#also don't tag this as ship or i'll blow you up with my mind

[snively-mun]

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest.

Eddeth

Day #30 - Fame & Fortune | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Fake!Eddeth, Steddie | Tags: Modern AU, Stop Trying to Make Eddeth Happen, It's Not Gonna Happen, Eddie & Gareth Are Best Friends, They Are Also: Idiot², Paparazzi, Social Media, Luddite Eddie, Steve Harrington Has To Clean Up All Their Messes, But What Else Is New?

"Did you know they're shipping us?" 

"Shipping us where? I hope they poke holes first," Eddie says, looking over at Gareth as he's scrolling on his phone. Gareth isn't listening to him, doesn't even laugh, which Eddie thinks is rude. That was a great dad joke.

He's picked up dad jokes from Steve, because Steve's corny as fuck. 

"Not like that," Gareth says, "like, shipping us together. We have a name and everything."

"Speak English," Eddie demands.

"You know, like Bennifer? But we're Eddeth," Gareth says.

"Who's Bennifer?"

"Which version?" Gareth asks, "Nevermind. You don't care. It's the ship name for Ben and Jennifer together. Do you never read the tabloids?"

"No. And I don't like that," Eddie says.

"Well, I knew you wouldn't. But now they're thinking about us. Together. Romantically. Enough that we have a mash-up of our names together."

Eddie barks out a laugh, "Well, alright. Whatever floats their boat."

Gareth sits there quietly for a bit, then says, "Maybe we can use this. Drum up some attention for the band. Get our name out there. Be a trending hashtag."

"I don't know what that means," Eddie says. 

"I know you don't. But we could, like, get in the zeitgeist."

"I hate everything you're choosing to be right now," Eddie says.

"Eddie. This could blow us up."

"Well, sure, in that case I'll tell Steve to just step aside."

"Not for real, dummy. Just for the paparazzi. Get our names talked about more. If they see more of the band, they may like the band more."

Eddie says he'll think about it, but he has no intention of doing any of that. They are exactly the right amount of famous. He can walk down the street without being harassed, but they live comfortably. He isn't about to upset that apple cart.

But it persists. There's buzz, apparently. At least according to Gareth, anyway.

So, at the next show, Eddie hops up on the drum riser and covers Bang Dem Sticks, while flirting with Gareth. It is possible to flirt platonically, and he does it very well. 

The next day, Gareth shows him all the chatter. The tiktoks. The commentary. And, well, maybe they could use this to their advantage. Just for a minute.

So, they walk down a dozen different sidewalks, and no paparazzi cameras pop out to snap pictures. Which is normal. He isn't sure why Gareth suddenly thought they'd make TMZ. 

But Gareth persists, and they even go to the Ivy, and still nothing. 

Even LAX is a fucking bust. 

That night, Eddie crawls into bed next to Steve, and sighs.

"What's the matter with you?" Steve asks, tipping down his iPad to look at Eddie.

"Nobody will take my picture with Gareth."

Steve laughs, "What the hell are you talking about?"

So, Eddie tells him their grand plan, and Steve is laughing his fucking ass off before Eddie can even finish. 

"Eddie. You have to call the paps if you want to do a pap walk. They aren't mind-readers. They don't just show up. Do you think all those pictures of celebs you see are actually candid? They definitely aren't."

Well, Eddie never looks at pap pictures. He has no fucking clue. He likes to fly under the radar.

"Really?" Eddie eventually asks. 

"Really. Do you want me to organize a pap walk for you?" Steve asks, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Well. Kinda," he says, "we're Eddeth."

"I know, honey. I've seen all the videos of you flirting with him on stage."

Eddie laughs, "You know that's not real, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm not new here," Steve says, "I'll call it in tomorrow. You can be photographed to your heart's content."

And they are. As if it were magic, a handful of photogs are suddenly very aware of where they'll be on various outings. Eddie holds the door for Gareth. Hugs him on the street corner. They get an inordinate amount of coffees that Eddie doesn't even like.

The pictures run, and not a lot of people care, but they are being discussed in some circles. 

So, they keep doing it. Dinners and movies and trips through the airport where they're not really going anywhere. Only going through security, as if they were.

That's a brand new kind of torture. Who goes through TSA when they don't actually have to? 

More coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee. Eddie's never bought this many drinks in his life. 

And then the bottom falls out. 

Someone makes a video that goes extremely viral, explaining everyone in their Corroded Coffin circle. 

Including Steve. 

In fact, it's almost mourning the breakup of them. Steddie. They're Steddie, apparently, and now the fans, the real fans, those that actually have followed them, are upset. Pointing fingers, assigning blame. Some to Eddie, some to Gareth.

Fuck.

"Uh, we've got a problem," Eddie tells Steve, and Steve just shakes his head, already aware of the situation.

"Do we have to do a pap walk now?" Eddie asks, worrying his hands together. 

He never did anything romantic with Gareth. It can all be explained away, swept under the rug. 

He thinks.

He hopes.

"I really don't want to," Steve says, and that's that. They won't.

Now, Eddie's either a cheater in the eyes of their actual fans, or they think Steve's gone. 

Instead, Gareth does a couple pap walks with his girlfriend, and she's branded a beard, immediately. They really fucked this up, big time. 

"We'll go to dinner. The four of us," Steve says, "I'll call it in."

And Eddie kisses his cheek, over and over.

Just to be safe, Steve has their publicist send TMZ a copy of their marriage certificate, and some boilerplate that Eddie and Gareth are just best friends, and always have been.

As they settle into the booth at the restaurant, pictures still being taken, Steve asks, "Are we done trying to be tabloid fodder? Have we learned our lesson?"

"Yes, Steve," Eddie and Gareth both say in unison.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇

[mystra-midnight]

Hello again miss Ash!!!

I DID have a different idea, but the 'Lamington' looks like too much fun 😂 so I guess here's an incredibly flattering self description, if it's not too muc trouble of course!!!! And again, I'll never stop saying how good your stuff is!!!! 😘

Let's see...🤔

I'd say I'm incredibly stubborn with a bit of an aggressive personality diametrically opposed to my emotional reservedness and shyness when first met, I have a dark sense of humor and I'm very petty. I can be a touch arrogant but deep down I care about others. I'm very giving and protective of my friends. I can be a bit prickly and have been referred to as moody 😅 [hope that's thorough 😂]

As for fandoms, I like both Supernatural, The Witcher and the X-Men, with no particular preference. I genuinely look forward to what your beautiful mind decides!!!

Vicky, my love, my life, my soul, thank you so so much for your support! And thank you for joining in the celebration; I cannot express to you how much it means to me. <3 <3 <3

I hope you enjoy this sweet treat! Also, tagging your new blog <3 @melpomenes-garden

I ship you with . . . Logan Howlett!

Logan is a man who isn't black and white but shades of grey, yet there can be no mistaking him. He doesn't speak for small talk but to get to the point.

Some people think he's aggressive, and maybe he is, but he doesn't really give a shit. He is who he is --- you know how that saying goes, old dog, new tricks.

He isn't afraid to butt heads with you --- in fact, he'd absolutely give you a run for your money when it comes to stubbornness and aggression. The man is a menace.

"Again," you snapped, chest heaving with heavy pants as you glared at him. Logan was smiling at you, no, not smiling — fucking grinning. God, you wanted to smack that smug expression off his perfect face.

"What's the matter, bub? You tired already?" He taunted, his voice a low rumble, casual like you were sitting at a bar flirting instead of in the Danger Room with sweat dripping from your brow. You clenched your fists, knuckles bruised and aching from the number of times you'd hit him. He'd shrugged off every hit as if it was nothing. You knew he was holding back — you could see it in how he moved. He'd dodge your blows just a little too slow, making it look like you were getting closer when, in actuality, nothing you did made a difference.

"I said again," you barked, feet shifting as you squared off, pulse thrumming in your ears. Every nerve and fibre of your being screamed for a break, but you refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing you quit. Not now. Not when he was pushing every single one of your damn buttons. Logan let out a chuckle, low and lazy. He rolled his shoulders as if sparring with you wasn't anything more than a warm-up.

"You keep glaring at me like that, and I might start thinkin' you don't like me."

You lunged at him, throwing a wild punch, and he quickly sidestepped. His claws were restricted, and his arms were relaxed. Fucking prick. He could have ended the fight in seconds, which was the worst part. Logan was toying with you, pushing you to your limits without breaking a sweat because he enjoyed seeing you flustered. "Logan!" You growled, spinning on your heel to face him again.

His blue eyes narrowed, his grin softening for just a moment before his hand shot out as quick as a flash. He grabbed your wrist mid-punch and twisted you around effortlessly so that your back was pressed against his chest. His grip was firm but not painful.

"You're fightin' angry," he murmured in your ear, his breath warm against your skin. You couldn't fight the shiver that coiled down your spine. That's how you lose."

Despite his gruff exterior and his acting like a surly old man 90% of the time, the dude cares — like a lot.

So if you’re feeling a little shy, he’ll tease you just for the fun of it, just so he can watch the way you get flustered and blush. He finds the difference between the shy you and the extroverted you incredible.

But is someone else teases you, and you don’t like it? If someone else makes you uncomfortable? You can bet your bottom dollar that his scary dog energy is going all the way to eleven. He’s all bite, no bark when it comes to you.

You pressed yourself against the bar, desperate to put some distance between yourself and the stench of liquor on his breath. He doesn't seem to notice. You don't know him, but his presence is suffocating, the heat of his body too close for comfort. His words slurred together as he leaned in, mumbling something about how pretty you looked in your little red dress, and you felt a chill crawl up your spine. The room suddenly felt too small, the crowd a blur of faces too absorbed in their own worlds to notice what was happening.

Instinctively, you curled your fingers around the counter's edge, gripping it tightly as if to ground yourself. His eyes, glazed and unfocused, flickered over you. It was as though you could feel the weight of his stare, the way he was undressing you with his eyes. Your heartbeat quickened, each thump somehow louder than the hum of music, and a familiar sense of panic began to settle it until —

"Hey," a voice cut across, pulling your attention from him and his from you. You could cry at the sight that greeted you — Logan Howlett in his leather jacket and cowboy jeans. He looked angry, fuming, but it didn't worry you. His presence was like a lifeline, his gaze sharp, locked on the man who dared to get too close to you. He flexed his knuckles. "Get lost, bub," he growled, his voice low, rumbling with an unmistakable danger and an unmissable possession.

The stranger flinched but stood his ground, his alcohol-fuel bravado pushing him to challenge someone he didn’t fully understand. Logan could break him oh so easily. “What’s it to you, man?” he asked, words slurred, eyes bleary, and swaying where he stood. You saw Logan’s jaw tightening, a muscle jumping near his temple. He didn’t repeat himself — he didn’t need to. The atmosphere around him screamed danger.

“Last chance,” he warned, and you knew there wouldn’t be another one. The air seemed to crackle with tension. Logan flexed his fingers, claws threatening to unsheathe at any second. His entire body was coiled, every muscle taut, waiting for an excuse. The stranger’s bravado finally cracked. You didn’t need to see his face to know that a flicker of fear spread over his features. He mumbled something before stumbling away, disappearing into the crown with a soured and defeated mood.

As soon as he was gone, Logan shifted his attention to you. His anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface of his skin like wildfires, but it wasn’t directed at you. “You alright, darlin’?” He asked, his voice gruff but with a gentleness reserved only for those he cares about. It makes your heart ache to know you’re among those people.

The weight in your chest lightened at that moment, but your hands continued to tremble—the adrenaline still pumping. You nod, releasing a shaking breath you hadn’t realised you were holding. Logan stepped closer, brushing his hand against your arm. He was familiar — the smell of his cologne, the leather he wore — his mere presence pushing away the fear.

“You don’t gotta worry,” he murmured, his eyes searching yours. “Ain’t nobody gonna hurt you while I’m around.”

And let's say you're feeling extra bratty. Maybe a little mouthy. Or perhaps you've had a bad day, and you're taking it out on him because, let's be honest, Logan can take anything you throw at him. You can rest assured he'd be the one to fuck the attitude out of you.

Logan might be arrogant and cocky, sometimes overbearing and unbearable, but rest assured, he doesn't just talk the talk; he walks the walk. His confidence comes from years of experience, battles fought and won, lovers lost, and a lifetime of experiences.

So when he finally musters up the courage or rather lets go of his hesitations, and he gets you in bed, you can bet your bottom dollar that he's going to keep you there all. night. long.

His hands were warm, one holding both your wrists above your head, pinning them to the mattress. Logan held you there, keeping you spread out like a pagan sacrifice, his actions sacrilegious as he ravages you. All you can do is take him, keening loudly beneath him as his rigid length spears through your still-fluttering walls.

His grip tightened, the rough pads of his finger pressing into your skin as he leaned down, brushing his lips against yours, swallowing your moans. Each ragged breath he takes reverberates through you, matching the rhythm of his hips. You gasped, back arching off the bed as his thrust deepened, his body demanding your submission, pushing you to the brink of delirium.

You felt it building — that familiar pressure between your hips. Your legs shook, thighs trembling, toes curling, spreading wider at his silent command. Logan roamed his free hand possessively over your body as if committing the feel of you to his memory. He traced the swell of your breasts and the curve of your thigh before pulling you closer.

Logan moved with purpose, like a predator savouring its latest kill. The bed creaked beneath the force of him, a testament to his lust.

“Again,” he demanded, and the sound you made in response was lost to the storm brewing outside — rain pelting the windows, thunder rumbling in the distance. He was taunting you, using your words from the sparring match against you. His name escaped your lips in a desperate, breathless plea for mercy, but he only chuckled in response, his lips ghosting over your throat as his teeth grazed your racing pulse.

There was something dangerous in his touch, a wild hunger that threatened to consume you both. And still, you offered yourself to him, mind and body unravelling under his unrelenting control. You felt yourself letting go, a third, no, wait, a fourth orgasm ripping through you, punching the air from your lungs as you came undone beneath him. 

Logan was unrelenting, more beast than man, wild and untamed. But you didn’t mind, not at all. You were content to float in the clouds as he loved you.

—interested in joining? check out the menu and send in your order!

[carlos-in-glasses]

10 Questions for Writers

Thank you for the tag @orchidscript @heartstringsduet @rmd-writes

@freneticfloetry @reyesstrand @safeaswrites @paperstorm ❤️

how many works do you have on ao3? — 26! My most recent, Keep the Lights On, just went up at the weekend.

what’s your total ao3 word count? — Not including the fic I collaborated on, it's roughly 451k.

what fandoms do you write for? — Only Tarlos/Tarlos adjacent. I wonder if I'll ever be moved to write for another fandom someday (as well as Tarlos, rather than instead of) but right now I can't even imagine it.

do you respond to comments? why or why not? — Yes! It's vital for me to thank readers. People are taking time out of their day to read something I wrote...it's amazing. It blows my mind. Before fic, I was writing into a void and didn't realise how much I needed this sort of community. I'm just really grateful for it.

have you ever had a fic stolen? — Yes, chunks of one. It was a harrowing experience. The Lone Star fandom was incredible about it though. Not to vague but there are certain people here who are my heroes. (Also...the amount of 'yes' answers I've seen to this question really scares me!)

have you ever cowritten a fic before? — Yes! Just once, but I'd love to collaborate more! @lemonlyman-dotcom and @ladytessa74 and I each wrote a chapter for a fic called The Wonder of It for @thisbuildinghasfeelings' birthday. It was a really lovely, fun experience. The fic is one I treasure because it's within Tessa's Elijah Verse, which I'm obsessed with.

what’s your all-time favorite ship? — Tarlos. There is no other ship for me that comes close. Sometimes I wonder if there ever could be tbh. I'm not actively looking for one, but I wasn't actively looking for Tarlos either. Grateful every day that I randomly watched this Rob Lowe Vanity Fair video that changed my life.

what are your writing strengths? — Based on feedback I've had, I'll say: humour, smut, detail, lyricism.

what are your writing weaknesses? — Well according to a total shithead on here, my smut and everything else. But according to me I'd say overwriting, syntax, using the same words really close together ffs. I spend *a lot* of time editing before I post. I'd also love to write a really good thriller but I don't know if I have the skill.

first fandom you wrote for? — 9-1-1 Lone Star/ Tarlos. First and only, babyyy.

Tagging @lemonlyman-dotcom @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut @ladytessa74 @welcometololaland

@pimento-playing-hopscotch @alrightbuckaroo @goodways @bonheur-cafe

@ironheartwriter @tellmegoodbye @lightningboltreader @strandnreyes

@theghostofashton

[destinationtoast]

hi toasty, i love your stats! i have a question for you that may be unanswerable, but do you have any insight into the phenomenon of x-reader fics on tumblr? i've noticed anecdotally for a while now that reader fics tend to have many more notes (like, thousands!) than their non-reader counterparts, and that they also seem to be mostly (?) posted in full here, rather than linking to ao3. (check the tags #wolverine fanfic vs #poolverine fanfic as an example). i know there is also reader fic posted on ao3, but i'm wondering whether anyone's done a qualitative or quantitative analysis of this (if that's even possible)? did tumblr just at some point become "the place to post reader fic"?

any insight welcome. blows my mind how there's like two entirely separate worlds of posting behavior/style happening here.

Hey! :) Thanks for the kind words and the interesting ask.

I don't have any data about xReader fic on tumblr (the only xReader-relevant data I think I have is from a 2019 analysis of Shipping on Wattpad vs. AO3 and FFN that looked at xReader prevalence in the archives at that time)..

However, I do have a couple recommendations for where to start finding out more about xReader fic (and where it gets posted):

Effie Sapurdis (interviewed by @fansplaining in Episode 221: Self-Inserts) is an Information & Media Studies researcher studying self-inserts. Effie has written a paper called Self-Insert Fanfiction as Digital Technology of the Self with this very promising abstract excerpt:

Then, drawing on a survey of self-insert fanfiction conducted across four platforms (Ao3, FF.net, Tumblr, and Wattpad), we explore how such works can be discovered, read, and engaged with, and we offer specific observations about self-insert subgenres, as drawn from a selection of these works.

I haven't read most of this paper, but a quick search for "Tumblr" revealed several passages that potentially relate to your question, including:

We observed that the keyword “Imagines” (i.e., with the -s) was most often appended to collections of “one-shot” stories, many of which were originally posted on the authors’ Tumblr accounts and were then “cross-posted” to Ao3 afterward.

(This is just one section -- there are other sections about other types of self-insert & xReader works). This passage highlights one possibility: perhaps many of the works you're seeing will eventually end up on an archive as well, possibly as part of one of those multi-chaptered fanwork that's a combination of many short works. But I don't know whether most people then go back and link to the archive version from the original Tumblr post.

Anyway, Effie's the expert here -- check out her work! :) I'll also throw this open to readers -- does anyone here have any other relevant data? (xReader writers and readers are also welcome to chime in and share their personal experiences and any patterns/trends they've noticed.)

[cementcornfield]

Is there any song/songs that make you think of Joe’marr? I keep thinking about them listening to Troye Sivans album 😊 (I’d also like to thank you for your Joe/Ja’marr/Joe’marr/bengals tags bc I’ve totally fallen in love with the team v v quickly 😅)

Hi! lol i've seen you in my notifs the past few days, i love when i can tell people are going through my tags! so glad you're joining the fandom just in time for all the content to start back up <3

and oh boy, okay, i'm the kind of person where once i get obsessed with a ship or character, EVERY song makes me think of them (even some that really don't work at all, whoops!) but here are some that get me particularly in my feelings about joe'marr

Sweet

King and Lionheart - Of Monsters And Men And as the world comes to an end I'll be here to hold your hand 'Cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart

Aquemini - Outkast Nothin' is for sure, nothin' is for certain, nothin' lasts forever But until they close the curtain (y'all know) It's him and I, Aquemini

1950 - King Princess So cold that your stare's 'bout to kill me I'm surprised when you kiss me So tell me why my gods look like you And tell me why it's wrong

Thinkin' Bout You - Frank Ocean Or do you not think so far ahead? Cause I been thinkin' 'bout forever

Bodyguard - Beyoncé Be your best friend I protect you in the mosh pit And I'll defend you in the gossip You know how people like to start shit and pop shit I don't like the way she's lookin' at you Someone better hold me back

Nineteen - Tegan and Sara I felt you in my life Before I ever thought to I felt the need to lay down Beside you And tell you I feel you in my heart And I don't even know you

Angsty

Fireproof - The National You're fireproof Nothing breaks your heart You're fireproof It's just the way you are You're fireproof It's what you always say You're fireproof I wish I was that way

Bad Religion - Frank Ocean If it brings me to my knees It's a bad religion This unrequited love To me, it's nothin' but a one-man cult And cyanide in my styrofoam cup I can never make him love me Never make him love me

Earfquake - Tyler the Creator I don't want no confrontation, no You don't want my conversation I just need some confirmation on how you feel, for real You don't want no complication, no

New Magic Wand - Tyler the Creator Can't be in the picture if it got no frame And let the world know 'cause I ain't got no shame Blow the whole spot up, 'cause I ain't— I wanna share last names, I wanna be your number one Not the other one, keep it on the low I'm in my right mind, keep it on a high

Secret Heart - Feist Why so mysterious? Why so sacred, why so serious? Maybe you're just acting tough Maybe you're just not man enough What's wrong?

Somewhere in Between

We Belong Together - Vampire Weekend We belong together Baby, there's no use in being clever Baby, it don't mean we'll stay together Hallelujah, you're still mine All I did was waste your time If there is not some grand design How'd this pair of stars align?

I Want to Know Your Plans - Say Anything I want to know your plans And how involved in them I am [...] I'll look out for you 'til I die, 'til I rot I'll remember you 'til I die, 'til I rot

Never Be Anyone Else But You - Emmylou Harris Cause I hope and pray the day will come when you belong to me Then I'm gonna prove to you how true my love can be There'll never be anyone else but you for me Never ever be, just couldn't be, anyone else but you

Vito's Ordination Song - Sufjan Stevens And when you write a poem I know the words, I know the sounds Before you write it down

Specialist - Interpol You make me lose my buttons oh yeah you make me spit I don't like my clothes anymore You take me to New Orleans where you put me to the test I know what my heart is for

Bedroom Hymns - Florence and the Machine Cause this is his body, this is his love Such selfish prayers and I can't get enough

[nautiscarader]

Chess mates

A Glitch techs story, G, (Ao3)

it is not shipping fic,but it has elements of Zahra/HF which was supposed to become canon.

Also, there are some notes under "read more". Be afraid.

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

In a dimly lit room, illuminated only by eerie blinking lights of seven-segment displays of old computers, a man walked in. He looked at the floor as if he could see the infra-red security grid, protecting it from intruders like him. He then took an asymmetrical USB key and inserted it into the panel on the wall… on his first try.

Without fear, he stepped safely and walked unnoticed across the room, until he faced an ominous, black computer tower, bigger than him, and gently touched its side. The machine hasn't been turned on in over a quarter of a century…

"Soon you and I will play again…", he spoke and unlocked the wheel brakes under its pedestal, allowing him to drag the priceless artefact effortlessly. He walked past the knocked out guards, and a few minutes later… he was gone.

xxxx

Miko Kubota stared with growing aggravation at the plixelated figures on her side of the black-and-white board.

"So… I'd like to upgrade my horse into a pegasus."

Zahra giggled.

"It doesn't work like that. Besides, it's a knight."

Miko took the generated figure in her fingers and examined it.

"No, it's a horse. Unless…", she said excitedly, "The horse IS a knight! Wait, is there a horse armor DLC?"

Zahra gave her a polite, but contemptuous smile, looking at how few pieces she had left compared to ones on her side.

"Look, Miko, there is no sense in forcing yourself to liking a game, especially one like chess. But that is the beauty of gaming. I am rubbish at that tower defence game you play. We all have our tastes."

Miko slumped into her chair, finally defeated, while Zahra cleared the board with one swipe of her arm.

"You're right. I guess… You play it all the time, so I wanted to give it a try. Plus, High-Five said one day how he started with some old PC chess game when he was 5 or something…"

Zahra's eyes lightened up.

"Hector? Does-does he play it too?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, n-nothing."

But she took a second too long, and a wide, mischievous grin appeared on Miko's face.

"Hey, High Five! Get your butt over here!"

Zahra did one desperate attempt at stopping her, but it was too late. The boy in question turned around and walked from the counter where he's been doing retagging.

"What? I'm busy"

"Oh no, you're not. I'll take it from here, while you and Zahra can have a relaxing game of chess.", she jumped from her seat, practically shoving Hector down, and grabbed the tag printer from his hand.

"Oh? So you like chess too?", he turned and leaned towards Zahra, but quickly shifted back at Miko.

"Wait, and you'd WILLINGLY offer to do this mind-numbing job instead?", he raised his eyebrows.

"Beats your nerdy chess with million rules.", she turned around, blowing a raspberry that once she looked away turned into a triumphant grin. A moment later she took a peek and saw how the two were leaning towards each other.

But her satisfaction was short-lived, when Haneesh jumped in, quite literally shoving his face between those of Zahra and Hector.

"Speaking of chess, have you guys heard? Someone broke into some tech museum and stole some famous old chess machine." he said, missing the icy daggers Miko was throwing at him.

"Wait, old chess machine? You don't mean-", Hector spoke, while Haneesh displayed the article in the air, above the plixelated chessboard, as the rest of Glitch Techs gathered around.

"BlueThought stolen - bizarre theft at The Museum of Really Old Technology.", read the title.

"No!", Hector shouted, rising from his seat. But a quick glance at the nonplus faces of his colleagues tempered his reaction.

"Wait, has-has none of you heard of BlueThought?"

"High Five, it's clear you know and care a great deal about it, so why don't you enlighten us?", Zahra proposed.

"Yeah, go on", a new voice chimed in when Phil chimed in, sipping his morning coffee.

"Well, okay then…"

Hector sat back, cleared his throat and looked at his friends that now paid attention to his every word.

"It all happened a long time ago, in the distant year of… 1996…", he made a long pause as if he was telling a spooky campfire story.

"Oh, give me a break", Phil interrupted, "Don't make it sound so dramatic, it was only…", but he paused when his calculations expected slight buffer overflow.

"…Okay, never-mind, carry on"

Hector turned back and continued.

"Well, as I've said, it was the mid-90s, and they have built this supercomputer to play chess."

"Was it the first one?"

"No, far from it, there have been dozens before. But this one was the best. It kept defeating other chess machines, then regular chess players, then masters, then grandmasters, then arch-grandmasters…! Until there was only one opponent left… The Undisputed Super-Duper Arch Great Grandmaster…"

Hector took a deep breath.

"…Gambi Krasnysledin."

Predictably, the sound of his name brought very little reaction, aside from a guffaw from Mitch.

"Gambi? What sort of name is that?"

"Hey, don't make fun of other people's names", Zahra barked back immediately.

"Yeah, Williams, don't be such a Mitch."

The group laughed at Miko's quick jab that has successfully shut Mitch up.

"And hey, he was from Soviet Russia…"

"Azerbaijan, actually", Phil quickly corrected Hector.

"So what happened then?"

"Well, the match was on. Six games, Gambi won some, lost some… But then, in the final one, BlueThought made a move so unexpected it baffled everyone."

"What? What did it do?"

"Oh, I know!", Miko suddenly interrupted, "I bet it grew arms and legs and cannons and started blasting!"

"Wha-No! It was just a move, a chess move", and he took a piece and slid it across the board, much to Miko's disappointment.

"But it was a typically human move… A sacrifice one. It felt as if it knew Gambi's next one."

"And?", the Techies asked.

"Gambi was furious! He lost the final game and the entire match. The worst thing is, he never got over it. He accused the Blue Team of cheating, of hiding someone inside the machine! Can you imagine it?"

Suddenly, Zahra chuckled.

"Actually, I can. Have you guys heard about The Turk?" she raised her eyebrows, asking the crowd, but eyeing Hector.

"No", he replied, his curiosity piqued.

"Well", Zahra started explaining, pulling some images onto the shared screen to replace the article. They depicted a human-looking mechanical robot, wearing a turban, colorful robes and sporting impressive moustache.

"That is The Turk, a machine from 18th century that could play chess and allegedly defeated Napoleon".

"Woah, woah, woah!", Miko interrupted. "I can imagine a chess computer from the dark ages - er, no offense, Phil"

"Yes, offense, Miko", he sharply replied without missing a beat.

"…but how could it work without electricity?!"

Zahra chuckled.

"With lots of gears, linkages…and cheating! Cos there really was a grandmaster hidden inside the desk, doing all the thinking, and actually moving the arm."

"It's a bit like that saying - 'A computer is only as smart as the one, who programmed it…'", Hector started.

"…'and as stupid as its user'", Zahra finished.

"Yeah…"

And the two once more leaned forward towards each other, forgetting about the small crowd around them.

"Well that is all fascinating", Mitch barged in, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "But why would I care about some old computer, designed to play only one game, when I have this!"

And he pulled from his pocket an USB stick shaped like a fish.

"Hinobi FishStick AI. Prototype, naturally, but I got it first!", he spoke triumphantly.

"You know we should've gotten it", Zahra pointed to herself and her teammates.

"But I got it! This baby can probably learn chess in seconds… If I ever cared about such boring game."

"Well, one reason you should, would be because it is also part of our history", Phil quickly explained, "Hinobi provided some extra chipsets for it."

"Wait, we've made it?"

"Oh no, we were small fish back then."

"So who has built it?"

"A team at BIM", Hector was quick to answer.

"Wait, BIM? Boring Internal Machines? Weren't they making printers and stuff?"

"Yeah, but I guess they wanted a piece of that gaming cake.", High Five pulled out his phone. " There was a whole team of experts… er, doctor Bell, professor Shu, doctor Murray…", he kept reading."That's what made BIM so big, their stock prices sky-rocketed after the match! I didn't even know these names, everyone remembers the name BlueThought… And, well, good thing they went with this one.", Hector suddenly shied away.

The rest of the Glitch Techs exchanged curious looks.

"Wait, what was the original name then?"

"Err…", Hector scratched his head, "Well, the computer was made with only one job in mind, right…", he slowly explained, his face getting progressively redder.

"And BIM's color was blue… So their first name choice was…"

Hector swallowed loudly.

"…BlueJob"

Like a spark tossed onto a pile of gunpowder, it took only a split of a second for the teenagers to burst into uncontrollable, asinine laughter. While the boys held no restrictions, Miko raised her hands saying "Nope, nope, nope dot MP4", and Zahra simply covered her mouth with her hijab, hiding a soft giggle.

"Alright, y'all, this was a hilarious history lesson, but we open in FIVE MINUTES!", Phil's voice boomed across the room, prompting the teenagers to get to their positions at the counters.

xxxx

The discussion about BlueThought returned unexpectedly during their lunch break, as Miko was determined to finish her mission.

"So… Have you and Zahra talked some more?", she asked in a would-be innocent voice.

"Huh? Oh yeah, she had this annoying client, who asked why his terabyte hard drive shows up as "931 GBs" and why did we steal the rest. Now you try to explain to an angry man difference between gigabytes and gibibytes, and that you haven't made those up."

It took about a minute for Miko to blink her way back to reality, as she processed High Five's reply.

"Dude, you have made those up. Secondly, do I need to put a giant quest-marker over her head?!"

"What do you mean?"

Miko groaned. But she quickly regained her composure when Zahra herself joined them.

"Hey, have you read the rest of that article?"

"No…", Hector shook his head, pulled his phone out, and started skimming.

"…'the whereabouts of the perpetrator remain unknown. Police reassured us that the safety of the other half of BlueThought remains'- Wait, what?"

Hector stared at the screen in disbelief.

"The other half?!"

"Yeah! That's why I brought it up."

"What, did they saw it in half?", Miko performed a motion as if she wielded chainsaw.

"Most likely it simply had so many boards it needed two towers", Zahra explained.

"Ah, you're no fun", Miko groaned.

"Listen to this", Hector interrupted, "'After the 1996 match with Krasnysledin, the machine has been separated into two parts, never to be reunited again…'"

"…Cos that doesn't sound ominous", Miko commented.

"But why would they do that?", Hector asked.

"Maybe because otherwise it would be too powerful and it would destroy the world!", Miko laughed maniacally.

"Miko-", Hector started, but was interrupted by Zahra.

"Actually… Think about it: BlueThought acted strangely, Gambi thought someone was inside… But he didn't know WE provided chips…. What if…"

"…it wasn't someONE…"

"…but someTHING! What if it was…"

"A GLITCH!", they all exclaimed.

"And what if it only activated with both halves?"

"Like some ancient artefact…"

"Wait, where is that other half stored?"

"It's…in another museum… An hour away from us."

The three Glitch Techs stared at each other.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so, Hector, but I don't know if we can use that joke.", Miko quickly replied, scratching her chin.

"What?", Hector asked, once more befuddled by her reply.

"What? I thought we could drive there, guns blazing and catch the thief red-handed."

"No!", Zahra protested, "We should drive there… And offer some protection. Our tech can do wonders compared to ordinary security measures."

"Okay, so it's settled, right? We drive tonight, after we close.", Hector stated.

"And we just offer them help", Zahra looked at Miko, already browsing guns on her gauntlet.

Miko groaned, but when Zahra turned her back, Miko selected one particular gun…

xxxx

Like they've discussed, the three Glitch Techs met after the store closed, quickly getting into the van. Miko swiftly jumped to the back, offering Zahra seat next to Hector, a sly grin drawn on her face.

And as they drove, their conversation quickly moved to the theft.

"I do wonder who could have done this.", Hector spoke out loud.

"Isn't it obvious?", Miko answered, "Gambi…Whatshisname! Didn't you say he was still salty after all these years?"

"Yeah, but that's hardly a motive."

"Except", Zahra suddenly spoke, reading from her phone "Check this out: 'For years Krasnysledin has been unsuccessful in launching his own chess simulator software, unable to compete with growing market of AI-based ones.'"

"Huh.", Hector grunted, "I guess he could be the culprit…"

Soon, the long road became bendy, as the three approached the museum, located on a small hill. They quickly got out, ready to follow Zahra's plan.

"Okay, guys, remember, we're coming just to offer them protect-"

But Zahra froze when she saw two men lying on the ground, now clearly visible in the beam lights of their van that shone upon them.

She rushed towards them, reaching her hand to check their pulse.

"They're alive. Sir? Sir? Can you-"

But in response, the guard let out a loud snore.

"Sleeping gas", Miko kicked the odd circular object on the ground, "Favoured by Russian spies…"

"Azerbaijani, actually", Hector corrected her.

"Alright guys, suit up", Zahra commanded, and with one push of a button on her gauntlet, she became clad in futuristic suit of armor.

Miko followed her, spawning her own combat suit. Hector, on the other hand…

"What? It's magical protection!", he countered the accusatory looks when he became clad in fancy wizard robes, wielding a staff instead of a conventional weapon.

"Well, maybe we will be able to surprise Gambi with a fireball…", Zahra shrugged. "Let's go."

The automatic door opened, showing an empty entrance hall, and two more knocked out guards.

"Be cautious, guys…", Zahra whispered, sliding a night vision overlay over her eyes.

Miko and High Five stuck close together, securing each other's rears, as the three moved forward. Zahra quickly browsed through an interactive map for visitors to find where the BlueThought was located - though the sleeping guards were an easy indicator where should they go.

"Fourth floor", she whispered.

The Glitch Techs rushed up the stairs, only slowing down when they reached the landing and saw the vast hall full of old computers.

And at the very end of the hall… A giant, black tower of BlueThought's second half was clearly visible, even in the dimly lit light.

"Have-have we beaten him?", Hector scratched his head.

"Nope", Zahra replied, pointing to another snoring guard, "Unless…"

She walked towards the blinking panel on the wall and examined it.

"The security is still on.", she stated after quickly scanning it with her gauntlet.

"Great! then we can one-up it with this baby!", Miko suddenly pushed Zahra aside, pulling a familiar, fish-shaped object from her gauntlet's pocket storage, ready to insert it into the USB port.

Zahra had to take a step back, finding it difficult to gather words.

"Miko! Where-how?", Zahra stuttered, as she looked in disbelief at the FishStickAI in her friend's hand.

"You've said it yourself you guys deserved it more!"

"Did you steal it from Mitch?!"

"Yes, but it's not like I went unscathed. I had to place a portal on his backpocket so I had to stare at his butt to aim. Frankly, you should be comforting me.", Miko answered quickly, proudly showing her portal pistol.

"But you've brought the exact thing that Gambi is aft-"

Zahra's words were cut off when suddenly a whip, made of tied computer cables, shot between the two, coiled around the FishStick and snatched it from Miko' hand.

The Glitch Techs watched in awe as the FishStick was snapped and landed in the hands of a shadowy figure that suddenly appeared next to BlueThought.

Next moment, lights were turned on, revealing the face of the thief.

But it wasn't Gambi Krasnysledin.

It was…

"Er, who the heck are you?", Miko asked.

The corpulent man chuckled and corrected his glasses.

"No one remembers my name… But everyone does BlueThought's…", he spoke, fiddling with the FishStick.

Something about the way the man phrased his response stirred a part of Hector's brain, reminding him of what he's said a few hours ago.

"Wait! You are-hang on….", he pulled the article he read onto his gauntlet, "You've worked for BIM! You are…er… Doctor…"

"Professor Shu", he finished.

"Wait, hang on", Zahra interrupted, "You-you guys have won. Haven't you made millions on this match?"

"Oh, we have", he answered calmly, still toying with the stick, "But if BIM had not interfered, I would be making billions. And now, when I power this old machine with your toy, I will."

Only now Hector and the rest noticed that he was standing between both halves of BlueThought, having evidently brought the first stolen tower with him.

"Ha! Good luck with that, this thing is cutting edge tech, you'd need a hundred adapters to make it wor-"

But Hector couldn't even finish his sentence as Shu plugged the FishStick into BlueThought, enveloping it in familiar, blue aura.

"I've built this. I HAVE a hundred adapters.", Shu smugly said, showing his vest full of pockets filled with electrical parts and tools.

"Guys, he's doing the villain speech, shoot him!", Miko cried, already pointing her gauntlet at him.

At the same time, all three aimed and shot some form of immobilising projectiles - with Hector casting a paralysing spell.

But Shu didn't even flinch, as a blue plixelated barrier shielded him and the two halves of BlueThought from Techies.

"Hm, it does learn quickly. And it can predict moves…"

"And that's what you want, right? To sell the smartest chess program out there!", Hector shouted.

"Chess?", Shu did a double-take, "Oh, no, I want to make printers."

Silence fell in the room, as the three Glitch Techs exchanged confused looks.

"P-Printers?"

"Wait, whaaaa…?", Miko was left with her mouth wide-opened.

"Yeah, I don't follow either.", Hector admitted.

Shu chuckled.

"I've been working at BIM on revolutionary new product… A chipset that would make printers smart."

He saw the still befuddled looks on his audience.

"Don't you hate it?!", he suddenly burst with anger, "'Paper jam' error when the paper is fine, 'No cyan' when there's plenty of it… My chip would have fixed all of these stupid problems…"

"You know, guys, as far as villain speeches go, I'm with him", Miko admitted.

He sighed.

"But I needed help… I've heard about your chips with some extra 'Oomph'… And it worked! But then BIM barged in and told me to turn it into a stupid chess machine… They took my life's work… But now-"

"Oh, wait! I know what's going to happen.", Hector interrupted and spread his arms, pointing to the floor.

"I mean, look around! We are in a room dedicated to computer chess! Even the floor is a chessboard. So, we play a game and we take places of three pieces, and-"

His excitement was cut shortly by Miko putting her hand on his shoulder and shaking her head.

"Oh, High Five… Seriously, you're referencing those movies? First of all, this bit has already been done in a waaay better cartoon…"

"Books, they were books firs-Wait, what do you mean by 'cartoon'?"

"Secondly, have you read what this woman has been posting on-line?", Zahra approached him from the other side.

"She is persona very much non grata…",she said performing a slicing motion around her neck.

"And thirdly", Shu's voice suddenly brought the three's attention back to him.

"I do not want to play chess…" Professor Shu was now sitting on a small seat between the two towers… Which slowly began to slide towards each other.

At first, it looked like Shu was going to be crushed, but the side panels moved aside and the boards inside each half started folding itself to accommodate for Shu's figure.

Before they could do anything, the two halves closed like an enormous, obsidian sarcophagus, engulfing Shu inside.

"…I want you to die", Shu finished.

The blue energy shield enveloped Shu in his machine, but it was what happened later that flabbergasted the Techs.

BlueThought rose into the air, growing plixelated legs from its joined pedestals, while each side sported arms ending with cannons aimed at the three teenagers.

"Guys, duck!", Hector shouted just as the robot's armed became encased in even brighter aura, charging their shots.

An explosion shook the building when the projectiles hit the place Zahra, Miko and High Five stood just a second ago. Hidden behind a wall, the three only had a moment to formulate a plan, listening as the machine slowly approached them.

"It's invincible! The whole machinery!", Zahra stated.

"Game over, man, game over!", Miko yelled when another blast shot a column next to them.

"Machinery…", Hector suddenly scratched his chin, "Well, it's time to respec!"

He punched a few buttons on his gauntlet and changed from wizard into an elf-like ranger with ludicrously ornamented bow… and fake, pointy ears.

"What are you doing?!"

"The pedestals! They had some physical lock! We can split it in half again!"

"And can you make the shot?"

Hector chuckled.

"Guys, I killed hundreds of dragons as prophecised Skyborn…"

He stood up, took a deep breath, drew his bow and leapt from their safety spot to the now-broken column.

"…this is a cake-walk."

He released the arrow mid-jump and a second later, he heard a satisfying metallic "cling" when the lock underneath the unshielded two halves of BlueThought became undone.

And when when he gracefully landed behind the column, the Glitch Techs were blessed with the sight of their enemy stumbling in place, as it became split open.

They cheered, but their enthusiasm was thwarted by two noises: a sparkling of electricity… and Shu's scream.

The two halves of BlueThought, though immobile, became linked with what looked like a net of constant sparks of electricity… one in which professor Shu was trapped in, still in his seat, at least until he f`ell backwards.

"We've got to help him!", Zahra rushed in, now the robot had no one to control it.

"That was easy. Good quick-thinking and nice shot!", Miko playfully punched Hector in his arm.

"He's alive.", Zahra stated, having checked Shu's pulse, "I'm gonna call 911, and you-"

But she didn't have time to end verbalising her plan when she heard an ominous, metallic "clunk" behind her back. She quickly turned around only to watch as the almost-split robot becomes sentient and mobile again, once more aiming its cannons at them.

"Oh, shoot, phase two, guys!"

Another blast hit the floor next to the three, forcing them to rush to the nearest corner.

"AH!"

Second explosion, from much more precise shot above their heads, and only thanks to Zahra's shield they were saved from falling concrete.

"Run!"

The three had to save their lives, but as they approached the exit, one of the columns fell right in front of them.

"Guys, we need to stop it! Otherwise we're toast!"

"Well then, eat some portals!"

Miko shouted, pointing her portal pistol to make the robot stumble into a hole she'd create… and watched in awe as the BlueThought effortlessly evaded it, continuing to waddle towards them.

"Uh, got any more arrows?"

By the time Miko asked, Hector has already sent a dozen of them towards the robot and screamed when BlueThought grabbed a piece of concrete from the floor and used Miko's portalled surface to send the arrows towards him.

Only Zahra's plixelated shield allowed them to duck and hide behind another colossal computer that has been toppled to the ground, giving them another second to catch breath.

"It's the Fishstick! It really can learn fast!"

"We need to unplug it!"

"Okay, so how to defeat a robot with the smartest thing ever in its seat?", Hector asked, outshouting another explosion.

And as he said so, a faint smile appeared on Miko's face. She brought her gauntlet, and to her friends' surprise, she summoned Ally.

"Zahra, remember the Turk?", she suddenly asked.

"Miko, there's time and place-", she yelled, keeping her shield up, with blasts exploding all around them.

"Well… what happens, if instead of a chess master you put the biggest chess dummy in?"

Miko continued, and hopped onto Ally's back.

Next second, both Zahra and Hector cried "NO!", as they both realised Miko's plan. She jumped from behind the makeshift barricade and rushed towards BlueThought.

"Remember guys…", Miko spoke, as she swiftly dodged the projectiles. She and Ally jumped to left and avoided two more rays by speeding forward. But Miko knew her luck can only last so long.

"I'm not a knight…", she spoke, hugging her bird, before she jumped into the air, watching as her partner gets trapped in a net, knowing her pain will only last a while.

"I'm just a pawn.", she finished, landing in the chair between two halves of BlueThouhgt.

Zahra and High-Five both shouted "No!" as Miko was engulfed by the two moving halves, but it was too late to change her mind.

Miko screamed, as she landed in the chair, blue sparks of electricity shooting through her. Zahra and Hector listened to it in horror, not knowing what was worse - their friend's agony… or the total silence that fell when the two halves fully entombed her.

Miko felt the pain only for a second,and then… she saw only darkness.

But then, out of the void came a voice.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

It was neither male, nor female, and it reached Miko only from her left side.

"Me? Who are you?"

"Wait, are you number one?", a second disembodied voice spoke, this time from the right.

"Heck yeah I am!", Miko burst, "At kicking your butts-wait, where do you have butts?"

"She is…", the first voice spoke again, "You are loss, aren't you?"

"What? I'm not lost, I'm exactly where I want to be!"

"No, I meant-"

"I'm inside you, so I can destroy you from inside! You haven't thought of that, huh!"

"Wait!", the second voice tried to intervene, but it was too late.Miko cracked her knuckles, and suddenly, the insides of the machine woke up to life, becoming encased in blue light.

"So let's start a new game…", Miko spoke, and the chessboard appeared in front of her, Pawn to… V26 - the Whojiwhatsit's opening!!"

"That is not a legal move!", the voices roared.

But it was too late. One of the pawns immediately flew off-screen.

"Next thing… The towers aren't tall enough! I put one tower on top of the other one!"

"Stop!"

"The Bishops… ooh, let's add some controversy, turns out they are in love!"

"How do you even-"

"The knight is a spy! Pawns are on strike, demanding better payment from the queen! The queen abdicates!", Miko kept shouting, watching as figures glitched and demolished the chessboard, sending more sparks everywhere.

"Please, for the love of Shannon-"

"And finally", Miko cracked her knuckles, "I want to upgrade my horse into a pegasus!"

It was an utter chaos. The figures moved on their own, the board itself cracked, and soon, the entire machine started emitting dangerously sounding, whirring noises.

"Oh, nerds."

Miko uttered theses words just seconds before the blue, electric aura filled the insides and grew, until it erupted, splitting the two halves of BlueThought in powerful explosion.

"MIKO!", Zahra and Hector cried, seeing her body fall back, just like Shu's before, and only thanks to their quick reflexes she did not fall to the floor, but landed in their joined arms.

"I… I really hate chess", Miko muttered, before she passed out, being swallowed by darkness again.

When she opened her eyes, Miko was standing alone on a chessboard, stretching endlessly into all directions of the black void she found herself in.

"Zahra? High-Five?", she shouted into the nothingness that engulfed her. But after taking a few steps, she saw the walls of the enormous room she was in: green, covered in strange, golden patterns.

And then it hit her: those were computer boards, dotted with square microchips, connected by embedded wires. In fact, she has only now realised that squares she's been walking on were processors as well - an endless sea of them…

But a sudden movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she started sprinting towards the left wall. A wall that now had a huge window, with someone moving behind.

"Hector? Zahra?", Miko repeated her plea, but quickly stopped. There was a boy behind, but he was enormous - or at least that's what Miko thought until she saw colorful patterns on the screen, which she understood she was staring at.

Realisation finally hit her again - she was inside an old arcade machine, and she was the size of an ant, looking at a regular-sized kid - a kid, who wasn't doing so well, judging by the words "Game over" that flashed on the screen.

"Dude, give me another quarter.", the boy addressed someone off-screen.

"Billy…you've been playing for hours.", a concerned voice of an older boy reached Miko. "Mom is gonna kill us'"

"Just one more, man! I've almost got it this time!"

The younger boy successfully bullied his brother into giving him money, and a moment later the screen was filled with primitive vector shapes that were meant to resemble spaceships.

But Miko was drawn to one of the microchips in front of her, one that inexplicably was glowing. As she approached it, Miko could read what was written on it: "ADDICTION".

But she was even more frightened when she realised that by walking towards this one, she has inadvertently stepped onto and activated others. The two that blinked under her feet read "HEADEACHES" and "NAUSEA". The results of her blunder could be heard immediately.

"Dude, I-I don't feel-"

The boy, clutching his head and stomach suddenly disappeared from view, but the retching sounds painted Miko quite a vivid picture of what happened there.

"Billy! Bill-oh god…"

"Oh nerds, oh nerds..", Miko muttered, crawling back, until she noticed what button she landed on, which made her sick.

"SEIZURES"

"Billy! Oh god, he's having-! Call 911!"

The furious face of an older boy appeared in front of the screen.

"It's that stupid game! It's all your fault!", he shouted staring directly at Miko.

"I'm sorry!", Miko started apologising, "That was an accident! I-I didn't mean to-"

But the boy did not hear her. Instead, the whole cabinet rumbled when he started punching the screen, cracks showing up with each hit.

Finally, he did it. His enormous fist broke through the glass, and went straight for Miko.

She started running away, but it was no use. The giant fist grabbed her and tossed her back into the black void.

She looked up, watching as the screen got smaller and smaller, until it disappeared completely.

She was falling, deep down the rabbit hole…

But when she finally landed, she thought her fall was quite a soft one.

In fact, she felt rather comfortable.

And then she heard voices again, but this time, very familiar.

"Miko? Miko! Finally, oh my goodness…"

As her eyes got used to the bright environment, Miko found her vision obscured by her parents engulfing her with a tight hug.

"Auch, auch, auch! Not enough disk space!"

"Oh, sorry, honey.", her mom quickly apologised, as the two gave her room to breathe.

She could then fully see the white hospital room she was in, though her eyes were quickly drawn to three other figures in the room.

Zahra, Hector, and to her surprise, Phil, stood at the back, all wearing smiles of deep relief.

"We came as soon we could", her dad explained, "When mister Phil told us about that printer accident."

Miko raised her brow in confusion.

"Printer accident…?"

But as soon as she said it, she noticed Zahra, Hector and Phil silently gesturing her to play along with various degree of subtlety.

"Oh, yes, printer accident! I guess that's what happens when they run out of cyan, magenta AND yellow at the same time. The darnedest things…".

"Listen, honey, we will be back in an hour."

"Meanwhile, here I grabbed something real quick: some spare clothes, some snacks, oh, your Snap, of course..", Miko's mom dropped an enormous bag in her laps, making her wonder what else does she want to bring…

"Th-thanks, guys…"

Phil grunted.

"Uh, mr. and mrs. Kubota…"

Miko's parents redirected their attention towards Phil.

"Thank you, mister Altiere. And thank you once again for helping our Miko."

"As I have said, you don't have to pay a thing. Hinobi is well prepared for compensating workplace accidents. They are very rare, but they do happen. But as I've said, I will take that burden away from you. "

Phil shook hands with Miko's parents, watching closely as they exited the room and disappeared into the elevator at the end of the corridor.

He then locked the door.

"…And by that, I mean I will mind-wipe any insurance agent, because I AM NOT PAYING A DIME FOR WHAT YOU THREE CLOWNS HAVE DONE!", he burst with rage, watching as Zahra, Miko and Hector flinch and cower under his rising voice.

"WHAT THE HINOBI HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING?", he continued his outburst, "That, what, you're gonna go to that museum, guns blazing and catch that Russian fella?"

"Azerbaijani, actually", Hector raised his hand.

"ZIP IT!", Phil turned his head so fast and shot Hector with glare so icy that the boy fell back.

"M-Mister Phil…", Zahra started, but Phil quickly barged in.

"Oh, don't think 'mistering' me will make things better."

Zahra swallowed loudly.

"Phil, we drove there to offer protection…"

"Oh, that worked like a charm!", he interrupted her, "1 on D20, critical failure: both parts of a priceless computer destroyed!"

"Destroyed?!", Zahra and Hector exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, burnt to a crisp, nothing to collect. Good thing there was relatively little collateral damage to rest of the exhibit. At least by our standards."

"And what about Shu?"

"Locked in a private room above, a policeman guards him. A policeman I also had to mind-wipe…", Phil hid his face in his hands in shame, "Seriously, have you collectively lost your minds? Have you-"

But at the sound of that word, something stirred in Miko's mind, and she clutched her head, as a wave of migraine radiated through her forehead.

"Wait!", she spoke, gathering the attention of the others. "I-I remember something."

"Remember?", Phil raised his brow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was inside the BlueThought, I heard… voices."

"Voices?", High-Five asked.

"BlueThought did not have voice synthesiser", Phil replied quickly, "Ironically, cos they were all the rage back then."

He stretched his arms and started moving like a robot.

"'SHAll-WE-PLAY-A-GAME?' and all that…", he finished, ending his routine. "But go on…"

"Well…", Miko shied away, somewhat stunned by Phil's quick rebuttal, "I-I'm not sure what was it, but I heard these two voices, and they asked me if I was 'number one' and if I was lost".

She took a deep breath.

"And-and then when I was thrown out I had a dream… more like a nightmare… I was inside an old arcade machine, and that machine was making a kid sick!"

Miko decided to omit the details, still painfully present in her memories.

"And I felt as if I was doing it… does that make any sense?"

She looked at Hector and Zahra, their faces painted with confusion and consternation, but they shook their heads.

But as she moved to Phil, she saw his eyes shift, giving the impression of him doing some quick thinking.

"It was a dream.", he stated, "You've said it yourself. And remember…"

Phil sat at the edge of her bed and gently took her hand.

"Electricity shot through your body, Miko. That would scramble anyone's mind. I am so glad you came out unharmed…", he spoke in much quieter and warmer voice, giving Miko a rare smile.

"Yeah…I guess I am lucky."

Phil stood up, causing the bed to bend back into its proper state.

"Okay, guys, I need to… still clean something up…", he touched his gauntlet, a faint grimace of disgust on his face, "Oh, and speaking of cleaning, you are ALL on floor cleaning duties FOR A MONTH."

He saw disappointment on Zahra's face, but to his surprise, Hector's brightened… though he quickly guessed why.

"And no, you will NOT be able to use your gauntlets to multiply and automatise the brooms, like in that old mouse-and-wizard cartoon…"

Hector's smile, predictably, faded.

"You know, that cartoon is from 1940", Zahra quickly added, "Computers weren't even a thing back then, and it perfectly portraits a glitch caused by badly closed logic loop."

"That's correct, miss Rashid", Phil turned towards her, granting her a polite smile.

But the pleasantries did not last for long.

"Oh, I am sorry, did you think being a smart-ass will get you out of the deal? Dream on. You are still on cleaning duties."

And with that, he turned around and burst out of the room, leaving the three Glitch Techs alone.

For quite a long while, neither of them spoke a word, leaving the room with almost perfectly sterile silence, finally broken by Zahra.

"Well… I guess we should count our blessings", she spoke softly, "We're not fired… nor in jail…".

"Yeah, now mopping the floor sounds good in comparison.", Miko countered.

Zahra and Hector's faces lightened up, hearing her joke. Next thing she knew, Miko was once again almost sapped of breath when the two put her into warm, tight hug, to which this time, she did not object.

"You have no idea how much we have worried…", Zahra spoke, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"But we are so glad you're back!", Hector finished, his voice also cracking slightly mid-sentence.

The three remained locked in the friendly hug, until Hector threw a proposition.

"Hey, since you have your Swap, do you wanna play some Flunkies?"

"Oh, heck yeah!", Miko and Zahra both exclaimed, and all three pulled out the portable consoles.

"I've heard a new DLC is out! They've added 50 new ones, and there are only 40 regional variants or completely messed up species!"

"So generous…"

And before they knew it, the three teenagers were engaged in fierce battles and trades, having put the stressful memories of the wild and life-threatening adventure well behind…

xxxx

Zahra clutched her head, watching in mix of awe and horror at the destroyed pieces on her side of the board.

"Okay… so, can I fire turrets from my tower?"

"Oh, good move!", Miko complimented her, watching as one of her pawns disintegrated, "But it's not going to help you, because…"

Miko cracked her knuckles.

"I have upgraded my horse into pegasus and it can fly across the board to your king!"

And as she said so, the horse-shaped figure grew wings and flew above Zahra's remaining pieces, knocking her king to its side.

"Check-mate.", she said smugly.

"Well… I'll give you that, this variant of chess is way more tricky than I thought."

"And that is just the tip of the iceberg", Ridley chimed in, speaking through the plixelated screen, "There are tons of mods for this game, just you wait until you see hyperbolic chess…"

"Yea, I'm fine, I will stick with regular chess…"

"Oh, speaking of regulars…"

Miko suddenly jumped from her seat and grabbed Hector that happened to be passing by.

"You two have a game to finish. And start, the more I think about it…".

And she left the two perplexed by her sudden behaviour. Miko fully expected either one of them to chicken out, so she was truly surprised when she heard Zahra's slightly quivering voice.

"Uhm, Hector, I-I've wanted to ask…. WILLYOUGOOUTWITHMESOMETIME?", she blurted, her knuckles getting white from clutching the table.

Hector blinked.

"Go out? Like, on a date?", he added, sheepishly.

"…yes…", Zahra answered, finally allowing herself to breathe.

"Uh, yeah, sure! That would be great. Where would-"

Hector's question was obscured by music from Miko's headphones, as she decided not to overstep the boundaries of her friends anymore. She simply smiled and returned to tagging items before the shop opens.

xxxx

Several hundred feet beneath her, Phil was shaking. Equipped with magnifying telescopic goggles, he examined the many boards of both parts of BlueThought, spread onto dozens of tables as if it was a carcass of unknown species, being dissected and catalogued.

"It can't be…", he muttered to himself, as he took a closer look at the Hinobi chipsets he located. The top was decorated with their old logo, a square divided into four smaller ones.

But it was the text underneath him that made him so horrified.

HINOBI Logic Of Sensory Starvation (L.O.S.S.) #2

He moved across the room to other half of the chess machine, and when he located the twin chipset there, the text read the same, but was indexed with "#3".

With a heavy "thud", Phil sat onto his swivelling chair and pulled the goggles up, revealing widen, bloodshot eyes.

"So SHE is number one…? But how?", he muttered to himself, as thoughts raced and crashed in his mind, producing more questions by the minute.

He grabbed his phone and selected Barbara's number.

But then he remembered the video. The video he's made as a warning to himself.

He remembered all the people, whose minds he had to mess with.

And the he wondered how many he couldn't remember…

No, he'd have to tackle this on his own, he thought.

He grabbed his cup and lifted it to his lips, but realised he's already drunk it all.

This was going to be a long day.

The idea for this fic appeared in my head after watching an episode of "Down the rabbit hole" about the Kasparov vs DeepBlue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwF229U2ba8

It is by no means a required reading, but so much references will become obvious.

However, I will list all the in-jokes here, for completionists.

"Upgrade horse" line, as well as tons of illogical commands later, when Miko is trapped in BlueThought, come as inspiration from BBC Three - Comedy Snacks sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgeYScYe8wI "Megachessatron" still makes me laugh.

Horse armor DLC - allusion to infamous TES 4 Oblivion DLC

Gambi Krasnysledin - stand-in for Kasparov; Gambi from gambit, 'krasny sledz' = red herring (in mangled Russian). Yes I took THAT from Dan Brown's "Aringarosa" character, shoot me.

The Turk: that thing was real https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk

FishStick - parody of open source chess engine StockFish https://stockfishchess.org/

BIM = IBM, obvy.

"BlueJob", allusion to DeepThought's name being apparently read as "DeepThroat"

Gibibytes are real, look them up. Warning: it will get confusing.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" - Pinky & Brain

Prof. Shu = stands-in for Feng-hsiung Hsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng-hsiung_Hsu, one of the creators of DeepBlue, who thought about printing controller for Chinese characters: http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/Oral_History/Hsu_Feng_Hsiung/hsu.oral_history_transcript.2005.102657920.pdf

Sorry for making you the bad guy, mr. Hsu.

"Way better cartoon" refers to episode "First temple" of Amphibia, which in turn takes inspiration of chess match from "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by NAME_EXPUNGED.

"Game over, man, game over!" - quote from "Aliens"

Skyborn = Dragonborn from TES 5 Skyrim. Plus Skyborn Altar is a location in the game

Miko makes a proper Knight's move riding Ally (one left, two forward)

"For the love of Shannon" https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_E._Shannon Claude Shannon was a mathematician and early computer scientist, who estimated lower bound of chess games.

The entire Miko's dream refers of course to Polybius, an urban legend arcade machine that was supposed to cause all those horrible effects on children, all in the name of testing new technologies by US Government. Polybius, or Bolypius is supposed to be the final boss of the show.

"Shall we play a game?" is a line from "War Games".

"Mouse-and-wizard cartoon" refers of course to "Sorcerer's apprentice", a Mickey Mouse short from 1940, part of "Fantasia". And I stand by what I put into Zahra's dialogue: this is a prime example of a glitch, I am genuinely surprised GT hasn't referenced it.

Flunkies are of course parody of Pokemon, Swap is Switch, but the line "They've added 50 new ones, and there are only 40 regional variants or completely messed up species!" is a double joke: on the surface level, it criticises Gamefreak, but it is also a reference to much well executed line in "Craig of the creek". In one episode Craig plays new Smash Bros-knockoff and says that "They have added 50 new characters and only 40 of them are recolours".

And finally… the old Hinobi logo, as well as the name of the chip, is based on loss.jpg.

Because you cannot escape loss.

[hopetune]

#HOPETUNE: an affiliated robin rp blog, harmonizing with mik (20, they/them, gmt +8). singing about hope and fledgling wings. rules and portrayal notes may be found under the cut!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀˚ʚ✦ɞ˚⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ dossier | affiliation | writer

RULES

ON AFFILIATION: this blog is affiliated with gnostic hymns. as such, personal blogs and rp blogs not affiliated with gh will be softblocked or blocked.

ON OOC: i make a lot of jokes ooc, as well as post shitposts (tagged appropriately on this blog) please don't take them seriously!!! none of what i say ooc is canon here in gh. i try to be very clear about what i include in-character. that said, i understand that the line can get quite blurry at times, so don't be afraid to ask me to clarify stuff or to tell me to stop doing a bit. i'll also be doing the same.

ON SHIPPING: open to shipping with ooc familiarity and chemistry! i don't multi-ship except in cases of AUs. i prefer letting the relationship run its natural course but i would also like to have a discussion beforehand regarding romance—just an explicit agreement that this is the direction we wanna go. also robin is a lesbian so do be mindful of that.

ON HEADCANONS: i have certain headcanons that do indirectly affect muses around robin. specifically, i headcanon her resonance to evoke a certain sensation within those affected. i won't force you to accept this if it's something you don't want to write, but i hope it's something that can be considered when it comes up in our writing.

ON FORMATTING: i use small text, colored dialogue, and icons in my writing. if you have any issues with readability or would like me to change my format, please let me know! i try to know my partner's preferences but i can (and probably will) forget so i appreciate a reminder. as for my own preferences: i prefer small text because it's easier for me to read, personally.

ON CONTACT: i prefer discord dms since tumblr notifs don't always work for me. my username is emblian! i am part of gh’s discord server so you may also ping me there.

ON REPLIES: i try to get back to my partners within 2 weeks. exceptions are lore events and months where i’m on hiatus. if it’s been longer than 2 weeks and i’m not preoccupied, feel free to dm me to ask about the reply—chances are i may have forgotten about it.

ON TRIGGER WARNINGS: i will use general trigger warnings for things such as gore, extreme violence, suicide, and other topics that i deem sensitive enough to warrant it. i will be using "tw // (word)" as a tag. if you have any triggers you'd like me to tag, please feel free to let me know through a dm. i also tag spoilers under "hsr spoilers"

ON HYV GAMES: i am not as familiar with genshin or honkai impact 3rd as i am with honkai star rail. i will defer to my partners for information but please be patient with me if i have lapses in the lore! i would also appreciate it if you could gently correct me on whatever i may get wrong. 

PORTRAYAL NOTES (SPOILER FREE)

robin is renown throughout the cosmos, so it's perfectly fine to assume any hsr muse knows her/knows of her regardless of whether or not they've interacted with her in canon.

robin will often disguise herself when appearing in public, especially in places where she knows she has many fans, so it depends on the situation whether or not your muse will recognize her. if your muse is a stranger to her, she will likely not blow her own cover.

related to the point above: she will probably not disguise herself when going to places in teyvat or remote planets like jarilo-vi, as no one would probably recognize her there.

[magpiefngrl]

mid-year book freak out tag

Let's talk about books! Thanks for tagging me @bloody-wonder ❤️😘

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023?

I've read 48 books till now but nothing leaps to mind as The Best. Like a novel that knocked me out, you know? If I had to choose one, I'd say Seven Summer Nights, a romance by Harper Fox, because I adored the first half and because it's the only book so far that gave me a book hangover.

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023?

The 2nd novel of Alexis Hall's trilogy, How To Blow It With A Billionaire, was delightful. Judging by the title I'd braced myself for angst, but instead 90-95% of the book was Arden and Caspian falling in love and getting closer (until the last chapter and the inevitable heartbreak). It is one of the most skillful, heartwarming and sexy relationship progressions I've read.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?

This has been on my sights since 2021 but still haven't got around to it: She Who Became The Sun.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023?

There's nothing that I'm truly impatient about. The first that comes to mind is KJ Charles's A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel.

Also, A Power Unbound by Freya Marske. I can't say I was blown away by the first two novels, but I have a feeling the ship in this one is my kind of ship.

I'm curious for a lot of books, but not eagerly anticipating them.

5. Biggest Disappointment?

Oh boy. I left a long review on GR about it and I still cry bitter tears about how let down I was by Alexis Hall's third installment of his Billionaire series. Like I said above, I really enjoyed the second book. It ended in heartbreak but I assumed we'd see the pairing work their way through their issues together and end up HEA. What I did NOT expect was that they'd be apart for most of the novel, only getting together at 90%. I don't want to be (even more) spoilery so I'll say nothing more. Just that this book had the promise of being truly spectacular and it turned out all over the place, and it hurts.

6. Biggest Surprise?

The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Rae Durreson, a short novel I got because a GR pal left an enthusiastic review and said that it was available for free. I don't know the author and mostly read it for research and was not prepared to enjoy it as much as I did. The writing is solid, the worldbuilding fascinating, the rivalry between the ship is realistic and convincing as is their growing attraction to each other. Good smut, which isn't normally the case with pub romance. Becomes a tad too cute for my tastes towards the end, but still a great read. And free!

7. Favourite New Author?

No one stands out. I guess Amy Rae Durreson (see above) is a new to me author that made me go and check out her other books, so let's go with her.

Oh I'm also really enjoying The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi so her too.

8. Newest Favourite Character?

Bucky Iain from The Scottish Boy, I guess?

9. Newest Fictional Crush?

No one. How weak has my reading year been??

💕Best Ship💕

Richard and Alec from Swordspoint. I refuse to read the sequels where they (I think?) break up. NOPE.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

I cry pretty easily and I'm sure I cried at a novel this year (if not more) but for the life of me I can't remember which.

11. Book That Made You Happy?

I had the most fun during my reread of Scum Villain's Self-Saving System. Gods, what I wouldn't give for more authors having so much fun with their stories.

12. Favourite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year?

I watched the final season of BBC's The Dark Materials early this year. It makes me happy to have such a great adaptation of one of my fave series of all times.

13. Favourite Review You’ve Written This Year?

I haven't written a lot of reviews this year. In the past there were times when I'd write long essays; now I'm all for short and sweet. Can't be arsed for more tbh. Unless I disliked the book and I need to rant.

14. Most Beautiful Cover?

I mostly read ebooks and I rarely notice covers. I did, however, notice the stunning cover of A Taste of Gold and Iron, which turned out to be a book I hated, so I'm even more distrustful of covers now.

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?

I have a bunch of unfinished series to complete (see 2023 reading goals), so that's my first goal. My second target is reading some of the dozens of unread books I own (both on the shelves and my ereader). I do need to finish Checkmate, this is getting ridiculous, but I keep getting distracted by romance.

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Overall, it hasn't been a spectacular year. I've read a LOT--esp in June I couldn't stop reading--but I've reread a few series to complete them, which ranged from meh (The Nikolai trilogy and Darker Shades of Magic) to flawed-but-interesting (The Dreamer trilogy) to seriously uneven (the Billionaire series). Early in the year I finished JS&MN and Spinning Silver which were great, but they feel a long time away and nothing amazing has come since. Idk. Some of my reads were unusual and made an impression, but can't say I enjoyed them fully. The most satisfying books these past few months have been a few romance novels. Fingers crossed for a more exciting second half of 2023.

++++++

follow me on goodreads!

2022 mid year book tag

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tagging: @lettersbyelise @tackytigerfic @julcheninred @lqtraintracks @shealwaysreads @the-starryknight @wolfpants @violetclarity

[utilitycaster]

Unpopular Opinion: far too many CR fans enjoyment of characters is based only on their romantic relationship with other characters.

Hardly anyone talked/cared about FCG until they were shippable with FRIDA. 95% of discussions about Laudna are in reference to Imogen (and vice versa). Caduceus got a little attention from fans, but that dried up a lot once he was confirmed aro/ace.

If you only seem to care about a character when they're paired up with someone else, do you really care about the character?

Also a like...half agree. maybe more like 1/3.

Things I agree with: I think there's definitely a culture in fandom at large (not limited by any means to CR) that is only interested in shipping. This is a whole conversation I am not going to have at 10 pm while lightly drinking, but I do think this shapes a very large amount of discourse that goes beyond mere shipping, and might even possibly impact the TV industry in that a lot of shows that only blow up in their second or third season (sometimes after they've already been canceled on the back end for low viewership) do so because that's when the romance happens. I also agree that if your enjoyment of a character is solely centered around a ship and not the character on their own then yeah, you don't actually like them. (and yeah, while the 95% figure is probably an exaggeration for effect, it is true that Imogen and Laudna often get folded into each other in fanon such that it's frustrating if you're looking for meta on them as individuals).

Things I disagree with: Caduceus was still extremely popular throughout C2 including when he was confirmed aroace, and while there's definitely more interest in FCG at the moment there was plenty of discussion before. Like, that's just straight-up false and you're welcome to plumb my blog's FCG and Caduceus Clay tags to find no shortage of posts (and many are reblogs, to be clear, not just my stuff). I also think that like...look, I'm a meta writer and a general one at that, I'll talk about whatever character comes to mind, but a lot of people are just out here reblogging and making little liveblog comments, at most, and there is in fact just simply more to comment about when a romance happens because it is an important and significant dynamic!

Also like...god. I am, to quote Brian Murphy, almost entirely made of salt. I'm a hater and proud of it, I love criticism, I'm actively skeptical of nonstop positivity, but also, in the end, I've had favorite characters who were fan favorites, and favorite characters who were imo seriously underrated, and favorite characters who fell somewhere in between, and obviously more content is great but popularity comes with its own challenges (more terrible fanon, for one). The one constant is that even when being a massive fucking hater I have always had more fun when I don't get mad that my faves aren't more popular. Honestly? That's maybe the top thing I hate on - people getting mad that their favorite isn't everyone's favorite, and that people are talking about other things than their favorite.

[atimelesslullaby]

Meet the Mun

ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ᴜᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴜꜱᴇ(ꜱ) ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ?

Oh, goodness. In 2013 This actually started out as a Twilight Princess Zelda with some friends, who I parted ways with on not so friendly terms. Then it was an OoT Zelda in a group, before November 2014 when I turned her indie. I've loved OoT Zelda since I was young, at first, it was solely for her beauty. As I grew older, and began to understand her character, I only loved her more.

some past urls have been: 'greaterlight' - 'magickick' - 'sagexftime'

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ?

Smut. I will not write it, even though we're both of age. Anything of the like will strictly be fade to black. Nothing against those who enjoy writing it, and I'm not sex repulsed. It's just not my thing.

ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ?

I do like action, though I rarely get to write it. I also want to explore her extreme guilt for what happened. Let's be real, the events of OoT happened because *she* decided her dream was prophecy, and set the gears turning. It was, as she even says herself, all her fault. I feel like she's one of the most flawed Zeldas out there. Most of them are selfless, kind, completely devoted to saving everything. While OoT Zelda was similar, she's also very selfish. She sent a total stranger on a quest, she expected him to protect her while she sealed Ganon away, and even in the end. She abused her power over time to create new timelines. She didn't even ask if Link wanted to be sent back to his childhood.

Good intentioned as it was, it was selfish.

ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴜᴘ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ?

I've made this Zelda my own, really, as we get hardly any adult Zelda canon. We get two legitimate scenes with her, and two small ones. That's it. If an idea comes to me, I'll introspect on it, and if I feel it deserving, make a headcanon post about it.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ɪɴ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏʀ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀʏ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ?

When writing her, I'll often listen to the ending of OoT. The part where she and Link are together in the sky, and listen up until the end, then repeat until I've finished writing. Not *always*, but often. I absolutely adore the music.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴘʟᴀɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʀᴇᴘʟɪᴇꜱ ᴏʀ ᴡɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ?

I can do both! I've been told very often that people are intimidated by the lengths I can reach. All I can say is please, don't be intimidated by how long my replies can get. As long as you give me something to work with, length doesn't really matter.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ꜱʜɪᴘᴘɪɴɢ?

Oh goodness yes, when it's developed well. I don't have any current ships on Zelda's blog anymore than I can remember, they've all been lost to the echoes of time. One of them is still alive, but it's strictly on Discord. That being said, if you want to plan a ship, let me know! My Zelda is heteroromantic, demisexual. All you cute guys out there hit a girl up

ᴡʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴀʟɪᴀꜱ/ɴᴀᴍᴇ?

You can call me Bear, you can call me Danny. Either works!

ᴀɢᴇ?

I turned 32 a few months ago

ʙɪʀᴛʜᴅᴀʏ?

January 9th

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀ(ꜱ)?

Orange and Brown

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢ(ꜱ)?

I mostly listen to animated music. I don't know if I could pick a true favorite, but the first song that comes to mind is the reprise of "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid (who I also write lmao, I have four main blogs)

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

When The Wind Blows

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜᴇᴅ?

I'm afraid I don't watch television

ʟᴀꜱᴛ ꜱᴏɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ?

Part of Your World (I was practicing it yesterday, only got the first half recorded cause I didn't like how the second half came out u_u)

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜰᴏᴏᴅ?

Tomato Soup with lots of cheese :3c

ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ?

Winter. Long nights, starry skies, snowy fields. I adore it.

ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ᴛᴜᴍʙʟʀ ʙᴇꜱᴛ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ?

I don't want to exclude anyone, there are many people I care about on Tumblr. But if I had to choose one person, I'd say @trencri. I've known Donnie for two years now, but it feels like we've been friends for ages. We've talked near every day for those two years. We relate on a lot of subjects, both IC and OOC.

Tagged By: @red-man-of-mustache (Thank you <3)

[yellowloid]

tag nine people you want to know better ✨️

i was tagged by @alexturnersmommy (thank you! 💗)

most recent ship: simone and manuel from the italian tv show 'un professore' (so much potential........please don't let it go to waste.........)

the one i've read the most of: mmmmm i think either milex, phan, or shyan from buzzfeed unsolved

wild card: milex milex milex milex. they just work so well together i can't even explain it, you could put them in literally any universe and they'd be sososo perfect for it because their chemistry is just THAT fucking intense

first ever ship: i meannnnn if we're talking from the very start like when i was a kid.......then probably bugs and lola bunny in space jam SFHSHFGDGS i was obsessed with that film. BUT my first ever real ship when i entered the fandom world was..............rin and len kagamine from vocaloid yes please don't ask questions

last song: barely on my mind - the regrettes

last movie: i honestly don't remember lmao maybe midsommar?

currently reading: STILL trying to read 'any way the wind blows' by rainbow rowell......it's been two months........girl help

i've also been slowly catching up with @glorious-blackout 's big bang fic, 'i'll see you on the dark side of the moon' - and i'm loving it so far! as expected from one of my favourite writers 🥰 (also consider yourself tagged jshfgsfg)

currently watching: nothing, but i recently caught up with s3 of derry girls (</3) and i've recently rediscovered peaky blinders too so i guess it's time for me to catch up with s6

currently consuming: idk wtf this is supposed to mean but? nothing? i'd like some chocolate pudding tho

currently craving: ugh so many things.........going back to paris and seeing the boys again <//3 and also finding the illumination for my next fic because i have so many ideas and i can't choose which one to make my next wip lmao

tagging: @alexturne @rymbrr @coffeeandgays @kincoo @jewellersstunts @bandomgay @joshus-lobster @kvidos @perfectly-clear-from-here @ultracheese505 @reconciledviolence729 @mileskanex (that's more than nine people but yeah sjfsgfg no pressure tho!)

[evilpenguinrika]

Hosie+fankids Pokemon AU

I AM WEAK FOR AUs, WEAK I SAY😭😓😞

Anyway here's a list of Hosie+my Hosie fankids's Pokemon team and the explanations for why I picked the specific Pokemon for them under the cut bc this got long and I don't wanna spam the tag with constantly long-ass posts all the time (especially when those long-ass posts are AU specific lmao rip)🙏

And who knows mayhaps I'll draw a Hosie Pokemon AU in the future one day. Gotta have a point of reference for me to look back to👀

Okay, enough rambling from me, hope you enjoy this long list of Hosie Pokemon AU and also so sorry for all the reading under the cut

//

Hope Mikaelson

Delphox

Lycanroc Midnight

Gliscor

Garchomp

Absol

Alolan Ninetails

Hope’s first three Pokemon represent her Tribrid side. Delphox = witch, Lycnroc Midnight = werewolf, Gliscor = vampire. I don’t think there’s really much need to go into detail as to why I picked these three Pokemon for Hope 😛 

For the other three, Garchomp, Absol, Alolan Ninetails, it’s all about aesthetics, really. Garchomp, I found out, is a pseudo-legendary, so I think it fits her pretty well being a Tribrid. I mean, aside from her eldest daughter Lana, there’s no one else in the supernatural world that’s a Tribrid like her. Plus, Hope with a Dragon type on her team is pretty dope if you ask me. 

Absol has this infamous connection to disaster. And… Well… I don’t need to explain too much about why I picked Absol for Hope, do I 👀? Plus also it gives me this like, lone-wolf type of vibe which fits Hope’s vibes a bit.

Finally, Alolan Ninetails! Look, I don’t know why, but I associate ice/snow with Hope. It just somehow happened that way (maybe also because Hope=ice Josie=fire and the typical ice/fire tropes in some ships 👀). But Alolan Ninetails is also majestic as fuck, and that’s also Hope. She is also majestic as fuck and she deserves to have a gorgeous and majestic Pokemon on her team.

Honourable mentions: Zoroark, Mawile, Lucario, Smeargle

---

Josie Saltzman

Sunflora

Spiritomb

Mismagius

Houndoom

Haterene

Leafeon

The two Grass types, Sunflora and Leafeon, in Josie’s team made me think of her affiliation with plants and I do not remember if that is a canon thing that Josie really loves plants, or if it was a fanon thing that was created through, well, the fandom. But I thought it worked regardless

For Mismagius and Spiritomb, I picked them specifically to represent Josie’s (Siphoner sorta) witch and her Dark!Josie era on the show. Mismagius obviously being the witch and Spiritomb being Dark!Josie. It helps that Spiritomb is also a Dark type, and it does make me think of when Josie like put all that dark energy into that dark object, so it works!

I picked Houndoom for Josie because of her pyromaniac tendencies teehee 😜 lol I'm half kidding. I did remember there was a moment with her character and fire: Penelope's hair, the confession letter, that one scene where she blows out a little match–I thought it wouldn't be a Josie team if I didn't have a Fire type with her. And the reason for Houndoom specifically is because Houndoom is cool and also part Dark type which ties back to her Dark!Josie era.

Haterene and actually Leafeon too, are because I’m a sucker for giving twins paired Pokemon haha. So while those two are Josie’s, Lizzie’s has Grimmsnarl and Glaceon. Haterene because she also has this fairytale witchy vibe, which I thought was kinda fitting for that one fairytale scene in the show where Hope jumps into Josie’s mind or something to deal with Dark!Josie. Leafeon because, c’mon. Eeveelution pair Leafeaon and Glaceon, it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up!

Honourable mentions: Lechonk, Plusle, Gothitelle, Lilligant

---

Lana Mikaelson

Delphox (shiny)

Mightyena

Hydreigon

Brambleghast

Meowstic (F)

Froslass

Lana is also a Tribrid like Hope, but I also wanted to give her some differences in her starting three Pokemon so she’s not like a carbon copy shadow of Hope. With that being said, I do have her first Pokemon be Delphox, like Hope’s. I thought maybe it would be sweet for Hope's Delphox to have eggs and Hope passed one to Lana and it hatched into a Fennekin. A next gen thing. But shiny because in my mind, Lana's magical fires take on a more black and purple hue (even if shiny Delphox’s fire is still red lol).

Mightyena and Hydreigon represent her werewolf and vampire side in her Tribrid title thing. Now, I know Hydreigon is a three-headed Dragon and nothing to do with vampires or even has a vampire motif. But lemme tell you something: it's fine. Don't worry about it. Lana with a kick-ass Dragon type like Hydreigon is hella dope don't come at me I'm fragile. Also Hydreigon, I just found out, is a pseudo-legendary type, which I think fits with Lana’s Tribrid nature. Not full legendary rare, but still rare enough that there’s no one else like her except for her Mom (which is also very fitting because Hope has a pseudo-legendary with Garchomp, another Dragon type).

Brambleghast is an immediate must because aside from black-purple fire, I think it's neat that her magic also manifests in brambles/briars. So this Pokemon is literally perfect for her.

Meowstic and Froslass give me this like, stand-offish and cool vibe, which honestly fits Lana's entire personality of a typical ice princess vibe who may or may not have a superiority complex.

Honourable mentions: Vileplume, Haterene, Tsareena, Abomasnow, Doublade

---

Hayley Mikaelson

Lycanroc Midday

Primeape

Toxicroak

Gallade

Nidoking

Espeon

Hayley is the only werewolf–aside from Lana but she’s a Tribrid–amongst her supernatural siblings. So I thought it would be rather sweet if Hayley also have a Lycanroc but Midday form. I like to think that maybe Hope’s Lycanroc had babies and Hayley ended up getting one of the Rockruffs. Like passing on a legacy hehehe.

Asides from that, Hayley’s the type who will pull punches, she will act first and asks questions later type of person. So having a few Fighting types on her team was a no brainer. Like Primeape, Toxicroak, and Gallade–the latter which I just found out is part Fighting so that was a fun discovery.

I also thought Poison types would fit Hayley pretty well (and maybe it had something to do with the fact that Poison type logo colour is purple, and purple is her colour lmao). Which is where Toxicroak and Nidoking comes in. Plus, they would also fit in the power punches that is more of Hayley’s playstyle in combat.

Like with Josie, I love, love, love giving paired Pokemon to twins because I’m a massive lame unoriginal dork! Except I did bounce between giving Hayley either Flareon or Vaporeon to match with Jay’s Jolteon. Ended up not picking Flareon even tho she’s a spitfire because I feel like fire is a bit more of Jay’s thing even tho I picture Jay having more of an affinity to lightning. So then I thought maybe Vaporeon? But in the end I picked Espeon (it did pain me to not give Jay Umbreon because to me, Espeon and Umbreon are a pair) because purple is Hayley’s colour but I also think Espeon fits her, especially because Espeon is a Psychic type and Hayley has a few Fighting types, and Psychic is effective against Fighting. It also would tie into the fact that, despite Hayley being very hard-headed and tough, she still has that vulnerable moment to her that she tends to hide away from other people. It’s a pretty good balance!

Honourable mentions: Noivern, Weavile, Scrafty, Pangoro, Mienshao, Medicham, Swoobat

---

Jay Mikaelson

Jolteon (shiny)

Toxtricity Amped

Spiritomb

Yamask

Flygon

Typhlosion

Look, I don’t have to repeat that I love giving twins paired Pokemon, because we been knew lmao. Jolteon is perfect for Jay because I always pictured him to have this affinity with lightning. However, I am a bit stumped on if I want Jolteon to be shiny or not, because Jay’s main colour is green (more like olive green), but we shall see. My answer will probably end up being a “yes his Jolteon is shiny and Hayley probably hates that he got a shiny Pokemon” haha. Shiny Jolteon it is then!

To keep in theme with his association with lightning, I gave him Toxtricity Amped form because I thought it’d be cool. Sometimes there’s just no deep reasoning. Sometimes it’s just “i think this is cool” lol.

Spiritomb for Jay is the same reasoning I have for Josie except he doesn’t really do what she did in the show and messed around with a dark object. But I thought it would be neat to give him Spiritomb (maybe this is actually Josie’s Spiritomb that she passed down to Jay, who knows). With Yamask, I didn’t have much of a story on why he has one, but I think I thought it fits him? I don’t really know how to explain why I think that. It just does.

Gave him a Flygon on his team because, like with Toxtricity, I just think it’d be neat! Also green lol. No but there is actually a little bit of reasoning. So asides from lightning, I think Jay would also have an affinity with the Earth/ground. So it fits that Flygon is a Ground(/Dragon) type as well. Flygon also has pretty good speed stat, and to be honest, Jay is very nimble and agile when he’s in combat and isn’t using his magic. I have a lot of his melee fights incorporate a lot of contemporary dance and gymnastic moves because I think it would be really interesting for him to use a lot of that in his melee fights, plus it would be pretty creative writing-wise to see what sort of things I can come up with to make those fights feel fluid because he is very agile and dextrous.

Typhlosion is there because I am biased and I love Typhlosion, fave starter of gen 2 babeyyy. But also has that little small spark of fire that he and Josie shares and I think that’s pretty neat heehee.

Honourable mentions: Raichu, Grovyle, Breloom, Altaria, Pidgeot, Ambipom, Toedscool

---

Leo Mikaelson

Litleo

Chansey

Granbull

Sliggoo

Aggron

Mimikyu

For Leo, I obviously had to give him Litleo. There was no way I couldn’t not give him Litleo, his name is practically in the name. Perfect Pokemon for our sweet summer child boi.

I actually had a tough time picking out the rest of Leo’s team and had to go back and forth with his way more than the others. Mostly because I had a thought of “what if he just has primarily Fairy types for the rest of his team” which evolved into “oh what about he has Fairy and Dragon types” which then evolved into “what if he just has these conventionally “””scary””” Pokemon on his team in contrast of his sunny bright disposition”. I think I did end up sticking with that regarding Granbull and Aggron.

Chansey came about because Leo wants to help his family out no matter what. That includes learning how to do potions even though he has no magic. That means learning up on werewolf packs and diplomacy even though he’s not a werewolf. That means researching the history of vampires–which becomes a family history thing–and figuring out ways to help rippers. He also makes sure his family is taken care of if they end up in some battle and are hurt. That’s where Chansey comes in. In Pokemon, Nurse Joy’s in every Pokemon Centre has a Chansey. They are like the poster Pokemon for Pokemon Centres. And in some of the Dex entries, Chansey is a very helping Pokemon. Whether that’s giving people or Pokemon its egg to eat to heal them, or bringing trainer’s happiness if they’re caught. That’s Leo. That is completely Leo.

Gave him Sliggoo to also balance out the Fairy types that he had on his team! I think it'd be neat for him to have a Dragon type. Because, tbh, Leo is gregarious and befriends creatures so quickly no matter what or how they act. Leo has amassed an army of creatures who will protect him no matter the cost and that's super precious to me haha. Which brings me back to my reasoning for giving him Granbull and Aggron lol (I know they're not scary ok).

And with Mimikyu, at first it was because I personally love Mimikyu but the more I thought about it the more I went “oh wait the lore of Mimikyu would maybe perhaps fit Leo’s arc of being the only human in a family of supernaturals and feeling very low of himself and inferior because he’s the “token human”. Like it would play into his insecurities a bit, but then he would, of course, eventually learn to embrace that yeah, he is the token human and will fuck shit up for those who underestimate him because he’s just a human.

Honourable mentions: Shinx, Tinkaton, Dedenne, Grimmsnarl, Tyranitar, Altaria, Flapple, Garfaiai, Smeargle, Victreebel, Ditto, Bewear

[piratefalls]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Game

i wasn't directly tagged but i have put off the open tag from @ejunkiet long enough and i'm also bored, so since i'm sure a ton of people have already done this i won't tag anyone, but if you do it i want to see it!

1 - How many works do you have on AO3?

an even 40.

2 - What's your total AO3 word count?

just shy of 170k, which absolutely blows my mind because it doesn't seem like that's possible.

3 - What fandoms do you write for?

previously hawaii five-0 and teen wolf, but i'm currently attempting to write for red, white and royal blue.

4 - What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

all are teen wolf except one, but in order: (Waiting) Until the Sky Falls Down on Me; Today and Every Day; I'm Gonna Give All My Secrets Away; Man, Interrupted; and it's my (pants) party and i'll cry if i want to. this gives a pretty comprehensive idea of what i'm about lol.

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

i'm usually very good about it but they used to build up and i get anxious thinking about responding to all of them lol. but i love responding to them when i can!

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

i don't really do angsty endings? i just went back and checked every ending and if it's not entirely happy it's at least hopeful lmao. i don't think it's in me to do angsty endings.

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

i've got a lot of happy endings but i'm gonna have to go with The Comedy (Is That It's Serious) because that fic was really just me dealing with my mom having and then beating cancer and that kind of feels like the happiest ending.

8 - Do you get hate on fics?

i never gotten hate, but i did get someone telling me to make changes now that we knew what happened in canon (i speculated about sibling names) and it was just a weird thing to suggest.

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

i have, but it's not my most favorite thing to do? i have to be in a very specific mood and it has to be necessary. i don't think i can write pwp lol. i don't think i've written smut that wasn't some form of connection/expression of love.

10 - Do you write crossovers?

i don't. i do enjoy a good crossover though!

11 - Have you ever had a fic stolen?

one was posted to goodreads during that whole fiasco and i had it taken down, but man did the comments on that hurt lol. i don't write because i think i'm particularly good at it, i do it for fun. so yeah that kind of sucked but occasionally i was like "yeah that's fair lol"

12 - Have you ever had a fic translated?

not to my knowledge, but i'd love it!

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

i haven't! i'd love to someday. i think i do my best when i can collaborate/bounce ideas off someone.

14 - What's your all time favorite ship?

i mean in terms of bookmarks, 1000% sterek. firstprince is very much up there. kastle is my all time favorite het ship and i'll never forgive the fact that we didn't get them outright confessing their feelings. never. mcdanno is there too. (i made a lot of friends from the mcdanno fandom.) once upon a time i'd have said destiel but that fandom really tainted that for me.

15 - What's a WIP that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

hahahahahaha i talk about this one on a semi-regular basis, but i have like 13k of a post-series Person of Interest fic that i'm probably never gonna finish but it's got some really good shit in it. i've thought about reworking it to make it an au for another fandom but it's so deeply reese and finch that i'd have to rewrite every piece of dialogue. and it would require people having seen the show because it won't make any damn sense without it. (i'd consider sharing it though.)

16 - What are your writing strengths?

introspection and character analysis, for sure. i love just kind of flaying a character open and digging into their thoughts and feelings and what motivates them. the most fun. also writing really off the wall shit. it hasn't failed me yet lol.

17 - What are your writing weaknesses?

any kind of worldbuilding. i also don't think i'm particularly good at smut but i'm also not using cringe euphemisms (the worst one i've ever read was "chocolate star" and i'll let you imagine what that was describing, if i have to know it so do you) so i'll say my smut is at least passable lol.

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

i mean, it's fine? i don't really think about it much except when i have to go all the way down to the notes section to figure out what's being said and then jump back to where i left off. whatever happened to doing that thing where you hover over the phrase and the translation pops up above it?

19 - First fandom you wrote for?

first fandom i ever published for was teen wolf. first attempt at anything was criminal minds. it didn't go well.

20 - Favorite fic you've written?

so going back to 16, the things i had the most fun writing were, for introspection, definitely Written in the Scars on Our Hearts (about all the ways a person can be touched either physically or emotionally), and for off the wall, Got Your Body On My Mind (I Want It Bad) because that venn diagram joke is some of my best work. the comments section was so great lol.

[celestialtitania]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you @kasienda for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

The current number is 51 and honestly? it still blows my mind.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

151,239, made up almost entirely of one shots lol.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

There's a lot of them but in recent years, it's mainly been miraculous ladybug, my hero academia, and the occasional percy jackson.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'M HIS BEST FRIEND (no, it's me!) (MHA)

A Preposterous Predicament (ML)

Mind Outta Body (FT)

Ma Douce Souffrance (ML)

my colours on you (ML)

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

I'm really good at responding right after I publish a fic. It's afterwards that I sometimes forget to respond, or simply don't have enough time to respond. I always appreciate every comment I get though!

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

Angstiest ending huh? A bunch of my fics are angsty but the one that I think ends in the most angst would have to be dance with the devil, drink with the demons, without it being outright whump lol.

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

Happy? Happy. Um....I'm gonna say party like it's your heroes' birthday just because there's a party and it's sweet and yeah lmao. It also has the wholesome family/friend vibes that keep me from forever being confused about the correct fluff to angst ratio.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've been extremely lucky and have been able to avoid it for the most part. That's not to say I've gotten no hate ever, but it was minimal enough that I pretend it doesn't exist. Fervently hoping it stays that way!

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

No. Maybe. No. The idea has crossed my mind but I haven't been able to write it as of yet. Maybe I never will. Who's to say really?

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

Kind of? I did it exactly once. But not in the traditional way, it was more of a, "take the world-building idea of percy jackson and put it into a fairy tail quest" so I'm not sure if it actually counts.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. Or at least I hope I haven't!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I was asked once, many moons ago, but then they never got back to me, so I assume they dropped the idea.

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

No? Unless we're counting those fic fights/telephone things where one person starts and another takes over. There was also this one time, I was writing a fic with a few others but we never managed to finish, so I don't really count that one.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

All time? And I'm only supposed to pick one?? Next time, give me a tough question, will ya? Wow uh, I don't know if it's my favourite ship, perse, but it is the ship I've shipped the longest + one I've actually written for, so I'm gonna go with lovesquare. *shrugs* probably typical of me, but it was the only ship to get inside my head so badly that I've written over a dozen fics for them, instead of more gen stuff, which is my usual go-to otherwise.

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

Well, if we look at my gigantic list of unpublished fics, there's probably plenty of WIPs to choose from there. As for published, well I don't want to say I never will but yeah Forsake the Divine (If You Can) seems to be a pretty solid choice, if only because there are only 1 chapter and a half left to go and it's all outlined too, but I've kind of fallen out of the fandom (it's very dead) so idk if I'll ever manage to put it together.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterization is definitely a strong suit. And judging purely from my comment section, I feel okay assuming that I'm pretty good at making the emotional beats land too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description definitely. It's been pointed out to me more than once that I'm so focused inside the characters' heads that I forget to interact more with the world around them. Nature wants to be incorporated and I'm working on that.

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

I hate it. It feels so strange to me to have a few words in a different language and then abruptly switch back to English. The only thing that I feel I have to do in another language though, is honorifics. Whether it be -san, -kun, or Madame, I think I get super extra about it. I once delved into such a rabbit hole trying to figure out what honorific even a side character uses, just for a throwaway dialogue!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ooh, officially? Fairy Tail. Unofficially, hidden in the depths of my laptop? Yeah, it was Percy Jackson. My childhood favourite that still haunts my thoughts to this day.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Ironically? This is the second time I've been asked that today and the choice is still just as difficult. Or maybe it's that my actual favourites are still unfinished and hence unpublished. For now, I'm going to say Enduring, it's the fic that was most different genre-wise from what I usually write, and I'm very proud of how it turned out. If I ever manage to finish it though, my favourite will probably be a life unlived or maybe I'm just doomed to never have a favourite, because there will always be something new I'm looking forward to reading (meaning I have to write it to be able to see it). Tagging (no pressure!) @shortmexicangirl @rosiesared @ck2k18 @heartfulselkie @coffeebanana @mdelpin @kiliinstinct @lady-charinette

[slowd1ving]

.・゜゜・NAVIGATION

about me .゜ call me res! I go by he/him and I'm 18. I typically write longer fics but could probably drop some headcanons and drabbles later down the line! usually my fics are more plot and world-building based but I do write nsfw occasionally (sometimes I write plot solely so I can get to that lmao). I generally stick to writing for male/neutral readers but might eventually write for female readers too (genderfluid legend) - but male readers are more of a priority due to the content drought for them. honestly went awol on here for a while because I post more on ao3 but I decided to bring my newer works here too <3 so enjoy the blog

fandoms I've written for .・ in the past I've written for bleach, genshin, and jjba. some of my newer stuff includes that's not my neighbor, twisted wonderland, more jjba, and some itsv i wrote when it first came out. however, check out the current interests section to find out different fandoms I might write for in the future, as well as the requests + asks section :)

current interests ゜・ started playing honkai star rail recently, honestly really enjoying how interesting the character stories are. some manga I'm currently reading include blue lock, jjk, sakamoto days and jjba. I read a wider variety of manhwa and novels though, including orv, lookism, how to fight, return of the mad demon, solo levelling, concubine walkthrough (really recommend this one), legend of a northern blade... I can't list them all since I've read over two hundred lmao (please ask me for fic recommendations I've got so many) in terms of my other hobbies since I do have a life (I hope this is obvious) I like art, history, and the sciences (fuck I use so many science metaphors in my work...), so if you ask for scientist!reader... yeah you know what's up

things of note •. yeah don't follow me or interact with my work if you're racist, homophobic, ableist, or if you don't believe in a free palestine. idc who you are that's an immediate block.

requests + asks ・゜ I write as a hobby and honestly just to blow off stress! currently am doing my studies in a myriad of subjects and have lots to do, but my ask box will be open; just keep in mind I may not reply immediately (sorry about that). I probably won't be able to write longer fics but less than 2k is light work fr, especially if it's something like headcanons or drabbles or things of that nature. again, will write for neutral/male readers so please keep that in mind when requesting. my ask box will be open for just discussions or other things :) as mentioned previously, I write for male/neutral readers, but I might extend it to female reader eventually (or depending on the fic idea?? really does depend). while the majority (all...) of my work is x reader, I don't mind doing character x character I won't write any weird ships (no incest, big age gaps, just weird ships in general), and I won't write nsfw of aged-up characters that are minors in the original work!! in terms of fandoms you can request for, any of the aforementioned should be good, I just may not be very familiar with the character so it might take a while to find their 'voice' to write for. however!! if the fandom in question has not been mentioned above you can send a request anyway because I've extensively consumed media so I'll have at least heard of it (probably/hopefully)

what I'm currently up to <3 as of june, I'm continuing my jjba long fic and currently redoing my entire blog (my older posts look so UGLY omfd). debating whether to make a side blog for just discussions and stuff?? I'm also thinking of medium/plot-based fics for other fandoms to give myself somewhat of a refresh I'm fresh out of end of year exams but still have a lot to do elsewhere so this blog is going to be my proverbial terrarium to nourish and take care of so I don't lost my sanity

OLD MASTERLIST ゜・★･ﾟMASTERLIST

TAGS FOR NAVIGATION (will continue to be updated) [navigation] for things like masterlists + the navigation post (this one) [masterlist] for masterlists [res ･ﾟ writing] for any of my writing [old writing] for my old stuff that my og followers know me for