#There's literally a whole fanfic in my head about this but I simply don't have time to write it

[starlightvld]

Bait & Switch, pt. 1

Part 2 >>

Based on "I wasn't in that tunnel."

Call of Duty, implied soapghost, hopeful ending cw: torture, angst, MWIII spoilers

---

Soap turns hazy, unfocused eyes toward the screen and watches the man with his face run down the tunnels under the English Channel. The man shoots at Konni soldiers, ferocity and desperation painted over every twitch of his brows and silent shout from his lips. 

It all seems so real.

But it can't be. It's not.

He watches Price and the man with his face cut through the enemy. Watches them attempt to disarm the bomb.

Watches Marakov approach.

Their bodies jerk in succession as Makarov's bullets rip through them both. They hit the ground, and sympathetic pain throbs through Soap's shoulder. 

He shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut. Not his wound. Not him. Just a man with his face bleeding onto dirty concrete on the other side of a black and white screen.

Makarov goes after Price. The man with Soap's face rises up to stab Makarov and–

Makarov blows a hole through the man's head.

It's surreal to watch his own face go blank. To watch the life drain from wide eyes within seconds. To see the others barely pause. Only standing beside the body for a few moments before continuing on because they have a fucking job to do. No time to pause and mourn the perpetual FNG.

Except for Ghost.

Soap's vision darkens on his right side, and he blinks away the sweat or blood – could be either or both but he's too numb to care – as Ghost falls to his knees beside the body of the man with Soap's face. The CCTV cameras are too shitty to see his eyes as he gazes down at the body leaking blood across the floor, but Soap hopes.

Hopes there's real emotion there. Hopes even more that Ghost finally sees it – finally sees that the dead man whose chest he's so tenderly pressing with his hand isn't his *Johnny.*

This time the watery blur appears in both eyes, and he doesn't bother to blink it away. Because he's seen all this before, and it never changes.

The door behind him opens, but he keeps his focus on the screen. He watches his former teammates leave the body behind in their desperation to follow Makarov.

But they won't find him. Soap knows because he recognizes the footsteps behind him as easily as he once recognized Ghost's.

Ghost, who made his gait purposefully distinct to alert Soap to his presence before slipping into Soap's bed late at night and who murmured soft words in his ear, words no one would ever believe the hardened man would say out loud. But he did. He said them to Soap as he took him apart piece by piece like he would a favorite gun, slow and deliberate, before putting him back together with love and care.

A hand slides into his long, filthy hair. Soap braces for the pain, and Makarov doesn't disappoint as he yanks Soap's head back.

"Enjoying the show?"

Soap doesn't respond. He never does, though it enrages Makarov.

On the screen, soldiers fill the tunnel, taking up the space won back by the 141. They set up a perimeter around the bomb.

The dead man remains sprawled on the ground, lifeless and forgotten.

"Look how they just left you behind. Left you to be picked up and brought here to wallow in misery."

A surge of anger burns through him—

But.

No. That's not right. Soap was never in that tunnel.

He's been in this cold, dark room since the mission in Siberia, taken down by a bullet and dragged away before he could radio for help. He has no idea how long he's been here, but he's endured every kind of torture: electrocution, waterboarding, frostbite, knives, pliers, hot pokers, and more. His body is a canvas of scars and burns

Through it all, he held on to his faith with ragged, broken fingers, with bloody teeth sunk into the promise of hope, that his team would find him. That *Ghost* would find him, rescue him from this hell, and wreak havoc on their enemies.

Until Makarov showed him why no one had come for him. Why no one will ever come for him.

A knife flashes in front of his eyes, fluorescent light reflecting off silver. Soap's voice grates through the air like steel against steel.

"Who was he?"

Makarov lets go of his hair, leaving behind a dull throb of residual pain, and rounds the chair Soap is tied to, hands on his hips and a sadistic glint in his eye.

"Him? Oh, just someone who got confused about his role in this lovely little play. Perhaps the serum was a bit too effective at turning him into you, disgusting loyalty and all, hmmm?"

Serum.

Memories resurface slowly. He's had this conversation with Makarov before. A sliver of panic bleeds into his numbness.

Christ have mercy. He's fucking losing it. How long before he stops remembering? How long before he becomes a shell of himself?

Maybe it doesn't matter. After all, no one is coming for him.

When Soap doesn't say anything more, Makarov's glee sours into a frown. The blade flashes in front of his blurred vision once more before pressing against his neck.

"I admit I thought you would be easier to break. You seemed so obedient in Verdansk. You could've ended me, but instead you followed orders like a good little soldier. And here you are."

The knife digs in, but pain is a familiar friend he's learned to ignore. When Soap doesn't react, Makarov sighs.

"I suppose if you won't break on your own, it's time to get experimental."

He brings out a syringe and holds it up as if considering his next action. The liquid inside glows a sickly yellow green, and Soap's stomach churns at the thought of what new pain this torture it might bring. Because he knows Makarov's pause is just for show. There is no escape.

The gleeful grin returns as he jabs the needle into Soap's neck in the same spot he'd just cut him open. The liquid is brutally cold as it enters his blood stream, his muscles seizing from the rapid temperature change.

WIthin seconds, Soap's world tilts sideways. His eyes blur yet again. He blinks and blinks, but the room goes softer with every passing second. His muscles relax, and he slumps forward in his chair, the bonds securing his wrists behind him cutting into his skin, though he can't feel it anymore.

Makarov sounds like he's underwater when he speaks. "Good. Let us begin."

Blackness takes him.

---

When Soap wakes, he's no longer in a dark, cold room. Through the broken out window of his full helmet, he sees strange buildings rising up into a swath of blue sky. Giddiness that borders on panic wells up in his chest.

He's outside. He made it outside. Did he escape? He doesn't remember.

His gaze falls, and the world stops.

He's surrounded by rivers of blood, knife in hand. His heart pounds like he's dying.

And on the ground lies a Ghost, splayed out like a sacrifice, bloodied and beaten and looking up at Soap like he's seen God.

"Johnny?"

Part 2 >>

[fraisaa]

I don't think anyone understands my love for kiribaku, idk how many times i have talked about this but i've been obsessed with them since 2019. They've been living in my head rent-free for the past 6 years and no matter how many months i go by without consuming absolutely everything i find about them i always come back to bnha JUST for them.

They literally represent everything i love in a romantic relationship or even a platonic one if that's what you prefer (personally, i prefer them in a romantic light but i 100% understand if you see them more on the platonic side).

Bakugo who's explosive and has a tendency to be aggressive even if he means well and Kirishima who's calmer in a way but still aggressive if needed, sort of like the calming drought for Bakugo??

And the way he absolutely and wholeheartedly wants to understand Bakugo and is there for him no matter what, the way Bakugo trusts Kirishima completely out of everyone? I just love them so fucking much oh my god.

The whole friends to lovers trop with no toxicity (i absolutely despise romantic relationships where one of them was toxic to the othe beforehand) and just the build-up and feelings realisation and all?? I just eat it up every time..

And i'm not gonna lie, this doesn't even scratch the surface of my love for them or the depth of their relationship I'm just simply not a writer, i dont know how to put everything that goes on in my mind about them into words but they literally consume my whole being.

My world has revolved around them ever since i had an inkling of what shipping meant back then. I love love love their fanarts, their fanfics, everything about them just makes me so happy every single time i can not get enough of them.

They're literally the cutest and I love them so much, they just mean so much to me idek what i'm rambling about atp.

[floweryrkive]

with you ? always.

a huh yunjin drabble !

genre : fluff, a tad bit of angst.

pairing : idol!yunjin x non!idol! bodyguard!gn!reader, established (secret from everyone) relationship.

warnings : none that I can think of but lmk if I missed anything !

author's note : ah this was going thru my brain so bad that I ended up making another whole blog to upload gg fanfics 😭 the lack of yunjin fics at times is so sad :") anyways enjoy and lmk what you think !

word count : 2.2k

The arena was filled with loud cheering, bright lights and very, very many people yet the one who you wanted to see seemed to not be visible at all.

It was the end of another successful concert, the girls' final greetings having been done and the arena going dark to let them come backstage.

You'd been at the back as well, staring in awe at the way they performed more specifically at the way she did. You don't think you once even looked at anyone else, though you knew and appreciated how hard they all worked but she was, well for you at least, different.

You were head over heels in love with the woman, you'd literally go and pluck the stars from the night sky or go in the deepest of oceans to find the shiniest pearl if she even simply asked you for it.

Huh Yunjin.

And by some miracle you think, she loves you too. Not that you weren't someone who didn't deserve her. You had your own accomplishments which ultimately led you to working as her personal bodyguard.

Though you were pretty sure if someone told you ,a few months ago, that you'd be in a relationship with said woman, you'd probably have punched them for making such an awful joke.

You didn't get on the right foot. Her being stubborn and not wanting a bodyguard to follow her around even if she wants to go to a simple trip to the store while you were just trying to do your job.

She acted like a menace that time but that's a another story for another time.

For now, you just wanted to check up on her. And as though the universe favoured you for the first time in a while, but you do think it did favour you when you somehow ended up with her, you spot her making her way after all the other girls walked in.

Her hair was slightly tousled, sweat covering her forehead and her face all red from performing but you still find her the most beautiful woman you'd ever laid your eyes on.

She seemed to look around for someone, and a small grin made its way on your face, realising she might be looking for you.

Her stylists and the crew were already helping the girls out by giving them water bottles and towels, she seemed to promptly ignore them as she still searched around.

You shook your head when she declined a water bottle and moved your hand to grab one from the person passing them around.

Once you looked up, before you could even call her, she spotted you and maybe it was the lights in the room but her eyes seemed to brighten up even more than they usually were.

You gulped as you realised just how much you loved to see her look at you like that, thinking about what you'd do if it ever disappeared.

She sprinted across the room and stood in front of you. You had to tilt your head slightly down as she was shorter than you. You bit your lower lip to prevent a grin from forming on your face as you saw the same excitement glow on her face each time she seemed around you.

"Hi." She breathed out as a smile formed on her face and you couldn't control your own chuckle as you shook your head.

"Hello." You said with your hands behind your back still holding the water bottle. You looked around briefly, noticing how the busy crew was tending to other matters, leaving Yunjin to her since she didn't seem like she needed anything at the moment.

Well not anything they would be able to provide because what she really wanted was who stood in front of her.

"So what did you think of the performance?!" Her cheery voice brought your attention back to her as she put her hands to her side, clenching her fists as though she was nervous and excited. But also to control herself from throwing herself at you like she sometimes would.

Being the observer you were, you knew she was out of breath seeing her chest rise and fall in quick breaths so you put your hand in front, prompting her to take the water bottle.

"Drink some water first bab— Miss." You coughed out before the nickname slipped, her eyes blinking when she recalled where she was.

"R-right! Water! Yes, uhm thank you." She grabbed the bottle, trying to open it but her hands were sweaty and the condensation on the bottle seemed to have made it slippery too.

"Here." You grabbed her hand and took the bottle back, opening the cap, and handing it back to her.

"Thank you!" She smiled at you as she gulped down a sip, almost moaning in relief as the coolness calmed her throat and mind.

Checking your surroundings, you made sure no one was paying attention before you, leaned in closer to her, just a little forward to not seem suspicious but also only say something she could hear.

"Anything for you, baby." You whispered sweetly as though it was the most normal thing, and it was but not at that time.

You stood straight in time to see her choke, and your eyes widened reaching for her water bottle as you briefly went beside her to pat her on the back.

"Wh-what did you—" Once her coughing stopped, she looked at you while glaring but you could see her cheeks turn pink.

"What? I said nothing." You shrugged innocently, as you put your hands to your side now standing beside her.

"You-!"

"Unnie?" Eunchae came up in front of you, calling Yunjin who was flustered and glaring at you.

"We're going back to the hotel and probably planning to eat out, joining?" She eyes you two, in suspicion but you just looked blankly, looking away from them.

Yunjing thought about it for a second though, because what she really wanted was to spend her time with you now. She was exhausted and didn't feel like going out, just wanted you to hold her until her world was just the scent of your cologne and warm arms around her.

Sighing, she just nodded, trying not to look too disappointed by how her plans seemed to go differently.

"Yeah, yeah, fine." Her tone sounded off but Eunchae figured it was likely exhaustion.

"Alright we'll be in the van!" She happily smiled at you both to which you returned a small grin and Yunjin waved her hand.

"Come on, let's go, they're waiting." You told her as you looked towards the exit door.

"But I wanted to just…nevermind yes let's go!" She shook her head, not finishing her train of thoughts as she moved forward, you trailing behind her in slight confusion as to what her sentence was going to be.

And with that you followed her out to where the van was and greeted the others as you pulled open the door for her.

The night went smoothly after that, having been told you could go on your own after you dropped off the girls at the restaurant, being reassured you weren't needed because it was just below the hotel and there were the other bodyguards there too.

But it took everything in you to not go and hug her when you were saying your farewell for the day, the disappointment and sadness that glimmered before appearing again.

Why was it so hard to just spend time with you?

She was quick to cover it, her smile, the one that was definitely not genuine, on her face as she waved her goodbye to you. She didn't even mouth anything to you, like she usually would when you'd leave and you knew there was something up.

Being the best partner you thrived to be, you got back to the hotel, to your room, changed into comfy grey sweatpants and a sweatshirt while putting on another layer of a black jacket, put on your cap and went about.

It was difficult though. To find a flower shop open at this hour but lucky for you, there was one downtown that sat in a quiet corner. You made your way there and scanned the variety of flowers, the middle aged woman greeting you while you politely greeted her.

Finally settling for a combo of red and white tulips, you got a bouquet made and quickly made your way back to the hotel so as to not seem like some sort of creep. You'd hidden the flowers in a paper bag that the lady gave you and it was better to hide them that way.

Going back to your room, you made sure you looked decent enough, threw the paper bag on your bedside table and got out of your room.

Lucky for you, both yours and her room were near each other. The privilege of a personal bodyguard you suppose. She messaged you a few minutes ago that they were back and she was headed towards her room.

Her last message to you read,

'goodnight :( miss u <3'

It was only two minutes ago, so you doubt she'd be asleep as you stood in front of her door.

You looked down to prevent your face from being visible, scanning the hallway to make sure no else was there before you knocked on the door.

You could hear some shuffling and then it was quiet for a moment before you saw the doorknob turn.

Yunjin was very confused when she saw someone hiding behind a bouquet of flowers, her brain being a little slow in processing due to her exhaustion but also distraction.

You moved the flowers beside your face, her coming into view now before you grinned at her,

"Hi." She had to blink once, she blinked twice and her mouth fell agape.

"Firstly, these are for you. I don't think I told you about your performance, like you were incredible as always and I just felt like bringing you these to show you since I'm not really good with words and—oomph!" You yelped when she leaped forward and into your somewhat open arms. You quickly put one hand around her waist to stabilise her and yourself while holding the bouquet in the other.

Her head buried itself in the crook of your shoulders as her arms wrapped around your neck. She felt a low vibration from your chest indicating you laughing,

"Seems like my surprise is appreciated."

"Come on love, let's head inside yeah?" She just mumbled in agreement as you slowly walked inside. She moved backwards as you guided her by her waist, careful to not bump into the door.

Placing the bouquet near a table by the entrance, you kicked the door closed as you wrapped your moved your hand to close the lock.

Finally you wrapped your arm fully around her as you continued to stay standing, just in each other's embrace. "Honey, is everything fine? Tell me, is there something bothering you?"

"Just…just you. Missed you. Wanted you." She whispered to you so softly, it made you feel the kind of warmth you do when the sun touches your skin on a cold day. It wasn't too far off anyways considering she was your sun, the brightest star in the sky.

"Well you have me now, want to get more comfy love?" Your hand automatically reached for her head and gently caressed her soft hair. She hummed in both agreement and relief as her previous thoughts of not being able to see you went away.

All she knew in that moment was the smell of your homely cologne, the familiar musky sandalwood and the way you engulfed her form in your arms.

She didn't even realise you were both lying down on the bed until she looked up to see you staring back at her. "Good?" Your voice was low making it sound slightly deeper than usual. Just the tone she secretly loved.

There you both laid, your arms around her body and hers around your shoulders, legs somewhat tangled as she looked up at you and gently grinned.

She nodded as you moved your hand up to her cheek, thumb caressing it as you leaned down.

You kissed her forehead as she shut her eyes, you then moved to her right eye, softly pressing your lips and the same to the other. You pecked her nose before finally settling on a longer peck on the lips.

When you pulled back, she made a noise of protest, which had you giggling at her, "What?" You teasingly asked, "More." and before you could tease her more she moved her hand and grabbed you by your jacket collar, promptly pressing your lips against her soft ones.

It was slow and nothing more, allowing you to taste the strawberry lip gloss she'd put on, the one she knew was your favourite, just happy to be with each other after rarely being able to see each other. You smiled into the kiss as she pushed herself more into you.

With the need of oxygen, you both pulled away from each other, her eyes hazy while yours were similar, her cheeks being pinker than usual and you certainly felt your own burning up.

"Feeling better?" She bit her lip before leaning in to brush her nose against yours before whispering three words that made you grin in delight,

"With you? Always."

all written works as well as images and edits (unless credited) belong to pri. do not plagiarise, repost, re-edit or claim as yours. pics mostly found on pinterest.

feedback is always appreciated 💌

floweryrkive © 2023

[the-writing-mobster]

Because I constantly get hate for WDYW Chapter 49,

(I get it, it's polarizing) allow me to like,,, explain why I went with the plot point? I don't really owe anyone an explanation, and literally fuck any of my haters, they're ants, but I think my readers/people who actually like my writing would like to know the lore behind my choices.

So, context, in chapter 49, Frisk is drugged into obedience by Muffet and Muffet, being the money hungry cunt that she is, sells Frisk's body on the black market. It's a really uncomfortable concept, and when it happened it caused a lot of readers to drop the fic or rant at me in the comments, talk shit about my fic in private forums behind my back, or even imply a bunch of horrible things about me as a person lmao.

So why did I decide to go with this plot?

Well, for one, it all stems from two books: The Hunger Games, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins and the Empress by S.J Kincaid.

In both of these books, there is a pivotal character who is drugged, manipulated and used for political gain by a dastardly authority figure. In The Empress, this plot point was ESPECIALLY devastating, because it completely changed and corrupted the character into a horrific shell of their old self to where they were actively antagonistic and irredeemable!

This plot device has intrigued and fascinated me ever since. Drugging a protagonist to make them wholly dependent on their abuser/villain, manipulating them, having them at rock bottom is, in my opinion, one of the worst things that can happen to a character... And seeing how the character can overcome it is the greatest triumph!

Ever since reading these books, this plot device has buzzed in the back of my mind and there is a part of me that always tries to recreate it, but I can never come close to perfecting it.

Either I always miss on the addiction part of the manipulation, or I can never commit truly to character corruption. Either way, the closest I've ever gotten to scratching this itch has been in WDYW part 3, but even then, I barely came close to getting it right.

My second reason for choosing the route; In WDYW, Frisk's whole arc is about having control over her own agency/autonomy/fate. What happens to her in Part 3 is the culmination of everything she's ran away from, fought against, and her greatest nightmare come to life. It was the lowest point I could bring her character, and make her face her past demons in a horrifically evil way. But my plan had obviously been that despite all of the torture she survives, that she not only survives but fucking WINS!

That was the whole point, but when I wrote it I was like,,, 17/18 😅, so there was definitely things I wasn't as graceful about.

With that said, would I change anything? Yes. If I could change anything I wrote about part 3, I would do a couple things:

1. Take out that obedience spell Muffet puts on Frisk. The reason I made that was because it was like a catch all spell to keep Frisk in Muffets clutches? But it was pretty OP and seemed like a hand wavey excuse to brush aside plot holes. I should've just simplified the spell to where she was simply tethered to Muffet's soul so Sans couldn't kill Muffet, or teleport Frisk away.

2. Frisk's "obedience" to Muffet should've been entirely addiction based, which would make the plot point of Frisk using determination to burn out her addiction in Part 4, and then eventually Determination becomes the addiction instead, (because overcoming addiction is really fucking hard actually and a constant struggle) a lot stronger.

3. I would probably be much more careful with my word choice in chapter 49. Some of it comes off as sexualization. Not my intention, but it was because I was writing in the creepy photographer's pov and he was objectifying her. In my head I was like, "surely people can read between the lines right???" (They can't. Only a select few fanfic readers have media literacy apparently)

So, TLDR, No chapter 49 was not some author's barely disguised fetish (that's honestly a really gross way to think about my writing and about me as a person) it was my genuine worst nightmare as a woman, and one of my favorite plot devices from two of my favorite books 😭 Please lay off me about chapter 49, and Part 3.

Last but not least... Some art is meant to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed.

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[maleficore]

Daydreaming bg3 scenarios is my full time job at this point and I've had this phenomenal idea on my walk the other day. It's not really a headcanon since it has little basis in canon and directly contradicts some game events and plays with the lore like it's play-doh so more of a AU/fanfic idea, but...

It always struck me as inaccurate for Durge to be referred to as a "Bhaalspawn" since they're literally a PART of Bhaal made into a separate person in an act of (very confusing) divine creation and it really downplays just how powerful and dangerous they are. Especially since I fully subscribe to the idea that Durge is NOT a mortal, but that's simply not in the game due to just how OP it would be to play an unkillable Dame Aylin-esque character and the definition of a Bhaalspawn is "mortal offspring of the dead god Bhaal". So what the hell are they?

The Slayer. Or at least they're a direct vessel for it, more like.

No, really. Hear me out. Have you noticed how Gortash refers to Orin as "The Slayer" in that bit of dialogue when she puts a dagger to Ketheric throat? Except she's not? Not yet at least because the dialogue does not change depending on if you're still the one who has Bhaal's favour or not and she doesn't get it until you piss of Dad enough for him to go "fine have it your way, ungrateful brat". Plus I don't think The Slayer has been used as a shorthand for "Chosen of Bhaal" anywhere else sooo... Does he assume it's a feature of the position since he knew Durge had command over the form before their disappearance?

That's what birthed the first worm in my brain leading to this unhinged infestation, but it's not all -- there's THE URGE itself.

The game fucks it up SO bad on the whole front because it's reluctant to take choice away from the player, which is maybe understandable, but absolutely WRECKS the narrative that it's something to be afraid of. There's what? Alfira and the squirrel? Those are the only unavoidable consequences of having these supposedly violent and divine compulsions baked into every cell of your damn body. Saving your partner from a gruesome death by your hand needs a dice roll of 15, for fuck's sake! It was harder to convince a bunch of goblins to not turn me into an arrow pin cushion. Durge themself has been scared shitless of it their entire life and you're telling me the thing mostly boils down to dialogue choices? That just won't do for me, sorry. In the game The Urge's source is also never really explained beyond "of course you have unstoppable violent compulsions, you're 100% Bhaal's flesh and blood" which is fucking BORING and doesn't make sense to me because as far as I know Bhaal loves murder because that's his domain as a god, he was not a compulsive killer as a mortal so why would it be something that's passed down? No, The Urge is a fucking Slayer thing!

"It also had the ability to incite attraction in others, and remove any negative feelings they felt, or compel an urge to slay in any intentionally malevolent being, whenever it chose."

To be fair this is from a 2e sourcebook, but COME ON. Didn't it strike anyone else as weird that young Durge is mentioned to have slain an entire PALADIN ORDER before making their way to the temple if you're playing as an oathbreaker? Like, HOW? Slayer form bay-be, that's how.

(Can you tell by now I'm not normal about the idea? Yeah.)

All living creatures learn the best from their own mistakes and I think that letting The Slayer take over would be Bhaal's version of letting your incessant kid touch the clothes iron because they just refuse to leave it alone. Bad parenting, but it's Bhaal we're talking about lmao. "Oh you don't want to kill? No biggie, fuck around and see what happens then. I'll wait." is way fucking scarier to me than him just forcing Durge's hand with the butler basically being like "Heads up, master. Your father is pretty mad and your Urge is hungry so you might commit a murder tonight!" right beforehand.

Just the mental image of Durge thinking "I've done it! I've saved Isobel!" and then having the starved Slayer rip itself out of them like it does out of Orin when Bhaal forces her to transform... You see my vision right? RIGHT? And then the beast gets slain because what else is there to do and since Durge is immortal they just come back to themself instead of becoming goo (which is a game mechanic already since their sis is not so lucky, rip). The drama and angst potential is INFINITE. The sheer raw power of THAT being the "Bhaalspawn" reveal because if Isobel is alive that means Jaheira must be there like "what the FUCK are you exactly??" and no one can pretend that Durge is just Bhaalspawn+ like they do in the game. Do they kill anyone? People are bound to be at least heavily injured, especially since they've JUST fought Ketheric's bossfight and are not rested and at full potential.

GOD, I am rotating this thing in my head so fast the friction is bound to make my brain melt.

[a-writers-blurbs]

A bit of a disclaimer ig...

Hi guys,

This is going to be a long post that sounds slightly rant-y & I'm going to apologize in advance for that. I am going to make exactly ONE post (this one) about this topic, and I will not be discussing it further or posting about it again. I will also not be responding to any negative comments but deleting them instead.

These are my personal opinions and [...not *trying* to sound rude, but there's no other way to say it...] a bunch of random people online aren't going to change my opinions.

My husband is an artist. He does canvas painting & draws comic books (think anti-hero dark horse). I paint furniture (kinda mini murals) & make chibi drawings. I've also been writing fanfiction since the late 90s.

That being said, this post is about AI art.

I get the controversy, I do. But I've heard this argument before, when fanfiction became more popularized. The whole "You're just stealing someone else's work & changing it up to call it your own" is (at its core) the same argument against AI. The only difference is that instead of you yourself changing it, you're allowing a machine to do it.

But I digress...

Over the last week, I have received several messages about my use of AI art. First & foremost, my stuff is appropriately tagged as AI.

Second, I don't sell or advertise these pictures in any way. In fact, none of them have been posted anywhere but here (as of 6/1/24).

Third, and probably most important, I DONT MAKE THEM FOR YALL. Fanfiction & fanart are a HOBBY. It is something that I do because I enjoy it and it destresses me. I DO NOT do it, hoping I'll get 1000s of followers, views, likes, etc. Every story I write, I print & bind for my library. I will now be doing the same with my AI pictures.

I have a condition that has a symptom called Maladaptive Daydreaming. Because of this, my head is full of an alarming amount of excruciatingly detailed & unrealistic scenarios and images. (To the point that it affects my everyday life).

I can't necessarily recreate the images in my mind without help & the only way to get rid of the random scenarios is to write them out. So I do write them. And now I use AI to help me get a BASE image. I do still go in myself and edit/redraw parts of each generated image to fit them to the characters I want them to represent. I do thus using digital art.

Granted, there's a whole other group of people that think digital art isn't real art... but that's a discussion for another day. Anyway...

TLDR:

I use AI art & will continue to despite some people's dislike. I will continue to delete any and all comments left publicly that are malicious, rude, or condescending. My stories & are are for me. If others enjoy it, great, that's freaking awesome. If not, there are literally thousands of other fanfic authors you can follow instead of me.

Again, I apologize, I know this sounds rude. But I need to be 100% transparent on this one. I am extremely grateful for every folllower & reader I have. I won't lie & say comments/positive interaction isn't a serotonin boost because it is. Yall also give me more motivation to actually complete a story vs. moving on to the next idea. But I'm not going to change the way I do things to appease someone I don't even know.

This is one of the few things I enjoy doing in my free time & have been doing it for 25 years now, and in the last 5 or so years ALL fandoms have gotten so toxic its hard to enjoy anything anymore. Last time it got like this, I simply stopped posting. I'd rather not do that again, but if people (who aren't even following me) don't leave me alone, I'll probably have to do it again, sadly.

But for now, hopefully this post will give people with different opinions to go ahead and block me from their feed. We're not going to agree so instead of wasting energy arguing, let's keep the peace & agree to stay off if each others feeds.

I won't judge you on your idea that you feel it's your duty to harass people over their choices & you won't judge me for enjoying something. 😉

Thank you for listening. Love yall & and I hope your day is blessed!

[amethystina]

Thank you so much for everything you do for The Devil Judge fandom, you've really managed to give us accurate character fanfics and analyses! I hope you manage to take care of yourself to recover well.

I was just wondering what you think Yo Han would feel and how he would internally react to finding out about Ga On's bombing attempt before rescuing him. Because we see what he shows Ga On, but that often doesn't show how he feels, especially after immediately finding out about it.

I'm happy to be of service! :D

Though, admittedly, I'm still a little disoriented by everyone's faith in my analyses and characterisation. Like, I've always had a knack for it, ever since I wrote my first fanfic over ten years ago (that whole "I can literally hear them say this, and see them move in my head" has been there since the beginning) but it somehow seems to have intensified with The Devil Judge? x'D

Which obviously isn't a bad thing by any means! It's just a little disorienting because I'm not used to being given this kind of... authority, almost? I don't feel nearly qualified enough.

But that could definitely be the imposter syndrome talking.

Anyway! To your question!

YES. I HAVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS TOO.

Or, rather, I've been wondering how that whole thing went down. As in, what's the timeline here? Because that is the most important question, because it also changes the answer to your question.

And it starts with: How much did Lawyer Ko know? We don't actually hear what Ga On tells him about his plan, so did Lawyer Ko know what the bomb was actually for? Or was the plan not quite as drastic when Ga On first told Lawyer Ko about it, because Yo Han hadn't "died" at that point? And it was only once Yo Han was gone that Ga On changed his mind and decided to blow himself up, too, without telling Lawyer Ko about it?

Because, quite frankly, I have a hard time believing that Lawyer Ko wouldn't tell Yo Han about Ga On's plans to kill himself if he knew about them. And sure, Yo Han is a bit of a drama queen, but I don't think he would have waited to approach Ga On until literally the last couple of seconds if he'd known that there was a risk that Ga On might die.

Especially since Yo Han had hours between when he was declared dead and the final trial, which took place the day after he was smuggled out of jail. He had plenty of time to find Ga On and I can't see why he wouldn't, if he thought that Ga On was about to kill himself? Again, he's dramatic, but not reckless — especially not when it comes to the lives of those he cares about. What if he'd been too late?

Even more so since Yo Han had his own plans that were about to take place in that very same building. Which would have been completely derailed if Ga On had had time to detonate his bomb. And Yo Han simply wouldn't risk the culmination of his ten-year-long revenge plan for the drama. Not a chance.

And, finally, had he shown up literally three seconds later than he did, he would most likely have died in that blast, too. And, sure, Yo Han may seem careless about his own safety, but every risk he takes is very calculated. And he definitely didn't plan to die that day — he wouldn't do that to Elijah.

He wouldn't make such a gamble — risk leaving Elijah all alone in the world — just to make his Lazarus moment as dramatic as possible.

Not with only three seconds to spare.

So the only logical conclusion, in my opinion, is that Yo Han found out literally minutes before it was about to go down. Probably because Lawyer Ko goes: "Oh right, I forgot to mention because we've been so busy, but Kim Ga On has a bomb and I think he plans to blow up Min Jung Ho today. Maybe we should stop him?" Without realising the severity of the situation — since he doesn't know about Ga On's martyr and suicidal tendencies. Because, again, if Lawyer Ko had known about Ga On's plans, I feel like he would have mentioned it to Yo Han sooner? Because that's some pretty damn pertinent information right there. At which point Yo Han would have approached Ga On (clandestinely, of course) and talked him out of it.

Or, well, just showed up, in all honesty. I think that would have been enough to convince Ga On not to kill himself, since his decision was no doubt heavily influenced by his feelings of guilt and grief.

As for Yo Han's reaction?

WELL.

If it plays out like I've speculated here, that he and Lawyer Ko are getting ready for that last trial when Lawyer Ko mentions the bomb? And Yo Han maybe just nods along at first — kind of annoyed because this clashes with his own plans — until he remembers who they're talking about? And how reckless Ga On is? And that Ga On is under the impression that Yo Han is dead, too, so shortly after Ga On lost Soo Hyun?

Imagine the moment when Yo Han connects the dots and realises that Min Jung Ho is probably not the only person Ga On plans for to die in that explosion.

Panic is a rather apt description, I'd say.

That kind where the entire world grinds to a halt for a couple of seconds and your chest just squeezes from fear and denial.

Not a lot of it would show outwardly, of course, but internally? Yo Han would be panicking. Because unless Ga On gave Lawyer Ko an exact time — which I don't think he did — it could be happening right then, at that very moment. And he's not wrong because it probably is. But Yo Han doesn't know that, of course, and has no idea how much time he has to try and stop Ga On.

He doesn't know if he'll make it in time.

And that just makes it so, so much worse than if he'd found out earlier. Because, all of a sudden, it's a literal case of life and death, with several variables Yo Han isn't aware of and doesn't have the time to try and figure out, either.

Ga On might die.

Fortunately, Yo Han is so good at compartmentalizing that he'd probably only feel a couple of seconds of panic before he's able to shove it down and go into razor-sharp, problem-solving mode instead. Especially since Ga On's life is suddenly in danger so, clearly, there's no time to panic. It is time to act.

And even as Yo Han proceeds to do just that, I think his mind would be spinning in the background, berating himself for not considering this possibility. Because that's his thing. He's supposed to be able to predict the moves of everyone on the board. He's supposed to be several steps ahead of everyone. And he is — at least when it comes to his main goal with the chaebols. But, once again, he didn't account for Ga On. He forgot to consider what righteous and tender-hearted Ga On would do when caught up in all this guilt and grief.

He didn't think.

Yo Han has a blind spot — or a weakness, if you will — and its name is Kim Ga On.

And Yo Han would be so angry with himself for not realising this sooner. Like, if he'd only just thought about it, he could have reached this conclusion long ago — that Ga On might do something stupid now that he thinks that both Yo Han and Soo Hyun are dead, and Professor Min betrayed him — but he didn't. He was too caught up in his revenge.

(Which is a beautiful rabbit hole one can go down, if one desires. Like imagine the pain Yo Han would feel when he realises that his obsession with revenge almost cost him his new family. It turned out okay in the end, of course, but he was so close to losing it.)

But he'd show Ga On none of that, of course, when he arrives to rescue him. Because Yo Han is a showman — with perfect and masterfully executed plans — and he can't let Ga On know that there were a couple of minutes just now where Yo Han wasn't sure if he'd get there in time to stop Ga On. When he wasn't in control.

But I can imagine that's definitely something Yo Han will have nightmares about later.

... which he also doesn't tell Ga On about, naturally.

But, all of that said, I also think that Yo Han would sort of... brush it aside after that? In that way he does with things that are traumatic? Like, he wouldn't really look any deeper into it or try to ask Ga On if he's feeling less suicidal after the whole ordeal. Because he knows he's not really equipped to deal with the answer, whatever it may be.

So he'd just be grateful that he got there in time and try to put it behind himself in one of those "well, it worked out in the end so, clearly, there's no need to agonise over it" sort of deals. Which is by no means healthy, but that's Yo Han for you.

So yeah! That's what I think! :D

There is obviously some guesswork involved since, again, I can't say for sure exactly what happened in what order. But I truly can't picture both Lawyer Ko and Yo Han just shrugging off Ga On declaring that he's going to kill himself and then allowing him to get as close to it as he does. Honestly, I refuse.

Thank you so much for asking! And thank you so much for the well-wishes too 💜

[ziptie-bouquet]

All the people coping by saying the ending is underwhelming because life is underwhelming... In my opinion the whole theme of accepting life is underwhelming got completely erased as soon as they brought in magical characters in Fionna and Cake's world. I can't put into words how infuriating it is to see the characters' main conflicts being resolved by literally magically giving them what they want. For a theme that's supposed to be realistic about acceptance and growth it completely falls flat. Having Fionna say she wants to die in her completely normal world while Cake is Godzilla and is fighting an immortal guy is what's truly disappointing, not the overall theme of life being dull sometimes. There was definitely a set up to make Fionna and Cake's world less dull simply by having Simon heal while they were still in his head. That somehow this energy of enjoying the life around you could have been given to Fionna and Cake when Simon experiences it without any magic being involved. I don't want to write a fanfic but I do agree that this ending was just not it. The show isn't bad it just didn't handle its own themes the best.

[onepiece-oc-archives]

what's something you would not recommend when writing one piece ocs?

Hi, thanks for your question!

At first I thought it was a duplicate of the question I answered here but then I looked a little closer. So: In this post, I'll be focusing on the actual writing of OCs, as in fanfic stuff. If you're still in the creating phase, go here for my tips on what to avoid for that.

Alright, writing! My favourite activity on the world earth - I could literally write for entire weeks straight if I wasn't bound by the limits of my human body and mind lol

This list is probably going to be even shorter than the one for OC creation because I'm not about to mess with other people's writing style. Do what feels right for you. You should always be writing for yourself first and foremost because writing should be fun! That being said, there's one One Piece-specific tip I have for you:

Don't translate everything you see in the anime and/or manga directly into your writing. It won't work. Animation/manga and written stories are two very different mediums. I think the best way to explain this would be to look at the changes made between the animanga and the live action:

Changes had to be made because certain things just don't translate well into a live-action format.

For example, most characters don't yell out their attacks in the live action, because it comes off as very silly outside of the animanga format. They're real people after all. The characters who still shout out their attacks are either very silly (i.e. Luffy and Buggy) or... well... Sanji. He's very serious about it. I saw someone theorize once that shouting your finisher attacks is probably a pirate thing and Zeff taught Sanji that - so of course he'd take it seriously because he respects Zeff and takes his word as truth because Zeff used to be a pirate and he should know. Anyways, other example:

Sanji's heart eyes. We're sticking with my boy Sanji, simply because he works really well for tackling changes made to the live action made for genre/format/medium reasons. Why? Because Sanji, in the animanga, is a character who's very reliant on physical comedy. Don't know what I mean, maybe because you're an OPLA only fan (in which case: Welcome, glad to have you here <3)? Here, I'll show you:

That's animanga Sanji. Full-on heart eyes goof and noodle arms. As you can probably guess, this wouldn't work in a live action format. So, we went from literal heart eyes...

... to figurative heart eyes. Still very much head over heels for the ladies, still a hopeless romantic, still an idiot, but not so much of an idiot that it comes across as over-the-top and wildly unnatural.

I would highly recommend that you do something similar for writing One Piece fics, including OC fics. If you want to keep the over-the-top, physical comedy, cartoon logic elements from the animanga for your fic, I won't stop you. I've just noticed that, in my opinion, it's hard to pull off, because describing the absolute tomfoolery of the animanga can be very difficult, and I'm personally not too much of a fan of it. It works in specific situations (caught-up animanga fans might know what I'm hinting at), but I personally prefer my fics to feel more natural - like OPLA. Still silly, but silly in a way that works for a live action and/or written format. That might also have to do with my writing style as a whole, so, like I said, keep the animanga elements if you want or tone them down if you like.

One thing I love to do though is to drop hints to animanga tropes and elements without implimenting them fully. Best example? Sanji's heart eyes. Because look at him! Figurative heart eyes are a thing. Use metaphors and figures of speech, figurative words that imply something cartoony but don't have to be. It's really fun! I really don't know how to explain it better, but I hope you know what I mean.

So, now that I've talked about general things and canon characters and whatnot: What does that mean for OCs specifically?

Maybe try to make a rough separation between their drawn form and their written form - or between their animanga and live action version. This works especially well if you can draw (even just a little bit) but it's also just plain fun to think about without drawing anything. Think about what gags and animanga tropes your OC could have in that format and think about how those things translate to a live action or written format. Do they translate seamlessly? Do they have to be cut because they don't work at all? Would they be changed? Experiment with what works for your own writing style. How does your OC interact with your interpretation of canon characters? Generally: Throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. The only way to start writing is to start writing and to try out what works for you and what doesn't.

And in case you don't know where you want to start with writing or want to try a few things out: Take a scene in canon that your OC would be participating in and write down your version of it. See what changes, try out the dynamics, get a feel for what works and what doesn't...

So yeah, I hope this helped! This feels pretty disorganized (I'm so sorry) but I hope I got my point across.

Hope you're having a lovely day!

[graysongraysoff]

i think switching over from twitter to bluesky these last couple days and watching my timeline as folks try to find each other over there has helped me isolate something that’s been bothering me for the last couple of years that i haven’t been able to articulate until now.

see, the fandoms and fanfic-sharing spaces i have been in until recently were very much just about enjoying x thing together in the very simplest sense. even in the bigger and more “topical” fandoms i’ve been in over the years, it was all about making a small, close-knit group of friends really casually in the tags by exchanging headcanons and rping and writing fics for each other in a very, like, “non-commercial” way. just hanging out and having fun and feeding off of each other’s passion in forums or later on tumblr with no expectations beyond just enjoying each other’s work and company. like sure i still got in my head about kudos and comments from time to time, who doesn't, but it was more of an every-once-in-a-while thing rather than being like. daily.

now, i don’t know if this is because of the specific fandoms i’m in currently or if fandom in general has made this shift as forum sites and tumblr have fallen off and more algorithmic sites like twitter and instagram have taken over, but recently trying to engage in fan spaces feels so much more like. capitalist now, lol. it’s all about networking and promoting your work and Getting That Bag (either figuratively via kudos and comments or literally via commissions and zines). not that this hasn't always been an element of fandom — i know it has, and a big one at that. and i know a lot of people enjoy this side of things, which is awesome! go get that bag! hell knows i’m gonna buy that merch and support those zines!

i’m just saying that, to me, it feels like that's the whole thing now rather than just a part of it. i largely haven’t been successful with finding fandom friends the way i used to, because, well, how do you start bantering casually with people in fandom tags now that everyone has left tumblr, and twitter and instagram et al basically function as fandom linkedin? the larger shift away from just goofing off in forums to creating promotional threads for your fanfic on bluesky and huge discord servers to network in... i don't know. i don't love it.

i’ve started using reddit a little more over the last few days, so we'll see; maybe that's where my chiller, more vibey fandom niche has vanished to. but i think trying to carve a space in this larger fandom culture is the root of this constant feeling of inadequacy i’ve been wrestling with these last couple years. everyone takes everything so much more seriously, and i pay so much more attention to my ao3 stats than i used to as a result. i’m simply not having fun anymore.

it's no wonder i want to orphan my fics and delete my accounts when it feels like the only way to make fandom friends now is through fucking marketing. i do enough of that at my job without making it a part of my hobbies, too.

[princessofxianle]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

well THANK YOU for asking, you are the first to!

tbh ive been meaning to do this on my main blog bc I take these wayyy too seriously lol but ANYWAY heres my top 10 faves (in no particular order) that I can think of (tbh theres prob more i forgot about, or i wanted to keep only 1 per fandom... except tgcf)

Huge Spoiler Warning: for ALL of tgcf, 2ha, aot, AND JJK MANGA!!!

1. Feng Xin (tgcf)

do i even need to explain this one? loyal to a fault, just a cute lil puppy, one hell of a sculpted archers back, and he's head over heels in love with Xie Lian (but tbh same) i have a lot of thoughts about him on a daily basis on this blog (and also theres the #fx backstory au tag)

2. Noé Archiviste (the Case Study of Vanitas)

MY BABY

the absolute bestest boy of EVER... with a LOAD of unprocessed trauma (yknow the typical stuff like seeing your childhood bff get decapitated in front of you) and a lot more to come once we find out how he kills his boyfriend best friend, Vanitas...

i ALSO think about him a lot but over on @noes-pillow

3. Sejanus Plinth (The Hunger Games: tbosas)

hated reading as a child... HATED it... picked up the og trilogy when i was 12 and i was a goner. The funny thing is i still hated reading for YEARS up until i picked up the prequel novel then in 2020, and now ive read all of tgcf, 2ha, and more fanfic than i could ever imagine... all because this stupid boy (i love him) chose to trust the WORST person as his friend, rip sejanus my baby

the movie is v good btw, if you havent seen it you should

4. Xie Lian (tgcf)

*Taizi Dianxia Fang Xin Guoshi General Hua Xie Lian*

how this man survived 800 years of being physically unable to die and never went insane is a mystery i will never be able to fully comprehend (aaand im in love with him... hmm i wonder why...)

5. Mihael "Mello" Keehl (Death Note)

the chocolate-addicted blonde boi that was my first anime crush... by proxy I must also add Mail "Matt" Jeevas because they are a package deal

these two are also the reason i started writing fanfic so they will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart

6. Xue Meng - (2ha)

*sigh* he's just everyone's fav peacock (yes technically the image is XM 0.5 but he had a cool ass bird so im using this photo bc its COOL anyway...) mengmeng is another one of my trauma bois who has lost next to everything and yet is STILL kicking ass and taking names #thatsmyfuckingsectleader so proud of you my son

also this might get me into hot water here but imma go ahead and say it...

this is what i wanted Jiang Cheng to be... (i LOVE my angy grape but...) through thick and thin, despite EVERYTHING, and even mo ran fucking abandoning him he will still call mo ran his "ge"...

fgjhdfhfdg THEYRE BROTHERS, OKAY???

7. Howl Pendragon (Howl's Moving Castle)

ok this one i just simply do not need to explain... if you think i do, go watch this whole movie and then there ya go thats your answer...

GENDER

8. River Song (Doctor Who)

aside from being the character that unlocked my unhealthy obsession with :) Main Character Death :) at the ripe ol' age of 8 YEARS (although Will Turner from POTC also helped on that front... Orlando Bloom my beloved) River's story was a stroke of absolute GENIUS from start to finish and i simply love how Alex Kingston played her...

"You don't expect a sunset to admire you back."

I just love the doomed ones, okay...

9. Satoru Gojo (Jujutsu Kaisen)

look... theres *gojo girlies* uwu and then theres GOJO GIRLIES... i couldn't give 2 shits about how he's fan-serviced (tho im not complaining) but have you SEEN the amount of grief pumped into that man? he could explode in a fit of fucking insanity at literally any moment and take the whole goddamn world down with him bc what happened with suguru WASNT FAIR to him and satoru has more than enough power to go apeshit... but he DOESN'T... even after losing so many of his co-sorcerers... he still puts on a brave face to the end in order to protect the childhood of his students even tho his own youth was stolen from him during hidden inventory...

SEE? The DOOMED ones!

10. Levi Ackerman (Attack on Titan)

i read the manga during my last year of uni and when i tell you i SOBBED at the end... yes ofc for obvious reasons, but mostly bc my little Levi loses EVERYTHING. He is the SOLE survivor of the veteran scouts. He's missing multiple fingers, an eye, and the ability to walk. He was the strongest (yowaimo) but wasn't even granted the mercy to die at the end of his narrative! Broke my fucking heart.

BONUS: Morph (Treasure Planet)

he's a morph!!! nuff said <3

fin

[queenofthyme]

Okay this is kinda funny to me but I actually just finished binging your fic (did a descendants marathon, started mid D3, got genuinely interested in RoR, read the rest with bleary eyes and bated breath into what is now 4 am) and. I. I kid you not I was internally lamenting the lack of spicy scenes because you wrote the teasing incredibly well and. Well. I wasn't going to say anything bc ppl are completely within their right to not write something BUT then I saw your post and now that I know(1/?

(cont) and now that I know that not only is it maybe an option but that you'd be willing to write it let me just say. On my knees pleading. I was craving some MalxEviexUma content and you wrote it *so incredibly well* and it was such a delight to read. I appreciate you taking the cheating seriously and I really like how you handled the variety of queer revelations happening in this fic. Genuinely it is because of authors who write characters so well like this that I feel less isolated in my experiences

(cont) especially since things revolving around my identity and sexuality have been pretty present the past few months, and it's almost relieving and somewhat cathartic to get to read characters experiencing similar situations and getting to be accepted and also get together with their beloveds. And also have gay (dragon/tentacle/) sex lol. I like how you took your time with each of the characters to make their conclusions feel natural and anything but rushed, and I really love what a good grasp (3/?

(cont) you have of their voices. I could hear each of them (especially Uma) distinctly in my head the whole time, and could visualize their faces and movements so well because of how you wrote them. Character voices are hard, so many kudos to you!!! You really did a good job staying true to them! Also, somewhat but also not surprisingly, I was not having an easy time finding content for the three of them (or even a few of them) and sometimes when you're low on fics the ones you find aren't the most polished, but yk you take what you find or you make it yourself! But!!! That is not the case here! You wrote a beautiful and enjoyable and fucking sexy fic that exactly hit the spot for me and was a thrill all the way through. You do not know how many times I had to keep myself from jumping ahead or reading to fast to enjoy it because I was so excited. Also the only reason I'm not commenting is bc I don't have an ao3 account set up for this blog yet so I'm bothering you in asks instead!

I would like to be very detailed in my appreciation of how you wrote each character but I seriously need to sleep and I'm probably taking up to much space, so let me know if I can come back and rant to you about your fic in your ask box or if you would prefer me waiting till I can comment on the fic itself :3Thank you SO SO SO SO MUCH for writing such a scrumptious fanfic and for sharing it with the rest of us! /Grins/ Have a delightful rest of your week!

(final. Sorry it got split up! Tumblr was being an ass and giving me a word limit so I switched for Easter so I didn't have to verify w every ask and it fuckin dropped both problems lmao)

This is how you leave a comment, folks. If it's not 4 asks in my inbox when I wake up I don't want it.*

People like @gayafsowhat who leave comments and asks like this are the backbone of the fanfic community. These asks have sat in my inbox for a like a week because there's literally no way to adequately express my gratitude so I'll just say simply: thank you. ❤️

Also authors, if you are hesitating about writing for a smaller fandom or rare pair, fucking do it. Yes, I get more kudos on my drarry fics, but the enthusiasm and support you get from people when you write for pairings with less content is equally fulfilling (if not more - see giant comment above holy shit!??!?).

*This is obviously a joke. For the record, I gratefully accept and apppreciate comments in any format. ❤️

[medichamcham]

I'm curious, do you write fanfics? If so, where do you post?

AH!!! i've been meaning to for the past few years but i just can't seem to find the confidence for it... i have a lot of difficulty articulating my thoughts ;-; but i do have a whole bunch of unfinished stuff in google docs though!! and i am going to keep trying until i have something worth posting!!!!!!!! >:O

i don't know when it will happen, but i WILL post fics someday... i promise !!!!!!! should that happen, it'll be on ao3 for sure!! <3

actually you know what. you made me recall a thing i pulled out of my ass a month ago HAHAHA i totally forgot about it.

its rough and unfinished but the general concept is giovanni and rose running outside through a rainstorm at night while holding hands ;u; hopefully it's worth your time to read! :')

"Oh, it's going to be all night..."

Rose purses his lips, looking down on his phone with knit brows. Tiny drops of rain roll down the screen, dampening the President's thumb.

The pair stand underneath a large tree, temporarily shielding themselves from Mother Nature.

"Hm."

Giovanni glances over, taking note of the upcoming storm predicted on today's weather forecast. He hums a short note, a noise more of acknowledgement rather than vexation.

The Boss sees the rain worsening fast, gentle drops turning harsh and darkening the air outside. He savours the petrichor, a scent of loamy ground, his chest puffing through a deep breath.

Giovanni doesn't mind the rain as much as Rose does. His trench coat is made to stand through unforgiving weather; April showers included.

But it also seems that the rain silences everything around him, drowning it out in the literal sense. A quiet environment means a quiet head, and a quiet head means a clear mind.

"The worst will pass in about twenty minutes," Rose suggests, skimming through the updated graph. "I really don't like waiting, but—"

"Then we won't."

Giovanni sets the fedora over his head, teeth bared in his classic smirk.

"The rain will fall on us either way," he shrugs. "How far is the station again?"

"Uh," Rose mumbles. "Ten minutes from here on foot."

"I see," Giovanni nods, eyeing the streets barely lit by a few lamps. "If we make a run for it, perhaps we could make it in five."

Rose snorts, locking his phone and tucking it away.

"An ambitious notion..."

"Nonsense," Giovanni huffs, waving a dismissive hand. He teases Rose, a man as delicate as the name. "Come on, Mr. President. It's about time to get your blood pumping."

Before Rose could open his mouth to complain about his outfit getting soaked and risking a cold, his body is yanked forward and he stumbles into a hasty sprint over the deserted pavement, following right behind Giovanni, whom has his pale hand firmly locked over his wrist.

"Hey!" Rose laughs over the timely splashes of their shoes plunging into puddles. "I can't run that fast!"

Giovanni simply ignores Rose and drags him through the night, their silhouettes bolting underneath the streetlamps like phantoms in the corner of one's eye.

They feel the rain already seeping through their coats and sticking to their shoulders underneath all the layers. There's a flash illuminating the sky and the rumble of thunder, as if Zapdos has come to unleash its wrath from above.

So they continue to run and run, reining the cold from settling into their skin...

[petruchio]

Hi! For the writing asks:

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

i definitely outline. i used to say i "sort of" outline because i don't literally structure it like 1. 1a. 1b. etc., but basically i can't start a story unless i know where it's going to finish -- obviously it develops along the way but i don't just like... start. i have to have an end in mind and i have to know how i'm going to get there. basically what i do is i just start daydreaming and sketching some scenes in my head and then when things start to crystalize i write out a frenzied sort of stream of consciousness general plot in my notes app until i find an ending and figure out the connective tissue that will get me there -- the daydreaming phase usually takes months, and then the "outline" comes out of me in like 2 days -- and then depending on how fleshed out my outline is, the writing comes together pretty fast since once i've actually written down the outline, i've at least sketched out most of the scenes in my head and the writing just connected all of them. (now that i've explained that it's a wonder anyone has ever complimented me on my pacing because outside of the fics i've intentionally structured as chaptered i simply <3 do not think about pacing at all -- pacing is definitely a feel as i go sort of thing, although it is something i tweak a lot in edits) lol i would show you guys an example of one of my "outlines" but they're kind of embarrassing to be honest! (i think i actually posted one once but it was basically unintelligible and it was for a fic i never actually wrote)

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

oh absolutely!! i love fanfiction because i feel like it gives me a chance to play around in the worlds i love so much (specifically thg, and a bit of pjo too) and also it lets me "hang out" with the characters if that makes sense. i also love it because i get so much feedback and immediate validation on my work, which is just harder to get on original works and there isn't the same kind of community you get with fanfic. BUT! i love writing and it's the dream of my life to get an original work published. i have a couple worlds in my head i revisit from time to time and try to figure out how to gel a whole story out of them (they're kind of like... young adult fantasy/sci fi worlds that i've bounced around in my brain for years and occasionally i've written some outlines for stories but they never seem to get me quite to the point of novel-length inspiration) and then i have a couple literary fiction plot outlines that take place in elite colleges or postgrad big cities that function as romances that critique the class system in america (that's really my favorite genre of novel to read -- and one that i one day would love to have my own entry) i've also written a couple random short stories (i guess i would call them magical realism or like, low fantasy?) like, one was about an alien in a convenience store, or one was about a city where nobody ages. those are really fun to write and sometimes i do think about cleaning some of them up and seeing if i could get them published -- just to have something "technically" officially published, but i've just never done it. i think i would want to build up my drafts before i start sending things around, because if i got negative feedback i think i'd probably get really down on myself -- so i want to have a bigger body of work to draw from.

well that was a super long answer 🤦‍♀️ but basically the answer is YES YES YES

[icescrabblerjerky]

Tagged by @yszarin

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason.

First fic I posted on AO3 was A True Place for a Just Man which is an Anders Origin Fic I wrote for my very first ever Big Bang back in the early days of DA2 fandom. Not my first ever fic as I was posting a lot on ff net back then and only migrated... er... some of my fics over.

Last fic is my current BG3 WIP The Illusion of Choice which is a gameplay fic from Astarion's POV because I have A Type Apparently.

Fandoms I've written for only once, oh I've got a lot of these, apparently. I've only written one fic for Zelda which is interesting to me: Shattered Breath Just a little one shot because I had feelings. Also only one for The Raven Cycle: Seconds After for similar reasons, but there are little one shots for a few ships and fandoms that I never went back to along with a couple of longfics that... haven't been finished so I won't link to them lol.

The fandom I have the most works in is Rusty Quill Gaming by FAAAAAAARRRR oh my god I really went through it for a couple of years huh. Zoscar was my pairing I love them so much still it hurts. I think my fave Zoscar fic that I wrote is Sex Death and Plants or: Four Seasons Total Landscaping which is technically a zop/oscar/zolf fic actually although it concentrates more on the Zoscar cos Zop doesn't have time for that shit. It was my magnum opus and took a year to complete and it was so fun.

The fic I wish more people read: Can I say all of them? But I think I'm super proud of my in-progress Dragon Age Inquisition fic All Out of Excuses which has Finn as Inquisitor and focuses on my Hawke, Saoirse. I know the fandom is slower these days and my updates are even slower than that on this fic, but I think it's a fun ride.

Fic I agonised over the most: I'll be honest, if I'm agonising over a fic I don't post it, fanfic writing is fun for me and if it's not fun I simply don't do it. BUT the one that's been the most difficult is deffo The Mbmbam Archives simply because it requires more in depth knowledge of the subject matter than every other fic I write.

The fic that sprang fully formed from my head is The Nature of Crystal - a Wol/G'raha fic that literally came to me in a dream and I wrote in a fever in an hour when I woke up.

And another work I'm proud of... mmmm. Look, gonna post another Zolf/Oscar/Grizzop one because I love it, and I love the friendships that came about because of it, and I love the art that the adorable @areyouokaypanda did for it: When Passions Collide - when I say I write fanfiction for fun, this is exactly what I mean. The whole experience was a lark from start to finish.

Tagging @feralkwe, @zombolouge, @leggywillow and @yamisnuffles!

[alligatorjesie]

Hey OP are you blamings reylos for the reason Ben Solo didn't get a good redemption in EP9?

Something we had no control over? Do you think we run Disney?

I fuckin' wish.

God fucking knows if a reylo did do EP9 it would have been Good.

I would give away every egg left in my body to have EP9 retold by a goddamn reylo if it meant Ben Solo got a better redemption and since I actually read reylo fanfictions I know we can pull it off.

Because we have.

Hurricane Wars is a fucking reylo novel.

The first line in the book is quite literally 'I did this for the rats'

You know, that loving nickname you feckless antis gave to reylos.

I’m pretty fucking sure there is not a goddamn interview Anywhere of Thea mentioning how this is a reskinned reylo story exploring the deep inner workings of internalized racism because that's never what it fucking was.

Did OP... watch interviews of Thea talking about her experiences with racism and now they've mashing the concept of this story together with that interview because I can’t for the fucking love of god remember an instance where Thea rolled up to an interview and said This Story:

is anything but a modified reylo fanfiction. She mentioned how she added some Southeast Asian influences into the book that were not in the original fic but the original was based in the world of Star Wars so that makes since.

I remember that interview.

Editing a fanfic to be publish friendly takes A Lot of effort and isn't as simple as using the 'find and replace' feature in Microsoft Word like I think OP is assuming it is. There's plenty of opportunity to put in whatever new worldbuilding makes since for the story.

I’ve been following this publishing since I read Landscapes With a Blur of Conquerors, back when she was actively still writing it as reylo fanfiction.

Small segway in somewhat related conversation:

The Sword of the Jedi series is still my favorite fucking Star Wars fanfic by her I can't recommend this one enough.

a story still available on AO3 for free if anyone would like to check it out.

If you liked Hurricane Wars and love Star Wars you'll love this one.

It's a really fun 'What If' on the sequel trilogy where the change is 'What if Luke and young Ben found Rey as a child on Jakku and she got to grow up at Luke's Jedi academy?'

A far better storytelling of those characters than we got out of the actual media. I fuckin' blew through it in a week the first time I read it.

Go read it if you get the chance.

Anyways, returning to @shallanspren being a prick who talks out their ass and don't know diddly fuck about this fandom.

Who has just been posting hate to this fandom's tag since 2020.

They’re not a reylo.

In fact they sound so disgusted to read reylo fics that they made this shitass post but they’re going to sit there and tell me and everyone else here straight to our faces that they sat through reading the original fics, the entire books, along with reading/watching full interviews with the authors?

OP is full of shit.

They’re lying and they’re so full of fucking shit I can smell them from here.

They’ve never read the fanfics and they’ll never read these books so how the fuck would they know what the fuck is even in it? How would they know how they differ?

Now, I HAVE read both and I can tell everyone right now from simply having read the original fic; it’s very 'Alternate Universe/AU'. I mean, yeah, it uses some of the basic concepts of the ‘Star Wars universe’ but mostly it’s just new story using well established characters and themes.

So right from the start this fic was kinda it's own thing in it's own world with it's own rules and that's when it WAS directly a reylo fanfic.

Love Hypothesis/Head Over Feet was So Fucking AU besides borrowing the characters' basic personalities and names it was a whole ass original story.

There was nothing Star Wars Universe in that one At All.

Full Stop.

Adapting these fics into books makes both of them very original works because the source material was already very Alternate Universe as we like to say in the fanfic world. Ali never admitted on record she didn’t craft her own stories and I know she never fucking has because I've read So Many of her fics on AO3 back during that blissful period between The Last Jedi and EP9 that she could publish 30 more reskinned reylo fics and still have more to go. She was And Still Is a Very Proficient Writer and a Goddamn Treat of a smut writer.

They're fucking Great!

Way fucking better than regular porn. I can only watch a unempathetic guy rail a uninterested chick moaning the most fake 'Oh! God! Yes!' for the entire length of the video before that shit gets old.

With Ali's fics you can feel the horny but most importantly, The Love, and as a furry smut artist I'm Here For That Shit.

This woman is a Goddamned blessing to this fandom and now to published books too. She writes Such Good Smut she could make a sailor blush. I hope her many more years of happy writing with hundreds more publishing deals. I hope she becomes the next harlequin romance writer so she can continue to pay reylo artists to draw covers for her books God Bless they all fuckin' deserves it after the 8 years of constant bombardment with harassment and death threats from stupid fucks like @shallenspren have thrown at us over the years.

Telling a POC her experiences of racism ain't valid just because just so happens to be a reylo and had the audacity to talk about racism during an interview once and now OP has somehow conflated those two very un related things is kinda shit.

That's a shit thing to say. It's a shit opinion to have.

@shallanspren hates reylo and they'll say any fucked up shit to make these artists look bad because they’re mad and jealous about fanfiction writers making money off their Hard Earned Skills and that's kinda fucked up of them.

What @shallanspren said are lies.

They just made up lies because they're mad someone from the fandom they've been shitting on since 2020 told them the shit opinion they posted into the main fandom's tag is wrong and if they don't like the ship they're welcome to fucking leave that fandom's space.

They got so fucking butthurt about me telling them to fix their tags and leave this fandom alone they

Made Up Two Lies About People They Don't Even Fucking Know

OP ain't got a quarter of the skill to create loved things like either of these artists have because OP has spent too fucking long being bitter and hateful to a group of people for just being super passionate about something.

Too fuckin' blinded by hate to see why these stories are flying off the shelves. Reylos got fucking shafted by Star Wars because stupid anti fucks like OP here have made it their life's mission to spread lies and hate about this fandom by being the loudest minorities I've ever fucking seen. I know of one anti reylo on this website alone who has At Least 4 accounts dedicated to being a anti to this fucking ship.

And I know they're all the same person.

That's a lot of dedication to hate.

OP is so goddamn ignorant they're getting hung up on the fact these fics started out as reylo fics not realizing They Were Always Original Works.

Gorge Fucking Lucas didn't write these fics.

JJ or Rian did not write these fics.

These are original works, regardless of the characters they borrowed to make them. These fics would not exist if the writers didn't sit the fuck down and write them.

Saying these books ain't valid all because they started out as fanfics is fucking stupid. EP9 was written by 'professionals' and had a scene with three characters who know full fucking well Stormtroopers can fly say 'They fly now' so I know for a fact fanfic writers put more consideration into storytelling than JJ fucking Abrams or Chris chuckfuck Terrio ever did.

To simply Sit Down and Write takes Skill and Effort, something both of theses writers have in goddamn spades and OP has NONE of because all they post is broken English run-on paragraphs of shitass hateful opinions no one in the tags fucking asked for.

Live long and die fucking mad about it and stop telling lies about strangers because you're jealous they're more skilled than you OP.

Fuck's Sake.