#also this is the longest thing i've written so far and it's nice to write a longer fic lol

[bunnliix]

Can't Stay Away from You - Chapter One

First chapter woot woot! This is by far, the longest chapter I've ever written, at over 7k words, and honestly, I hope this is good? It's my first time writing a/b/o, and I'm a little unsure of where this is going exactly, but I hope everyone will have fun on the rollercoaster that this fic is bound to be!

masterlist

word count: 7k

warnings: defintely some angst in here, but lighter angst?, reader is anxious at parts, but like for the most part, there's really not much to warn about I think? Please let me know if I'm wrong or if I need to add anything!

Y/n wasn’t expecting any emails, but when she heard the ding that let her know she had received one, she immediately looked. She never knew when she’d get another freelance job, so whenever an email came in, she developed the habit of checking it. This wasn’t a work email, no, but it was from one of the stores she had recently bought a couple of Stray Kids albums from. From the subject line, it was about the albums she had bought, and a fansign? She doesn’t remember signing up for one, but she also has been so busy, she probably forgot about it.

Opening up the email, she found that she had won a place at an in person fansign in Seoul, in two days. She was so shocked by this news that she held her breath, not thinking this was real for a moment. She read through the email fully, memorizing every word, she really had won, holy shit. She thanked the gods that she didn’t work a physical job, because it meant she could work from anywhere, and she started figuring out her trip to Seoul. There was no way she was missing out on a chance to meet Stray Kids.

She quickly found a plane ticket, even if it was insanely expensive, and she thanked herself for her savings, having to dip into that a bit for this trip. She then moved on to finding a place to stay, and found a nice hotel that wasn’t outrageously expensive, and immediately booked it. She’d be flying out in about seven hours, leaving her to scramble to pack and leave for the airport. Quickly packing her luggage, having a packing list made up from previous trips, she packed clothes for a week, deciding to explore a bit since she was going there. 

Y/n’s travelled enough to have mastered the skill of packing efficiently, gathering everything she needed into 3 pieces of luggage. She double-checked her travel list, making sure she had packed enough for her trip. Before she shoved her laptop and cords into her bag, she sent out an email to her current clients stating that she had an emergency occur, and that her work may be delayed by a day. At this point, it was almost time for her to head to the airport. So, she finished packing the last of her things into her carry-on. Remembering to grab her coat before putting her shoes on, she grabbed her bags and left the apartment. 

She took a taxi to the airport, and on the way there, texted her best friend Emily that she was heading out of the country and asking her to watch over her apartment while she was gone. Emily agreed right away, and told her not to worry about anything. She smiled down at her phone, her bestie was her ride or die, and she was so grateful to have her in her life. 

When she arrived at the airport, she thanked the driver, pulling her luggage out of the trunk and heading straight to the check in counter. The process was smooth and she was quickly on her way to security, which while terribly busy, went by quickly and soon she was sitting at her gate, having grabbed a couple snacks for the plane and filled up her water bottle on the way over there. She had about an hour before boarding, so she pulled out her laptop, deciding to get some work done while she waited. She finished off the last edits to one project, sending that off to one of her clients, before starting on one of her other projects.

Halfway through her second project, the call for boarding went out over the P.A. system, and so she saved her work, slipping her laptop back into her bag before lining up with everyone else. She was lucky enough to get a last minute window seat on the plane, putting her carry-on in the overhead bin, before settling in her seat as she pushed her smaller bag under the seat in front of her. She looked out the window as the plane took off, the start of her journey to Seoul, and meeting Stray Kids, was starting now. Since it was a relatively long flight, she pulled out her laptop once she was able to do so, starting back on the project she worked on earlier. She spent the majority of the flight working on her current workload, which was about four projects at the moment. 

They were all fairly simple projects, they just took time to perfect them, but it was a great way to pass the time. By the time she finished her last project, there was only a couple hours left of the flight, and so she rested and watched the clouds roll by. Y/n admired the view as they landed in Seoul, excited to explore the city. 

Patiently waiting to disembark the plane, she waited until she was able to leave her row, grabbing her bag from the overhead bin and then bringing it down, pulling it behind her as she left the plane. She pulled it along, heading towards the luggage carousel, before she went through customs and immigration, quickly clearing them and heading out into Seoul. She took the metro to head towards her hotel, unpacking her headphones and listening to music to pass the time on the train. Once off the train, she pulled out her phone to find her hotel location, quickly finding her way to the hotel. Thankfully, it was late enough that she could check in right away and head to her room. She took the elevator up, finding her room midway down the hallway, and upon opening the door, found that she had a beautiful view of the city around her. 

She dropped her luggage by the bed, and walked towards the window, admiring her view of the city. She may not be a heights kind of person, but this was still beautiful, and she would be looking out a lot during her week here. She hauled her suitcase up onto the bed, pulling out a fresh outfit, before heading to the bathroom to shower. Once she had, she changed into her fresh outfit, pleased to get the smell of the airplane and airports off of her. Since it was still light out for a while, she decided to get out into the city and explore the neighborhood around her. She packed her smaller bag with the necessities, grabbing her key card on the way out the door and quickly going back down to the lobby and out into the fresh air. 

Y/n knew travelling alone as an omega always brought risks with it, but it was worth it to be here in Seoul, both for the fansign and just in general. It was sunny and warm in Seoul, a great contrast from back home, and she was living for it. She was always a warm weather kinda girl, and the warm air and sunshine here made her thrive. She decided on just walking the area around her, figuring tomorrow would be one of her bigger exploration days. 

She saw a lot of stores that intrigued her, but thought better of shopping, she’d be exhausted much quicker if she gave into that urge. She was glad that she brought her headphones, it helped distract from the loud noises of the city, and brought the level down to a reasonable one she could deal with. The hustle and bustle of the city was normal to her, since her own city was similar, 

Up until now, her omega had been strangely quiet. Usually she was very outspoken, more so than y/n herself was. Her omega was going haywire at the moment, confusing the poor girl as to what set the omega off. She felt almost pulled forward, and her omega pushed to the surface, making her walk faster to wherever that pull was coming from. It culminated in her running into someone, and ended with her on the ground in front of them, looking up at their mask-covered face. 

“Are you alright? I’m sorry that I bumped into you.” The person said as they leaned down, reaching out a hand to her. She tentatively took it, and she stood up with their help. Standing so close to them, she could smell their citrusy sweet scent, it calling to and calming her omega. That confused her slightly, but she shook it off, not wanting to think about it now. 

“I’m okay, and really, I bumped into you. I should be the one apologizing.” She replied.

“Let’s just say we bumped into each other then? We both played a part in this.” They told her, and she could see that they were smiling by the crinkles near their eyes. 

“I can agree to that.” Y/n replied, giggling slightly. 

She saw as the other person took a breath of her scent, and for some reason they stumbled back away from her, their eyes widening. 

“I’ve got to go, I’m sorry.” They said, rushing away from her, leaving her standing there alone on the sidewalk.

She watched him run away, and her omega cried out, and y/n felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Her anxiety shot up, and tears came to her eyes. She’s so confused, she doesn’t completely understand what’s just happened, and why she was so affected by it.

She felt increasingly down as she walked back to her hotel, no longer feeling any urge to explore, just wanting to retreat back into her room and nest. She speed-walked into the hotel elevator, avoiding everyone. Once back in her room, she locked her door and got to work making a nest in the bed, using everything she could. She finished it and then climbed inside, curling up into herself as her omega cried out to someone, for an unknown reason. That, and she couldn’t take her mind off of the person who ran away from her, and everytime she thought of him, it made her chest hurt. 

In the end, she fell asleep, and she dreamed of them again. She had dreams every so often about Stray Kids, and she assumed this was once again, her brain being delusional. She dreamed about going on vacation with them, assumedly in Australia given her surroundings, but she felt that this dream was different. 

She noticed that this time, the member’s touch and reactions felt more real? It felt like these were actually the boys, and not figments of her imagination like they usually did. Their eyes seemed shocked, even as they all enjoyed the dream. They were more touchy with her, Felix especially. She noticed that he looked similar to the person she ran into earlier, but shook it off as her just being delusional again. She enjoyed her dream and found happiness with the boys, as it was just a dream, that’s all.

Waking up the next morning in her makeshift nest, she whined at the lack of someone beside her, having fallen asleep in her dream next to the boys. Her scent smelled like burnt honey and vanilla because of her sadness, but she pushed through, thinking of happy thoughts and how she’d get to see the boys later today. She got up, having to get out of her nest that smelt like sadness. Pulling out an outfit for the fanmeet, she quickly showered before changing, and then moved onto her makeup and hair. She did her makeup like she usually did, leaning more towards a very natural look, knowing if she wore too much, it would be harder to touch up later on.

Before leaving her room, she checked the rules for attending the fansign, and quickly memorized them. She headed back to the bathroom, since one of the rules was wearing scent blockers, and quickly applied them to her scent glands, making sure she covered them fully. The rule had been put into place because of an incident with a second gen girl group fansign years ago, she remembered the aftermath of it very well, despite being young at the time. One of the fans, an alpha, attended the fansign and tried to overwhelm one of the omega members of the group with her scent, and since then, companies have made it mandatory that scent blockers be worn during fansigns. 

Checking her outfit in the mirror once again, she made sure it looked right, fixing anything that was out of place. She had decided on an outfit that reminded her of a mix of Felix and Han’s individual styles, but had blended them together in her outfit. Plus, it was really comfy, and knowing she had a long day in front of her, she didn’t want to be stuck in something uncomfortable. She grabbed her bag, setting out for the day. She planned to explore and see some tourist sights first, before the fansign, since it wasn’t starting for a couple hours from then. 

She mostly wandered as she wanted, not having a specific destination in mind. She found herself wandering a market and buying some snacks along the way. Everything she bought tasted better than the prior snacks, and she had to leave the market in a hurry lest she get distracted. To her benefit, however, this passed enough time that she almost had to run to make it to the fansign venue.

She made it there in under 20 minutes, and hopped in line with everyone else, having brought her ID, and had the email that she won as well. Checking in was a simple process for the most part, however the ID checking part was the most tedious. Once that was finished and they confirmed that she was who she said she was and that she was allowed entry, she was quickly shuffled into the hall where the fansign took place. 

Y/n found herself about midway between the front and back of the hall, and almost straight in the middle of her row. She greeted the girls next to her, making small talk with them as much as she was able to with her limited knowledge of Korean. They mostly talked about their favorite members and songs, and whose outfits they liked the most in this recent comeback. Y/n enjoyed chatting with the other girls, and a couple more of the ones around them joined in as well, and just before the boys walked out, they had created a small group chat, adding each other on kakaotalk. 

The minute the boys walked out on the stage, all eyes were on them, and the cheers were almost deafening. Despite it only being a small fraction of the number of people at a concert, it was as loud as a concert. Yet it only took Bang Chan raising his hand for the crowd of fans to fall silent. 

“Hello everyone!” He said, waving to the room. He and the boys quickly introduced themselves and did their “Step out” intro as they always do. They took the first part of the fanmeet to goof around on stage, playing around with some of the items laid out for them by staff. 

During this, y/n couldn’t keep her eyes off of them, feeling almost a pulling sensation in her chest, and a need to keep an eye on the boys. She ignored the pulling feeling, trying to enjoy the fansign and commit this all to memory. She soaked in the atmosphere, the joy that radiated around the room, from the fans and the idols. It filled her with happiness, the feeling almost bursting out of her chest. 

It wasn’t long before they boys had moved onto the signing part of the fansign. She watched as each row of fans lined up to meet the idol group, going down the line one by one, and the smiles on the boys’ faces made her smile too. It made her happy to see them happy, and she knew the girls around her felt the same way. Her hand was tapped as a girl in the row ahead of her asked her to record her interactions with the boys, and she readily agreed. Once that girl was up on stage, she zoomed in and recorded her interaction with the eight idols. In return, once it was her turn to line up with her album to meet the boys, the other girl offered to record her going down the line and talking with the boys, to which she quickly thanked her for offering and y/n handed her her phone. She lined up on the side of the stage, nervousness growing as there were only a few girls still in between her and Changbin, the first of the eight boys she’d meet today. 

Soon, she sat in the chair in front of the rapper, smiling at him as she said hello, shaking slightly due to her nerves.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you!” She told him, smile as bright as the sun.

“Ahh, nice to meet you too!” He said, taking her album as she handed it to him, opening to one of his pages. “Where are you from?” He asked, noticing her nerves and the slight shake to her body, determined to get her less nervous.

“I’m from Canada. I flew here and arrived yesterday afternoon.” Y/n told him.

“Oh wow! Really? That’s so far away!” He was surprised she flew that far for their fansign, he even applauded her for it, to which she shied away, hiding her face.

“No, no hiding!” He teased her, and she slowly pulled her hands away, looking at him with red cheeks.

“Is it cold back in Canada?” Changbin asked.

“It’s not too bad, I guess? But I prefer it here where it’s warm and sunny.” She told him, replying to his question.

“Ohhh, you like warm.” He said, English skills finally breaking down a bit.

“I love the warmth. I’m always too cold, see?” She said to him, showing her hands which were slightly pink at the tips. 

He grabbed her hands gently, rubbing them to try and warm them up. He knew it was chilly in there, but not to where one of their fans was becoming very cold. He was so concerned for her, almost abnormally so, but he chalked it up to just caring for their stays.

“Oh no, you’re so cold! It’s too cold here.” He said after rubbing her hands for a couple moments.

“Oh no, it’s okay, Changbin-oppa. My fingers and toes are always like this, no matter how warm it is. Just my body being bad, that’s all.” She corrected him gently, wanting to ensure he knew it wasn’t the room, it was just her. 

And sadly, that is where her time with the rapper ended, with her being moved onto the next man, who was the Hwang Hyunjin, who was waiting for her to move down in front of him, which made her blush intensify. 

“Hello Hyunjin!” She said, voice a little on the higher side.

“Hello, Stay!” He said, smiling at her. “What’s your name?” He asked as he received her album, moving to sign one of his pages that she had marked. 

“My name is y/n! And we’re born in the same year, Hyunjin-ssi.” She informed him, slightly swaying in order to calm herself.

“Oh? We are? That’s amazing! What month?” He further questioned her, a slight surprise showing on his face. 

“I’m a September baby, so I’m younger than you by a couple months.” She said, watching him sign her album.

He looked back up at her, his beauty was ethereal, and it took her breath away to see him this close up. He reached out to grab her hands, both of them pulling away slightly and flinching at the zap of electricity. It couldn’t have been more than static electricity, but it felt almost like a connection of sorts. Both of them waved it off, not thinking much of it, but inside, their beta and omega knew what had just happened, and were berating them for ignoring it.

“Your name is really pretty, I forgot to tell you.” He said earnestly, his eyes feeling like they were staring right into her soul, and she could see so many emotions floating around in those captivating eyes. She couldn't keep eye contact with him and looked away, down at her lap to avoid his gaze.

“Thank you, Hyunjin-ssi.” She said, still unable to look him in the eyes.

“Stay doesn’t have to use -ssi, call me Hyunjin, please?” He begged her, leaning down on the table to try and get her attention, to which she looked up at him, giggling at his position.

“What are you doing?” She said between giggles.

“I just wanted-” He started, but was interrupted by staff ushering her to move onto the next member, to Hyunjin’s dismay. He wanted to talk with her all day.

Seungmin was next, and his gentle smile caused her to continue to smile in return, her smile not dimming, but becoming softer.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” He said, much calmer than the others, but you could see that he was just as excited to meet their fans as the other boys were. 

“Hello Seungmin, it’s nice to meet you too.” She said, telling him her name afterwards, so that he had a name to sign the album with. 

They made small talk as he signed, and then continued on afterwards. Y/n told him how far she travelled to be here today, and then expanded on her home as Seungmin asked her more questions about where she was from. She tells him that no matter how long the journey was, she wouldn’t have missed being here, and missing the chance to talk to them, for anything else in the world. 

To this, his face is filled with awe and wonder, always surprised at what lengths their fans go to in order to see them live or to meet them. She then talks about what she loves about him, and how she enjoys seeing his interactions with the other boys, and how his voice is angelic. She just about showers him in compliments, until her time with the vocalracha member is up.

He waves goodbye to her and hands her album onto Jeongin, who’s next in line. He smiled at her as she slid over into the chair in front of the maknae, who, having heard her name from when she told his fellow member, quickly signed her album, before reaching out to grab her hands, squeezing them. This shocked y/n slightly, not expecting how intense the maknae was right then and there. He however, just felt drawn to her, like a moth to a flame, and wanted to be in contact with her. His alpha encouraged his actions, and the man himself didn’t question his alpha, and just continued looking at her with a smile on his face. 

“Hi, Stay!” He said excitedly, to which y/n replied back, asking how he was doing.

“I’m doing better now that I get to talk to you.” He answered her, winking at the end and slightly flirting, to which he got lightly smacked by Minho. 

Y/n wasn't faring well with the intense nature of the supposed “baby bread” youngest member, and it clearly showed on her face, which was turning, in Jeongin’s eyes, a lovely shade of pink, and her eyes were wide as she stared at him.

“You look so cute, Stay.” He complimented her, to which she blushed harder. His grin grew as he watched her blush intensify, and to which his alpha almost purred in contentment. 

He continued teasing her, to which her responses were almost nonsensical, until the staff member became her savior by telling Jeongin that she had to move to the next member. Minho, being impatient, grabbed her hands from his fellow member and pulled her over to the chair in front of his space at the table, grabbing her album afterwards. Jeongin pouted at his hyung’s actions, watching you move over to the next chair. He only stopped overtly watching her when the next Stay sat down in front of him, his attention turning to them.

“Hello Lino!” Y/n said, a smile still stuck on her face.

“Hello Stay.” He said, shaking their hands as he had yet to let go. “Do you have any pets?” He asked, finally but almost reluctantly pulling his hands away so he could sign her album.

“I do! I have a bunny, named Jack.” She told him, telling him how she got him, and about all of her bunny’s little quirks. 

He stopped signing her album just to look up at her and watch her talk. He was oddly drawn to her, and observed her as she talked. Her smile was extraordinary and how he wanted to never see her smile fade away, he felt pulled in by her, and he knew it wasn’t her scent, it couldn’t have been since he could see the scent blockers on her skin. But she almost called out to him, to his alpha. He internally questioned if there was something more to that feeling or if it was only just because she was similar to his omegas, to Jisung and Felix. Her outfit clearly took inspiration from them, and she seemed similar in personality, so maybe that was the culprit behind this pull he was feeling.

He realized that he hadn’t finished signing her album, and hurried to do so as he lightly chatted with her, mostly about their own pets and how troublesome they were at times. Sadly, that came to an end when she was pointed to move onto the next idol, who happened to be Felix. 

The Australian man looked at her, having the silent realization that this was the girl he ran into the day prior, and did his best to push what happened out of his mind, since he hadn’t told anyone what had happened, and from the lack of reaction on her part, she didn’t know that they had met yesterday.

“Hello Felix!” She said, smiling from ear to ear at meeting her almost birthday twin.

“Hello! How are you? Also, your outfit is so cute! I love it!” He replied, a grin on his face.

“I’m well, and I’m very excited to be here!” She told him, her cheeks hurting as she had smiled since meeting Changbin. “Thank you! I tried to combine your and Han’s styles, and I hope I was able to do both your styles justice.” She explained.

“You did! So, how old are you?” He questioned, taking the time to sign her album.

“I’m your age, actually.” She confessed, as he looked up in slight shock.

“Wow, really?” He said. 

“Yup! Actually you and I aren’t too far apart in age, birthday wise. I share a birthday with one of your members.” She replied.

“Wait, that means-” He started, before she interrupted him.

“Yeah, I do have a birthday twin within your group.” She giggled and nodded as she confirmed his thoughts.

“Oh wow! That’s so cool!” He told her.

“Yeah, it’s what made me a Stay actually. Well, and your Miroh era.” She confessed to him, blushing slightly.

They continued chatting, with Felix inquiring more about her life, and how long she’s been into K-pop among other things. Felix’s omega was practically purring at having this pretty girl’s attention only on him, plus that they got to see her again after Felix stupidly ran away yesterday.

Meanwhile, next to Felix, Minho was trying to concentrate on the Stay in front of him, but his mind and eyes kept wandering over to y/n and Felix. He couldn’t help but listen in on their conversation as he tried to keep chatting with the fan in front of him. That pull in his chest still hadn’t disappeared, and he kept questioning what exactly was drawing him to you. His alpha, however, knew exactly what was happening and was very happy about it, Minho could tell that much. His alpha kept talking about how Felix and the girl got along so well, and look how pretty they both were, and ‘Wouldn’t they look pretty together in their nest?’ Minho had to physically force himself to look away from the two of them, and push to only focus on the Stay in front of him.

During this, the two people who were the subject of Minho’s thoughts and glances were saddened when staff told them it was time for y/n to move on. Felix grabbed her hand, pleading with her not to go, to the girl’s laughter and her insistence that she must move on, to Han finally interjecting and reaching out for her hand and pulling her to the next chair. 

“I heard you had a birthday twin in Stray Kids?” He inquired immediately, wanting to know.

“Hello Han. Yes I do.” She giggled at his impatience. “I’m birthday twins with you, actually. Down to the year.” She told him. 

Hell yeah!” He exclaimed as Felix overheard, the Aussie pouting at how close he was to sharing a birthday. 

Y/n saw Felix’s pout, and giggled as she looked over at him. He saw her giggling and playfully glared at her, only making her giggle more, which Han did as well when he saw what was making the girl in front of him giggle. 

Han quickly signed his page in the album, before focusing all his attention on the girl in front of him. He wanted to know more about his birthday twin, and to learn if they had anything else in common. They did have quite a few things in common, their style being one of those things, anxiety was a second, and they also had quite similar personalities. This made the quokka a very happy man, and his omega wanted to steal the Stay away and keep them and Han was agreeable with that notion. A birthday twin to share the fun with? Yes please.

They joked about how maybe this was fate, and maybe this was why she was drawn to the group in the first place, with y/n admitting that their shared birthday is what made her interested in the first place. Han smiled, with a blush on his face at that confession. That she had found the group and gotten interested because of Felix, but was more interested that they both shared a birthday. Plus, she won the chance to be here and meet them, which was even more amazing.

As engrossed as they both were in their conversation, Chan finally leaned over and interrupted them, to inform her that it was their turn to chat. Han grabbed her hand, shaking them as he thanked her for coming and talking with him, and that she’d have to remember to wish him a happy birthday when their birthday came, to which she promised she would. She reluctantly let go of his hands, and moved over to sit in front of Chan, realizing that her time with the boys would end shortly. 

“Hello there, sorry to interrupt your fun with Hannie.” He apologized, looking truly sorry to have stopped their conversation. He truly was sad that he had to do so, they loved their fans, and Jisung looked so happy as he chatted with her, and his alpha almost screamed his content at how happy this girl had made his members. 

“It’s okay, I understand, don’t worry Chan.” She told him, understanding clearly heard in her voice.

He smiled at how understanding she was, starting up a conversation with her about what she was going to do while in Seoul. Inside, his alpha was trying to gain control over him, an overwhelming need coming over him to grab her and scent her, rules be damned. He wasn’t alone in this feeling, as y/n had been feeling a pull this entire time as she went down the line, but it was stronger right in front of the leader of the group, and her omega wanted nothing more than to sink into this man’s arms right here and now. She shook off her omega while he pushed away those feelings, one thinking it was just her being delusional and having read too much fanfic, while the other just chalked it up to his alpha reacting to the fact that it was a pretty girl in front of him right now. 

They continued their chat like neither of them were experiencing anything, and she asked him about places to visit in Australia should she ever get to visit, and he turned it on her and asked about places to visit in Canada when they get the chance to travel there. Both parties enjoyed the conversation, almost feeling as if they were just two friends chatting, instead of idol and fan. They talked about animals as well, both of them gushing about their own animals and telling a couple of funny stories about them.

At last, y/n’s time with the boys was finally over, and it was at this point Chan realized he had never signed her album. Signaling to the staff to let him sign the album quickly before she had to leave, he did so. On a whim, and what he swears was his alpha’s idea, and not fully his, under his signature, he added his number. Quickly closing the book, he handed it to her, and waved to her as she left the stage and returned to her seat, focusing on the next fan to sit in front of him.

Y/n returned to her seat, feeling saddened after leaving the stage and the boys. She shrugged it off, just like she had with the rest of the odd feelings she’s had today and yesterday. After she got back to her seat, one of the girls in the row behind her that she had made friends with, asked her to film her meetings with the boys, and she agreed. After that, the girl in the row in front of her that filmed her interactions handed her phone back, and y/n thanked her for filming as the other girl waved off her thank yous. 

Soon enough, it was the girl behind her turn to chat with the boys, and y/n started filming as she went up on stage. She noticed during her filming, that the boys glanced up in her direction a couple times, or at least her general direction, she doubted their gaze was on her specifically. She dutifully continued filming, trying to get the best video she could for the girl.

Y/n was wrong about the boys not looking right in the crowd for her. They really couldn’t help themselves, looking at her when she didn’t notice, and every time they had the chance. They had never felt so pulled towards someone like this, not since they all found each other. Y/n was feeling the same way, it almost felt like there was a rope between her and the boys, and it was trying to pull her in closer. She once again brushed it off as wishful thinking, and maybe her delusions of wanting the boys to notice her, as every Stay did. Plus, she probably just enjoyed talking to them so much that she wanted to talk with them again. 

Finally, the girl she was filming for left the stage, and y/n ended the recording, handing the phone back to her once the other girl returned to her seat. She watched as the final rows got their chance to see and talk with the boys, and once everyone was back in their seats, the boys came out from behind the tables, and started goofing off again. There was a portion set aside for photos of the boys, and of course they were absolutely adorable during it. And then they decided a couple dance relays of S-Class were in order, and a part switch dance to S-Class as well, which went as well as anyone could expect. A.k.a, it was a bit of a disaster, with the boys not knowing each other's places nearly as well as they knew their own. Though, we did get to see Felix do Minho’s parts, which was amazing and everyone in the room loved it. 

Before anyone knew it, the fansign was coming to an end, with the boys sadly saying goodbye to the fans. Y/n didn’t want it to end, but as they were ushered back out of the room after the boys had left the stage, she reluctantly left. She was in tears leaving the building, and felt a great sadness at leaving, and so did her omega. She wasn’t quite sure why she reacted so heavily, but as she walked back to the hotel, her emotions only grew. Because of this, she sped up her pace, wanting to disappear into her hotel room and cry in private, not wanting others to see her like this. 

Once she was back in her hotel room, she locked the door, immediately taking off her shoes and any accessories, before crawling into her makeshift nest that still smelt of sadness from that morning. She let herself fall apart, crying as she curled into a ball. She wasn’t sure why she was so sad, she really wasn’t sure, but she could feel that her omega was really hurting. She cried herself to sleep, falling into a nightmare, where it was the opposite of her dream from the night before. The boys were the opposite of their sweet selves, and were hurling anything and everything negative about herself at her, and all she could do was sit there and cry as they did so.

Being shocked out of her nightmare, she sat up as she woke up, her chest heaving as she tried to regulate her breathing. She managed to do so after a couple of minutes, and trying to get her mind off of how hurtful her nightmare was, she reached for her phone.

She found the video of her interactions with the boys, and started watching it. As she watched it, she realized just how different her interactions with the boys were from the ones she had filmed for others and watched herself. They seemed much more intimate in a way, with how touchy a lot of the boys were with her. They were so much more emotive and interactive with her, it felt a little abnormal after the fact. She must have been so happy to meet them that none of it felt off to her, and really looking back, it still didn’t feel too odd, just a bit more intimate than the other fans’ interactions. She wondered why she was so different, and why her, over everyone else. 

This pushed her to look through her album, and she stopped at Chan’s signature. Underneath his name, there was a number, along with a short message to text him. This had to be a joke, there was no way she was living the y/n life right now. She felt as if she had stepped into a fanfiction, because why else would Bang fucking Chan have given her, out of all people, his number?

She decided to fuck it and texted the number he gave her, and he almost immediately responds.

‘Who are you?’ He demanded.

‘I’m y/n, you gave me this number in my album that you signed today.’ She replied.

‘What did we talk about today then?’ He asked her.

‘A little bit of everything, honestly, but we did talk about our pets. You talked about Berry, and I talked about my bunny Jack and how troublesome he is.’ Y/n told him. 

She also decided to send him a picture of herself, holding open his page of the album as she sat next to a clock to prove the time. Chan believed her, and told her as such. She then asks him why he decided to give her his number.

‘I watched your actions with the others and myself, and something about you and all of our interactions intrigued me. I felt there was something more to it all, and wanted to get to know you better.’ He explained, to which she was relieved it wasn’t a trick, but was also confused about how she intrigued him. She voiced those thoughts and to which he reassured her that he wasn’t tricking her, nor should she be confused about how she was interesting to him, because he honestly found her interesting from the start of their conversation at the fanmeet.

He further explained that the other members had no idea about what he had done, and he hadn’t planned on saying anything to them, unless y/n had reached out and told him it was okay to do so. Though that didn’t stop them from discussing her in the vans on the way back to the dorm, nor did it stop their discussion from spilling over into their group chat. He told her as much, and she was surprised to have made that much of an impression on them. Chan reassured her that their interactions with her were very memorable, from what he could gleam from the others’ conversations. What he didn’t tell her was that Minho had noticed Chan’s behavior, and signaled to the pack alpha that they would be talking after they arrived back at the dorm. 

Soon enough the boys arrived back at the dorm, and the leader had to say goodbye for now to y/n, Minho staring him down as they walked into the building and then the elevator. The other alpha grabbed his hand as soon as the elevator doors opened, and led him through the front door of the apartment, and straight to the Aussie man’s room.

“Who are you texting? And why am I sure it’s that girl from the fansign?” Minho interrogated him, not leaving him a second to talk. 

“You’re not wrong. I gave her my number.” Chan confessed.

Taglist: open!

[heyhihellosworld]

𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁!

Pt 2 Pt 3

Mason Mount x reader

Word count: 4.5k, this is the longest one i've written so far

Summary: A quick bathroom fuck never hurt no one. Right?

Warnings: Fluff, Smut, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it)

Notes: Had fun writing this but didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. Plus I can't write Jack's accent so just pretend it's his talking lol and also smut is really hard to write so sorry for it, just couldn't skip it

"Oh my" you sighed, shaking your head at your brother. You were sprawled out on the couch, listening to Jack who hadn't stopped ranting for the last thirty minutes.

"Jack, come on man" you laughed, flicking his forehead with your fingers and ignoring his grimace. "I know what to do, I have been to games before. I won't go outside the box in game-time and I will see you later on" you summarized his rant with a pointed expression.

"I know you have, it's just... It was a long time ago and I just want ya to be safe" he sighed, standing up and heading to the kitchen, filling a bottle with water. "And you forgot one thing"

You scoffed at him, leaning your head back against the couch with a sarcastic chuckle "Oh wow, I'm so sorry how could I forget"

"Don't apricate the tone"

You laughed for real this time, meeting his playful eyes from across the room "I won't fuck any of your teammates Jack"

He hummed in appreciation of your words but couldn't help but fill in "any footballers"

"I won't fuck your teammats Jack" you declared, making him grunt "what, no no, no footballers" "That's mean!" you argued but he shook his head

You raised your eyebrows at him in a daring way "Either way you agree with no teammates or I will fuck all of your teammates" you threatened halfheartedly, eyes narrowing at his face.

"Fine" he sighed, giving up. It wasn't like you planned on fucking any of them, at least not tonight but you still felt good having won that small battle.

"Okay well are you ready?" he asked, making you jerk your head up from the couch "What? But it's like three hours to the game" you protested, not being ready at all.

"Well yeah, but if you wanna go you need to go with me and I have to be there in twenty minutes" "Why can't I just take an uber?" you questioned but stood up anyway, you knew this was a battle he would win and you were not ready to go yet. "No, just go get ready" Jack chuckled as you sprinted up the stair of his house. You had moved in with your brother a few days ago after having come home from studying in France for the last three years.

You had always been close, it only being three years between the two of you meant you had grown up really close. So when you announced you wanted to move back to England this year he had opened his home for you immediately, pleading you to live with him rather than your parents until you found a job and arranged a living on your own.

You sprinted to the bathroom, brushing your hair and whipping up some mascara before changing into a simple outfit, a hoodie and jeans since you were gonna wear his shirt later on anyways. Since Jack was always late so you didn't hurry your ass too much but took your time.

When you emerged from the stairs fifteen minutes later he was sprawled out on the couch smiling as you walked towards him, standing up and giving you a side hug. "I really missed you ya know" he hummed a smile taking over your face "well I have missed you to Jack"

He messed your hair around in a loving manner before you both tied your shoes and made your way to his car. He lived close to the arena and considering it was a home game it was only a fifteen minutes drive.

"I bet you'll start on the bench if you'r late" you hummed jokingly "nah, not when I got you with me" Jack grinned "Plus I warned them about it yesterday so don't worry, you won't miss me on the pitch, you will get to live your dream"

You smiled at him, "wow, how nice"

He grinned back at you, he looked just the same he had always done, of course he looked a lil more mature and manly then when he was a kid but not much had changed. He had the same strong face, same long stroppy hair and the same humor and personality. Never failing to make you smile.

"So, what will I do for five hours?" Jack shrugged "I don't know, entertain yourself"

"Are you gonna leave me on a bench?" you joked dramatically but when he shrugged you gasped "Jack Peter Grealish you are not leaving me like that!"

"Don't middle name me"

"Well don't leave me on a bench for five hours then!"

"I haven't done anything yet! We are in the car for fucks sake"

"Okay okay" you giggled "I'm gonna follow you around"

"You can not follow me into the changing room"

"Well fine, I can understand that but otherwise"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get on ma nerves" he grunted, already regretting talking you into going with him.

"As you bed you lay" you grinned, messing his hair up to his dismay, grimace spreading over his features as he tried to fix his looks before you rolled up to the parking lot. There were already a couple of fans outside, wanting to talk to Jack and he was nice enough to wave his window down, sign some shirts and talk a little to the fans before excusing himself and driving into the private part of the park.

"Okay, behave now" he scolded playfully, your eyes rolling at his manner. "Oi! I saw that!"

You rolled your eyes again with a smile on your lips, ignoring his yelp and climbing out of the car. "Just go in Jack"

You walked after him into the building, he had a meet up with the team and then they walked to the pitch. It wasn't actually five hours but more like two-three hours until kickoff.

You didn't want to actually hang off him all day because you knew he needed to get into his mood as well so you opted to go directly to the arena and climbed up in the middle of the stand. It had been a long time since you were there last. You had grown up with the same passion for football as your brother but had never acted on it. You loved it but you didn't want it to be your job, only your hobby.

You had stopped playing as a teen and then opted to play only for fun in the garden with Jack or someone else when the opportunity came up. Even though you hadn't been here and watched his games you hadn't missed a single one of his since you moved. But you had to admit that sitting here beat the couch. Even empty the atmosphere was awesome.

You studied the players as they walked onto the pitch. It was an awesome game today, City against Chelsea. You didn't know that many players outside of City but Chelsea were a good team that you knew. Plus you had always had an extra eye for a few players at Chelsea.

Soon the players started to tumble onto the pitch. You spotted Jack walking with Phil, humming along each other and laughing, probably a stupid joke of Jack's.

Your air-pods buzzed by the sounds of your playlist whilst you just observed. Soon dark blue clothed players started to come onto the pitch as well, greeting some of the city players before focusing.

You let your eyes fleet around, naming the players you knew by name which was close to everyone. You knew a few of them personally but it was mostly Villa players you had met.

Suddenly your eyes stuck on one of the Chelsea players. He stuck out to you, not because he looked special or weird he just... stuck out. He had headphones on and looked really into his zone. Fair brown fluffy hair stuck out messily around the headphones and he had a slight scruff covering his chin. He was more than handsome.

Your eyes followed him around as he walked, stopping after a while to talk to Jack and a few other City players. You couldn't put a name to his face.

The idea of asking Jack about him traveled into your mind but you quickly waved the idea out of your head. He would never tell you if he got the impression you thought he was good looking.

As you stared at his movements he suddenly looked up at you, meeting your eyes with a concentrated look. You froze in your seat, shit had he noticed you staring. You tried to play it off but didn't move your eyes from him, mirroring the grin he gave you as he had spotted you.

His tongue poked out from the side of his mouth, swiping over his bottomlip before he followed his teammates off the pitch and back down the tunnel.

-

"Hey, you fell asleep?"

Your head snapped around to the tunnel where Jack's head poked out. "No no, just calm here" you hummed

Jack chuckled, nodding. Okay I just wanted to check on you, people are starting to come now so get away from there. We will start warming up in ten"

You nodded, walking down from the stand and into the tunnel where they were already preparing for the public. You squeezed yourself past and walked with Jack into the tunnel. "Hey, can I get coffee?" you pulled your cutest face, blinking at him while he rolled his eyes. "Sure, let me just check they are all dressed" he grunted, leaving you in the stairs. "Fine, come in" Jack gruffed, holding the door open for you into the city area of the building.

You waved trough the opening at the players who all greeted you back before taking a cup and making yourself some coffee while Jack looked at you with crossed arms. You weren't new to his teammates. During your French years you had been home to visit and met most of them. It had become known that where Jack went you went too. He was protective and always wanted to have you under his sight when there were a lot of people around.

"So, in ten minutes it's warm up so you gotta get to the box and please-" "I won't leave the box Jack" you sighed, rolling your eyes. "Calm down, It'll be fine"

"Little Grealish" John grinned, cutting off your conversation with Jack as he engulfed you in a hug "ah hi Stones, how are ya?"

"All good, what about you? Haven't seen you for a long time"

"I'm all good" you smiled "Jack said you moved back here?"

You nodded, sipping your coffee "Yeah, earlier this week, I finished my studies so it felt like the right decision"

"Well that's really nice, maybe I will see you around a little more than?" he grinned making Jack cough beside you "Yeah you sure will" you smiled, not missing the wink he threw you before going back to his seat.

"No" Jack grunted before you had even had the time to look at him. Laughter spilled out of your mouth before you could stop it "What"

"No, not gonna happen he is old plus he is my teammate"

You chuckled, leaning against his side "Don't worry Jack, I'm not into Stones, plus he has a girlfriend"

"Didn't seem to stop him" he grunted "Maybe not but it stops me. You don't have to be so tense Jack. I can take care of myself and I won't sleep with your teammates, I promised"

"Okay, Okay" he sighed, giving up on the argument. "Anyway, I'm just gonna fill this up and then i'll go. Good luck" you smiled, kissing his cheek before shouting a collective good luck and moving to your seat.

It was packed in the stadium already, people bussing for an hopefully exciting game. You smiled as you saw him jog up the pitch in his light blue set. Hair flopping as he ran. But soon your eyes changed direction as dark blue clothed men started to jog into the other half of the pitch.

Your eyes immediately found him, he looked ridiculously hot in his set, hair flopping a little and tongue again poking out from his lips. You noticed he was popular by the way the arena started buzzing as he did something towards them but yet you couldn't put your finger on who he was. You followed City and some national teams but not more than that. It was what you had time for.

The whole game your eyes seemed to fleet back to the brunette. He played really well and you caught yourself cheering when he scored a goal. Stopping quickly as you realized your betrayal.

Jack played really good too, creating a lot on his side and almost scoring a goal.

When the final whistle blew it was 3-2 to City and you cheered as the team waved up to the stands, clapping their hands to thank the public. You quickly slipped down to Jack again, just as he had told you too. All players had gone into the changing rooms so you sat down on the top of the stairs. Resting your back against the wall.

You were kinda tired, it had been an early morning and there was always a lot of tension and excitement during the game, a tension that was let off and left tiredness.

You went on your phone, sighing at all the notifications and shutting it again.

"Are you lost?"

You flinched, almost losing balance at the voice. Your head almost snapped off as you looked at the man who stood on the top of the stairs, looking down at you with a small smirk.

You felt your face heat up as you saw the familiar face of the handsome Chelsea player. "Ah, no" you said, your voice coming out choked and hurried. You cursed yourself, forcing yourself to calm down and act cool despite how ridiculously hot this man was.

"Really because usually fans aren't allowed to be here, how did you even get here?" "Ah you know I just climbed over the wall" you said in ironic voice, loving the smile that lit up his face

"So noticing tre sarcasm I'm guessing you're allowed here"

"Yeah" you breathed "My brother is playing on the team" you clarified making him hum in recognition "I see, i'm guessing city?" he grinned, looking down at your light blue shirt you had pulled on over your hoodie. "Yeah"

"Mase come on man!"

Mason looked back over his shoulder where one of his teammates shouted after him "Ah shit, I need to go. Pleasure to meet you..." "y/n"

"Ah, Mason" he greeted, shaking your hand awkwardly as you chuckled "MASON!"

"I'm coming!"

He bid farewell, jogging out the tunnel to grab something before winking at you as he went past up the stairs and into the changing room again.

You felt as if your whole body flushed as you looked after him, shaking your head at how you were acting. He was a normal human being for fucks sake. Just ridiculously gorgeous.

"Ah there you are" Jack grinned as he walked out into the hall, grinning widely, his hair all dripping wet. "Congratulations" you grinned, hugging him shortly before pulling off, not wanting to get soaked by him. "Thanks" he grinned with his characteristic smile.

"I'm just gonna go get changed then we're gonna go out for a couple of drinks. I can drop you off if you don't wanna go" "Nah, it sounds fun" you assured, meeting his smile as he slipped inside the changingroom again.

--

The club was packed. Sure it was starting to get into evening time but still, pretty early to get to the club in your opinion. Jack had taken you to a McDonald's after whining you were hungry but he had refused to go home so you could change but after downing your meal you were pretty happy regardless.

It was nice in the club, you talked a little amongst his teammates, drank a little until the clock turned to a more decent time where you began drinking for real. The club started getting busier and more and more alcohol went down your throat. Jack was somewhere unknown so you entertained yourself with Ruben. Someone you'd always found ridiculously attractive but you never acted on it, you wouldn't today either but a lil flirting and teasing didn't hurt.

After a little while you excused yourself to the bar, pushing through a lot of bodies to get to the front. You got your drink and turned around with a sigh, leaning against the side of the bar while sipping on it.

"Did someone ditch you here?"

Your eyes flickered up at the voice you somehow remembered it but couldn't place it until you saw that face again, Mason.

You couldn't hide the grin that spread on your face upon seeing him again, grinning lazily at him. "Hello Mason" you smiled

"No one ditched me, I just wanted some more alcohol" you answered, swirling your glass in front of him whilst he hummed.

"What are you doing here?" you questioned, looking over his shoulder to see if any other Chelsea players were there as well but you couldn't recognize anyone.

"Stones told me they were going and I thought why not, it's not too often i'm in manchester" he answered your question. You nodded in understanding, not really clicking it all together.

"So, what did you think of the game?" "Ah really good, good goal too" you hummed, looking into his brown eyes. He looked so good it felt cruel. He had changed into a simple white tee and dark jeans, his hair still visibly dampened but still styled. You let your tongue swipe over your bottom lip whilst keeping eye contact with him seeing his adam-apple bobble as he swallowed.

"Are you drunk?" he questioned making you chuckle "Nah" you grinned, standing up from the leant back position and downing the remainants of your drink before walking past him, grabbing his arm on the way and pulling him out on the floor.

You began dancing in front of his hungry eyes, the alcohol giving you a lot of confidence. He was as tipsy as you were soon joining you by grabbing your hips, looking intently into your eyes as you smirked, grinding into him more and more for every song.

The heat between you was too much, you couldn't miss it and you couldn't miss the way you felt his hardness through his jeans nor the way he did not so subtle ground into your ass every chance he got.

"I would ask you to go home with me but i'm sleeping at a friends" he revealed making you pout your lips in thought. You couldn't take him home to Jack's, not a chance but you couldn't not fuck him either. Your need for him was too much.

Your eyes lit up as you came up with a solution, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the bathroom.

He chuckled as you locked the door to one of them. "Really?" he laughed, "Well if you don't wanna fuck me-"

He shut you up by kissing you. His lips hungrily meet yours in a mess of teeth and tongue. You knew it was gonna be a messy and hurried fuck but it was all you needed right now. His hands roamed your body, squeezing your figure and feeling you up desperately.

Your hands tangled in his hair, tugging at it slightly as he let out small breathy noises at the contact. Your hands traveled under his t-shirt groaning as you felt his abs under your fingertips.

He broke the kiss only to tug his t-shirt over his head, his hands pushing up your own hoodie to grasp at your breasts. He walked you backwards, hoisting you up on the counter, your head leaning against the mirror as he hungrily kissed up your neck and over your jaw. "You're so sexy" he grunted, leaving a trail of kisses down your throat and up to your jaw again, kissing you hungrily.

You were the one who broke the kiss, grasping at his jeans to hurry things up a little. Let's face it, you were in a public bathroom.

"Okay okay" he chuckled, undoing your pants first before chucking them down your legs and letting them pool on the floor.

His hand moved like on instinct to your pussy, rubbing your clit over the flimsy material. You groaned, tilting your head back, closing your eyes in content. Finally getting what you wanted.

"Hm, that feels good?" he hummed, tone almost lingering on mocking. "Mhm" you moaned, looking at him with warning eyes which he just waved off with a chuckle. You were just about to say something when he gripped your underwear, pulling them off and throwing them next to your jeans.

His fingers created path between your fold, going up and down before two of them slid inside of you. You bit your lip to prevent the moan as he slowly started to move them, hooking them slowly and teasingly against your spot.

"Oh fuck" you groaned, breathing heavily against his ear and eyes threatening to close of pleasure.

Your hand made its way to his jeans, unbuttoning the button and pushing your hand down inside, palming his already hard dick through his boxers. He breathed out a heavy breath, eyelids getting heavy at the relief.

You pushed his underwear off as far as necessary and continued to stroke him, finding it satisfactory how he looked and breathed when you did. He however soon found it necessary to stop you before he would be cumming in your hand.

"Okay, okay" he breathed, pushing your hand away from him. He continued to flick his fingers inside of you a few more times before pulling them out. He pushed the digits into his mouth making you moan at the sight.

He pulled his digits out, chuckling at your reaction with gleeful eyes. His fingers softly brushed a couple of hair strands out of your face as his lips met yours again, this time much softer but still hungry and needy.

You lifted your hips slightly, hurrying him up. He got your signal, grabbing your hips while guiding himself to your opening just as eager as you were.

You couldn't help the moan that left your throat as he pushed in slowly. Your head fell back as your eyes fell closed at the stretch.

"Fuck" you breathed, gripping the edge of the counter harshly, your hips moving on their own to ger yourself used to the feeling of him.

He began slowly, easing you both into it. The alcohol making you both careless and needy, just wanting some sloppy club-bathroom sex.

He soon began to go faster, moving your hips to meet his thrusts, his dick hitting all the perfect spots inside of you with the position you were in. The pace getting more and more desperate for every thrust. "Ah fuck Mason" you groaned, trying to keep your eyes open to watch his reaction as he continued to thrust.

His eyes sparkled in the dim light and his mouth was half-open. Small pants coming out whenever he bottomed out inside of you. He watched your body move, watching how his dick repeatably disappeared inside of you, he watched as your breasts moved and how you bit your lip to not let out the loud moans you had on your tongue.

"Yeah? Feel good?" he hummed, looking cocky at your reactions to his actions. You nodded, not having the energy to put him in his place right now. "Yeah?" he pressed making you roll your eyes "Just shut up and fuck me" you grunted not missing the cocky smile he gave you as he picked up his speed further, thrusting harder into you.

The sound of your skin meeting was loud and you were almost scared someone would hear from outside of the bathroom. You tried to keep your moans in, biting your lip and when it became too much you leaned forward, bracing yourself on his shoulder as you bit the skin where his shoulder and neck met. He let out a slight whine at the mark only speeding up his movements.

"I'm close" he grunted, giving you a heads up. You nodded, kissing up his shoulder and neck while you let one of your hands move between you, rubbing tight circles on your clit. You could feel it building in your lower stomach, on the edge of bursting already. Your head felt dizzy and your eyes rolled at the extra stimulation.

"I'm gonna cum" you warned, rutting your hips against him as he groaned, silencing both of you with a kiss, each of you swallowing the others moans as you came down from your highs. You felt almost high, your eyes squeezing close and a lazy smile on your face. You could feel his legs and tummy clench as he came inside of you. Only then did it occur to you that you hadn't used a condom.

Mason seemed to realize the same thing, looking at you and blinking slowly "Did I just cum inside of you?"

You chuckled, leaning your head back against the mirror "It seems like it"

"Oh shit, I'm sorry-"

"I am on the pill, it should be fine" you dismissed, patting his shoulder reassuringly whilst he nodded at you, relief filling his eyes.

He slowly moved to slip out of you resting his forehead on your shoulder while you both tried to regain your breaths. "Maybe we should get out of here" you whispered, letting your lips ghost over his.

He nodded, meeting your eyes with a sweet smile before kissing you slowly, his tongue sweetly intertwining with yours.

When you parted you reached out to grab some paper towels from beside you, cleaning yourself up as he did the same.

He handed you your clothes and you quickly fixed yourself up, untangling your hair with your fingers before you nodded at him.

You stood up from the counter, buttoning your jeans before unlocking the door.

You stopped in your tracks seeing Jack casually leaned back against the wall as if he was waiting for you "Hey, there ya are, I thought you had drunken too much" he grinned

"I-uh" you stuttered, wincing as you felt Mason press into your back, his face snapping up as he saw that you were talking to someone.

Jack's mouth fell open, eyes fleeting between the two of you before he opened his mouth

"Hey! We said no teammates!" he exclaimed, looking at you accusingly.

"He is not your teammate!" You defended looking stroppily at him

"Yes he is!" "What, no he is in Chelsea!" You uttered in confusion. "England y/n, he is in England" Jack spoke calmly, his voice flat as he looked at you.

"Oh fuck"

[parkermunson]

Siren!Eddie Part 3

1 / 2

summary: You want to find your new friend a shell but on the walk to find one, you fall. Cleaning the wound off in the ocean seems like a good idea, unless there's a starving siren in the water. Luckily, he's more interested in keeping you alive.

t/w: Mentions of blood/open wound a lot. Eddie licks reader (not sexually), poor self-confidence thoughts

a/n: I am so in love with this series, it brings me so much joy to write. I love little golden retriever Siren!Eddie but I also wanted to portray his actual siren nature. So this chapter shows that. And don't follow in Reader's footsteps. She's reckless. Here's the longest fic I've written so far!!! [3.6k words]

The warm wind of the afternoon rushed between your legs as you stood at the surface of splashing water. The pocket your hand rested in, previously home to the gifted shells from your newest 'friend', now storage for the little bits of sand remnants that fell from the shells. They prick your fingers, but it somehow feels nice. Like it's proof that you didn't imagine another person actually sitting in the water after all these years.

The water was empty aside from the little fish taking in the heat from the shoreline sand. He seemed to disappear in the time you left for lunch. Though, you're sure you never saw anyone like him walking around the streets from your house. Your house only separated from the little walkway to the beach by a street meant you could keep an eye on the visitors. Maybe he swam to another shore around the rocks. He seemed to love being in the water!

He was so odd, finding solace in the one thing the town seemed to fear. Perhaps he didn't know the tales of the hundreds of missing people, the sightings and sounds of something not quite human, but not quite fish. He seemed lonely with how he acted toward you. The gifts but lack of words, the inability to maintain eye contact. If he was scared, he would've left, but he didn't. Shy, that's what he was. He didn't know you. As far as he was concerned, you bothered him.

You needed to give him a reason to trust you!

The town you lived in was small, but had beaches galore. The one outside your house was closed in, high rocks separating it from other openings to the water. No doubt the guy had picked up every shell to exist in or out of the water there. So another beach nearly opposite your's was possibly unexplored by him. It was a distance away, a mile or so, with uneven ground on the path in between. Little shore towns like this are adamant they stick with their history, and that always means keeping the rocky footpaths that only get worse with age.

Riding your bike on the street would've been a better option, had it not been so hot, steam could be seen rising off the surface. Your rusty old bike would melt, knowing your luck.

Your sandals slid and flopped against the porous surface of the rocks. These rocks were probably here for thousands of years, before humans even lived on the land. Now they were merely a guide to your next destination. The blinding white of the worn rock contrasted the deep grays of the spots where rain would gather in tiny pools. Tiny pebbles gathering in the crevices, like small offspring. One pebble, about a third the size of your palm caught your eye. It was dotted with holes, white playing against black in a poke-a-dot battle of color. The texture was something to behold, like the scallop shell you were given. A perfect exchange.

The rock bounced in your pocket with each uneven step. The sun above was relentless, but the tall trees surrounding you on each side of the path provided enough shade to keep only a light sweat blooming from your skin. Sounds of water sloshing against land grew louder as you approached the shore, but the heat hit harder here. You cursed yourself for not bringing a bottle of water. The dryness of your mouth irked you as you imagined the cool waves clearly in your mind. Your feet couldn't carry you fast enough to feel the force of the chilly water as a release from the sun.

In the distance you could hear voices from the shops a few blocks away along the main street that circled the little town, like a barrier between the houses and water. Ice cream shops, restaurants, little boutiques. After your search, you'll have to stop at the ice cream parlor for a sweet, cold snack. For now, the shore lay ahead, the waves pushing and pulling against the golden sand– a welcome and a dismissal curled into one.

You finally reached the last step. The anticipation clouding your judgement as your sandal met rock but slid sideways on the unbalanced object. The skin of your knee kissed the sharp edge and you landed with one leg curled beneath you, the other awkwardly stretched in front of you. The scratch across your skin was felt long before you saw it. It pulsed with pain, buzzing incessantly against your muscle. It was more annoying than painful, and only soured your mood further. You sat there for a moment, gathering breath before finding your balance on your feet and assessing the damage. The scrape wasn't too deep, but ran along your mid-calf up to your knee. The skin was open and flushing with blood attempting to scab over. Small drops of crimson bubbling from the wound and starting to drip. You brushed a hand over it, attempting to flick off any little pebbles and specks of dirt. The blood smeared across your skin, shining against it in a crimson stroke. You sighed, further aggravated at your now dirty leg, before continuing your walk. The water would help clean it off.

He twiddled his webbed thumbs as he assessed his collection. Your reaction to his shells weren't telling in your preferences. He had given shiny and matte, textured and smooth. Different colors. Different shapes. You reacted the same to each. Maybe a conch would gain a better reaction, or a starfish. After all, these were his favorite of his collection and he cherished them. He wouldn't part with them unless it was for you. For you, he would give the ocean, his home. Just by hearing your voice, he was a goner. You would most likely never accept him, but he was your's. His first and only human. His... friend.

For a while after you left, he played your words in his head over and over like a trance. Questioning the meaning, the sounds, the way your lips moved around each word. He needed to see you again. The desire just to listen to you speak was enough to keep hopeful in his lonely, desolate life. Eventually you would stop talking, waiting for an answer that would never come from him, but for now you seemed satisfied with his presence.

The starfish was long dead, white with long spiked legs. The legs twisted in different directions. Had it not been found on land, the creature would have been eaten by now. But it's once slimy body was a solid shell now, even in water. He held it up to the sunrays sparkling against the water's surface a few yards above him. This was perfect, at least two visits worth, if not more. But he'll bring more shells to the next one, just in case.

As he studied the skeleton in his hand, the scent hit him like a wall. It was far. Miles. But it's a scent that hasn't graced his nose in what felt like centuries. Blood. Human blood.

His pupils grew large, nearly devouring the brown iris surrounding them. He was hungry now. An insatiable hunger he hasn't been able to curve in so long. The shell drops from his grip, long forgotten while his true nature takes over. He's swimming toward the scent faster than he's ever gone before. The teeth crowding his mouth ache with the anticipation, his fingers clenching so deep in his palms the sharp nails pierce his skin. He can't feel it, not when his brain has already pinpointed the exact location of his meal.

As he dives past the shore you would meet him, he can smell your scent. At first he thinks it's just a lingering thought of you held by the water, until he feels the small vibrations in his chest. You're in the water, just not here. It nearly knocks him out of the trance, but the scent of blood is stronger as he nears land. He rushes around the curves of the sand and rocks, desperately trying to satisfy his overwhelming desire.

The drumming in his chest grew stronger with each mile closer. His heart beating fast enough to drill his ears. The water grew warmer as the sand crept up on the surface of the water, but it did little to stir him. He spotted the crimson dancing in the water, floating around the open wound like an arrow pointing exactly where he wanted. The legs stood knee below the water, hands gliding over the damaged skin attempting to sooth the wound.

His tail shot him toward his intended meal, the hunger uncaring on how close he was to land, and who would see him. A distance away the legs dribbled sweet, luscious blood into the water, unable to clot the wound. His belly twisted with the scent being so close, and he could barely remember himself in the moment. He licked his lips, drawing closer to the legs, reaching a webbed claw out before stopping two yards away.

He knew those legs.

The moment your feet touched the water, instant relief overcame you. The crisp water between your toes, delicately licking your ankles. The water was nudging you further in with each pull of the waves, enough of an invite to abandon your sandals on the shore and walk in up to your knees. It soothed the scratch and brought comfort to your mood. The waves absorbing the strain in your muscles.

Had you not come here for a purpose, you would dive in head first, letting the water devour you in a chilly embrace.

The water on this side was lighter, more clear. It's color around your knees now tainted a purpl-ish with your blood. It flowed in concentric circles with the natural movement of your legs. The idea of being eaten by a creature on this side of the town seemed infinitely worse with how gruesome the water would get.

The clearness meant it was easier to spot the tiny creatures swimming around the floor below. Small fish and crabs scouring to get away from your feet, while some fish, slightly larger, took up their confidence in getting closer to you. You watched as they bobbed back and forth, as though debating the distance. Curious little things, with no concept of danger. Their little fins barely handling the movement of the water.

The bloody water had started blocking the view of your little onlookers. Though you didn't want to scare them away yet, you leaned down and brushed a hand over the wound to clean it off. The fish, now intimidated, disappeared further into the safety of the water. Little specks of dirt and rock began floating around your calf, and the blood didn't seem to stop. For such a small scrape, the water made it seem like an open gash in your leg. You continued rubbing it, hoping the wound would magically clean with the movement.

Ahead of you, a dark shadow moved in the water. It was too far for you to make out the shape, but it was big. Sharks would never come out this far, you're almost sure of it. You took a cautious step back, afraid moving too fast would signal an attack. The shadow remained still, waiting. It could just be a large fish investigating the aroma of blood. Or a creature... the ones you were told to fear. The ones you were reminded of day in and day out growing up. The reason you weren't allowed in the water in the first place.

This one stayed put, not advancing nor abandoning their prey. They were studying you, you could feel it. Never coming close enough to be seen through the clear water, but also not leaving you be. Was it waiting for something?

Every inch of you wanted to kneel down and look under the water at your observer. It was dumb and would get you killed. But odd men throughout past generations had seen these creatures, described them in a variety of ways. Now you had the chance to actually see one. Tell the town whether or not the tales they told were really true. Draw a vivid picture for the scientists who gave up searching years ago.

You took a step forward, back to your original spot in the sandy floor. The shadow remained still, floating like a dark cloud on a sunny day. It's attack inevitable, but the wait was worse. Your heart was beating so loud, you could have sworn the water was vibrating from it. The circles around your knees had nearly dissipated before you took another step into the water closer to the shadow. Still it remained. The water was now at your mid-thigh, bouncing around with small kitten licks up and down your skin. One half step forward and the water just barely grazed your crotch. Your shorts turning a deeper blue as the material sucked up liquid.

Your fists curled at your side, the anxiety consuming your senses. The world had grown quiet as you waited. Further in now, the water wasn't nearly as clear. The tint a bit darker, the floor murkier. Your feet were only a blurred shape now. But you waited, still. As did the shadow. With each dip and reach of the waves around you, the chilly water was starting to cause goosebumps across your skin. You barely noticed the blood on your wound had stopped flowing, too focused on the task at hand.

The possibility of the creature escaping was high, and much more frightening than the thought of what it could actually do to you. The idea, however, instantly fell away once it moved an inch closer. And then another. So slowly it crept forward, a long cylindrical shadow floating just above the sand, deep enough to stay blurred under the water. It had stopped about a foot away, weighing the next move. You could see the head, rounder than its body, swaying in the water. Hair.

Thoughts of your death overtook your mind. It could be a while before anyone even noticed you missing. No one would check the water. No one would think you were that stupid to do the one thing you were constantly told not to do.

The creature drew closer to your feet and you froze in place. It reached in front of it with a bright, pale arm, stopping centimeters from your toes. The hair floating around its head in a messy crown. You took a deep breath and held it before you felt the cold touch on your foot... of skin. The creature's other hand mirroring the same actions on your other foot. It was soft, delicate, experimental. The touch would have gone unnoticed except for the temperature, and the fact you were seeing it.

The hands slid up to your ankles, poking a little at the bone, feeling the curve and dip of it. It tickled a bit, but you remained still. This creature could change it's mind at any time, and you could instantly become food. If it wasn't just checking out its meal beforehand.

The fingertips glided further up, inspecting the bone running along the front of your calf, the muscles cushioning it around. You noticed the fingers neglecting to touch the wound. The touch had become firmer, more sure you wouldn't suddenly take off.

As the hands reached further, you were able to make out more features. Long nails at the end of each finger, the digits webbed together. The arms bony thin, but muscular enough to withstand the strength of the water. They contoured with each pinch against your leg, testing the dexterity.

You looked past the arms, to the hair. Little brown curls bounced with the sways the creature gave to stay afloat in the water. The hair was long, shiny in the sunlight. Under the hair was a thin torso, bones wriggling with every arm movement and rock of its body. The pale skin fades into a glittering collage of turquoise and blue scales. The tail was round around the hips and tapering off into a thinner shape near the tail fin. You could only really see up to the middle of the tail before the water blocked the rest from view. It was beautiful, awe-inducing.

Your attention was too focused on the shape of the creature to notice it had dipped its head closer to your legs. The eyes surveying the wound closely with a specific interest on the open skin and spots of clotted blood. The fingers poking at the skin around it, causing it to flush and return back to color.

What the fuck was he doing? He should have swam miles away by now, as far from the human standing before him as possible. Your presence unfaltering in the water was enough to keep close. He could still smell your blood, and his hunger never faded, but something new was happening. He could feel it.

Your foot had brought you closer once. Then twice. Then again. He could see up to your round thighs now, and felt the urge to feel them. Your legs looked so lively, pumping with blood, your muscles moving under your skin. He was almost jealous. You had legs.

He approached cautiously, afraid he would scare you off, but you stood your ground. From the floor, he could barely make out your face. Your head a featureless circle sitting atop your shoulders. He probably looked the same to you.

Your feet looked so strange, little toes leading into flat-topped feet. And you had two! The veins jutting along the top reminded him of the shell he gave you. Textured, but soft. He felt along your ankle, wondering the mechanics behind it. His fin flowed, no bones to withhold movement. How did humans swim with such strict bodies?

As he came up to your shin, he did his best to ignore the wound and instead took to studying your muscles and bones. Your skin was slightly thicker here than your foot, more porous, but less bumpy than the veins on your feet. You were so warm, so soft his hands could glide along your skin. You were everything he wasn't.

Your skin was flexible when he pinched. He could push and pull it to his every whim. The skin would grow lighter under his pushing fingertips and then back to normal when he pulled them away. Dead bodies never did that.

He really did his best to ignore the wound, but the look of the open flesh was magnetic. He was so hungry, but the thought of hurting you made him nauseous. Instead, he inspected it closely, pulling himself closer to look at it. His nose inches away from your leg. The blood was no longer drifting into the water, but scabbed. The skin was still open, a pink-ish hue peeking through the skin. Something in his brain flipped and he did it without second thought. Sticking his tongue out, he leaned in and licked along the open skin. It tasted divine. He gripped onto your ankles holding you in place as he licked again. And again.

He nearly dug his teeth in, letting his instincts take over and shutting his brain off the world, but then he remembered it's you. He let go of your ankles quickly, pushing himself back a bit as if he was the one hurt. His arms hugged his torso in comfort, his tail curling under him. How could he go against his true nature like this? Turning down his own needs simply because you interested him? His people would be so disappointed. They would scorn him, banish him to the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean.

You stood there still, probably worried you did something wrong. Your feet digging into the sand beneath in anxiousness. He hugged his tail closer as you started turning away to head back to shore. The thought of chasing after you to continue this little introduction was enticing, but he was already disappointed in himself enough. He stayed curled up there long after your feet left the water, even after the sun went down.

His stomach gurgling in his little ball was the only sound he let himself hear.

You were admiring the figure when it had jerked back suddenly, as though your skin had burned it. One moment it was exploring your legs, the next it was curling up on itself. Was this something natural? Did you scare it? Your thoughts were racing, your toes digging into the sand. It stayed like that for a bit, not attempting to move toward you again. You had overstayed your welcome in the water, and the creature had enough.

Turning back to land, you glanced once behind you to see the creature still in the same position. Maybe another time you'll meet again. For now, this was over.

You reached the shore, your shorts dripping at the bottom, but you couldn't find it in yourself to care. Your sandals lay in the same spot you left them on the sand and you dug your toes into them with a slight hint of fury, aimed at yourself. You didn't think you did anything wrong, but your focus was so occupied, you may have flinched and scared it. Or maybe something on your skin hurt it. All your thoughts were blaming you for ruining the moment.

You glanced down at your legs for a moment to notice the wound was gone completely. As though it was never there in the first place. The creature had healed you.

taglist: @luna-munson83 @harrys-tittie @jobean12-blog @idkidknemore @sister-cirice @xxaestheticboyxx @frodofreakingbaggins @ajeff855 @maddieluvseddie @untowardghost @secretdryrose @eddieswifu @hellfire1986baby

Thanks for reading, lovelies!!!

[freezerbnuuy]

Questions for Storytelling Simblrs - Answered

I have had these saved on a WordPad document for a while. They aren't mine, I saved them from a reblog I found months ago. EDIT: the original list was from user Iiteralite Answering these for my story, Divided.

what’s the last screenshot you’ve taken for your story? - The last picture I took was this one of Owen, a physician, in his alchemy lab.

describe your story in three words or less - Dark, mysterious, historical

describe (insert character here) in three words or less We'll go with Katlego, one of my favourite characters. Pacifistic, kind, confident.

how did you choose the name of your story? - This is actually part of a universe of stories. The other 3 stories are older, done back when I was on XBox and archived. All of them had one-word titles, so I had to find a word that largely sums up the story and Divided was perfect for it.

how do you choose your characters’ names? - I never use random baby sites' name lists. I always use name lists from sites about the culture / country, or from other similarly-accurate sources. For the 'English' characters' names I used name lists gathered from historical sources for the 1600s-1800s. Most characters' names have almost no connection to the meaning associated with them since I imagine most of the parents of these characters just picked something nice or traditional. - Áine is actually the prototype name (according to an official Tweet) of Tess Dyer, the Magic Realm Untamed Sage predecessor, and the Áine you see in the story is that exact premade. Áine is also an Irish goddess of Summer, which is why her mother named her after her. - It highly depends on multiple factors: Some cultures place more importance on names than others. Kat's background is like this, since a lot of countries in Africa place high importance on names and believe their meaning to be reflective, or hopeful, of the person's future. - I had to change some names due to further research. Before 1900, Romanian naming conventions were different, so Violeta Vasilescu became Violeta Vasile Nicolae. I also changed Iris's real name for similar reasons. - The character's name almost always depends on where they were born / lived. - Some names are references to other media. Oskar's surname, Nivelheim, is the (ff7 prototype's) spelling of the game's town of Nibelheim, a town associated (horribly) with Sephiroth, the character whose design Oskar's is based on. - On occasion I'll use a random name generator. The Annorin family's surname was picked from some kind of fantasy name generator.

how long have you been working on your story for? - 2 years and a bit.

whats the biggest risk you’ve taken with your story? did it pay off? - Not being afraid to write certain things that I worry might cause some kind of offence - especially the Peteran / Jacoban religious material. I only made up ideas for it and went off of what was also in the Sims Medival where those religions appear. The only thing based on real life from it is the offhand mention of Jacobans historically trying to get in the way of physicians practicing on the dead to learn anatomy. So far everyone has enjoyed those aspects of the story, and a few people have compared it to certain elements of how things are where they live which I tried not to respond too much to those comments to go careful, but it's interesting to see people draw a few parallels to their own experience or people they know.

what about your story are you proud of? - It's the longest thing I've written so far, and I haven't given up yet. People will always try to compete with me about how theirs is longer every time I bring it up, but I don't care.

what about your story are you looking to improve on? - In all honesty, nothing. It's not perfect, but I'm not looking to improve on anything because I don't think that much has gone wrong with it, and all the things I've noticed that have gone wrong I'm not bothered about. I have things I do need to go careful with later on but that's slightly different.

is your story fully planned or are you still working things out? is there a definitive end? - It was never fully planned, but multiple plot points were already planned including the ending due to it being a prequel, technically. A lot of it wasn't planned. I still don't know the entirety of how things are going to go.

why have you decided to tell this story? are there any messages or meanings within it? - I can't stop making prequels or side-stories for characters I find interesting. (MCU energy) - I find fantasy interesting, but I'm not really a fan of certain kinds of fantasy. I wanted something more based off IRL practice, and things like DnD and Pathfinder. More gritty, I guess, and with realistic limits unlike some fantasy series where you can cast high-level magic first thing with zero practice as much as you want. I wanted a world where magic is feared and dangerous to some extent both to others and the spellcaster. - I've had the odd person not-so-subtly imply I'm 'pushing an agenda' with this story, but I don't give a shit. The element of witch-hunts is relatable to a lot of people, and so it's not actually that hard to write about a group of people chased out of their living spaces and killed for aspects of their identity and life that are lied about by rich people and the media to ACTUALLY push an agenda. It's an interesting allegory that works for multiple groups of people who might relate to the witches. - I wanted a story focused a lot on shared experience where you perhaps wouldn't expect to find any. So many characters in this story, some who barely know each other or are from various different backgrounds or social classes find things in common. - I wanted to try and challenge myself to write a longer story. Most of my other ones are quite short. - I keep coming up with interesting ideas or lore and I feel the need to try and explore every single one (don't do that it's painful lmao)

do you actually play the game or do you just use it as a storytelling medium? Just as a storytelling medium.

from basic planning to a finished post, how long does that take you? Too fucking long. It used to take a week / 2 weeks, now it can take a month / 2 months. We love worsening mental health < 3

do you have any regrets about your story so far? if you could go back in time, how would you fix these? - We don't do regrets in this house, not for this story anyway.

what have been the highlights of creating your story? - It's a suitable distraction from everything else and it gets me some attention.

what about the process do you enjoy? - At this point, nothing. I just want it finished!

what about the process do you hate? GLITCHES! BUGS! BROKEN CC! PLOT HOLES! GLITCHES! SPENDING AGES FUCKING AROUND WITH T.O.O.L! TRYING TO FIND HISTORICAL CC THAT FITS FAT SIMS!

choose a song that reminds you of your story Here you go. Here's another

choose a song that reminds you of (insert character here) This stock music (that I first heard in the game Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments) is one I use a lot for writing Samuel and Owen for the sinister air of it.

choose your favourite shot from your story so far - I have a lot of favourites, here's a non-spoiler one

choose your least favourite shot so far Nope < 3

choose a favourite character from your story so far I have way too many, so I'll pick one I mentioned earlier, Katlego. She's very different from the other characters. Her magic is Mischief magic which, in this story, is from an in-universe similar-to-a closed practice, practiced by little small communities around the world. She doesn't use her magic often or her tiger form because she fears them both. Her magic is literally mind-altering. She has so much crazy power at her fingertips and yet she refuses to use it because she's good-hearted. She is the one who fears her abilities the most, but is the least likely to do any proper harm to someone. Some characters help her come up with ideas to use her magic for benevolent reasons. Kat is one of the most genuine characters in the story. She always sticks to her guns, even around scarier or more powerful characters. She always tries to stick to pacifism, and hates fighting because of what her mother used to tell her as a child to never hurt anyone else. Despite all that Henford and its people have thrown at her, she still stands tall within the community. But like in any terrible community, there is always going to be people who do genuinely have your back and many people support Kat in whichever way they can.

choose your least favourite character so far - Alistair. He made a lot of mistakes as a father and he hasn't really had much involvement since the end of Act Three since his plot was closely tied to a character who didn't make it past Act Three, one of his children has moved away eventually in Act Four and his other child wants little to do with him.

are there any characters who remind you of yourself? - Eli reminds me of my old, overemotional self, and his being upset at feeling things strongly is something that is very relatable to past me. - Clementia being annoyed about how much her brother gets away with in comparison to her when they were growing up.

what inspirations have you drawn on for your story? Mainly the inspirations for the story come from Pathfinder, Dungeons and Dragons, IRL open practice, and Final Fantasy. Violeta's design was based on Lady Dimitrescu from RE: Village.

have other sim stories inspired you?  - In ways, yes. A lot of those people don't play the game anymore.

what genres would you describe your story as? - Dark fantasy

if you could reproduce your story in another medium (movie, novel, comic, etc.) what would you choose and why? - An RPG would be pretty cool, because well why not? Or a visual novel might be fun. Don't have any reason other than 'it would be cool'.

what would your story’s rating be? (G, PG, M etc.) - M

if you were leaving simblr and had to choose another creator to continue the story for you, who would you ask? - I wouldn't, this story is mine and it dies with me!

drop some random trivia about your story - A scrapped idea: Originally Oskar's canonical first adopted daughter, Ilse, was still meant to be alive in the present day, having been bitten by Oskar to save her from illness. She would have been about 9/10 at the time and utterly resented him for it.

give a light spoiler - A prominent figure in Henford will cause a massive scandal that will set the depths of the witch-hunts in motion.

[snowcoffeee]

Thank you for the tag @rhodophoria!! :D This was fun!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Just one (but there will be more soon ;))

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

127,025! I think Ashen Wishes is the longest story I've ever written (and it's still going, holy-)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Undertale. In fact, I haven't written for anything else in years ^^' I need to have a lot of passion for a fandom to get myself to write. Unless the characters live 24/7 in my mind rent-free, no ideas will pop up.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Yes.

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

Yeah, I love to! I really appreciate when someone takes their time to leave a nice message :] I always try to reply as soon as possible, or at least within a day.

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

I currently have a few one-shot ideas that have rather angsty endings, but I couldn't bear writing a whole longfic that ends on a sad note. ...I think.

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

Ashen Wishes will have a pretty happy, positive ending, so I suppose that counts (?)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully, I never have :)

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

Well... not really. I've given it a shot a few times and I have a couple ideas, but I don't think I can bring myself to post anything too explicit at the moment.

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

I've never written one! I've always found them too difficult to execute well.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so...? Though I never looked for it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but I wonder what that would look like! Although when it comes to writing fics, I'm much more comfortable writing in English than my native language.

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

Not yet, but it sounds fun. I have friends who help with brainstorming sometimes, if that counts :)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I've never been into shipping characters that much. Sometimes I come across a ship and I genuinely like it, but then I move on. My reader-insert craze just never left me enough, I guess.

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

I strive to finish everything I start, even though it might, uh, take a little more time. I really hope I won't ever abandon my fics.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogues? Maybe? Those are usually the first things that pop up in my head when I'm trying to figure out a scene, and I build everything else around them. But I'm also really obsessed with pacing and trying to find a healthy balance between the events in a story. I'm not saying it's necessarily working, I just tend to pay more attention to it.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm very, very slow. I can linger on a single sentence for ten minutes because I can't get over how awkward a sentence feels, so I just stare at the screen trying to figure out how to fix it. Also, describing environments. I can't make them sound fun for the life of me. I feel like they always end up being very dry and unimaginative :/

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

I don't run into them often, but I think they can spice up a dialogue sometimes. I especially like special short phrases that give the conversation a deeper meaning.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Oof, uh, Hollow Knight, if I remember correctly. I don't plan to post any of my older works though ^^'

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Ashen Wishes is probably the fic I've put the most effort in so far, and it's currently my favorite, too!

@imtrashraccoon if you'd like to join, but as always, no pressure! :D

[phoebe-delia]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💙

Thank you friend!! @sugareey-makes-stuff this made me smile. I’m going to open this up to any writer who sees this and hasn’t done it in a while! Tag me, I wanna see!

this is me trying (T, 12k) is still my favorite thing I’ve ever written. It makes me proud and simultaneously fills me with doubt that I’ll ever write something as good ever again 😂

Goodnight, and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow (T, 1k) was both very hard and very fun to write. I wrote it for LCDrarry and it’s a Saturday Night Live AU with Drarry as Weekend Update hosts. I wrote all the jokes myself based on real news articles—just like they do on the real Weekend Update. I’m still very happy with how it turned out.

Stars By the Pocketful (T, 2k) is my Wireless this year. My brain was not very nice to me during the writing process or even after it was posted. I’m better now, and I’ve come to really like this fic in retrospect. And I’m proud that I pushed through and ended up with this. So as an exercise in being kind to myself, I'm including it here lol.

Just Between Us (T, 13k) was my first Wireless fic (it's from last year). I'm very proud of it because I challenged myself with the plot a bit. And it's the longest thing I've written so far. I put SO much pressure on myself with this fic because it's based on my favorite Taylor Swift song and I knew I'd kick myself if it wasn't as good as I could make it. It's also the first fic of mine to be translated into another language! Someone translated it into Russian!

I Knew You (T, three chapters add up to 1.5k) oh this fic, my beloved. I had a blast writing it and I'm very proud of how it turned out. It's based on three Taylor Swift songs that she wrote as part of a trilogy: "august," "cardigan" and "betty," with one ficlet for each song. This little series has a few of my favorite lines I've written.

Thanks so much again for the ask!!

[lykaios2]

Here's a request:

Platonic or romantic, your choice, Leo showing off some skateboard moves.

omg when I say I got so into writing this

I stayed up until 6am writing this yesterday. I am not kidding. I just really wanted to finish it so I could post it asap

anyway I hope you like it, this is the longest fic I've written so far

Sweet Tricks and Sweeter Feelings

leonardo x reader, friends to lovers

cw: literally nothing

word count: 3838

One evening, you started on a walk, or rather a ride, to a new skate park you had just recently discovered. While doing some business over on that side of town, you had a bit of free time to yourself, and decided to explore since you didn't go to that side of town much. You eventually stumbled upon an abandoned building, and your curiosity got the better of you. After looking around for an entrance, you somehow found an unlocked door that led inside. After making your way around to what seemed to be the main area, you found yourself looking at what seemed to be a well maintained skatepark.

“Woah, what is this? I've never seen this before…must not have been taken down when this place was closed. Someone's certainly been working hard to keep this place nice.”

Now, returning here, it was certainly a different vibe at night. Walking around to the unlocked door, you heard noises coming from inside, as if someone was also using the skatepark. As you made your way inside, you looked around for the source of the noise. You could barely make out a dark figure skating around the park. As you sat and watched in awe at all of their amazing tricks, they came a little too close and noticed you standing there.

“Oh! Hello there, you-”

“Augh! I'm sorry, I-I'll leave-”

“Wait, no, you're fine! I just didn't expect to see anyone else here.”

“You could say the same here. Those were some sweet tricks you were hitting, uh… what's your name? Don't think you mentioned it.”

“Oh, my apologies, you can call me Leonardo, or Leo for short. How about yourself, mysterious friend?”

“I'm y/n.”

“Well, y/n, since you're here, would you like to join me for some late night skating?”

“Yeah! Let's do this!”

After a couple hours, Leonardo announced that it was time for him to return home. It was pretty late, so you decided to head home yourself.

“When are you planning on being here again?”

“Oh, my brothers don't like me being out this late too much, so really only once a week.”

“You have brothers? How many?”

“Just 3.”

“Do they ever come out here?”

“Not that I know. I haven't told anyone about this place.”

“Not even your brothers?”

“Nope. I love them to death, don't get me wrong, but when I'm with them all day every day, a little time away can be nice.”

“I understand that. Well then, I'll see you next week, same place, same time?”

“Only if you show up.”

“It's a deal!”

Next week, you entered through the doors of the abandoned building and sure enough Leonardo was there, skating just as before.

“Yo!” you called out.

“There you are, I was getting a bit worried that you had bailed on me.”

“Sorry, I live on the other side of town. Yeah, no, I would have felt terrible. I wouldn't have even had a way to tell you, which would have made it all the worse.”

“You want my number? Easiest way to contact me.”

“Oh, sure.” You and Leonardo exchanged numbers, but while he was typing his number into your phone, you noticed some red marks on his face through his mask he was wearing.

“Is that…blood?”

“Hm?”

“On your face there.”

“Oh, um…no…”

“Then what is it, if it's not blood?”

“It's, um…I'll show you next week. But you have to show up.”

“Aw, what? Fine. Is it like a personal thing?”

“Kind of. A lot of people are often surprised when they see what it really is.”

“It can't be that bad. C'mon, lemme see!”

“Next week! If you show up.” You begrudgingly agreed as Leonardo started skating again. Realizing you hadn't yet even touched your skateboard, you followed suit.

After another long night of skating, Leonardo headed home, and so did you. On the way home, you texted Leonardo, thanking him for his time and reminding him of his promise.

-you better show me what's under that mask next week

-chill bro, all you gotta do is show up. I'll have you know I'm not one to break my promises.

-we'll see about that

-we will, won't we?

You smiled as you looked up from your phone. The curiosity was killing you, but you trusted that he would show you.

The next week passed slower than usual. If you weren't doing something, your mind would eventually drift to Leonardo. What was hiding that he couldn't show you immediately? You theorized about many different possible options, but you couldn't truly know until you met up with him again.

But slow as it was, the week finally passed and it was time to see what Leonardo had been hiding. You walked through the new familiar doors and looked around for Leonardo.

“Boo!”

“Augh! You- stupid- whatever.”

“C'mon, just a little joke. You aren't mad, are you?”

“No, I can't really get mad at you for that. I just get easily spooked.”

“I can tell.”

“Oh, shut up about it. Now how about we see what's under that mask?”

“Right. Now, before I do this, I should warn you. Whenever I show this to someone, they usually don't want to associate with me anymore. I've heard it all, so whatever you say probably won't hurt me. And whatever you think it is, I can guarantee it's not that. Do you still want to see?”

You paused and thought for a second before saying yes. He made you close your eyes while he took the mask off. When he said he was ready, you opened your eyes to see…

“A…stripe? Wait, you're a…turtle?!”

“Yep. What do you think? Be honest.”

“That's, like…awesome! I can't really think of a better way to put it.”

“So…you like it?”

“Totally! What would I not like about a walking, talking, skateboarding turtle?”

“Well, most people see me and think I'm sort of a rejected lab creation, and while they're not wrong they usually carry a negative connotation with it.”

“It's probably just because they don't get to know you. You're awesome!”

“Aw, thanks.”

“Wait, does that mean your brothers-”

“Are turtles too? Yep.”

“Woah. Can I meet them?”

“Uh, maybe next week? I don't think they would exactly be fond of me bringing home a human unannounced.”

“Do they even know about me? Have you told them?”

“Well I've mentioned you once or twice, but they don't even know anything about you. They don't even know that you know I'm not human.”

“Oof. Well, you better tell them because I totally want to meet them now.”

“Haha, I think I can work something out. But for now, I wanna see your cool tricks! We keep getting distracted.”

During your late night skate session, you had to stop for a second because you were hungry. Leonardo stopped as well and walked over to where you were standing, slouched over.

“Hey, you good? Looking a little weak there.”

“Yeah I’m okay, I just forgot to eat before I came here.”

“Woah, that’s not good. Hm…oh! I know this good Asian place down the road from here, it should still be open.”

“Oh, I love Asian food, and I totally would, but I don’t have any money on me.”

“Eh, I can cover you.”

“What? You don’t have to do that.”

“Please, allow me. I would feel bad if you were to faint from hunger under my watch.”

“Well, if you insist, I’m not going to refuse.”

“Come on, then. Follow me, I’ll take you there. You need some help?” You nodded as Leonardo grabbed your hand and started leading you out of the building. He slowly led you out of the building and down the streets.

“You doing okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine-” You were silenced by the sound of your stomach growling from hunger.

“Maybe not. Here, stand back.”

You stepped back as Leonardo pulled out what seemed to be a sword. He started moving it in a circle until a portal appeared in front of you.

“You can make portals too?!”

“It’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you one day, but for now we need to get you food. Come on, this should lead us straight there.”

You cautiously followed Leonardo through the portal, and stepped out on the other side right next to the restaurant.

“Wow, that was impressive. Can your brothers do that?”

“No, but they have their own special abilities. And anyway, how are you not focused on your hunger? You’re nearly starving.”

Leonardo led you inside, and the lady behind the counter greeted the two of you.

“Hello, you two! Out on a little late night date, are we?”

You just chuckled at the comment, but Leonardo was quick on his feet.

“A date? I mean, one could call it that. Only if you want.” He looked at you as he said that.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” Leonardo ordered for the both of you, and you sat down at a table to wait for your food.

“You should ask your brothers if I can meet them. I’m really curious about them.”

“Man, you are quite insistent on meeting my brothers, huh?”

“Well, it’s not every day that you learned that you’re actually friends with a mutant turtle, let alone that he has brothers who are also mutant turtles! And you’re super awesome and nice, so I bet they are too! Why would I not want to meet them?”

“Well since you have to be so nice about it, I guess I can ask them. I have no clue if any of them will be up this late, though, so I can’t promise a fast result.”

“That’s okay. Oh, but when am I going to meet them? Or where? I have no clue where you guys live.”

“Well, we’re pretty free, so whenever you have time during the day probably works for us. As for where…”

“What about your place? I think it would probably be a good idea to meet them in their natural environment, y’know, so they don’t have to feel stressed or anything like that.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Although, nothing about our home would be considered normal.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, for starters it’s pretty big. And it’s underground. We’ve got a lot of cool stuff as well. We have an arcade room, a humongous garage, a skate ramp…”

“You have a skate ramp inside your home?! No wonder you’re so good at skating.”

“Oh, stop it.”

The waiter came over with the food, and made another comment about the two of you.

“Here’s your food, nice and hot. Don’t stay here just talking too long now.” Leonardo took this opportunity to show you how sharp his wits truly were.

“Nice and hot, huh? The food’s not the only nice and hot thing here.”

“Are you…talking about me?”

“Maybe, maybe not. You’ll never know.”

“Oh, you’re so stupid. I’m eating, you have fun doing whatever you’re doing over there.”

You and Leonardo finished up your food, and finalized your plans to meet up with his brothers. Much to Leonardo’s surprise, all of his brothers responded before you finished eating, and all of his brothers had agreed to meet you in their home.

“Thank you so much for everything tonight. Definitely one of the best nights I’ve had in a while.”

“It was my pleasure, only the best for my best skateboarding friend.”

“You’re too kind. I’m excited to meet your brothers.” You and Leonardo started walking out after saying good night to the employees.

“I’m sure they’ll love you. Have a good night!”

“You too, Leonardo!”

A few days later, Leonardo texted you to help you get to his home to meet his brothers.-now turn left and you should see an alleyway down the street. once you get there, just wait a couple of minutes and I’ll be there to lead you the rest of the way.

-I better not be getting kidnapped

-wow, I buy you food and this is how you treat me? you’re lucky I even let you in at all.

-okay, okay, I trust you. happy now?

-I guess

-how about dinner on me next time?

-wow, making moves huh? you’re slick

-...I don’t even know what to say anymore.

During the texting, Leonardo had snuck up behind you. He scared you when he spoke up.

“How about you come say hello to my brothers?”

“Damn it Leo- would you stop scaring me?”

“It’s so cute the way you react when you get scared though. And I don’t mean any harm, I hope you know that. Now, come on, you’ve been waiting a while for this, haven’t you?”

“I sure have. Where are we headed?”

“Look down.” Confused, you looked down to see a manhole at your feet. You looked back at Leonardo, and he gestured you to move out of the way as he lifted the manhole cover.

“It’s not as bad as you think.”

“Well, I’ve gone this far.”

As you climbed down into the manhole, Leonardo started to lead you through the sewers. He seemed to know these dreary hallways like the back of his hand. After several minutes of walking through the sewers, you eventually saw a light coming from somewhere up ahead. You followed Leonardo down the hall, until eventually reaching the end, where he began something of a grand introduction.

“Welcome to my humble abode. Hey guys, they’re here!” As he presumably called to his brothers, you stood in awe as you took in everything that was in front of you. It was bigger than you could have ever imagined. There were so many rooms, so much graffiti all over the walls, string lights everywhere. Leonardo grabbed your hand and pulled you along to somewhere else though.

“C’mon, it’s time!” Your excitement could hardly be contained as Leonardo led you to the bottom layer of the area. Leonardo stopped in front of what you assumed were his brothers.

“y/n, meet my brothers. This is Raphael.”

“You can just call me Raph. Leo’s mentioned you a few times, but it’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

“This is Michelangelo.”

“Hello! I’ve been super excited to meet you! Leo says you’re really good at skateboarding. You’ll have to show me your moves later!”

“And this is Donatello.”

“Hello, nice to meet you. I do have a nickname, but I reserve it for people who are close to me. I mean no offense with this, as I’m sure you’re a kind individual, but I just don’t know you very well. With time you should be able to call me by my nickname.”

“Well, hello, everyone. My name is y/n. I’ve haven’t really heard much about any of you, but assuming you’re anything like Leo, then we’ll probably get along.”

“Well, how about we show you around? I’m sure you’ll get to know them along the way.” Leonardo and his brothers proceeded to show you around the very large area in which they lived. Along the way, you managed to pick up a few tidbits of information about each of his brothers. Raph was the oldest and seemed to be the leader of the group, but he also had a very soft heart. Mikey was the youngest of the four and was definitely the creative one. Donatello was the smart one, and was often very direct about everything.

“So how did you meet Leo, anyway?”

“Well, one of my hobbies happens to be skating, and one night when I went out to skate, he was the only one at the skatepark I went to. Then we kinda made plans to meet up there every week.”

“So that’s what you’ve been doing! Leo sometimes comes home late at night with a big smile on his face and just a little happier than usual, but he never mentioned you when he did that. Now I’m starting to put some dots together.”

“Well, that can happen when you hang around such an amazing skater such as myself.”

“How about you live up to that claim, huh? Show us some moves.” Leonardo finally spoke up. You took it as a challenge, and everyone headed over to the skate ramp.

After showing everyone what you could do on a skateboard, and a couple more hours of just hanging out with the turtles, you eventually had to head home. After saying your goodbyes, Leonardo showed you the way out.

“See you soon!”

“Yeah! If you ever want to come back over, just text me!”

“Will do!”

However, you would remain oblivious to the conversation that was about to follow.After walking you out, Leonardo started walking back to his room, but little did he know that Michelangelo was following him.

“Ah, man, that was nice. Now time to lay back and-”

“Oh, Leo~”

“Mikey? Did you need something?”

“Mmmm, not exactly.”

“Then what’s up?”

“I should be asking you that. Seems you and y/n have a little something going on.”

“Yeah, we hang out quite a bit. It’s been pretty nice.”

“Leo, I’m going to get straight to the point. I think it’s pretty obvious you like them.”

“Woah, that’s quite an assumption. Care to run me through your thought process here?”

“Well first off, you regularly went to hang out with them, a human. That doesn’t happen very often. Next, you revealed the fact that you’re a mutant turtle. You don’t exactly do that for everyone. And they told me about your little “date” you went on. Listen, Leo, you know I’m the expert on these things, you can’t hide them from me.”

“…Fine, I’ll admit it. They’re just so…I don’t know how to describe it. Something about them just draws me to them.”

“I think it’s because you guys are so similar. You bounce off of each other. I’d give it a bit more time, but you should tell them how you feel.”

“Ahh, I don’t know. It’s hard. I think they just see it like a normal friendship.”

“You never know until you try. Like I said, give it some time and we’ll see where it goes. I’ll be your wingman, give you tips and tricks. And I’ll keep on the down low, but I can’t promise that Donnie and Raph won’t find out. That’s out of my control.”

“Heh, thanks.”

A few weeks passed, and you hung out with Leonardo and his brothers more and more. You learned more about each of them, but you noticed Mikey being particularly weird whenever you and Leo were hanging out.

“Raph, have you noticed anything weird going on between Leonardo and Michelangelo?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t been able to figure out what they’re up to. I think it might have something to do with you, though.”

“Me?”

“Well I can’t be sure, but I feel like I often overhear your name in their conversations.”

“Oh, that makes me all the more nervous about what they’re doing.”

“Eh, knowing them, it can’t be anything bad. I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“If you say so. I’ll trust your judgment on this one.”

A few months had passed now, and you were a lot more comfortable with your turtle friends. You were allowed in their home at any time, and Donatello had even come to know you well enough for him to let you call him Donnie. Leonardo made his classic one liners. Raph and Michelangelo often cheered you on whenever you showed off your moves on the ramp in their home. But nothing ever came of Leonardo and Michelangelo’s scheming, and over time you forgot about it. However, it never stopped and you would soon come to learn what it was all about.

One night, Leo had texted you, asking you to meet up at the entrance to their home.

-make sure to bring your skateboard, I’ve got a little surprise for you

-it’s pretty late leonardo, you better have something good

-I think you’ll like it

You arrived at the meeting spot, with Leonardo already waiting for you.

“Hop on your board, we’ve got a long ways to go.”

Leo started, leading you through all the secret alleyways and tunnels. You managed to keep up, but your legs were starting to get tired from the distance you were riding.

“Are we there yet?”

“Almost, just another minute or two.”

By this point, you were on the outskirts of town. Leonardo was headed further and further away from the city. You were becoming more and more curious as to where he was taking you. Eventually you stopped at the bottom of a hill.

“I won’t make you ride up this. Follow me.”

Again he pulled out his sword and made another portal. You trusted it would take you to the top of the hill, and it certainly did. What you didn’t expect was a little area hidden in the brush which had a perfect view of the city.

“Woah, Leo, this is insane. How did you find this?”

“Spots like these are my specialty. Come, sit.”

He invited you to sit next to him and watch the city, which looked very different at night.

“Is there a reason you brought me out here?”

“Uhm, yes, actually. I’ve been reserving this spot for a special occasion. Y’know, we’ve been hanging out a lot these past few months, and we’ve come to know each other pretty well. But there’s something about myself I haven’t told you, and I think it’s pretty important that you know.”

“Okay, go ahead. I’m listening.”

“I-I really like you. You’re just a cool person, and when we hang out or go skating together, I don’t know, something about you just seems that much cooler. And the fact that you’re even willing to hang out with me in the first place is already amazing. I understand if you don’t return the feelings, I just-”

“Wait, so all of those stupid pick up lines were actual attempts at trying to get with me?”

“Kind of? Most of them were jokes, but they did actually mean I liked you.”

“Well, funnily enough, those pick up lines kind of worked…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well when we first met, I did just see you as a good friend. But I think your sense of humor accidentally made me like you too. I didn’t say anything because I thought that was just you being you, and I didn’t think those stupid little pick up lines meant anything. So I just left those feelings alone, destined to be banished to the recesses of my mind for the rest of eternity.”

Leonardo paused for a moment, before wrapping his arms around you in a tight hug. You returned the gesture.

“So, are we like, together now?”

“Only if you want.” Leonardo smiled.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” You smiled back at him before turning your head back to look at the city. This was certainly a surprise you liked.

[timeskip]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @leviathiane !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

109!!! I'm a writing machine

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

507,410 ^-^

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly HxH right now, but I'm always thinking of writing more Zero Escape. I also have fics for AITSF, A3!, and other stuff (obligated to mention that I have 57 A3! fics)

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Care - Mizuki & Date (AITSF) Coexisting for Traumatized Detectives - Yosano & Dazai (BSD) An Undefined Truth - Killua/Gon (HxH) Shaking - Kokichi/Kaito (DRV3) Love, Justice, and the In Between - Boss & Date (AITSF) ...Most of these I still love, but one of them is indicative of my dark, dark past. I'll only link the top kudos'd.

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

Yes!!! I try to every time!!! Because I like getting responses as a reader mostly, it's nice to know that I've made someone's day better and I like the community that comes with comments!!! Also it's nice to add numbers to that comment counter.

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

kill switch, save switch (Zero Escape) - Everyone dies in the Submarine Ending!!!!! Honorable mentions to: Turning Back (A3!) - Chikage abandons a child (not of his own choice, but fully aware of how damaging it is) and then thinks that they're probably dead Playing the Part (AITSF) - Iris is dead, but nobody knows it. Blood Trails Leading Home (AITSF) - It's an Annihilation End fic, everyone is dying and the antagonist is planning to kill even more people.

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

I try to give most things a hopeful ending at LEAST fdkfkkgfdff it's impossible to choose. I'll go with Follow the Light to its End, a Killugon fic that ends with a kiss ^-^

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really? I did get a comment recently that said "once the confession is over, I don't feel the love anymore. Still nice fic," which......... thanks (sarcasm) Usually comments like that are people trying to be nice but ending up too blunt... so it's whatever.

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

Nah. Nothing against it, just not my zone.

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

Sometimes!!! Never in the form of X meets Y though, always putting one character into another's universe. I don't write them often, I'd write them more often if there were more people who would read them and my niche ideas. I think the only one I can remember posting is paradoxical, an A3/ZE crossover which. is crazy. What if Azuma's brother Hajime was actually Hisoka's brother August, but in the same way Akane from Zero Escape is June--the way that June is a mask, a cover. What if they were in a nonary game. What if Azuma accessed the morphogenetic field. CRAZY.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! But I'm totally open to it!!!

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

Sort of!!! I did the Masukyu magic AU series with my friend Mikey :> Cowriting is really hard but it's fun.

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

ALL TIME is hard. I'll give you a top 3: Killua/Gon (HxH), Hisoka/Homare (A3!), Junpei/Akane (ZE) Also honorable mention to Chikage/Citron/Itaru (A3!) for being the subject of my longest fic.

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

I'm constantly writing like 5 things at once, so it's a gamble with everything I write... I really doubt I'm going to finish the Pariging time loop WIP I have though orz I really love what I have so far of it, it's just... I don't know where it's going orz

16. What are your writing strengths?

Character emotions!!! Showing how characters respond to each other!!! Introspection!!! I like to think I'm pretty good at a lot of things.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I've been working on making sure that my characters don't talk in a void lately T-T I'm not BAD at description, but it so often falls to the wayside... Also comedy is hard for me.

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

I mean... it can work, I suppose? I wouldn't do it myself, because I'm not confident in any language other than english (I'm sorry high school german teacher...! I fell off because of covid...! I'm unlikely to use more than a couple german words for Klavier's faux-german thing, if I ever write a fic about him, lol) When other people do it, it's fine, except if I notice them using it wrong I think it's silly.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First fandom I wrote a fic for ever: Warrior Cats First fandom I posted a completed fic online for: My Hero Academia

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Since I have so many it's kind of impossible to choose... But I'll say my long fics, especially the 40k multichapters. I put so much work into every long fic of mine, I can't choose a favorite child T-T Here's a link to my AO3, filtered for only fics over 10k words just in case anyone is interested in the 8 longer fics of mine Also mentioning you, at last, a little shorter than the above at 8.6k, but definitely one of my favorite A3 fics I wrote!!! It's a platonic soulmate AU, I'm constantly tempted to use the AU for another fandom because I think the rules of soulmates in it are really good. And while it's not a long fic, I reread smoke signals (HxH) recently and I love what I did with it. I think a lot about it still because I think that the offscreen apology Gon is implied to have given Killua is really interesting, and smoke signals is me writing my idea of it ^-^

Tagging... anyone who wants to, I suppose!!! If you're a writer and you're reading this I'm tagging you. Yes, you.

[elwenyere]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

I was tagged by my beloved @frostbitebakery: thank you so much, my friend!!!

1.) How many works do you have on ao3

56

2.) What's your ao3 word count?

301,664 words

3.) What fandoms do you write for?

So far, the MCU, Star Wars, and Top Gun.

4.) What are your top five fics by kudos?

Call Me By Your (Pet) Name (MCU, Sambucky)

Tactical Engagements (Star Wars, Codywan)

Citation Needed (MCU, Stony)

Helps to Relieve My Mind (MCU, Sambucky)

Good Soldiers (Star Wars, Codywan)

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

I do, yes! Sometimes it takes me a little while to write back if things in real life are hectic, but eventually I do, because I love chatting with readers about what they noticed in a story and what I was thinking about/working on while writing.

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

I have never written what I would call an unhappy ending. But sometimes what we know about the canon ending can still make the ending of a fic bittersweet, and that's true of a fair number of fics I've written. I think the two fics that leave canon angst most fully on the table are my MCU ficlet A Stitch in Time, which is about what else Steve might have done while returning those stones, and my wee Star Wars piece Yes, It Feels Like That, which is a moment with Leia's grief during ANH.

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

I swear: I used to write plenty of fics that were happy all the way through! That happens a lot less frequently now. But Right on Time is just about the happiest ending I could give to a post-war Codywan, and my Sambucky fic Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice is (to me) maybe the funniest fic I've written.

8.) Do you get hate on fics?

I've been very lucky with readers who are largely very generous.

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

I am a relative newcomer to writing smut, but I have dabbled, yes. I'm not sure what kind of smut it is. Feelings-forward, I guess?

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

I think the only thing I've written that could come close to being classified as a crossover was my very first multi-chapter fic, Should You Choose to Accept It, which included characters from both the mainstream Avengers and Agents of SHIELD and mashed up the plots of Iron Man 3, CA: TWS, AOS Season One, and Mission Impossible 3.

11.) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12.) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not yet!

13.) Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Yes! The Stony identity porn/professor AU fic Citation Needed was a collaboration with the incredible @festiveferret, and it is the most fun I've had writing fic.

14.) What's your all time favorite ship?

Cannot pick a favorite, but my first OTP was Mulder/Scully, and they will always have a special place in my heart.

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

God what a painful question. 😅 I am a stubborn bastard, and I don't know if I've fully admitted defeat on any of my WIPs, even the ones I've neglected the most. But the WIP that's probably been waiting for my attention the longest is the sequel to my Stony fic Three Little Words; or, Five Times Steve and Tony Didn’t Actually Apologize + One Time They Did, which I cannot abandon or scrap for parts because I'm really attached to the bits that I have written, but which I haven't been able to make progress on for a long time. Bug me for snips about it if you like: I would love to be able to share what I have so far.

16.) What are your writing strengths?

A borderline aggressive amount of figurative language, narrative beats that feel layered, and I think I have a decent ear for dialogue.

17.) What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm so, so, so inexpressibly slow, and I also build up increasing levels of anxiety about WIPs when I'm not getting outside perspectives about them, so I find it nearly impossible to write anything longer than 20k.

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

I have experimented with this a little bit in the past, and I'm currently trying it again in a WIP in a language I'm not deeply familiar with, which is nerve-wracking. But I think it can be so effective when done well, and I'm excited to keep growing in that area.

19.) First fandom you wrote for?

Stony in the MCU: a missing-scene fic from Endgame

20.) Favorite fic you've ever written?

I love all my children equally, but my Codywan fic Recollection is probably the fic that felt most ambitious to me at the time that I wrote it: memory-related temporal shenanigans, surreal scene changes, some heavy psychic territory, and my very first smut scenes. I'm proud of how many new things I tried.

----

Open tags for anyone who would like to play!!! This was very fun: @ me with your answers if you'd like to join. <3<3<3

[gulliblelemon]

hi! surprise self rec time <3🌷Pick 3 of your favorite things you’ve written and share them here, then put this in the inbox (anonymously or not) of your fellow writers to spread the positivity and help celebrate already written fics 💖

I've answered this before, but I'm going to answer again with the same fics, but with an explanation this time.

Where We Left Off (84.5k, T)

This one's probably not surprising. It's by far the longest thing I've ever written (and will probably ever write). It was such a labour of love, and I was working on it for almost a year. I learned so much about my writing process whilst doing it. It was the first time I'd been able to see a clear vision of what I wanted and how I wanted to get there, and it made the whole thing a dream to write. It was also the first fic of mine that I worked with my beta, the wonderful @iwouldnevergetintofanfic, which made the experience even more special 💜

Worth The Wait (16.7k, T)

I wrote this in a frenzy whilst my favourite people were in a field with Omar. I loved the achiness of it, and the inevitability. And I loved writing the friendship between Simon and Wille and Felice.

Thirteen (4k, T)

I had the first two lines of this fic written for almost a year before I finished it (that tells you what my WIP folder looks like). Then two days before the prompt for Wille's month, I dusted it off and started writing. Again, I had a really clear vision and it made it so satisfying to write. Plus, they were really sweet. It was the first thing I ever wrote in present tense. @iwouldnevergetintofanfic asked how I'd found it. My response: "Horrendous. I regretted everything" 😅 But I got over it and have done it again since.

I think if you asked on a different day I might have different answers, but it still felt nice to have these three this time.

[tamras-shieldmaiden]

I saw this ask game circulating around the Tumblersphere, and I don't remember having done a fic writing recap before, so here's my take for 2023:

2023 Year-End Fic Round Up

Words written (published or not, WIPs totally count too!): 

Total published word count for this year is 38,706. Hadn’t I been sick, which derailed my flow and hit me with a writer's block, I think it might've written more, but I'm still satisfied with my output. I'm not a prolific writer but I'm still proud of what I was able to publish in 2023.

Smut scenes written (if applicable): 

Two, with a oneshot written specifically for one of them (cough mirror cough).

New things I tried: 

I embarked on a spanking brand new ship. Although I've always said I didn't like shipping Kuvira with any of the Beifongs (and yes, that includes the canon one), after a series of insightful conversations with @redcatmusings, with some nice persuasion I ended up changing my mind about Lin/Kuvira and well, here we are with 4 Linvira fics published so far. 😅

Fic I spent the most time on: 

The fic I spent most time on last year was Masquerade, since it was the longest with 6 chapters. It had been a while since I wrote an action heavy chapter, so chapter 5's car chase scene took me a while to figure out, but I believe that in the end, the effort paid off.

Fic I spent the least time on: 

That would be Melody of our hearts. The process felt almost like a stream of consciousness, from choosing 2nd person POV as narrative devise to the writing itself which I wrapped up in a day. Even coming up with title was a breeze, something that's unusual for me because I tend to agonize over coming up with titles.

Favourite thing I wrote: 

I'm torn between Masquerade and Seeking Harmony. Masquerade was an absolute blast to write. I loved Asami and Kuvira's rapport throughout the story and building up the tension between the leads amidst the suspense of the investigation was tons of fun to write as it was to read.

Seeking Harmony is the opposite because it's a short, soft introspective oneshot, and that's precisely what I liked so much about it because I was able to weave in some atmospheric elements to emphasize the calm and soft mood of the story. And besides, depicting a vulnerable Kuvira with a supportive Korra is always a win in my book.

Favourite thing I read: 

This one is not easy because one advantage of participating on Fanfiction Exchanges is that you get to be exposed to a variety of fandoms and talented authors outside of one's prefered fandoms that otherwise one wouldn't read, and I've read some amazing stories that at moments they've made me doubt of my skills because they were so damned good! I was skeptical at first of the concept but it is a great experience that I wholeheartedly recommend for both the quality writing and the amazing authors one gets to meet and admire and build friendships with.

Writing goals for next year:

I want to pick up on the Linvira fic I had originally planned for last year's ATLA Rare Pair Big Bang because that story is itching to be told. I also have a Kuvira/Asami WIP in the works set in the Bodyguard continuity, and maybe this will be the year which I finally get to complete my Kuvira redemption saga with the last story I've been cooking for years now.

Tagging @redcatmusings @rakaiawriter @roguegona @alpaca-clouds @udaberriwrites @diana-fortyseven @the-orion-scribe @orangepanic and anyone else who'd like to join in.

[fullyvisible]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love

Ooohh, I love this!!! Here we go:

Stay (Glee, Sebastian Smythe/Dave Karofsky) - this was my first-ever fanfic, written more than a decade ago, and I still have a lot of love for it!! Would I change things if I wrote it now? Sure! But I'm still damn proud of it.

Thank You for the Flowers (Legends of Tomorrow/The Flash, Barry Allen/Leonard Snart) - my first non-Glee/Smythofsky fic (... but still involving a character played by Grant Gustin lol)! It was my first time participating in a Big Bang, too, and there's lovely accompanying art by @oriley42 :)

We Deserve It (Legendborn, Bree Matthews/Nick Davis/Selwyn Kane) - you know that feeling when the characters won't get out of your head? This fic emerged from one of those times! Also, my first time writing an OT3! I'm very proud of the way I got into the heads of a new set of characters and let myself play with a world that wasn't fully built.

Secrets and Honesty (All for the Game, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard) - this is my first REAL multi-chapter fic, and it's by FAR my most popular fic to date (seriously, it's an order of magnitude ahead of anything else I've written by pretty much whichever stat you look at). And I love it! Minyard-Josten Rivalry! Top tier Kevin Day friendship! A nice helping of Jerejean on the side, plus some Renison! I wrote EXACTLY what I wanted to read and, as a bonus, other people wanted to read it, too.

To Be Certain We'll Be Tall Again (All for the Game, Kevin Day/Jean Moreau/Jeremy Knox) - this is my longest [posted] fic so far, and, while this list is just in chronological order and while picking favorite fics is like picking favorite children ... if I had to pick just one, it might be this one. I love Kevin Day and I love angst with a happy ending and I turned all of that up to 11 in this one!! AND it helped inspire A Falling Star, the INCREDIBLE series by @knickknacksandallthat <3 So that in and of itself is enough to make this one of my favorites :)

[jimmycarterghostland]

I finished reading Interlude 6 of Worm.

I read some of this interlude before, back when I was reading scenes of Worm out of order. Before I started this proper read. I misremembered something. I thought that Lung killed Bakuda in the prison van. So, when she was taken out of it, still alive, I assumed she wasn't going to be killed off in this interlude. It's weird, I actually liked her as a villain. And Lung and Bakuda as a duo was oddly interesting. It was also jarring to see Lung treat someone with respect(he called that lady ma'am). I love Lung. Dude is such a menacing villain. He's an evil bad guy, but I find this evil bad guy interesting. And Bakuda seemed to genuinely like him. As much as a narcissist could like someone. I was sad to see her go, assuming Lung did manage to kill her.

I didn't expect there to be two narrators in a single chapter. I didn't expect to get a Lung POV. As brief as it was, it was nice.

These past few interludes have been great. I haven't enjoyed most of the earlier ones, but Gregor's and Canary's interludes were amazing. Especially Gregor's.

Worm just keeps getting better and better.

The villains are so interesting. I find myself rooting for the villains a lot. It feels like the overall focus is on the villains. They're pretty much the stars of the novel, so far. Also, I was expecting Canary, Bakuda, and Lung to escape from the prison van and start messing things up for the heroes later. But the good guys were competent and made sure the three prisoners didn't get a chance to escape. It really did seem like they were going to successfully escape, though.

I finished reading the Tangle arc, which means I'll have to go back to my three chapters per day routine. I had decided to read more than three, because the story was that good, but I'm going to go back to my previous routine. Reading these Worm chapters has prevented me from working on my ongoing online stories, but it was worth it.

I appreciate that this web serial exists. Seriously. It's so good. It's so much better than a lot of traditionally published literature out there. Worm is written so well. Intelligent characters, no out of character moments, great description, etc. And I haven't noticed any plot holes or noticeable continuity errors.

Wildbow has a way of describing things in a way that I easily understand. He knows how to use things like similes well. I can't give any specific examples, but they're there.

And I love the villains in Worm. It's strange, but I find a lot of joy in reading about these obviously evil villains. Like Lung and Bakuda. There are some not-so-evil villains too, and I like them as well. I do like the villains in Worm more than I do the heroes, though.

Wildbow is great at crafting interesting, complex characters. He is like George RR Martin in this regard. I didn't like Bakuda at first, but I ended up liking her as a villain, despite her being a horrible person, and I enjoyed seeing her, right up until Lung apparently killed her off-screen. The characters in Worm is part of the reason why this novel is so addicting, along with the intelligence of the characters.

I discovered Worm years ago. I think I googled the longest online story, and it led to me discovering Worm. Or maybe I googled a one million word-long story, and that was what led me to finding Worm. Whatever happened, I discovered Worm. I've known about it for years, researched it, and read various scenes out of order. But I could never commit to a full beginning to end read. I decided to start one weeks ago, and these daily Worm posts I've been making are a result of that.

Worm is the web serial that made me start taking web serials seriously. When I discovered it, I was a crappy Wattpad writer. Now I mainly write for Royal Road, which my currently-being-rewritten web serial, 33, is hosted on. I'm also a better writer than I was when I first discovered Worm. Even now, this web serial is still an inspiration for me. Now that I'm reading it from beginning to end, I'm even more inspired to write my own web serials. Someday I want to write an extremely long web serial that will make people feel the way I feel about Worm.

We need more literature like Worm. We need more well-written web serials.

Another thing, I can't visualize when I read anymore. Instead of everything playing like a movie in my head when I read, nothing happens. I thought there was no enjoyment in reading(or writing) anymore because of that. But Worm has proved me wrong. I genuinely love reading it.

Thanks, Wildbow, for creating this masterpiece. Worm deserves the praise that it gets.

[zahri-melitor]

Crossposting but I just finished my 2023 Fic Roundup and Analysis.

I often end up doing these late, so look at me getting this out in January for once! (Didn’t want to put it out in December while I was still publishing)

Previous years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

I like to ask myself some questions about what I've written in the past year. Here's my thoughts.

Stories published: 13

Fandoms published: 3 (technically if you look at my AO3 tagged fandoms for the year it’s 8, but I’m just going to group all the DCU together).

It’s ended up being my biggest year in terms of story output; being back in a fandom which is causing me brainrot as far as prompts go and where I have a bunch of mutuals has definitely been helpful for the writing. My longest finished fic ever is now 24,306 words, and I’ve cleared 40k this year. 

In terms of my all time stats: I’ve got three new stories in my top ten as far as kudos go (at 5,7 and 9 as I write this): all the Vorkosigan has dropped below 10th now.

Most popular story: there’s an endless road to rediscover. Given how I wrote this then fussed worrying for several months over what its reception would be, I’m glad it went well, especially as it was my first time tackling Damian characterisation and I wasn’t confident with him yet. It’s doing better than I expected, ranked next to everything else. 

Favourite story written: Um. Hmmm. Part of me wants to say Orange Juice, because I just really enjoyed how fast that one came together, but really it’s the picture frames have changed and so has your name, no question. My most ambitious project, the source of so much brainrot and theorising. The day I figured out how the solution to ‘what happened to Dick’ (because that was the last big moving piece that came together to make the story work - the solution) was a wonderful one, because I kicked my feet with delight and then had to work really really hard not to reveal the secret to everyone I immediately wanted to tell how clever I was. I was SO SMUG.

Best reception: the picture frames have changed and so has your name definitely gets the award here. Everyone was super nice about it, I got to see so much theorising, it’s currently sitting on 116 comment threads, and honestly all the support to push through and get it written was worth it. Came out so good! You were all really generous!

Favourite underrated story: Tea for Two. I just like the balance of how much stuff I layered into it and that it was detailed enough I sent someone who I KNOW is hugely into No Man’s Land scurrying off to the comics to check I had got certain details correct. It was a fun write with very specific goals to hit, and stylistically exactly what I like doing. I also love the concept of the Mother’s Day series and am thinking through what additions I want to make to it in 2024. 

Favourite title: I actually really enjoyed some of my title choices this year, but I absolutely cannot go past I’ll hold your memory in my hands tonight in terms of title. I came up with it, then I giggled, then I thought about how dark the joke was, then I giggled again. Helena held the thank you letter from Tim! Barbara held the plushie of Tim! Dick held Tim’s brain! I’m so awful.

Hardest story to name: bones of a dinosaur, bones of a city I honestly did not know what to call this story, so I ended up essentially opting out of naming it. I think it works, and has joined the storied realms of ‘story titles I’ve invented quotes for’.

Themes I noted in my stories this year: ‘Let’s write about mothers and sisters’ popped out a lot. There’s a lot of death (and discussions of deaths), which unfortunately ties back into the mothers and sisters thing. And a lot of Tim and his relationships with his older siblings: Dick, Barbara, Helena and Cass.

Commentary: well look who fell back into DC fandom and wrote fic. The bunnies attacked and the fandom itself enjoys short stories. On top of that I had, hmm, two ‘sort out the draft I have sitting here and publish it’ stories that went out this year. Becoming Miss Burgeson had been hanging around as an idea more than a story since I finished Invisible Sun in 2021, because not only is Rita Douglas a fascinating character, but also there are SO MANY identity shenanigans over the years in the Burgeson family. Erasmus’ comments on being a Burgeson in particular were the heart of the fic (because everyone forgets Erasmus ALSO is an assumed name). Nobody using the name was born into it and everyone chose to adopt it as a cover. Now Rita’s not nearly the most complex figure here (Miriam’s name situation is even wilder), but due to the complexities of Miriam/Helge’s names, Rita acquired three extra surnames by the transitive nature of being Miriam’s natural daughter. Actually I SHOULD sit down and work out what Rita’s braid name should actually be. I also dusted off Just Skate Figures enough to post the main bits of it, because I was tired of not having the Axel and Minami scene, at least, posted where other people could enjoy it. 

[chiimeramanticore]

Part of the Band - Chapter 8 - Up Late

Chapter summary: Beach Bear and Dook stay up late together. A/N:

hello! how are you doing? I hope things are going well for you :] fun note about this chapter! with its posting this will become my longest fanfic I've ever written (to AO3 at least, but I'm certain I've probably beat out my old Wattpad fics too lmao). my former longest fic is called after the end, a steam powered giraffe fanfic that's still up on here if for some reason you want to read it lmao. it sits unfinished at 12k words and 7 chapters. this chapter will put potb at 13k words and 8 chapters! after the end is like... 10 years old at this point and is a v nostalgic fic for me, even if I don't think it's that good anymore. it's bittersweet to surpass it! thank y'all for reading so far :] hope you enjoy this chapter! OH ALSO tw for a brief transphobia reference in this chapter! sorry lol

Chapter word count: 2,068 <- Chapter 7 - Chapter 9 -> Read it on AO3!

The drive home is long and silent. Dook curses himself for not saying anything– maybe he could've helped lighten the mood. But the atmosphere in the car was so oppressive... it felt like even if he did try to say something, the air would've swallowed his words before they even escaped his mouth.

They arrive home, and the few feet walking from the car inside is equally oppressive. Dook is certain this is going to hang over them for the rest of the day. He's prepared to find an excuse to go out for a while just to get away from it.

Beach Bear puts his keys down. "...Hey, y'know what?"

"What?"

"What always gets me cheered up," he says. "We should write a song."

Dook isn't sure what to say.

"Yeah," Beach Bear continues. "Yeah, c'mon. Let's not let this ruin the whole day, right? We'll sit down and come up with something real good, and we can order takeout for dinner, and we can turn this day around. That sound good?"

"Uh..." He's still staggered from the sudden turnaround. "S- sure. Why not?"

"Great," Beach Bear says. "I'll grab my guitar. You grab some paper." He bounds off toward the car, leaving Dook to find some paper.

Beach Bear returns within a few minutes, and the two sit down at the couch together. It's just about as much as Beach Bear had promised... but maybe not as fruitful as he had hoped. They struggle to come up with anything particularly catchy. But despite Dook's protests that "maybe this isn't working out," Beach Bear insists it'll come to them if they just keep at it a little longer.

Eventually, night falls, and the two have still yet to come up with anything good. Dook is drained of his energy, and at this point resorts mostly to just watching Beach Bear figuratively throw spaghetti at the wall. It takes a while of this before Beach notices Dook's sorta clocked out. Finally, he slows down for him.

"...Uh, hey," he says. "If you're getting tired, you don't have to wait up for me. I don't mind if you go to bed."

"You're in my bed," Dook says, gesturing at the couch he's been sitting on for hours.

"Right. Use my bed, then," he says. "I'll be up for a while longer. I can sleep here tonight."

The idea of sleeping in Beach Bear's bed is... It feels so personal. Even if he's not there with him. It reminds Dook of that night he slept in his car. It was nice, sure, but he still can't think of that night without a twinge of guilt.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure," Beach Bear insists. "Go on ahead."

"...Okay," Dook says. If he says he's sure, he's not going to fight him for the couch.

Despite having lived here for a few months now, Dook has never really been in Beach Bear's room. Maybe a few times for a minute or less... but he's never gone much past the threshold. And he's certainly never stayed here overnight. It almost feels like an invasion of privacy to get into his bed.

The pillows are soft, the mattress even softer. The blanket is thin, cool. Beach Bear's room is painted a pale reddish-pimk color, the walls strewn with posters and flyers and other memorabilia. From the bed, the door sits across from him in the center of the wall. The wall to the left is a sliding door to a closet. A desk sits adjacent, cluttered with papers, clothing, and projects long-forgotten. To the right, a large window with a thin curtain pulled down over it. Next to the bed, a nightstand with a lamp and a mostly-empty glass of water.

Dook sinks down under the covers, silent, as if careful not to disturb the very air in the room. It's heavy, but not as uncomfortable as it was in the car. It weighs on him like a thick blanket. He thinks of Beach Bear and all the nights he's spent in this room... A bedroom is such a casually personal thing, isn't it? A perfect representation of a person, yet one never seems to notice it. Not until you're in someone else's room alone and the walls themselves seem to contain the ghost of them.

It must take some great level of trust to let someone sleep in your bed, Dook thinks idly. If he'd had his own bed, would he let Beach Bear sleep in it? If he had his own room at all...

·–—–·

Dook wakes up hot and uncomfortable. He's sweaty, having twisted the blanket uncomfortably around him in his sleep. He sighs, sitting up. Maybe a drink of water will help.

He steps out of bed and is about to leave the room when he hears something odd. Is that... crying? Is Beach Bear crying?

He considers ignoring it and just going back to bed, leaving him be. But despite it, he opens the door, if more careful than before.

"...Beach Bear?" He calls.

"Ah–" He hears shuffling from the couch. "Yeah? What's up?"

Dook approaches more now, the couch visible. Beach Bear has turned to face him, resting an elbow casually on the top of the couch, but he's failed to fix himself up well enough. It's obvious he's been crying.

"Are you alright?" Dook asks.

"Y- yeah, man," he says, then sniffs. "I'm fine, I was just–" He turns back to the music sheets scattered around the area. "I was just finishing up. Might turn in soon."

"Anything good?" Dook asks, skeptical.

Beach Bear pauses. "...No," he admits.

"Maybe it'll be easier when you aren't so tired," Dook suggests.

"No, it's–" Beach Bear sniffs again, beginning to sound more tense now. "It's not about that. It's..." He trails off.

"...Do you wanna talk about it?" Dook says.

"...Yeah," Beach Bear says finally. He moves over on the couch to give Dook room to sit, and he joins him.

Beach Bear stares down at the mess of papers he's made. "It's not just about the music, obviously," he begins. "It's not even just about Mini. She's just... I guess she sent me over the edge.

"I told you we were in a band before, me and her. It wasn't... just a band. We all came from pretty scrappy or seedy backgrounds. We all needed someone. So we basically spent all our time together. But a bunch of troubled people are just bound to get into more trouble. And when you get people like Queenie... she takes over easily. She likes telling people what to do. And when you're like me... you listen. Because you don't have anyone else.

"I let her use me for anything she wanted. I let her berate me over and over, because I thought one day I'd finally get it right and she'd praise me for once. But she never did. No one did. Near the end, basically all we did was fight. We'd hang out in this garage, some abandoned house no one was using, and we were supposed to be practicing, but all we ever did was just... argue with each other.

"And one night, it came to a head. The place got burnt down. We scattered to avoid the cops, and I just... haven't seen any of them since. Except Mini. She stuck her fangs in me."

Dook isn't sure what to say. He finds himself staring idly at the papers, too. "Her parents are..." he says. "I didn't know."

"I know," Beach Bear replies. "She told me a long time ago. It was an accident. I don't know the specifics. Since then, she's had to handle Mitzi on her own. She's been stressed, and... I've tried not to blame her for her behavior, but..."

"It wasn't an excuse for how she treated you," Dook says.

"It's not an excuse for how she treats anyone," Beach Bear says.

"...What about Mitzi?"

"What about her?"

"Is she... safe? With Queenie?"

"I don't think she'd hurt her, if that what you mean," Beach Bear says. "But that girl deserves better." He sighs. "I'm sorry you had to see me so angry."

"It's okay," Dook says.

"It just... came to a head again, I guess." Beach Bear leans forward, resting his arms on his knees. "And now that we're out a singer, and... and I can't even write a half-decent song..."

"It'll come to you," Dook offers.

"Maybe," Beach Bear says, upset. "I just– I really need this to work. I need this to work so bad..."

He huffs, somewhere between a sigh and a sob, burying his face in his hands. Dook reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"...I need the money, Dook," Beach Bear mutters.

"...What?"

"I need this to work, I need this band to work," he says. "I'm gonna be out of money soon if it doesn't work..."

"I... I didn't know you..." Dook trails off. His hand falters a little, sliding down a bit towards his back.

Beach Bear straightens just a little. "I... don't know how to tell you this," he says. "My family and I, we... aren't on the best terms. We aren't exactly speaking.

"I wasn't..." He pauses. "I wasn't born a boy, Dook. I'm happier like this, but... my family doesn't get it. They don't like that I'm happier now, I guess. I don't need them. I'm not gonna go crawling back to them. But they... wouldn't support me, even if I did."

Dook is silent. His hand falls from Beach Bear's back.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Beach Bear says.

"...It's okay," Dook says. "This... that doesn't change anything, you know. That doesn't make me not wanna be your friend anymore. And it's not something you owed me, neither. I'm glad you told me."

Beach Bear says nothing, but lets out a small, shaky sigh. A silent tear falls from his eye.

" 'Sides, I... think I understand you. A little, at least," Dook continues. "I'm not talking with my family right now either.

"See, I, uh..." He leans back against the couch. "I come from a real big family, right? And a lot of us are musicians. Successful ones, at that. I always wanted to follow in their footsteps. I wanted to prove I was somethin'. But I'm... the runt of the litter, I guess. I'm not so strong... definitely not so smart. My family doesn't think I can't– I can't do nothin'. They gave up on me before I even got a chance to– to show 'em I could be worth something at all.

"They love me, sure. But they never took me seriously, neither. So one day, I... I walked out. Told 'em I wouldn't come back until I made somethin' of myself.

"And then I..." And then he failed a few dozen times, sending him into a depressive alcoholic spiral... putting him at rock bottom. Broke, drunk, unhappy, and with no faith in himself at all. And that's how Beach Bear found him.

"...I... fell on hard times," he says finally. "It didn't work out."

"...Dook, do you think the Rock-afire has a future?" Beach Bear asks.

"Oh, sure," Dook starts.

"Be honest," Beach Bear says. "You just said you couldn't get it to work on your own."

Dook pauses. "I... I know it's rough now, Beach Bear," he says. We're out a singer, and you're struggling to write, and... and I don't have too much faith in myself. Not on my own. But... I'm not on my own. I got you. And I got Billy Bob, and Looney Bird, and Fatz. Both of us do. Hell, maybe we still got Mitzi, too. I dunno if any of us could do it on our own, but... But together... I think we got somethin'. Really."

Beach Bear hasn't moved. He doesn't react at first to what Dook says. Then, a sigh through his nose, and he closes his eyes.

"You're right," he says. "You're right."

Dook smiles. He leans forward to meet him, his hands resting near the edge of the cushion.

"We're gonna make something out of ourselves," he says.

Beach Bear's left hand moves to touch Dook's right, a set of fingers laid just over the other. Dook doesn't pull away.

"Yeah," Beach Bear agrees. "It's just a matter of time."

[misscrawfords]

4, 7, 11

4. what is the plot bunny you’ve been carrying for the longest? optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven’t written it yet and experience deep existential dread?

Hmmmmm. If we're going for longest longest, then I have a fantasy idea from when I was about 14 set in a full fantasy world based on sort of Ancient Rome called Cavatina. The hero is an awkward nerd who ends up having to chaperone his high school nemesis, a loud mouthed girl called Claira after she accidentally gets engaged to the prince. Also there are witches and Platonic allegories. I'm pretty rubbish with plot so it's never really been fully developed, but I love the city of Cavatina and the society there and Jasper and Claira were always very fun protagonists. I don't know if I'll ever write it but it would be nice to use some elements of it in something else sometime. So no existential dread, maybe just a bit of regret. A friend and I at university tried to consider how it could be turned into a computer game (he was really into game development) and that could have been really fun but again we never pursued it.

7. tell us about the plot of the first fanfic you ever wrote

The first fanfic I ever published on FFNet was called Harry Potter and the Unbreakable Link and it was a seventh year completed novel length Harry/Hermione gen fic written before OotP. In it, Harry and Hermione discover they have a telepathic bond which allows them to communicate with each other mentally, pass objects between each other and augments their spell power when used together. Hermione also discovers that she is Voldemort's daughter and they have to team up together to defeat Voldemort. JJ Abrams levels of plot ridiculousness to an unexpected degree but I was 13 - what's his excuse!? It's a cool fic tbh and I'm super proud of it. I was 13-14 when I wrote it. The next gen sequel is even cooler and still honestly one of my most favourite stories I've ever come up with - if only my writing had been better to cope with the scope of what I was trying to do! I often try to think of a way to reuse the building blocks and characters in that story because I still love it so much even all these years on, but no luck so far.

11. what’s something neat you’ve learned while doing research for something you were writing? also, how much do you worry about doing research in general?

I think how much I care about research depends on how seriously I take that fic. Is this a fic that I want to be accurate to some degree or is it not? As for what I've researched, I researched quite a few details about Edwardian Italy for Consolation Prize and in general I learned lots of stuff about the Edwardian period, WW1, post-WW1 society for writing Downton Abbey fics. One specific thing I do remember doing a deep dive for was when I was plotting first Mary and Violet's journey across Europe by train from London to Venice and then Matthew's much speedier race from Yorkshire to Naples, I did really look into timings and routes to get these as accurate as possible.