#also I'll have a longer reply to the AO3 comment you just left me but the short version is: you. you get it.
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hauntedfalcon · 9 months ago
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friend... your candella obscura fics are truly inspired. I think you have altered my brain chemistry. I know you probably get these all the time and are sick of hearing about it but truly I seek out your fics when I have bad days because Needle and Thread was my favourite chapter and you write the characters and dynamics so well that I feel like I'm watching another episode... OK, sorry, I just had to vent because I've had a rough couple of days and your fics have really helped me through it, so thank you again and goodbye I'll shut up now.... also I hope you don't mind me calling you friend because I didn't know what else to call you
!!!!!!! LISTEN FRIEND there is no way I could be sick of this message. you made my evening. I'm sorry things are hard right now, but I'm thrilled, chuffed, and delighted that my fics have been a little bright spot for you. thank you for taking the time to say so <333
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lady-lostmind · 1 year ago
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20 questions for fic writers
thank you @emryses for tagging me!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
12.
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
240,148
3. What fandoms do you write for?
I've only written Stranger Things so far.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Steve Harrington. Are you kidding me? Temptation Heat, Beats Like a Drum. Happy Valentine's Day, Big Boy. This is the coin I had in my pocket the first time we kissed and I always have it. And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
Yes! I try to at least reply with something so people know I saw their comment and appreciate it.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
I'm a happy ending girlie, honestly. (I also have a lot of WIPs so they don't have an ending yet.)
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
As far as actually finished fics goes, probably Steve Harrington Are you kidding me.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
I've gotten a few comments here and there that weren't the nicest or could have probably been left off. But mostly I've gotten good feedback.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
I do! I always convince myself it's not very good but it's fun to write! And I really just write whatever fits the story? I don't think I really have anything I particularly favor.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I have not. I don't usually read crossovers either.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
I don't think so!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
No, I haven't!
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No I haven't but I am in awe of people who can do that. That seems so difficult to me.
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
I think Steddie is always going to be top dog for me, honestly. I've read fics for such a long time but Steddie is the first that got to me enough that I actually started creating things for it as well. And the brainrot is still going strong.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I honestly plan on finishing all my abandoned WIPs at this time!! I guess if I had to pick it would probably be Coin just because it's the one I've struggled the most with. But I'm hoping to come back to it still!
16. What are your writing strengths?
Oh man. That's a tough one. I think...character voice. I think I do a pretty good job of grasping a character and sticking as closely to what feels most like them at least, in my mind.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Honestly I think just my own confidence and need for external validation. I wish I could just write for myself and enjoy it regardless of how well something does. I also just really struggle with writing in longer bits. I tend to write in little snippets and pieces ad it takes so long to get anywhere that way.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I don't think I would ever try. I don't speak any other language and trying to master the nuance of speaking in one while relying on like...google translate just doesn't sound like it would go well.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Stranger Things! Steddie was my first dive into writing fanfic at all.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
I am so incredibly proud of And You May Find Yourself. I stepped outside my comfort zone a lot for this fic all the way from the themes to just actually reaching out and being more a part of the Steddie community. I've made some great friends through the process and have signed up to be a part of way more than I originally planned on when I decided to so the Steddie Big Bang. I still have two chapters to write for this one and although I'm really looking forward to it finally being done I'll absolutely miss the version of these characters I created for this go around. I hope people love them as much as I do.
zero pressure tags: @oh-stars, @karadanverss, @rindecision, @lihhelsing, @starryeyedjanai, @azrielgreen, @eddywoww, @lexirosewrites, @thefreakandthehair, @thorniest-rose
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pinkytoothlesso11 · 1 year ago
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20 questions for fic writers
I was tagged by @niemalsetwas! Thank you! This is a long one, but very interesting well rounded questions for fic writers. I'll tag: @whitherwanderyouspirit, @toodrasticallydumb, @nickelwick, @bluedaddysgirl, @megan0013 and @rosemaidenvixen. Not obligated to do this, just thought it may be fun!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
Currently 16! 13 of which are all Trollhunters lmao.
2. What's your total A03 word count?
542,419 words. Wow. That's a little crazy ngl.
3. What fandom's do you write for?
Mostly Trollhunters/Tales of arcadia. But I've written a oneshot for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and one for Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022). And I've done a multichapter fic for Arcane: League of Legends. Probably going to do more fics for that eventually. And I have two planned for The owl house I'm really excited about!
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
Challenging Destiny
Heal what has been lost
A change in a moment
Heart of Stone
After the moon rises
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do! In my first fic I was hesitant to the first couple of chapters, but now I make a effort as I know how awesome it is to get a reply from the author on fics I've left comments on myself. And also because sometimes I have wonderful conversations!
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
This is a bit hard to pin down, because while a decent amount of my fics go really, really angsty, they tend to end on a slightly hopeful note. But I'd think it's either Through the Veil which while the actual end is rather uplifting, it's overshadowed by the torment all the characters have gone through or chapter 4 of my prompt collection for Stricklake month: corruption. Which is... Sad.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Hmm well my main fics are not finished so I can't put any of them down... Er most of them end happily? I guess for the top one A change in a moment, since I also barely killed any characters in the end...
8. Do you get hate on fics?
No. Very thankfully.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Anything explicit? No. I've tentively suggested it, but not in any detail.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
I have not yet. One of my aforementioned Owl house fics I have planned will be a crossover, with Trollhunters, but nothing crazy.
Unless we're talking about the Arcane/Disney Tangled crossover, but that's a soft crossover, with a wholly Arcane cast of characters.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Nope. At least not that I'm aware of.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Again, not to my knowledge.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No... It was going to happen at some point, but then it didn't. Which was fair, even if disappointing.
14. What's your all-time favourite ship?
It's Stricklake. I have loads more I like a lot, but that's the one that made me start writing fanfiction.
15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
This isn't really applicable, I plan to finish every fic I start, but there's one that's taking longer than I like to complete, which is Heart of Stone. It's close to the finish line, I just need to push myself there.
16. What are your writing strengths?
I like to think I'm pretty good at creating snappy dialogue with plenty of banter. And that my worldbuilding is pretty damn good. Also that I'm able to consistently keep a large cast of characters IN character and balance them all. I'm also fairly good at descriptions and gore.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
I think sometimes I struggle with pacing, and the flow of my writing can be clunky at times. I also find filler chapters less interesting to write, even if they're important to set later things up.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I do end up doing this at one point or another in most of my fics! I use Google translate lol. I'm not ashamed. I also use italics if it's not English, with the translation in my notes at the end.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Trollhunters! The first show to get me into fandom, and fanfic and tumblr! It was the first in a lot of things.
20. Favourite fic you've ever written?
Has to be Challenging Destiny! It's just about halfway, but the reception to it and it's faithfulness to the source, as well as the heaps of research and worldbuilding I've put into it has made it the fic I'm the most proud of. It's got a big cast of different characters to balance, which just adds to the challenge lol. But it's worth it.
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xhanisai · 1 year ago
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20 Questions For Fic Writers
Cheers for the tag @mostmagical !!!
1 - How many works do you have on AO3?
Forty-two
2 - What's your total AO3 word count?
448,371
3 - What fandoms do you write for?
Mainly Miraculous Ladybug at the moment. I do want to write some for Soul Eater and Gintama.
4 - What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
#LetMarinetteDrinkCoffee2K19 (9918 kudos)
Bite off more than you can chew and you'll choke (6355 kudos)
Speak now, regret later (3710 kudos)
Only idiots try to woo those who are already in love with them (2958 kudos)
Without you, what is the point? (1510 kudos)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do try my best to respond. They always make me happy and I love knowing my readers' reactions and thought processes regarding the stories I wrote. If I don't reply, it's mainly because I'm overwhelmed and tired hahah! But every comment always makes my day and I do reread them.
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
It's probably got to be "Goodbye" is bitter. It's a SpyXFamily story and I killed off the entire Forger family. My readers' tears were a joy to drink in a mug.
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
A lot of my stories surprisingly have happy endings. I think the most tooth-rotting one would be Wo Ai Ni! which is an ML fic. It's literally fluff and fluff and so much fluff and if you love seeing Adrien being a madly in love silly goof with one Marinette Dupain-Cheng and being a hot mess about it, this is for you.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Surprisingly, I haven't gotten any hate on my stories every since I started writing for ML. I did get death threats from this one buffoon over a pairing in my last fandom but I put that menace back in his place and since then he hasn't gone after anyone else in the fandom :)
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
My name is MissEcchi for a reason LMAO. There's so much smut I haven't even posted publically yet because they need polishing and editing and I'm a lazy bitch. Here's a few I've written for ML (and they're all and always will be lovesquare~)
Unmasked - Identity reveal, mutual pining and some comedy.
Red - Identity reveal, vampire Chat noir (after getting zapped by an akuma).
Paperthin - Identity reveal, mariblanc!!!!!, angst, happy ending.
10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?
I have ideas for many! Just haven't written them out to fruition yet unfortunately. I do have an Ouran High school x Miraculous crossover story that has been chilling in my WIP docs for years lol...
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Some dumbass kids thought they were slick when they re-uploaded my stories on wattpad. Got them taken down. I haven't checked around since then so I hope no one else has done that.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
I don't think so.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Plenty! Here's a few I did with @seas-of-silver
Negative!!!
Murder On The Dancefloor
14. What's your all-time favourite ship?
LOVESQUARE OF COURSE. Especially mariblanc!!!!!!!
15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?
In my last fandom, I had a multi-chaptered fic that I haven't updated since 2018 I believe? It was my most well written story in that fandom and I did enjoy writing what I did. I don't know if I'll ever finish it because I just no longer have the same love and passion I had for it. I'd rather it's left the way it is rather than trying to give it a half-assed ending.
16. What are your writing strengths?
I've been told I'm really good at writing emotions, especially with angst and comfort. I'm a huge slut in making my favourites go through the most horrendous, traumatising experiences ever and then have them look after each other. I also think I write battle scenes decently, especially when I'm in the mood. I like to enforce how powerful the heroes can be and make the akuma battles more brutal than as showcased in canon.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Currently, I think my weakness is that I write too much. I do waffle a lot in my stories because I'm very peculiar on my pacing and trying to time things. This also makes the writing progress more complicated than it should be and it is why most of the stuff I've written haven't been published yet because the editing takes too long.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I enjoy doing that a lot! But I do try my best to make sure to not do it too much because of language barriers. So the dialogue in the other language is either mundane or something simple. I've got the advantage of having learned a few languages since childhood at home and at school.
I have spotted that some people who like to add dialogue in a different language just used Google translate which is hilarious, especially when the translation is wrong or makes no sense.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Sonic The Hedgehog...
20. Favourite fic you've ever written?
It's got to be Connecting Everything (Connecting To Everywhere)! It is the story I've always wanted to write and I just love horror and supernatural. I've always wanted to read an ML horror fic where lovesquare are still miraculous weilders and everything is pretty much the same except they've gotta deal with ghosts and demons too hahaha. It is my least popular ML fic unfortunately and I do hope I can reel in more readers! It is still ongoing and ch2 is a work in progress.
Thanks again for the tag, Magical!
I tag @gale-gentlepenguin , @seas-of-silver , @lalunaoscura , @ladyofthenoodle , @theflashdriver and everyone else who wants to do it! No pressure!
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wolfjackle-creates · 2 years ago
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@vythika96 left a comment on Ghost!Robin Part 7 thay I wanted to reply to, but in a longer format than would be allowed by comments, so I'm doing it here! (Thank you for the comment!)
Cracking up that you said you forgot the glass until Duke spoke up like you didn’t write him saying it in the first place 😂
So parts 6 and 7 have been hard as hell to write. There are so many characters. And they all have so much personality. I'm skating by on Danny being unobservant and not knowing the underlying relationships well enough to pick up on subtleties.
But basically, this hallway scene has been killing me. I did 1 full rewrite. And I'm quite surprised it's just been one. A year ago, I would've needed two or three to be even this happy with it. (Yay for improvement!) In the first version, I had Duke yell about Danny's crown way earlier in the scene. Like, as everyone is rushing out of the dining room early. I also didn't have the physical confrontations between Bruce and Danny. Or the one-on-one convo with Jason. But I did have Danny clean up the glass.
Obviously I needed to fix that. Those scenes with Bruce and Jason were far more necessary.
So I rewrote. And when I did, I had to push back Duke's line by quite a bit. And only when I rewrote that line did I remember I also hadn't yet taken care of the broken glass. Because I deleted that part.
So yeah, it was always supposed to be there, but rewrites messed with my head a bit! I definitely think this version is better than what I wrote previously. And when I go through everything again before posting to AO3, I'll probably tweak things even further.
In other news, I can happily say I've decided how exactly I want Jason and Ghost!Robin to merge! I'd had ideas that were fine and would've worked. But I wasn't super enthused about them. Now I have one that is way better, but will make the fic a bit longer than I originally planned. So, yeah. Both excited and annoyed with myself for that.
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unreadpoppy · 5 days ago
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a (long)vent about writing, motivation, comments and loliness (and the depression)
Writing fic is one of the few ways I've found to help me deal with stressful times. When I was in college, and under a *lot* of stress, writing fic was the only thing that helped me to not lose it ok. But now that I'm out of college I've been struggling to write because I no longer have an outside stressor to keep me motivated. In fact, I have almost nothing to keep me motivated on fic.
Despite my shitty social skills and social anxiety, I'm someone who desperatly craves community and connection. Even if my social battery can get very low very quickly, I like talking to people. I especially like talking about something I've done, like when I participate in plays, I like talking about the process and all that sort of stuff.
So I love receiving comments. I like knowing someone read my stuff and I like talking to them about it, even if I can't always find the right words to express that. Which is also why I love leaving comments too. I know how hard it is to write fic, and idk, it makes me feel good to know someone will wake up to an email that someone read their fic and enjoyed it.
On a personal note, reading comments people left on the stuff I wrote helps me a lot. I've spoken here before about struggling with self esteem issues and I have an inner demon on the back of my head that tells me that everything I do is shit and I shouldn't post it. SO when I do post it, it's my way of trying to fight it back, right. It's why sometimes it takes me so long to write stuff, because i'm just constantly being told it's not good enough, and yeah, comments help me drown that voice out better than any meds i'll ever take. And sure, we could talk about how it's not really great to rely this much on external validation but that's not the point ok.
The point is, writing, even if it's really helpful for me, can be a struggle. And right now, it's being a big struggle. And one triggered this post is that I looked at my works on AO3 and I just...got really upset.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate every kudos and bookmark and comments (even if half of those 8 are my replies). What makes me upset is that feeling of putting so much effort into something and feeling like gaining so little in return. And this is not something of today. All fics that I've abandoned have been due to lack of engagement, because it is extremely hard for me to keep up doing something that I don't feel motivated about.
And look, it is EXTREMELY frustrating when I vent about this and I get hit with "but you should be writing for yourself." I do write for myself, because I wouldn't write it if I didn't want to. But, if I didn't want other people to read it, I wouldn't post it. And I have done that, I have a notebook filled with fic that I don't intend on writing on a computer and posting cause I don't want others to see it. But if I'm posting it, it's because I want to share with others. I want to talk about it, I want to hear what people thought. I come from a theater background, telling your fellow actors what you thought of their performance is what's normal to me.
And look, I've long given up on receiving comments ok. I content myself with a single kudos email nowadays but it IS disheartning when I see that a 10k thing I wrote got no kudos. It SUCKS when I dedicate myself to a chapter, excited to hear what people thought of it, and crickets instead.
And for the love of god, do not take this post as me begging for attention or go read my fics out of pity, i don't want either of that. I just want to vent. I want to vent because I feel very lonely in fandom spaces, because I feel extremely unmotivated no matter what I do and it hurts me, because I can't bring this up to my therapist because I don't want to explain all of this to her because she's a 40 year old brazilian woman who doesn't know what fan fiction is.
So I need to put the feelings somwhere ok, and im putting it here. I just...i just don't want to feel like this. I don't want this loliness, I don't want this feeling of nothing I do matters.
But i'm just tired. I want to write but I can't. I have the ideas but not the strenght to actually write them. And it's hard. I'll keep trying and I'll keep writing but it just sucks a lot and i feel like almost no one ever really gets it.
And I don't even want to get into the feelings of...not jealousy, because I don't wish ill, but that feeling of seeing fellow writers get so much more praise and engagement on their blogs and on their fics and then not getting that for mine. It just sucks and I don't want to talk about it.
Lastly, I want to leave on a quote that I think summarizes what I believe in. This is from the song 'Beautiful', the last song in the musical Ordinary Days. The characters are talking about works of art but I think it can apply to other things (emphasis is mine)
The point is that things aren’t beautiful all on their own Beautiful comes from reflection Beautiful takes a person who makes a connection You know what I mean? For beautiful to happen, The beautiful has got to be seen
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flydotnet · 1 year ago
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Excess of Care
WHUMPTOBER 2023, DAY 30: “It’s okay, just to say, ‘I’m not okay’.” Borrowed Clothing | Bridal Carry | “Not much longer…”
I guess writing one (1) interaction between Camilla and Hikaru in the early chapters of "Promotion to Parent" has always made me interested in more Camikaru (let's call it that lol) content for the HSAU. I don't even know why that is, I just felt like they'd be interesting to write interacting; and if this fic being there is proving something, it's that my writer hunch wasn't wrong.
This story is set a year after the main timeline, around the same time in the (school) year Promotion to Parent was set in. Since it serves as a bit of an indirect sequel to it, it does contain implied spoilers for it - so if it's ever interested you, please read that one first! It's not too long and also filled with all of the good stuff (read: family angst and lots of sibling love).
It's another short one that I thought I'd be more inspired by, or that would be angstier, but oh well… Brain is slowly stopping to function properly. It's another one of those I'll probs revisit in the future.
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Excess of Care
Summary: Camilla Nohr has always cared too much for others; but it doesn't have to be a bad thing.
Fandom: Crossover (FE Fates/CT), high school/teacher AU
Word Count: 1K words
AO3 version available here.
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Camilla has lost count of the number of times she’s been told she cared too much about people she didn’t know anything about. She’s been warned not get attached to students no matter what. She’s been blamed for lacking perspective and thinking with her heart rather than her brain. Mind over matters, duty of detachment, all that jazz that has turned into background noise inside her skull.
And yes, maybe Xander is right when he points out to her it will one day make her miserable, the one day she’ll be powerless yet too involved. But what do you want her to become, then? A heartless machine of an employee? Very little for her, thank you.
Today is proving Xander’s concerns for her habit of “over-caring” right once more, she does suppose. She’s meant to just deliver some papers her brother forgot to give to one of his workmates that couldn’t wait: with the upcoming class council season upon the school, teacher comments and grades have become the latest emergency. He’s himself swamped with comments to write for all of his students – who are a lot more than anyone would expect, to be fair – so she volunteered to deliver something he apparently needed to give to someone as soon as possible. Leo was the one to call her out, this time, but she replied to his concern the same way she always does: with a smile and truthful words.
This someone has turned out to be one of the few workmates he has she knows about, from last year’s Xander-related fiasco. Elise most often calls him by an affectionate nickname used by the entire school, it’d seem, while Leo is always a lot more detached when referring to him, and neither case comes to her surprise. What surprises her more was that she’s already met and spoken with him once before, yet when he opens the door, she’s still a bit starstruck. It’s like meeting her sibling’s idol in an intended context.
Perhaps it’d be closer to meeting someone and realizing they need help, however, because this is exactly what she’s doing.
Camilla has no doubt in her mind that, would’ve it been anyone else but her in this situation, they’d have just called someone close to the person they barely know anything about and left when it was clear it’d be taken care of. This is the sort of things Leo and Xander have warned her not to do, because she cares too much, and it’s not good for her.
On the other hand, this poor boy needed a helping hand, and he clearly is home alone: not only have Xander and Leo both mentioned his fiancée was out of the country for the week, but she also knows from second-hand accounts Elise’s favourite teacher is a chronic workaholic with… questionable self-care. Hinoka and Shun have both corroborated that, although considering Shun’s own lack of routine, she can only guess his judgement came from first-hand experience.
And this is how Camilla is finding herself with her brother’s colleague in his arms. From what she can tell through touch and sight, he’s slightly feverish and very much exhausted, but he should be fine with some rest.
The first order of action, when someone passes out in front of you, is to carry them to a bed. Luckily, she’s always had a lot of strength in her arms to carry her siblings and help Xander out, so it’s not an issue for her to carry the fairly lightweight Hikaru (she isn’t sure if she can call him by his given name, but it sounds like a good compromise between the formal “Mr Matsuyama” Leo uses and the much endeared “Matsu” Elise calls him instead) to his bedroom.
It doesn’t seem like he’s been here for long periods of time lately, with half of the twin bed undone yet the other undisturbed. She quickly takes the time to put it back into shape before tugging her patient in, just making sure he isn’t wearing anything too uncomfortable. To his luck, he was already wearing a very casual combination of old t-shirt and sweatpants. (Come to think of it, this doesn’t match the casual yet strait-laced enough looks Leo usually describes his literature teacher wearing).
With that taken care of, she can proceed to the next stop, which awaits her downstairs. With the supplies in the kitchen and the tools at her disposal, she wipes up a quick get-better package: a steaming mug of camomile tea with a generous spoonful of honey, lightly toasted bread straight from the machine and, of course, a good, tall glass of water.
To her surprise, when she comes back into the bedroom, he’s already awake, and quite confused to see her in his house. It’s… a surprisingly realistic outcome of the situation, she must admit.
“Uhm… What’re you doing here?” He asks, voice hoarse and slightly on the morning side of things.
“My apologies, I must’ve scared you,” she replies without advancing. “My brother sent me to deliver you some papers for work, but almost as soon as you opened the door, you lost consciousness. I brought you back to your bed so you could rest properly.”
“Papers for work… Oh, right, Xander.” His shoulders slump. “You’re Camilla Nohr.”
“It’s indeed me,” she answers with a smile. “Can I come closer?”
“O-oh, yeah, don’t even ask.” He scratches the back of his neck. “Sorry for that, by the way.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For passing out on you.” She puts the trail on his lap. “Oh, you’re too kind, damn, thanks.”
“It’s no problem, don’t stress yourself about it.” She remains standing on the side of the bed. “I was just very concerned, truth be told.”
He drinks the glass of water first. As always, her guess was right on the money.
“I get it, that must’ve been a rough way to get greeted at the door.”
“It’s not just that. You’re just as tired as Xander, but unlike him, you’re all alone.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.” He clears his throat. “Even though I realize I can’t be very convincing on the matter.”
Her face grows sterner. This is sounding all too familiar to her.
“You’re right, you’re not very convincing.” She uncrosses her arms. “You know… It’s okay just to say you’re not okay. Especially when you’re alone like you are right now.”
“Right,” he replies with a slight smile, as awkward as it is. “You’re right. It’s just, I don’t know who I’d be telling this to.”
“I’m sure you have friends and family willing to listen to it. If you find yourself without someone, then…” She smiles again. “You’ll find my phone number written down on a note on your fridge.”
“That’s a radical way to get me to take care, damn.” He chuckles anyway. “I’m very thankful for that Camilla, I really am. Still, please tell me you’ll go home. I don’t wanna keep you here.”
“As long as you promise to rest, at least until the break comes in.”
“I will. Thanks again.”
“You’re welcome. Although, for now, I think I’ll just take some time to call Xander and tell him I’ve delivered his parcel.”
Hikaru almost jolts in place.
“Shit, the docs, yeah!”
“They’re on the drawer in the hallway.”
“Oh, good. You’re really good at this.”
“Years of experience.”
As she turns on her heel and gets her phone out, Camilla unanimously concludes she can’t care too much about people.
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acearcane · 5 months ago
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Thanks for the tag! I love this, I will absolutely yap about my fics :)
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
I've got 5 right now! But a crap ton of ideas scribbled down in the back of my mind that I need to find the motivation to work on...
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
90,695 :) But a bit longer with unfinished stuff I have written down.
3. What fandoms do you write for?
RIght now, just The Umbrella Academy and The Owl House! I'd love to explore more fandoms at some point, though. We'll see if the mood ever strikes me.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
Well, the fun bit is that I only have five. So let's rank these bad boys!
1. The Quest for the Keys of Death 2. Witches in Wonderland 3. Melodies of Caged Bird 4. The Owl Fluff 5. I Don't Know Why I Bite
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
I do my very best to! It can be hard for me to remember to/find the energy to reply to things, whether it be comments or asks or whatever. But I seriously love and cherish any comments left on my works, and I'm mentally giving you the biggest hug. :)
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Ooo. Well. I've technically only finished one, lol. But... Melodies of a Caged Bird will have the angstiest ending. The Quest for the Keys of Death will be the angstiest over all, but there will be a happy ending. :)
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Again, I've only finished one (and the ending is bittersweet on that one) but The Quest for the Keys of Death will have the happiest ending.
8. Do you get hate on fics?
I've gotten a comment that was a little patronizing, disagreeing with a headcanon of mine, but it wasn't necessarily hateful. It was a bit of a bummer, though.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
I don't. I've never written smut before, and it's not exactly my writing forte. Kudos to those who do, though!
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I'm actually not a big crossover fan, which is funny considering my biggest/most popular fic is a crossover. It's not that crazy, but it's an Owl House and Percy Jackson crossover!
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I know of; I don't think my fics are popular enough for that, haha!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope, but that would be cool to do at some point!
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
I haven't, but that would be so fun to do at some point! Any of my Umbrella Academy or Owl House moots, feel free to hit me up if you ever wanna try co-writing a fic!
14. What’s your all time favourite ship?
Prooobably Huntlow! It's the ship I've gotten the most into/excited about. I'm not a huge shipper, I blame my aro/ace tendencies, but I love Hunter and Willow's dynamic. :)
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Probably Witches in Wonderland. I feel bad leaving it unfinished, but I lost all motivation and creativity for it. Besides, I've read too many fics with a similar concept now, and I'm too scared that I'll accidentally steal elements from someone else's writing.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Well, shit. I honestly don't know. I've been told I have very good descriptions and imagery, and I'd agree with that! I've also been told that I'm good at characterization, but I'm less sure on that one.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Dialogue can really screw with me. I don't know if I'm bad at it, per se, but it stresses me out the most and I have the hardest time with it. Besides that, commitment. I have a hard time sticking with my writing and finding the motivation to finish my projects.
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I've tried that a little bit with The Quest for the Keys of Death, and having some of Luz's exclamations in Spanish! I'm not a Spanish speaker, though, so I shy away from using too much. I need to bully my American ass into learning more languages, haha! I'd feel a bit more confident using it, then.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
The Hunger Games, actually! That fic was published on Quotev and has since been deleted, but it's what got me past that initial hurdle of being scared to write fanfiction. It was an interesting concept that I should return to at some point... hmmm...
20. Favourite fic you’ve written?
Well, the brainrot says I Don't Know Why I Bite, but I think I'm just proud that I finished something. Other than that, The Quest for the Keys of Death. It's a huge labor of love, and once I have the motivation, I can't wait to return to it. :)
Calling on my fellow writers! @childlikegoblinqueen @unniebeans @slightecho
This is making me realize I need TUA writer mutuals... If any TUA fic writers see this, feel free to hit me up. I need someone to talk about my works with (and I'd love to listen to you talk about yours ^.^)
Twenty Questions for Fic Writers
Thank you for the tag @sneakyfox55! I don't normally do tag games, but this one looks really fun. (What author doesn't want the chance to ramble about their writing?) (This one is also copy/paste, so I'm less worried about clogging up people's dashes)
I'm going to put it under a cut since this is pretty long!
1. How many works do you have on AO3?
As of now? 9! (But I have more than 35 fics in progress in my drafts that aren't posted.)
2. What’s your total AO3 word count?
129,647! But like, triple that (or more) if you want to count unposted stuff.
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Undertale!
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
1. Heart on the Table
2. How to Defeat a Human in 6 Easy Steps
3. faux pas
4. How to Comfort a Panicking Child
5. How to Help a Human in 2 Easy Steps
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
Yes!!! I love responding!!! I'm behind horribly right now because of my work's busy season, but I plan to catch back up! It's so fun to get to talk to people about the things I've poured my heart and soul into, you know? And I'm always glad to get to thank the people that took the time to leave a comment! It's a bit hard to keep up sometimes, though.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
"Is it Home Without You?" definitely. I'm still really proud of that fic, and it's part of a series with a happy ending, but the actual oneshot is the immediate aftermath of Gaster's lab accident from Sans's PoV. So, uh. Dead dad that no one but you remembers (not even your little brother) is pretty angsty. It's a step away from the norm for me, since normally I only write things with happy endings. But since this is part of a series that has a happy ending, I suppose my brain allowed me to end it off on a bittersweet (sad and angsty) note.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
This is really hard to say! I like big, happy endings, so most of my stuff gets them! Probably.... Hmmm. Either faux paus or How to Defeat a Human in 6 Easy Steps
8. Do you get hate on fics?
For the most part? No. (And I will always be grateful for the kind people that have picked me back up after I've been shot down in the past.)
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
None you'll ever find under this username! I try to keep it family friendly here. ...Welllll, depending on if you count fics that tackle trauma and child murder in them family friendly.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
I haven't written any cross fandom crossovers! ...I have, however, been guilty of writing cross fic crossovers (none posted). I like to make my characters from different fics interact with each other. I've also done some crossovers for fun with my friends, making our characters interact. All still Undertale fandom, though! The craziest one is probably "How to Adopt an Interdimensional Traveler" which may be posted at some point. It's a crossover between Heart on the Table, and my How To: series. What, you're telling me Papyrus has TWO children to deal with now? (Here, have the first little bit of that because I love it. And I love Papyrus.)
Step One: Find out their name “FRISK!” Papyrus’s voice was not a shriek. No. He was perfectly composed as he stared down at the… little Frisk in front of him.  The very little Frisk. There was a familiar thumping behind him as… his Frisk crashed down the stairs in their familiar clumsy way. For all the elegance they displayed in battle, that did not tend to follow them home. He partially whirled around to face them, keeping… mini Frisk in his sight at the same time.  “What’s up, Dad?” Mini Frisk made a small noise that may have been confusion as they rapidly looked between him and their larger counterpart. “…Dad?” Oh.  Hm.  Yes.  That was. A thing. Apparently Papyrus had two children now. 
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I know! And I sure hope not!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
Nope! That would be cool as heck, though!
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
None that are posted! But I like to write with my friends, sometimes.
14. What’s your all time favourite ship?
Surprisingly! Not Undertale! (Though I do like Alphyne!) Zukka! (Zuko x Sokka, Avatar the Last Airbender) I've loved that ship for years, and even though I'm not really in the AtLA fandom anymore, it still has a very close place in my heart.
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
Hmmmm. Again, nothing posted. I don't post fics unless they have a first draft completely written to prevent that kind of thing. (Though, I do rewrite stuff, and that can cause pretty big posting delays. But if for some reason I can't find the motivation to finish my rewrites, I could always just slap my first draft up so that it's not completely unfinished before I'd abandon it completely.) Of my fics not posted, though? I've got a fic called "Ghost of You" which is a fated soulmate dusttale!papyrusXreader fic. I hope I can finish it one day, but... well. I'm not sure if I will or not.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Characterization, and internal dialogue, I think! I like to think I'm pretty good at writing a character in such a way that even if you pick just a sentence at random, you know who's head you're in. Or, perhaps my strength is hurt/comfort in general...
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
It used to be dialogue, though I'm working to get better at that! I also struggle sometimes when it comes to making sure that the pace is engaging and that we aren't just stuck in someone's internal thoughts for 5 paragraphs. Gotta break that up with some stuff actually happening!
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
Very cool, and a great way to show characters that speak other languages than the one you are in the PoV of!
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Well... the fic itself is long gone, but! I wrote for Ouran Highschool Host Club when I was like 12.
20. Favourite fic you’ve written?
DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE! HOW COULD YOU ASK ME TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MY CHILDREN? MY BABIES! ...Heart on the Table has a special place in my heart though.
No pressure tags (only if you want! this is just for fun!): @lizavet @timeofjuly @humankk and anyone that wants to!
Also... Shall I dare? invoke the potential wrath of a god(ess)?
I dare. I'm curious about the answers (if the goddess does deign to answer this mortal/jk) @llamagoddessofficial (please feel free to just ignore if you want!)
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randomshyperson · 4 years ago
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Wanda Maximoff x Reader - Angrily in love
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Summary: Wanda and Reader are on the run after a mission goes wrong, and they do not have a good relationship. When Wanda is approached in a diner by strange men, Reader confronts them. And some other things. Based on prompt from stay-casual, thanks again dear.
Warnings: Language; All fluff, but also humor. enemies stubborn idiots to lovers.
Words: 3.002 K ////// Read on AO3
Marks > @stay-casual @mionemymind @wandamaximoffpuppy
You and Wanda didn't get along very well.
Which was a problem since you were running away together.
It all started two and a half weeks ago, and honestly, you would blame Steve if anyone asked.
You were both assigned to an infiltration mission into a drug trafficking headquarters in Mexico. It was not your typical job, but there was evidence of Hydra involvement.
And so you and Wanda were team partners, and everything was going very well, until she pissed you off for some reason, and the two of you started to argue. Maybe you miscalculated the impact of your words, because the second you call her "angry little witch" Wanda used her magic to push you, but before you could think of fighting back, there were about fifteen rifles pointed at both of you.
Disguise completely blown, Wanda was quick enough to get you two out of there, and with the entire country on alert, you needed to keep a low profile until it was safe to return to the compound.
So now you were forced to deal with each other's company, and you broke your cell phone when Natasha sent a emoji and a message telling you guys to enjoy your vacation.
At this moment you were driving the van that you managed to steal from the barracks before you left, while Wanda slept in the passenger seat. You reached out to turn on the radio for a bit, but when you started humming the music, it stopped playing. Looking quickly to see what had happened, you let out an incredulous sigh as you saw the familiar red light dissipate in the air.
- I'm sleeping. - Wanda grumbled, and you frowned in irritation as you turned on the radio again.
- Not my problem.
The music started again, but then stopped. You let out a angry whimper.
- Be quiet. - She said without opening her eyes.
And then you turned the sound back on. And Wanda turned it off. And then you did it again. This went on for three minutes, until you hit the brakes, and Wanda opened her eyes with the sudden movement.
- My God, what is your problem? - She shouted, and you ignored the honking sounds behind you as you took the keys off.
- You know what, Maximoff? - You replied angrily, unbuckling your seat belt. - You're driving now.
You dropped the key in her lap, and got out of the vehicle. Turning around, you opened the back door of the van and climbed in. You heard Wanda grumble angrily as she jumped into the driver's seat, but you just leaned against the wall of the van and closed your eyes. A minute after she started the car, you heard the sound of the radio.
Ignoring the urge to break the equipment, you decided to fall asleep.
//-//
Driving for about three hours, Wanda finally parked the van. The lack of movement woke you up, and you yawned lightly as you stretched.
You heard the door open and close, and caught a glimpse of Wanda's red hair as she walked away from the van, so you got out next.
It was a motel, and judging by the amount of cars in the parking lot, it was decent enough to not have diseases in the sheets.
You hurried to catch up with Wanda, and when she entered the reception area, she didn't hold the door, and you almost hit your face on the wood. Swearing softly, you then entered.
- Good evening. - You heard her greet the receptionist, who didn't look very pleased to serve more people. - Two rooms please.
- Sorry, honey. - He said chewing on a small stick between his teeth. - We only have one spare room.
- Wait, what?
- It's the season for Los Muertos, senorita. - clarified the man, and seeing Wanda's expression, he added. - All the places will be crowded with tourists, you are lucky to find anything available around here. - He says with a fake disappointment in his voice.
Wanda let out a sigh, while you were distracted by the fish in the aquarium on the premises.
- It's okay, Wanda, you can sleep on the couch. - You tease without looking at her, but she ignores your comment and hands the money for the room to the receptionist.
- Have a nice stay. If you want something to eat besides the minibar, there is a dinner behind the pool area. - The man says as he hands over the key. Wanda doesn't smile, and leaves the place, you lightly tap your fingers on the aquarium while smiling at the fish before following her.
You two walk to the room in silence, and you sigh as you enter, observing the place. It was simple, yet cozy. The redhead commented softly "thank god" when she notices that there are two beds, and threw the bag she was carrying on top of one of them, before walking to the bathroom, while you start looking for the remote control.
//-//
Two days sharing the same room, and you were surprised that you hadn't killed each other yet. There were a few arguments, mainly over having to share the television, or the delay in the shower, but otherwise things were going pretty well.
It was lunchtime, and you had just used the street phone to try to get in touch with Natasha when you saw Wanda leave the room in the direction of the dinner. She gave you an angry look before she left, and you rolled your eyes before following her, after all, you were starving.
- Why are you following me? - she asked angrily as you walked beside her.
- I'm not following you, I'm going to lunch. The restaurant is not yours. - You retort, and she rolls her eyes.
- God, and you have to have lunch with me now?
- Who says I'm having lunch with you? - you retort impatiently. - I intend to sit fifteen tables away.
- Great!
- Great indeed! - You retort as she opens the door and hurries inside, taking a seat at one of the first empty tables. You curse softly to yourself, and then enter the restaurant.
Unfortunately the only empty table you can find is the one in front of Wanda, and you can see her staring angrily at you. You smile wryly in her direction, and she waves her middle finger at you. But then the waitress approaches, and she looks away. You scold yourself for holding your gaze on her longer than necessary, and then you are served next.
The restaurant was considerably crowded, there were many groups of diverse people eating together, and you noticed that there were also truck drivers, and families, and even young people your own age. Fortunately the service was very good, and soon you were having some fries and meat.
You were finishing your milkshake, slightly distracted by the newspaper that was left on the table for the customers, when a sound of male laughter caught your attention.
Two men, considerably older than you, approached Wanda's table, both exchanging mischievous laughs.
- Come on, let's ask her out. - You heard one of them remark with a chuckle. And then you were already getting up, anger boiling in your chest.
- Hi there, sweetheart, what's your name?
- I'll give you five seconds to leave before I shove my shoe up your ass! - you shouted before Wanda could answer anything. Both men looked at you with a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
- Who the hell are you? - One of them sneered, but you shoved him hard enough to make him realize that you were no ordinary girl as he stumbled backwards, his eyes flashed with fear.
- Leave her alone.
The man stumbled backwards poking his friend in the chest, and they both gave you a angry look before leaving. The restaurant was bubbling over with small comments, but you exchanged a glance with the waitress and she didn't seem willing to kick you out for this.
You turned to Wanda next, and she had a very annoyed expression on her face.
- Fine, Wanda, what is it? - you asked impatiently when noticing her face.
- I don't need your help. - She retorted angrily. - I can handle these things just fine on my own.
- Wow, you are really ungrateful. - You sneer, crossing your arms. You look around for a moment, and notice that men in the same profile are still assessing Wanda from afar. You feel your body boil with irritation at the malicious looks they cast at her, and you stare back at them, a murderous expression on your face. They exchange a startled look and you wait for them to stop looking before turning your attention to the redhead - Can I sit with you?
- Excuse me? - she asks angrily, but doesn't even wait for you to answer. - No way! Piss off!
- You are so annoying. - You grumble before going back to your desk.
But you're not even hungry anymore, feeling a strange irritation at the tip of your stomach as you remember the way the men looked at Wanda, so you take the last sips of your milkshake and stand up again. Wanda pretends you don't exist as you walk past her table, and you roll your eyes at the childishness.
- Good afternoon. - You greet the cashier with a smile. - Sorry for the mess. The idiots were harassing my...colleague.
The cashier smiles, accepting the money you gave her. Then she frowns at the amount, and you clear your throat when you say to include Wanda's table bill as well, and she just nods in agreement.
- She's a pretty girl. - The cashier comments as she separates the money. You make a noise of agreement, without really paying attention. - She seems like the kind of girl who breaks not only boys' hearts.
She gives you a suggestive look, and you blink in surprise, averting your eyes and feeling your face heat up.
- Thank you. - You grumble as you get your change.
Leaving the restaurant afterwards, you chide yourself for immediately looking for Wanda through the windows. Turning your head forward, you go back to your room.
//-//
Wanda really got annoyed with your little scene in the restaurant, and didn't talk to you when she came back to the room, not that you were complaining.
And then it was time for her to watch some stupid program, and you left the room, because you were not in the mood of arguing about who's turn it is to watch.
You thought about getting a drink, so you returned to the restaurant, which at this time was considerably emptier.
The cashier from earlier was now serving tables, and smiled at you when you sat down at the counter.
- What will you have, dear? - She asked.
- A hot chocolate please. - You asked, leaning your elbow on the table and your face in your hand. With your free hand you tapped your fingers lightly against the counter.
It didn't take long to get your order, and you and you got a little pensive when the waitress returned, wiping the counter beside you.
- That was quite a scene earlier today. - She comments with a smile. You laugh, slightly embarrassed, but willing to talk.
- Yeah, sorry about that.
- No problem, sweetie. - She comments. - Young people are always so nervous when jealous.
You choke in surprise, feeling your face heat up.
- Jealous? I wasn't...
The waitress giggles, placing the cloth on her left shoulder.
- It's all good, child. - she says. - My husband used to be jealous of truck drivers in this region too. And with a beautiful girlfriend like that, I imagine it's hard for you.
She remarks with a smile before going to serve another customer, and you widen your eyes in surprise, feeling your face very warm.
Then you spent the next five minutes frowning, repeating how absurd it was that anyone would insinuate that you were jealous of Wanda, until the waitress was back again, serving you a doughnut that you didn't ask for but accepted anyway.
- Just to clarify. - You start between one bite and another. - I am not jealous.
The waitress giggles, arranging a few things on the counter.
- I also noticed that you two sat at separate tables, reminded me of my Miguel. - She says with a smile. - We used to fight so much that he would sleep on the balcony.
You laugh lightly, running your hand through your hair.
- But you know, all the fights were just an excuse to get each other's attention. - She says, leaning her hands on the counter in front of you. - To this day, I still believe he would leave the key off the key chain just to hear me grumble and squeeze my butt when he apologized. - She says with a smile that makes you laugh.
And then she is pouring you some more chocolate, and you are ignoring the growing nervousness in your stomach at the thought of her insinuations that you and Wanda were like a couple fighting.
- Rosa. - You call out after reading her name on the badge, she looks at you curiously. - How... How did you know you were in love?
- During a fight, of course. - She says, laughing. - We are in high school, and we had a fight during a soccer game. It was so hilarious. We started fighting about who would play the penalty kick for our team, and one of our classmates tried to get into an argument with me, and Miguel punched him in the nose, yelling that no one could fight with me but him.
You widen your eyes in surprise, but then laugh, finding the story a bit absurd. But the waitress has a nostalgic look in her eyes, as if she is missing something, and you frown.
- What... what happened to Miguel?
You watch her smile slowly die, and something in her gaze change. And then you cough uncomfortably, feeling a pain in your stomach.
- My Miguel was trying to improve our life when the German agents arrived. - She said in a somber tone. You stumbled out of your seat, trying to breathe. - The avengers had no right to take him away from me.
Fucking great, you thought wryly as you felt your throat closing. You stumbled out of the restaurant, falling to your knees. You think you saw a red light before you lost consciousness.
//-//
Something was moving, and it took many minutes for you to realize that it was the surface you were lying on. And then you slowly opened your eyes, blinking as you progressively tried to regain awareness.
- Finally, spitfire. - A female voice commented with irony, and you were startled to see Natasha sitting beside you. You tried to sit up in bed, feeling your body ache to do so.
- Damn it. - You complained of pain, and then you realized that you were on a spaceship. - Wow, how did I get here?
- By being the worst field agent. - Nat scoffed lightly, getting up from her seat to get you some water. You noticed that you were in the medical compartment of the ship. When she handed you the glass of water, you let out a satisfied grunt, drinking it all quickly.
- Let me guess, that lady really poisoned me. - You say, handing the glass back, and Nat sits down beside you on the bed, laughing lightly.
- Seriously, you went out on a simple recognition mission, and now you have shooting, escape and poisoning in your report.
You laugh before you ask.
- How did you find us anyway?
- Wanda, of course. - She tells. - I think you collapsed and she wrecked the whole place. We arrived before the Mexican government arrested you two. Also, the waitress will be questioned, but I don't think she knows much.
- Wait, what do you mean by wrecked the whole place?
Nat laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
- You know how Wanda's magic gets when she is nervous. And well, she was very nervous.
You nod, looking away, feeling a warmth in your cheeks and chest. And then Nat is getting up again.
- Well, I have to tell Steve that you are awake. You've had enough sleep so join us when you can. - She comments with a smile before leaving.
When you look down you notice the needle marks on your arm, where the antidote was probably placed, you sigh slightly.
You stand up, realizing that you feel almost no discomfort in your muscles. Before you can move toward the other room however, there is someone coming in.
- You're really awake. - Wanda comments seriously, stopping in the doorway.
You laugh lightly, deciding to tease her.
- Ah, yes. And I heard that you lost your shit when you saw me pass out. It's touching, really.
- And you are still a complete idiot. - She retorts as she approaches.
- Yes, and yet you still love me.
- I do.
- Wait, what?
But then Wanda advances on you, kissing you on the mouth. It takes a microsecond for you to overcome the shock, and kiss her back with your hands on her waist. You both sigh against each other's mouths, and when air is needed, Wanda pulls her face away slightly.
- Don't ever do that again. - She says breathlessly.
- I didn't choose to be poisoned, you know. - You retort with mild irony. Wanda rolls her eyes smiling as she lets her hands go up to your cheeks.
- I don't want to lose you, even if you are an annoying jerk. - She says and you laugh lightly.
- Thanks for the compliments, dear. It helps my self-esteem. - You reply with irony and Wanda laughs, stealing a few kisses from you.
- Don't be such a crybaby. - She jokes, but something in her eyes changes. - You're also brave, and funny. And sweet, and infuriating attractive.
- Wow, this is turning me on. - You mock lightly, stroking her back and making her laugh. And then you're stealing kisses between your giggles, until you rest your foreheads together. - Just for the record, even though you are a temperamental annoying little witch, I am completely in love with you.
Wanda nods smiling, kissing you again.
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rightpastnowhere · 2 years ago
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2, 12, and 41 for the fic ask game?
you and blorb both sent me 41, but i'll answer it here so that there's 3 questions per post gjkrnkgjr
questions for fic writers
2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?
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oh absolutely LKNGERGN most of what i write is character studies, a lot of them with copious amounts of introspection, and apparently that's over 1/3 of what i've posted since joining ao3 lmao. it's my favorite thing to write, really!! and i'm usually the most proud of those. i also trend more towards writing fluff or happy content than angsty content, but most of it ends up with a little angst added in anyway. the canon-compliant surprised me, because i really do come up with a lot of AUs, but it makes sense now that i think about it - usually my AUs remain as unfinished concepts, without much writing and just development, where as canon content gives me the context already to write from lmao
12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?
oh boy. honestly?? fake dating and arranged marriage AUs. also slowburns. the AUs always just seemed so cheesy to me, and they were often written to just be as cheesy as possible, but there's some i've found recently that have just absolutely hooked me. and i realized that with fake dating, i can have a slowburn where they still get to hold hands and kiss, so it's a win-win. as for the whole slowburn thing, that just stems from how impatient i am and how they're often sadly unfinished, and i really do prefer from reading established relationship at the end of the day. however, i've come to enjoy the slow build (especially after perc'ahlia) as long as they're finished - although, i still do prefer when more of a fic focuses on the pairing when they're together gkjrngkjnrg
41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”
oh god, just one???? uhhhh lemme see if there's one that sticks out
the first one that comes to mind is usually she must, then, try by miss_echidna on ao3, aka @randomfatechidna on tumblr. they've written a couple wanda maximoff-focused fics, and i love their style for writing wanda, and this was just the first that i read, and it just... the style blew me away. i just wanted to write like that, and it stuck with me. also this tag is hilarious
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another one that i read even longer ago is Falling by viinas on ao3, aka @viinas-writes on tumblr. it's another one where i love the character, kazuma, and they captured his character SO WELL!!! like it's fucking perfect, and THEN the writing style kicked my ass into next week. and also i left a comment and got the sweetest and most wonderful reply, and later we were part of a zine together, and since this is a writer i've looked up to for a WHILE, it just became something special to me, cause that experience was surreal
andddd a more recent one - Orpheo Looks Back by lordy_lou on ao3. i just... again, the style blew me away, just... i was hooked on every word, and it just had this visceral quality to it, and it picks apart the pov character, scanlan, in SUCH a good way. and it goes into dreams and guilt, and then i read other things by this author, and i just kept adoring their writing style.
GOD I WROTE SO MUCH FOR THIS WHOOPS. thanks so much for the ask!!!!
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diabla616 · 2 years ago
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Fic writer ask
Thank you @loki-is-my-kink-awakening for tagging me 💕
Procrastinating writing my WIP? me? 😅
— How long have you been writing fanfiction?
Ok, so I just looked up the release date for the game which got me into reading/writing fic, and apparently it's 2008. so a little later than I thought, but a long time 😅
— Do you have a favorite word? (One that you love. Doesn’t necessarily have to be one you use all the time.)
I don't think so? nothing that stands out to me as I use it a lot.
— Share a favorite run-on sentence that you’ve written.
This one from and we shall be dangerous and we shall be dangerous - the_morningstar616 (diabla616) - Infinite Undiscovery [Archive of Our Own]
Then he's - Sigmund is gone, whatever force stayed Edward is no longer there and he takes off running, but it's too late, he's too late.
— Share a bit of a scene that you’ve written that still gives you FEELS.
the most recent one - from a prompt in the Passiflora bingo. An angsty version of the Last Wish quest from The Witcher 3: Bingo! - diabla616 - Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]
“No, I- You really don’t remember anything else? Like why you might be here with me fighting a djinn at all?” 
Geralt’s frown deepens, “I’m a Witcher, Yennefer, not a sorcerer. What use would I have for a djinn?” 
It’s not often she’s the one left without a reply, but when she can't seem to find one, he carries on, “Despite what Dandelion’s ballads would have you believe, I do know when to leave well enough alone.” 
— What is your favorite kind of character interaction to write? — Do you have a hyper-specific genre?
I like writing dialogue, mostly- I like to try and play out the conversation, see if I can hear it in the characters' voices, to know if it works.
— Any personal or frequently used tags?
Nothing which I think stands out. 'Pining', 'getting together', the usual really 😂
— Share a joke or funny moment that you’ve written that still makes you laugh.
I never think humour is my strong point, but maybe this one - Jaskier being a little harsh on himself, and rather awkward Some nights I call it a draw - diabla616 - The Witcher (TV) [Archive of Our Own]
It shouldn’t be embarrassing – it's not embarrassing; they’re adults both of them, with normal human needs. It’s not as though Geralt is going to take one look and realise he’s the star of Jaskier’s evening entertainment. Not as long as Jaskier can pull himself together. “Cramp.” He manages, a little hoarsely. Great, nailed it. 
— Best editing tip?
Editing? 😅
I proofread my fics, and usually save them as draft to AO3 overnight, then revisit them in the morning so I've got a fresh look for typos, etc.
— What drives you to write?
interest in the characters / story. A desire to share my take on them, maybe?
— Share something about your writing that you have wished someone would ask you about. Or alternatively, something that you are just really proud of.
My Losers club reverse bang from last year!
Such a life to go - alby_mangroves, diabla616 - IT (Movies - Muschietti) [Archive of Our Own]
The art is gorgeous, I wrote far more than I was expecting to, and it was just an all-round fun experience. Also, I have a page or two of codas for it which I'll probably never get round to cleaning up and sharing 😅
— Where do you draw inspiration?
Everywhere! My own experiences, discussions in other fandom communities, all sorts.
— What is your immediate reaction when you receive a new comment on a fic?
usually just 😍😍
I do go back and reread some of the comments on my fics to cheer me up at times.
— What is your biggest challenge in writing?
Most of the time it's finding a way to end the story which doesn't seem rushed, or too trope-y. I'm never sure how successful I am at that 😅
— 1-2 sentence preview from your current WIP?? (Only if you are willing.)
It's cold outside the house, wind cutting through Steve’s thin polo, but he barely notices it until the front door opens behind him and the contrast of the warm air makes him shiver.  
“Steve?” 
Robin steps out the door, approaching a little like he’s a frightened deer, and forget reading it on his face – Robin can probably see the whole thing on a neon sign from miles away.   When she’s close enough she puts a hand on his shoulder and he leans into it a little.  
— What story or scene are you most proud of?
There's a few, but this is one I've not shared here yet -
Ours not to reason why - diabla616 - Dragon Age: Origins [Archive of Our Own]
I don't usually write soulmate aus, but I loved the idea of a dalish warden hearing the Chant in his head and that being what eventually leads him to a soulmate.
— Please link your profile so we can admire your works!
diabla616 - Works | Archive of Our Own
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jovialyouthmusic · 3 years ago
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Time's Winged Chariot
A Time Traveller's Dilemma
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I have a non existant tag list for this fic based on a character from Lovelink, so if you stumble across it and like it, ask and I'll tag you for the next chapter. Alternatively, any likes or positive comments will result in you being added to the list. It's also up on AO3 under my profile LucyValois. Apolgies for overusing the name Lucy, but I like it and I'm too lazy to edit it out.
Word count 3448
No warnings, just fluff so far, but all my fics are mature so No under 18s please.
MC Lucy awaits the return of her time travelling admirer from the Georgian Era. Can their relationship continue despite belonging to such different eras?
1 The Traveller Returns
You startle at the sound of a text message coming in. You always do nowadays, as you wait for your time travelling beau from the Georgian era to return. So far you have been disappointed in the six months since he left. At first you found ways of keeping your spirits up, devouring period drama in any form you can find, but as the weeks pass you begin to wonder if he will ever return. You attempt to check on his name in historical records, but they are vague and sketchy and tell you nothing for certain.
Nicholas Adley. The name affects you deeply. At first your heart soared to say it aloud, but hope is fading. You wonder if you should go back to Lovelink, the app where you first encountered him, to look for another match.
But how can you? You felt so happy, so complete when you were with him, despite the great chasm in time and customs between you. He had vowed he would stay with you in your era, but you knew how much his family meant to him and urged him to return. He would only do so with a promise to come back for you after preparing a place for you in his own time. Sadly you had received only one message since saying that his time machine was malfunctioning, but that he was doing everything he could to get back.
And yet again disappointment came as you saw the message was just a routine notification from the garage that serviced your car. You slumped, staring at the screen for a while before replying to book an appointment.
This must be how people from Nicholas’s time felt when their sweetheart or husband went away to sea. They would do so not knowing when or even if they would return. They were lucky (or rich enough) if they could afford an artist to paint a miniature for them to remember their beloved. If they travelled somewhere in the civilised world they might be able to write letters to each other, but more often than not, maybe they couldn’t even read or write. How long would you wait for their return before deciding to find another, especially if you had children to feed or had no other to support you?
Another text notification comes in, no doubt from the garage. You go to the window of your town apartment and look out toward the countryside where you had last seen your beloved. He stayed in an old half abandoned cabin in the woods to which you occasionally return and stare at the space his machine last disappeared from, willing it to rematerialize, to no avail.
Ding. The garage wouldn’t text you twice – could it be? Can you bear to have your hopes dashed yet again? You hold the phone, staring at the lock screen before taking a deep breath and pressing your finger to the sensor. Two text messages…
Lucy, my beloved
Your legs give way and you sink to the support of a nearby chair, feeling hot and cold all at the same time, heart hammering in your chest.
Answer me I beseech you. I cannot go another second without knowing you are well and safe
Trembling, you answer
Nicholas, is it really you?
None other. Are you well, my dearest one?
I am well – I’m so happy to hear from you. Where – when are you?
I’m at the cabin. Can you come to me?
Of course. I’ve a surprise for you so it may take me a little longer
One second feels like an eternity, but do what you must
I’ll be as quick as I can, I promise
You get up on wobbly legs and race to your bedroom. You have to prepare for your meeting, for you have been thorough in your research. You joined a group of historical enthusiasts, meeting to dress in period costume and learn dances of the Georgian and Regency era. You go to your wardrobe, stripping as you go. It’s impossible to dress in haste, for well bred ladies of the era of Nicolas’s class had maids to help them. You had help from other members of your group at your meetings, but today you must dress alone.
First comes a little cotton chemise, laced as a light corset that pushes your bust up for display. You thank your lucky stars that it wasn’t until later that more restrictive garments reinforced with whalebone were essential. The garment has been made to lace at the front so is relatively easy to fasten. Women did not wear anything like knickers – or pantaloons – until later, but you wear your own panties for modesty’s sake, not sure if Nicholas would know what is worn under petticoats. You do however have knitted stockings, held in place by garters. Soft leather shoes are correct, but you wear your own trainers for now, putting the period shoes in a bag along with a bonnet.
Next comes a petticoat or slip, with ties at the waist and dropping just below knee height. After that comes a longer chemise, dropping from broad soft shoulder straps to almost ankle length and only lightly fitted. After that is the dress, fitted around the bodice but dropping softly from just under the bust to floor length, in a pleasing shade of blue popular in Georgian times. This is the hardest garment to put on, as it fastens at the back, but you have cheated a little and used Velcro. The fabrics are soft and light, almost see through so that only the under layers of chemise and slip prevent your silhouette from showing against a bright light. A matching short cape, or pelisse, goes over the ensemble, and you are ready to go.
You leave your apartment and swiftly make your way to your car, ignoring the strange looks you get. It’s not the first time you’ve been seen dressed this way, but you’re usually arriving home late after dance practice. You take a deep breath to steady your nerves before starting up the car and setting off.
It’s not far to the edge of the wood, and you park up and lock the car after taking out your bag. The cabin can’t be seen from where you are, which is why it has remained secret for so long. Not so long that there isn’t an electrical supply that Nicolas uses to power up the time machine, and it also has water piped in. You stop at a bend in the narrow track to put on the dancing slippers and bonnet and take out your phone.
I’m close, but wait inside and don’t peek
That sounds very mysterious. I will do as you ask
You wait a second before you hurry along the track, eager to meet your long lost sweetheart. You approach the door and knock.
‘I’m coming in, close your eyes, Nicolas.’
‘They are closed.’ You open the door and enter, dizzy with anticipation. You had planned to let him see you first, but instinctively you rush forward and throw your arms around him. He takes in a gasp of air, hugging you back, and chuckles.
‘It could be none other than you, Lucy, I recognise your scent. May I open my eyes?’
‘Just a moment.’ You plead, savouring being held close to him, his body solid and warm, his heart beating strongly, his earthy but sweet scent. Reluctantly you let go and stand back a little. ‘Okay, open your eyes.’ He does so, his hazel eyes sparkling, growing wide as he takes in your clothes. He put his hand to his forehead, puzzled.
‘Am I dreaming? I have had dreams like this. It’s you, but…’ he pauses, trying to form words to express how he feels.
‘It’s not a dream, Nicholas.’ you assure him. ‘I joined a historical group who dress in period and practice dances you’ll recognise – or perhaps you can correct us.’
‘You did this for me?’
‘It helped me feel close to you.’ He still stares at you in amazement, and you falter, unsure of his reaction. ‘Do you like it?’ He breaks into an apologetic smile.
‘How could I not? It is – so thoughtful of you. Did you mean to put me at my ease? I fear you have surprised me so much I have quite forgotten my manners.’ He takes your hand and clasps it tight before lifting it to his lips for a soft kiss. ‘I am thrilled, but you must know that whatever you wear is delightful to my eyes.’ He looks at you critically, hand cradling his chin. ‘But it is very becoming. As far as I, a mere male, understand it, you would pass very well at a ball.’
‘I’m so glad you like it. Why have you been away so long? Is everything okay?’ His face falls and he goes to sit on a bench at the side of the room next to his time machine. He pats the place next to him and you sit.
‘Tell me, how long have I been away? My machine is not always as accurate as I would like.’
‘Six months.’ His forehead crinkles in concentration.
‘Interesting. I was aiming to arrive but a week after my departure, but that is the length of time that has passed for me also. I wonder if that is some restriction to the process – or maybe it is the result of the repairs I had to make.’
‘Perhaps. You don’t look happy, what’s up?’
‘Alas, all is – or was – not well at home. My father is very ill and my brother and I are most concerned about him. I have been trying to find a doctor who can treat his malady but am hampered in my efforts.’
‘What do you mean? Can’t you use your time machine to help? Perhaps someone from this time may be able to help.’ He gets up and starts pacing the cabin.
‘That may be so, but I cannot trust the machine to perform properly. Its accuracy is waning and I fear too many more journeys and I may never be able to go home, and as to taking another with me...’
‘But you came back here? Why?’ He stops and looks at you earnestly.
‘I could never forgive myself if I left without letting you know why. You know how much I feel for you.’ Tears prick your eyes.
‘Oh Nicholas – is there nothing you can do?’ He looks despondent.
‘I fear the stone that has made everything possible is deteriorating. Here, take a look.’ You go across to the contraption together and he opens up the compartment that holds the fragment of meteorite that brought you together with the help of his intellect and ingenuity. Carefully he takes it out and shows it to you.
‘Oh no – it’s cracked.’ You gasp.
‘Indeed. I fear that it may only have one more journey before it breaks altogether. I dare not take anyone else with me for fear of killing them.’ Your heart sinks at his words.
‘What about us?’ you ask. He looks at you mournfully.
‘That is a hard decision for me, Lucy. If I stay with you I leave my sick father to die, but if I go back I may never see you again. It keeps me awake at night and breaks my heart in twain.’
‘Take me back with you. If we fail, we fail together.’
‘I could not risk your life, Lucy. If I am to perish, I want you to live on in health and happiness.’
‘How could I be happy without you?’
‘You might forget me in time and find another.’ You put your arms around him, holding him tight.
‘I couldn’t. There must be a way.’ He squeezes you back.
‘I thought perhaps I might find a solution in your time, which was another excellent reason to return to you.’
‘I’m guessing you don’t want to spend too long, if the amount of time you spend here is the same as in your time?’
‘It seems most likely. But we should enjoy our time together, no matter what. Tell me, what dances have you learned?’
‘Hmm, let’s see. There’s the Quadrille and the Cotillion, and there’s the waltz, but I’m not sure if you’ll have seen that one, it came in later in the era.’
‘It doesn’t sound familiar, but perhaps it has something in common with others I know.’
‘I could show you.’ He laughs in response.
‘Without music?’ You flourish your phone at him.
‘You forget, the modern age is full of wonders.’ You enjoy the puzzled look on his face as you open your music app, then take up the bag you brought with you. You rummage around to find the Bluetooth speaker you brought, and in less than a minute the strains of a waltz fills the cabin. His eyes grow wide in amazement.
‘Begad, it’s like there’s an orchestra in here. Is there no end to the scientific wonders of this time?’
‘We’ve only scratched the surface. Now, do you want to try this out? You’ll be way ahead of your time at your next ball.’
‘If I choose to go back.’ You shake your head solemnly.
‘No more talk. Stand up please, Lord Adley.’ He inclines his head and rises to his feet, making a little bow to you.
‘I am at your command, Lady Valois.’ You snort with laughter.
‘I’ll take the title as a compliment. First of all, we’ll go over the steps. You’ll lead – that means you move forward on the first step, and I go backward. For you, it goes forward, together, side.’ You demonstrate and he watches intently.
‘Oh, it’s a tricky beat – three steps to the bar.’
‘Just follow the music.’ You pause ‘You never did tell me if you like dancing, or whether you’ll be stepping on my feet.’
‘I assure you I enjoy a dance as well as any fellow, and I have been told I have a nimble foot. Dancing is an excellent way to meet a marriage partner’ He blushes ‘Forgive me, I overstep myself.’
‘As long as both feet are nimble and coordinated…’ you joke, choosing to ignore his reference to marriage. You stand facing each other and you count yourselves in. Before long you’re moving together, albeit not touching yet, and you’re pretty sure he won’t be the one missing a step or kicking you in the shins.
‘We are doing well, I think.’
‘We are – do you think you’re ready for the next part?’
‘There is more?’ He stops, and you arch an eyebrow at him.
‘You didn’t think this was it? It was considered quite scandalous at the time, as you’ll see.’
‘Oh my. You didn’t warn me it would be salacious.’
‘Don’t worry, by today’s standards it’s really tame.’ You step closer ‘Take my hand.’ You hold your arm out to the side, and he takes it with a gracious smile.
‘There must be more, for this feels quite ‘tame’ as you put it.’
‘Okay, now I place my other hand on your shoulder, and you put yours just under my arm on my shoulder blade.’ He falters for a moment.
‘For how long?’
‘For as long as the dance lasts, my Lord, except for a few spin movements.’
‘But – we are so close – and we remain together for the entire dance?’
‘We do. Are you comfortable with that?’ He visibly relaxes before putting his hand on your back.
‘With you, of course. With any other lady from my era, perhaps not.’
‘So what feels shocking to you?’
‘You will have seen that the dances you learned involved much interaction with other dancers, and only touching hands. Waltzing means that you and your partner are quite alone for the entire dance, embracing face to face.’
‘I thought as much, but it’s good to hear first hand. If you’re being proper, you hold your arms like so.’ You demonstrate holding your arms high and stiff. ‘It’s called frame and it keeps you from getting too close.’
‘That is a great shame, why would I wish to hold myself away from you?’
‘Nicholas, you’ve been corrupted by my modern ways.’ You tease. ‘Would you have thought that way before we met?’ He chuckles in response.
‘I hardly recall how I was beforehand. Shall we dance?’ You nod and again count to begin. You are a little stiff to start with, but soon you move smoothly, going back and forth and spinning around together.
‘We can try a twirl.’ you suggest.
‘We most certainly can. Pray tell me when.’ You count down, and as he takes his hand from your shoulder, you keep hold of his other hand and spin round under his arm flawlessly, to return to your former position. You feel a little dizzy, but his hand on your back steadies you, and you carry on. Hs smile is triumphant.
‘I must confess I have never felt so in tune with another.’ Nicholas says. ‘We would most certainly turn heads at any ball.’
‘Is that a good thing?’
‘If everyone envies us, then yes, but I am not sure if society is quite ready for such a singular dance.’ You falter a little, and slow down to a stop.
‘It’s quite tiring.’ You laugh. ‘Or perhaps it’s the excitement of being with you.’
‘My heart is beating strong, dear one, and my eye is much pleased.’
‘You really are so cute. I don’t know how I can bear to leave you.’ You embrace him again, but sense that’s as far as he’s able to go right now so step away from him. He looks bashful and leans on his time machine.
‘So, do you have any ideas as to how to solve the problem of how to extend the lifespan and accuracy of my invention? Perhaps if we can do that, we may buy more time to find a physician who can treat my father.’
‘Well, it seems the stone either needs to be repaired or replaced.’ you muse.
‘I have no idea what it is, or whether there is another specimen on this good Earth.’
‘Then perhaps we can try to identify it. Meteorites are found all the time now they’re better understood.’ You start up the camera app on your phone. ‘We can begin by taking a photograph. Can you open the compartment for me? The less we handle it, the better.’ Nicholas complies and within seconds you have an image.
‘Before you do anything else, let us think of the consequences.’ He warns. ‘After all, the rest of the stone was taken by the military.’
‘But we’ve not come across any other time travellers. I think perhaps they didn’t make the discovery you did, or find any other use for it. Do you know who took it? We can try and trace it.’
‘Of course, I made sure to record the name and regiment of the Major who had possession of the rest of the specimen.’
‘Wonderful. It’s getting late, so you’d better tell me before I go home and do some research. Do you need anything? I can bring you something to eat tomorrow.’
‘I do have some provisions, but perhaps you could uh – surprise me.’ He smiles warmly ‘I do love your surprises.’
‘ I wish I didn’t have to leave you, but I expect you wouldn’t think it proper for me to stay the night.’
‘My standards have changed much since I met you, Lucy. You must know that for a single well bred young woman to be unchaperoned with a man outside her family would spell ruin for her reputation in my time. However much I would wish to spend my every waking moment with you, some sense of decorum prevents me.’ He takes your hand and rubs his thumb over your knuckles. ‘Plus I would get no work done.’
‘You’re right of course, and I also need to work alone to research into the stone. Do you think a goodnight kiss too risqué?’
‘I think I might manage a chaste embrace and one kiss.’
‘You’re too precious.’ You step close and he holds you again before you lift up your face, gratified that he chooses to kiss you on the lips.
‘Until tomorrow, Lucy. And much as I love your new outfit, please don’t feel you have to wear it every time we meet. I also like your modern clothes and I’m sure they are much more comfortable.’
‘I also won’t get as many strange looks. Now tell me the name of the Major and I’ll go home.’
@katedrakeohd
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my-robot-heart · 3 years ago
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Hi!
I've just read your prompt-based ficlets (starting with the "hey, stay with me" one, because it's the latest, and then going back to read all the others) and, first of all, I want to say that I absolutely loved every single one of them ❤ Even the angsty ones were still much much better and far far less heartbreaking than what went down in the hellfic we call canon... which is not even surprising, considering that yours and many other talented ficwriters' fics are generally much better written and thought through than what the official screenwriters make up (or, rather, mess up, at this point).
Secondly, I'd like to ask a quick question, even though it's probably a silly one: you don't fill the same prompt twice? Even if you've got a different idea?
Least but not the last, if you don't mind, I'd also like to request a ficlet...
Perhaps,
Liz: “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!”
Red: “And I’m trying to subtly avoid it!”
?
🍒 (because I love cherries and feel like I'll pop in your inbox again)
Lolll hi 🍒
I should mention too that I'm saving the ficlets from tumblr prompts over on ao3 also, so you don't have to madly scroll and scroll forever to find them - just in case you want to revisit them or whatever, and it's virtually impossible for me to search back on my blog.
Um, I have only had the same prompt come in twice once that I'm aware of, and in that case I remembered my original ficlet and didn't really have another idea to use for the same line. I think if it was a line or prompt I was super inspired by then I would do it twice, but in that case I just didn't have another idea that I wanted to write.
Thank you so much for the kind comments about the prompt fics! I would say my maximum level of angst is still wayyyyy lower than the show so you can feel safe reading my ficlets and not having to go to therapy after or anything lol.
I'll do your prompt under the gif - and hope you enjoy 💛
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"Okay, so we need to locate the safe and then somehow find out the keycode, and then- Red! Would you stop looking down my dress, I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you!" Lizzie folded her arms in front of her body and shot him a pointed look.
"And I'm trying to subtly avoid it," Red replied with a grin. "Lizzie we have plenty of time, plenty of wine, and a party full of rich people who'd be happy to give us the combinations to their safes with a bit of prompting."
"So you're planning to ignore the case at hand and what- just party all night?"
"I'm planning to enjoy myself, and I'm suggesting you do the same- after all, you're certainly dressed to catch people's eyes, not to blend in," he gave her another once over, causing her skin to warm and probably turn a colour that more closely matched the shade of her dress. "That dress is... stunning," he added, chewing the inside of his cheek.
"Thank you," she conceded. "Your tux is also pretty eye catching, I have to admit."
This surprised him, but he quickly recovered.
"You see? We're a force to be reckoned with tonight Lizzie. Let's enjoy ourselves and worry about keycodes and combinations afterwards." He held out an arm, and without entirely realizing it, Lizzie allowed herself to be swept up onto the dance floor into a quickstep.
Red moved with the confidence of someone who had danced often. Lizzie started off feeling like she was tripping over her own shoes, but when he leaned a bit closer and murmured, "Just relax, Lizzie," she focused on the feel of his hand on the small of her back and the smell of his cologne, and began to realize that it was easier than she thought. Red continued to lead her expertly around the dance floor, and she found herself forgetting about their case entirely.
The quickstep transitioned into a smoother waltz, and Red showed no signs of stopping. Lizzie felt people watching them, and wondered what they were thinking. She was thinking- that she would be happy to keep this up, actually. It felt... nice. Safe.
At the end of the waltz, the music faded out and stopped altogether, giving the band and the dancers a break. Lizzie was peripherally aware of Red's hand moving from her back to her waist, and as he broke their embrace, leading her back to a table to sit down. As his hand left her body, she felt a slight frisson of electricity, and she blinked a few times, trying to lose the lightheadedness she was feeling.
Red's eyes were on hers.
"Can I get you another drink?"
She shook her head. "I think I'll switch to water, I'm suddenly feeling a bit dizzy."
Well that made two of them, he thought.
"Maybe we should go outside and get some air," he suggested. Lizzie nodded gratefully at the suggestion.
They walked out some french doors and into a garden. The night air was brisk, and Lizzie gave a slight shiver.
Wordlessly, Red removed his jacket and placed it atop her shoulders, holding it in place for a moment longer than necessary.
"Thank you," Lizzie said in surprise, not feeling the slightest bit less dizzy at all. The garden, the stars, the night air, Red's jacket wrapped around her shoulders... everything was making her feel even more lightheaded than before, in fact.
"Why did you ask me to come with you tonight, Red?" she asked suddenly. "Aram would have been able to get the combination to the safe easily, and Ressler could have located it in half the time we're taking."
He gave her an unreadable look.
"I didn't think Aram or Ressler would fit into that dress, Lizzie."
She rolled her eyes.
"Don't be funny. I'm serious, why me?"
And then his lips were on hers, and she found herself more lightheaded than even before.
"Oh," she responded, a long while later. "I see." And she did.
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colour-outside-the-liness · 3 years ago
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First of all!! Loved the MoU fic update! left you a comment on AO3 and all. 10/10 ratings haha.
Secondly, moving countries is great you should try if you ever get a chance. I've always wanted to do that and jumped in on the first opportunity I got to make that dream come true, and I recgozine how lucky I am to be able to do so. It's definitely not easy but I'd do it again if I could (in true sag fashion 😎 haha). Where would you want to live? You ever been outside the UK?
Hahaha you and I in a team would be a nightmare to play against I think. Oh come on you absolutely do not deserve people questioning your intelligence! I like to play dumb in addition to the taunting so people underestimate me, they never see it coming when I win. They never see the cheating coming either, my friends are always shocked when they find out, but I do it almost every single time! 😂 I'm competitive too but I like to play it cool especially If I lose I'll be like "it's just a game calm down yall" but if I win I'm like "in your face losers!" (very mature I know).
I love your drunken story, though does sound like it was very dangerous so I'm glad nothing bad happened to you two! Ah I love yalls nordern accent (me and everyone in this fandom 😂) haha your friend's sense of humor is golden.👌 I'm glad you enjoyed my worst drunken experience, that was the last time I did something like that, I felt bad bc my best friend had to take care of me the whole night and you're right she should've told me it was just a rock! Lucky you you didn't get a hangover the day after, I certainly regretted drinking too much that night however fun it might have been haha.
Like I said before your niece is a really cool kid haha I'm glad you have someone to talk to about Bly Manor, don't know anyone who watches the show and my friends don't like scary stuff so I have to talk to myself about it 😂 and now you! Thank you for entertaining me ;) and I only watch the parts I really like now, I'm tired of crying every time I watch the whole show haha.
Do you do random accents really badly like Dani too? 😂 it is kinda funny your mom said it like that yeah hahaha maybe she just meant the good bits? And I mean, do you think you need help? Lol
I have a sneak peek of that damie fanart here, don't think I'll ever finish it tho. I want to do a medieval AU inspired fanart. Maybe it will also inspire someone to pick up the idea and write it haha.
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How's your weekend been so far? My neighbor is making me watch Grey's Anatomy season (???) 500 idk but I wish I was reading that pirate AU instead 😂
Awwh thank you so much!! I will get around to replying to the comment on AO3 tomorrow when I reply to the others I've had a very busy day today though so haven't even had chance to read any comments yet but thank you so much for giving it a 10/10!! I wanna do it as soon as I get chance but I know it's gonna be hard and that I am gonna need a bit more money behind me first but I definitely wanna do it when I can... yeah I've been out of the UK twice- one time I went to France for the weekend when I was doing my A Levels and was like 17 the college I was studying at took some of the art kids and since I was doing a photography A Level I got to go and then a couple of years ago I went to LA for a few weeks which was great but I've never been out of the UK for longer than that!! A nightmare for everyone else but it would be hilarious for us I just know it would haha... I sometimes do I have said some dumb things, I actually used one of my dumber moments as a funny little story in one of my fics- people still laugh at me now for what I said and it's been 10 years... my roommate will not let me live it down!! See surprising people that way is always brilliant like when people just expect you to lose and then you win? That's the best kind of win in my eyes!! I don't cheat at games I am just ridiculously competitive and can't stand losing unless it's something like a video game I am okay with losing those but board games I can't stand losing and I am also a terrible winner my roommate won't play games with me anymore!! I can't say anything about anyone being that kind of a winner because I know I am and one of my sister's is terrible too we literally make a song and dance over winning Oh it was so dangerous and we were so dumb to do it like anything could've happened and we both sit and look back at that and go "man we were dumb" but I also sit and go "oh my god she's gonna be a mum in like 4 months" because we've done some crazy / stupid stuff!! My roommate is without a doubt one of the funniest people I have ever met and she's not afraid to tell it how it is... I'll admit because I have a Northern accent Jamie is like the only character on Bly Manor to not have an accent to me so when I hear people talking about her accent I'm always a little like "what?" Because to me that's just how people talk around here haha I did enjoy your drunken story and honestly we've all been there I have had to be taken care of on more than one occasion for being too drunk like to the point of people having to help me into my pyjamas and everything I've been in some bad ways haha!! She should've definitely told you it was just a rock and not a turtle!! Yeah I've only had one hangover and that was after a night of drinking where I blacked out and don't remember any of the night!! Yeah the night of the drinking is always fun- the hangover isn't though and often makes you wonder if it was worth it haha She's so cool like genuinely just a cool and funny kid and she just asks all the questions about shows she's watched so with me its Bly Manor with her mum and dad it's Stranger Things she asked me about it once but I had to tell her I'd never watched it she didn't seem impressed but yeah I'll talk to her about Bly Manor any day of the week- and you too now honestly I will talk about it to anyone that will listen... I can't not watch it all if I watch it because there's just so much about it that I love even if it makes me cry... episodes 4,6, and 8 are my favourites though and are probably the ones I have watched the most!! Yeah I do random accents all the time and they're always terrible but I always find myself really funny- I had this friend at Uni that had a slight southern English accent because he had spent most of his childhood there before moving up north and he still said certain words in a southern accent and I used to do his accent all the time but it was always terrible!! Oh yeah my mum is pretty blunt with stuff like she'll say things sometimes without thinking about how it sounds that or she just doesn't care like she's said
somethings haha I am sure she did mean the Dani thing in a nice way though because she said she liked her- Dani and Owen were her favourites and I mean some help for me wouldn't be a terrible thing I'll admit haha That fan art is incredible!! Like seriously amazing!! I would love to see some medieval fan art for Damie!! I have been sent a few medieval prompts for Damie and I have started writing some of them but it's taking time to actually get full chapters together but once I have and once I have more time from wrapping up other WIPs I'll make a start on editing and uploading those because medieval stuff is always great!! It's been good thank so far today I went to a little beach town with my mum, 2 of my sisters their partners and two of my nieces (my cool niece was one of them… not that my other niece isn’t cool but you know what I mean) and me, my two brother in laws, and my nieces all played a game of crazy golf while my mum and sisters went to a cafe and had cups of tea... they didn't wanna play with us but we still had fun while we played (I came second which I was very happy with)!! I hope you enjoy Grey's Anatomy and that you get chance to read the pirate AU soon!! It's soo good!! ☺️
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guigz1-coldwar · 3 years ago
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'Staying': New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !
'Staying'
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"Yirina, if you don't want to admit the truth, I'll show you,"
Chapter Summary: Yirina, unfortunately, had a seizure during a call made by Park in the apartment and her head forced her to relive a recent memory she forgot...something important that she didn't remember...
Link of the Picrew used !
To read it on AO3, click here!
Words : +3200
Taglist : @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart
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The first thing...the first thing I was able to feel was my hands & my foots tied up, like ropes wrapped around them and they were hurting me, seeming too tight for me to get away and any moves with my hands or legs were only going to hurt me painfully, nothing between the ropes and my skin, making me impossible to resist and to find a way out of the wooden chair I was on. My brain was also trying to figure out the whole situation but everything came clear to me when my eyes tried to open widely, finding it hard to have it open for a few seconds before having to narrow them.
With the best of the vision I could have right now, I took a look around to know where I was: in a sort of interrogation room, looking in bad shape while I was in the middle of the room, a little light on the ceiling, giving to the room a partial part of the light, half of it plunging the room in the dark and...and in front of me, there was a TV that was...looking turned on as I could see some pictures...Vietnam...Fracture Jaw...but then, the TV shut down itself as someone was opening the door of the room.
The person who opened the door...was Freya, accompanied by Stitch, both in their usual  uniforms...no...I'm reliving what they did to me weeks ago...back in Verdansk. The tests, it was looking more like something else than just a test...more like torture. I was almost in the vapes and wanted to talk, but a fold covered my mouth as Freya & Stitch arrived near me, Freya holding something in her hands.
"I think that you can remove it, now," Freya talked to Stitch, making a sign with her head and Stitch starts to comply, moving his hands on the fold.
"Let's hope the drugs are in effect," Stitch said before he removed fold off my mouth as I was looking down on the ground and seeing my clothes in bad shape.
"Yirina, look up," Freya ordered me but my head stayed down, not wanting to look at her in the eyes, not by anger but because I was exhausted. "Look up!" She demanded again.
"Make it...stop, make it...stop," I muttered, speaking may be to them or myself. "Stop...stop..." I continued to say before Freya put her left hand below my chin, raising up my head to look at her. "Freya...don't...please..."
"Good, we have you back," She exclaimed, her voice sounding a bit muffled through her mask, and completely avoided my pleas as Stitch moves next to her in front of me.
"By looking at her, she's ready to listen," Stitch stated but no, I wasn't really able to listen to them, my body wanting to cry every part of it in tears. "Go on," He spoke up, gesturing to Freya.
"Listen, you're going to answer my questions and answer what we want," She told me, keeping her hand on my chin to make sure that I was kept to hear her. "I'll not allow any wrong answers or things that don't please me, understood?" She demanded
"Just...stop..." I pleaded again to her but she wasn't looking convinced.
"That's meaning a yes, get going, Wraith," Stitch proclaimed to her, crossing his arms while looking at me as Freya was taking out something from the file she was having when she came in here.
"Okay, let's start," She sighed, showing to me a picture. On it, it was Park...it was her, the picture I had with me before we got captured at the Yamantau. "Yirina, do you know her?" She asked me, making me look at it as I lowered my head a little. "Stitch, keep her head up," She ordered, causing Stitch to hold me firmly with his two hands to make me lookup. "I'm asking again: do you know her?"
"Yes...yes," I replied in a very low voice, impossible to speak up further since Stitch was almost crushing my neck with his left hand to keep my head up.
"Speak up!" Freya raised her voice to me, not having heard me clearly. "Do you know her?" She repeated, her hand holding that picture with a rage that I couldn't describe.
"Yes, I know her, I know her," I responded, Stitch having understood that his hands were avoiding me to make my voice clear to her and allowing me to respond despite my state.
"Good, continue," Stitch sniffed, keeping his hands on me.
"Now, who is she to you?"  She asked me, holding the picture with her two hands.
"She's...she's the one I love, my only hope, my...." I answered her question as she wanted but my words caused her to use her left hand to slap me on the face with its palm violently. "Freya...don't..."
"Wrong answer!" She shouted to me in an angry tone, her face able to tell that she was resisting to throw another slap at me. "We're starting again: do you know her?" She repeated her first question.
"I...I told you...yes, I know her," I protested, not understanding why she was asking me again. "Freya, please...make it stop," I demanded to her again but she did a sign to Stitch who moved to make the ropes that were holding my hands on the chair tighter as if they wanted me to bleed at any moves.
"She's either speaking and complying...or resisting and bleeding on this chair," Stitch commented after he was done, sounding to joke, the only one in the room doing that. "If she doesn't tell what we want, we'll show her the video," He warned.
"I know," Freya whispered, having looked at him for a second before putting her brown eyes on me, giving me a deadly glare. "Good but don't plead with me again," She threatened me as her hand was back on the picture, tapping on it with one of her fingers. "Who is she to you?"
"She's...she's my love, I love her, Freya!" I raised up my own voice against her, determined about that fact and as I predicted, Freya slapped me again with her left hand, more violently than the first one. "Stop...make it stop...you..."
"That's it!" Freya hissed in anger before she took something else from her jacket, looking like a videotape, "If you don't want to admit the truth, I'll show you," She said, showing me the tape before she moves at the TV. "I'll show you what they did to you," She explained, inserting the videotape.
"No...no..." I was in fear and I closed my eyes in fear, not having trouble with it but Freya saw it happen.
"Keep her eyes open!" Freya ordered Stitch who complied, putting his hands on my face as he was behind me, trying to force open my eyes widely and I tried to resist on the chair but the ropes were too tight and it was impossible to resist.
I couldn't resist any longer that his fingers were on each side of my eyes, keeping them wide open, feeling his other fingers on my face as Freya gestured with her head towards Stitch before she turned on the TV for real but before it started, I could see again some images from Vietnam...seeing myself along with Adler & Sims in special ops outfit before it disappeared again, putting on the screen of the TV, a date...15 February 1981...
The screen was all black with only the date and inside of me, I was realizing that they were going to show me...what the CIA did to me without having any remorse on their faces, not even Freya was looking ashamed to her action after she looked over me, seeing me scared & wanting to shut down my eyes but it was impossible, I was hopeless, not able to move, forced to watch something I didn't want to see.
After a few seconds that the TV was on and the videotape started, someone stepped back from the front of the camera as if they were turning on....before realizing that this person...it was Park herself...it was her that was turning on that camera and she moved aside, revealing Adler sits on a chair backwards, his arms on the chair rest while he was facing a blindfolded woman...me.
"Okay, you can go on, Adler," It was Park's voice behind the camera, sounding bad for me and Adler nodded before looking at myself.
"Bell, are you here with us?" He asked me in the recording, scratching the right side of his face while he was looking at me to top to bottom.
"Yes," I replied to him, sounding emotionless in my voice, I was tied up too like here.
"Good, do you know who is talking now?" He demanded at me curiously, moving his hand towards his jacket.
"Yes, it's you, Adler," I responded to him, using the same voice as I could see Adler taking a cigarette off his jacket...actually two and lighting one of them.
"Good, Bell," He said in a sort of good voice, putting the lighted up cigarette between his lips. "Do you remember Vietnam? We've been through hell together, we've fought together, we bled together," He questioned me, keeping the unlighted cigarette between his fingers.
"Yes, I do, it was in 1968," I answered, my head looking down as Adler nodded in the direction of the camera. "It was Fracture Jaw but...then..." I started to say before stopping myself like that.
"That's goo, here, have a smoke," He snorted before moving to put the cigarette between my own lips, lighting it and then, a few seconds happened when Adler blew out some smoke of his cigarette. "Those are your preferred, you're only asking for them," He told me.
"Yes," I simply admitted.
"Good...Bell, we have a job to do," He told it and then, my head that was looking up again with the cigarette between my lips lowers again, seeing the cigarette dropping on the ground, probably having fallen asleep. "We're making good progress, tomorrow would be your turn," He addressed himself towards the camera.
"I know, I know,"  Park's voice was audible and she was still sounding bad before the camera went off, causing Freya to shut down the TV, Stitch removing his fingers off me.
"You see what they did...and you're still helping them?" Freya spoke up as Stitch moved back in front of me with her. "You heard what they said and you're still helping them?" She added, looking angry, her hands clenching into fists. "You heard what SHE said and you're still loving her?" She continued, getting herself at my head level, seeing her rage through the mask.
"Yes...yes...she apologized to me..." I replied to her honestly, my voice feeling that I was gathering the strength still inside of me. "Will you....will you?" I asked her back, sounding angry.
"I don't understand you," Freya sighed before closing her eyes, seeing a tear appearing before she opened them again, getting back up and looking at Stitch. "We can give her the dose, she will reawake in her cell," She advised before she moved towards the closed room and opening it.
"Now, be silent," Stitch exclaimed as he put his hands on the fold to cover my mouth again, making sure that it wasn't going to let me speak as Freya was letting two men enter the room.
It was two soldiers and one of them was holding a needle in his hands and even if it was impossible, I tried to resist but Stitch and the other soldier was holding me by my arms and my legs to be fully sure that I wasn't going to try anything as the soldier with the needle got next to me at my right and as my head was not tied up, I started to move it away from the needle as the soldier was tapping on it.
"She's trying to resist, she's moving her head," Freya warned them, and quickly, she moved by herself from her spot to get in front of me, holding firmly my head. "Don't...fucking...resist!" She ordered loudly before looking in the direction of the soldier with the needle. "What are you waiting for? To get paid?" She yelled at him and the soldier complied before he moved the needle right into my left eye, impossible to move it.
"Good, she should be asleep soon," Stitch spoke up, everything going blurry for me as my body wasn't feeling hold anymore, my eyes hurting me to keep them open. "We have a job to do," He added, making my ears and my brain hiss in pain inside of me before I closed my eyes...
...exhausted...wanting to cry all my body...but it was impossible...
My body was feeling exhausted as my brain was processing to know where I was and reconstructing what happened earlier, remembering that I passed out in bed during the call that Park did to me, the last thing I saw was herself but all blurred, impossible to know if she was speaking as if my ears were shut at this moment but now, everything was feeling right...but right isn't the right word in fact.
The first thing I felt after a few seconds to figure out what happened was that the back of my head was hurting me as if I knocked myself on it when I landed on it when I passed out. There was also a feeling of having an unnatural heat inside of my body, feeling more hotter than before, the room was not that cold but me, it was as if my blood was boiling in my veins because of that.
After a minute to resist a bit from the pain of my head, I could open my eyes slowly, finding myself on the bed as I thought, having a wet flannel on my forehead, supposedly to cool down the heat of my body and when I moved my eyes around, I could see Zasha standing at the door, leaning against it but their back turned away from the room, dressed in their usual suit with only the jacket off.
"Zed...Zed," My voice was sounding low as I was trying to call them out from the door, so low that they couldn't hear me well. "Zed!" I raised up my voice.
"What do you..." They turned around to me before their eyes went wide, thinking at first that it was someone else calling them out "Yirina, you're alright?" They asked me and frankly, I shook my head to them. "Park, Portnova, she's awake!" They turned their head to reveal that I was now awakened and only a few seconds later, the sounds of someone almost walking faster approached the room, seeing Park quickly enter the room to get next to me.
"Shit, Yiri, you're okay?" She asked, panicked as she knelt down near me, putting her hands on my arms.
"No, I...I passed out...and you came before I shut my eyes," I responded to her, my head still gathering around the elements of what happened. "How much time I was...how much?" I demanded, looking at her but also Zasha & Portnova who entered and staying near the door.
"It's been 2 hours now," Portnva replied, crossing her arms and looking bad for me. "When Park called Zasha's office about you, we ran as fast as we could to get here," She added, Zasha nodding at her.
"What happened, Yirina?" Zasha questioned me, worried and curious. "Park said that you were starting to panic during a phone call," They clarified to me, moving with Portnova in front of the bed.
"Everything was okay but then, I start to feel dizzy, my hands were shaking and I was trying to resist but it was not possible," I told them all about what happened 2 hours ago. "And then, as soon I was in the room, I heard him," I continued, looking at Park.
"Adler?" She whispered and I shook my head.
"No, Stitch, he said it," I revealed to her, the first time that actually, it was Stitch who said that inside my head and not Adler. "It wasn't Adler, it was him," I added, trying to move my right hand to join Park's one but she moved them first, avoiding me to maybe hurt myself.
"What did Stitch said?" Portnova asked, not having told about that since we met with her,
"The only phrase that Adler was using to keep Yirina under control," Park answered to her, looking down but her voice, it was sounding like she could kill those two men because of that phrase. "He used it to make her talk and to make sure she was staying in line," She continued, moving my both hand above my chest along with her hands
"It was strange but I relived a moment when we were both detained in Verdansk," I told Park about it as she needed to know as always with her. "It was Freya & Stitch, they were trying to make me change sides, drugging me and tying me up on a chair," I chuckled to talk of this as there were Zasha & Portnova here but I couldn't stop. "They showed me a video: you...& Adler making a test with me in 1981,"
"A test?" Zasha & Portnova said in unison, looking confused as Park was uncomfortable to hear that despite everything that was told.
"It was Adler leading it, he wanted to be sure that my implanted memories were well inside of me," I responded, taking a look at Park who was looking away in shame, not able to look at Zasha & Portnova. "Park didn't do anything in it but she was here," I clarified, prompting Park to put her eyes on me again. "They forced me to look at it, Stitch keeping my eyes open and when they saw that I wasn't breaking, they injected me a needle in the left eye, putting me to sleep,"
"Damnit," Zasha sighed, looking down at their feet, "Was it something that the CIA was doing?' They asked, directly to Park,
"Zed, no...don't ask," I suggested to them, not wanting to put Park in trouble even if the two were knowing what Park did before, I couldn't let that happen. "It's...I don't want that to talk about that between us now, I...you two understand, right?" I gave my opinion on the subject to the two who nodded, biting their lips together.
"Okay, I'll not ask again," Zasha affirmed, gesturing at Park and me that it was good, seeing Park's face that could tell 'thank you' as this part couldn't talk about that loudly to Zasha & Portnova, they didn't need to know. "How are you feeling now?" They changed the subject.
"Still a bit hurt and trying to get better," I answered, taking a deep breath who was needed for me. "Like every day," I muttered to myself, referring to my days alone.
"Listen, I've talked with Zasha & Portnova and we all think that we should be staying with you for the next few days," Park revealed to me, a smile forming on her face as my eyes went wide of surprise at that news. "It's better and leaving you alone was hard to think about," She snorted, the two nodding at it.
"Thanks...thanks..." I wanted to move my body to hug her but I stopped myself to do that, not wanting to hurt anything in my case.
"We'll grab you some water & food," Portnova spoke up, taking a look to Zasha who complied and smile at me before the two starts to left the room, leaving me alone with Park.
"Don't worry, I've got nothing against you, Park," I reassured her discreetly, wanting to let her know that I couldn't blame her for what she did, she forgives herself and...she loves me...
"I know it...because I love you...that's the main thing here..."
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tsipasce · 4 years ago
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Same Difference Ch.17
A/N: Here is your reward for enduring last week lmao. This one is a bit long, but cutting it up just didn't seem as gratifying so I hope you guys enjoy.
Also, thank you so much for all the kudos, comments and bookmarks on AO3 and FFN-- you guys are too kind :'). I'll try posting more regularly on Tumblr too if ppl wanna read it here. Let me know what y'all think~
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There was darkness, then flickers of lights and the occasional overwhelming flow of noises before it ebbed to silence and darkness yet again. First, she felt she was on a hard surface like concrete, then cold metal, then something cushion-like… a bed? Her thoughts were incoherent, presenting more as disjointed words and feelings. Anger, regret, hurt, with a sprinkle of sadness on top. Her body was heavy, every limb feeling as though the blood had been replaced with lead. Her head lolled and she heard someone suddenly shift at her side, the bed dipping under the pressure of said someone leaning on it and over her but was too out of it to open her eyes. Acquiescing, she fell back into unconsciousness.
An indefinite amount of time passed while she was in the darkness before her senses began to return fully. She heard typing, now able to feel a presence nearby. She wanted to open her eyes, but the task seemed too daunting still, simply listening would have to be enough for now.
“I can stand watch for now, if you’d like.” One voice offered, softly.
“What I’d like is to be left alone.” The other replied curtly.
“I see. We’re going to leave in the next few hours, I’ll get everyone ready.”
“You do that.”
Well this guy sounds like a treat… Nanami thought, her sarcasm unsurprisingly returning before the rest of her senses and memories. There were footsteps and then a soft thud, like a door being carefully shut. A couple moments passed before she heard what sounded like a laptop being closed, then footsteps coming towards her, and then silence. She desperately wanted to wake up, but her body refused to cooperate, causing her eyes to flutter behind her eyelids as she struggled in vain to move. She could sense the presence hadn’t left and she felt anxious as to what might happen next before hearing a sigh. She felt a sheet being pulled up to cover her arms, where goosebumps had been forming from the draft in wherever she was.
“I’ll deal with you when I get back.” The voice said with a hint of annoyance, though it was betrayed by its gentle tone. Hearing footsteps growing fainter, a door opened and closed once more. The words themselves were threatening but the way they were spoken, she felt oddly comforted. Falling back into the darkness, she decided to cultivate her energy and try her luck at waking up again later.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Emerging from the darkness again, the pain began immediately. Her head throbbed and she reflexively tried to groan but found her mouth and throat painfully full. Instantly recognizing the feeling, panic set in, the only other thing she could perceive being the desperate need for it to stop. She grabbed the tube, disassembling and reassembling it outside her body. The large obstruction dropped unceremoniously to the floor and she coughed, glad to be rid of it.
“Don’t be so rough with the equipment.”
She rolled her head to the direction of the voice, a bright light hitting her eyes as she struggled to open them for the first time since… Damn. It all came rushing back to her at once, the voice no longer a mystery. Her vision focused and she found herself looking at Overhaul as he sat at her bedside. His mask was on as he stared at her blankly. She stared back for a beat, not knowing how to begin speaking about what brought them to this point. Deciding she should be fully awake and rested for that conversation, she mentally tabled it, opting for their usual banter instead.
“It’s still intact isn’t it?” She cleared her throat, massaging it as she continued, “How long was I out?”
“Three days.”
“THREE DAYS?” Her eyes shot wide, another coughing fit beginning as she raised her voice after not speaking for days.
“Yes, that’s what I said.” He grimaced, moving back a bit at her sudden outburst, “Cough in the other direction.”
“No surprise that your bedside manner could use some work.” She sighed as she adjusted to raise herself up, wincing as her sore muscles tried their best to comply. He promptly rose, putting a pillow behind her as she sat up, his expression blank yet attentive, “Thanks.”
He nodded as he took his seat again and the silence continued, painfully. It felt like their first meeting all over again, neither knowing how to broach the awkward topic. Looking back, Nanami was angry at how insufferably rude he could be but couldn’t ignore her own part in this. A pang of guilt sat heavily in her chest when she remembered how easily she let her emotions get the best of her; she hadn’t told someone off like that in ages. In her mind, it in no way absolved him, but to say it was all his fault would be a lie. In that moment of rage, she… What did I do anyway? She glanced down, now more confused than anything, her brows furrowing before looking at him.
“Let’s chat.”
He readjusted in his chair, leaning back as he crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest, “Let’s.”
His body language oozed condescension as though she was about to be scolded like a child and she hated it, “Why’d you attack me. Again.”
His eyes narrowed, displeased with how she was beginning their talk,” That was going to be my question to you. I thought we had a deal.”
“What are you talking about? We did—we do—I did not attack you.” she defended. Nanami knew they were both wrong for getting so worked up, but she wouldn’t stoop that low over an argument. “I was wrong, we both were for getting so heated, but I wouldn’t just start throwing hands like that. So again, why did you attack me? I thought… I thought we got passed all that.”
His brow furrowed at the implication, his jaw clenching uncomfortably at the hurt in her voice, “We are. We’re far passed all of that.” He intoned with a level of sincerity that seemed foreign to him. Having spent the past three days chastising himself for putting her in this position, wishing the exchange could be taken back, it was difficult to sound detached. He’d been angry, but harming her had been something he’d put out of his mind some time ago, “I didn’t attack you either…”
They both shared a moment of sincere confusion. Overhaul hadn’t come out unscathed either, having to heal his own head injury as well as a cracked vertebra from the impact once he came to. “Then what the hell happened?” Nanami asked, speaking the question they were both wrestling with. She looked around the room for her bag at the same time Overhaul reached for his laptop.
“We should run tests.” They said in unison. He handed her her notebook from the bag and a pen as they began noting exactly what happened leading up to the explosion.  As she recalled the events, there were a number of theories that came to mind, as well as ideas on how to safely perform reenactments of what transpired, but she also remembered the argument beforehand. He was somehow even more quiet than usual, and she could tell his gears were turning that morning, but the hostility seemed so out of the blue. Putting down her pen, he glanced up at her, noticing the sound of her writing had stopped and she was staring down thoughtfully.
“Did you think of something?”
“…Yeah. I did. Why’d you pick a fight with me that day?”
He looked back down at his keyboard and continued typing, “I don’t know what you mean. That little tiff was a joint effort.”
“No, no, no. It may have ended up that way, but you blew up at me after an entire week of solid teamwork. I expect the snide comments and the general air of grumpiness, but that was different… What happened?” He made the mistake of making eye contact with her. She didn’t look angry, just hurt.
Taken aback, all he could manage was “… I don’t know.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that “emotion” nor did he have any plans to discuss feelings. If he was being honest, he wasn’t even sure why he did it himself. Perhaps it was self-sabotage and he was pushing her away, but to accept that would mean acknowledging they had gotten close; that he had, at some point, made the subconscious decision to stop viewing her as a pawn or even just a colleague, and to indulge the need for far more than their formal arrangement. He wasn’t ready to come to terms with the possible loss of his objectivity when it came to whatever went on between them, but he knew he’d have to confront the undercurrents of their relationship at some point. Right now, they had discovered a possible breakthrough in their research and there was no room for delay. With a ghost of a plan in mind for how to move forward with Nanami, he decided it would be more logical to smooth things over in the immediate moment with Dr. Watanabe; separating the two identities giving him the illusion of control. He continued” But I do know it won’t happen again. That was…unprofessional. How is your head?”
She bit her lip and exhaled, seeing the switch flick in his eyes knowing the wall had been put back up. “It’s... it’s fine. Just a little—no, really sore.” She confirmed with herself, rubbing her hand over the source of the pain to find stiches. Why wouldn’t he just overhaul this? “So, you decided to fix this the old-fashioned way, huh? The stitchwork is impeccable, but why go through the trouble? You could have just—”
“I didn’t want to touch you.”
“… Ouch.” She winced, glancing away as the abrupt response hurt a bit more than she expected.
Realizing it hadn’t been received how he planned, he clarified,” I meant I…didn’t want to use it on you. I was under the impression we had somehow attacked each other and assumed you might not find the prospect of me handling you in that way all that appealing.”
“…Oh. Well, thank you... I don’t mind if you touch me now” he rose a brow at this, “—I mean like to heal or—Oh you know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and continuing, “Just… just do it, please.”  The last word tacked on with a mumble.
Letting out an amused breath, he rose, motioning her to turn so her back faced him as he removed his gloves. She quickly brushed her hair to the side, missing a few strands. She tensed as he was much closer than she was prepared for, feeling the warmth of his hands against the nape of her neck as he gently gathered the stray hairs and handed them to her to gather in front. Smoothing down the part, he leisurely ran his hands through her hair, losing himself for a second before noticing the tops of her ears had reddened and her breath had quickened at his ministrations. Refocusing, he disassembled the stitches before immediately healing the wound knowing even a millisecond of delay would prove very painful. “Done.”
Cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders, she felt normal again and ready to get out of bed as her muscles had been unused for the better part of three days. Checking the time on her phone on the nightstand she saw it was only 6 am, “So, you wanna go for a run?”
“That’s not funny.”
“Fine, fine. But on a serious note, I think we should head to the lab. I know the deal was 2 weeks bu—”
“You don’t have to bargain. Get cleaned up, I’ll start preparations for testing tomorrow.”
She turned to him, brows raised in surprise, “Well okay then. I’ll see you back at the house.”
“See you there.” He said before exiting her room, shutting the door softly.
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After a thorough scrubbing and stretching, she felt ready to get back to her remaining paperwork, putting on her favorite chunky turtleneck and sweatpants effectively pulling off the lazy-but-still-fashionable look. Brewing herself a cup of tea and pulling out her workbag, she thought it best to not dwell on all the Feels ™ that had continuously threatened to surface, which was undoubtedly exacerbated by their current living situation.
She was woman enough to admit she stared just a little too long, smiled just a bit too enthusiastically, and was way too excited by even the smallest bits of physical contact with him… But it’s just a crush. She lied to herself as though he hadn’t been the most intellectually stimulating person she’d had the pleasure of talking to. As though she’d ever felt silence more comfortable than their time in the lab or simply sharing meals together. As though— Girl if you don’t concentrate... She chastised herself before attempting to neatly compartmentalize her feelings, refusing to acknowledge just how much more difficult keeping them in check had become. It’s just because you’re all up under each other, it’ll pass.
Refocusing on the task at hand, she opened her laptop and pulled out a well-worn file folder, her gaze turning somber as her fingers traced the bend of it; evidence of the many nights she’d revisited it only to close it when the answers didn’t come. In the past month she’d taken on a patient who seemingly had nowhere to go. Many of her colleagues had turned him away, seemingly too jaded to go through the trouble of dealing with such a case. Nanami herself was puzzled when she reviewed his file, but she knew there was no other option; she had to at least try.
Kenta was a very jovial, large person with a personality to match. Built much like a strongman with tusks not unlike a walrus, he was hard to miss. Before he became her patient, she’d see him making small talk with the other patients, encouraging them though he himself was on the way to chemotherapy, his weight dwindling by the day. The previous doctors told him that he had osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. It was seemingly exacerbated by his quirk that gave him dense bones; they were perfect for diving, but apparently came at this very high price. The treatment had shown mild success, but her predecessors had decided his condition was becoming too advanced and an amputation was in order. After that visit, he attempted to keep his jovial nature, but his physical appearance continued to deteriorate, the medication and tests taking their toll. Full-hardy laughs were interrupted by coughing fits, round cheeks flexed into a habitual smile were replaced with gaunt hollows. Nanami couldn’t help but feel was cruel to be given such great power and still be unable to solve this problem.
She agonized, sincerely perplexed as to why someone as healthy and active as Kenta could have developed such an aggressive and rare form of cancer so quickly. It didn’t helped that after the first doctor’s diagnosis, the subsequent three doctors took little to no efforts to confirm said diagnosis, so she remained thoroughly unconvinced. She was a prodigy in her own right, but that alone couldn’t negate seniority. To go against the other doctors, she would need substantial proof of her theory—and also a theory to begin with.
Nanami was stirred from her thoughts by the sound of the silo being activated, as Overhaul stepped out. It had been hours since she had last gotten up as day turned into late night, too engrossed in her task. She glanced up for a moment, giving an absent-minded “hey” before returning to her work. It was unlike her to brush him off so quickly, and he assumed there were still hard feelings from earlier. Approaching her, he was about to speak before he caught a glimpse of her screen and notes, the file folder and its contents now haphazardly splayed on the coffee table, a few with drops of moisture on them.
“Didn’t I tell you no drinking in the living roo—” he stopped short, hearing a small sniffle escape her, before she attempted to cover it up by clearing her throat.
“Sorry, yeah, no drinking in the living room.” She laughed emptily, gathering the papers that were stained.
Seeing people cry was usually... uninspiring to him, to say the least; he couldn’t understand it, the need for such dramatic displays as an adult. But he found himself making exceptions more and more; she wasn’t one to throw herself on the floor in a tantrum—at least not seriously. Her tears were stifled, indignant, and his curiosity—yes, we’ll call it “curiosity”— got the better of him.
“What are you doing? Crying?”
“No!... Maybe.” She stubbornly corrected, further averting her gaze, hoping to use her hair as a curtain to obscure her face. Pausing for a beat, his attention turned to what he presumed was the source. He read over it as she attempted to fix her face. His brow furrowed, and Nanami turned back to see what he was doing. “Why do you care?”
“Osteosarcoma seems like an odd diagnosis for someone with his age and history.” He noted, choosing not to answer her question.
“That’s what I said!” she instinctually replied before remembering herself, “I mean quit snooping, this is patient-doctor information. It’s illegal to share.”
“Yet you brought it outside your office, to a yakuza base.” He deadpanned, pointing out the hypocrisy, taking a seat next to her on the couch. She pursed her lips, continuing to mull over theories, assuming he’d get bored and leave her be. “If not osteosarcoma, what do you think it could be?”
Knowing discretion was one of his strong suits, she decided to humor him. “I’m not sure. The tumor grew extremely fast and they began chemo almost immediately, so I didn’t get the benefit of a fresh diagnosis. He’d been perfectly healthy otherwise and his line of work kept him pretty active.”
“What’s his occupation?”
“He’s a commercial diver, it’s pretty fitting since his quirk gives him a lot of walrus-like qualities.”
“Sounds hazardous.”
“You’re one to talk. He’s practically made for it so drowning or being crushed under the pressure is near-impossible for him.”
“I was referring to all of the equipment. The fact that he’s kept all of his limbs up to this point is impressive.”
Slowly turning to him, a tired look on her face, she replied “… Your compliments are so very strange.”
Shrugging he continued, “It’s not that odd. The number of divers and sailors I’ve seen at port with mutilated legs is not small.”
Nanami was mid eye-roll when an epiphany struck her. Her eyes went wide, and she began frantically rummaging through the paperwork. "Shit-- wait, online!" grabbing her laptop, she began typing in a frenzy as Overhaul watched calmly. Finding Kenta's online records in the hospital database, she read a file from a month before his diagnosis stating he had been in a diving accident that severely fractured his leg where his tumor now was. She let out a shaky breath of excitement, "MO. It's fucking Myositis Ossificans! This explains why the 'tumor' grew so quickly. It's because it wasn't even really a tumor, just his body's response to a traumatic injury-- This is amazing!" 
He felt the corner of his mouth tug upward, as she practically wiggled in genuine excitement. “That diagnosis sounds much more appropriate.”
Facing him on the couch, she reflexively grabbed him by his shoulders, lost in excitement, before realizing what she was doing. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to just grab you like that,” she hurriedly removed her hands before he waved it off. “It’s just... I’ve been poring over this since I got this case but hadn’t thought to make that connection since he never mentioned the injury.” Thinking back for a moment, it dawned on her, “... how did you know to ask?”
 “What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you.”
Smiling, he rose, walking to the kitchen, “Would you like a cup?”
Very aware he was evading her question, she rolled her eyes smiling in kind “Sure. Of what?” She wrote down her final notes before putting away the files, tucking them and her laptop away as she waited for an answer.
Bringing over two cups of sake and the bottle, he sat next her with his own before sliding over her cup. She gave him a look and he sighed, “Consider it your reward for your work today. But don’t get used to it, my living room consumption rule still stands.”
She raised her hands in surrender, chuckling before taking a sip. “Oh! Let’s play a game.”
His brows furrowed as he continued to face forward still enjoying his drink,” Do I seem like a man who plays games?”
“Well, judging by the shogi board, I’d say yes.”
“… Just set the board.”
They sat in comfortable silence for a bit before starting the odd conversation, chatting and playing until they were on their fourth cup. Nanami was admittedly tipsy by this point and decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while now with the aid of her liquid courage. If ever there was an opportunity, it was now, “Hey, why didn’t you ever become a doctor?” The question caught him off guard as he stopped drinking and peered off into the distance thoughtfully. His lips parting for a moment to speak before closing again to consider his answer.
“It would be difficult to treat people you can’t touch.”
“Hm… sounds like a copout. I wear gloves on the job at least 80% of the time and a lot of the non-surgical work that requires touching could easily be done by a nurse. So, what’s the real reason?”
“Well, you’re awfully bold tonight.”
“Eh, it’s your fault anyway,” she reminded him, toying with the sake glass. “So, are you gonna tell me or not?”
He considered her for a second before answering, “Win this game and I’ll tell you.”
“Easy.” She shot back before considering another outcome, “and what if I lose?”
He smiled easily, her stomach flipping as a glint of mischief was evident in his eyes, “Just try your best to win.”
Nanami was determined, or at least she convinced herself she was, not wanting to confront her curiosity at what he would do if she lost … or what he would do to me… Ok, let me put down this sake before I get a life sentence to horny jail. Recomposing herself a bit, she observed the board, stifling a smirk when she saw her path to victory. It was a moderately long game, but the outcome was in her favor as she took his king. Raising the piece betwixt her fingers, she smirked, “Now spill the beans.”
He stared into the proverbial abyss, slightly peeved at the loss, priding himself as a more-than proficient player before tonight. “Give me a moment.” He said casually raising a finger as he cleared his throat. Taking a measured sip from his cup before locking eyes with her, “I have a duty.” Nanami shot him an unsatisfactory look before he clarified, continuing, “Pops took me in when I had nothing to offer. This,” he began as he leered at his hands, recalling the destruction they regularly wrought, “is what I was meant to become in order to repay him. Bringing the yakuza back to their former glory and carrying on his legacy are my primary objectives. My time is limited since he’s not as young as he used to be. The years of schooling it would take to reap the benefits he deserves would prove much too long. Indulging in a dream like that is not in my nature, even if I did have the time. That is why.”
Her smile dulled as she processed his response. She wasn’t self-righteous enough to impose her own ideals on him, but it seemed like such a waste. His leading questions tonight were just one of many examples of his expertise. Even without the formal schooling he had a level of mastery that could easily earn him a degree, and coupled with his research skills, he could do a world of good. But instead here he was, content with just the opportunity to pay his debts. For someone so arrogant, he thought surprisingly little of his own nature.  Maybe someday someone could convince him he didn’t have to carry around this weight all the time. Still very tipsy, she responded,” Well, if it’s a dream of yours to begin with, your nature can’t be all that bad now can it?” At this he knitted his brows, trying to accept the possibility. Seeing his hesitation, she continued, “You can do both, you know. Give yourself some more credit, bird brain.” She slurred the last insult, finishing her sake off with a gulp, not wanting to sound too soft. Feeling the consequences of her actions, she swayed sleepily in her seat before closing her eyes.
The next thing she knew, she felt herself being nudged awake, “Come on, get up. You need to get into bed.”
“But it’s sooo comfy here. Why are you being such a buzzkill, Kai?” she whined as he grasped her forearms, encouraging her to rise from her seat.
Stopping in his tracks, he asked a bit taken aback, “Where did you hear that name?”
“Your Poppy Pops told me” She almost sang, a grin plastered on her face.
“…Do not ever use the phrase ‘Poppy Pops’ again. Also, if couches were meant for sleeping, beds wouldn’t exist.” He responded irritated, though he handled her like porcelain, still remembering how unpleasant the last three days had been. Guiding Nanami to her room, he finally got her to lay down after tuning out a slew of other ridiculous nickname proposals, the drowsiness setting in as soon as her head hit the pillow. Knowing it would be too much work convincing a now drunk Nanami to get under the covers, he begrudgingly put a spare blanket over her. Before leaving, he looked back at her sleepy form. As much as they could grate each other’s nerves, no one had ever thought to encourage him or challenge his own thinking besides his father. He had never been a warm or sentimental person, having to try thrice as hard to grasp emotions that came so naturally to others, but she had planted a seed of doubt. Having always been so confident in his own lacking, he found a part of himself excited to be proven wrong for the first time. Before closing the door softly, he spoke “Thank you, Nanami.”
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