears in the story.

Q: “I couldn’t attend the signing. Will there be another chance?”

(00:14:30) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, I definitely plan to hold more, so it’s not just going to be a one-time thing.

(00:15:00) (Reading a comment) “Thank you for hosting this Space. Do you have any recent hobbies you’re into? I want a new hobby this year, so I’d love to hear yours.”

(00:15:07) Takamatsu-sensei: Well, not super recently—because after I got my dog, I haven’t done it much—but I was playing the ukulele. I totally recommend the ukulele. I bought one about two years ago. I always wanted to play guitar, but guitars are big and I was afraid I’d give it up, so I started with ukulele. It’s got only four strings, and they’re softer, so it’s easy to pick up. It’s really fun. But lately, my dog is scared of it, so I haven’t played for a while…

Another one: I’ve been traveling overseas more, so I signed up for a year of online English lessons. But I skipped the last two months! (laughs) I promise I’ll resume this month.

(00:16:32) (Reading) “I love the flow from Volume 10 to 11 in Skip and Loafer. Everyone’s growth is incredible. Which character is closest to you personally?”

(00:16:56) Takamatsu-sensei: Hmm, I think I’m most similar to Mika and Makoto. Shima-kun is probably the furthest from me.

Q: “What’s your favorite spot in your hometown?”

(00:17:21) Takamatsu-sensei: I’m from the Hokuriku region. I went to college in Kanazawa. After everything calms down, I hope people will visit. My actual birthplace is Toyama Prefecture, so if we’re talking about Toyama… maybe Tateyama is pretty, or Kurobe-Unazuki Onsen Station if you want to jump right into a hot spring. They have a scenic trolley in Kurobe Gorge, which is amazing in the fall. If you get a chance, definitely check it out!

(00:19:03) (Reading) “I’m desperate to know your skincare routine and favorite makeup.” (00:19:05) Takamatsu-sensei: Ha ha, well, to be frank, I sometimes think: “Instead of buying fancy lotions, maybe it’s cheaper to go get laser treatment to zap spots at a clinic!” (laughs) But yes, daily sunscreen is important.

Q: “Have you watched any interesting anime lately?”

(00:19:57 → 00:20:00) Takamatsu-sensei: Let’s see… I haven’t had time for new anime. I’ve mostly been reading manga. I recently finished Natsume Arata no Kekkon (by Taro Nogizaka), and I really liked it. For live-action, I’m watching Dr. House (the American medical drama also known as House, M.D.) and Grand Maison Tokyo (a Japanese TV drama about a French restaurant). I discovered Grand Maison Tokyo on streaming, and it was great. For anime, I worry about being influenced by other works, so I hold off sometimes. But I do want to watch Nintama Rantaro or Moana 2 if that happens.

(00:21:29) (Reading a fan comment) “I’m a student in Ishikawa. I saw someone with a Skip & Loafer keychain on their bag, struck up a conversation, and we became friends. We recently went to a bookstore to plug your stuff. Thank you for creating this. Hoping to see you in Ishikawa!”

(00:22:12) Takamatsu-sensei: That’s wonderful! I’m so happy hearing that. Good on you for making a new friend.

(Reading another) “Come to Fukuoka too!”

(00:22:28) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, I’d love to. Fukuoka is awesome.

Q: “In the newest volume, I was swooning over Shima-kun, and also thinking, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty freewheeling school trip!’ Was it based on a real-life school? It’s so laid-back.”

(00:22:31) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, I referenced several. The idea is that Mitsumi’s school is academically high-level, so I asked folks from top-ranked high schools. Some allow students a lot of freedom because the kids are serious and don’t cause trouble—like they can explore at night, or even plan their own itineraries. My own school trip was basically nonexistent, so I was really envious researching all that.

(00:24:13) (Reading) “Egoshi-san: ‘Good evening, I missed your signing, so I came to listen. I’m leaving for now. Bye.’” Takamatsu-sensei: “Wait, Egoshi-san, that’s not a question—just come next time to the signing, haha. Thank you for dropping by.”

(00:24:37) (Reading) “When you’re drawing, do you snack or drink, or do you go without eating to focus? Also, any current favorite sweets?” (00:24:49) Takamatsu-sensei: I keep snacks and drinks nearby, but I know I focus better if I don’t eat. If I eat too much, I get sleepy. So ideally, I shouldn’t. But in reality, I nibble constantly, lose focus, nibble again, etc. A current favorite sweet: I might’ve mentioned this, but Otoemon is a shop that makes pound cakes with chestnuts. They also do a fruit pound cake. In winter, it’s called “King’s Fruitcake,” and in summer, it’s “Queen’s Fruitcake,” which has passion fruit. If you like dried fruit, it’s a must-try.

(Reading) “Do you use a retractable leash for Anko (your dog)?”

(00:25:56) Takamatsu-sensei: I have one, but my dog is so small that it doesn’t work well for us. I use a standard non-retractable leash.

(00:26:27) (Reading) “In Chapter 51, Mitsumi was a panda on the opening page. Is that referencing a Maroon 5 album cover?” (00:26:50) Takamatsu-sensei: No, it wasn’t. That’s news to me! I’ll look into it. (laughs)

(00:27:10) (Referring to the earlier mic troubles) Takamatsu-sensei: Thanks again to the person who pointed out my mic was off earlier. Otherwise, I’d have kept talking to myself.

Q: “Do you already know how Skip and Loafer will end?”

(00:27:12) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. I have a vague idea, but some things I’d initially planned turned out differently. Not because I specifically wanted to change them, but they just naturally shifted from my early concept. So I do have a rough sense of how it might end, but it could also turn out differently.

(00:28:30) (Reading) “I love how you set real-world locations like Ueno Zoo. It makes Mitsumi’s world feel so close. How do you decide which places to use?” (00:28:50) Takamatsu-sensei: I’ll plan something like “I want them to go on a date in this general style,” then go location-scouting. If it seems workable, I incorporate it. For Kyoto, I took a trip to see certain places, but once I decided “I want them to drop by a certain café,” I made a second trip specifically for that. I popped into five or six cafés in one day to find the best vibe for the manga. That’s usually how I do it.

(00:29:56 → 00:30:20) (Reading) “I missed the signing, but I’m still reading your manga. You depict people’s feelings so well—how do you come up with those delicate emotions?” (00:31:00) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. But really, I’m limited by my own experiences. I do try to recall the words and behaviors of various people I’ve encountered, and I kind of blend them all together.

Mitsumi-chan is, for instance, a fundamentally nice person. But if I only showed her nice side, it’d feel unrealistic. So I try to add some embarrassing or introspective aspects from my own experiences. Meanwhile, times of feeling “Wow, that’s so cool!” or “That was so kind!” are often from moments I witnessed from friends or even strangers. I gather all those things.

If a character’s always doing something really wonderful, it might feel a bit braggy if it’s too tied to my own personal achievements, so I try to pick up the good from other people’s actions, the bad from my own, etc.

(00:33:05) (Apology for possibly skipping questions asked while the mic was off)

(00:33:30) (Reading) “Your manga made me want to visit Ishikawa. Could you recommend any local foods or sightseeing in Ishikawa?” (00:33:42) Takamatsu-sensei: Sure. I was a college student in Kanazawa, but I had little money back then, so I didn’t explore a ton. If you go, you might pair Kanazawa with the Noto Peninsula—but be aware they’re two hours apart by car. Noto was recently hit by an earthquake, so if you can volunteer or if tourism is open, that’s great.

In Kanazawa, one place I used to frequent was a coffee shop near Omichō Market called Higashide Coffee (Higashide Kōhī), which has yummy pudding. Also, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art is cool, though it can be crowded. Sometimes on Friday nights it’s less busy. I love the atmosphere at night.

(00:36:24) (Reading) “I’ve reread your manga many times. In the Kyoto school trip story, is the café Shima and Mitsumi visited a real place? It looked so cute.” (00:36:30) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, I actually went there in real life. It was delicious. Kyoto has so many cafés. I only scratched the surface.

(00:37:19) (Reading) “Any special memories of the Kansai region?” (00:37:24) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, for research, I visited Osaka and Nara. Typically for a school trip, you stay in Kyoto and do day trips to Osaka or Nara. I’ve gone twice. The first time, I brought an assistant who’s worked with me from the start. We took a camera and checked out all these places that high schoolers might visit, including a wagashi (traditional sweets) workshop. It was super fun.

The second time, I went again and spent more time in both. Some didn’t make it into the manga, but everything was delicious. Nara’s shrines and temples were gorgeous—didn’t have time to see them all, so I’d love to go back.

(00:39:45) Takamatsu-sensei: Today’s the last day of a three-day weekend, so I don’t want to keep people up too late. I’ll probably wrap up soon.

(Reading) “I love Mukai-kun—he’s my favorite. Will you ever focus on him?” (00:40:18) Takamatsu-sensei: The thing about focusing on a character is that it often requires a moment where their heart is shaken. Mukai-kun is a pretty self-sufficient guy, so he hasn’t had a major shake-up yet. But if the timing feels right, I’d love to try it. Sometimes I end up writing about characters I never intended to, so who knows. Thank you.

(00:40:47) (Reading) “I love Nao-chan and Mika-chan. Were they inspired by anyone real?” (00:41:01) Takamatsu-sensei: Not exactly. Everyone in my manga is a mashup of various real people I’ve known or observed.

(00:42:30) (Reading) “Thank you for hosting this Space. I adore your art style—it’s so cute. Where does that cuteness come from?” (00:42:43) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. I’ve read lots of shōjo, shōnen, and seinen manga, so I’m not sure which influence is strongest. Because Skip and Loafer runs in a seinen magazine but has a warm, bright tone, I tried to simplify lines for a poppy, light feeling. I read a bunch of shōjo manga for reference, so that probably helped shape the cuteness.

(00:44:00) (Reading) “Last Valentine’s Day, you said Mukai-kun received the most chocolates from fans. Who got second place?” (00:44:05) Takamatsu-sensei: Well, it’s not like there were a huge number of chocolates sent in, but the next most popular were Shima-kun and Kanechika-senpai. I don’t think many others got anything, actually.

But here’s the thing: I feel like, compared to fans of Shima-kun, fans of Mukai-kun or Kanechika-senpai tend to have… how do I put this? A stronger sense of devotion. It’s a bit funny how this mirrors the dynamics in the story, right? In terms of image, Shima-kun is obviously popular, but ironically, the real “main love” feeling might come from fans of Mukai or Kanechika-senpai.

(Reading) “I’ve only ever watched one anime all the way through—Skip and Loafer. Do you still stay in touch with your high school friends? You strike me as someone with tons of friends.” (00:45:42) Takamatsu-sensei: I do keep up with a handful, but I don’t have that many. (laughs) Actually, a lot of people who had tons of friends in school only see a few close ones as adults. Quality over quantity, right?

(Reading) “What about living with a dog surprised you the most versus your original image of dogs?” (00:47:15) Takamatsu-sensei: I guess I never knew how unbelievably adorable they actually are. Like, a billion times cuter than I imagined. I hadn’t formed a strong idea of dogs beforehand, so there wasn’t a big “Wow, that’s different!” moment; it was more like “I never realized just how expressive and perceptive they can be.” But the top takeaway is definitely how cute they are.

(00:48:39) (Some confusion about reading comments…)

(00:49:07) (Reading) “I love the Skip and Loafer manga and anime. The opening theme, ‘Mellow’ by Keina Suda, fits perfectly. How did you feel hearing it the first time?” (00:49:18) Takamatsu-sensei: When I first heard it, I thought it matched so well! At the same time, I was like, “Oh my gosh, someone wrote a song specifically for my manga?!” I felt excitement, embarrassment, gratitude—so many emotions. It was also interesting to realize, “Ah, so that’s how the singer (Suda-san) interprets this story.”

I listened to it countless times. Even though I seldom go to karaoke, I decided that whenever I do, I have to sing it. It’s such a good song—really refreshing. And it made me think, “Wow, that’s so Shima-kun!”

(00:51:13) (Reading) “Hey sensei, in the latest volume, I recognized the café in Kyoto, so it felt super real. By the way, I love sushi from Hokuriku. Which sushi topping do you like best—white shrimp?” (00:51:23) Takamatsu-sensei: White shrimp is delicious—Toyama is known for that, along with winter yellowtail (kan-buri). But if I must pick, I love crab and sea urchin (uni).

(00:52:37) (Reading) “Mitsumi-chan has the same birthday as me, March 3rd! Why that date?” (00:52:55) Takamatsu-sensei: Because it’s Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Festival) day in Japan, which sounds cute. Also, Kankichi Ryotsu from Kochikame shares that birthday, and I love the contrast. (laughs) For the other characters, their birthdays were decided based on the overall vibe or personality I imagined for each of them.

(Reading) “What’s your monthly routine for creating manga? Also, I’d love Nao-chan merch, please!” (00:53:14) Takamatsu-sensei: Nao-chan merch would be awesome! Basically, I spend about two weeks on storyboards (the ‘name’) and two weeks on the actual drawing each month. If the name takes too long, then I have less time for drawing, and it’s chaos. But that’s the general cycle.

(00:54:39) (Reading) “Congratulations on your signing. I love the bonus manga in your covers. Which manga, novels, or films are you into?” (00:54:52) Takamatsu-sensei: I have so many favorites. Lately, I’m rereading fantasy titles like Made in Abyss and Dungeon Meshi (Delicious in Dungeon). For novels, I like Miyabe Miyuki, and of course I read Harry Potter. As for films, I love the classics: The Shawshank Redemption, The Silence of the Lambs, Gattaca, Shall We Dance? Ghibli films too—especially Princess Mononoke.

(00:56:25) (Reading) “Your emotional portrayals are so good. How did you train your observation or verbalization skills? I’m an aspiring artist too.” (00:56:58) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. I didn’t specifically train in observing. In my teens, I was just super anxious about what people thought, so I ended up over-analyzing everything. That might help me now as a creator, ironically. Also, reading many books broadens your vocabulary for describing emotions. I’m sorry I don’t have a more systematic method—it’s just how it went for me.

(00:58:52) (Reading) “Now that a new chapter is coming, is there anything you want us to focus on or any big plans?” (00:59:20) Takamatsu-sensei: I’m not really one to say “Huge arc incoming—stay tuned!” But from a school calendar standpoint, next is the culture festival, then exam season for college entrance. Since it’s a high-level academic school, they’ll get very serious about admissions. I do want to depict how each character thinks about their path after graduation, especially because Mitsumi came from the countryside wanting to become a government official. We can’t just fast-forward to “and then she graduated!” So I’ll do thorough research and depict it properly.

(Reading) “When you first heard someone call Skip and Loafer ‘Sukirō’ or ‘Skilow’, did it remind you of sushi?” (01:01:05) Takamatsu-sensei: Haha, yeah, it does sound a bit like “sushi.” (in sushi-ro). But it’s kind of catchy.

(01:01:26) (Reading) “Mitsumi-chan is like a cat, Shima-kun is like a dog, even like Sato-chan (Satonosuke) and there are some animal motifs, but do other characters have motifs?” (01:01:36) Takamatsu-sensei: No, not really. It’s not something I thought about for everyone. But somehow, Mitsumi and Shima-kun do give off cat-and-dog vibes, don’t they? It’s kind of interesting how that worked out.

(01:01:59) (Reading) “Which Sanrio character do you like best?” (01:02:03) Takamatsu-sensei: That’s tricky. Pompompurin is super cute, Keroppi is adorable, and I’m into Pekkle the Duck lately. I like the classic memo-pad crew.

(01:02:30) (Reading) “I look forward to each new issue. Which tools do you use for drawing? I love how warm your art looks.” (01:02:36) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you! I use G-pen and maru-pen (both are dip pens). I draw characters with analog methods, but I switched to digital backgrounds when the pandemic forced my assistants to work remotely. Still, I plan to keep drawing characters by hand.

(01:03:41) (Reading) “Thanks for hosting this signing. I love how everyone’s feelings are so relatable. When you show a character’s emotional shifts or facial expressions, do you have any special approach?” (01:03:56) Takamatsu-sensei: What I keep in mind is that each character has different vocabulary and a different level of self-awareness. People differ in how well they grasp their own emotions. For instance, I imagine Mika is someone who thinks a lot in words, while Shima-kun, and recently Chieri-chan, or even Yuzu-chan, might be less adept at it. Some realize how they feel only after a time lag, while others can say, ‘I’m sad or angry for these reasons’ and know it right away. I try to ensure they don’t all reach understanding at the same pace, so I think, ‘For this character, maybe their resolution is about this level.’

(01:05:03) (Reading) “I’m an older guy, but I love Skip and Loafer. Please keep it up.” (01:05:50) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you! Actually, some older fans came to the signing, too, saying, “I’m an old man—sorry.” But there’s no need to apologize. The magazine is Monthly Afternoon, which is seinen, so I hope folks of all ages can enjoy.

(01:06:27) (Reading) “I’m job-hunting and feeling depressed, but Skip and Loafer is supporting me. Looking forward to Season 2 of the anime!” (01:06:39) Takamatsu-sensei: Right, job-hunting… yes, that can get you down. Just do your best, take breaks, and don’t beat yourself up. I hope you find a good job. Same with student life: the people at the center or the ones who succeed aren’t necessarily ‘correct.’ If you think back, there were plenty of people who weren’t in the spotlight but were still great. Whether or not you get hired, it’s… Sorry, I can’t say much more. Hang in there, but don’t overdo it. Eat tasty food and stay warm.

(01:07:48) (Reading) “Good evening, sensei. Also, the donation campaign for Noto reached its goal!” (01:08:05) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes! We had that campaign where reading Chapter 1 would trigger a 100-yen donation for the earthquake-stricken area in Noto (in Ishikawa Prefecture), and thanks to everyone, we reached the target amount. It’s really nice for local folks to see it fully reached, so thank you so much.

(Reading) “What do you most value or refuse to compromise on in Skip and Loafer?” (01:08:53) Takamatsu-sensei: I try to avoid pushing my personal values onto the story, or painting only one viewpoint as correct. No matter how gentle or positive a story is, someone could feel hurt by something in it. But I still want to show many kinds of people with a fairly neutral eye, like “This kind of person also exists,” rather than labeling them good or bad.

(01:10:52) (Reading) “I keep rewatching and rereading. I love the Shima & Reiki-kun dynamics. Will there be a focus on them?” (01:11:04) Takamatsu-sensei: If there’s a reason to delve into their feelings, maybe. It’d be cute, right?

(01:11:32) (Reading) “The Comic Days app recently added a comments section, and fans are going wild. Do you read it?” (01:11:37) Takamatsu-sensei: I didn’t realize there were comments! But I figure if I start lurking, people might feel too self-conscious to comment freely. So I won’t look. (laughs)

(01:12:04) (Reading) “What’s something yummy you ate lately? I had Godiva warabi-mochi chocolate and was shocked.” (01:12:11) Takamatsu-sensei: Ooh, that sounds interesting. For me, I actually bought a mochi-making machine (a mini home appliance) recently. It’s about the size of a breadmaker, and you can make fresh mochi without getting flour everywhere. I did it with my niece and nephew, and it was so fun. Freshly pounded mochi is amazing! I hesitated to buy it, but it’s already paid for itself.

(01:13:32) (Reading) “Mitsumi’s pets are named Omiso, Oshio, and Satonosuke (‘Miso - Soybean paste’, ‘Salt’, and ‘Sugar’). What’s the inspiration?” (01:14:05) Takamatsu-sensei: They’re basically condiments. That’s all there is to it. (laughs)

(Mic-off glitch around 01:29:39)

(01:29:39) Takamatsu-sensei: Wait, my mic was off again? How long? Ten minutes? I had no idea. Sorry if you missed some of what I said.

(01:30:43) Takamatsu-sensei: I wanted to share something about the signing event: someone asked, “Any memorable moments?” And I mentioned that a few readers came up crying and said Skip and Loafer motivated them to change jobs or circumstances. It was touching and also overwhelming. Because while I understood in theory that a manga might encourage someone, it’s different when a real person stands in front of me, telling me how it inspired them to take action.

But truly, I believe they themselves already wanted that change—my manga just happened to be the nudge at that particular moment. It could have been anything else. They deserve credit for making the move, so I hope they feel proud.

(01:35:17) (Reading) “When you visited Kanazawa for a lecture (she lectured in Kanazawa College of Art), where did you eat?” (01:35:29) Takamatsu-sensei: I posted photos from a café near my college called Bonjin, and I also went to Oriental Brewing (a craft beer bar). Bonjin is a place I used to visit in my student days. It’s become super popular now, but it still tastes the same.

(01:36:24) Takamatsu-sensei: I said I’d finish by 11:00… and I was silent for ten minutes. I’m so sorry.

(01:37:18) (Reading) “I discovered Skip and Loafer through the anime. During the anime production process, did you have any particular requests for the staff, like specific directions?” (01:37:28) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. As for actual ‘requests,’ I didn’t really make any. The director, producers, scriptwriter—they held meetings, but I didn’t have anything in particular to say. Basically, I’m a total amateur about visuals or audio, so if I wondered, ‘Huh, how will this turn out?’ once it was finished, I’d say, ‘Oh, I see!’ I attended the voice recordings, so I should have heard them, yet hearing the final anime, I was like, ‘Oh, so that’s how that voice sounds when animated!’ It was different. I realized the professionals can see further ahead than I can.

At the start of production, about ‘please be mindful of this,’ I hardly said anything. Basically, I just didn’t want them to discriminate against a certain group or do something that’s obviously out of line—just basic stuff. Like, I didn’t want them to mock a certain category of people or turn them into a total caricature. I wanted them to keep various ‘types’ of people neutral. I believe that’s what I asked for—about that much.

(01:38:40) (Reading) “I’m from Toyama too. What’s your favorite Toyama food?” (01:38:43) Takamatsu-sensei: Definitely the fresh seafood. And I sometimes crave masuzushi (pressed trout sushi). But overall, I love sushi more than big rice bowls.

(01:39:15) (Reading) “So many of your lines stand out. Are they from personal experience?” (01:39:20) Takamatsu-sensei: No, many of them are not from my experiences at all. It’s hard to say, but basically all the characters are classmates, so age difference doesn’t matter. Fundamentally, if someone says, ‘You’re doing it wrong, do it this way,’ and they go, ‘Oh, you’re right,’ and then they change right away… that doesn’t happen in real life. So I try to avoid that.

How to put it? When you read manga, you do want to see some growth, but if it’s just ‘growth, growth’ it can be draining. Still, we do want change, right? But I believe that real transformation comes from the character themselves being convinced—not from being lectured by others. It’s tough for people to change. If someone just scolds them, can they suddenly change? Probably not. You have to accept it yourself. So that’s the structure I want: a story where they realize it on their own.

(01:40:47) (Reading) “Are there adorable overseas goods for Skip and Loafer that we can get in Japan?” (01:40:52) Takamatsu-sensei: I’ve seen some really cute items from overseas, yes. I’m not sure about licensing, but it’d be nice if we could sell them here too.

(01:42:31) (Reading) “When I look back on my high school days, I remember the sports festival, the school festival, the choir competition, and the ball game tournament. In Tsubame Nishi High School (your fictional school), they have a class match (sports) and a culture fest. No chorus festival or sports day. Why those events?” (01:42:43) Takamatsu-sensei: In my mind, Tsubame Nishi might have a sports festival, but no choir competition. Or maybe they just skip the sports festival. (laughs) I specifically wanted to show the class match (which often happens early in the first year) and the culture fest (which tends to be later in the year). Those two felt like key events.

(Reading) “Do Mitsumi-chan and the others have theme songs?” Takamatsu-sensei: No, they don’t. I’m not that knowledgeable about music, but now I’m curious—what songs do you think suit them? Let me know!

(01:44:20) (Reading) “When I’m thinking up stories, I imagine them like a live-action movie in my head. But my friend says that manga panels appear in their head. Are you the type to think in manga from the planning stage?” Takamatsu-sensei: I wonder what type I am? I don’t really write a detailed plot. I usually go straight to storyboarding. I can’t organize my ideas with just a plot. I need to put them into storyboard form. But… maybe I’m more of a visual type? I think I imagine the movements.

(01:44:59) (Reading) “Do you have any plans to release another LINE sticker set with the content from the current volumes?” Takamatsu-sensei: Not right now, but I’d like to, wouldn’t I? I think the current ones only go up to volume five. I’d like to find some good parts to include and do it again. But… maybe when there’s a special occasion?

(01:45:33) (Reading) “I’m looking forward to Skip and Loafer university and working life editions.” Takamatsu-sensei: Who knows? We’ll see.

(01:45:54) (Reading) “When drawing certain scenes—romantic or introspective—do you listen to any particular music?” (01:45:57) Takamatsu-sensei: No, if I hear Japanese lyrics while I’m planning, I can’t focus. I usually work in silence. For finishing work (like tones), I’ll put on a drama or talk show in the background to keep me from getting restless. If you have suggestions for an ‘image song,’ feel free to let me know, because I don’t have one myself.

(01:46:24) (Reading) “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” Takamatsu-sensei: I signed up for a 12-month online English course and skipped two months, so I vow to resume and improve my English step by step!

(01:47:42) (Reading) “I’m doing disaster recovery in Noto. It’s tough, but it motivates me being in the place you modeled after.” Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you so much. Infrastructure is still being restored, so I know it’s challenging. Please take care of yourself.

(01:48:06) (Reading) “How many days off do you get per week, and what do you do?” Takamatsu-sensei: I don’t have a strict ‘off-day.’ If I have a plan with a friend, that’s my off-day. So maybe around five off-days a month? Sometimes I give up drawing if I’m not productive. It ends up being about two ‘light workload’ days a week in total.

(01:49:03) (Reading) “I promoted your manga to many people during the donation campaign! By the way, do you read other Afternoon titles?” Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, I read quite a few.

(Reading) “Have you ever slipped on snow?” Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, many times. (laughs)

(01:49:34) (Reading) “Makoto is in the literature club, but chose a science track. That surprised me. Which subjects are each character good at?” (01:49:46) Takamatsu-sensei: Well, I imagine Makoto is someone who likes the humanities but is strong in science. Mitsumi, perhaps she’s good at classical Japanese or memorization. Shima-kun is not especially great at anything, maybe about average all around. Mika is definitely good at English. Yuzu… maybe also balanced. Mukai-kun is probably a science type. It’s a bit vague, but that’s how I see it.”

(01:50:47) (Reading) “How do you think Mitsumi and friends will celebrate Coming-of-Age Day? Will they wear furisode kimonos, or do something unique?” Takamatsu-sensei: Well, local coming-of-age ceremonies can be interesting. Due to the earthquake, maybe they couldn’t do them, but in some towns, it varies. In the place that inspired Takojima, for example, there’s a little theater by the sea, and new adults (those turning 20) will perform something like kabuki, about a slender, stylish guy and a burly fisherman, with confetti—it’s really fun. Typically, it’s men only, but who knows in my version. (laughs)

(01:52:18) Takamatsu-sensei: Oh, it’s already past 11 PM. I’ll go a bit longer since my mic was off for about 10 minutes, but I’ll wrap it up soon.

(Reading) “Were you more a loafers person or a sneakers person in high school?” (01:52:36) Takamatsu-sensei: I wore both, but on the first day, I wore loafers because it felt so ‘high school.’

(Reading) “Is the café in Kyoto from the story a real place?” (01:52:54) Takamatsu-sensei: Yes, it is. I just don’t know if I can name it publicly, but it’s definitely real.

(Reading) “What breed is your dog?” (01:53:11) Takamatsu-sensei: Oh, the breed of my dog is a Maltese-Pomeranian mix. Right, she’s super cute. I got her from a rescue. It’s almost been a year now.

(01:53:39) (Reading) “Any favorite comedians?” Takamatsu-sensei: I like Nakagawa-ke (the Nakagawa Brothers), though I’m not super knowledgeable about comedy overall.

(01:54:05) (Reading) “I love the composition in your pages—like in the newest volume where they cross a small river while discussing their futures. It was moving. How do you decide your layouts?” (01:54:29) Takamatsu-sensei: Thank you. I actually have a bit of insecurity about my art, so hearing that makes me happy. As for composition, because it’s manga, rather than making it extremely elaborate, I focus on readability. For action, you might have really cool poses, but I try to keep things clear so you know what’s happening. I avoid doing anything too off-the-wall. I’d rather it be read smoothly without getting stuck than have a weird flashy panel that makes the reader pause.

As for panel layout or composition: in my head, things are pretty 2D—I can’t visualize super 3D scenes. But regarding paneling, since this is a print medium, there’s a left and right page. When you open it, which panel is most important? Even within a single page, where do I want the reader to focus, and where can they skim quickly? I use panel size, position, or the density of art to signal, ‘Here’s the main focal point, whereas you can breeze through this part.’ I try to arrange it so it’s somewhat intuitive.

(01:56:25) (Brief mention of an earthquake in Kyushu)

(01:57:00) Takamatsu-sensei: Everyone in Kyushu, please be careful.

(01:57:19) Takamatsu-sensei: Everyone, please be careful.

(01:57:24) Takamatsu-sensei: I’ll start by watching the news.

(01:57:43) Takamatsu-sensei: It’s past 11:00, so thank you for listening.

(01:57:57) Takamatsu-sensei: Happy New Year! I hope we can meet again at a signing event or some other event. Thank you for joining me tonight.

(01:58:05) (Gentle sign-off) Takamatsu-sensei: Thanks, everyone. Good night. Take care!

(Automated voice) This space was downloaded via

spacesdown.com

. Visit to download your spaces today.

Notes / Extra Credits

Junkudō Ikebukuro: A major bookstore chain in Japan, with a flagship store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

Fujiko F. Fujio Tribute: Refers to a special project or anthology paying homage to the late creator of Doraemon and other classic manga.

Dōbutsu no Oisha-san (Animal Doctor): A shōjo manga by Noriko Sasaki about veterinary medicine students, known for its humorous, slice-of-life style.

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (Kanazawa): A renowned modern art museum in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, famous for its circular design and interactive exhibits.

Dr. House / House, M.D.: An American medical drama starring Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House.

Grand Maison Tokyo: A Japanese TV drama about a chef trying to earn three Michelin stars in a French restaurant.

Natsume Arata no Kekkon: A seinen manga by Tarō Nogizaka.

Keina Suda (Balloon): A Japanese singer-songwriter who performed “Mellow,” the opening theme of Skip and Loafer anime.

Nintama Rantaro: A long-running comedic ninja anime for children, known for short episodes and comedic gags.

Moana 2: A hypothetical sequel to Disney’s Moana, not confirmed at the time of this talk.

Kankichi Ryotsu: Protagonist of Kochikame, a long-running comedic police manga by Osamu Akimoto.

Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Festival): A Japanese festival (March 3rd) where families display dolls to wish for the health and happiness of girls.

Maltese-Pomeranian mix: A small-breed dog, known for being fluffy and affectionate.

Nakagawa-ke (Nakagawa Brothers): A comedy duo known for their skits and stand-up.

Mochi-making machine: A small electric appliance that steams rice and pounds it into mochi (rice cakes).

Otoemon: A confectionery (notably making chestnut pound cakes, fruit pound cakes) prized by fans of baked sweets.

Kurobe Gorge Railway: Known for its scenic trolley cars that run through a mountainous area, especially beautiful during autumn.

Masuzushi: A regional specialty of Toyama, a type of pressed sushi made with trout and vinegared rice.

Comic Days App: A digital manga platform in Japan where Skip and Loafer is serialized.

Godiva Warabi-Mochi Chocolate: A limited-edition product from the chocolatier Godiva, combining the textures of warabi-mochi and chocolate.

Furisode: A formal, long-sleeved kimono worn by young, unmarried women in Japan for Coming-of-Age Day.

Noto Peninsula Earthquake: Refers to the earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, in 2023.

Coming-of-Age Day (Seijin no Hi): A Japanese holiday held annually to congratulate those who have newly turned 20.

Monthly Afternoon: A monthly seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha, known for a wide range of genres, including slice-of-life.

“Image Song”: A song that a reader might associate with a manga, character, or scene.

Bonjin Coffee: A coffee shop in Kanazawa.

Oriental Brewing: A craft beer bar in Kanazawa.

[onboardsorasora]

De-Aged Daniel Part 14

I knoooowwww its been so long, please don't hate meee. Also I'm soooo deviating from 'all chapters will be prompts' I just wanted/needed to write something. Ofc I did not reread/edit this...lmao

De-Aged Daniel | De-Aged Daniel Part 13

Max stepped down from the plane onto the bright tarmac, he looked around mentally cursing that he forgot his hat. Little Daniel’s warm weight splayed on his right side. He’d had no intention of bringing him to preseason testing, had hoped that maybe Daniel would have changed back by now. He knew Laurent and Peter had been hoping the same, if the scramble to put Liam in the car at the last minute meant anything.

Either way, Little Daniel was here with him for better or worse. Seb had offered to watch over him for the time but Max had balked at the idea, at the thought of leaving Little Daniel for so long– at the thought of travelling across the world.

Getting the necessary documentation wasn’t that hard and Little Daniel had been excited about the plane. He’d bounced around touching everything and asking a million questions. The flight crew had even taken him into the cockpit and his eyes were wide and dazed when he came out. Max felt like if he hadn’t already imprinted his soul on racing, Little Daniel could potentially want to be a pilot.

He'd tuckered himself out in all of his excitement and was sound asleep in Max's lap by time they landed. Max didn't have the heart to wake him, he would deal with the hyperactive consequences later.

The drive to the hotel was mercifully quick and Little Daniel woke up when he’d gotten all of their things in the room. He looked so tiny sitting on the bed and rubbing at his eyes, Max melted.

“Hey Daniel, did you have a good sleep?”

“Uh huh, no more plane?” Little Daniel looked around the room curiously.

“No more plane. But we see the cars tomorrow. And Charles.”

“Shaaarrllll.” Little Daniel yawned without covering his mouth. 

“Do you want to eat some dinner, and then we can go to sleep and then it’ll be tomorrow.” Max bargained, walking over to the bed. Little Daniel raised his arms up, wanting to be lifted, and Max obliged. 

Dinner was soup because Little Daniel didn’t want to eat anything and Max didn’t want to force him to eat anything heavier. He had to make a pinky promise to take Little Daniel to see Charles in the ferrari garage to get him to eat a bowl. He’d gotten a surge of energy after that and Max watched with a grimace as Little Daniel jumped on the bed higher and higher.

These were the hyperactive consequences of his actions after all. He figured that if Little Daniel exhausted himself again then he would actually go to sleep. It’s worked before.

“MaxyMaxyMaxy” Little Daniel launched himself from the bench at the foot of the bed into Max’s arms, squealing when Max caught him deftly. He wiggled, trying to be put down to no doubt run to do it again. Max tickled him instead and the room was filled with the sound of his glee.

Max internally cheered when Little Daniel yawned big big after another 45 minutes of playing. He marched them into the bathroom for a quick teeth brushing– brushing around the mammoth yawns of course– and then Max tucked Little Daniel into his side and let out a breath of relief when he heard the soft snores.

— - —

“No Daniel, we wait. Statue!” Max called to the gremlin in navy who bolted from the car as if he’d just drank a can of redbull himself. Little Daniel froze in place comically, looking backwards with bright honey eyes to see if Max was watching him be a statue. He grinned cheekily.

Little Daniel had been excited as soon as he woke up. He’d kept a running commentary of all the things he couldn’t wait to see, only stopping when Max had asked him if he wanted to wear his race suit or Ferrari shirt. He’d looked long and hard before mumbling a soft ‘sowy Fewawi, not this time.’

Max texted his victory to Charles.

Max collected Little Daniel’s hand in his free one and together they walked from the parking lot to the paddock entrance. Blake was waiting for them on the other side of the scanners and there was a wall of photographers as well. Max had wanted to put Little Daniel in a disguise, but PR had decided it was better in the long run that they don’t try to hide what was happening. Max didn’t quite agree, because he knew the media was assholes, but he didn’t have much choice.

Hey got to the scanners and Max scanned his pass, Little Daniel looked up at the beeping noise. Max scanned Little Daniel’s pass and lifted him to see his picture come up on the screen. “Das meee!” He squealed happily when Max put him back to stand. They walked through the entrance and Blake slotted on the other side of Little Daniel, creating a small barrier from a few of the photographers.

Little Daniel walked along, happily swinging himself in their arms while looking at the branding and buildings in wonder. He made a face and roared just like the super enlarged photo of Big Him.

“He’s really taking his time, isn’t he?” Blake joked, looked down at the miniature version of his best friend and biggest headache most of the time.

Max smiled fondly, “I, of course, do not mind.”

They walked down the paddock with Little Daniel mumbling the team names he knew, which surprisingly were a lot. Max assumed it was all the races he’d been watching.

“Fewawi! Maxy can we see Shaarrrllll?”

“Of course, Let’s see if he is inside.” Max turned them to walk onto the fake grass of the hospitality entrance and the doors whooshed open silently. Inside was abuzz with conversation, and Charles was chatting animatedly to Carlos by the espresso machine.

“Shaarrlll!!” Little Daniel grinned, launching himself forward. Charles looked over in surprise before his face widened in a smile.

“Daniel!” Charles scooped the navy cannonball into his arms and frowned at the clashing bulls on his chest. He made a face at Max who smirked. Blake rolled his eyes, he wasn’t going to ask– nope.

“I need to check in with Christian, I’ll be back in five minutes– do not put him in red.” Max narrowed his eyes at Charles’ smirk.

“Sure sure, of course I would not.” Charles swore, and waved Max away.

“Daniel, I’ll be right back. I just need to check on my car, ok?” Max patted Little Daniel’s curly head, big brown eyes turned to him.

“Maxy go drive?”

“Not yet, but I have to talk to some people, do you want to stay here with Charles?”

“Shaarrll” Daniel stimmed and nodded his head. 

“Great Daniel! We shall bother Carlos together! He is not very good at games and we will beat him, you and I.”

“Okay!” Daniel perked up at the sound of games.

“I’ll be right back ok?” Max took one long look at Little Daniel and turned to leave the hospitality. If he hurried up he could be back quickly. Blake followed him, essentially waiting for Max’s debrief on the whole situation. Max sighed internally, it was going to be a long morning. 

[pourcap]

thoughts: kr chapter 14

Damen spent two fruitless hours with Nikandros trying to plot a course (...), until Laurent wandered in and outlined a plan so outrageous that Damen had said yes with the feeling that his mind was splitting apart. how much pleasure do you think laurent got out of damen going with his plan instead of nikandros'?

(...) the young, triple-crowned Pallas, Lazar, who had whistled at him, (...) i would like a pallas x lazar spinoff

(...) Damen tried not to think too deeply about the reasons why Laurent thought it necessary to bring a physician. i reread chapter 13 and honestly i wouldn't be surprised if damen was worried about injury while laurent was planning for something else, like jokaste said: "he has his own plans." idk what he's expecting to happen but maybe the 'outrageous plan' and paschal being with them means more? ugh no idea

(...) ‘I see. My wife is the leverage for my good behaviour?’ ‘That’s right,’ said Laurent. is it just me or is easily admitting to something not really characteristic of laurent? i want to know how he said it. was it just "that's right" or was it "that's right" with a glint of "you're so dumb" flickering in his eyes? every chapter i read i think of that one part in book 1 (i think??) where damen tells laurent he doesn't think laurent does anything without ten different motives (that's me paraphrasing obv, i can't remember the exact words :/)

Damen dropped the pitcher. stop

Laurent’s arms were bare. His throat was bare. His collarbone was bare, and most of his thighs, his long legs, and all of his left shoulder. Damen stared at him. horny damen is back!!!! <3333

Laurent sat down. (...) It was even shorter sitting down. he's not even listening, is he?

'Yes. Sorry,’ said Damen. And then: ‘What were you saying?“ lmao i loooove damen so much

They had only twelve soldiers. Twelve-ish, amended Damen, thinking of Paschal and Guion. let me repeat that: i love damen (and his sass)

of course nikandros disagrees. remember when laurent asked damen if he thought nikandros would like him? i guess we all know the answer lol (maybe someday ☻)

'I wish to restate my strong objection,’ said Nikandros. ‘It’s noted,’ said Damen. I LOOOVE DAMEN

Even so, Damen heard himself saying. ‘You can’t just barge in on—’ ‘Open the wagon,’ said the Captain, ignoring him. if only this dude knew who he's really speaking to

also how are they getting out of this lol

Laurent stepped out of the wagon, (...). He said, ‘How did you convince Jokaste to play along with the guards?’ ‘I didn’t,’ said Laurent. no way

He tossed the wad of blue silk in his hands to one of the soldiers to dispose of, then shrugged into his jacket in a rather mannish gesture. IN A RATHER MANNISH GESTURE

laurent is so hot

i'm so sorry but he's literally so hot

"Don't think about it too much,' said Damen. can you believe how far laurent and damen have come? the easy acceptance of each other's personalities, the appreciation for how much they've helped and will continue to help each other by one person making up for what the other lacks, the absence of judgement? and just, in general, how well they know each other by now? i just love them. i love them.

Laurent held out his hand to escort her back from the supply wagon into the main wagon, a bored Veretian gesture. Her eyes had the same bored look as she took his hand. ‘You’re lucky we’re alike,’ she said, stepping down. They looked at one another like two reptiles. i imagine nikandros staring at damen right now and i know exactly what his face would look like

(...) ‘I’ll be swift, and I’ll take our best rider with me.’ ‘That’s me,’ said Laurent, wheeling his horse. i just think they're very sexy

'The undergrowth was thinner when I was a boy.’ ‘Or you were.' stop flirting omg (jk pls go on)

damen constantly thinking about all the nice places he wants to take laurent and the people he wants to introduce him to and the memories he wants to make with him... it's doing things to me. he's so in love. they're so in love. <3

'You left the dress in the wagon,’ said Damen. ‘Thank you, I do have other ways of getting past a sentry.' yay more flirting!

'You’re late,’ said Damen. ‘I brought you a souvenir.’ Laurent tossed Damen an apricot. Damen could feel the quiet exultation of Laurent’s men, while the Akielons looked a little dazed. laurenttttt (i said that with a squeal)

‘Is this how you do things in Vere?’ ‘You mean effectively?’ said Laurent. (...) lauuuureeeennttttt <33333 (he's so cute and i love him and i know damen's competency kink just flared up again but can laurent pls stop needling nikandros lol)

(...) Earlier, Laurent had tossed Damen his bedroll and said, ‘Unpack this,’ and Pallas had almost challenged him to a duel for the insult. (...) imagine if pallas knew even half of all that happened between damen and laurent lol. also it's not like damen is a perfect gentleman but, you know. i appreciate the loyalty (and love pallas)

Damen poured a shallow cup of wine and passed it to the soldier beside him (Pallas), and there was a long silence in which Pallas stood obviously garnering every piece of courage that he had to reach out and take it. damen is so good to his men; i love that he knows pallas meant well, so this is a nice gesture. also, bc it's just impossible to ignore: damen is so hot.

Laurent strolled up to the impasse, threw himself down on the log next to Damen, and in an expressionless voice launched into the story of the brothel adventure that had earned him the blue dress, which was so unabashedly filthy it made Lazar blush, and so funny it had Pallas wiping his eyes. (...) i just got super emotional bc remember when in the beginning of book 2, damen told laurent he needed to bond with his men in a way that wasn't just manipulation and laurent said he didn't have time for that? i love that it's happening now, and has of course been happening for a while, but that laurent is coming more out of his shell and actually enjoying himself now and then.

Pallas did a decent impression of Paschal’s riding. Lazar watched Pallas with lazy admiration. It wasn’t the impression he was admiring. Damen bit into the apricot. 1) i will read all the lazar x pallas fics there are. 2) damen always noticing the soldiers flirting is so funny to me. first jord and aimeric, now these two

laurent and damen lying side by side under the stars ahhhhh

'You smell of horse,’ said Damen. ‘It’s how I got past the dog.' whyyyy am i so emotional? can you believe i'm crying over damen saying laurent smells lol

'You want me wandering around the Akielon countryside naked at night?’ And then, ‘You smell just as much of horse as I do.’ ‘More,’ said Damen. He was smiling. he was smiling !!!! and i am crying now :)

'They’re Artesian. Aren’t they? From the old empire, Artes. They say it used to span both our countries.' bring it back! bring back artes!

Damen heard himself say it. ‘There’s a summer palace in Ios outside the capital. (...)' His pulse beat with uncharacteristic nerves, so that he felt almost shy. ‘When all this is over . . . we could take horses and stay a week in the palace.’ (...) He felt Laurent holding himself carefully, and there was a strange pause. After a moment, Laurent said, softly, ‘I’d like that.’ you know how i just said i was crying? i am sobbing now :) damen and laurent both being shy and cute and in love and full of yearning for peace and happiness 😭 I love them so much 😭

that was such a good chapter :')

[bamsara]

book binding is going well! 753 pages with all 13 chapters. now comes the hard part of going back through all your art so i can add pictures for the chapters. we win these💪

(also side not all of the italics were taken out so now i have to reread every paragraph side by side just to make sure it matches)

(side side note, both chapter 1 and chapter 13’s title end with a ‘.’ but none of the rest do. was this intentional or should i take it off? also some of the chapter names have different rules for capitalization)

I AM SO JEALOUS OF YOU RN. I WANTED TO START BOOKBINDING TODAY TOO AUUUUUUUUUUGH

Oh the punctuation at the end of the chapters aren't important so do with that what you will, same with the capitalization. Sometimes ill just write something a certain way if im feeling that it slaps slkghslkgd

[hi-intrepid-heroes]

tell me more about your vampire academy thoughts!! I used to be obsessed with that series omg

ok SO my friend and i both loved this series when we were like 13 (before we knew each other) and decided to reread it literally 2 chapters at a time and make an in-depth analysis of it. we're like almost halfway through book 5 and our main conclusion is we have SO many questions

our most recent absolutely crackpot idea is 'dimitri is the villain actually'. i mean first things first dating an underage student is simply Not Cool (we both vividly remember thinking '17 and 24 are not that far apart' as teenagers and now we're in our 20s the only thought is ARREST THIS MAN) and the fact that he 1. is literally never punished for it and 2. gets a happily ever after with said student (although when she is an adult) is WILD. like this is a series for TEENAGERS. should we be teaching them it's completely COOL when your teacher wants to date you????? like wtf????

ALSO reading about the way the strigoi are portrayed it seems like the transformation amplifies your worst traits. as a dhampir, dimitri is focused and dedicated. as a strigoi, this turns into sick obsession and a willingness to do literally anything to get what he wants. the scenes where rose is trapped in the strigoi mansion (insane part of the series) are SO dark. the way he talks to her as a strigoi is literally the way an abusive partner talks. it's her fault that he has to get aggressive. it's her fault that they can't be together forever. like he doesn't quite say he's really a nice guy but she won't let him be but he gets PRETTY CLOSE. and also like if strigoi amplify qualities already present in people WHAT does that say about dimitri. was this all just under the surface, only held back by the insane sense of duty instilled in all guardians (something else we have a lot to say about)? how close was he to being this? the fact that he dated a 17-year-old really doesn't speak in his favour here so like? is he not just? a terrible guy?

and then when it's all over, she just ??? gets back together with this man??? and there's no like 'lets talk about you mentally and emotionally torturing me when you were a strigoi'-moment ??? it's all good??? they might have a baby??? call me boring but if a man had done all that shit to me i would not simply live happily ever after with him like girl tf?

[wolfstarshipping]

the marauders & sex ed / casual shoebox propaganda

All the talk about the marauders and sex ed made me nostalgic for the shoebox project, so I reread chapter 13 (the one where Remus has literary wet dreams and they all get "the talk", more or less) and need to share my favorite bits of this classic:

Sirius

"I bought some -- some literature," Mr. Potter continues, shuffling through a few pamphlets in his lap. Pamphlets, Sirius thinks. I will never be able to look this man in the eye again. He isn't even able to look this man in the eye now, staring down at his shoes and wanting, more than anything else, to have the simple life of a shoelace. He'd only ever have to worry about fraying at the edges, or getting chewed on by puppies. That would be the life, even if it didn't have any pudding. "Well," Mr. Potter says, "how does this one sound? It's Perfectly Natural."

James

James knows now he will never, ever have sex. Some day, in the near future, once he has worn Lily down for the second time, and he finds himself locked with her in a passionate embrace, her lips sweet and her hair against his hands, he will remember suddenly and without warning this lone image of his mother, peering down at him from behind thick-rimmed spectacles, her gray hair wild from humidity and chores, saying sexual intercourse! triumphantly. And that will be the end of that.

and of course also:

"You need to be informed." His mother beams at him. "Now, of course, I'm sure you're very curious about all these new feelings you're having, and I want you to know that you needn't be ashamed of any of them, and I want you to ask me some of those burning questions." James gapes at her. "Your parents," she says, "can be a fountain of knowledge about sex in all its many forms." James's brain shuts down completely. After a moment he manages to croak out, "Mum?" "Yes, dear? Don't be afraid to ask the tough questions." "I have to go take a shower." Forever, he adds silently. "You are a little ripe," she agrees. "New glands, of course. Puberty! What a beautiful thing!""I can never speak to you again," James moans hollowly. "I'm going to move to Siberia and become a nun. Thank you, mum, for shaping my life this way.""Dear, I understand you're a little hesitant," his mother says placidly, and kisses him on the forehead before helping herself up to her feet. "But please understand that we -- your father and I -- know from personal experience that sex can and should be one of the world's most beautiful things, and you should never be ashamed of yourself sexually or--" "HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN," James bellows, hurling himself into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Remus

"Your…book," Remus repeats. Oh God, do they know? They couldn't know. Maybe literary dreams are some kind of Lupin family thing, and when they start then you're about to be initiated into the Lupin Family Secret. "I just -- I wanted to look up some, er, dreams." "We know," his father says. He leans across the table, putting a comforting hand on Remus' shoulder. "We just wanted you to know that these dreams happen to everyone." Remus gapes at him, aware that his mouth is unattractively filled with half-chewed peas. "Wh -- they do?" "Of course they do, sweetheart." His mother smiles at him, fond and understanding. The panic rises in Remus's throat. "You see, when you reach a certain age, your body starts to have…certain urges." "No," Remus says quickly. "No urges. There are no urges." "Of course there are," his mother presses, "and they're perfectly normal. It's hormones, you know. A function of the body. Nothing to worry about." "No urges," Remus insists. "No urges." "There's no need to deny it," his mother soothes. "We understand that you must be feeling -- confused, and alone, and possibly intimidated. It is, after all, a new phenomenon. You must be asking questions, like 'What's happening to me?' and 'Am I the only one?' But you aren't alone, dear." "I went through it, myself," his father says, slicing a piece of roast. "No urges," Remus says again. He's forgotten any other words exist. "Now, Remus," Mrs. Lupin says patiently, "we thought that, since you enjoy reading so much, a few books on the subject would prove very useful." "Am I still speaking English?" Remus babbles. "It sounds like English to me. Why aren't you listening? No urges. No urges!" "Well," Mrs. Lupin attempts, "the man at the store suggested this cartoon version for young men. Do you want to take a look?" "Not if it's about urges," Remus says, feeling hysterical. "I get it," his father says, winking largely at him. "No urges. Right? We'll just leave these in the living room. Just in case." Remus stares down at his peas. From now on, he supposes he won't be able to eat peas. He'll forever associate them with this sick, desperate nausea, his mother's helpful expression, his father's demented, lewd wink of conspiratorial understanding. "Ack," Remus says.

Peter

"Peter Wimsley Pettigrew, get your tail down to this room this instant!" Peter scuttles downstairs, not really having any choice in the matter. His mother is glowering at him, holding up something in her hand that looks like…a sock. A very small, rubbery sock. (...) "I don't understand," Peter says numbly. "Socks are supposed to go in the wash. Aren't they?" His mother's lower lip quivers. Her eyes flash with flecks of red fire, demonic and accusatory. Peter shrinks back. "Intercourse!" his mother howls. "It is a filthy practice, riddled with disease! Into the bath, young man! Two hours!" Peter turns tail and runs. "Do you have any idea?" his mother's voice follows him. "The warts -- herpes -- untold infections -- unsanitary -- disgusting -- filthy -- no son of mine--!" Peter slams the door to the bathroom behind him and locks it. It didn't even look like one of his socks. It was too small to be one of his socks. It must have been one of his sister's, got mixed up in the wrong laundry. He's not entirely sure where all this talk of intercourse comes in, and how warts got thrown in the mix, but he doesn't often listen to his mum and secretly encourages dust bunnies as pets, until she takes them away. It isn't as if he has to listen to her. Oh well, Peter thinks, and runs a nice, hot bath.

All quotes are from the shoebox project by dorkorific & ladyjaida.

[bookishjules]

fic writer twenty questions!!!

tagged by the lovely @timelesslords <33 (that's kind of alliteration if you think hard enough hehe) aka an incredible writer who i admire greatly (for which reason i'm linking her version of the post here) <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

28

2. What's your AO3 word count?

103,418

3. What fandoms do you write for?

very primarily percy jackson (i.e. pjo/hoo/toa) and the shadowhunter chronicles

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. Percy to the Rescue (69)

2. A Different Kind of Adventure (54)

3. Napkins and Notebooks (54)

4. Mistletoe (52)

5. The Holiday Market (51)

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

i do! it may take some time (if i get in my head about something lol) but i will always get to them if they elicit a response. i appreciate comments and the people who make them so incredibly much

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

probably Acceptance. it's <900 words but it's the only fic i have flagged with "main character death" so..

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

this is so hard.. prospecitvely i want to say it will be The Shape of the Tide just because of how much of a journey it will take to get us there. but as of right now it might be You, Me, and Nick just because of how damn cozy it is.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i get a lot of "why would you do this" but so far *knocks on wood* no real hate.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

yes. and i have no idea how to answer the second question.. um ig pretty straightforward explicit hetero smut? (so far.. if anything else i could def see myself writing sapphic smut in the future)

10. Do you write cross overs? What's the craziest one you've written?

i have written one (1) crossover. it was a percy jackson/harry potter next gen where the percabeth fam move to the uk and their son gets a letter from hogwarts. i was like 14/15 and gave up two chapters in because i couldn't figure out the conversion rates of american dollars to pounds to wizard money o7 (ftr i would totally write more. it can be so fun to play with characters like that and see how they interact etc.)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

i am far to unknown for that lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no sirr

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, but i would love to

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

es a tie between percabeth (pjo) and sizzy (tsc). (some might determine from observing my blog (or sideblog) that it's actually just sizzy. but (a) i love them in different ways, (b) i don't recieve asks about percabeth, and (c) the scarcity of sizzy fan-content makes my heart act out the economic principle of supply and demand lol)

15. What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever wilI?

ivy.. i would love to see this story completed but unfortunately i no longer ship ghostwriter and even with reshaping the plot to change the endgame, i just don't feel like writing that much about jesse anymore.

16. What are your writing strengths?

i feel like i'm pretty okay at tackling complex emotions? i've also gotten comments on my imagery, voice, and characterizations.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

endings; it's the biggest critique i remember receiving in my college writing classes. i also feel like i have a tendency to get lost in the weeds sometimes, which results in too much narration. also just general confidence.. i get spooked really easily.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

it's fun if it's spanish! but so far that's the only other language i've written dialogue in.. (thank you, leo)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

i actually think it may have been ella enchanted ? it was back on figment.com when i was 13-14 and was for some sort of challenge and i thought like ooh i can connect this with ella! (i was prob in my reading and rereading the book era) but it was super short and barely connected lol

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

gonna take a page out of lexi's book and split this between fandoms hehe

for tsc: Trying. i have found myself sitting at the top of my stairs ready to leave just rereading the first like 5k of this fic way too often. (it's also horribly the longest piece of writing i think i've ever finished. so it holds a special piece of proof to myself in it.. even if its only like 8k)

for pjo: Here Without You. there's an entire fraction of my soul tied up in this fic i swear. i'm never not thinking about it. it's been incredibly cathartic for me to write, both for myself and the characters (incl. calypso who i was not expecting to learn to appreciate/understand as much as i have)

leaving the tag open bc i can't think to save my life rn but! if you write fic and wish to do this, consider this your designated tag <3

[joltai-showa]

ah shit here we go again, let's reread Naruto again

reading it in official English translation for the first time and really have no idea if it's good or not lol (I've been translating MHA for 5 years straight and official English translation from the same company fucking sucks)

chapter 1 is huge as hell, which is normal for Shonen Jump, mangaka needs to introduce the concept and characters and all yada yada

what I find really funny about Naruto is a lot of the stuff is written backwards (meaning, we have some stuff introduced early on, but then more shit is slapped on top) to the point that pre-Shippuden things directly contradict what is going to be stated later. Kishimoto most of the time gave approximately zero shit about things outright not making sense and, y'know, you gotta respect him for that, cause I don't have balls like that

(unfortunately when writing anything canon-compliant in Naruto you have be mindful of things being rewritten and outright not making sense💀)

Anyway enough yapping, very first page is already ripe with shit that is going to be retconneced later

Firstly, description of Kurama's abilities. Naruto's orange puppy certainly can not start tsunamis and landslides with just his tails, lmao, this is something closer to Ten-Tails. If the terrain allows it, sure, I can see him starting a landslide, but orange puppy isn't starting anything in the seas, he's got siblings with lesser number of tails for that haha.

Secondly, the entire second paragraph feels like a fever dream honestly. "Suffering people gathered the shinobi clans to fight this menace" = Konoha was founded as a way to stop the endless tiny conflicts between the shinobi clans living in the Land of Fire (why have small-scale conflicts between each other when you can have literal world wars with the guys from beyond the border lol, jk, I know Hashirama wanted a peaceful future for the kids, but ultimately hidden villages system solves none of the issues of the previous system besides "7 year olds die on the battlefields" because now we have "15 year olds die on the battlefields"), Kurama literally wanted nothing to do with humans (as far as we know) during the warring states period, he was literally frolicking in some meadows and eating weird twins from to-be Kumogakure, got captured by Uchiha "read some mossy stone that my clan carried for years for some reason and went totally delulu" Madara, was used to attack Konoha, got bitch slapped by Hashirama a few times before Mito stuffed him into her stomach. And people are surprised why is the orange puppy so evil most of the manga lmao. But anyway, the entire sentence also implies that Fourth Hokage had some sort of mega-epic showdown with the evil puppy... while in reality it was something closer to Konoha's nuke being stolen by a delusional angry fourteen year old and Minato had to simply recapture the nuke again.

anyway, that was a long-ass rant lol

love the early style, it's so goofy, Kakashi is especially wonky in it

first question: why are we tying up school kids after they are caught for their terrible pranks? what is the educational idea behind this thing? like, i get doing that on the training field, imitating combat and all, but why do the same thing in the classroom? is it supposed to encourage the kids to learn how to run away after being tied down by some ropes?

(if that's the case i guess i know at least one academy student who always failed this task, yeah, looking at you, rin, i'm sorry, i can't hold myself back from bashing that thing, lmao)

anyway, back to the manga, i really love how it mentions that Naruto flunked this exam two times already (and it's not stated how often this exam is, so I guess yearly?), and only graduates at like 13, which is supposed to be a super late age and Naruto is such a lazy bum for that... but then you realize the funny fact that Naruto's classmates aka "genius" Sasuke, "book-smart" Sakura, team Asuma and team Kurenai are all the same age as him. Lmao. This isn't the first time Kishi will forget about this silly thing called "timeline".

let's... not adress this gag.

AHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH.

Naruto, allow me to introduce you to this wonderful concept called "nepotism". It's quite common in your village. Second Hokage was First's younger brother, Third Hokage was the student of the Second, Fourth Hokage is the student of a guy who studied under Third, Fifth is literally both the granddaughter of First and a student of Third, Sixth is the student of Fourth and you, Naruto, is the son of Fourth and the student of Sixth.

I absolutely love how early Naruto is trying to be this story about this poor underdog when in reality our MC is the nepobaby to ever napobaby lol. I think only Iwa beats Konoha at having the most absurdly nepotistic system for Kage, because 3 out of 4 Tsuchikage are directly related to each other through blood and the one guy that isn't happens to be the teacher to Third.

(I do remember there was so bullshit about Kazekage clan or something but I think it's pretty much only a title and only Rasa and Gaara are actually related to each other through blood)

>badge of adulthood

>given to literal 9-13 year olds who can't throw a kunai in a straight line

yeah, you know what, this actually checks out.

you immediately know that mizuki is fucking evil when he says "nah let him pass iruka, he managed to produce a single shitty clone, he's totally not gonna be killed after 30 seconds on the battlefield" like WHAT IS THIS SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

also another good question to the world building: does Konoha have other schools besides Academy? Like, what do kids do if they don't want to pursue military career? Their parents hopefully teach them how to read and count and that's it? I mean, Konoha is a military settlement at the end of the day, but they can't be teaching only guys who will be throwing knives at each other?

absolutely nothing, naruto, lmao. you were born a nepobaby, prepare to have an endless supply of chakra for any tricks of yours and the best senseis Konoha has to offer.

is the Hokage building supposed to be their residence as well? huh.

also let's not talk about this gag.

comically large kurama jpeg

[plothooksinc]

For the WIP meme: 🗣️ 📄 ❔ 🤔

🗣️Talk about your favourite WIP

This is actually super hard. Like I love all my WIPs! (Nobody ask me which WIP I hate b/c the answer is "lol none"). Picking a favourite... well, Infinite Ricochet is the easiest to write currently and I'm looking forward to making readers scream dropping the actual plot, but.

But.

I just finished a reread of The Zaibatsu Project and honestly, cyberpunk samurai? I have so much going on in this and I'm proud of myself for taking a bunch of 19th century characters and going "nope you're all from 2029 now" and realising just how much plot I had on the go and that, actually, the last chapter I put up wasn't so terrible or poorly received after all (and I'm struggling to work out why I ever thought that.) It reminded me where I was going with it and I am very encouraged, and it is by far my most ambitious WIP and if Watsuki hadn't taken a sledgehammer to everyone's motivation to do anything with the Ruroken fandom I might actually write this a lot faster than, uh, one chapter every three years '_' Anyway, yes. Cyberpunk samurai, choc full of The Cure references, chess references, and conspiracy theories that drove people nuts on LJ back in the day back when I was writing it in serial installments. <3

📄What’s a WIP you never finished that you would like to go back and revisit?

All of them. But as I've been asked this one multiple times, let's go with Snowblind. It's the closest to being finished out of all of them, and the last time I updated I got a reviewer in her 70s going "Please don't take another 13 years to update, I probably wont' be here to read it," sob. So I whittle away some time on this one. (On them all, actually. While I'm focused mostly on Infinite Ricochet, I have indeed written 1-2 pages on everything else on my way through.)

❔Choose a random WIP and talk about it.

Infinite Ricochet, unlike its predecessor, is a sprawling take-your-time fic wherein there is a plot and I'm slowly going to keep ratcheting up the tension until people are screaming on the rollercoaster all the way down, but I wanna take time to explore relationships along the way. Like I set up certain dynamics in NRFTW that I want to play with. Literally reconstructed one of the main characters. Gave them all even more trauma! I sort of left off with one open plot thread on NRFTW deliberately which could have been left open ended, but then I thought of a bunch of other stuff and went "...hey, what if." And it's messy. It's so messy here at the start because I'm trying to lay the foundations for everything that comes later, and there's a lot that comes later. So sometimes I'm like "...is this scene really necessary" but also "no I can't jump straight to the plot because pacing let's let them breathe first" but also "oh god, the characters are talking again and I can't get them to shut up." And then trying to get from these personality/foundation-laying scenes to pick up speed with actual plot relevant stuff is surprisingly hard?

My outline for Infinite Ricochet is 8000 words long. And it's only two thirds of the fic, because at that point I went "...and by the time I get to this point the plot will look entirely different" so I stopped. Safe to say I have a lot planned. And if I can get it to work I (and hopefully everyone else) will have so much fun (for a given definition of fun), but it feels a little right now like trying to herd cats so. Wish me luck. 8|

🤔Do you have an WIPs where you wish you had chosen a different fandom/character?

Nope! I'm not a hugely prolific writer, so any time I do start publishing a fic I've already thought long and hard about my choices. Places, everyone.

Thank you!

WIP meme questions here.

[bbcphile]

3, 13, 17, and 29?

Thanks for the ask, @deathdefyinglifeleaps!

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Hmm. I think it's "What's Sealed Away" (MLC). I was really proud of how I fleshed out what the show gave us about how a-Fei's amnesia works with aspects of my own lived experiences of having amnesia and tried to answer some questions that the show (possibly unintentionally) raised with some character decisions that happen later in that arc. I'm really pleased with the emotional range it covered and I really love the voice I used for it. There are some more lyrical passages from it that I sometimes go back and reread if I need reminders that I do in fact know how to write, no matter what my brain tells me. :D

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

Hah. 😅 Ummmmm. *nervous laughter * A lot. So much. So, whenever I write for a new fandom, I make a document where I write particularly characteristic lines of dialogue (and translate some of the lines myself if I feel like the translation is obscuring something), make note of what sorts of things they ask as questions vs state as assertions, how they express different types of emotions verbally, physically, etc. Basically, trying to capture a full model of them so that when I plot things and write dialogue, I can reference what they've done in the show and then make sure what I'm doing is in keeping with the show, or if it's different, then make sure that the differences are justified by something else that's happened in my fic.

When it comes to actually writing fic itself, I first do a really detailed outline that will have some chunks of dialogue as a part of it, but will mainly focus on the main scenes/beats that are the meat of the story: for a shorter fic, it's basically a very sloppy first draft and it includes emotional beats, choreography/blocking, internal monologue, etc. If it's a multi-chaptered fic, then I do an outline for the whole thing, then a detailed outline like I described above for each chapter. I'll also usually do a character outline to look at the growth or emotional trajectory I want to cover to make sure the pacing makes sense and that the things in my plot outline are showcasing the character-specific themes I'm invested in. Once I have my outlines, I'll do a fleshed out version of what I wrote there, and it usually takes 3-4 drafts before it's something I'm happy with (sometimes they are VERY different from each other and from the original draft and have involved TONS of rewriting.)

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

I researched the Drury Lane theater for a Hornblower fic; specifically, when its renovations happened, what the renovations included, what shows were done in which year, what concessions would be served, etc., so I could write a fic where Archie drags Horatio to see his first Shakespeare play. :D

Oh, and I spent SO MANY HOURS with Google Street maps to research Greenwich for Harboured and Encompassed; I especially spent ages watching videos and images of the Emerites Air Line (now the IFS Cloud Cable Car) for That One Scene. I was a little embarrassed to discover when I actually got to go on it several years later that they couldn't have escaped it the way I wrote it, but oh well! AU where the support pillars double as emergency exits! :D

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic.

I feel like most of my followers wouldn't be very interested in the scene I was contemplating sharing from the sequel to Harboured and Encompassed, so I guess I'll bend the rules a little and share an alternate version of an argument in a chapter that will be included in my long MLC fic (although it goes in a different direction so it doesn't include these lines):

Di Feisheng’s hands shook so hard Dao rattled in its scabbard. “This whole time, you thought I would kill you for a rematch?” Xiangyi scratched a spot near the bridge of his nose. “Not . . . the whole time,” he countered. “Just . . . some of it.” “Li Xiangyi!” he shouted, just barely keeping his voice steady. “I told you multiple times I wanted you to live!” “When you didn’t have your memories!” Xiangyi yelled. “That doesn’t count!” If Xiangyi didn’t believe he wanted him to live while he had amnesia, and he wouldn’t have changed his mind during the time he was pretending to work for Shan Gudao, then that meant– Oh. Oh gods, no. He swallowed until he was sure he could open his mouth without being sick all over the bed, took a long, slow breath that caught and snagged on every rib, and forced himself to look him in the eye. “Li Xiangyi,” he said, his voice shaking as hard as his hands, “When we drank wedding wine and fucked in the newly wed suite, tell me you didn’t still think I planned to kill you!”

[emeraldhazeart]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you so much for the tag @hikamaus 💚 This looks really fun.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

At this moment, I have 32 works on Ao3 (most of them oneshots)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

At the time of posting this, it's 146,576, but I'm very close to posting the next chapter of Solace

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Undertale right now, but I also occasionally write for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons and Sonic the Hedgehog

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Leaving a Mark

2. Robin's Nest

3. Solace

4. In Your Corner

5. Riding Therapy

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

I love responding to comments! Even if it's just an emoji, I try to say thank you in reply, so they know I appreciate them taking the time to leave a comment.

I know there are some comments that I haven't gotten round to responding to, and those haunt me. Please know that it's either because I don't have the spoons at this moment, or because it's been so long that I'm shy about replying. But I genuinely do appreciate each and every comment I receive. 💚

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably No Man's Land (which also happened to be my first Undertale fic)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I've got to say Photograph for that one. It still brings tears to my eyes rereading it, but they're happy tears.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No one has said anything directly to me, but I did stumble upon a comment someone left elsewhere saying that one of my fics wasn't their thing because they "[didn't] like how the story is being told".

That really hurt at the time, especially as there was no other context as to why they felt that way. But my friends gave me encouragement and support.

Please be aware that anything you say online can eventually find it's way to the author, so please be kind.

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

I don't, sorry.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Not really. I've written crossovers featuring characters from separate games in the same franchise before, but nothing that spans entirely different franchises

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I would be delighted if anyone enjoyed my work enough to want to translate it

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I would love to 💚

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Do Canon Character x Reader stories count? No?

Hmm... I can't think of any that would be my OTP. I generally prefer familial/platonic relationships, tbh

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

None of my WIPs are abandoned. But probably most of the original stories I've started and then never finished over the years. It's just much harder for me to maintain motivation when I don't have anyone reading my work and cheering me on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've always loved painting a scene or an emotion with words.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oof, so many 😅 one thing I struggle with is wanting to post what I've written straight away. Sometimes that can work, like freshly baked bread. But most of the time it's like a plain cake: it needs time to cool, and then be assembled/decorated/finished in order to get the best experience from it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'd only do it if I was totally confident that I'd gotten it right. A common or short phrase would be my limit otherwise. If I really wanted to write dialogue in another language, I'd ask someone fluent in the language to help me with the translation and proof read my work.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I think it was actually Legend of Zelda. I was about 12, and my brother, his friend and I made ourselves LoZ Ocarina of Time OCs. We started writing a fic of them, but never got very far.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Probably Photograph. I'm a sucker for a moving reunion scene, and that fic genuinely brought tears to my eyes as I was writing it.

No pressure tags (I'm going to try to avoid tagging anyone that @/hikamaus already tagged 😅) : @sneakyfox55 @hannah-heartstrings @lizzie-tempest @robanilla @thebeckster and anyone else that would like to have a go 💚

[nerdkiller]

4, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20 & 24 for the end of year book-ask ^^

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

The first would be my dearest Mimi B)

Elena Ferrante; I liked The Lying Life of Adults and now I'm in the process of reading My Brilliant Friend :]

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Julie Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic... It's about Japanese women who immigrated to the U.S. before WW2 as mail-order brides to Japanese men living in the U.S., who then got sent to internment camps. The lasting impression it gave was that the Japanese were the perfect victims for internment which is perhaps quite cruel, but the book itself is quite cruel. I think it's interesting as a choice to show such an intimate birds-eye view of an entire generation of Japanese women, their lives, their families, etc. while still homogenizing them in the collective we, and then finishing off with their disappearance from American public life, told by the white people around them... It's an indictment of how we have viewed Japanese immigrants that led them to be so easily scapegoated. But I couldn't help but feel bitter when so often the sentiment was expressed that the Japanese were better immigrants than the Chinese, so much quieter and polite and easier for their white neighbors to digest, and well now those white people will be sorry that they're gone... Sometimes it felt too much like it was just seeking pity from those same white avatars in the final chapter, which left a sour taste in my mouth. Maybe it's an indictment of that particular generation who really ought to be pitied by the rest of us for not knowing the extent of American cruelty, but I wouldn't know.

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

I had to reread a lot of canonical texts and YA lit for my courses so some of them make it onto this list. Others I had the fortune to encounter organically lol.

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang: I hate it when people talk about cultural appropriation

George Orwell's 1984: It's one of those books that have left a huge mark on culture globally so you can't not respect it. Yet I can't get over the yap fest Orwell goes on when Winston Smith is reading from Goldstein's book. I feel like it's one of those things that you can only undergo once and then afterwards once you already know the point there's no desire to go through it again

Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War: What even was this

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother: Pissed me off in both legitimate ways (kids are treated like acceptable victims of state surveillance and don't have rights to privacy and it is genuinely evil how culturally acceptable that is) and in illegitimate ways (poor writing, boring female characters, kind of racist white savior attitude)

Cormac McCarthy's The Road: I wanted to read Blood Meridian actually

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

I didn't read anything newer than 2022 actually. I'm a late adopter to everything

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

I don't know because I don't follow book trends on social media which is how I interpret "hype"

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

The Cement Garden by Ian McEwan... I mean, I loved Atonement, but that was the only book I've read by that author, so I wasn't necessarily expecting to love or hate this one. One of those where you go "wtf wtf wtf" and have to sit there in the dark after you finish it in 1 sitting (it's also quite short).

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Again I don't keep up with new releases I just read whatever. Friend/mutual recommendations, librarian recommendations in Libby, or going down a rabbit hole online, that's how I find my books. I'm the worst (ex) English major ever

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Agustina Bazterrica's Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird because some of the short stories were so boring. I can't find anything intelligent to say about it because I have forgotten it entirely.